Dredd, Shining Armor, and Kay all stood in the elevator, heading to exit peach trees. Shining Armor's horn glowed again, as he detected what Kay was up to.

"Sir," Armor spoke "he's thinking about making a move for your gun."

"Yeah." Dredd replied, unfased at the news. Some silence fell, as Shining's horn glowed again.

"Now he's changed his mind."

"...Yep." Armor turned to Dredd.

"Can you say anything else but 'yeah', and with emotion?"

"... I can." Shining took a deep breath and turned his attention to the elevator door. It stopped as the reached the bottom floor. The doors opened and they walked out of the elevator, Dredd leading them with Armor holding the handcuffed Kay.

They were near the exit of peach trees, seeing the same homeless sitting in the same spot.

"I warned you!" Dredd yelled and pointing at the man "Get up! You're heading to the cubes!" Loud blaring was heard around them.

"Stand clear of doors." A woman's voice announced through the intercoms. Large doors slammed down to the floor, crushing & killing the homeless man instantly with only a puddle of blood leaking, as it was seen with red lights filling the darkness of the inside. "All residents, remain calm." It repeated for the next few seconds. Dredd, Armor, and Kay walked back into the main square, seeing the last of what was little of the open sunroof, closing.

"What's going on?" Armor asked, trying his best to stay calm.

"Lock down complete." the same announcer said. A low hum was heard, and the lights went from the red lighting to their regular lights, making look almost as if the place was open & back to normal.

"Something very bad." Armor answered.

"...Peach Trees," Another woman's voice spoke through the intercoms, this one not sounding as pleasant as the last & more in an angered tone. "This is Ma-Ma... somewhere in this block are two judges... I want them dead. Until I get what I want, this block is locked down. All clans on every level, hunt the judges down. Everyone else, clean the corridors and stay the fuck out of the way until the shooting stops." At that moment, everyone began to run towards their apartments and locked the doors behind them. "If I hear anyone helping the judges, I'll kill them and the next generation of their family. ...As for the Judges-

"We gotta move." Dredd said, walking to an area. Shining followed, dragging Kay with him.

"Sit tight. Or run. ... Makes no difference, you're both mine."

The place was as silent as silent can be. With the exception of a few footsteps of a few people runnng towards their homes, and the hum of light bulbs, nothing could be heard beside Dredd, Armor, and Kay running up a fleet of stairs. Dredd used his wrist communicator.

"Control," Dredd spoke "We have a situation in Peach Trees. Do you copy?" Static. "Control? Copy?"

"My communicator is down too." Armor added

"The shielding must be blocking all transmissions." He turned to Armor "We'll head for the med center." He stopped as they heard people yelling above & below them, searching for both of them. "Call it!"

"Sir?"

"You're on assessment, rookie. Call it." Armor looked down, then up.

"Multiple armed targets with obstructed lines of sight. Gas grenades?"

"Respirators." Both judges pulled out their respirators. Dredd turned to Kay before placing the respirator in his own mouth. "I suggest you hold your breath." Dredd pulled out a gas grenade and chucked it to the stairway below. He pulled out his lawgiver and they all climbed up the stairs. The gas made it's way up quickly, as some of the people began to couch hard at the gas, holding onto the rails and wheezing for air. Dredd came out of the corner and delivered nine bullets to four men, the first taking four, the second with one, the third with two, and the fourth with two. Another fleet of stairs and Dredd took down three, all with clean head shots. They went into the elevator and went to the same level with the paramedic from earlier.

The elevator opened and Armor used his abilities to drag the person in, Dredd stomping his face in with one stomp, then delivered a headshot to another nearby. Dredd looked around, then took Kay and made him as his personal shield, and Armor readied his lawgiver. The two took cover behind a wall, Dredd peaking out to see ten people waiting to kill them, as Armor tied Kay to some nearby pipes to make sure he doesn't escape.

"We're gonna have to go through them." Dredd stated.

"Stun grenade?" Shining asked

"Stun grenade. Let;s give them the good news." Dredd leaned down and rolled the stun grenade to their feet. He got up and made his wrist communicator as a megaphone. "Citizens of peach trees. This is the law. Disperse immediately, or we will use lethal force to clear the area." The men chatted with each other on what to do, but turned to where the two were taking cover at. "You have been warned. You now have twenty seconds to comply."

"It's you who should do the complying, judge." One of the people spoke, a man with a Scandinavian accent. "There's ten of us and only two of you! Why don't you step out from that doorway or we'll blow the fuck out of you."

"Ten Seconds to comply."

"Fuck you, judge!" Another yelled

"You've got five!" the same one added.

"Thanks for the heads up." Dredd replied, not in his megaphone voice anymore. A warping sound was heard, followed by a bright white-blue light. Dredd and Armor got out of cover and shot at the criminals, showing no mercy at all. Dredd reloaded his clip, and Shining watched a lone criminal, a man, struggle to get up.

"Please!" he begged weakly.

"What are you waiting for, rookie? An apology? His crime was attempted murder of a judge. His sentence is death."

"I know, sir." Armor replied. He aimed at the man with only one hand and pulled the trigger, executing him almost as cold as Dredd would. Dredd walked to the med bay door and pressed on the intercom button.

"Open up." The paramedic did nothing. "Open. Up." The paramedic pressed his intercom button.

"Negative, judge." he replied "You know what's going on out here. We need a place where the people can find a safe house. This is the facility's neutral ground."

"Neutral? You're not neutral, you're choosing sides!"

"Peach Trees has been sealed by blast doors that can withstand any attack. No one's getting out, no one's getting in. And you're and the client are filling in with your blood. There are no sides here. You're already dead." Shining Armor walked next to Dredd.

"That's bullshit!" He yelled "I don't know Ma-Ma that much, but I can already tell one thing: we are going to stop her, and we are going to kill anyone who get in our way! She's going to lose a lot of men, and her petty threats are nothing when we get to her and rip her god damn head from her spine! Peach Trees will be free and open back to the public, other Judges will get here, and when you and I survive, I swear to fucking God that I'm going to put you in the Iso Cubes for you entire fucking life for not helping us, UNDERSTAND!?!?!?" The paramedic and Dredd stared at Armor for a few moments.

"You... make a good bargain." he opened the doors. Armor walked away and dragged Kay inside.

"Your pushing your limits, rookie." Dredd commented. Armor stopped and turned to Dredd.

"Like you haven't done it before." Armor replied. Shing wasn't sure, but, for almost half a second, he swore he could've seen Dredd smile, but then again, Shining Armor couldn't really tell with that helmet and Dredd's usual angry face. Next Chapter: A massacre. Estimated time remaining: 26 Minutes