Hey everyone! Here's the first chapter, hope you enjoy it!
Argentina – 17 years later
In a luxurious condo looking over to the snow-coated mountains in Argentina, there were five people in a room with a man dressed in a suit bound to a chair in the middle with a black bag over his head.
One of the men sitting in front of the bound man pulled the bag off from his head and slowly started to rip off the duct tape from his mouth.
"So sorry Professor Arnold. Just a little bit more." The bound man rolled his eyes and flinched a little bit because of the way the tape pulled on his mustache.
"For God's sake, just rip it off!" His voice came out muffled due to the tape. The man slowly but surely ripped the tape off.
"I'm under very strict instructions not to hurt you." The man was bald with a mustache and beard. He was completely dressed in black. The guys in the room were all the same; all bald, dressed in black, some of them had mustaches and bears, some of them didn't.
The bound guy, Professor Arnold, on the other hand was blonde, with blue eyes, looked to be no more than 60, and also had a moustache and beard. He was also dressed in a very posh way.
"Look, you've made a mistake. I'm a university lecturer. I've got no money." Professor Arnold snarled.
"This isn't about money. Our boss just wants to talk to you." The bald man said. Professor Arnold looked at the guy.
"Am I meant to find that reassuring?" He asked sarcastically.
"He'll be here soon. He'll explain." The man said. Arnold's head went down in exasperation.
"Do you like whiskey? Red, get the '62 Dalmore." Arnold hmm-ed with a shocked look on his face; possibly because of the men's good taste in whiskey. One of the men nodded and put his magazine down before disappearing off somewhere in the house.
"Honestly, this whiskey, it's amazing. You will shit." Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The men got into their fighting stances, pulling their guns out. The door opened to reveal a man with brown hair and eyes, dressed in a light brown pinstriped suit and a green tie. This was James Spencer, the new Lancelot.
"I suppose asking to borrow a cup of sugar is a step too far?" He said kindly. But just as the man took his gun out, James grabbed a hold of it before shooting the man with his own gun. He then quickly took the other men out before changing the double column of his gun with a filled one.
"Professor Arnold. I'm here to take you home." He said. He then quickly approached the corner adjacent to the kitchen where the man bringing the whiskey would eventually escape from. He did, with a glass of whiskey on a tray and James shot the guy once in the face before taking the glass from the tray and sniffing it.
"1962 Dalmore. It'd be a sin to spill any, don't you think?" With that he took a sip from it. And just then, there was another knock on the door. As James went up to it with his gun ready, there was a swift movement from behind him and a hand reached out to take the glass of whiskey from him. James just stood in place for a couple of seconds before his body fell apart symmetrically. As James fell in two different directions, the culprit was revealed. A tanned woman with black hair, dressed completely in black with prosthetic blades as legs.
Placing the glass on a table next to one of the couches, the woman ran up the stairs, eventually coming back with six towels at hand. She approached Professor Arnold who was still bound to the chair with a look of shock on his face.
"Can you hold these? Please?" she asked. Arnold held up his restrained hands and the woman cut off his bounds with one swift movement of her leg. He held onto the towels and watched as she covered every single body up, including the slashed-in-two James Spencer. He tossed her the last towel and she responded with a "Thank you" before putting it over the second piece of James' body.
With that she took the glass of whiskey and opened the door.
"Everything's clean." She said to the person at the door, offering them the glass of whiskey.
The man at the door gave the woman a questioning gaze before looking inside the room and smiling. He pulled his hood down, revealing the white snapback he was wearing underneath it. The man was black, bald with white glasses, wearing a petrol green coat with a yellow shirt underneath.
"Ah! My kind of welcome!" He spoke with a heavy lisp. He took the whiskey from the woman's hand and took a sip from it. Arnold, on the other hand, was cowering in his seat in shock.
The other man softly approached Arnold.
"No stomach for violence. I mean, literally, I see one drop of blood, that is me done. I'm like," He gagged, faking vomiting.
"Projectile. Listen, I'm so sorry you had to witness all this unpleasantness due to our uninvited guest." He said, gesturing at James who was lying in two pieces on the ground.
"But I promise you, by the time I've found out who he works for... you and I will be the best of friends."
London
Meanwhile, back at London, Harry was sitting in one of the backseats of a Kingsman cab without his glasses on.
