Trouble at the Blind Beggar...

MI6s team of enhanced individuals have been grilled by both Major Sawdon and Special Agent Philby, and have also spoken to Superintendent Chapman . With the debriefs finally over they decide to try and find the third man. 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

We head for Menotti Street, which is where the third man was dropped the night that we followed the hijackers from their safe house, and as Charlie slowly drives us up the street I push out with my senses and am able to sense that there is an enhanced individual within number 45. Charlie pulls the car to the kerb around the corner and Sven transforms into a blackbird and flies over to the building to investigate. Meanwhile, Madeline slips from the car in shadow form and slides across the roofs looking for an overlooking window in a vacant property to set up as an observation point.

While the others are getting into position I push out with my senses once again in order to discover what powers the third man has. I make contact and discover that he has the ability to transform his body into air. I push deeper and find that he also has the ability to tolerate different temperatures, I try to push even deeper still but my power fails me and I lose connection.

And so we wait, eventually Sven returns and describes a single man inside the dwelling acting normally and then he returns to the roof-line to keep watch. And then Madeline spots a well dressed man with a limp leave number 45 Menotti Street, cross the road and climb into a car. She rushes back to us in the car and tells us that the target is on the move and so I quickly push out with my senses and get two returns in the same direction, one at street level and one behind but higher in the air. I assume that Sven is in pursuit and tell Charlie to floor it and head southeast. Alfie relays that we are following the third man to Jonny at Hanslope Park, and he informs Major Sawdon. Sawdon messages back that we are not to lose the target.

I continue to push out with my senses and guide Charlie through the streets of Whitechapel while Madeline tries to recall where she has seen the third man before, and then it comes to her. She recognizes the third man as Edward Machin, known in his criminal file as Teddy Oddlegs. I guess that the limp explains the nickname.

High in the sky above the target Sven watches as Machin's car pulls over in Cambridge Heath Road and parks. He gets out and crosses the road to enter a public house. Sven watches him go and then lands on the pavement next to the car and hops underneath. As soon as he is out of sight he stabs at the tyre with his beak, however it is no ordinary bird peck but a peck with the force of a powerful Norwegian, and the tyre is punctured. He then takes flight again and lands on the roof of the building opposite the public house and keeps watch.

As Charlie drives along Cambridge Heath Road Madeline spots Teddy Machin crossing the road ahead of us and heading into a public house, we get Charlie to drive around and park near the front of the building and we can see that it is called the Blind Beggar. Madeline asks me to make sure that Machin has stayed in the pub and so I push out with my senses once more and I discover that there are six enhanced individuals within the vicinity. I gauge that one of them is on the roof opposite and when we spot the blackbird perched up there we assume that it is Sven. That leaves us with five enhanced within the Blind Beggar.

Yet again I push out with my enhanced powers and try to ascertain what we are facing. The first target comes back as being able to immolate their entire body, the second can transform into a living metal form. I say to the others that I believe that it might be Big Alfie based on what we have learnt from our interviews of the Flying Squad after the Battle of Heathrow Airport. The third has an unbelievable skill with firearms, all firearms, and the fourth has to be Teddy Machin as they are able to transform themselves into air. As I push my senses against the fifth and final target in the Blind Beggar pub I discover that they have a natural armour, but I also realise that I have been clumsy and have tipped him off that I am within his head.

Having spotted us from the roof top, Sven flaps down and joins us so that we can discuss the situation laid out in front of us. Alfie lets us know that Sawdon is holding a military response truck at a distance while we investigate. And so Madeline transforms into her shadow form and slides across the road and into the dark brewery next door to the Blind Beggar. She discovers an adjoining door between the back of the brewery and the pub and so she slides her head under the door and finds that it opens up within the bar itself. And looking across the bar she can see another one of the Battle of Heathrow gang, she spots Frankie Fraser.

