Me: Back to writing! :D

Tintin: No stop. D:

Me: But why? It's so fun! And I'm hinting things... ehehehe~ :D

Tintin: Nooooo weeeeeeh DX

Me: Well okay. I guess I still don't own the Adventures of Tintin, nor the characters (except for maybe like, a couple). :D

Tintin: Ehh. Go read I guess. :I

Chapter 9

September 26, 1940

A few days had passed and Tintin, Eloi, and Snowy enjoyed their time in Oxford not being chased by Nazis. They had to go to Oxford since London was in shambles from the Luftwaffe. They sat at a table in a small café, drinking tea and reading the newspaper. After taking a bite out of his scone, Tintin said, "Listen to this, Eloi; 'Britain Recalls Several Sea Captains from the War Front.'"

"Do you think they recalled your friend? What is his name… Haddock?" asked Eloi. He looked displeased with the tea and tossed it into the street before anyone noticed.

"I certainly hope so. A man of his age and… habits shouldn't be fighting in a war such as this," Tintin replied. He continued to read and nearly dropped his tea. "Great snakes!"

"What? Something good I hope?"

"This is terrible! Gottfried has escaped!" Eloi almost choked on his scone.

"Mon deiu! H-how is that possible? I've heard the German prisons are impossible to escape!" the Frenchman stammered. He pounded his fist on the table, startling the other customers. He grumbled something profane in French and muttered, "They'll catch him won't they? The Nazis are very good at these things."

"Apparently not if they let one man escape," Tintin said bitterly. He folded his newspaper and finished his tea and scone. He stood and said, "Come along, Snowy." The little white dog leapt to his feet and barked loudly.

"So, now what's the plan?" Eloi asked, standing as well and following Tintin and Snowy out of the café. "Gottfried escaped and he could come after us!"

Tintin shook his head. "No, I don't think so. He doesn't know where we are, and even if he did, he would be apprehended by the British army if he tried to come after us." He crossed his arms and stared into the ground. Snowy whined. "At least… that's what I hope."

"Well… no use worrying about it now. We should go back to the hotel and think about our strategy there," Eloi said, patting Tintin's shoulder. They started to walk to their hotel, unknowingly passing a German agent on his way to the nearest phone.

"Ja… Herr von Gottfried… I have seen him! Tintin is here, in Oxford. I can get you into England… but it'll cost you… perfect. Consider it done. You'll be in London by tomorrow. Hagel Kapitän von Gottfried." He hung up the phone and slunk away into the shadows.

As the intrepid trio made their way through Oxford, they passed a bar without noticing a familiar black and silver haired man sitting inside. Spirydon had to double take when he saw the ginger reporter stroll past. He swore loudly in Russian and slammed his glass on the table. "Chto?! Tintin! Here?! BUT I KILLED HIM!" he roared, startling the other men at the bar. He rose to his feet and stormed out and drew his gun and aimed at Tintin's back. His eyes glinted. The Russian forced himself to lower the gun and he muttered, "Nyet. A shot here would notify the police… or worse." He quickly stashed the gun before anyone could see it and he started to tail Tintin, Eloi, and Snowy through the streets discreetly.

Tintin and his group eventually reached their hotel and quickly went back to their room to strategise. "If von Gottfried manages to find us here… what will we do? We can't keep running around England forever. We'll either run out of places to run or get blown to smithereens with all these bombs flying about," Tintin said, resting his chin in his hands.

"Oui… what about Scandinavia? We could flee there," Eloi suggested.

"No. There are plenty of Nazis in Norway monitoring the airways and the ports, and the only other way I can think of would be for us to go through Germany and Denmark. I can only imagine how great that would go." Snowy yipped in agreement.

"But the Nazis aren't searching for you!" Eloi argued, "They wouldn't stop you!"

"But von Gottfried will surely hear about it. We must assume that he has contacts, informing him of anything that happens in the Reich," Tintin mumbled, rubbing his temples.

"Quite the optimist you are."

"I'm a realist."

Eloi threw his hands in the air and walked to the window in exasperation. He sighed. "Dammit. What are we going to do, Tintin? We can't keep this up. He probably knows where you and I live, so we can't go to either of those places." He stared out the window, gazing at the city. He had to squint into the crowds of people walking by because he saw someone familiar. Eloi gasped and slammed the window shut, causing Tintin and Snowy to jump.

"Wh-what was that for?" Tintin asked, disgruntled.

"Sacrebleu! It's Sylvestre! We have to get out of here!" Eloi gulped and ran to Tintin, grabbing his shirt collar. Tintin's eyes widened and he stood quickly. There was a single shot fired outside and the trio jumped.

"OH TINTIN~ COME OUT AND PLAY~" the familiar cold, maniacal voice shouted. A few people screamed as Spirydon cackled. "PEOPLE MIGHT DIE, GOSPODIN TINTIN! ARE YOU GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN?!"

Tintin started to breathe heavily. "No. Not again. This can't happen again."

"Calm down, mon ami," Eloi said, putting his hands on the reporter's shoulders, "We just have to wait for the police to get here…"

"No. No, no, no. He's going to kill people. I need to go out there…"

"Que?! Non! Tintin, he'll shoot you dead!" Eloi shouted, "And I'm not losing another friend!"

