'Unplugged'

So we all know I've stayed mostly with Gears of War or Halo in my fan fiction writings. Today, I introduce to you a plan six months in the making. I've been working very hard over the past six months, taking many hours after school and play practice, to devise a plan so big, I have literally feared and anticipated it's great unveiling.

While I haven't typed the entire thing, I now have a set ending. No more of this plot hole business that I am notorious for. There is no re-writing this story, there will be no redo's after I have posted the final chapter. As we go along, I might request a suggestion on where to take the character yet. My goal is to have this be my longest running story on the board, while holding the most amount of content feasible. It is also my hope that this new twist on writing is accepted well by you guys.

Without further adieu, I present Unplugged, which may turn out to be either my finest story, or my greatest failure.

'Unplugged'

By Shad0wChas3r

Prologue: Echoes

Unknown Location

William's lungs were on the verge of bursting, his heart's inconsistent beating rattled his chest, as his warm breath poured out of his smoke in tiny wisps. They were insane, this was insane. Clutching his weapon tighter, William crept forward down the dark sewer tunnel, the only sources of light were the flickering light on the ceiling above him, and the flashlight clipped to the bottom of his rifle.

'Gotta keep moving, get to the end, and I'll be safe.' William attempted to reassure himself, as his motion sensor pinged.

His heart stopped momentarily, as all was silent. Turning on his heels, the flamethrower attached below his barrel lit itself, as a small jet of napalm thrust outwards. Flashing the tunnel with his flashlight in a sweeping motion, William backed off, whatever was moving before had stopped.

Something was wrong, and he knew it. Turning on his heels once more, William sprinted down the tunnel, as the sensor continued beeping, getting considerably louder as whatever pursued him drew closer. Ducking into a service room to his left, William used his strong arms to close the gate doors, as a hand materialized between the gap made by the two part door. A pair of blades sprang forward, as William ducked, firing his assault rifle through the gap, baring his teeth as he emptied an entire clip into the gap.

Convinced he had done well, William shut the door with ease. Laying with his back to the door, William cradled the weapon across his chest. Breathing deeply, things were silent once more, which was both a blessing, and a curse. Were they trying to kill him? He hadn't signed on to this company knowing there was this much risk.

He had so much to live for outside of the company. He had a wife, a college student. He couldn't afford to die now, not with his son's graduation only a week and a half away. A tear fell down his cheek. He HAD to survive this, or that dream would never come into fruition.

Then he heard it. Tensing, William held the rifle up, flashing his light at what appeared to be a round, open banana in the corner. The large automatic door beside it opened up, as a man with a suit entered, armed with a single pistol.

"Oh thank god!" William exclaimed. "I'm glad to see yo-"

Before William could react, a five limbed beast, with a tiny injector at the center of it, attached itself to his jaw, rapping it's tail around his neck in a vice grip. William tried to scream, as he felt something slimy slide down his throat. Looking over to the familiar man for help, another man trotted in beside him.

The first man admired William's suffering, as he observed the Facehugger performing it's duties. Grinning from ear to ear, the man knelt beside William, who soon grew faint. Holding is pistol up to the Facehugger, William's eyes opened with horror, as if pleading the man to restrain himself.

"Your services are no longer required, we have the necessary data we need."

Trembling all over, William's abilities to resist were becoming a burden, and soon he was too weak to even move, only able to accept his fate, as the man fired a round, blasting William's brain out the back of his head.

"Game over, punk." The second man chuckled.

The first man observed William's corpse.

"Pull the plug. I grow weary of this place, ja."

The second man pulled a remote out of his back pocket, pressing a series of buttons, the reality shifted around them, as they found themselves in a blank white room. Three machines, resembling old time arcade racing games, were lined against the wall, one of them, with a headless young man sitting in it's chair.

"Beta testing was a success, sir." The second man stated. "Virtual reality works."

"I can tell." The first man whistled, pointing towards William's body. "Get me ze heads of IGN, Gamespot, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. 'Unplugged' is going live."

Prologue is short, I realize this. But if I tried to lengthen it anymore, I fear I might ruin the suspense. They will be longer, following this one.

Holy shit, was that ALIENS?

Are video games coming to life?

Oh god.

Master Chief and Samus? Link and Mario? Fallout creatures and Skyrim Dragons?

The Dovakhiin riding into battle on Epona with MJOLNIR armour equipped with an omni tool on his arm and fighting off hordes of Alien infected Flood infected by Reapers infected by Lament?

Will the Covenant show up try to glass Earth? Will the Locust pop up from the Earth and try to defend Earth along with Humanity?

Will the UNSC meet the systems alliance and join forces? Will the Innies join forces with the stranded against th COG?

And what will real world militaries being doing? Can 'MURICA handle it, or will they finally admit defeat? Would nations like North Korea being willing to team up with their enemies to restore order?

Or will the scientists from Wolfestein cause the rise of the fourth Reich? Will the Black Ops II squad come in and aid in WWIII?

Where will the video game factions fall?

HOLY SHIT WHAT'S THE DIDACT GOING TO DO? Promethans are just going to go in and start Holocaust 2.0!

Does Humanity stand any chance? And more importantly... Will Earth survive or will real life militaries jump the gun and launch nukes, creating Fallout 4????!!!!!!

HOLY SHIT!