"To the shop please." He informed the driver. The cab came to a stop at Saville Row W1, Westminster and Harry got off at "the shop" he had mentioned, which was Kingsman, the tailor shop.
Entering through the front door, Harry walked inside. The guy at the front desk looked up.
"Arthur and Guinevere are in the dining room, sir." Giving him a nod, Harry walked up the stairs to the first floor before opening the double doors of the room, revealing a big table in the middle of the room, and an old man at the head of the table, also wearing a suit and a pair of glasses in front of him on the table, along with a decanter and two glasses of brandy. Irene was at the other head of the table, also donned in a light grey pinstriped suit and glasses. She too had a glass of brandy in front of her. Irene turned around and the man looked up just as Harry opened the doors.
"Arthur. Guinevere." Harry greeted both agents respectfully.
"Galahad." Irene smiled back.
"Galahad." Chester King aka Arthur, the boss of Kingsman, responded. "The others were beginning to wonder if we were going to have a double toast." Then, the agents all put their glasses on and holograms of several other agents were revealed to be sitting on the chairs.
"Gentlemen, my lady," Chester started, looking over at Irene as he referred to her. "I'm thankful to say it's been 17 years since we last had occasion to use this decanter." Harry looked up at the monitor on the wall as the profile of James was shown and his eyes then slid to the empty seat which was supposed to be James'. What he didn't notice was Irene's lingering gaze on him.
"Lancelot was an outstanding agent, and a true Kingsman. He will be sorely missed." Chester concluded his speech before holding up his glass. "To Lancelot."
"To Lancelot." Everyone else repeated before downing their glasses. As they all put their glasses down, Chester started speaking again.
"I intend to start the selection process for Lancelot's replacement tomorrow. I want each of you to propose a candidate and have them report to UK HQ no later than 9 p.m. GMT. Thank you." After Irene, Chester and Harry took their glasses off, Chester looked up to see Merlin by the door.
"Merlin. Come in. I suppose you and Guinevere have some things you want to share with us." The Scottish tech expert nodded respectfully before walking in. Harry had a confused look on his face before Chester turned to explain it to him.
"Lancelot was investigating a group of mercenaries who were experimenting with biological weaponry." Harry nodded. Irene also got up from her seat before walking over, standing on the other side of the monitor, closer to Harry and Chester while Merlin stood opposite Harry.
"Glasses please, gentleman." Irene announced. Harry and Chester put their glasses on, and Irene did the same before Merlin motioned towards the screen, where an image of Uganda was displayed.
"Uganda, 2012. Synthetic cathinones. They put it in the water supply of a guerrilla army base. Rage, cannibalism, multiple fatalities." He explained. Irene then took the clipboard from him and displayed an image of Chechnya.
"Chechnya, 2013. Insurgents turned on one another. Indisputably, the work of our mercenaries, but no trace of any chemicals of any kind." She went on to explain.
"So, what happened to Lancelot?" Harry asked. Irene switched the picture to the same condo that Lancelot was killed in.
"He tracked them to this property in Argentina. While he had them under surveillance, he became aware they'd effected a kidnapping. So, he executed a solo rescue mission which failed." Merlin then took the clipboard from Irene to show a message from Lancelot in green capital letters that read "KIDNAP VICTIM IS PROFESSOR JAMES ARNOLD". "This is his last transcript."
"Who is he?" Harry asked again.
"Some climate change doomsayer. Expounds something called 'Gaia theory' about the world healing itself, or some such. But what's curious is he's not actually missing." Harry looked on in confusion. Irene took the clipboard from Merlin again, not forgetting to thank him. She then switched the profile of James Arnold to a video taken in the garden of Imperial College where the same professor was walking.
"This is Professor Arnold at Imperial College this morning." Harry was still confused as ever.
"It's all yours." Chester said as Irene slid the file over to him, with Merlin nodding respectfully at the three agents before walking out of the room. "And don't forget your membership proposal. Same goes to you, Guinevere." He then turned to Harry.
"Try picking a more suitable candidate this time." Irene's back was turned to them, so they couldn't see her rolling her eyes at Chester's comment. Sure, he was her boss and she had to treat him with respect, but he was still hung up on an event that happened 17 years ago. And it could've resulted in the loss of their best agent if Lee hadn't noticed the grenade pin.
