Here is my second story. I was watching Kingsman: The Golden Circle yesterday and just hated what they did to Agent Whiskey. I thought he deserved better or at least a more fleshed out backstory. So here's the idea I had. Meh...
Please note that I own NOTHING!
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Sodapop fought tears as he sat by his Pa's bed while the nano technology did its job. He was more than happy to let the Kingsman update Champ about the failed mission while he helps Ginger get to work on his Pa's head injury. The image of blood on the cabin floor still danced behind his eyelids and he loud bang of Galahad Sr.'s gun continued to roar in his ears. He bit his lip to stifle a sob as the machine hummed away. He wondered if this is how Chai felt sitting by her sister's bed. He couldn't look her in the eye knowing they failed to bring the cure. Cholado stopped by to offer a sympathetic ear but couldn't stay long. He assured Soda that Chai wasn't angry and that she hoped that Whiskey would be alright.
Can he see Mama? He wondered. Will he be mad if he wakes up and I'm not here?
He knew he had to continue with the mission, but right now he just wanted to be with his Pa. Tequila and Chai's sister were already placed in a cryotube in the hopes of slowing the poison in their veins. Soda sighed and thought about the adventures his Pa told him as bedtime stories. He remembered the feeling of hugging his bear tight in awe of his father's heroism. It was like he was listening to a real superhero. He hoped that when the mission was over, he'd be back by his father's bedside to tell his own adventure.
"You alright, Rhett?" Ginger calmly walked into the room with her tablet in hand.
"Yeah," he wiped his eyes. "I'm alright. It's just...weird seeing him here like this."
Ginger nodded. "Well, no need to fret. Everything looks good so far. I just need something to jog his memory when he comes to."
Rhett smiled. "Check his pocket inside his jacket."
Ginger set her tablet down and smiled. "I'm not gonna find a matchbox from a titty bar, am I?"
"Funny." He rolled his eyes.
She chuckled and checked Whiskey's pockets as instructed. She pulled out an old polaroid with a woman's face smiling back at her. "Is this your mama?" She handed the photo to him.
He took the photo and nodded. "For as much of a hound dog he is, I know he loved my mama. He talked about her all the time when I was a youngin. He only chases skirts to hide his hurt."
Ginger looked at Whiskey with pity. She always thought that he was compensating for something with his womanizing way. Confirming it, just made it sad to think about. She took the photo back from Rhett and gently put it in her pocket. "I'll keep it safe. Don't you worry."
He nodded in thanks. "Any word on Poppyland?"
"We got a location. The boys are loading up a jet as we speak and the Kingsmen are packing their gear."
"Best get going then."
A knock on the door interrupted them. Eggsy waited by the door. "Mind if I pop in?"
Ginger turned to Sodapop. "I'll double check the flight logs." She nodded to Eggsy and left.
The young men held an awkward silence before Eggsy cleared his throat. "Look, bruv...about Whiskey..."
"Look, man," Sodapop rubbed his eyes. "This whole operation is a shit show and we both know any mission can go sideways at any time. But Whiskey is gonna be back on his feet in no time. Although..." he smirked. "You and Galahad Sr. better make yourself scarce when he comes to. Wouldn't want to see your fancy suit cut in half by his lasso."
"Noted." Eggsy chuckled. "You taggin' along?"
"Wouldn't miss it." Soda turned to Whiskey. "See you soon."
************************************
The ride to Poppyland was a little awkward to say the least. Merlin was in the cockpit making sure they arrived at their destination, Galahad Jr and Sr kept to the bar, and Sodapop sat comfortably on a couch fiddling with his Statesman bear's sheriff badge. He always kept it in his pocket as a good luck charm especially when he enlisted. Eggsy seeing Sodapop lost in his thoughts, he made a drink and moved to sit with him. Galahad Sr. stayed at the bar and observed his protégé interact with the Statesman.
"So, what's with you and Whiskey?" Eggsy asked as he passed a glass to Sodapop.
With one hand Sodapop accepted the drink and with the other hand he continued to fidget with the little badge. "He taught me everything I know about being a Statesman." He nodded toward Galahad Sr. "Kinda like you two, I reckon."
"I hope you can be focused on the task at hand." Galahad Sr. stated seriously.
"Come on, Harry." Eggsy sighed.
