Chapter 46 – Home Alone

[Main POV]

Once again, I was at the top deck of my New York Sunscraper. It really was a beautiful view.

The top deck provided a breathtaking and unparalleled view of the surrounding cityscape. The air was crisp and invigorating at this height. The wind gently brushed against my face.

On clear nights, the top deck provided a different marvelous view. The twinkling lights of the city contrast against the dark, velvety backdrop of the sky. Sometimes there would be a person who didn't do their blinds, letting you see inside. Of course, I did no such thing. Nope. Not at all.

But I wasn't here for the view. The top of the Sunscraper was also a great vantage point. One could see tiny ant-like figures scurrying along the sidewalks, and cars move like toy vehicles along the streets.

I narrowed my view to a particular street: Broadway. Broadway runs the entire length of Manhattan, and is known for its historical significance, cultural attractions, and theaters.

But on this day, it was closed. The NYPD had barricaded it, preventing regular cars from driving on it. Instead, I saw a line of black SUVs driving towards the Sunscraper.

I wasn't worried. I sent everyone who normally worked at the New York Sunscraper on a paid vacation.

"So, it begins."

.

[3rd POV]

The raid was led by CIA Director Webster. To his frustration, his department was unable to collect any useful information. The only data they had was that the Sunscraper was 227 floors. Considering how large each floor was, he decided to bring over 3000 agents to the raid.

Once his car stopped, he got out. The driver drove off, letting other cars drop off more agents that lined up behind him. Director Webster took off his sunglasses and studied his target.

"Let's do this," Webster told his second in command. The plan was simple. 2270 agents would be split into 227 groups of 10. Each group of agents would get to their designated floor as quickly as possible to do a quick sweep and prevent anyone from tampering with evidence.

There were some specialized agents for breaking barriers, locks, etc. Some for transporting evidence. And the remaining agents would join Webster in combing the entire building floor by floor.

Webster's command was repeated down the chain of command, activating the group of agents that would break down the main door. It was made of glass, or so they thought.

As the agents slammed their battering ram to the door, it bounced off, sending a shock wave through their arms, resulting in them dropping the battering ram. The door was actually made of the strongest bullet proof glass Apollo could make.

But the CIA was prepared. With a signal, some agents came forward and planted a bomb against the door. One boom later, the glass went flying everywhere, and the agents surged into the building.

They were met with another door. The hundreds of agents that surged forward had to backtrack to make room for the bomb squad, resulting in precious minutes being wasted.

Another boom later, the agents finally had access to the interior.

The first agents to enter were the ones designated for the top floors. They rushed to the public elevators (the private elevators are all hidden and locked). They found 12 of them, fitting 30 people each, going to a maximum floor of 200.

360 agents entered the dozen elevators and pushed the buttons to their designated floors. The agents that needed to go to floors higher than the 200th, decided that they'd take the stairs from there. Once all 12 elevators closed and ascended. Each of them stopped on floor 15. 360 agents were now trapped in a small space, with the temperature slowly rising.

The other agents waiting for the elevator to come back down noticed that the elevators stopped working. After consulting with Director Webster, the response was clear: take the stairs.

The agents designated for floors above ten all sighed.

"If I wanted to go up some stairs, I wouldn't have said no to my wife about going up the Eiffel Tower."

"260 floors?! 260 fucking floors?! We gotta get a fucking union."

"The worst part is, we're going to have to walk back down the stairs…"

.

On floor 34, agents got out of the stairwell and started looking around. Agents Phil, Al, Leo, Bob, and Carla went left, and the other five went right.

Stopping at the first door, it was cracked open. Phil counted to three, and was just about to rush into the room when he heard a voice from the other side of the door.

"Hold it right there!"

Phil froze and looked at the others.

"You was here last night too, wasn't ya?"

The five of them looked at each other confused.

"You was here, and you was smoochin' with my brother!"

Everyone looked at Carla, the only girl of the group. "I did not!" she exclaimed with indignation.

"Don't gimme that! You've been smoochin' with everybody! Snuffy, Al, Leo, Little Moe with the gimpy leg, Cheeks, Boney Bob, Cliff! I could go on forever, baby!"

Phil looked towards his fellow agents. They had started arguing with each other. But they were all silenced by the man on the other side of the door.

"All right. I believe ya… but my Tommy gun don't! Get down on your knees and tell me you love me!"

Carla got on her knees. She knew how crazy a guy could get if he thought his girl was sleeping around. Not that she was sleeping with the man on the other side of the door. That guy was plain old crazy. She glared at the others, getting them all on their knees.

"I love you!" Carla said.

"You gotta do better than that!"

"I love you!!" the five of them said in unison.

"I'm going to give you to the count of three to get your lousy, lyin', low-down, four-flushing carcass out my door! One… two…"

The first to run was Carla, then Phil, and the other three shortly after.

"Three. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal."

Gunshots echoed throughout as the five CIA agents dropped to the floor, covering their heads. The ruckus attracted the attention of the other group.

"What's happening?" One of them asked.

"There's a nut in there with a gun!" Phil yelled over the gunfire.

"And a Happy New Year." Everyone heard as one last bullet fired.

The agent from the other group took a quick look around the corner. The door was open by a crack, and there were no bullet holes in sight.

Creeping towards the door, he pushed it open before jumping aside. Hearing nothing, he took a quick look before snorting and walking in.

The room was empty other than a television, playing an old VHS tape of a clip of an old movie.

"Dumbasses," he said.

.

On the 51st floor, the agents split off into three groups and swept the floor. One group fell into a pool full of tuna. Another got dropped into a pit of nonvenomous snakes. The final group was trapped in a room full of tarantulas.

On the 66th floor, the agents had no choice but to move down a long corridor with doors on either side. The agents lined up behind each door, preparing to enter. On the count of three, they all pushed against the doors, but found that they wouldn't open. In reality, the 'doors' were actually drawings of doors with doorknobs screwed into the walls. At that moment, the door from which they came from automatically closed and magnetically locked, trapping the agents.

On the 99th floor, agents entered rooms. However, in each room they entered, they were covered with superglue before buckets of seeds were dumped on them (using a simple motion sensor system). Chickens were then released, resulting in the agents being flocked and pecked relentlessly.

.

[Main POV]

Floor by floor, each group of agents were trapped or pranked. The best part was that I captured everything with secret cameras and microphones in HD quality.

I smiled at the pranks. Thanks Kevin, you're a real inspiration.

Hours passed as I waited. I was still waiting on the top deck. Part of me wanted to see if they'd be able to make it up to me. Eventually I got bored and decided to end things.

Opening my phone, I pressed a button, unloading a strong adhesive from the ceilings. This resulted in everyone being covered in a glue-like substance, which hardened very quickly, pinning everyone in place.

I smiled once more. The battle for Apollonia was won. I knew General Brown's plan and was confident that Artemis would win in Dodona Forest. And I had won in the New York Sunscraper.

Total victory on the field of battle.

Now, it was time for a peace treaty.