"17 years." Harry started. "And still evolving with the times remains an entirely foreign concept to you. Need I remind you, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for that young man?" Irene then turned around.
"With much respect Arthur." She also intervened. "Agent Galahad is right. No one but Lee noticed the grenade pin Falcon had in his mouth. Moreover, he was my brother in-law. He was as much Kingsman material as any of them. Maybe even more so." Harry then turned to Chester.
"I believe Agent Guinevere is right." Chester sighed.
"I do see that she's right. But he wasn't exactly one of us, was he? Let's face it, Galahad, your little experiment failed." Harry then stood up to leave.
"With respect Arthur, you're a snob." Chester had a flat look on his face while Irene raised an eyebrow. *So much for 'with respect.'*
"With respect?" Harry turned around at the door.
"The world is changing. There's a reason why aristocrats developed weak chins." He delivered his final line before walking out the door like a boss with the file in his hand, leaving a shocked Chester and an Irene who was trying to stifle her giggles with her hand covering her mouth.
Unwin Household
In a small room, a 22-year-old stood in front of the full-length mirror in his room. He was blonde with hazel eyes and pale skin. And he wore a white, black, and blue striped polo shirt, old jeans, sneakers, a coat, and a black cap. He also had a necklace with the same Medal of Valor Harry had given Michelle 17 years ago as the pendant. He looked over at his reflection for a while before tucking the pendant beneath his shirt.
This male was Gary Unwin aka Eggsy. The son of Lee and Michelle Unwin, and Irene's nephew.
"Eggsy! Eggsy, come here!" As he heard his mother's voice, Eggsy sighed and walked out of his room, into the living room which also served as a kitchen. His mom Michelle was on the couch in front of the TV, reading a magazine with a man wearing a blue jacket and red shirt underneath sitting next to her. And there was another man on the armchair next to them.
"Got any Rizla babe?" Michelle asked him.
"No." Eggsy answered. The man next to his mom then looked over.
"Why don't you do your mum a favor, go down to the shop and get some?" This man was Dean Anthony Baker, Eggsy's stepfather. He had married Michelle a few years after Lee's death and he was abusive and rude to both Michelle and Eggsy. Eggsy hated his guts and had no problem in expressing it.
"Get them yourself." Like right now.
"Oi." Michelle looked up from her magazine. "What have I said to you about speaking to Dean like that?" Eggsy sighed internally before turning to the man on the armchair.
"Three's a crowd, innit? Why don't Dean's poodle go?" The man on the armchair raised a challenging eyebrow at him before Dean pulled out some cash from the pocket of his jeans.
"I'll tell you what. Why don't you take this," He handed the cash to Eggsy. "Go and get some Rizlas, get yourself some sweets? And while you're gone, we'll show your mother how three can be good company." Michelle looked over at him, aghast and Eggsy looked at him in disgust before the sound of a baby crying was heard.
Swearing all the swears he could possibly think of at Dean internally, Eggsy took the cash, Michelle thanking him. Then he walked over to the crib, to calm his baby half-sister Daisy.
He took her pacifier from her side and put it gently in her mouth. "There we go." He smiled as Daisy's cries turned into soft whimpers before caressing her rosy cheek with his thumb. "Is that better?" He asked with a smile on his face before walking out the door.
Black Prince Pub
"If Dean treats your mum so bad, why doesn't she leave him?"
"Low self-esteem. That's her problem."
"Fuck off! Why would she have low self-esteem? Eggsy's mum is well fit." Two of Eggsy's friends sitting across him at the bar laughed and bumped fists with each other. All three had beer pints in front of them.
"No offense bruv." One of his friends said. Eggsy smiled lightly.
"It's all right." At least he wasn't the only one who thought that. That smile immediately faded though when he imagined all the wrongdoings Dean had done to both Michelle and Eggsy. "One of these days, I'm gonna smash his face in."
"Are you mental, cuz?" One of his friends asked. "He'd just get that lot to do you and then pretend he knew nothing," he pointed at a table where a lanky guy was sitting and looked over at the table when his friend nudged him. He noticed the guy giving him a pissed look and slowly retracted his hand. "about it."
This lanky guy was Rottweiler, one of Dean's close friends who Dean always ordered around.
