The grand city of Venice, just hours after it had begun celebrating with a striking masquerade carnival, was now in panic. Old buildings crumbled and knocked each other to the ground in a domino pattern, debris causing the party goers to rush for safety. The arrival of a magnificently large silver ship brought with it an interesting group of people, who quickly acted to prevent the destruction of Venice. The harsh sound of gunfire had filled the air along with much crashing, and finally accompanied by an explosion, halting the fall of the buildings. It was an assault on anyone's ears- and becoming unbearable. Finally, Dorian Gray could leave this noise for a time and get back to a few more important matters…

''At last…'' The immortal muttered as a figure ran quickly towards him, his long coat billowing behind him. Moriarty scowled and waved his hand forward, indicating to the ship.
''Shut up, we need to go, quickly.'' The professor snapped, running past the tall Mr Gray. He sniffed impatiently and followed.

''I could have told you that.''

They hurried along the dark passageway and across the square, pushing through the remaining crowd who had just recovered from the shock of the final explosion, waiting for the rumbling to stop. The two men neared the magnificent white ship in the canal and made for the ramp leading inside.
''Get out of the way!'' Dorian pushed aside a crewman as his companion did the same ahead of him.

''Gray?''
The immortal looked over as Dr Henry Jekyll, attending those injured in the first blast, rose to see what was happening. He saw the first man, unfamiliar to him run aboard. Gray followed after him hastily as Alan Quatermain appeared on the bridge, making his way back to the Nautilus. He held a hand against a stab wound rather casually as he hurried over.

''The phantom is M! And the hunt is still on.''

''Gray just ran inside the ship with a stranger…'' The doctor informed their leader, frowning as the hunter refused to let him see his injury. Alan creased his brow for a moment and called to the owner of the ship, Captain Nemo standing high above them in the metal crows nest.

''Captain! It seems we must apprehend Mr Gray immediately!''

Nemo quickly returned into his ship and made his way expertly along the corridors- he paused when he saw Gray run past at the opposite end.

''Stop!'' The first mate threw down his mop and took a defensive stance in front of the Nautiloid hatch, glaring at the intruder and Dorian.

''Let me through you idiot.'' Moriarty sneered, about to force him out of the way. He paused as a round of fire repeatedly hit Ishmael's chest from the slender barrelled pistol in Dorian's hand.

''Wait!'' Dorian yelled, attempting to reach M, who clambered inside the Nautiloid, feeling a breeze brush past him. He slammed the door and managed to lock it shut. There followed the sound of someone banging on the door and Dorian Gray shouting angrily.

''Open this door!''
''Tough luck.'' The professor laughed, trying the controls. There was a loud clanking as the wheels began to turn, and the compartment shook a little .Gray turned as Captain Nemo and his men entered the room. As they tried in vain to open the tightly shut door, Nemo knelt down to assist his dying first mate.

''It was him, not Skinner…Gray has tricked us all…'' the man muttered, wincing slightly as Nemo gently propped him up. Quatermain and Jekyll entered the room shortly afterwards, the doctor rushing to help Ishmael. All the while Dorian stood by, staring into nothing. Alan looked to him as Mina and Sawyer joined him at the door. The spy peered over Nemo's shoulder as another loud noise could be heard.

''What is it?'' the American asked, turning back towards the door.
''The sound of treachery,'' Nemo rose and drew his sword, pointing to Dorian, who lifted his head slightly.

''Everyone out! We will return for Mr Gray…'' The Captain said, his words tinged with a mixture of anger and sadness.

They filed out of the room, leaving Dorian alone. He caught Mina's eye as the door was shut, and as soon as it was, he sighed and kicked his slim gun across the room furiously, watching it reverberate off the wall and stop with a click somewhere behind the control panel.

''He has taken the Nautiloid!'' Nemo explained, leading the group back in the direction of the control room.

''Can we track it?'' Quatermain asked, having to stride to keep up with his Indian team mate. The captain nodded slightly, not willing to slow his pace.

''I intend to catch it!''

They entered the dining room, where a silver contraption was turning on the wall. Nemo pointed to the attachments and quickly explained their function.

''We will be upon them soon.''

A harsh beeping noise began and hit them by surprise. Quatermain looked for the source of the noise, and failing to see it he turned again to the Captain. ''Nemo?''

''It's nothing of mine…''

The noise came to an abrupt stop as another crewmember hurried into the room, carrying a thin record sleeve with some kind of alarm attached to the front cover.

''Captain, the noise came from this.''

''A recording disk?''

Nemo gave him a quizzical look as the crewman excused himself and hurried off again. Turning his attention to the disc in his hands, he took it from its cover and placed it onto the phonograph. He gently lowered the needle down onto the disc, a light scratching ensuing from the friction. A woman's voice was heard very briefly, before the sound of James Moriarty's voice. He addressed the group.

''Gentlemen.''

All but Jekyll and Sawyer seemed to recognise the voice of their recruiter and listened intently to his words. Alan simply nodded, knowing already that M was their enemy.

''If you're hearing this, then all the events leading up to it have gone to plan.''

''And I've been true to the goals set to me. Yes, it's me Dorian.''

The vampiress glowered at the record player on hearing the voice of her ex-lover.

''As you may know by now, I am no loyal son of the empire. In fact, my loyalty to Mr. M comes in no small part to his possession of something I hold very dear to my heart. Something I would do anything to regain...''

Dorian paced the room; each time he turned he could see the lifeless body of the ship's first mate. He sighed frustratedly and kicked the door when he failed to open it. Sighing again, he sank to the floor against and leaned his head back against the wall, so as not to sit in the gathering puddle near the controls. Steam was steadily rising from somewhere behind. He sat waiting impatiently, knowing that any moment the ship would be sent down into the depths of the sea, taking him, not according to plan, with it…

''Bomb voyage…'' The snide immortals voice rang out, seeming to enjoy his own clichéd little pun about their fate. Nemo violently threw the phonograph to the floor, where it shattered and broke open- but there still followed three heavy explosions. The ship began to tilt; the hulls creaked as they filled with water. The League made their way through to the control room hastily, pulling themselves along against the new angle of gravity they were experiencing.

''We must surface!'' Quatermain shouted to Nemo, who was fighting with the helm.

''We're taking in too much water! The controls are not responding!'' The Indian shouted back, increasingly alarmed as his 'lady' did not respond to any of his actions.

Dorian felt the ship lurch backwards as it tipped in the water. Sliding on the wet floor he managed to push himself out of the way as Ishmael came sliding towards him. He carefully stood up, leaning the same way as the wall, and managed to regain his balance as he pulled himself towards the other end of the room. The end of his jacket and most of his trousers were cold with the water that was now pooling along the wall he had been leaning against. He sniffed as he rubbed his nose, hoping that the league would fins some way out of this situation. Even if he was immortal, he didn't feel like breaking his way out and going for a long cold swim…

To Be Continued..