Knightsbridge Estates

[Captain]

MOD - FISHY MAN MISSISSIPPI JONES

Got his phone? Check. Got the address? Check. Got the deeds? Check.

Fishy Man Mississippi Jones was ready for whatever he had needed to do. He was trying to reassure himself, but he was too jittery. Way to jittery. He had some passing glances from some passerby but whatever.

He needed to do this. To be a man. To make a mark on the world even if the general public isn't going to see him.

He's going underground.

Doing a double-take over his shoulders, the lanky man slithered his way into an alley to disappear into a case of stairs that was the gateway to the unknown and dangerous...

[Deleted]

A FALLEN STAR, AT LEAST I FALL ALONE

After finding his way out of Hyde Park and into the estates belonging to Knightsbridge, Sergio had begun his patrol. Some time had passed now since his meeting with Officer Chase in the park, maybe an hour, perhaps a little more, perhaps a little less. Either way, nothing had come up so far. Sergio had been dragging his feet about the streets; his legs were getting numb, but he chose to ignore them as best he could... As per usual, he couldn't admit he was tired. By now he probably looked like some kind of weirdo, bumbling around with his hands in his pockets. He didn't think anyone passing by might've suspected he was a plain-clothes police officer... But, that was a good thing, of course, because if there was anything untoward, his authority wouldn't be given away. Or, maybe trudging along the same route back and forth was making him seem suspicious... Well, regardless, he could hardly get arrested for it. The thought made him snort silently to himself. He glanced up at the curved roofs donning the houses on the road he was currently on. By now, he was getting pretty bored of seeing them more than once... He didn't really have room to complain, though – it was important, seeing as how the owners of the houses were wealthy. Obviously, there were good security systems in place, but at the same time, there was a reason he was on patrol there. Extra precautions had to be taken. One could never be too careful. It was here that, in the corner of his eye, he saw movement from the edge of an alleyway. It grabbed his attention for a moment, but it was there and gone so quickly that he almost shrugged it off as a trick of the eyes. But his mind told him it wasn't. He supposed it might have been a bird or a cat... But there was still a sliver of doubt. Sergio made his way over to the alleyway, just to double-check nothing was going on. And he genuinely expected nothing would be going on... But, upon poking his head around the side of the building, he witnessed what was surely a figure disappearing down a staircase and out of sight. He frowned... It might well have been nothing, but to him, that seemed at least a little bit shady.

TAG: CAPTAIN/NPC

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS AND BTN

[Captain]

MOD - FISHY MAN MISSISSIPPI JONES

While the case of stairs were dark as they could be in a shady alley, the further he went in, the lighter it became. Stronger did the putrid smell of blunts and booze become the more he descended down. His jitters became even worse the more he went down, as if he had the greatest amounts of peer pressure sitting upon his droopy shoulders. His palm was getting really sweaty and he clutched the deeds that was in a case to his chest.

”Oh god… why was I forced into this… Why do I have to do this…”

He muttered in a shaky voice to himself, but retried to erase those thoughts anyway. He needed to do this after all. He tried distracting himself – how could this place not flood from all the rain? … Probably they have drains at every step or something…

By the time when it felt like he went down a hundred leagues, the air was too thick with smoke colored with a tint of purple. God, even the LED lights were nerve wrecking to him. He almost walked into the iron door since the smoke was so thick. He gave it a weak knock and waited.

It probably went unheard.

He proceeded to try knocking again until there was a loud sliding sound. The door wasn’t being opened, but... Fishy Man Mississippi Jones couldn’t explain it. To him, he just knew that something slide on the door to reveal a pair of eyes bearing down on him.

Out of reflex, he brought the deeds even closer to his chest, allowing the man on the other side of the door to see the insignia that branded it.

”I-I… Iron Grail…”

With the whisper of the words from his mouth, he was brought into the facility.

