### The Court Advantage
Marcus stood paralyzed on the porch, the forgotten glass of lemonade slipping from his hand to shatter against the wooden decking. He knew those tailored black suits. He knew the unmarked black SUV. And most importantly, he knew who had sent them.
The lead gunman didn’t even glance at the three terrified teens frozen with their hands in the air. Instead, he prodded the ceramic shards of the destroyed basketball with his tactical boot, revealing a sleek, silver cylinder pulsing with a faint crimson light.
The drive. Marcus had hidden it in plain sight, paying a fortune for a custom-forged shell that perfectly mimicked cheap composite leather.
“Did you really think a driveway pickup game would hide a three-billion-dollar algorithm, Marcus?” the suited man called out, his voice a deadpan drawl that cut right through the heavy suburban twilight.
Marcus swallowed hard, stepping slowly off the porch. “Take it. Just leave the boys. They don’t know anything.”
The hitman scoffed, bending down to retrieve the cylinder.
But before his fingers could even graze the metal, the kid in the blue hoodie—the one who had been screaming in absolute, wide-eyed terror just seconds prior—dropped his hands. His panicked expression instantly melted into a cold, clinical smirk.
“Actually, Marcus,” the teenager said, his voice dropping two octaves as he casually tapped a hidden earpiece. “He didn’t hide it well enough.”
Before the Syndicate hitmen could pivot their rifles, the other two ‘teens’ blurred into motion. A flawless, synchronized flurry of swept legs, disarmed rifles, and brutal close-quarters strikes left the three men in suits groaning on the concrete in under four seconds.
The kid in the blue hoodie casually scooped up the silver cylinder, tossing it in the air and catching it. He looked up at the dumbfounded father on the porch, flashing a wolfish grin.
“Your protection detail is officially over. The Agency says thanks for babysitting.”
***
How do you want to proceed with the story—should Marcus make a desperate play to get the drive back, or is there a secondary trap waiting for the undercover agents?