A/N: At last another chapter arrives. It's been a good while since we got any concrete info on events in the real world. I had to do a decent amount of research for this, but I learned some interesting bits for future chapters as well. Normally I would've included the events happening in the virtual world as well, but it would have made the chapter convoluted and with an awkward transition. Plus, the chapter would've probably been 10k words. So yeeeaaahhh...no.

Hope you guys are enjoying the story and I appreciate any comments, critiques, suggestions, etc. Next chapter is well underway.


"There is evil within all of us, within monsters and humans alike. I do not claim myself as a perfect being in a flawed world filled with its own imbalance."-Plesios

Chapter 12- Discovered

Seattle, Washington

United States

May 25, 2020

Real World Time- 11:30 PM

Terrance Prest entered the bar and scanned over the crowd. It seemed to be filled with most of the regulars he was accustomed to. There were only a few patrons he didn't recognize, and most looked as if they had just recently reached the legal drinking age. Another group of gentleman wearing leather biker jackets sat at a high-top table. No real cause for concern.

He sought out a booth that stood off to the left side near the bar that had a clear view of the entire room as well as the door and two windows that dominated the front of the establishment. The seats provided his eyes a view that was just high enough to view over the bar to observe any activity on the other side. It also lended him cover so that any other individuals would have to make it obvious that they were analyzing him with a plain stretch of the neck. Terrance had an upper body that was built longer than the average individual, which made his observations of the bar less conspicuous.

He removed his Yankees hat as a pretty waitress in a revealing, white and black referee outfit approached him.

"Are there any others in your party?" she asked with genuine friendliness.

"Yeah, one more," Terrance answered. "I'll take a beer though. You got Yuengling?"

The girl nodded. "Yup. Would you like it bottle or draught?"

"Draught would be great. Same for my friend."

The girl left him to issue his order to the bartender.

At the same time, right on cue, another man entered the bar wearing a shirt with a violent, elaborate design for a metal band that was foreign to Terrance. The man's mussed up, long hair seemed to get in the way of his eyes as he took in his surroundings much the same as Terrance had before. His image was in complete contrast to Terrance's appearance. The man noticed him off in the corner booth and approached him with a brisk pace that wasn't quite fast enough to be perceived as out of the ordinary. He eased himself into the booth and observed the bar before returning his attention to Terrance.

"So, you hear from Emily?"

The man abruptly halted the start of the conversation as the nice waitress returned to their table and set a chilled mug down for each of them.

"Is there anything else I can get for you gentleman?"

"Nah, we're good with the beer."

The girl nodded and moved on to one of her other customers.

When she was well out of earshot Terrance answered the man, "Yeah, everything is well underway. Rick got in and out without a hitch."

The other man sighed with relief. "Damn good." He took a deep gulp of his beer and downed nearly half the pint in one go. He shook his head as his brain took in the cold of the drink.

Terrance followed suit and they sat in silence for a time deep in their own thoughts.

Terrance finally broke the silence. "Paul. Carmen is dead."

The man named Paul nearly dropped his mug at this. He stared at Terrance in disbelief. The expression only lasted for a second though as his previous training kicked in to subconsciously mask his emotions. He took another long drink before responding to this news.

"How?"

"Murder."

Paul leaned back in his seat and drummed his fingers on the table. The cause of death was unexpected. They were all professionals at what they did. Well, except for Moore. He was more of a computer geek than an actual fighter. But there was no way some thugs on the street would be able to take someone out as well-trained as Carmen. Hell, a person would be hard-pressed to find anyone who could kill the man. When you've been to nearly every war-torn country across the Pacific it was difficult to get a man like that into a scenario he hasn't seen before. With that kind of experience, you'd practically need an army. The ones who killed him were possibly on their level. What was of even greater concern now was how they had managed to find out who he was.

"We've been off the grid for years," Paul commented. "I should know. I was with Rick when he wiped everything. None of the files even had our names on them in the first place. We were ghosts and codenames. As far as the world was concerned, our organization didn't even exist. So how the hell did they find him?"

Terrance shrugged and went to take another drink but realized that his glass was already empty.

"I couldn't tell you," he answered. "But whoever was after Takamura is after us now. They might not know about all of us. Actually, scratch that, they don't know about all of us. If that were the case, Rick and Emily would probably be dead already. They are sitting right in enemy territory after all."

Paul nodded. "Good point. But shit. Carmen huh. Don't think that will ever sink in."

They both sat in a long, uncomfortable silence. The next ten minutes passed quietly and was only interrupted as Terrance ordered another round when the waitress walked by.

"This is all crazy," Paul muttered as he went to work on his second beer. "A code that creates entire worlds. The hell is up with that?"