[Deleted]

A FALLEN STAR, AT LEAST I FALL ALONE

Sergio was left with two options. The first was to forget he'd seen anything (it was probably just a guy who lived in that building or one nearby going into a cellar to get something; that would be the logical explanation). He'd brush it off, continue his patrol and report back to Officer Chase as soon as he could. The second option was to pursue. Not that Sergio was necessarily a 'naturally inquisitive' guy – he was more the type to know pretty damn well that curiosity killed the cat – but it was part of his job to look into things, just to make sure... And he couldn't help but get a bad feeling from this guy, whatever he was doing. It was probably innocent, he was probably just imagining things, but even so, if he ignored it and the guy really was up to no good, then the blame fell onto him. He began to step forwards, down the alleyway, steadily and quietly, though not quite to the degree that he was tiptoeing. The man he was following was out of sight now, having disappeared down a flight of steps. Stopping at the top of these, Sergio noticed that a thick smoke clouded the steps further down... And that was certainly enough to cause the alarm bells in his head to start ringing once again. Why was that smoke there? For what purpose? Was it to hide something? Retaining the quiet, steady pace from before, he began to sneak down the steps, taking them one at a time and trying not to inhale any of the smoke (lest he start having a coughing fit, alerting the man that must have still been below), taking a deep breath of the relatively clean air before disappearing down into it. He didn't know how far down he'd gotten when a voice at the bottom spoke two words, in a stammer. 'Iron Grail'... Iron Grail? What did that mean? Perhaps he'd misheard, he thought, but then he heard the sound of a heavy door opening and shutting, and nothing else – the scene fell silent again after that, and that was the moment in which he picked up his pace considerably, rushing down the steps. If he was lucky, he might have been able to catch the door whilst it was still open...

TAG: CAPTAIN/NPC

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS AND BTN

[Captain]

MOD - FISHY MAN MISSISSIPPI JONES

Unknowing to Fishy Man Mississippi Jones (who in the world would name their son that), there was a man following him. Yet, he was too far and too nervous to probably even notice his follower.

"You have it, right?"

He could only nod and show the man the suitcase. However, when he was asked if he could prove it by opening the case, he quickly and violently shook his head.

"I... I..." He tried to speak but only stuttered. He tried clearing this throat to speak once more - even if he didn't have anything stuck in it.

"S-Sorry... It's just that I can't... let anyone see that's inside it. N-Not you at least." He had almost released a yelp when a glare was sent over towards him. However, the other man - who was quite a body builder, begrugingly lead them through the den. There were a lot of men - tough looking men who probably earned their scars not from a kitchen accident with slippery vegatables.

They traveled in deeper before the two of them stood between a great iron door. Mr. Heavyweight pushed Fishy Man closer towards the door, nudging him in the rudest way possible to just get on with it.

His sweaty and shaky hands reached out for the doorknob - it was striking chill against his hot palm as he turned the knob.

Upon opening the door, a heavier cloud of smoke escaped. For a moment, Fishy Man thought that people would have suffocated and died without much ventilation, but these guys were so hardcore... probably too hardcore for a suckling welp like him.

"S-Sir..." He muttered, not even sure of which figures he should be facing too. There were too many men shrowed in black, with heavy smoke surrounding each. Yet, he assumed at the 'big cheese' was in the middle of it all.

"You got what I asked for, no?" There was a raspy voice, a voice that have gotten hoarse from all of the smoking he had did in his life. There was obviously no turning back now...