Tintin clenched his fists and said, "I'm not going to let him kill me. I'm going to stop him. He's going to pay for what he's done." He looked into Eloi's eyes and sighed. "I'm so sorry about this." Tintin slammed his fist into Eloi's stomach and gently laid his unconscious body on the ground. "Keep an eye on him, Snowy," he hissed. Snowy whined and sat next to Eloi, staring intently at him. The ginger reporter made his way outside to see Spirydon pointing his gun at an innocent woman's head.

"Ahhh~ There you are," Spirydon said, smiling coldly. The woman stared helplessly at Tintin with tears in her eyes. "I'm so glad you decided to come out. However, I must ask… how did you survive in Lascaux?"

"I'm lucky like that," Tintin replied, glaring daggers at the Russian. "How about you let her go before you do something you regret." He spat out every word.

"I have no regrets, Gospodin Tintin. I enjoy murder and I haven't regretted a single one! I'd like to make you my hundredth kill, if you please~" He pointed the gun at Tintin's chest.

Tintin raised his hands and said, "Wait, before you do, I have a suggestion."

"A suggestion? Really? Prithee, beseech mine ears," Spirydon sneered.

"You want to make me your hundredth murder, correct? Well, why do it in such a bland way? Shooting me? You're not very original at all. You know, I once had a man try to suffocate me and my friends to death on a rocket ship. How're you going to top that?" Tintin asked, "Don't you want to go down in history?"

Spirydon raised his eyebrow in thought. "Hmm. You pose a valid point, Gospodin Tintin." He lowered the gun and smiled sadistically. "I wonder how I will kill you…" Tintin edged a bit closer.

" You'll have to be creative, Sylvestre," Tintin murmured, "Chinese water torture… eaten alive by crows… anything will do really. It's all the same."

"True, true… the guillotine would be too much of a mess…" Spirydon whispered to himself, looking at the ground intently. Tintin gestured towards the woman to get ready to run.

"Guillotine, eh…? I suppose you won't have the chance!" Tintin tackled the killer to the ground and the woman ran away, screaming. The reporter wrestled the gun out of Spirydon's hand. It skidded across the ground. Spirydon slammed his foot into Tintin's nose and scrambled towards the gun. The reporter was too quick. He grabbed the killer's leg, eventually wrapping his arm around Spirydon's neck. The Russian jabbed Tintin's ribs with his elbow. He reached for the gun. They wrestled and the gun went off. Tintin was sure he shot, but when he checked himself over, there was no bullet wound. He stared at Spirydon and his eyes widened. The killer was just as shocked as Tintin was to see a bloody hole in his chest.

"W…what?" Spirydon gurgled, "The killer… killed by the prey?… I was going to be famous… Tintin…" His cold blue eyes rolled back into his head and one last breath escaped his lips. The authorities arrived at the scene. A few men pulled Tintin away from the deceased Spirydon, immediately asking questions.

"What happened here?"

"Who are you?"

"Who is this man?"

The same woman that Spirydon had hostage walked back to the scene of the crime and shooed the police officers away from Tintin. "Good Lord! Give the poor boy some breathing room! Are you okay, my brave hero?" She pulled out a handkerchief and started to wipe blood off of Tintin's face.

"Y-yes. Fine, thanks. I'm just glad he didn't hurt you…" Tintin muttered, worlds away. Did he pull the trigger? Was he responsible for this death? He was brought back to reality when the woman accidentally dabbed at his nose too hard. "Ow!"

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry!" She examined his nose and nodded to herself. "It's definitely broken. You can trust me; I'm a doctor."

"I don't doubt you, good lady," Tintin grumbled, wincing as the woman continued to clean the gash that stretched across his nose. Eloi had come round a few minutes before and ran outside with Snowy at his heels.

"Mon deiu! Tintin, mon ami!" Eloi kneeled next to Tintin. "Are you okay?!"

"Y-yes. Please don't worry. I'm sorry I had to knock you out, Eloi…" Tintin was not expecting a swift punch to the jaw from the Frenchman. He hit the ground and the woman smacked Eloi with a gloved hand.

"Excuse me! This poor man has been injured! How dare you attack him like this!" she snapped.

Eloi ignored her and hissed, "That, Tintin, was for knocking me out and risking your life." Tintin pushed himself up and looked at Eloi with apologetic eyes. Tintin was even more unprepared when Eloi pulled him into a tight hug. The scruffy Frenchmen kissed the top of the reporter's head and said, "Don't you ever make me worry like that again." Tintin blushed slightly, trying to get away from the bear hug.

The woman blinked and said, "Ah. So you swing that way, my hero. Oh well." Snowy snorted, tilting his head curiously.

"What?! Er… no… I mean… I don't know. E-Eloi, you can let me go now. You might be strangling me," Tintin stammered. He, Eloi, and the woman stood together.

"Come with me, my brave hero. I'll take you to my clinic." She started walking away from the hotel, turned back, and smirked, "Kaylie Frank is my name. Don't wear it down, my confused little hero." Tintin grumbled and turned red in embarrassment as they left the scene of Spirydon's death. However, at the same time, von Gottfried was boarding a ferry to London, hot on the trail to his prize.

Ahahahahahaha so yeah
I've always kind of had this theory that Tintin was pan or bi or something. But hey. Whatevs. No biggy right?