The battle at the Blind Beggar...
MI6s team of enhanced individuals have engaged the enhanced gang outside the Blind Beggar public house in a desperate attempt to contain the criminals before more innocent bystanders are killed. MI6s team consists of Alfie Baldrick, the one man rifle section; Mimi Dubois, maîtresse of skills; Madeline Forsyth, the living shadow; and Sven Hyse, the Norwegian shapeshifter.
London, England, August 1948
Having closed the distance, Madeline calmly squeezes the trigger on her pistol and shoots out the knee of one of the gangs gunmen. He drops to the floor clutching at his ruined leg and screaming in pain. Hearing the screams one of the other gunmen looks around and seeing Madeline he snaps off a couple of shots at her, but they both harmlessly deflect from her enhanced armour. Still held within Machin’s tornado, Charlie flails around and manages to break out long enough to gulp down a lung full of air before he is stacked back into the maelstrom. The other Baldrick is fairing just as badly, being slowly crushed in the doughy arms of the obese gangster. The stretched arms lift Alfie off of the floor and slam him into the bonnet of the car, driving the air from his lungs. Big Alfie swings for me again, but I let the punch land believing myself to be immune to his blows, and I am proved correct as his fist glances once again from my armoured skin. Realising that I am going to struggle to breach Big Alfie’s armour as well I bend down and pick up the sheared off half of the car door.
Seeing the Fraser is still attempting to move towards Charlie, Sven puts another bullet into him. This time the Norwegian sharpshooter aims for one of the gangsters arms and almost blows the limb off, Frankie Fraser drops limp and unmoving to the floor. Charlie continues to struggle to breathe, but he does manage to remain conscious as he fights for his freedom. Madeline continues to walk slowly and calmly forwards, switching her aim to the gunman that had the audacity to shoot at her. Big Alfie again smashes his metallic bronze fist into the side of my head and again it fails to get through my armoured skin, I realise that the bronze giant is not the sharpest tool in the box as he doesn’t seem to realise that his strikes are having no effect. I swing hard with the car door, but for a big man he is very quick on his feet and he sidesteps the attack.
Madeline calmly shoots the second gunman in the kneecap and drops him to the floor, before moving her aim towards the back of the obese stretching gangster. I swing again with the car door, but again Big Alfie just steps out of the way with a preternatural skill. He then slams his fist into my gut, lifting me off of the floor but doing no damage. Alfie almost breaks free of the doughy coils of the obese man’s arms, but as he slips free of one arm the other coils again and secures him. Seeing the way in which the battle is going, the final gunman starts to make a run for it.
Both Big Alfie and I trade blows, with the expected outcome of him not being able to injure me and me not being able to land a blow on him. Sven squeezes the trigger on his rifle once again and as the sound of the shot echoes around the street the gunman that had tried to make a break for it drops to the floor unmoving. Madeline continues to move forwards and once she is within forty feet of the obese gangster she concentrates on his shadow that is being cast by the light of the street lamps. The shadow detaches itself from the criminal and slides with a life of its own up onto his lower body. Corporal Alfie Baldrick finally manages to escape from the doughy coils of the obese mans arms and reaches for his pistol.
But before Alfie can aim the obese man manages to loop his doughy arms around him again and pins his arms to his sides, much to the chagrin of the prime Baldrick. Madeline turns her attention to the back of Big Alfie and the shadow that he is casting begins to move of its own volition. The obese gangster staggers briefly as his stamina is diminished by the animated shadow summoned by Madeline. Big Alfie dumbly swings at me again, and again I let him hit me safe in the knowledge that he can’t breech my armour. However, I am surprised when his fist smashes into my solar plexus and I am knock to one knee in pain, overconfidence is a dangerous thing. Changing tactics I leap from a kneeling position at the big bronze man and manage to grapple him around the waist.
Big Alfie attempts to break free of my hold on him, but with the enhanced strength that I had borrowed from one of his teammates I am far too strong form him. I am assisted by Madeline’s animated shadows as they continue to diminish the stamina of both the obese man and Big Alfie. Sven leaps from the rooftop and catches hold of a drainpipe, sliding down it to the ground and rushing towards the fight. Teddy Machin, seeing the gang being decimated around him, decides that it is time to get away and lifts slowly up into the air freeing Charlie as he does so. Remembering my basic training at Hanslope Park and getting my hips low I manage to throw Big Alfie to the floor, Sergeant McKay would have been proud, and I kept onto his back ready to pin him to the floor. Alfie manages to break free of the doughy coils once again, and as he does so his duplicate, Charlie, fires three shots at the obese man. All three bullets hit and the fat man drops to the ground.
