Chapter 14: Oval Office Infiltration

The group finally enacts their plan to take down Gonzalez and free the country once and for all.

The big day finally arrived. The day when I would finally put an end to the most corrupt presidency in American history, with my three closest friends at my side. We would waltz right into the White House and force Gonzalez to surrender, which would then lead to him getting sent out with the lowest approval rating of any president, and saving our beloved country in the process.

The gang and I parked my station-wagon in the public lot that was closest to the White House. We all stepped out, clad in the same outfits we'd worn during our previous stakeout, though this time with utility belts and backpacks to hold our weaponry. As we approached Gonzalez' residence, we got a look at the area just outside its gates. It looked perfectly normal, even though it had been the location of a riot-turned protest just a week ago.

"I still don't get why you guys made me hold the soda cans," Tequila groaned as we snuck into the bushes behind the White House.

"Oh, relax. There are only five of them in there," I whispered in reply.

"Alright, folks. Cut the chatter," Xavier chimed in, holding up a small, handheld electronic device. "As soon as I jam this security camera, we can safely sneak in through the vents."

The rest of us watched in silence as the security camera soon drooped down and emitted a few sparks. Once that happened, Xavier quickly unscrewed the large vent in the wall and beckoned us inside. After we all entered it, he replaced the cover. The crawl through the air ducts wasn't quite as long as the previous one; before we knew it, we wound up inside a small, unoccupied room full of electrical equipment. A flatscreen monitor above a control panel was the only thing of note in the vicinity.

"Wait, what? I thought you said we'd wind up in the boiler room first," Second said in confusion.

"Hmmm..." Xavier's voice trailed off as he checked the screen on his phone. "Oh, whoops. Must've read the schematics backwards. Eh, well no matter. Think of it as a shortcut."

The rest of us said nothing as we watched him start typing away at the control panel, pulling up some complicated coding on the screen. He then inserted a USB drive into the side of the monitor and pressed a few more buttons, before inserting the drive into his own handheld.

"There. I've tapped into the White House's surveillance. Now I can not only view it, but also control the cameras remotely. This way, we can mask our location and always know where the guards are," Xavier explained. "Now this room is slightly further away from our destination than the boiler room, but we should be fine. Care to lead us, Jasper?"

"With pleasure," I replied, creeping over to the door and slowly opening it.

I froze at the sight of a guard in front of the door, his back to us. Taking a quiet deep breath, I pulled out a washcloth and poured a little bit of chloroform onto it. After looking around once more, I quickly grabbed the man by his face and eventually caused him to faint. My friends helped me tug him into the room with us, before closely following me down the hallway. However, we didn't get very far when Xavier suddenly stopped, backing up against the wall and checking his device.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Our planned route is going to take us through a conference room. There are no officials in there, but there are a few guards," Xavier explained.

The rest of us leaned in and watched the small screen. It showed four guards positioned in a circle around what appeared to be a man covered from head to toe in jet-black cybernetic armor with a white G on the chest. A gray rifle was held in a holster on his waist. I immediately recognized him as the same guy who had led the assault on our previous rally.

"Alright troops, listen up! Our beloved president has barricaded himself in the Oval Office, and he wants us to make sure that nobody makes their way into the White House!" he ordered, speaking in an electronically distorted voice with a slight Hispanic drawl. "So as captain of the presidential guard, I command every last one of you to spread out and leave no hallway unpatrolled!"

All of the guards said nothing and instead saluted in unison.

"Excellent! Troops dismissed," the captain replied, before heading up the small staircase that led out the back of the room.

"Welp, just means we'll have to stay alert. What else is new?" Second reasoned.

With that, we all remained on high alert, before freezing as we heard two of the guards stepping into our hallway. Sneaking ahead of us, Xavier quickly chloroformed the closest one, alerting the other.

"Hey!" he yelled, immediately charging at him.

The two then proceeded to engage in some hand-to-hand combat until I snuck up and chloroformed the second guard. Unfortunately, the recent exclamation had alerted the remaining two guards. We could hear them hurrying into our hallway. In a moment of blankness, I quickly ushered my party into the closest door.

"Ah, so this is where that boiler room was," Xavier whispered.

"Hmm. Now where'd they go?" one guard asked, he and his partner looking around as they stood just outside the cracked door.

Before I could stop her, Tequila bolted ahead of us and tackled both of them onto the floor, before using two cloths at once to chloroform both of them into a coma. She sat on top of her victims and looked back at us with a cocky smirk, before getting up and hurrying ahead of us to the conference room. Second, Xavier and I hurried after her, but not quite as quickly.