*dies of heart attack*

Manny wrote:Holy shit, was that ALIENS?

Are video games coming to life?

Oh god.

Master Chief and Samus? Link and Mario? Fallout creatures and Skyrim Dragons?

The Dovakhiin riding into battle on Epona with MJOLNIR armour equipped with an omni tool on his arm and fighting off hordes of Alien infected Flood infected by Reapers infected by Lament?

Will the Covenant show up try to glass Earth? Will the Locust pop up from the Earth and try to defend Earth along with Humanity?

Will the UNSC meet the systems alliance and join forces? Will the Innies join forces with the stranded against th COG?

And what will real world militaries being doing? Can 'MURICA handle it, or will they finally admit defeat? Would nations like North Korea being willing to team up with their enemies to restore order?

Or will the scientists from Wolfestein cause the rise of the fourth Reich? Will the Black Ops II squad come in and aid in WWIII?

Where will the video game factions fall?

HOLY SHIT WHAT'S THE DIDACT GOING TO DO? Promethans are just going to go in and start Holocaust 2.0!

Does Humanity stand any chance? And more importantly... Will Earth survive or will real life militaries jump the gun and launch nukes, creating Fallout 4????!!!!!!

HOLY SHIT!

*dies of heart attack*

I'll take it that you are excited, that means that so far, I'm doing well.

It isn't going to be exactly how you described it, but ideas like that MIGHT be plausible later on in the story, more will be revealed with the next chapter, which coincidentally, coincides with E3's opening day.

Edit: Yes, that was Aliens vs. Predator, by the by.

Chapter 1: Innovation

"Hello, I'm Howard Stiles from Machinima, and we're broadcasting to you live here at E3!" The young man grinned, sitting comfortably in a lounge chair, a floating flat screen television beside. "Today we have a very special guest, who is here to share his newest innovation in the video gaming world. Klaus Steiner!"

The middle aged man waved from his chair, gingerly lifting a glass of water to his parched lips. Smiling, he replaced the glass on the coaster, before lounging backwards in his chair.

"Mr. Steiner, can you give us any details about your latest innovation?" Stiles asked, holding his microphone over to the german.

"Ja." Steiner grinned. "It is with great pride that Cosmic Games introduces our newest product; 'Unplugged'."

"Sounds fancy, care to give us some details on it. Firstly, is it a console, or a game itself?"

"Funny you should ask, mein freund," Steiner chuckled, running his hand along his short, orderly hair. "I can share some details on ze 'Unplugged'. 'Unplugged' is a revolution in ze vay people play zer video games. To answer your question, ze 'Unplugged' is ze equivalent of a console, but different. I have brought vith me today a video, showcasing ze product, and it's use."

"I think fans of Cosmic Games are eager to have a look, Mr. Steiner." Stiles grinned.

Steiner placed a flash drive into the port of the floating television, as the screen came to life, showing off an old, racing arcade style gaming system.

"Some of our fans might sink zat zis product might be encumbersome for ze household, but as ve get closer to production, ze size vill be modified for minimum space required."

"So, can you tell us a bit about how it works?"

"Vhy of course!" Steiner bellowed with a hearty laugh. "You take a seat, and ze 'Unplugged' hitches itself to your central nervous system, essentially emersing you into the game of your choosing."

"Wait," Stile's smile encompassed the entirety of his face, his eyes widening with glee. "You guys have perfected virtual reality gaming?!"

"Essentially, ja, ve have." Steiner nonchalantly grasped his cup, sipping his liquid as the video continued. "Players vill be able to interact vith their surrounds unlike ever before. Each game zat is entered into 'Unplugged' vill receive an immediate update, vhich vill result in ze game evolving to the player's presence. Characters vill react to you based on your neural networks, and the AI vill be much more advanced."

Stile's jaw dropped, as he sat there, completely dumbfounded.

"How much will this product set gamers back?" Stiles asked. "Surely technology this advanced would cause an arm and a leg?"

"Ze 'Unplugged' vill cost ze player no less zen $600 dollars US. Ozer countries of ze vorld vill pay a much similar price."

"Absolutely incredible, thank you Mr. Steiner, I speak for many of the video gaming community when I say I am excited for the 'Unplugged's release. Speaking of which, any word on a release date?"

"Ja, 'Unplugged' will be ready for home installment, cost included, on July force, twenty-forty-shree."

"Thank you so much, and that's it for us here at E3, we'd like to thank you again for choosing Machinima as your go too news cast in all things gaming, have a great day!"

"Simply amazing." Frederick Richardson remarked, turning off the television. "Now that, students, is what I call innovation. After you complete this course, you'll be thrown out into the world in an attempt to top THAT!"

"Do you think that can actually be possible, or is he just using that ol' helmet cam thing that simulated virtual reality?" A young man quipped from the back.

"Oh," Fred paused. "There is no doubt in my mind that the Klaus Steiner could create virtual reality, and make it possible! A fine question, as always, Ms. Valentine. Unlike Mr. McLeary over there, presumably texting someone again."

Henry McLeary, an intelligent young man, stiffened for a moment as he heard his name. Yes, he had been texting, but not for the reasons Mr. Richardson was assuming. Hurriedly, Henry stashed the phone in his pocket.

