Saint Michael's Catholic Church was a cathedral, one of the three most renowned churches in all of Fort Grumley, it is adorned with a tall bell tower, flying buttresses, stained glass depicting every section of the bible, and an underground crypt, where each bishop from centuries' past were entombed. The Imperial government wasn't at all interested in the church, as Richard was a total atheist, as are the Imperial Court and almost 25% of Antarctica's populace. Though none of that mattered, as Hannah, Kowalski, Skipper, Rico, and Private were getting ready to enter the sanctified building of bishops, with a clank on the door, a friendly elder, most likely the bishop of the Diocese, opened the door with a welcoming gaze.
"Hello there, I am delighted to welcome you five to one of the holiest sites in this country, wish to be sworn into the faith?" asked the gentleman.
"I'm sorry sir, but I am already confirmed with this church I believe, and I seek not remedy nor nepenthe for sin, but an underground operation here," said Hannah.
The man's face soon turned to shock.
"Oh dear- Sinful activity has infiltrated such sacred- Come in at once!" shouted the penguin with alarm.
"Please relax father, don't alarm yourself to the criminals here," said Hannah with a reassuring tone.
"Lawrence my dear, it's Bishop Lawrence, sorry I never introduced myself," he replied.
"No worries sir, we'll take care of everything!" shouted Private with glee.
With that, the five penguins entered the massive building with hurried silence, they knew not to disturb the church staff inside, and thought better to enter straight into the crypt for the criminal mobsters.
Inside, the gigantic mass hall was adorned with polished oak pews with cushioned memory foam seats, velvet blue tapestries of the resurrection, last supper, and crucifixion hung neatly and with upmost love, not a single crease nor wrinkle was on any of them. The altar was a slightly elevated surface, with cushioned chairs for the Bishop and his clergymen to be seated during mass, gold crosses with Jesus Christ in silver hung all around with little to no tarnishing marring the surface, as if polished every ten minutes, this church spared no expense with icons to their lord and savior.
"How much does this church make annually?" asked Skipper.
"Most of what our parish does is spend their lives to God, for some, it's money, for others, it's prayer, this church was built by the first missionaries who converted the people here, Antarctica's government doesn't show much malice to our sites here, in fact, they really don't mind the presence of all walks of faith here, though I do pray that the emperor sees the light of our lord some day, either way, he is judged for the measure of his life here," said Lawrence.
"Wow, and, you don't get any money problems here?" asked Kowalski.
"Not really, over one thousand people attend per mass, if everyone sent a single dollar, it's often just enough to keep our church operable, and some offer more than we need," replied Lawrence, leading the group to the crypt's entrance, he laboriously lifted a concrete slab that led to a stairs that spiraled downward, "Here you have it, bring these people to justice if you can."
"Thank you sir," said Hannah, then pulled her headset up, clicking the small LED on her flashlight.
"You gonna contact Lilly?" asked Skipper.
"Yeah, why?" replied Hannah, placing one of her hidden cameras on the entrance as the group made their descent.
"Tell her that I think she's the prettiest flower ever planted on this Earth!" shouted Skipper with glee.
"Hehe, I'll tell her," Hannah laughed, reminiscing about their marriage and Tom-foolery.
"Kowalski, stay here with Private and take a scout of the area, make sure no one else comes in, and keep the Bishop safe, alright?" commanded Skipper.
"Yes sir, and what of Rico?" asked Kowalski in response.
"We need the bomb expert with us if ya wish to find this King Dewey," said Hannah.
Kowalski soon snapped to reason.
"Oh, right, do be careful then," he responded.
"We'll keep you safe sir," saluted Private with happiness.
"Thank you kind young fellow, may you be blessed for such acts," replied Lawrence.
Upon descending into the dank, moldy, and dark recesses of the crypt, it became clear why the King would hide an operation here: No one sees in the dark, and the soundproof walls ensure that no one hears anything, especially the sounds of someone screaming.
"Lilly, see anything?" asked Hannah.
Lilly sat up, propping her injured legs on her desk.
"Yeah, I see darkness and decay," she replied sarcastically.
"Oh haha, very funny, seriously, see any mobsters?" asked Hannah.
"I don't see the mob members themselves, but they're there alright, look around near the ground," said Lilly.
