Counterfeit

8:56PM

Below Paris, Umbrella Paris Facility.

"Umbrella truly is crazy,"

Leon was taken back abruptly by the surreal and shocking surroundings that now encircle him, forcing him to process information slower as he tried to understand not what but how? He stood at the edge of a vast field of tall grass circled by a dark brooding forest that watched Leon with empty eyes and kept in its shadows sinister secrets. Leon looked towards the ceiling and found a manufactured night sky, lights acting as stars shone brightly only to be outdone by a synthetic moon that bathed the area in a ghostly yellow light. The air was stale and didn't have a breeze which was strange considering this was meant to be the Arklay Mountains.

Leon finally clocked, it wasn't real.

It was an incredible feat of engineering and only Umbrella could have made it possible with their vast pockets of money and politicians. Leon realised he must be miles below the city and he wondered how Umbrella drilled this facility out without attracting any attention, however that question was not the one that lingered in his mind at this very moment the most pressing query was 'why?'. What purpose does this serve other to inflate Umbrella's already huge egos, the only other plausible reason Leon could bring up was some sort of testing ground-

Leon remembered what Scarlet had said about some kind of new project Umbrella was developing, maybe Leon had been tricked into becoming one of the guinea pigs. He had walked right into a trap and now he was at the mercy of some dick with a burning sensation to test out his new toys, he wouldn't let them. Leon turned around to find the door that he had come through was now a thick wall of vegetation, he tug at the branches and leaves but to no avail.

Leon would have to play along and hopefully survive long enough to find a way out and get Ada out of here. Grudgingly Leon drew out his M4 and threaded the silencer off its barrel; he switched on its laser sight and finally dug a flare out of his tactical vest and ignited it. The stick sputtered and burnt magnesium white for a few seconds then settled on a fiery orange flame and illuminated Leon's immediate vicinity.

Leon choosing speed over efficiency started to jog into the open grass swivelling around as he did searching every corner. He reached the clearing and checked his surroundings-nothing. Leon continued to advance forward when he stopped as soon as he heard a rustling sound behind him. He paused and scanned his area for anything that could of caused the sound. Leon feared the worst and started his steady jog again but this time his pace was quicker and slightly erratic.

Leon thought he heard the deep panting breaths of a dog but it quickly dissipated into the cold emptiness of the room. Leon quickened his pace but still kept it at comfortable speed so he didn't wear himself out to quickly. Leon was now the breaking from the open into the dark forest when he heard a quiet snarling noise.

He froze and swept the area, the flare he held next to the muzzle shroud of the M4 circled him in a red circle that flickered wider and shorter. Zilch. Maybe this was Umbrella's way of forcing Leon to become insane or prepare him for the test. Whatever he didn't care but if whatever was hunting came out of the shadows it'd receive a volley of lead and a pool of blood for it to drown in. Cautiously Leon carried on and passed a huge oak tree when something out of the shadows darted out and brutally smacked him in the side before slipping back into darkness.

Leon crashed into the ground and felt the air escape his lungs. His weapon clattered across the ground and as he went to reach for it when another shadow poured out of the darkness and cracked it's skull into the small of his back before speeding away again. Leon grabbed his weapon and winced at this new pain he turned onto his back only to watch in horror as a torn and bloody Doberman launched into the air and landed on Leon's chest.

The B.O.W. snapped at Leon's throat but was stopped by the M4 as Leon caught in its jaws, saliva splashed across Leon's face and gave him an adrenaline boost which he used to thrust the Cerberus off his body and jump up. Leon unleashed a volley of gunfire into the downed animal and watched as it's rib cage was torn open by the 5.56mm rounds a cloud of crimson hung over the body while Leon pumped it full off rounds.

Leon managed to catch a breath before he sighted several more Dobermans on the approach. He pushed off and began to sprint at his top speed ignoring the barking sounds that seemed to quickly descend upon him. Leon pushed aside the thought of being eaten alive by a pack of Umbrella's pets and focussed on moving forward and getting away from the immediate threat. Leon risked a glance over his shoulder and spotted 3 Cerberuses merely eight feet from him, Leon needed to slow their pursuit and fast.

Leon noticed a heat sensation being emitted from his hand and remembered he still held onto the flare. Everything seemed to slow as Leon turned and tossed the flare through the air and into, the stick arced over and spun in the air as Leon brought up his M4. He pulled the trigger; the hammer smashed the 5.56mm NATO bullets primer and sent it thundering down the barrel, a spent casing flew from the ejector port and the bullet shattered through the flare as it hit the apex of the arc. The burning stick sparked, ignited and then detonated into burning pieces of confetti a cloud of fiery orange smoke enveloped the blazing shards and created a fiery wall of smoke and flame that confused and disorientated the Dobermans.

Leon used these few seconds and sprinted away he escaped the clutches of the dark forest and reached a clearing. The long field folded out in front of him and at the end he spotted something he wasn't expecting, a mansion. Still running Leon squinted into the distance and confirmed his suspicions; it was the Spencer Estate Leon had heard so much about from S.T.A.R.S.