"Sorry Mr. Richardson, my mother and I haven't heard word from my father for a while, we're starting to get a bit anxious is all."

"Toughen up, you whiny bitch." Justin 'The Jock' Haselton growled. "At least you had a father, you little worm."

Justin was like all the rest of the jocks at the University of Maine; strong, stupid, and liked to play competitive video games when they weren't busy sack tapping each other in the locker rooms. Henry shook his head at the image, before turning his attention towards the other members of his small class.

There was Autumn Valentine, she had two distinguishing traits; a body that drew your attention away from her martial art skills, and she was supposedly the reigning champion of Dead Rising survival competitions four years running. Henry smiled shyly at her, as she scribbled on her notebook.

Turning his attention to her immediate right, where Jackie Cardinal sat there, whistling like a bird while she sat attentively towards Mr. Richardson, paying no mind to the fact that Henry was looking at her, if she even noticed. Behind her was Christine 'Ditz' Ditzler, while she too held a bombshell appearance like her friend Autumn Valentine, Christine held true to the stereotype that blondes were complete ditz'. Henry chuckled to himself as he remembered the time she once tried to turn on her Xbox One by sticking the plug into a potato, after the outlet had failed on her.

Suddenly, an elbow gently jabbed into Henry's side, as he gazed to his right, where Roofus 'Doofus' Fletcher sat. The young college student was portly, putting it kindly. Rolls of fat spilled out onto the desk in front of him, but he didn't seem in the least concerned about his appearance. Henry knew that while he was no good at being a video game developer, he knew what made games tick. Weapon balance, cheat codes, glitches, game changing bugs that Devs over looked, name a game, he could probably tell you when, how and precisely what moment the bug it will occur. Henry wouldn't be surprised if his old High School friend had a library full of books he wrote on all the games he's played, and how they could be improved.

Roofus wrote down a note, sliding it along to Henry, while Mr. Richardson's back was turned for a moment, arguing with Justin, as always. Pointing to Henry's left, Henry passed the note to Keith Provance. Keith had been a friend of Roofus' and Henry's since their High School years, and they all had decided that video game industry was the career choice for them. Keith scoffed for a moment, glancing quickly over the note, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"HA!" Keith snorted, as all eyes fell on him.

"Mind telling the class what is so funny?" Mr. Richardson sighed, turning on his heels.

"Sorry sir." Keith retreated into his seat. "Roofus' challenged me to a match of Assassins Creed IV multiplayer. What an old game!"

"Remember that in my class, we take challenges seriously!" Mr. Richardson grinned. "And an old game doesn't make it a bad game! Go ahead, go into the gaming room and show him who's boss. Hell, why don't all of you go ahead, it's the last week of school, and I don't typically have a final for this class."

Henry grinned, this was the reason he really liked Mr. Richardson as a teacher. He had his moments of gruffness, but typically he was a pretty laid back man. That's why Video game development 101 was his class of choice for the past four years of his life. Graduating from this class was going to be different for him.

With that, the class lifted themselves from their seats and proceeded into the next room, where Mr. Richardson literally had four of every console in existence lined up on the wall, with quite the collection of games for each one of them available. Roofus and Keith grabbed two copies of Assassin's Creed IV from the shelf, and proceeded over to the Xbox One systems.

"Hey Autumn." Henry approached her nervously. "Care for a contest?"

"What kind?" Autumn spoke bluntly, her voice genuine, but more harsh then she might've meant.

"A Dead Rising Three survival mode contest? Same weapon modifications, same number of air-strikes to be called in, and one with the longest time is pronounced winner?"

"Never played against you before in the other tournies." She grinned. "Sure, a challenge would be nice for a change."

"Excellent!" Jackie grinned, winking at Henry. "I'll be the judge of this match, seeings how I'm neutral ground, being both of you guy's friend."

The two grabbed the game off of the shelf, proceeded to the last two Xbox Ones, and started the game up. Henry tensed, but he knew that this was his chance to finally ask her out, but the outcome would say it all.

A world where girls can be asked out on dates over video games?

Screw this century I wanna live in the future!

Chapter 2: Championship

Henry and Autumn started up their Xbox Ones, after having popped in their game disks. Their Kinect sensors were turned on, as Jackie tapped them both on the shoulder, counting down from three, each player moved the character to the same exact location, which would count as their 'Starting Point'.

Turning off the sound sensors for their Kinects, Jackie had them both pause their games, as they looked up at her.

"You all know the rules of this game. When I say go, I will start both of these stop watches. When you die, I will press your stop watch off. Whoever survived the longest wins the contest. You are free to use whatever weapons you pick up around the world, but you are only allowed one modification. This is the Sledge-Saw. Kinect sound sensors will be on, so feel free to yell as much as you'd like to attempt to attract Zombies to the other combatant, but remember that the Zombies in your game will hear you as well." Jackie looked at both of the combatants. "Go."

Pressing the button on the stop watches, she turned on the Kinect sensors, ducking out of the way of both gamers. Henry started by hopping behind the wheel of a Chevy Camaro, plowing his way through the horde. Of course, this noisy approach gathered their attention, as the thousands upon thousands of Zombies charged his position. One of the beasts jumped on the door of his car, as he made his in game avatar smash the door open and closed to knock the creature off.