To this, Hannah looked down, she saw a trail of a fine scarlet powder, and upon picking up a sample and sniffing it, it was all too familiar.
"Alindrozin Permeas, ancient Antürch for "Powder of Pleasure", I know this stuff is illegal in this country," said Hannah.
"Correctomundo Hannah, and that is the selling ploy of the East Side Mob," said Lilly.
"Then what is significant of the find?" asked Skipper.
"Simple, we follow the Alindrozin residue left over, it may have spilled from a leaky shipping crate," said Kowalski.
"Hannah, what exactly does that stuff do to you?" asked Skipper.
"Well, by itself and in it's purest form, it does nothing, other than tasting salty and pretty spicy, as a spice, it's typically put on fish, which mixes with the oils in the meat and creates a chemical similar to dopamine, the stuff in your brain that induces happiness, when eaten, you experience a high that kicks in within two minutes and lasts for almost six hours, you tend to hallucinate, or see things that will make you laugh for unknown reasons, sometimes you may fall comatose," said Hannah.
"My word, it can do all that?" asked Kowalski.
"Yeah, they don't call it "The Red Death" for nothing you know, if inhaled through smoke, it may cause instant brain damage to anyone below forty years of age, but produces a similar high if smoked in the minimal age," said Hannah.
"Does the Emperor have any?" chuckled Skipper.
"Who knows if he's even heard of the stuff, he's too old to know about anything past "Wittle Kitten" and "Back in my day" stuff," laughed Hannah.
They soon came upon a stone door, and a small grate opened up with an eye peering through it, a booming voice remarked from behind in a Russian accent thicker than the rock in front of him.
"Who go there?" asked the voice, a small Tommygun soon popped out another hole below, aimed at Hannah's face.
"Hannah Faustina, niece of King Dewey, let me in you brute!" shouted Hannah.
The face stared at her with a icy glare, looking up, then down her body.
"Welcome to the bidding little lady," said the voice, opening the door to her, behind the door was a heavily muscled penguin, clearly he was an emperor penguin, since Hannah was merely a third of his height.
"Thank you Renart," she replied, looking at his name tag and stopped when Renart shouted.
"AND WHO ARE DEY?" he asked.
"The tall one is Steinbird, the short one is Flatts, the crazy one is Demo, they're my escorts for this night's dealing," said Hannah, making up the nicknames on the spot with little hesitation.
"Fine, ergo! The King's booth is over dere!" he shouted, pointing to the left of the crypt.
"Hello there, I am delighted to welcome you five to one of the holiest sites in this country, wish to be sworn into the faith?" asked the gentleman.
"I'm sorry sir, but I am already confirmed with this church I believe, and I seek not remedy nor nepenthe for sin, but an underground operation here," said Hannah.
The man's face soon turned to shock.
"Oh dear- Sinful activity has infiltrated such sacred- Come in at once!" shouted the penguin with alarm.
"Please relax father, don't alarm yourself to the criminals here," said Hannah with a reassuring tone.
"Lawrence my dear, it's Bishop Lawrence, sorry I never introduced myself," he replied.
"No worries sir, we'll take care of everything!" shouted Private with glee.
With that, the five penguins entered the massive building with hurried silence, they knew not to disturb the church staff inside, and thought better to enter straight into the crypt for the criminal mobsters.
Inside, the gigantic mass hall was adorned with polished oak pews with cushioned memory foam seats, velvet blue tapestries of the resurrection, last supper, and crucifixion hung neatly and with upmost love, not a single crease nor wrinkle was on any of them. The altar was a slightly elevated surface, with cushioned chairs for the Bishop and his clergymen to be seated during mass, gold crosses with Jesus Christ in silver hung all around with little to no tarnishing marring the surface, as if polished every ten minutes, this church spared no expense with icons to their lord and savior.
"How much does this church make annually?" asked Skipper.
"Most of what our parish does is spend their lives to God, for some, it's money, for others, it's prayer, this church was built by the first missionaries who converted the people here, Antarctica's government doesn't show much malice to our sites here, in fact, they really don't mind the presence of all walks of faith here, though I do pray that the emperor sees the light of our lord some day, either way, he is judged for the measure of his life here," said Lawrence.
"Wow, and, you don't get any money problems here?" asked Kowalski.