"You're not gonna get a rise outta me." Sodapop locked eyes with Galahad Sr. "The most important lesson a Statesman is taught is that that mission always comes first. You wanna dance when this is over? I'll be your huckleberry. But only when this is over."
Galahad Sr tilted his head in respect then turned his attention to the Soda's hands. "You've been fiddling with that this whole trip."
"Oh this?" Soda tossed it to Galahad Sr. who caught it with ease. "It's my good luck charm. I always take it with me on a mission."
Galahad smiled and tossed it back. "It's always good to have a bit of extra luck in your back pocket."
Merlin came out of the cockpit as Sodapop tucked his little badge in his breast pocket. "Gentleman, let's suit up." With a switch the table and walls converted to racks of weapons and Kingman gear. Sodapop quietly sat and watched the Kingsmen collect their gear until Merlin furrowed his brow. "You're not going to grab some gear?"
"Wouldn't want to presume." He shrugged.
"Besides, Ginger set me up with some gear."
"You mean your skipping rope?" Eggsy smirked.
Sodapop rolled his eyes. "It's called a lasso."
"Whateva."
"Regardless." Merlin smiled and pulled out a box.
"I took the liberty of fixin' a Kingman watch for you. You'll find an updated taser dart and sleep dart, a communicator, GPS with the team's location..."
"Does it come with HBO too?" Sodapop chuckled and accepted the box. "Thank you, Merlin."
"We're in this together." He nodded. "Oh! And you're more than welcome to take any of the firearms and grenades that you see."
"Oh thanks!" Soda reached for a rifle, but Merlin quickly snatched it.
"Hands off. This one's mine." The Kingsmen and Statesman laughed and put together their battle plan as the jet swiftly carried them to Poppyland.
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Jack was confused.
It was like he was living a memory and a fantasy at the same time. He was in his car driving home to his high school sweetie. To his dismay he saw the Statesman bear in the passenger seat and immediately knew this was the day she was taken from him. This was the day his son almost died. He gripped the steering wheel tight preparing to see the police waiting for him in his driveway. To his surprise there was no one there. Just his wife's car. He quickly parked the car, grabbed the little stuffed bear, and ran inside.
"Sweetheart?" he called. "You home, baby?"
"In the kitchen!" a sweet voice called. He swayed at the sound of her voice. It had been so long since that musical voice touched his ears. He wanted to cry. He wondered if he was in heaven or maybe everything that came before was just a terrible nightmare. He strode into the kitchen and was welcomed by a wonderful sight. His Sweetheart was waddling around the kitchen preparing for dinner while munching on her favorite cookies.
"Sugar," he chuckled, "You'll spoil your appetite with those." He kissed her sweetly and held her tight.
"Blame your son," she chuckled and tried to remove herself from his grasp. Noticing how tight he held her she asked, "What's wrong, hunny? Did the interview go south?"
"No, Sweetheart," he smelled her hair. "I just missed you is all. I did get the job though." He finally let her go and handed her the Statesman bear. "My new boss thought the baby would like it."
She giggled at the bear and hugged it to her chest. "Oh, how thoughtful! I know our baby boy will love it." She waddled to the baby's room to place it in the newly assembled crib. Jack followed closely behind, not wanting to be far from her. He tried memorizing every detail of her. If it truly was a dream, then he wanted to remember every touch and smell of her before it was gone. Once they reached the nursery, she placed the bear in the crib and sat in the rocking chair in the room.
"Whew!" she sighed, "Who knew a trip to the convenience store would be too much."
"You sure you're both ok?" he asked as he knelt beside her.
"Oh hunny, you worry too much." She cupped his cheek. "But we're both fine. We got you to watch out for us, right?"
"Damn straight." He kissed her palm. "I'll always be there for you and our baby boy."
"Promise?"
"Promise..."
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Ginger reviewed her tablet and saw that the nanites were almost finished repairing Whiskey's brain. As the machine hums to a finish, she takes her place in front of Whiskey just out of arms reach in case he gets violent. Whiskey wakes up and sits up and offers a flirtatious smile when he sees her.
"Hello, gorgeous!" he hops off the table and struts toward her. "What's your name?" With each step he takes, Ginger takes a calm step back as he continues to flirt. "How would you like to ride home on a real cowboy? I got a six pack of cold ones on ice and my roomie is out all night so you can scream my name as loud as you need to, Sugar!"
Frowning, she pulls the photo from her lab coat pocket. "I hate to do this to you, Jack." She shows him the photo.