Autumn, on the other hand, clambered onto a van, firing a flare off into the distance, as the Horde chased after the glowing red projectile. Pulling out an assault rifle she had located on the street, she charged her way forward into a wrestling club, where a single sledgehammer lay on the floor ahead of her. Grasping it, she trotted outside, where she continued to search for the buzz saw.

Henry shook his head, she knew ALL the weapon spawns, by the looks of it. Things were tense on his screen, his negligence had caused him to crash into a fire hydrant. The car totaled, Henry's avatar clambered out of the vehicle and on top of it, the Horde finally catching up with him. Hopping towards the buildings, his avatar's hands latched onto the ledge of the building, as he clambered up.

"Well that's some sort of a glitch!" Autumn spat, competitive as always. She clasped a hand over her mouth, however, when the Zombies on both screens turned towards their respective avatars. Henry's character rolled onto his side, panting heavily at the workout he was receiving. The door leading up to the roof smashed open by a small group of Zombies.

Pulling out his wrench, Henry's character smashed a few of the Zombies dead, until more continued to gush out. Trapped on the roof, he had to risk hurting his character more by jumping to the street side below. Grasping a LMG off of the ground, Henry charged to the nearby Diner. If he wasn't going to be safe on the roof, or in the streets, he'd rather tunnel them through the Diner and gun them all down.

Autumn, however, dealt with her attracted horde differently, finally locating her buzz-saw, she took a brief moment to construct the Sledge-Saw, the ingenious weapon had a buzz-saw on the bottom of the sledge hammer's stick, with the head of the hammer on the opposite edge. Holding the filthy weapon in the dead center, her character span in a circle, the horde sliced or bludgeoned by the weapon. Pressing a certain command, her character ran the saw end of the weapon up the spin of one Zombie, effectively slicing it directly in half.

"THAT'S BULL SHIT!" Keith roared at Roofus. "HOW IN THE HELL ARE YOU THAT GOOD AT THIS GAME?!"

Both of the combatants shuddered, as the inescapable noise of an encroaching Horde echoed out of their TVs. Keith sighed, gathering a SmartGlass, as Christine did the same, joining Autumn's side.

Keith pressed a few places on the Smartglass, as Henry ducked for cover inside the diner. Outside of his building, explosives rained down from the heavens as Keith summoned an airstrike. Christine did the same for Autumn, but directly over her character. Autumn growled, frustrated, as she narrowly escaped the danger zone. Any zombies within proximity had been obliterated. Her character, completely wounded to almost zero health, limped away from the explosive site. Henry knew victory was in his grasp.

Looking over at Autumn momentarily, he could tell that she was upset that her title was about to be ripped from her. Shaking his head, Henry pressed the same space on Keith's SmartGlass, charging his way out into the street.

"Dude?!" Keith roared. "What're you doing?!"

Jackie smiled, as she prepared to click off Henry's stop-watch. Autumn, one to deny charity, did the same with Christine's SmartGlass.

"COME AND GET ME YOU ASSHOLES!" Henry roared, shooting his LMG into the air, the missiles from his air strike closing in on him.

"NO, COME AND GET ME!" She roared, she would not win like this.

One Zombie clamped it's jaw around Henry's character's neck, as the missiles finally detonated, ending his survival. Jackie turned off his stop-watch, as Autumn's died nearly a millisecond after his.

"It's official!" Jackie grinned. "Autumn gets to keep her title!"

Autumn stood, walking over to Henry. Slapping her hand across her face, she stormed out of the room. Henry held the room, both shocked and disappointed. Keith nodded, finally realizing what he had done.

"You are a sweet guy Henry, she'll let you know that. She's just so competitive that she doesn't like to win in situations like that. You had her clearly beat, but you gave it up, and while she'll appreciate that soon, she'll be angry with you for a while." Jackie placed a hand on his shoulder. "And I think she really likes you, the last time someone did that, she didn't try to get herself killed. It's almost as if she WANTED you to beat her in the game."

Mr. Richardson entered the room, grinning as always.

"You guys are dismissed, we'll see you tomorrow. Remember that our exam time is in two days, and I want you to bring all your favorite games. We'll be holding a Tourney here instead of a final."

Chapter 3: The Leak.

Hope you guys don't think this died. I apologize if Jensen was reading this, I would've loved to update before he left, but I was thinking of how best to execute this next chapter. I've wrote and re-written it on numerous occasions, and this version is the one I'm happiest with.

Evan Jordan couldn't live with himself anymore, the stress of working for Steiner was too much for him to handle. The dirty secret behind 'Unplugged' was too much responsibility NOT to let the public know. Grasping his picture of his wife and young daughter, Evan's eyes welled up. He knew that what he was about to do would put himself at risk, and thanked god that he hadn't provided the company with his mailing address. So long as they remained safe, and the news got out, he could die happy.

Clacking away at the keyboard in front of him, he tensed slightly as Klaus Steiner himself walked past his cubicle, his three closest co-workers; Yuri Mienkov, Han Shirigoto, and Abigail Mutt walked alongside him. Evan sighed in relief as he pressed the enter key, finalizing the article, sending it to a remote site where the most notorious of gamer's could find it.

Briskly, he scavenged all of his important possessions, piling them into a cardboard box as quickly as he could. Pulling his fedora off of his hat rack, he scooted himself down the hall. Turning the corner, the rotary doors were so close, he could feel the freedom of the sun.

