Chapter 2 - An Unwelcome Guest - Phantom

[Disclaimer] I do not speak German, so spelling and grammer my be flawed. If a german speaker wishs to correct any mistakes please message me and correction will be made. The night was bad, the worst that year had seen. The rain beat heavily on the grimy windows, threatening to break in. When an occasional customer entered the bar the smoke filled air was instantly replaced by a bitter chill that ran through each patron as it made it's was to the back of the room. The bar was like any of the rat infested cesspits that littered the back streets of Berlin, though most didn't have such a colourful reputation as this hole. And slumped at the corner of the bar, slightly apart from the other regulars and furthest from the door, was a man in his mid forties, balding, with a bulbous bright red nose, a good three of four days worth of stubble and a rather pungent odour of sweat and stale beer. This man was a down and out of the tallest order but was a carbon copy of the other eight or nine people that frequented the bar regularly. No one knew his name or anything much about him. He didn't speak to anyone, apart from the barmen but I was surmised that he'd probably lost his job, his wife has probably left him or one of the other sob stories that filled the smoke laced air of the bar during the working day. The man sat hunched over staring into space, in a drunken state when something happened, that had never happened before, someone sat next to him. The drunk cocked his head to one side to look at the stranger through hazy eyes. The stranger certainly was no regular he was clean for a start. The man had short dark hair, piercing eyes and wore clothes too functional to be worn by your average person. The stranger nodded at the drunk. "Gutten Tag,..." the stranger had no particular accent "Ist dieser Sitz genommen ?" The drunk wearily shock his head "Nein, Nein, Es ist ihm," he slurred, dribbling beer into his stubble. The stranger coolly slipped into English. "I know who you are." The drunk replied with a look of complete confusion and slurred " Ich bin nicht sprecht englisch." "Don't play games with me," he drew a pistol from a concealed holster in his thigh pocket and keeping it hidden nudged the drunk in the leg with the barrel, only then did he notice the drunk already had a revolver trained on him from behind his crossed arms, the glassed look in his eyes gone. "I didn't come here for trouble, I just want a chat," the stranger calmly replaced his pistol back to it's holster, his tone completely natural but his body betrayed him, it was tense and ready for action. "Zu spreckt," The drunk stated plainly, remaining in German. Unfazed by the man’s response, the man continued, "You have quite a reputation and the effort I had to apply to simply track you to this location, did that justice." The drunk sipped his beer; flattery would get the man nowhere. "But I'll get to the point, I’ve been tasked...” This told Phantom everything he needed to know, this man was either military or government and he despised both in equal measures. He tapped his fingers on the bar and the barman brought out a single shot glass and a bottle of whiskey. Upon noticing the bottle was near empty the barmen muttered "eine minuten" and disappeared into a trap door leading to the cellar, leaving a hole behind the bar. All the while this was happening, the stranger continued to speak "... to track you down and ask you..." The stranger was suddenly cut off mid sentence as Phantom leapt from his stool and over the bar, throwing his jacket over the man in the same motion. His leap was well aimed he flew straight through the hole leading to the cellar. Once he was below the floor of the bar the trapdoor was slammed shut followed by the audible click of a lock.