Terrance sighed and went back to examining their surroundings before making his own statement, "Yeah pretty absurd. We'll have to get more details from Rick when we meet up with them. He and Takamura were pretty close apparently."

The sound of glass shattering caught the pair's attention and they instinctively reached for the weapons at their waists. They relaxed as a waitress apologized to the bikers that Terrance had noted before and went to cleaning up the mug she had dropped.

Terrance pushed the topic in another direction as an interesting bit of information occurred to him. It was like the twitch of his instincts had jump-started his thought process. "So, you hear about these so-called Players?"

Paul shrugged. "Not much. Only that we have a few prospects who might be sympathetic to our cause."

Terrance shook his head. "That's not all. Get this. One of them is-"

He abruptly went silent and held the thought as he noticed a black SUV pull up nearly out of sight across the street from the bar. It was only by sheer luck that he happened to be moving to rest his shoulder against the wall that he was able to see the vehicle. A second happenstance confirmed his suspicions. A second SUV of similar design passed in front of the building and disappeared down the street as a parking space was taken by another car. A group of men in black sports jackets exited the first vehicle and seemed to examine the area. They began to make their way across the street toward the bar as the traffic thinned out.

Paul didn't need an explanation. The expression on Terrance's face was enough. He rose from his seat assuming an air of calm and tossed a wad of bills on the table for the waitress before he made his way with Terrance to the back of the bar.

A few of the employees eyed them curiously as they made their way past the kitchen to the back door, but the two men seemed to exude a tense aura that forced them to keep their distance.

Paul took point and eased the rear door open. He peered through the thin slit he made and observed two men in black turn the corner and enter the alley outside. He gazed upwards to the roof of the opposite building and didn't note any movement. It was difficult to tell if the same was true for the building they occupied from his angle so he produced a thin rectangular mirror from the small pouch attached to his waste. He moved it back and forth outside the door and found nothing but the dark sky in the reflection. There was still no guarantee that there wasn't anyone above or moving into position at that moment. They would have to move quickly.

Paul held up two fingers to Terrance, motioned upwards with his fingers together, and shook his head. If the other men made any move to their waists then they wouldn't hesitate to take them out. They couldn't be sure of who they were or of their intentions, but no chances could be taken. There was too much at stake. There was no such thing as coincidence.

Paul and Terrance drew their pistols from their holsters and screwed the suppressors hooked to their belts onto the barrels. They kept the guns to the side that would be out of view from the other two men to feign a lack of hostility. Terrance motioned Paul forward and they entered the alley and put on a surprised expression at seeing the two men in black. The men reached for the weapons at their waists instinctively. Paul and Terrance dropped them with three trained shots to the chest and the two men dropped. The only sound that could be heard was the soft thump of the pistols and the dull thud of the bodies collapsing.

They didn't waste any time moving in the opposite direction. They made their way to an open, square culdesac littered with trash that concealed spray painted lines that indicated it may have once been used as a basketball court for pickup games. Unfortunately, the only way out was a second alley. The buildings hugged too close together for any other exits.

Paul scanned the buildings with his trained observation while Terrance edged along the walls of the alley. They met no resistance and reached the end of the alley that opened up to another street.

"Just a block up," Paul whispered.

He had decided to park his car a few blocks down from the bar to prepare for the exact situation they now found themselves in. It was a policy that had served him well when he worked undercover. There was no point in placing a means of escape where the enemy would most likely be situated for an attack.

Only a few pedestrians moved along the street. There was little to no congestion on the road save for a few illegally parked cars that could potentially make it difficult to maneuver between the opposing lanes.

To the left was Paul's car, a 2019 silver Toyota Tundra situated in the nearest parallel parking spot with no cars blocking its front. However, next to the car standing on the sidewalk were two individuals in similar attire to the men they had met in the alley. The men inconspicuously held their pistols at their sides and positioned themselves to keep the weapons out of sight as pedestrians passed by. Two more stood on the opposite sidewalk and pretended to be engaged in idle chatter as they scanned the street.

Paul swore under his breath and Terrance looked at him quizzically.

"Four of them out there," Paul answered Terrance's look.

"How the hell did they know where you parked?"

Paul shook his head. "No idea. Scanned my car and everything. No bugs or GPS locators. Nothing. I always check before I go out."

It was true. Paul was probably the most paranoid out of all of them. Even more so than Emily. Checking all the closets and attic spaces in the house or any other potential places to hide was a policy of his whenever he returned home. He even went so far as to install cameras in every corner of the house. He wasn't just simply thorough.

Terrance risked a glance past Paul so he could gauge the situation in the street. There was no view of the windows on the buildings to either side of them. He would have to rely on Paul to take care of the men on the nearest sidewalk while he cleared the windows.

