The League Reborn:
Prologue:
The Doctor stood silently in his TARDIS, feeling completely drained and completely alone. The last battle with the Master and the temporary return of the Time Lords had not ended with his death as the Ood had predicted. But he might as well be dead in his good opinion. There was nothing left to live for, no reason to keep going on in this pretend life, no raison d'être. Too long had he existed in this single form and suffered for it. Rose, Martha, Donna; he had lost them all to time and space. Images of his most cherished companions flooded his mind, bringing tears to his eyes. These were scars, memories that could never be erased. Never!
The TARDIS seemed to moan as well as his grievances echoed through her sturdy structure. A sigh escaped the Doctor's lips as he gently stroked her humming mechanisms. "Alright then," he whispered softly, "Where shall we go next? Paris 1790? London 1630? Canada 1812? No? Fine then, Russia 1914 it is."
He reached forward to pull the appropriate level to send him travelling through space and time, silently praying that a new crisis would help him forget, for a bit, the pain that was gnawing at both his hearts. But before his hand could even come into contact with the right instrument, the TARDIS began to shake violently. The Doctor was thrown hard against a wall as he was caught unawares. He lay on the ground, dazed for a moment, before springing into action. It quickly became obvious that someone had somehow grabbed control of the TARDIS. His first thought was that the Time Lords were behind it, then the Daleks and last the Master. But none of these made sense.
Finally the TARDIS came to a jolting halt which sent the Doctor sprawling to the ground once again. Warily, he got to his feet and made his way to the door, his sonic screwdriver held firmly in the palms of his hand. He reached for the handle but then paused as an unfamiliar sound echoed behind him. Turning sharply, the Doctor stared in unanticipated shock at the holographic figure of a woman that stood near the hull.
"Rose," he whispered and hurried over, his eyes opened wide in wonder, "Rose Tyler?"
Rose's eyes met his but there was something odd about the way she was looking at him, almost as if she couldn't quite see him, almost as if she wasn't quite aware of her surroundings.
"Rose, can you hear me?" He held out a hand as if to touch her but then pulled it back as her image faded away, "What the..."
"Ah, there you are Doctor."
The Doctor whirled around, his sonic screwdriver held before him, his body in a defensive position. He looked as if he was prepared to sword fight. A man was standing in the TARDIS, looking very natural in a space that usually sent people reeling. He was wearing a suit that looked neatly pressed and very expensive. "Who are you and what do you want with me?" The Doctor demanded calmly yet forcefully.
"My name Doctor, is Abram Jacobs," the man replied in an equally calm voice, not looking at all threatened by the screwdriver. "And it is not something I want from you as much as it is something humanity needs from you."
The Doctor's eyebrows rose questioningly. "Something you need? I'm sorry; I wasn't aware that I was taking requests. Hmm. Look; I really am very sorry but I'm rather busy at the moment with something rather important..."
"No you're not," Jacobs interjected, "You just finished saving the earth from the wrath of the Time Lords. I expect you're available to save the earth from a much different threat now."
The Doctor was stunned to silence, something that did not occur on a regular basis. He regarded the man before him with a mixture of suspicion and amazement. "How do you know so much about me?"
Jacobs smiled understandingly. "A pertinent question for another time. Now tell me Doctor. Will you dedicate your impressive skills to survival of the human race once again?"
The Doctor's reply was not immediate. He paused to consider the extensive knowledge of this strange man, taken very much aback by all that he knew. And yet, despite the mysteriousness of this man, there was something sincere in Jacobs' voice, something that pushed the Doctor to trust that the situation was dire. Of course, there was also the fact that he adored the human race as a whole and had a great appreciation for their potential greatness as well as their great faults. "Tell me what you need me to do."
"Fantastic!" Jacobs exclaimed, his extreme reaction prodded by obvious relief, "Really fantastic. This is exactly the response I was hoping to have from you." A large smile had invaded and conquered his face, his features lit up by unprecedented joy, almost too much in the Doctor's opinion. "As for what, let me first ask you, have you ever heard of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?"
The Doctor nodded. "I've heard the legend, yes. Why? Don't tell me that you want me to go back in time to join the League?"
"No, no. Not at all." Jacobs shook his head firmly, "Though, truth be told, you really aren't that far off. In fact, Doctor, I was hoping that you would take leadership of a new League for the 21st century."
"A new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? In the 21st century? Really? Torchwood and UNIT not good enough for you?"
Jacobs looked slightly shamed. "It's not that. I would have been willing to get either group involved, but the threat isn't alien, or at least, not entirely."
"Then why not try the army?" the Doctor suggested, looking less and less pleased with the situation as their conversation progressed.
"I'm getting the feeling that you're now wishing to take back your agreement," Jacobs mused slowly, "Why are you so against the League?"
The Doctor sighed, "I'm not against the League, not entirely. Look, if the threat isn't alien, and actually, even if it was, you wouldn't need me. You humans have a bad habit of believing that you're an inferior race. If only you knew what you were truly capable of." His mind flitted suddenly to thoughts of Rose. He shook his head to clear the image, but the damage was done. Trying hard to ignore her eyes, he continued on. "And besides...I work alone."
"You never used to work alone," Jacobs commented, his tone much darker than before, "All those companions who accompanied you... Sarah Jane Smith, Martha Jones, Rose Tyler..."
"Stop!" The Doctor roared suddenly, anger coursing through his veins. He was shaking with a rage as Rose's image burned through his skull, "You do not comprehend the life of a Time Lord, so do not attempt to. Now leave immediately. You can take care of your own problems without my help."
He ran to the control and began to key in any date that would take him away from these blasted memories but soon realized that the blasted human was still standing in the TARDIS. "Do you not understand what it means to leave? 'Cause I can show you." This was a bitter Doctor who stood at the heart of the TARDIS, overwhelmed by life's eternity.
"I do understand what it means to leave Doctor. But you will find that I can be just as stubborn as you," Jacobs said as pleasantly as you please, not at all riled by the Doctor's outpouring anger. "Now listen to me carefully good sir. Human begins across the globe are relying on you saying yes. If it were not so desperate, I would have looked to Torchwood or UNIT or the army, but this case requires delicate understanding of life's harshness and must be very secretive in nature. As for my demanding that you be a part of it, and specifically for you to be its leader, I would not have if not for the fact that it concerns you directly." Jacobs reached slowly into his pocket at this point and drew out a paper. "Please read this before you make your final decision."
The Doctor stared at him sceptically, his rage partially diminished after the rational speech, though his mind seemed to firmly dictate him to refuse no matter what. Driven forward by a deeper instinct, the Doctor walked back to Jacobs and took the paper before skimming it, horror slowly growing in his eyes as he took it all in.
The letter drifted to the floor as he reached the end, his mouth gaping. Once again he found himself speechless, though this inability to speak came not from surprise but from an eternal terror that flowed through his blood stream like deadly poison. He looked into Jacobs' eyes and saw sympathy. He did not want to be pitied at the moment, though he did appreciate the gesture.
"Fine. I'll lead your group of so called extraordinary gentlemen if that's what you really want," the Doctor said finally, "Though I first want an explanation for why you won't let me do it alone."
Jacobs let out a deep breath and began to speak with a sort of sadness that the Doctor would not completely understand until it was too late. "Because, if you were to do it alone, you would fail."
A.N. So I know I have another story I was working on, but I lost all inspiration. But recently, I watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which led me to want to write this. I hope you can all give me some feedback on it: positive or negative (within respectable limits of course).
Finny Rivens