Confused, Whiskey pulls the photo from her hand and examines the face smiling back at him. "Who's this pretty lady?
"She's dead."
Like a punch to the chest, he hears her voice saying "Hey, hunny! I'm going to the store." From there a rush of memories hammer in his head. Memories of seeing his beloved on a cold table in the morgue. His baby boy struggling to breathe as he lay helpless in a hospital incubator. The feeling of pride watching his boy grow into a strong man and the anger that came knowing that his Sweetheart should have been there to witness it too. He took a deep breath and finally came to the present.
He gently kissed the photo and realized that Rhett wasn't in the room which meant he was visiting Chai or... "Where's Rhett? He ok?"
Ginger held her hands up to try and calm him down. "He's fine! He's in the field..."
"What?!" Whiskey exclaimed. "I got shot in the head by that Butterfly guy! Don't tell me he's out there with them."
"What are you talking about?" Ginger asked. "Why would he do that?"
Whiskey paused. "I guess you didn't fix him right! Look it doesn't matter, Rhett and Eggsy are gonna need backup. Get the Silver Pony ready and send me their coordinates."
Ginger got straight to work informing the hanger to prep Whiskey's ride while Whiskey ran down the hall to get new gear and get ready for travel. As his boots echoed down the hall, he heard the faint voice of his beloved making him promise to watch out for their boy.
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Eggsy, Harry, and Sodapop were in the heat of the battle in Poppyland. Eggsy and Harry had to put their grief aside at the loss of Merlin for the mission at hand. Despite the sadness he felt for Merlin, Eggsy felt happy having Harry fighting at his side again. It was like he never left. Eggsy even appreciated Sodapop jumping into action with his "skipping rope." Sodapop cut through every goon who came across his path then used his lasso to snatch weapons and The Kingsman umbrellas protected them from bullets while functioning as rifles. It was one of Harry's favorite weapons. Somewhere in the chaos the Statesman got separated from the Kingsmen. The last Eggsy saw of Sodapop he was being chased by one of Poppy's robot dogs.
When the goons were defeated, The Kingsman searched quickly for their Statesman comrade. Smoke made their eyes water, their bones ached, and they fought exhaustion in the hopes of finding their friend and finishing their mission.
"Eggsy," Harry pointed at the rubble of one of the buildings. "Look."
Eggsy limped closer to the damage and frowned. "Oh no." Covered in soot and blood was Sodapop's "lucky" badge. Eggsy picked it up and put it in his breast pocket wondering how he was going to explain to the other Statesmen about their fallen friend. "Let's finish this." He said with determination and turned toward Poppy's Diner.
Finally meeting Poppy, Eggsy injected her with the truth serum to get the code to release the antidote globally.
She giggled, "Viva Las Vegan...get it?" Unfortunately, her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she collapsed.
The unfazed Kingsmen looked at her pitiful body and realized that she was given too much of their serum. A miscalculation from Merlin, perhaps? Unlikely. Harry opened Poppy's laptop while Eggsy pulled out Sodapop's lucky badge and set it on the counter by the computer. In Eggsy's mind, it felt like having him there for the victory. Just as Harry was going to type in the code, something grabbed him by the neck cutting off his air supply. Eggsy turned around ready to fight, only to see Agent Whiskey with his lasso in one hand and a gun pointed at him with the other.
Whiskey nodded to the computer. "Kick it over, kid. Don't do anything fancy unless you want his head off his shoulders."
"Look, mate," Eggsy complied and kicked the computer to Whiskey. "You're just confused. It's the nanites messing with your brain chemistry..."
"Oh, I'm right as rain." Whiskey chuckled, "Especially after all these dopers kick the bucket, Statesmen stocks will go through the roof!"
"So, this is what it's all for?" Eggsy spat. "For money?"
"The money is just a bonus." Whiskey shrugged.
"Where's Rhett? Y'all took him with you and I passed by what was left of Merlin. Where is he?"
There was a pause with the Kingsman trying to find the words to talk about their fallen comrade without dying for it. Eggsy decided that no words were really needed. With his hands still up and showing Whiskey he wasn't reaching for anything, he grabbed Sodapop's lucky badge between two fingers and gently tossed it to Whiskey's feet.
"Look, mate. Innocent people are going to die if we don't send out the antidote now. Our agencies were founded on the principles to uphold peace and protect the innocent. Sodapop wanted to help all those innocent people."