He noted a black Hyundai Accent parked next to a metal newspaper box to the right side. If there was anyone in the buildings on their side of the street then he would at least have cover to his front and rear. The position also provided an angle with a decent shot to the other side of the road. If the windows were clear then he could deal with the other two men across the street while Paul took cover behind his car. There didn't appear to be any other obvious variables, but the unpredictable ones always seemed to rear their ugly heads seemingly out of nowhere at the wrong time.

Terrance relayed his plan to Paul who nodded his assent. They agreed that waiting too long would not be in their best interest. When the men inside the bar returned empty-handed they would know something was up. Then they would likely discover the bodies in the alley shortly after and would advance in their direction. The slightest twitch would be acceptable now.

They received a better opportunity than they could have hoped for. Almost simultaneously, a woman walking down the opposite sidewalk approached one of the men and seemed to be inquiring about something as one of the men on the nearest sidewalk lifted the hand holding his pistol to scratch his nose. They might as well not have been armed in the first place.

Paul rushed out of the alley with his pistol already aimed and embedded three bullets into the man slightly more prepared than his partner who was now making a poor attempt at pointing his pistol. That split second it took to extend his arm away from his face to take aim was more than enough for Paul to fire two more shots: one that drove into the second man's shoulder and another that pierced his forehead. The man's head lolled to the side as his lifeless body collapsed to the cement.

The two men across the street saw their partners collapse and trained their weapons on Paul's position, but he was already on the move as he fired his pistol. He let off a few shots to force them to cover so Terrance could scan the two buildings behind them.

A quick scan of the buildings was more than enough for Terrance's trained senses and he lowered himself into a crouch as he made his way to cover. The disoriented assailants managed to let off a few rounds, but the closest one glanced off the trunk of the small car which was at least a good ten feet away.

Terrance spared a glance over to Paul who was now pulling out a handheld device from his back pocket that looked like some sort of cellphone. He ran the scanner over the length of the car and nodded with satisfaction as he opened the passenger side door. A single bullet sailed over Paul's head. He was unfazed as he pulled himself into the driver's seat.

Terrance let loose the rest of the rounds in the gun's magazine and made a run for the car. The two men in black removed themselves from cover seconds too late as Terrance jumped into the passenger seat. The car was already on the move. A couple of stray shots dug into the side of the car but none penetrated.

The two companions were about to relax themselves when a pair of familiar black SUVs turned around a corner at the intersection ahead.

"Sonuvabitch," Paul grumbled in irritation. He pointed to Terrance's seat. "Underneath. Get some lead."

Terrance complied and found under the seat a Folding Machine Gun (FMG) along with five magazines. He unfolded the machine gun, locked it securely in weapon phase, and rested the stock against his shoulder as he inserted the first magazine. He stared at the magazine in puzzlement with the slight change in weight he was accustomed to with this sort of weapon.

"How many-" Terrance was interrupted as Paul jerked the wheel to the left and clipped the back end of a Corvette. He was thankful that the other car had pulled up illegally on the crosswalk at the red light. It gave them just enough room to creep past the other car that was pulling forward. Paul made a hard right as the front wheels of the car bounced them up briefly from the curb before they turned back onto the street to avoid the vehicles that attempted to block them.

"Thirty-five rounds, nine-millimeters," Paul said anticipating the question.

Judging from the design, foldable stock, and magazine, Terrance could ascertain that the weapon was a new class of FMG: the FMG 12. The weapon had little to no recoil and was a weapon praised for its versatility.

Terrance glanced at the rear view mirror and observed that the two other vehicles that pursued them had managed to collect themselves. He rolled down the window and readied himself. It was inevitable that they would eventually be overtaken. Even though it was nearly midnight it was still a major city, and much of the populace was out and about to enjoy the nightlife that it had to offer.

The black SUVs separated, one taking to the lane beside the Toyota and the other maintaining position to the rear.

"Scare them a bit!" Paul growled through gritted teeth. He turned into the middle lane to give Terrance a clearer shot at the vehicle in the far lane.

Terrance opted to switch the FMG to automatic. He aimed the weapon towards the bottom half of the vehicle near the tires and pulled the trigger in two successive bursts as to not expend the precious ammo in one go and to maintain accuracy. His marksmanship was genuine and a loud satisfying pop like a miniature explosion reached his ears and one of the front tires of the SUV choked and caused the front end to sag to the left awkwardly. The driver panicked and jerked the wheel roughly to send the car straight into a streetlamp. The front hood caved inward and the car practically wrapped itself around the pole in a jaw of devastated metal.

