League of Marvelous Gentlemen

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story.

Perfect Planning

Braddock Manor

Wolf Larsen was struggling to sleep. It was the first time in his life that he was in a large comfortable bed in a big house, a far cry from the countless nights he's spent sleeping in the a tiny rusted out room on his ship and he couldn't sleep without the rocking of the waves or the foul stench of filthy drunken sailors. He got up and went to the library to see if reading could help him this time around. His mind drifted to his old crewman Humphrey Van Weyden whom he rescued and made him into one of his men much the same as did Nemo to himself but this was much different.

His entire life as captain he was surrounded by miscreant sailors who were rejects from the world of the land but now he was in the company of intellects at his level and higher, and even those who could best him in combat. He realised now that he was no longer the scary sea wolf that he once was but now a crewman with a sickness which could give him blinding pains and shake his body. In his life he never found joy and envied his brother, Death Larsen for his love of the life at sea but perhaps now with friends he could find joy.

Braddock Manor board room

The following morning

Blade was last to enter the planning room where he found the rest of the team. Union Jack gave Blade a friendly smack on the shoulder and said "Sleep well shades? Even Wisdom got here fore you did". Brian and Quatermain had been there since the early morning planning and strategising their attack and Brian addresses the team "We have three primary objectives here. Infiltrate castle Doom, rescue our friends and capture Dorian".

Quatermain then continued on "We all have our specialities and skills so we will be broken up in two formations. Spitfire, Black Knight, Wolf Larsen and Captain Nemo will be go ahead as the close combat quarters team. Following them will be Union Jack, Tom Sawyer, Peter Wisdom and myself who will provide long range support".

Blade interrupted "Hang on a moment old timer. I've fought side by side with Whistler before and even he knew his age limit. No way I'm letting you go into battle and risk your neck". Quatermain growing angry shot look at Blade and picked up his rifle Mathilda and yelled "You dare speak to me like that vampire hunter. I am the foremost hunter and marksman of my time and you think I will be the one to hinder you". Tom turned to Blade and said "You best watch your tongue when you speak to Allan Quatermian mister Blade. The man is worth ten of you"!

Blade looked at Tom thinking how much he reminded Blade of himself when he stood up to other hunters who would say Whistler was too old and replied "Hey I know what I'm talking about and if in case you don't know I've been doing this a long time and I've seen too many good men die for no good reason and I don't want Quatermain to go for reasons of stupidity". The room fell silent but then as Quatermain was about to retaliate Brian Braddock approached and put his hand on Quatermain's shoulder and said "My friend Allan. If you please allow yourself to reason I have a vastly important job for you where you can make the best use of your marksmanship and hunting skills" to which Quatermain agreed.

Brian then continued "Once we enter Castle doom we assume there will be a defence made up of a robot army and the possibility of cloned soldiers with powers of Mina, Hyde and Skinner. Once we establish ourselves against the frontline defence an infiltration team of Union Jack and Black Knight led by Quatermain will proceed through with myself to protect them". Spitfire then raised her voice and said "Excuse me Brian but would you not want me to assist in the rescue. I'm sure my speed would be of great benefit". Brian replied "The rescue will need to be slowly paced and your speed would be of best help in the battlefield. Union Jack is an expert in espionage and infiltration, Quatermain is a master hunter and tracker and Black Knights time with the Avengers gives him knowledge of the castle".

Pete then asked "Hang on, these cloned soldiers you mentioned. This isn't episode II of star wars so what's this all about"? Wolf bLarsen cut in "Moriarty wanted to duplicate their powers to sell to the highest bidder and make an army of Beasts, vampires and invisible spies. My guess is Doom has no interest in selling but from what I've read about Doom and Latverian resources he could by now have just completed his first batch". The room grew tense both at the newfound knowledge and at Larsen's intelligence.

Brian then continued "As it stands we now have a plan and strategy but we need an infiltration technique". As he brought up a screen showing sattelite images of Latveria he continued "Little is know to the outside world about Latveria and they only let the world know what they choose to. What we do know is that an aerial invasion would be futile because we would be detected and shot down before we could see the land and while I do have a teleportation device, Doom's genius has the castle with built in Anti-Teleportation tech".

Tom Sawyer then said "What if we teleport on the outskirts and go undercover"? Brian replied "That won't work. A teleportation will be detected and the place is crawling with doombots". Black Knight then questioned "But you are of the Otherworld Brian. Do you know not of any means of magic cloaking or teleportation to which Brian replied "Again this too will fail. Doctor Doom himself is not only a master of technology but also a foremost practitioner of the mystic arts. Besided any technology I have, Latveria can outdo".

The room again fell into silence and uncertainty. They wanted to save their friends and they had a plan but no idea how to get to their destination. Finally Captain Nemo said aloud "And why not by submarine". Brian replied with a giant grin "That's sheer genius captain. I have a submarine which hasn't been used in years but it sure as hell still works. Nemo you've made my day".

Next Issue - And the journey begins to Latveria and our heroes ready themselves for the inevitable combat ahead.