However, a strong arm gripped him by the back of the neck, as he was dragged back around the corner. Holding his crucifix in his hand, Evan prayed to the Lord above that his family be safe.

"Ah Evan Jordan. A bright new member of our game making family. It's unfortunate seeing such an ambitious young gentleman such as yourself trying to, as you Americans say; flew the coupe, jah? You didn't provide twenty-four hour's notice before your departure. Zis means only one thing, automatic termination of your contract. Viktor, if you please. "

Evan's co-workers stopped working from their cubicles as they heard the ominous cries of Evan screaming in pain, the crunching of bones accompanying him. There was a loud bang, followed by the sound of splatter, and then a loud thud. It served as a reminder of what it meant to work for Klaus Steiner, the workers continued their jobs. If they tried to leave work early, they were all as good as dead.

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The next day of school started out like any other in Mr. Richardson's class. They spent the first five minutes listening about game development news, or watching E3, if it was available.

Henry sighed as Autumn glared at him angrily. He had thought he did the right thing, she could keep her title, and she'd be appreciative of him. He hadn't expected that she perhaps wanted to lose to him. The whole plan had back-fired, and he knew that Justin stood a better chance with her now, more than ever.

Jackie, ever the optimist, nodded with a smile beside her. Keith nodded, placing a hand on Henry's shoulder, as Rufus removed his finger from his nose. Wiping it on his desk, he proceeded to place the hand on Henry's shoulder. On a normal day, Henry would have been revolted. But the sentimental value of his friends lifted his spirits, as Mr. Richardson finished his rant about the pros and cons about DRM.

Following that, their teacher left the room for his morning coffee, the universal sign that they could go on their computers and research game development information, or continue work on their own Indie games. For Justin, he watched gameplay video on FIFA '43, a game releasing for the 'Unplugged' console in the following year.

Roofus pulled up his favorite web page, as his jaw dropped.

"Henry, Keith, you're gonna wanta see this!" Roofus yelled, pointing to the screen.

Sending the link to Henry and Keith, the two opened the web-page, scrolling down the video.

"-It is with great fear I announce the next big secret of the 'Unplugged' console coming out later this year- writes Evan Jordan, Manager of Sales at Cosmic Games." Henry read the page aloud.

"As many of you may be aware, 'Unplugged' sucks the player into their favorite games, which, depending on their generation, receives an update to add on the new functionality of the console. However, for gamers that enjoy games with a 'lives' system, beware! If you die in the game, you die in real life! As a means of insurance, there will be a '1-UP' microtransaction available in game that allows people in the real world to spend anywhere from one hundred, to one thousand dollars, to bring you back to life."

"Bologna." Jackie shook her head. "No-one has that kind of technology."

"It is Klaus Steiner though." Autumn replied. "I think we should remain on alert and wait to see if this is confirmed or not. I mean, what site is this from anyways?"

"Neogaf." Roofus sighed.

"Yeah, y'see, Neogaf is obsolete now! Not many people use that these days!" Jackie replied. "It's not a legitimate source. Don't fret about it guys, everything will be fine."

-------------------------------------------------------------

"How many people have seen ze article?!" Klaus growled to Abigail.

"So far, we only register three users. Tracing their internet, we've located them at the University of Maine. It's a game development class. Perhaps interested in the software behind 'Unplugged'."

"Clever bastard, schiezen." Klaus sighed, running a hand through his slick hair. "No-one uses Neogaf except for very few people, usually gaming development kids. He was gonna get the story out and try to disappear."

"What do you suggest we do, boss?" Viktor asked, cracking his knuckles.

"We give the kids what they want." Klaus grinned, as the light reflected off the brim of his glasses. "We give them an inside look into 'Unplugged'."

Chapter 4: Final Exam.

Henry yawned, as he entered Mr. Richardson's classroom. Today was sure to be an interesting day. For other students at the University of Maine, they had a long, dull, boring test to perform. For him, he got to play video games for the whole day, there wasn't much arguing with that.

Opening the door, Mister Richardson grinned happily as Keith, Roofus, and Jackie waved at him. A couple of mover men wiped sweat from their brow, grunting menacingly as they brushed by him.

"Good Morning, Mister McLeary." Mr. Richardson replied with a grin. "Have you brought your games of choice for today's exam?"

"Gears of War 3, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Halo 4, and Dead Space 3."

"Excellent! Then it is time I unveil the reason why today's final is unlike all the other tourney's I've held over my entire teaching career!"

Pulling on his spectacles, Fredrick pulled a piece of folded paper from his jacket pocket, sitting on the edge of his seat, while Henry took his seat.

Dearest Frederik Richardson,

It has come to my attention that you continue to enlighten the newest generation of gaming of our fine craft. It has been quite a while since we last spoke, and I have always appreciated the fresh blood you have sent to Cosmic Games, especially a young W. Clark McLeary.

He continues to be a valued contribution to the development procedure of the 'Unplugged' system, of which I have no doubts you are speculating with your fine students about. It is with only my deepest respects, and with the best of intentions that I offer your class the very first 'Unplugged' systems, fresh off of the line. Please enjoy with your heart's content, and god bless.

