EPISODE 7
Interior: the basement of the leaky bucket. In the next room a MAGISTRATE is tied up. GUNNER is quite keen to get rid of him but the basement is already haunted by one ghost and nobody wants to make that problem any worse.
PSYCHO THERAPIST: Shut up, Clav!
PSYCHO THERAPIST and SWITCH are reminiscing about their university days and how it was totally unfair that they got thrown out. It's the start of a new term - a perfect time to steal tuition fees and blow stuff up. They could use some help getting in there though, and turn to the newly arrived gang member, PACT.
Interior: the grand hall at the university. The fresher's ball is in progress.
PACT attempts to schmooze with the vice-chancellor to get access to the area where the money is kept. It turns out the time he's spent talking to his architect friend has paid off, as he discusses architecture and the benefits of university renovations with an eloquence not often observed amongst members of the Backstreet Magpies.
Interior: the chancellor's office. PACT has managed to convince the vice-chancellor that SWITCH and GUNNER should join him. The camera lingers for a while on a door with a most complicated looking lock mechanism.
PACT makes conversation for a while, but rapidly gets tired, picks up the bottle of wine on the table and takes a swig, unexpectedly revealing the concealed gun he carries as well. There is a moment of dramatic silence as the background music shuts off. And then begins again as SWITCH pulls out a phial of glittering blue powder and blows it into the chancellor's face and GUNNER draws his own guns to aim at the vice-chancellor.
Interior: the grand hall. The commotion in the office has attracted attention from the porters. PSYCHO THERAPIST and THE NARRATOR move to intercept. It goes...poorly. One porter is disabled, but the other is not and PSYCHO THERAPIST has now hit himself in the crotch with his blackjack.
Interior: the office. PACT has convinced everyone that he is the 'gentleman thief' that people are looking for. The chancellor is happily disabled by SWITCH's trance powder. GUNNER holds the porter and vice chancellor at gunpoint while SWITCH works on the lock. It's a complicated mechanism, with traps and catches, but SWITCH takes her time and opens it without incident. Except for another interruption, this time by a maid, and the arrival of THE NARRATOR and PSYCHO THERAPIST. The office is getting quite crowded.
Through the door is a staircase leading down. Those not engaged in gun based intimidation head down to find the safe. SWITCH gets to work again, and soon has the lock open. There is some disappointment that the safe itself is too heavy to lift. They load up with the tuition fees and make their escape.
Interior: the Leaky Bucket basement. They've made a decent amount of money on the score, even if ultimately they weren't able to cause much architectural damage at the university, but recent actions have caught up with them, and by the end they're in much the same condition as they were before. PSYCHO THERAPIST has not yet recovered from the beating he took from the bluecoats, and has picked up some additional injuries along the way, including the earlier crotch injury and an ankle wound from where it was bitten by a prostitute.
SWITCH: You should get some better prostitutes.
SWITCH applies some dubious medical tinkering to PSYCHO THERAPIST, after which he feels a lot better. GUNNER pays a visit to his orphans, then with the help of THE NARRATOR and SWITCH finds an old factory that will serve as a new base for the Backstreet Magpies, the landlord having finally decided that having the gang in his basement is more trouble than it's worth.
EPISODE 8
Interior: the basement. The gang are looking for a quick score. They've discovered a secret local gang, the Church of Ecstasy. PSYCHO THERAPIST is offended that he hasn't been invited to join. He calls his demon girlfriend for directions.
Interior: the sewers. The team make their way to a particularly well scrubbed section of sewer where they find the temple, containing a bed/altar with some dubious, yet familiar stains. They've been lucky with their timing; nobody is home.
GUNNER and SWITCH search for anything sellable, avoiding going near the bed or the small demon statues around it. PSYCHO THERAPIST finds the communion wine he was looking for, and opens one bottle to take a drink. It's fairly potent stuff.
Footsteps are heard down the tunnels. It's time for a hasty departure. GUNNER lays down covering fire. SWITCH throws a smoke bomb, but unfortunately this is a particularly well ventilated bit of sewer and the smoke rapidly starts clearing.
THE NARRATOR takes the lead, dragging the spaced out PSYCHO THERAPIST with him. He finds an exit through the tunnels that avoids the pursuing figures, if not a large amount of sewage. GUNNER and SWITCH follow. PACT decides sewage is for suckers, and goes in search of a different exit.
Once cleaned up again, THE NARRATOR goes to visit his favourite prostitutes with some new novels for them to read to him. SWITCH practices moving silently, in the hope of not causing THE NARRATOR quite so much stress in the future.
They've made some cash off the communion wine and other bits stolen from the temple, but when the bluecoats show up on the doorstep, demanding to arrest one of them, they're forced to pay a hefty bribe to get them to go away. The money situation is not going well.
And here, alas, we leave the Backstreet Magpies. I like to think they eventually got the one big score that allowed them all to retire, but given the setting...probably not.
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