I try and pin Big Alfie, but he is just to big for me to manage on my own. I might be stronger than him, but his shear physical size means that he can easily move a petite individual like myself around easily. With the obese gangster down, Madeline commands the shadows to focus their attacks on Big Alfie, and the bronze giant instantly becomes weaker as they reduce his stamina significantly. Then both Alfie and Charlie leap onto the back of Big Alfie with me and between us we are able to finally pin him to the floor. But Machin continues his escape, rising upwards into the air and over the rooftops away from us. Eventually, Big Alfie stops struggling as he falls unconscious, and Madeline takes a moment to dismiss her animated shadows back to whatever hell they come from. The MI6s living shadow then steps up towards one of the gunmen that she had shot earlier, the man was still trying to crawl away and Madeline aimed her pistol at his back and said in a calm voice;
Stay where you are, or I am going to shoot you.
The criminal notes the tone of her voice and freezes in place. As the dust settles on the battle of the Blind Beggar the troop transport dispatched by Major Sawdon arrives and the troops dismount and begin gathering up the bodies, those that are still alive being treated and sedated by the sections medic. The medic also notices me holding myself in pain, and they insist that I travel back with them in the truck to the medical facilities at Hanslope Park. It was then that the second policeman sat in the passenger seat of the shot up police car, splattered in the blood of his recently shot partner looks up and shouts;
What! The! Fuck!
Blue flashing lights begin to flood the scene as fire engines and police cars converge on the area, one of the cars screeches to a halt near to our car and two members of the Flying Squad jump out. Madeline intercepts them and starts to sketch out a quick debrief of what occurred, as both members of the Sweeny were badly injured in the Battle of Heathrow Airport by the gang they are very pleased to hear that the gang have been taken down hard. And when Madeline tells them that we need to quietly slip away, they happily offer their car to her.
As the others are climbing into the Flaying Squad vehicle, Sven gets Alfie to relay a message via Jonny to Major Sawdon;
Partial elimination. Partial capture. Threat eliminated.
Sawdon responds by asking if all members of the gang were accounted for, and they relay that Teddy Machin escaped, but that they know where he lives and believe that they can capture him. The Major green lights the attempt and so the team head for Menotti Street. When they arrive Sven transforms into a bird and flies to the roof of Machin's house, while Madeline grabs one of the tranquillizer guns from the boot of the car and then transforms into a shadow and slips in under the front door of the house. Sven can see a light on in the front room of the house but all of the windows and curtains are shut and so he can't see anything else of interest.
Madeline slides under the front door of number 45 Menotti Street and can see the light spilling out into the hallway from the front room, she slides up onto the ceiling and peeks into the lit room but finds that it is empty. She searches the rest of the house and finds that there is no one home, she also checks the rooms and believes that Machin has not been back here yet. She slips silently away and lets the others know, they agree to stake out the house for the rest of the night, but the night passes uneventfully and in the morning they head back to Hanslope Park, getting Isy to inform Superintendent Chapman of the address so that the Flying Squad can pick up the watch.
By the time that the others arrive at six thirty in the morning I am being discharged from the hospital wing, having been put on light duties once again due to my injuries, and meet up them at the front of the manor house. We are informed by Jonny that Major Sawdon would like to debrief us at O eight hundred hours. With an hour to kill most of us head off to the mess to get some breakfast, Madeline however heads to one of the offices to type up her report in full for Sawdon.
A few hours later and Madeline has filled in the Major with all of the details of the nights mission, with the rest of us chipping in when required. I try and play down Baldrick's gunfire, but the Corporal is very honest and tells Sawdon exactly how many bullets were discharged. By the end of the debrief the Major seems quite pleased with the outcome, he has several more test subjects, the enhanced criminal gang has been shattered, they have also recovered two more of the curious clockwork brass balls. The Major takes a deep breath and sighs;
It will still be awkward with Whitehall!
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