Regards,

Klaus Steiner
Cosmic Games

The students cheered, as Henry froze, tensing. Did Steiner find out that they had read that article? Had he sent them 'Unplugged' so that they would blindly die in the game world, and be silenced forever?

Don't be ridiculous Henry thought to himself. It'd be all over the head-lines that the gaming console killed a classroom of students.

"Then what're we waiting for!" Autumn glared over at Henry for a brief moment. "Let's get to it!"

"Hold up, Ms. Valentine." Mr. Richardson replied. "While he was the last one to join us, I only think it fair that Henry get the first choice, seeings how his Father was the lead developer and tester for the console."

Henry tensed once more, Frederick's rules dictated that you could only choose your own games, and he brought all the games that could easily get them killed, minus Injustice. He'd be expected to choose one that could encompass them all.

"I choose Gears of War 3!" Henry spoke, standing up.

"And how would you like to go about this?"

"Horde mode. Person with the most points after fifty waves wins."

"Thank god." Roofus sighed. "I suck at Gears of War. I'm backing out of this one."

"Who will go against him?" Mr. Richardson replied. "This is virtual gaming, ladies and gents. Don't be afraid to be one of the first to give it a shot!"

"Aren't you playing?" Jackie asked.

"No, I'm much too old to do virtual gaming. You young kids have your fun."

"I'll face him." Autumn challenged.

"Hell, if she goes, I'm goin' too!" Justin glanced at him with a malicious grin.

"He needs a buddy, count me in!" Keith added.

"Nah hell, I'll join in too, as neutral ground." Jackie smirked, nodding towards Henry.

With that, Roofus and Christine took to the gaming room, where the shiny new consoles awaited them. Glancing through the pre-downloaded games, they came to a common consensus, and waited for it to update with the new firm ware.

Henry and his challengers approached the row of arcade style booths, and took their seats. For Henry, the seat was comfortable, but he had an uneasy feeling about it. Like sitting in a death machine. His hands rested comfortably on the arm rests, as wires poked up and into his blood stream. Wincing, Fred didn't panic, figuring it was how it caused virtual reality to become a reality.

A needle shot into the base of his spine, as his vision became blurry. Everything glanced before his eyes, the faces of his friends who would join him in the game, and the game they were playing on. Everything was on Normal difficulty.

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Groaning, Henry stood, glancing over to his right. On the ground before him was the standard Lancer Assault Rifle, complete with chainsaw bayonet at the ready. However, this was no ordinary Lancer, on either side of the rifle, a giant gold painted omen, the symbol of the game, was emblazoned on the surface of the rifle.

Glancing down at the melted snow from which he had been laying, he saw his own face, only the bandanna of the character he usually played as; Commando Dom. Peering over the rest of him, he became aware that while he would appear the same to everyone else, the game wasn't as advanced enough to base everything strictly on his appearance, and had to borrow from the game.

To his left, the others had finally joined alongside him. Rushing over to the nearest person, he offered them a hand up. The man accepted it, as he stood with a grunt. Running his eyes along his assistant, the man nodded, his short black hair lightly moving from the steady snowy wind.

In his hands, he held the Hammerburst assault rifle, complete with an moving orange paint, which reminded him of orange juice in a glass. He had no armor on his torso, only a light olive green under armor. If memory served Henry, this was Keith, who liked to play as Unarmored Marcus Fenix.

Strangely enough, Keith's face remained the same, minus having Marcus' trademark soul patch on his chin. There was groaning beside them, as they ran over to a blue, sport armored male, sprawled out on the ground.

Offering to help him up, the man only shoved him away, fastening his football helmet back on his head.

Justin Henry shook his head. Of course he'd choose Thrashball Cole

The only thing to notice about Justin's choices were his weapons. In his hands, he held the Retro Lancer, an old form of the Assault Rifle in Henry's grasp. More damage in the bullets, but instead of a chainsaw, it held only a bayonet on the front. Surprised at Justin's devotion to Gears 3, he noticed the Retro Lancer was painted pure gold, and the weapon on his back, the Sawed Off, was as well.

Over to his left, he watched as the two ladies helped each other up, the three boys running over to check on them. Without even having to guess, Henry knew Jackie played as Anya Stroud, while Autumn took Samantha Byrne.

In Jackie's hand, she too took a Hammerburst assault rifle, this one with flames dancing along the side of the weapon, a sawed off attached to her back as well.

For Autumn, it was a similar load-out to Henry himself, Lancer MK. 2 with Gnasher shotgun, only her Lancer was outfitted with the Thunderstorm skin, as lightning crashed alongside the side of the gun, a big storm cloud hovering at the very top of the gun, but not so much that it was off of the gun.

"Well this is... Surreal." Jackie said, looking around them. "I'm shivering, so that means we can feel hot and cold."

"Which means we'll probably feel the inevitable explosions, bullets, et cetera." Keith replied grimly.

"Raven Down?!" Autumn growled, glancing around the 'map'. "You chose Raven Down as your map of choice?! I don't have the Forces of Nature packs!"

"Ah, but he's host." Jackie replied. "Everyone can play on the maps if he's hosting."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Justin roared with laughter as he reached into his pockets, fishing out a wad of cash. "I'm rich, bitch!"

"That's only $1000 you damn lunatic." Jackie shook her head. "We all start out with that amount."

"Yeah well, when can I kill something?" Justin growled.