There was no other place to go so with no other choice Leon B-Lined for the mansion praying the door was open. Leon was ten feet from the door when he spotted the lock was pockmarked with bullet holes, yes. Leon didn't stop as he reached the double doors; he leapt towards and smashed his shoulder against the centre of the doors. As he fell through the air and crashed onto the floor Leon turned on his back and kicked the doors shut just as rotten and decaying dog face blurred close to the door. The slammed shut with a loud thud and Leon tensed his leg muscles and acted as temporary lock while he got his breath back.

As Leon panted he looked around and found himself to be in a grand hall, the floor was tiled with a brilliant white marble that continued up through stairs laced with velvet red carpet, the balconies on the first and second floor were made of dark brown oak and the whole place was lit by dim chandlers that hung from the ceiling. It was just like the RPD main hall.

Leon secured the door before taking a closer look at the area, it was then he noticed a puddle of blood on the floor and only a few feet from lay a scattering of empty shell casings. Somebody else must be here; maybe one of the other combatants Scarlet had spoken of.

But who Leon really wanted to see was Ada; he wanted to find her and see if he had suffered for nothing all this time, he wanted to end the anguish and be released to finally put Umbrella down for good.

Leon knew it was time to move on. He chambered a round with a satisfying click and headed for the dining room doors.

Karen Lawson sat cross-legged on the huge ornate dining room table that dominated the Dining room in her hands she gripped a Beretta 93R Automatic Pistol. Standing at 5'6 and weighing just less than 120lbs she fit perfectly into her frame and every part of her was toned and slimed. Karen's Hazel Brown hair with bleached highlights was tied into a blossoming ponytail and she let her bangs drop down just below her eyes. Her face was perfectly formed with high cheek bones, big chocolate eyes that seemed to glisten, full but not huge lips and a small button nose. Karen had donned a tight white shirt that was rolled up to the elbows and she had unbuttoned down to the start of her cleavage, a black denim skirt that was frayed at the edges and a pair of brown boots that extended up to her knees.

She didn't know what to do, she had searched this whole mansion and had come up with-well zilch. Karen had found a couple of dead carriers which she quickly put down for good, empty halls, blood splattered rooms and nothing else. It was pissing her off that her mission was being held up by this stupid testing hall.

A spy working for the NSA Karen had been sent in to investigate the White Umbrella facility in Paris and link up with another operative: Leon S. Kennedy. Apparently Leon was a survivor from one of Umbrella's disasters and had been raising eight kinds of hell within Umbrella after he started work for the Government. Karen wanted to meet him but she had been tricked into coming here well practically forced by those Umbrella Spec-Ops guys as they chased her into here.

Karen sighed heavily and started to tap her foot when the large doors to the right of her creaked open slightly. Karen dropped down and brought her 93R around to face the incoming her finger rested heavy on the trigger. The door opened and the stubby muzzle of a carbine came through before a tall man followed, he wasn't a carrier that's for sure. He was muscular but not bodybuilder type just slight smaller; he wore a tight black t-shirt made of that anti-sweat material and over that he had black combat webbing, over his legs he had a pair of dark blue denim jeans that dragged over his black combat boots. He was square-jawed and had high cheeks bones hidden slightly by his dark blonde curtains haircut, the one thing that Karen noticed most was his eyes, they were so dark and devoid of caring or mercy.

Karen decided to reveal herself as she darted up and raised her weapon at the figure only to find he had his weapon trained on her. "Freeze!" Her voice was commanding but he did nothing except stare at her with impassive eyes.

"Put your weapon down," The man replied his voice harsh and authoritative.

"I'll shoot," She answered

"No shit, but I'll blow you to hell before your finger can even tighten around the trigger," His words made the hairs on the back of Karen's neck stand on end, but she still kept her gun up.

"Listen I'm not your enemy," She pleaded.

"I'm not yours either nor am I your friend, so lets get to know each other. Whats your name?"

Who the hell was this guy anyway "Karen Lawson, you?"

"Leon Kennedy," Karen thought so; he looked like a fighter like the man she had heard about. She lowered her weapon replaced cold hard determination with a friendly simile.

"Leon I'm not your enemy, I'm a Government Agent sent here to help you,"

"Oh really. Prove it" Karen became annoyed that he never shifted or loosened his grip on the gun.

"Yes I'm with the NSA and your name is Leon Scott Kennedy and are one of the survivors from the Raccoon City incident,"

"Hmm," Leon slowly lowered the weapon and rested it by his side. "We have to get out of here, I…I need to find an informant captured by Umbrella and get her out. You will help me,"

Karen took the gruff response and put it down as a side effect of all the terrors he would have witnessed. "Look I've searched this entire mansion and I've found nothing apart from some corpses,"

"Have you checked the back door?"

"No, the whole of the back part is all locked up, I can't get through,"

Leon grinned devilishly and presented a Frag Grenade which he tossed into the air and caught "It looks like I've got the key,"