The Modern Knight

Into the Deep End

The 23rd of February, 2014

Eggsy woke with a start, feeling something cold and wet along the sides of his body. He looked around in the dark before throwing his hands down, slapping water.

Eggsy turned on the light above his bed as mutterings of confusion started to course through the room.

There was indeed water flooding the room. But, this water wasn't stagnant; it was rising; quickly.

As it reached near his shoulders, Eggsy and the other candidates quickly moved to stand on their beds. Eggsy grabbed onto the ceiling to keep himself stable and upright.

"Alright, no one panic. Listen to me," Charlie started, "Stay calm."

Charlie was tapping at the ceiling above his bed while Eggsy looked quickly around the room. Charlie then pointed towards the bathroom area.

"Loo snorkels," Charlie said, "Loo snorkels!"

"Loo snorkels?" Eggsy asked.

"Shower heads!" Roxy yelled.

"Shower heads?" Eggsy asked while looking around, trying to figure out what they were talking about.

"She's right. Go! Fuckin' go!" Charlie yelled.

Everyone in the room then started to swim over towards the bathroom area except for Eggsy.

"Hey, hang about, what's wrong with the fuckin' door?" Eggsy yelled quickly before taking a large swallow of air.

Eggsy looked towards the other candidates before looking at the door. He swam over towards it and tried to pry it open, bracing one of his feet on the frame.

The door, however, did not budge. Eggsy looked over his shoulder to look at the other candidates before giving the door one last try. When it unsurprisingly didn't open, Eggsy released the handle. He turned himself around in the water and tried to assess the room again. Something didn't look right about the mirror. It seemed like there was something beyond it, which could barely be seen over the reflection.

Eggsy started to swim over towards the rest of the candidates. But instead of stopping at the row of loos to get some air, he continued towards the mirror. He grabbed one of the faucets and braced his feet just under the mirror.

He then started to punch at the glass.

On the other side of the two-way mirror, Nicolette and Merlin had been watching the candidates and taking notes.

Nicolette's eyes locked with Eggsy's through the two-way mirror as she watched him start to punch the glass. A small crack formed, which started to grow with each punch.

"I suggest we step aside, Merlin," Nicolette said before moving aside herself.

Just as the two Kingsman agents had gotten to the side of the room they were in, Eggsy broke the glass of the two-way mirror.

Water flushed from the candidate dormitory into the empty room before it promptly fell through the drain in the floor.

The rush of water had carried out the candidates that were in the bathroom area of the other room, piling them up in the empty room on the other side of the two-way mirror, all of them gasping for air.

Merlin looked at his watch to calculate the time elapsed.

"Congratulations on completing your first task," Merlin said, jotting down the time and a few other notes, "Charlie, Roxy, well done. For those of you who are still confused, if you can get a breathing tube through the U-bend of a toilet, you have an unlimited air supply. Simple physics, worth remembering. Eggsy, well done for spotting that was a two-way mirror."

"He's probably seen enough of them," Charlie said with a smug grin.

"Yeah, you can all wipe the smirk off your faces. Because as far as we're concerned, every single one of you has failed. You all forgot the most important thing; teamwork," Nicolette said before pointing into the room the candidates had just been flushed from.

The candidates stood up from their pile to look into the room on the other side of the shattered window.

Amelia was laying limp on the wall that the loos were attached to.

Nicolette and Merlin were aware that Amelia was actually fine, but the candidates were not aware of this.

"So much for classic army technique," Eggsy muttered.

"That aside," Merlin said, bringing the attention back to himself and Nicolette, "We should get the eight of you dried off and into clean clothes before going back to bed. Guinevere will show you to your room for the night while we dry this one out."

Nicolette had thrown a look at Merlin before letting out a sigh, "Alright. Everyone follow me."

Nicolette then led the candidates out of the room and down the hall to the mirror dormitory room that had been made a few doors down from the first.

"Lady and gentlemen, this is where you will be spending the rest of the night. Dry sleeping clothes will be at the foot of your beds, as well as your attire for tomorrow morning. You will all still need to report to the front lawn of the Manor at oh-eight-hundred hours. So, I suggest you dry off and change quickly as to maximize the amount of rest you can get from the remainder of the night," Nicolette said before opening the door, allowing the candidates to move into the room.

The last one to enter the room was Roxy. But not all candidates were inside of the room yet.

Nicolette was left in a staring contest with the last candidate; Eggsy.

"Is there something you need from me, Eggsy?" Nicolette asked, trying to focus on her duties first.

"Was that all real, Nic? Or is this some twisted dream I'm havin'?" Eggsy asked.

"I'm afraid it's all very real, Eggsy."

"What did I just get myself into?" Eggsy asked to no one in particular.

"Nothing that Harry doesn't think you can handle. After all, our fathers did this," Nicolette said simply, "Now, off to bed with you. I can't retire for the night until you're in there."

"Wait, your father?" Eggsy asked.

"Bed, Eggsy."

"Come on, Nic."

"I promise, if you make it in, I'll answer all your questions. But for now, bed."

"But-."

"Goodnight, Eggsy."

Letting out a long breath, Eggsy gave in and went into the secondary candidate dormitory.

Nicolette closed the door behind Eggsy and let out a long breath herself before starting back towards the nerve center of UKHQ.

"I'm off to bed, Merlin," Nicolette said, leaving her notes for Merlin to look over, "I'll make sure I'm out and about by seven to put out the puppies."

"Make sure you are, Nikki," Merlin said, picking up Nicolette's clipboard, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Merlin."