"As soon as we establish a base. This map has only two spots that are decent enough to do so." Henry replied. "Trust me, these fifty waves'll be easy, quick, and above all, safe."

"Are you still fretting about that web-page?" Autumn shook her head. "It was something on Neogaf to scare us into not buying it."

"Don't you find it suspicious that we all received the console, a DAY after we read that page?" Henry growled. "I think they monitor for any negative posts heading out, and hunt down people that might speak out about it. Namely, us."

"Shut the hell up and build my god damn base." Justin ordered, grabbing him by the neck of his suit. "Or I'll break every bone in your body and see if you're right."

Shoving Justin off, Henry smiled, in the virtual world, he had the simulated strength of the character he played on. Cole and Dom were on similar levels as each other, so there were no advantages.

The wind picked up, as snow continued to layer at their feet. They tensed, when they heard something in the distance.

"Stay frosty." Keith replied, lifting his Hammerburst, as Jackie chuckled.

"Really, a shitty pun?"

"No I'm serious." Keith said, scanning the rooftops. "Roofus told me of a glitch on this map. Granted I'll need some extra cash, but it'll definitely help us survive all fifty waves."

"Cheating, are you serious?"

"More like an Easter Egg." Keith nodded sagely. "C'mon, let's complete at least three waves, and then Henry and I'll get this thing on the road."

Originally I wrote at least another hour's worth past this point. I even had a video to help give you a visual of what was going on. But because of that stupid log in/log out glitch I've been experiencing lately, having two different Forummotion sites I visit, I lost ALL of that. Thankfully I saved this part before that happened, if I had lost the whole chapter, you wouldn't begin to fathom the rage I would show.

Anyways, I'll have to skip ahead a little ways to get myself back up in the next chapter, because I don't feel like re-writing ALL of that again.

Wait... Are you saying people weren't fighting to play as the Cole train? WAT?!

And, I dunno about Henry, but everyone else can go fuck themselves if they want to play a game where I can DIE.

Dude, I respect the Cole Train. But Dominic Santiago is my character of choice. Jackie and Autumn are kinda self explanatory, they'd prefer to play as female characters. Keith has the same connection to Henry as Marcus does with Dom, so it's only fair that Keith is Marcus.

Besides, there really isn't 'fighting' for characters, there is no limit to characters you play as in Gears of War, entire teams of Clayton Carmines have been seen, or even teams made of every variation of Clayton *there is two* and then the other three be Anthony or Benjamin Carmine.

All of the characters could've been Cole if I wanted too, but if they all speak in their character's voices when a special action was completed, the phrases;

"Where's my replay?!"

"That one's for the highlight reel!"

and

"Yeah whooooo! Bring it on sucka! This is my kinda shit!' would get kinda old kinda quick.

Not familiar with the last phrase? I'm saving it for one of Justin's redeeming moments later on in the Gears 3 portion of this story.

Also, I would agree, they should be ditched. Jackie is intelligent, and Henry is suspicious. The only justifiable reason why Autumn said yes is a secret, other than she wants to challenge Henry. As for Justin, if Autumn is included, he's in it to win it. Keith is there because Henry is there.

Haven't forgotten about this . But I will be skipping ahead a bit, I'm still a bit frustrated with that glitch :/ .

Chapter 5: Horde no more!

"Alright guys, time to really bunker down!" Henry barked. "Wave 49 was a real doozy there, and we nearly lost Jackie and Keith."

Over the course of the game, the group had accumulated enough cash to properly build a decent base, surrounded by caltrops, laser fences, and even a few mounted turrets, held by Autumn and Henry respectively.

"Worry about yourself Henry!" Justin barked. "If they can't watch over themeselves, then I guess they lose the match."

"They'll lose more than that!" Henry barked, distraught. "You felt those bullets right? You knew how much they hurt, right?! Virtual reality or not, think of it like a dream. If you die in your dream, you don't wake up. I'm just making sure everyone is careful, this is the last wave, and I don't want to test to see if Neogaf was right or not!"

"FOOOOR HORRRRDE!"

"RISE! RISE MY CHILDREN, RISE AND VANQUISH THE HUMANS!"

"Boss wave. Heads down folks!" Autumn barked.

"What is it this round?" Keith asked, shaking off the hysteria.

"NEAAAAUGGGHGHGHGHHHH!" something roared in the wind, the ground beneath their feet quaking with each of it's steps.

When the beast drew nearer, it and it's sister lifted their noses, smelling the air.

"BERSERKERS!" Justin roared.

"SHUT UP JUSTIN!" Jackie barked on the opposite side of him. "They are blind! They-"

Both of the Berserker's heads snapped to face Jackie, as their bodies tensed. The behemoth Locust women charged forward, plowing through their caltrops and laser fences without hesitation. Lifting her Scorcher flame thrower, Jackie pulsed a stream of fire at the Berserkers, causing them to stop their charge suddenly. Cringing as their armored skin softened.

"SHOOT THEM!" Dom's voice slipped out of Henry's mouth.

Keith, Autumn, and Henry turned to fire upon the Berserkers, while Justin charged the rear of the two with his Retro Lancer. By the time he arrived at the burning monstrocity, it had stopped cringing. Hearing his loud footsteps behind her, she backhanded him, sending Justin flying into the nearest car, denting it.

