Detective Sgt. Ben “Benny” Avalon, Bubba Smith, is a tough but good-natured cop who is well-known around his inner-city neighborhood and acts as an active mentor to local youth when off-duty. Avalon is unmarried but shares his life with a cat named Beatrice, and a pretty downstairs neighbor named Debby, Lela Rochon.
One night while Avalon plays basketball at a neighborhood gym, a team of commandos murders two teens and sets an adjacent building on fire with explosives. The attackers then shoot at people evacuating the burning building, while their commander, Col. Hester, Lloyd Bridges, watches from a darkened Cadillac. Avalon knows several victims—a local girl and a low-level drug dealer—adding a personal sting to the atrocity.
A man later revealed to be FBI Special Agent Joe Jennings, Beau Bridges, sits at a topless bar hoping for “big action.” A dancer points him toward an established drug dealer named Ivory Jones, Raymond St. Jacques, but Avalon enters the scene, the dancer leaves, and a barroom scuffle erupts. When Jennings tries to arrest Avalon, the police officer identifies himself, and the two men face off.
Avalon and Jennings are paired by Captain Kramer, Gary Lockwood, as reluctant partners to infiltrate Jones’ criminal network. Jennings resists the arrangement, but the FBI approves the assignment. Over time, the men develop a wary rapport and even foil a supermarket robbery during a tense moment of shopping, though distrust still lingers between them.
Investigations reveal that The Sentinel is a white supremacist militia led by Hester, a retired military officer who has suffered the loss of a son in combat. He aims to “finish the fight” against what he calls nefarious non-white influencers funded by Jewish backers, and he plans to use guerrilla training at the Sentinel compound to reshape the country for his son. His young son William, nicknamed Billy Boy, is a constant reminder of his motives. The group relies on illicit narcotics profits to fund its operation.
> finishing the fight
Jennings has quietly tracked some of Hester's associates, and Avalon grows suspicious of Jennings’ motives. He disables Jennings’ car to prevent him from working alone. After Jennings stashes away, Avalon survives an assassination attempt, subdues the attackers, and accuses Jennings of a setup; Jennings denies any malpractice, and the two reconcile to focus on their shared target: Jones.
Avalon then introduces Jennings to his friend Fern Willis, Ellen Geer, at a restaurant where Debby is also present, but the dinner is interrupted by gunfire from masked attackers. Tucker, Danny De La Paz, is revealed to have been killed, and both Debby and Fern flee; Beatrice—the cat—perishes in the chaos as Avalon swears revenge.
Kramer returns to the precinct with Avalon waiting. Kramer tries to dodge responsibility but ultimately admits that Hester is behind the bigger plot. Avalon breaks Kramer’s neck, ending his role in the conspiracy.
A battered Jennings endures torture at Hester’s direction, while an assault on Sentinel forces unfolds. A heavily armed Avalon bursts into the Sentinel camp, detonates explosives, and frees Jennings. They fight through Hester’s men, killing several, and Jennings diverts an armored limousine carrying Jones before Avalon destroys it with a Sentinel tank, killing Jones and his men. Hester flees but is confronted by Avalon at his desk, where he wounds Avalon with a blitz of high-tech weapons before Avalon fatally stabs Hester as police sirens draw near.
Back at the neighborhood gym, Avalon recovers and plays basketball with children as Jennings drops by to say goodbye before leaving for a vacation. He gifts Avalon a kitten named Joe and, with a wink, leaves the pizza delivery bill for the repairman to settle.