"You wanna know who was innocent?" Whiskey's voice cracked at the sight of his boy's badge dirty, broken, and stained in his blood. "My high school sweetheart. The love of my life...pregnant with my little boy." Tears filled his eyes thinking of the promise he made to protect their son only to fail. "She would've seen him grow into a fine young man if two methheaf freaks hadn't decided to rob a fucking convenience store." Eggsy sighed and looked at Whiskey with some sympathy. He had seen plenty of classmates and friends succumb to a variety of addictions. Whiskey continued. "You wanna talk about innocent? Tell it to Rhett. He gave his life for what? For people like that? No. A world without those people into?" He flashed a wicked grin. "Sure smells like peace to me. Good riddance to ALL of them!"
"Whiskey," Eggsy still wanted to find a way to calm him down long enough to get the laptop. "I know Sodapop meant a lot to ya. He told us you taught him everything he knew about being a Statesman. He wouldn't want his mentor..."
"You're his father." Harry stated. "I thought I saw some resemblance but excused it away due to my condition."
"Ain't nothing getting by you, Butterfly Guy." Whiskey snorted. "Just like it didn't get by you that I broke the antidote on purpose."
"Whatever happened to the mission comes first, Agent Whiskey?" Harry took a stance ready to fight.
"Rhett was my mission!" With a flick of his wrist, Whiskey turned on his lasso hoping to end the Kingsman. With quick reflexes, Harry pulled his head from the lasso narrowly keeping his head on his shoulders. Eggsy took the opportunity to take a swing at Whiskey. The important thing was to get to the laptop and enter the code. But Whiskey was doing his best to keep it from their reach. He used his whip to keep them at bay and when he lost his gun, he resorted to his large bowie knife. In the midst of the heated fight, Whiskey felt a harsh pinch on his neck causing him to cry out. He wiggled free from the Kingman and staggered back trying to understand what happened. He felt numb, his vision blurred, and for a split second he thought he saw his baby boy standing in the doorway.
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Sodapop felt nothing but pain all over his body. He felt something heavy pinning him down and he found it hard to see. He wiggled around and realized that he was pinned by some rubble. He clawed his way out to safety and quickly checked himself over. He was covered in claw marks from Poppy's robot dog, a couple of burns from an explosion, cuts, bruises, and his left eye was swollen shut. He looked around for Eggsy and Galahad Sr but assumed they must have continued to the main building to find Poppy. As he limped that direction, he noticed The Silver Pony just outside the carnage of Poppyland.
"Pa?" he wondered. A fresh surge of adrenaline kicked in and pushed him forward. He was shocked to see his father fighting with the Kingsman. Terrified that his Pa lost his mind or worse...Pa didn't want the antidote to reach everyone. Without hesitation he aimed his watch toward his Pa and shot a knockout dart at his neck. He watched his father sway and collapse.
"Rhett?!" Eggsy exclaimed, disbelieving the figure in front of him.
Sodapop didn't respond and noticed the laptop on the floor. With as much energy he could muster, he kicked the computer to The Kingsman. "I'm assuming you got the code. Best get to it." While the Kingsman typed the code to release the antidote, he limped to his Pa's unconscious body and gingerly sat down next to him. He gently pulled his father's head onto his lap while he leaned his back against one of the diner's booths. He smiled hearing the sigh of relief from Galahad Sr. and Eggsy shouting for joy.
"Did it work?" he asked.
"Bloody hell, mate." Eggsy chuckled and sat in the booth next to him. "We thought you ate it!"
Sodapop laughed. "Ha! You wish! I had my lucky badge."
Galahad Sr. picked up the broken badge and gave it to him. "You could've knocked out one of us and helped your father cover up what happened here."
"My Pa ain't a bad man." He sighed and sadly looked at his father's face. "He almost lost everything when my Mama died. I was almost a casualty that day too. He just let his hurt turn to poison in his heart. He forgot why we do this job."
"Well," Galahad Sr. smiled. "He raised a good man. Now let's get back to HQ."
"Yeah." Sodapop smiled. "Let's get the hell outta here."
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Holy crap guy! I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates on this one. I'm total trash when it comes to ideas. I just can't stop creating new stories. I just can't say no! Thank you to all the readers who have stuck with me. I greatly appreciate your patience. If you like my work, please check out what else I've written.