"That's some nice shooting," Paul commented. He took a left at the next intersection and squeezed between two cars. He adroitly pulled across the lane of automobiles moving in the opposite direction and they were back on the correct side of the road. Miraculously, the driver of the SUV behind them managed to mimic this move and increased in speed as he gained confidence.

Terrance was about to speak when the rear window shattered and the rattle of bullets echoed off the skyscrapers. He steeled himself and rested the machine gun on the head of his seat and pumped out the rest of the rounds in his magazine. He ducked down as his pursuers returned fire and he reloaded the gun.

The engine of the Toyota roared as Paul stomped his foot on the accelerator. The sudden increase in speed jolted Terrance. He was about to protest this decision when he noticed the light ahead had just turned yellow. Paul was going to try and beat the light just as it turned red. The perpendicular traffic to the intersection might be able to keep their enemies from passing through.

As they neared the light, Paul let out a cry of dismay as an all too familiar vehicle turned a corner two intersections ahead.

"Dammit! How many of these fu-" Terrance froze as he saw a black blur out of the corner of his eye. It was just outside of Paul's window drawing closer.

Before Terrance could collect himself, the Toyota suddenly launched to the right and slid across the cement. A sharp pain impacted the side of his head and he could hear the muffled but unmistakable scraping of metal as the tires of their car screamed in retaliation to the force that defied their purpose. One of the rims dislodged and the vehicle lurched even further to the side before it finally came to rest with the driver side crumpled like aluminum foil.

Everything was a blur. Terrance could make out various shapes and colors but what they were associated with eluded him. The pain in the side of his head intensified as he attempted to regulate his situation. As his vision began to clear he forced his stiff neck to turn.

Terrance saw Paul with his head resting limp on his chest with eyes closed. Blood soaked through his shirt and was clearly discernible even with its dark color. His left arm was trapped by the door that snaked around the arm and cut deeply into his flesh. The mortal wound was a piece of metal that impaled his throat, angled inward due to the door's collision with the other car.

Paul suppressed the grief over his friend's death and searched desperately for the machine gun. There was no time to mourn.

He found the weapon quicker than he had expected. It was right on the floor in front of him and he reached for it with his one working arm. He hooked a finger on the trigger and eased it closer so he could wrap his hands around the handle.

Just before he could grab the weapon in a firm grip, the passenger side door swung open and a pair of hands seized him and flung him out onto the street. Terrance gasped as the air left his lungs and the pain in his head intensified with the impact. From sheer will he maintained his grip on the weapon. This resistance was brief as a heavy shoe stomped on his hand and kicked the weapon out of reach. He clenched his teeth in pain as someone pushed his arms aside to remove the pistol from his holster. Everything was blurry again. It felt like his brain had just collided with his skull. The lights lining the street were akin to pulsing stars.

Terrance blinked for several pained seconds to clear his vision, but to no avail.

The voice of an irritated male was audible somewhere off to the side. Terrance allowed his neck to release the support on his head so he could make a sideways glance at the direction of the voice.

"Sloppy," the voice said simply.

"Sorry sir, we didn't expect-"

"I don't want to hear it. You didn't expect them to notice you? Driving up in your black SUVs with tinted windows and wearing your matching sports coats. Gee, not suspicious at all. Good work genius." The first man, who was obviously in charge and with his sarcastic tone, made the other man visibly nervous.

Terrance could feel himself teetering on the edge of consciousness, but he was still able to collect his thoughts and interpret his position. If they wanted him dead they would have finished him off already. They wanted him alive. As long as he could still draw breath there was something to be salvaged. It was the way he was trained to think. No matter how hopeless the situation, there was still something that could arrange a way out. He determined to bide his time until then and collect whatever information he could until the time was right.

The frustrated man spoke again, "I also distinctly remember in the briefing that we needed one of them alive. This guy ain't looking so hot. And now that you guys made a mess, I have to clean it up and deal with the authorities. This is why I use my own guys. Not a bunch of incompetent corporate mercenaries."

"Sorry sir," the other man's reply was barely even a croak.

"Just take him to the designated checkpoint. As long as you drive between the lines you won't have problems. Can you handle that?"

"Yes sir."

The leader laughed humorlessly, "Wonderful! You have instilled so much confidence in me now."

With that final statement a pair of brown loafers planted themselves in front of Terrance's eyes and a figure crouched in front of him. The man examined Terrance up and down before clicking his tongue with distaste and stepped over Terrance's body as the sound of sirens could be heard in the distance.

Terrance's body refused to move and protested against his efforts. He wanted to at least see the man's face but found that even the simple tilt of his head was now a daunting task. His body screamed as a hand hooked underneath each of his armpits and dragged him to one of the black SUVs waiting in the middle of the street.

Terrance blacked out.