She entered the double-doors ahead of us, and let out a yelp of shock as soon as she did. Her vocalization was accompanied by a thud, and a few footsteps much louder than hers. Alarmed, the rest of us hurried in and saw her scuffling with the same armored guy from the surveillance footage. The two of them engaged in a brief physical fight that involved a martial art I couldn't identify. Their chops and kicks kept colliding as they failed to land a hit on each other. Tequila managed to land a high-kick to his chest, sending him stumbling backwards a little. She then recovered from the attack with a backflip, but by the time she concluded the maneuver, the armored man delivered a punch to her breast.

Tequila yelped in discomfort before he pinned her to the wall. He used one arm to hold her arms behind her back, before using his free hand to caress her body. He then made a gesture that suggested he was sniffing her hair, but I couldn't tell if he could actually smell it through his mask. All she did was pant, in obvious panic mode. I balled my fists, infuriated at the sight before me, but before I or Xavier could intervene, Second drew his pistol and fired off a bullet. It flew right between the heads of Tequila and her captor, but didn't hit either of them, instead embedding itself into the wall.

"Second, what are you doing?!" Xavier scolded. "Could you at least try something a little less risky?!"

The gunshot was enough to make the super soldier withdraw from his advances and step a bit closer to us guys.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't those twerps behind the 'Looks Don't Matter' movement," he taunted. "Gotta say, I'm impressed with how you all managed to sneak into the White House, but I'm afraid your road ends here."

"I don't know who the hell you are, but if you think we're letting you stop us, you're sadly mistaken!" I said, shooting him an acerbic stare.

"Heh heh, well I'm afraid I can't let you folks pass, but I can answer your question," the soldier chuckled, before removing his mask.

Removing the chunk of armor revealed the face of a man about as old as we all were. He had caramel-colored skin, wisteria eyes, and jet-black hair styled into a fro-hawk. Grinning arrogantly at us, he casually tossed his mask onto the ground. Second, Xavier and I simply stared at him, not moved at all by the reveal. Tequila, however, adopted an expression of shock.

"G-Garbanzo Gonzalez?!" she asked, her violet eyes widened.

"I told ya', tutz. Call me 'GG'. Rolls off the tongue a little better, doesn't it?" Garbanzo maintained his smirk, his voice no longer electronically distorted.

"Wait a second! You know this guy?" I asked in disbelief.

"Sadly, yes. From Kindergarten up until senior year of high school, he always used to harass people, sexually or otherwise," Tequila explained. "But last I checked, you were just a petty jock, not a government soldier!"

"Well hey, anything to make Dad proud," Garbanzo replied.

"Dad? You mean... your father is... ?" Second asked. "Oh, wait! Of course the president would put as many family members as he can into prominent positions! I mean, Trump did the exact same thing, right?"

"No s**t, Sherlock," Garbanzo spat. "So now that you all know my darkest secret, what say I knock your sorry asses off my father's lawn?"

"You're gonna be sorry you asked!" Tequila spat.

With that, Garbanzo attempted to nail me in the face with a roundhouse kick, but I managed to grab his foot and tossed him to the floor to my right. I hurried after him, accompanied by Xavier and Second. GG quickly sprang back to his feet and caught both of their fists in his hands, before smacking them into each other and tossing them to his sides. He then came after me with a second roundhouse kick, and this time I wasn't fast enough to counter it. I managed to flinch and turn around before his foot smashed into the left side of my lower back, which for those who don't know is a very vulnerable spot to get hit in. I did nothing more than stumble forward a little.

Garbanzo gave me an expectant look, telling me that he expected me to be in more pain. Instead I just smirked back at him.

"Ha! I gave up that kidney years ago, m**********r!" I taunted, before catching him off guard with a strong left hook to the jaw.

My attack sent him reeling into a circuit-breaker that was in plain sight on the wall. He hit it with enough force to break through the protective cover, and his rifle was knocked onto the floor next to him. His armor was electrocuted as well. He let out a blood-curdling scream as a result, before finally falling limply onto his knees. A few pieces of his armor had been badly dented, and a few holes were visible too. The largest of which was on the side of his torso. All four of us stood over him, waiting for him to get up, but he was taking surprisingly long to do so, instead just sitting there and breathing heavily. His armor was sparking in a few places, and some smoke was rising from his body.

"Tequila. Grab my switchblade," I quickly ordered.

She gave me a seductive smirk as she grabbed the weapon from my utility belt, before stabbing Garbanzo through the exposed portion of his skin. He screamed once again as blood gushed out and began to pool onto the floor, only increasing in volume as the blade was removed. The four of us watched him weakly lay onto his back as pain coursed through his entire being.