[Deleted]

A FALLEN STAR, AT LEAST I FALL ALONE

It was hard to focus with his breath held like that, but Sergio pressed on. Once he was at the bottom of the steps he started to look around for the door he'd heard opening; quite a challenge with the smoke getting into his eyes... He had to wonder about that as well – was there something on fire inside? He blinked, finding that most of it did indeed seem to be seeping out from the building – mainly through a door that was currently ajar... That must have been the one he was looking for. His breath still held, he sniffed the air. Thankfully, it didn't have the unpleasant burning scent to it (hell, if it had done, he would have been able to smell it from at least halfway down the steps); rather, it was sweet and distinct... It smelt of tobacco. Someone was smoking inside... Or, rather, many people were; there was simply too much smoke to have come from just one person, or even a few, for that matter. “You have it, right?” Sergio's ears pricked at the voice from beyond the door. He stood near to where it was opened slightly, but due to the darkness of the room inside, not to mention the smoke that was threatening to make his eyes water, he couldn't see anything. All he could do was listen to the conversation that, as a matter of fact, sounded incredibly suspicious. So much for not finding anything in Knightsbridge... Whatever the men inside were discussing, it didn't sound like something he could just let go of. At the same time, Sergio wasn't quite stupid enough to go barging straight onto the scene. He wasn't armed, for one, not to mention he was alone on this patrol. He stepped back, away from the door and in the direction of the stairs again. Slipping his phone out of his pocket, he recalled quickly the fast-track number, before dialling it. “Officer Sergio González Navarro; m'on patrol on the estates at Knightsbridge.” He muttered, loud enough for whoever was on the other end of the line to hear him, but quiet enough so that hopefully – hopefully – those inside couldn't hear him. “Requesting backup. There's an alley mid-way through the estates, with steps heading to the basement level of one of the houses. M'not armed or in uniform.” He frowned. Knowing that, the safest thing for him to do would be to head back up the steps and wait for the other officers, but at the same time, it was crucial he kept an eye on the door... He had to be careful, here.

TAG: CAPTAIN/NPC

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS AND BTN

[Captain]

MOD - FISHY MAN MISSISSIPPI JONES

As to answer the supposed 'leader' of the group, Jones almost nodded until he caught himself. Honestly, with this heavy smoke, he wasn't even so sure if they could see him nod.

"Yes."

It was a pathetic answer, but at least he tried his best not to have the stutter - honestly he thought he sounded like a broken record there (even if it was something not so easily controlled).

Honestly, why was he in this place in the first place?

"T-The thing you wanted S-Sir... I-It would be best to use it-"

"I know how the thing works boy. Well, so much for accepting offered help. "Now, hand it over already!" He's quite impatient too.

So, in a nervous and shaky fashion, Fishy Man was forced to close the gap between him and the table - something he was sure he didn't want to do in the first place. In one swift motion, he slid the case on the table and over to the man, hastily returning back to his spot until dismissed.

[Deleted]

A FALLEN STAR, AT LEAST I FALL ALONE

With his phone back in his pocket and his attention back on the door and those beyond it, Sergio felt at a loss for what to do, exactly. Was that door the only door there? Would whoever was in there come back out of that door, when what they were discussing had all been said and done? Pressing his back to the wall next to where the door was ajar, he continued to listen... Perhaps if he could do nothing else right now, he could gather information for when his back-up arrived. “T-The thing you wanted S-Sir... It would be best to use it-” “I know how the thing works boy.” But what was the thing? Sergio had to wonder – it wasn't like those participating in the conversation weren't being subtle about it... Originally he'd thought it might have been a case of drugs or money, something along those lines, but now that they were talking about it's 'use' and how it 'worked'... It kind of sounded like it was actually a weapon. He swallowed, his body tense... Damn, he really needed his back-up to hurry. How long would they be? Fifteen minutes? Half an hour...? Could he hang on that long? Would the men inside spend any longer talking? Sergio wasn't stupid enough to charge in there without a second thought, especially not whilst armed... But, perhaps there was something else he could do... And maybe then he'd hopefully find out it was all a misunderstanding or something... He could only hope. Though it might have been dangerous for them to have known he was eavesdropping, there was one thing that warranted his presence there – the smoke. Lifting his hand, which had gone clammy by now, he formed a fist and banged it on the frame of the door, having to (unfortunately) inhale a breath of the smoky air to raise his voice, “Police! Answer the door!”

TAG: CAPTAIN/NPC

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS AND BTN