The Modern Knight

The Loss of Galahad

The 20th of June, 2014 

Valentine stood next to his "henchwoman," Gazelle, and he had two of his goonies pointing guns at Harry.

"What did you do to me?" Harry asked with a bitter undertone, "I had no control. I killed all those people. I wanted to."

"Clever, isn't it?" Valentine asked with a crooked grin, "In simple terms, it's a neurological wave that triggers the centers of aggression, and switches off inhibitors."

"Transmitted through your nasty, free SIM cards, I assume."

Valentine took several steps towards Harry, "You know what this is like? It's like those old movies we both love. Now, I'm going to tell you my whole plan, and then I'm going to come up with some absurd and convoluted way to kill you, and you'll find an equally convoluted way to escape."

"Sounds good to me," Harry replied simply.

"Well, this ain't that kind of movie," Valentine said before quickly pointing a gun at Harry and pulling the trigger.

The feed then went dark.

"No!" Eggsy yelled.

"Uncle Harry!" Nicolette screamed.

Eggsy slammed the laptop closed in anger.

"No. No, he can't be," Nicolette whimpered, tears quickly streaming down her cheeks, "He's not allowed to. He-Harry!"

Nicolette had fallen up against the desk before collapsing onto the floor.

"Harry!" Nicolette yelled through her tears.

She had lost her father not even sixth months ago, and now lost the man who was like a second to her. The young woman started to cry so hard her body was shaking. She then felt a pair of arms wrap around her. Nicolette knew it was Eggsy, and she knew he was crying because she could feel his tears wet the fabric of her shirt.

Eggsy didn't say anything.

The two sat embracing in Harry's office, while they shed their tears. They were interrupted by a soft beeping.

Nicolette stifled her tears enough to grab her Kingsman glasses from Harry's desk. She opened them, and put them on, to see she was being paged.

"Of course," Nicolette muttered.

"What?" Eggsy asked, his voice a little thick from his tears.

"They're assembling the Kingsmen. Like when my da-, when Lancelot fell," Nicolette stood and wiped her face, "Stay upstairs for a few minutes, please."

"Nic-," Eggsy started.

"Please just, don't argue with me on this," Nicolette said, defeat in her voice, "If you don't want to be by yourself, then sit with Tori. I can't not do this."

With that, Nicolette left Harry's study and made her way to the dining room in Harry's home. The table was large enough to hold a meeting with all the Kingsmen without needing to leave his home. Nicolette poured a drink for herself then took her seat at the table, putting on her glasses.

"Guinevere, thank you for joining us," Arthur said simply.

All Nicolette did was nod her head in acknowledgement of Arthur.

The last to the meeting was Tristan.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I regret to say that it has only been four months since we last had occasion to use this decanter. Galahad was an outstanding agent and a true Kingsman. He will be sorely missed," Arthur paused to raise his glass, "To Galahad."

"To Galahad," Nicolette and all other Kingsmen said in unison before taking a drink.

"Now, plans will be made later in regards to the replacement of Galahad. For now, you are all dismissed," Arthur said.

Nicolette moved her glasses to atop her head just as Eggsy came down the stairs.

"I thought I asked you to wait upstairs," Nicolette said flatly.

Eggsy didn't say anything, instead entering the dining room and pouring himself a drink, taking a seat at the head of the table, next to Nicolette.

Eggsy took a swallow of his drink and stared ahead at the taxidermied Mr. Pickle.

"Eggsy, say something," Nicolette said weakly, the silence hurting her further than she already was.

Eggsy took another long swallow from the drink he poured before getting out of his seat. He softly grabbed Nicolette's arm and started to pull her towards and out the front door.

"Eggsy, what're you doing?" Nicolette asked.

Eggsy opened the passenger side of the taxi cab, which was still in front of Harry's home, and motioned for Nicolette to get inside.

Slowly, Nicolette climbed into the cab before Eggsy closed her door. He then got into the driver's side and started the car.

"How do I get to the shop?" Eggsy asked, his gaze locked forward.

"What?" Nicolette asked.

"The tailor shop! How do I get to the shop?" Eggsy asked, a bit more aggressively.

Nicolette stuttered out the directions to the shop before Eggsy gased the taxi, heading off towards the Kingsman shop.

The two young adults sat in silence as they drove. After a little while, they arrived at the shop.

Eggsy stopped the cab a little harshly before killing the engine. He climbed out and started to head into the shop.

"Eggsy! It's bound to be locked right now!" Nicolette said as she quickly climbed out of the cab after Eggsy.

"Then how do I get in?" Eggsy asked.

"I-I have a, a key," Nicolette said as she dug for the keys she always kept in her pocket.

With a shaky hand, Nicolette unlocked the front door to the shop and let Eggsy in. She followed behind him and locked the door behind her.

"Eggsy!" Nicolette cried as she ran after the young man, who was making his way upstairs.

"Arthur, Harry's dead," Eggsy said as he walked into the dining room.

"I'm sorry Arthur, he got ahead of me and-," Nicolette started to apologize.

"Galahad, is dead. Hence why we drank a toast to him," Arthur said, cutting Nicolette off.

"Well, then you know what that psycho's doing," Eggsy said to Arthur, "How many people around the world have got those SIM cards? Valentine can send his signal to any of them, all of them. If they all go homicidal at the same time, then-."

"Indeed," Arthur said, cutting Eggsy off, "And thanks to Galahad's recordings, we have Valentine's confession. The information has been passed on to the relevant authorities. Our work is complete, and a most distinguished legacy for our fallen friend, it is, too."

"And, that's it?"

"Come and sit down, boy. You too, Guinevere."