Chapter Text
London, England - Midnight
The sound of a pair of high heels clicks against the streets of London, the dim lights of the lampost hardly lightening the young woman's path. A sudden chill freezes her, quickly takes glances around her.
Nothing hostile.
She continues down her path, unaware of the danger ahead. Just as she passes across the entrance of a dark alleyway, two pairs of burly, gloved hands snatch her waist. A hand covers her squeals as she freezes from her captors. Three men were sneering down with glints of a cruel intention. "My, my, what a doll? How much do you think she'll do?" One man with multiple scars on his face playfully asks his fellow goons.
"Depends on whether the boss finds some value in her," another lackey with a burgundy leather coat twirls his knife. Which I hope he does not..." A clashing sound makes the perpetrators jolt and see a metal trash can fall to the ground. "Oi, are you numb skulls gonna chicken out? Let us get the broad inside now," a lanky man shouts at his stunned coworkers from the car.
The two men begin to pick up a squirming girl, trying to muffle a scream from one of their hands. "You idiot, you forgot to knock her out! Where's the drug?" The scarred man takes out a cloth soaked with chloroform and pushes it onto the girl's mouth, immediately making her unconscious.
However, they were aware that another presence was watching, as the men opened the trunk of the car, something crashed on top of it. The lanky driver slammed his face on the wheel from the impact, while the other two men stumbled with the girl now on the ground.
The two men quickly took out their guns, when suddenly a beaming slash sliced their firearms. "No, not him," The burly man quivers at the sight of the hooded vandal putting away its sword, while the scarred man takes out his knife, "Take the broad and run!" The scarred man charges at the hooded figure, but his efforts are proven to be in vain; the hooded figure dodges the small blade and sweeps the scarred man's feet, which does not make him happy.
"Getting cheeky, eh? Let's see if I can get a scar out of you!" He slashes his knife across, but is instead met with a strong grip on his wrist. Out of nowhere, the hooded figure throws the scarred man across the alley and slams into the broken car. The hooded figure approaches the unconscious girl, gently picks her up bridal style, and carries her away from the darkness of the alleyway.
The authorities arrived at the crime scene, with a shattered car, a dead driver, two unconscious men, and a shattered bottle.
A kidnapping went wrong.
One of the officers approaches the police commissioner, Alcott Reinfield, with a frantic voice, "Commissioner Reinfield, the victim of the attempted kidnapping has awakened in the hospital, the detectives are interviewing her as we speak." Commissioner Reinfield crouches over a singular black rose that caught his eye.
He takes out a clean handkerchief, picks it up from the stem, and inspects it. He heavily sighs, knowing who the culprit is. "The press is going to have a bloody field day, our crusader strikes again... " he rises from the floor as the police tape blocks the alleyway.
The next morning...
In the harbor of London, a small ship approaches the harbor, and a flock of seagulls flies around various ships, hoping to find scraps to eat. One seagull lands on the boat's rails, only to be frightened by a small white fox terrier's consistent barking. The seagull flees from the dog, and the dog nods in pride for scaring away a pest from the boat.
"Snowy!" A voice calls out for the dog. Snowy runs to the voice of his master, a young man sporting a ginger quiff, who lowers to Snowy's level, ruffling the dog's white fur. "Were you chasing seagulls?" Snowy barks in response, and the two glance at the nice town as they approach the harbor. The door from the cabin opens up to the captain of the ship, Archibald Haddock, who approaches his friends, "A Thousand Typhoons, this place gets foggier every year!"
Upon docking in the harbor, the trio steps out to see the bustling city. Many civilians walked over to the stands that sold products, some murmuring to one another about the daily gossip. Their travel plans were simple: to arrive in London and take a train ride to Wales for a small vacation. Simple, right?
Arriving at Paddington station, Tintin was occupied with getting their tickets when Snowy began to explore the crowded station. Little did they know that a young woman was rushing past the crowded station, hoping to catch the train; however, she looked behind her and saw two men approaching. The girl rushes without looking and accidentally bumps into Captain Haddock and stumbles to the ground.
The captain irritably turns around, ready for anyone who dares try to pickpocket him, "Oi! Who-!" Tintin sees the young woman and immediately stops his friend, "Captain, wait!" The young woman scrambles to her feet, frantically looking around her. Tintin raises his hand to her, "Excuse me, miss, are you all right?" She quickly stands and suddenly runs away without another word. Tintin finds this peculiar, and then he hears Snowy barking; it seems that the fox terrier found something. Tintin picks up the item, "Seems she has dropped her handkerchief, best to return it now."
Tintin turns to Captain Haddock, "Captain, I need to do something real quick, be right back." He rushes off to follow the girl, but there is no trace of her. Snowy is quick to track her down, then suddenly begins to run after the trail with Tintin close to his tail. They stopped by an alleyway and saw the two burly men holding the girl, attempting to push her into a car. One of them shut her mouth as she tried to scream. Tintin and Snowy rush to the scene, "Let her go!". One of the men quickly pulls out a gun and shoots at the duo, who quickly retreat behind the wall.
The perpetrators quickly got their hostage in the car and rapidly sped off. Tintin and Snowy watched as the journalist read the license plate and saw an image of a falcon's talon in the corner. Without losing a second, he begins to scribble down the numbers and the talon.
Captain Haddock arrives to see Tintin and Snowy all well, "Blue Blistering Barnacles, are both all right? I've heard gunshots!"
Tintin sighs dejectedly, "We're fine, captain. There was a young girl in trouble, and the only clues were her handkerchief and the vehicle's license plate. Is the police coming?"
"Aye, they are about to arrive." The train whistle blows for departure to Wales, "Come on, lad, you know we deserve a good vacation." Tintin gives him a disappointed glance, "Sorry, Captain, but I need to get this over to the police. We'll get on another train once it's done." Tintin and Snowy walk back to the station, while Haddock watches as their plans for a vacation go away, just to be stuck in a fog-infested city.
He knows for sure, Tintin will see through this mystery.