Madeline slides swiftly across the pub floor and hides in the shadows beneath the bar while she slides around it to get a better view of the back room where she can see Fraser. As she gets into a better position she can see Teddy Machin stood in the centre of the room, leaning against a high table talking to someone else in the room out of sight. She can't hear or see what Machin is saying but does manage to read Fraser's lips, and he is saying;

It's just like the Doctor said!

He then looks in the direction of the bar, and Madeline freezes in place. But Fraser does not seem to see her in the deep shadows beneath the bar, but Madeline decides to leave the pub and come back to tell us what she has discovered. After a short discussion we decide that it is too risky to try and capture all of them in one location, and so we agree that we will follow as many of them as we can and take them individually. Sven flies to watch from the back yard while Madeline heads back in via the toilet window and from the different angle that she gets she can see Big Alfie, Sammy Ross, and Jack 'the spot' Comer, as well as Machin and Fraser. From the underside of one of the bench seats she listens to the criminals discussing their concerns over the fact that some of their gang have disappeared and at least one of them has been murdered. Madeline has to stifle a giggle when she realises that they are trying to work out which one of them has given the game away or grassed to the Flying Squad. Then one of them says;

This is how he said that it might start!

They then start to rally the gang with a call to arms, mostly discussing how many guns they have at their disposal. And then one of the hangers on that are also in the back room mentions something about 'the house', but he is very quickly closed down and told to shut up. Madeline makes sure to take note of his face.

Around nine o'clock in the evening another pair of cars pull up outside the Blind Beggar and three people climb out. I push out with my enhanced powers and all three of them come back as enhanced. I recognize one of them from the mug shots, it is Terry 'lucky Tel' Hogan. I push further and find out that Hogan has the ability to attack with a solid cone of sound. I also push the other two targets and discover that one of them can stretch his body to extreme lengths, and the other is enhanced with incredible strength. As I push into the mind of the strong man he looks straight at our car and locks eyes with me. I quickly get Charlie to drive us away, but I know that we have been spotted.

Inside the pub Madeline sees the three newcomers enter the back room and one of them immediately says;

I saw one of the women in a car outside.

Pints are knocked over as everyone in the back room jumps to their feet and rushes out to the rear yard of the Blind Beggar. Sven watches them exit the pub and is surprised when Jack Comer shouts out;

Fuck it! They must know about us! Let's do this!

He then bursts into flame and starts to throw gouts of flame around the rear yard. The entire pub bursts into shouts and screams as people see what is happening and start to flee the immediate area. Sven then sees Big Alfie transform into a bronze metal skinned humanoid and Sammy Ross draws a cut down rifle from under his jacket. Jack Comer throws flames into the inside of the Blind Beggar and the screams reach a crescendo as people start to burn alive.

As we drive away from the Blind Beggar we spot a police car racing in the opposite direction. I look at Charlie and nod, he swings our car around with a handbrake turn and speeds after them back towards the pub.

The criminal enhanced step out of the pub's back yard and into Cambridge Heath Road and start to move as a group towards Whitechapel Road, all the while Comer throws fire around himself. Then there is the sound of a rifle crack and Sven, in his bird form, is shot off of the top of one of the buildings overlooking the street. He falls backwards out of sight, and then flies away, his enhanced power having absorbed the damage done to him. Sammy Ross cocks his rifle and shoots another bird from the next rooftop along.

Hearing the gunshots, Charlie floors the accelerator and sticks into the slipstream of the police car.

Sven lands on the roof of a building opposite the Blind Beggar pub and transforms back into himself. He settles down and sets up his rifle, aiming along the length of it for where the criminals will appear. From inside the car, following the police car, we can see a burst of flame from the centre of the road ahead. I turned to Alfie and said;

Tell Jonny to let Sawdon know that we have a major situation!

From his vantage point Sven can see Big Alfie thumping people, knocking them down with a single blow. Somewhere else someone is throwing around ice blasts, and Comer is still throwing out blasts of flame. But Sven only has eyes for Sammy Ross, and as he lines his sights up on him he watches as Ross fires his unusual rifle at the police car, hitting the driver and causing it to swerve and crash. Sven exhales and squeezes the trigger gently.