Henry scoffed before detaching himself from the turret. Pulling out his Gnasher Shotgun, he charged over towards Justin's position, while everyone else focused on the Berserkers. A Locust Theron Guard aimed it's Gnasher at Justin's face, placing his barrel directly on the Theron's head, Henry pulled the trigger, as blood and brain matter showered the snow all around them.

Pulling out a mini syringe out of his pocket, he jabbed it down on Justin's shoulder. Justin shuddered for a moment before standing back up.

"Yeah, I'm back in the game baby!" Cole's voice erupted out of his mouth. "Thanks, I owe you one."

"That's a touching thing there!" Autumn replied. "But we still have one last Berserker to deal with!"

"Easter Egg time?" Henry asked Keith, who wanted to save it.

"It's the last wave, might as well."

Having completed all of the necessary steps in between each wave, Henry and Keith had held off using the Easter Egg until a great time of emergency. Bolting past the last Berserker and Jackie, Henry located the small car garage hidden behind on of the four way intersections numerous stores. Pressing a button, the garage door opened, as a singular snowman sat there in the utter darkness of the room.

"Oooh! Big smelly freak managed to capture the likes of me. Well whoop-de-doo!" the snowman taunted, his 'back' to Henry.

Henry felt chills run down his spine, had Roofus given bad intel to Keith about this easter egg? He had never done it before. Needless to say, the snow-man's head turned on it's body, it's face sinister, like that of a killer, evil clown. It's carrot nose was elongated and crooked, and the once happy memories Henry had with his family and old Frosty the Snowman movies went out the window. Aiming his rifle at the abomination, it's head snapped up to look him square in the eye before he could fire off a shot.

When the round struck the creature, all that was left was a butcher's cleaver on the floor. Sighing with relief, he paid the game $900 dollars he had earned over the course of the game and hefted the blade.

A flurry of snow and ice surrounded Dom's body, as Henry walked out of the building with his new toy. Jackie fired another salvo at the Berserker, as Henry swung the massive blade, his flurry of snow that surrounded him rushed forward like a giant blade of icy wind, piercing the Berserker's softened skin. A giant gash covered it's torso, as it finally fell to the ground.

Henry smiled, the Cleaver actually had a ranged attack, and his HUD showed no indication of him running out of ammunition any time soon.

"Remind me to smack Roofus for the jump scare." Henry chuckled to Keith. "But to hug him for the gift! Cover me, I'll take care of the rest of these assholes!"

Advancing towards the remainder of the horde, Henry grinned as he raised his still talking hillbilly snowman's blade. The others cringed as the Locust forces were literally torn apart, limb from limb, without him so much as making contact with them.

When the last Theron fell, everyone stopped moving.

"Congratulations Gears, you have done it! You have made me proud to call myself a fellow Gear!" Prescott's voice echoed in the sky above them.

"Woot!" Keith roared. "Henry, you did it! You won with the most points!"

"Yeah." Henry breathed with relief. "Now we can get out of these acursed contraptio-"

Suddenly, everything went black again.
------------------------------------------

"The plan has been set in place." Klaus clasped his hands together. "Status?!"

"Two of them played something completely not dangerous, while five of them played Gears of War 3 Horde and survived." Viktor replied. "These kids are better gamers than we had anticipated."

"We wirr show them no mercy." Han Shirigoto, one of Klaus' numerous guy's within the company, replied in a deep Japanese accent.

"Perhaps if we hack our way into their games, we could get rid of them ourselves!" Abigail Mutt replied. "No-one can be a better gamer than a developer of games themselves!"

"Excellent idea, Ms. Mutt." Klause nodded curtly. "Discover what games they are going to be in, and hunt them down. One by one."

-------------------------------------

Henry groaned as he woke up from his nap. The chair he sat in was quite comfortable, something wasn't right though. Gazing around, he found himself in a dark, quiet apartment. Trying to calm himself down, he ran a hand through his hair, or he would have, if he had any.

Running a hand along his smooth, bald scalp, he rushed to the nearest mirror to have a glance. This was another game!

Staring at the person glancing back at him, he instantly recognized which game he had been thrown into. He was adorned with a sleek black tuxedo, a pair of leather gloves, and a unusually bright red tie. His face, while it held the same look as his own, also appeared much more gruff, like he had experience assassinating people. Adjusting his tie, almost subconsciously, he realized he was Agent-47 from the Hitman games.

...Is that a legit Easter egg in GOW3?

Manny wrote:...Is that a legit Easter egg in GOW3?

Didn't you click the link? But yes, it absolutely is. Search Frost Cleaver GOW3

Shad0wChas3r wrote:

Manny wrote:...Is that a legit Easter egg in GOW3?

Didn't you click the link? But yes, it absolutely is. Search Frost Cleaver GOW3

THERE WAS A LINK???!!!

It's hard to tell. Unlike B.net links are the same colour as normal text

Manny wrote:

Shad0wChas3r wrote:

Manny wrote:...Is that a legit Easter egg in GOW3?

Didn't you click the link? But yes, it absolutely is. Search Frost Cleaver GOW3

THERE WAS A LINK???!!!

It's hard to tell. Unlike B.net links are the same colour as normal text

Yeah, search around the paragraph where I describe the Snowman, namely the sentence where Henry presses the button.