"Oi! You think you can chat shit about us and we won't do nothing just because our guvnor's banging Eggsy's mum?" Rottweiler yelled in his heavy accent. Eggsy pretended to think over it before nodding.
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Bruv, just leave it. Let's just go, man. It's not worth it." Amongst his friends' talk, Rottweiler had gotten up from his seat and walked over to the three's table.
"You boys have outstayed your welcome." He put his hands on the table and made a shooing motion. "Leave." Eggsy then got up and faced him.
"What?" Rottweiler asked. Eggsy put his hand on Rottweiler's arm with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry about that bruv." And he and his friends walked out the bar, his friends either putting their hoods or hats on.
"They weren't fucking worth it, boys." Eggsy then put his hands in his pockets.
"It's freezing. Why are we walking?" He took his hand out to reveal a set of car keys. His friends looked at him in shock.
"You jacked his fucking car keys, bruv?" Eggsy flipped the keys into his palm.
"Yeah. Now, we're gonna nick his car." The three guys got into the yellow sports car parked in front of the pub, Eggsy in the driver seat, before starting it. Minutes later, Rottweiler and his gang got out of the bar, seeing Eggsy drifting in circles in front of them. The three hollered and whooped amidst Rottweiler's cursing.
"Floor it Eggsy!" His friend yelled and Eggsy smirked before driving off. A couple of minutes later, they encountered a police car and Eggsy cursed internally before putting the car in reverse and driving backwards. He rounded the corner and drove backwards passed the pub and onto the main road.
After a while of chasing, Eggsy rounded a sharp corner that led into an alleyway. He drove down with the police still hot on their tail, when all of a sudden, a small fox ran onto the road. Eggsy swerved and missed the fox, but ran into a car parked on the street. The impact sent his friends' head flying backwards into the head rest. His friend at the passenger seat groaned.
"Dick."
"Foxes are vermins, cuz. Should've driven it over." Eggsy sighed.
"Should've done a lot of things. I'll sort this. Get out of the car." When his friends didn't respond, he looked over at them. "I said, get out of the fucking car!" He yelled and they got out in an instant.
He revved the engines up, sped forward and rammed the police car head on. He lurched forward but only by an inch, and the hood of the car was trashed and the same happened with the police car.
*Yep, I'm screwed.*
Holborn Police Station
"Eggsy, there is no such thing as honor among thieves. Now, you can start giving me some names of the boys you were with, or you go down. It's up to you." The officer told Eggsy as the young male slouched on the chair across him with his arms crossed.
"I want to exercise my right to a phone call." He shrugged. The officer sighed before standing up and taking the papers off the desk.
"Well, I hope it's to your mum. To tell her you're gonna be 18 months late for your dinner." He said, laughing sarcastically while ripping the papers up and leaving.
Glaring at the door, Eggsy took his necklace out from beneath his shirt and ripped it off his neck. Turning the medal around, he looked over at the date engraved on the back. "12.19.97" The day of his biological father's death. He suddenly remembered what his mom had told him when she gave him the medal.
*Babe, if you ever need help, call the number on the back and say 'Oxfords not Brogues'. Your aunt works there and she'll know it's you.*
Taking the phone, he dialed the number and placed the phone to his ear. It rang about 4 times before a woman answered.
"Customer Complaints, how may I help you?" Eggsy was taken aback. *Customer Complaints, what the f-*
"Um, my name's Eggsy Unwin. Sorry, uh Gary Unwin." *What were you thinking?* "And, I'm up shit creek. I'm in Holborn police station and my mum said to call this number if ever I needed help."
"I'm sorry sir. Wrong number." Just as the woman was about to hang up, Eggsy started speaking again.
"Wait! Wait!" *What was the code?* He thought to himself. *Think Eggsy think!*
"Oxfords, not Brogues?" He asked in an unsure, questionable tone. There was a moment of silence before the woman answered again.
"Your complaint has been duly noted, and we hope that we have not lost you as a loyal customer." The line cut off. Eggsy was shocked as he took the phone away from his ear and dropped it onto the table with an exasperated look.
*Okay... Now what?*
Alright, we finally introduced Eggsy. Stay tuned for the next chapter folks and please comment and vote if you liked it! ^^