Taken In Again

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

Germany wasn't too far off…the coast of Nordfriesland; one of Germany's districts was to be the port of call as the Nautilus made its way through the North Sea. The league had just made it past the straights of Dover when Rodney Skinner shut the water tight door to the deck with a bang, only to see Tom Sawyer staring out into the open sea.

"Hiya, Tom." The rogue made his invisible way toward the agent's side.

He gave no response, just looked over to the transparent face, gave a smile, and turned his head back to the horizon.

"So…ready to find out what this new mission thing is all about?"

Tom didn't speak, turn, flinch nor blink.

Rodney shifted his position. He slowly made way into his conclusion, not wanting to hurt his American friend.

"Your thinkin' bout the chap, aren't you?"

Tom's head bowed, and then turned to Rodney.

"Yeah, I am. I really do miss 'em…he was like a father-figure to me, 'ya know?"

"Yeah…we all miss 'em."

Silence lasted between the two as they gazed out against the sunset, releasing the new morning sun to arise.

The Next Day…about 5p.m…the arrival at Germany

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen sauntered off the platform that connected the Nautilus and the German grounds. First Captain Nemo, then Mina Harker, Rodney Skinner, Tom Sawyer, and lastly Henry Jekyll. They all formed as a group, swaying to the side of the passage as Nemo's men motioned for the men, women and children to slowly and cautiously come off the raised area. Tom shifted a little into the ports, taking in the dealing of the merchants and trade sellers. As Patel motioned for the other crew members to find information on their passengers as to the location of their residence, of those who didn't insisted their way through the German streets. Thanking the league, they departed, and they all stood there, awing their success from their last mission. Captain Nemo was the first to speak out.

"Well, are we all ready for England?"

Tom, obviously the one who wasn't yet ready for a new mission, too much in the living of fear for the death of his comrades noticed a small sign on a post standing on the merchant docks, where a few people stood around it, indicating exciting gestures to each other.

"Hey, what's this?"

He made his way to the small white sign, indicating a German invitation:

Der jährliche deutsche Maskerade-Ball wird in diesem Jahr am 19. September 1899 gehalten. Alle eingeladenen Parteien. Gesellschaftskleidung ist erforderlich.

"What does it say?" asked the curious American agent.

Captain Nemo motioned to a German merchant, apparently a vendor through the fish market. Asking if he spoke English, he nodded, and asked for a translation to the sign.

In a thick German accent, he spoke "That is the sign for the annual Masquerade ball. Germany hosts one every year at the Kupergrafben gallery.

"Hey, a masquerade ball! We should go!" Tom said extravagantly, excited for an excuse to put off going to England.

The league all looked at each other.

Mina approached the fish merchant. "When is it?"

"Why, it's tonight! At eight o'clock!"

Once again the league looked around for any notionable facial expressions.

"C'mon we should go! It'll be fun…a night to celebrate before heading out to England!" Tom tried to sound convincing.

"I'm in." encouraged Rodney, half-helping his friend, the other half wanting to enjoy a party full of dancing, drinking, flirting and celebrating…

The rest of the league; Mina, Henry, and Nemo all gave weak sighs, giving into the arrangement.

Even later…8p.m…The Masquerade Ball

Tom Sawyer walked by the gallery, the outside packed with people trying to push their way through to the party. He notices some attractive women he had the desire to dance with, winking and giving flirtatious eye contact with him, that is until he heard a strange noise.

Looking over, Tom noticed a medium sized, black curly-haired dog barking and holding its ground against him. A few people took notice in the stray, but found it to be at best to ignore it. So Tom, like the others, went along to the festivity.

Inside, the west side of the room was occupied by a stage, where several musicians played a frenzy of classical music. The room was big and bright, where all the walls were painted a toned ivory color, and several laced decorations were hung from the ceiling, accompanied by numerous chandeliers.

The gallery was packed with everyone from all around the country, and even the interesting minority who came to experience the party who dwelled from other lands, including the league.

Having all recently bought masquerade masks that night, all members of the league were dressed formally for the occasion.