"Not really, over one thousand people attend per mass, if everyone sent a single dollar, it's often just enough to keep our church operable, and some offer more than we need," replied Lawrence, leading the group to the crypt's entrance, he laboriously lifted a concrete slab that led to a stairs that spiraled downward, "Here you have it, bring these people to justice if you can."
"Thank you sir," said Hannah, then pulled her headset up, clicking the small LED on her flashlight.
"You gonna contact Lilly?" asked Skipper.
"Yeah, why?" replied Hannah, placing one of her hidden cameras on the entrance as the group made their descent.
"Tell her that I think she's the prettiest flower ever planted on this Earth!" shouted Skipper with glee.
"Hehe, I'll tell her," Hannah laughed, reminiscing about their marriage and Tom-foolery.
"Kowalski, stay here with Private and take a scout of the area, make sure no one else comes in, and keep the Bishop safe, alright?" commanded Skipper.
"Yes sir, and what of Rico?" asked Kowalski in response.
"We need the bomb expert with us if ya wish to find this King Dewey," said Hannah.
Kowalski soon snapped to reason.
"Oh, right, do be careful then," he responded.
"We'll keep you safe sir," saluted Private with happiness.
"Thank you kind young fellow, may you be blessed for such acts," replied Lawrence.
Upon descending into the dank, moldy, and dark recesses of the crypt, it became clear why the King would hide an operation here: No one sees in the dark, and the soundproof walls ensure that no one hears anything, especially the sounds of someone screaming.
"Lilly, see anything?" asked Hannah.
Lilly sat up, propping her injured legs on her desk.
"Yeah, I see darkness and decay," she replied sarcastically.
"Oh haha, very funny, seriously, see any mobsters?" asked Hannah.
"I don't see the mob members themselves, but they're there alright, look around near the ground," said Lilly.
To this, Hannah looked down, she saw a trail of a fine scarlet powder, and upon picking up a sample and sniffing it, it was all too familiar.
"Alindrozin Permeas, ancient Antürch for "Powder of Pleasure", I know this stuff is illegal in this country," said Hannah.
"Correctomundo Hannah, and that is the selling ploy of the East Side Mob," said Lilly.
"Then what is significant of the find?" asked Skipper.
"Simple, we follow the Alindrozin residue left over, it may have spilled from a leaky shipping crate," said Kowalski.
"Hannah, what exactly does that stuff do to you?" asked Skipper.
"Well, by itself and in it's purest form, it does nothing, other than tasting salty and pretty spicy, as a spice, it's typically put on fish, which mixes with the oils in the meat and creates a chemical similar to dopamine, the stuff in your brain that induces happiness, when eaten, you experience a high that kicks in within two minutes and lasts for almost six hours, you tend to hallucinate, or see things that will make you laugh for unknown reasons, sometimes you may fall comatose," said Hannah.
"My word, it can do all that?" asked Kowalski.
"Yeah, they don't call it "The Red Death" for nothing you know, if inhaled through smoke, it may cause instant brain damage to anyone below forty years of age, but produces a similar high if smoked in the minimal age," said Hannah.
"Does the Emperor have any?" chuckled Skipper.
"Who knows if he's even heard of the stuff, he's too old to know about anything past "Wittle Kitten" and "Back in my day" stuff," laughed Hannah.
They soon came upon a stone door, and a small grate opened up with an eye peering through it, a booming voice remarked from behind in a Russian accent thicker than the rock in front of him.
"Who go there?" asked the voice, a small Tommygun soon popped out another hole below, aimed at Hannah's face.
"Hannah Faustina, niece of King Dewey, let me in you brute!" shouted Hannah.
The face stared at her with a icy glare, looking up, then down her body.
"Welcome to the bidding little lady," said the voice, opening the door to her, behind the door was a heavily muscled penguin, clearly he was an emperor penguin, since Hannah was merely a third of his height.
"Thank you Renart," she replied, looking at his name tag and stopped when Renart shouted.
"AND WHO ARE DEY?" he asked.
"The tall one is Steinbird, the short one is Flatts, the crazy one is Demo, they're my escorts for this night's dealing," said Hannah, making up the nicknames on the spot with little hesitation.
"Fine, ergo! The King's booth is over dere!" he shouted, pointing to the left of the crypt.