Captain Nemo wore his normal blue-armored suit, only tonight he added on his dark blue mask with silver accents on the top resembling his turban in order to match his attire, and a dark blue formal jacket, standing over by the north wall taking conversation. Mina Harker wore a dark red lace dress with black trimmings, and a golden mask with red feathers emerging from the crown. She stood near the stage, observing the musicians and take note on the beauty of the music, which is until she was asked to dance. Tom Sawyer wore a brown suit, casually tidy for his style, and accompanied by a silver mask with a pointed nose and fine detail across the top. He made his way over to the group of women he spotted earlier and began some small talk, and of course the occasional dancing. Rodney Skinner, a little more unusual than the other guests…as usual, he wore a plain, slick black suit. He did not wear a mask but only his painted white face and black specs, for he could not come across a mask that covered his eyes. Surely one would question as to why he had no eyes, he stood in the south-west corner, taking in the atmosphere. And last but not least…Henry Jekyll wore a black, but old vintage suit, and a mask, resembling his two halves, with the design of half black and half white.

As the league arrived one by one, not all together, the night took the form of suspense for, unintentionally no one knew who anyone was. Henry, obviously coming off as shy, made his way over to the north wall and stood around, playing with his pocket watch.

As the ball began to start the first dance, the Military Scottische began to come into form. A young woman approached Henry; she was of good height and weight, wearing a long dark red dress and a dark red glittered mask. She had golden brown hair and deep set, green-hazel eyes.

Henry seemed surprised. He lifted his head, closed his trinket, and gave the woman a soft smile. They made their way to the dance floor, among all the other dancers. The woman was a fairly good dancer, making a few mistakes however. She seemed to be in her early twenties; very young and polite.

"Ich bin Charlotte übrigens."

"Um…"

"Oh," said the woman in a thick German accent. "Do you not speak German? I'm sorry; I said my name is Charlotte."

Smiling, the doctor introduced himself courteously. "Henry."

"Well, Henry, please don't mind my dancing…I haven't been doing this for quite a while like any other woman would."

"It's quite alright. I wouldn't prize myself for the best dancing in this room, anyway."

After a few minutes of their lovely dancing, it changed to the Polka, and the woman known as Charlotte graciously departed to another man, and soon enough a shorter woman than Charlotte, with shiny black hair twisted tight in a bun and hard, cold brown eyes wearing a white layered dress with floral accents and a matching mask approached Henry.

"Guten abend!" Said the woman, again in a hard German accent.

"Oh, I'm sorry but I'm not familiar with the German language."

"Well, that's ok! I speak English, not to worry!"

Henry smiled.

"My name is Elizabeth. And yours?"

"It's Henry."

"Well nice to meet you! You are quite a dancer!"

"And you are yourself."

The Polka ended after a while, and Henry was left standing while Elizabeth departed, and the Waltz began to come into form.

Henry began to go for his watch again when suddenly a woman took Henry by the hands and swung him into dance. Her hair was pinned up, with several strands of hair falling down. It was golden blonde, and had tight waves. Her eyes were stunning; a pale blue-lilac that had a very keen sharpness to them. Her mask was beige and lacy, with giant feathers emerging from the top left part of the mask. Her dress was of similar style, and long, draping across the floor.

"Hello." Said the woman, in a half American, half English accent, to Henry's surprise.

"Hello."

The woman's eyes looked up to Henry's, and then back down. "That's a very interesting mask you have on."

"Oh?" Henry thought about his half white, half black mask that resembled his half good, half evil personality. He seemed to be astonished at how straightforwardly his partner observed it.

The woman's eyes never made contact. "Yes…do you have a split conscience?"

"I suppose you can say that."

"Hm."

Not much talk went on between Henry and the woman, so before he knew it, the Waltz had ended and the woman disappeared. Fatigued from dancing, Henry thought it was best to go back to the Nautilus for the night. He made his way through the crowd and to the front doors, where he came down the flight of steps that descended to the sidewalk and began to walk back to the German ports. It wasn't a long walk, however Henry wasn't able to get a carriage this late at night, for most of the drivers would be at the dance anyway. And after dancing so much, he began to get a little tired. He found an alley and went down it, sinking to the floor against the cold brick wall. And then,

blackness.