Thank you so much for all of the marvelous reviews! Reading them all
gets me to feel the need to press on with the story and continue to the
end! Don't worry, at this rate, you won't be in the dark much longer! There
is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Enjoy the next chapter.
*
Nemo's helicopter floated high above the sky. Down below, the Atlantica sat docked in the Moroccan harbor.
"Look, there it is!" Nemo exclaimed, pointing out the window. Skinner turned to look.
"Ah, you're right. Where do you want to land?" Skinner asked. He was the one piloting. Nemo didn't like this, but he didn't know how to pilot a helicopter, and Skinner did. No one else from the Nautilus had come along.
Nemo shrugged. "It doesn't matter. She's expecting us, isn't she?"
So the helicopter landed on a football field, right in the middle of a game, and Nemo and Skinner got out.
"For pete's sake, Skinner, why in Heaven's name did we land here?" Nemo demanded as the men who had been playing ran away, screaming.
"This is a big, open area," Skinner explained. "It makes it easier to land."
"Well, I UNDERSTAND that, but couldn't you try landing somewhere a little less public? Now all of these people are going to know why we're here!"
"Actually, I have two reasons for landing here. One, I just got my pilot's license a few years ago, and I haven't had much experience with landing, so I picked a big open space, where it would be hard to screw up. Two, none of these people are going to know who we are. We don't wear uniforms, such as the police do," said Skinner, trying to be as patient as he could.
"Still, it was a very stupid idea to land here," said Nemo, still ticked off.
"Stupid to you but safe to me," Skinner replied as he got his bag of weapons out of the cockpit. He had loaded the rifle and potion in with the secret weapon earlier. "Now, let's go. I can see the harbor from here!"
Meanwhile, on the Nautilus, docked only a few thousand miles away in Venice, Italy, Jekyll and Mina slept on.
* * *
A few minutes later, Nemo and Skinner stood at the entrance to the Atlantica, shaking with trepidation.
"Do you have any ideas?" Nemo asked his partner.
"Actually, yes. You say you've fought Que before?"
"Yes," said Nemo, not knowing where this was going.
"Have you ever been on this thing before?" Skinner asked, pointing up at the Atlantica.
"Why, yes," said Nemo, "but I don't know it as well as my own Nautilus."
"But you know it well enough?"
"I suppose so. Skinner, what are you trying to get at?"
"I have this idea, Captain. You see, I'm going to take off my coat and hat, and remove my face paint, so I'll be completely invisible," he said, proceeding to do so. "And then, I'm going to follow you onto their sub. You are going to lead me to Que. If you get captured, it's okay, because they'll only capture you."
"They won't know you're with me, because you're invisible!" Nemo exclaimed, excitedly. "I'm getting it now!"
"Exactly," Skinner nodded. "So, if they catch you, I can continue to proceed to try and find Que."
"But what if they take me right to her?" Nemo asked him. "You'll be wasting your time trying to find her, when I'll be there already."
"Good point," Skinner said. "Okay, so first, I'll follow where they're taking you. If they're not taking you to her, I'll retrace me steps to the place where you got caught, and continue to look for her."
There was a silence. Then Nemo said, "Agreed."
So Skinner, now completely invisible, and Nemo, wearing Skinner's long black coat to hide himself as best he could, gently snuck onto the Atlantica, using the port entrance. With the bag of weapons stuffed into the pocket of Skinner's coat that he was wearing, Nemo carefully looked around. They were alone in the hallway.
"We're on the fifth floor," Nemo whispered to Skinner. He had no idea where Skinner was, but he knew Skinner was somewhere close by. "There are thirteen floors altogether."
"Which floor is she on?" Skinner whispered back. It sounded as if he was right behind him.
"The tenth, I'm pretty sure," Nemo whispered back. "At least, she was the last time I was on this thing, and it was five years ago. She might have rearranged things a bit."
"Women," Skinner said in disgust. Their habit to rearrange things was the one things about women that Rodney Skinner did not like. Why did women want to make life more confusing than it already was?
Carefully tiptoeing through the corridor, Nemo led Skinner to the nearest stairway, trying to make it up to the tenth floor.
* * *
"We have intruders!" an Atlantica crew member whipped around, facing Que. "On the fifth floor landing!"
"How many?" Quinicia Moriarty fumed.
"The radar says two, but only one shows up on the security camera," the crew member said, confused. The floors of the sub were padded so that whenever someone stepped on them, they showed up on the radar. Too bad for Skinner.
"Must be that darned invisible man," Que said. "McCane?"
Andre McCane whipped around. "Yes?"
"Did you happen to meet him on the Nautilus? That invisible man?"
McCane shook his head. "Sorry. I never even saw him."
By the way, there's something else you should know about Andre McCane. He had literally the best eyesight in the world. He could read a book if the book was 200 feet away. He could see invisible things. He could also see things behind him. If we, the readers of this story, didn't know any better, he could have been a member of the League.
Que frowned. "Just bring them to me!" she shouted to the crew member. "McCane, go with them! They'll never be able to catch that invisible man without you!"
The crew member bowed to her and signaled to some thugs, who went to the fifth floor landing to get Skinner and Nemo. McCane followed.
* * *
It wasn't more than a few minutes before the thugs returned, bearing Nemo and then what appeared to be nothing at all. McCane, the ringleader of the attack, brought up the rear.
The fight to apprehend them was brutal. Nemo shot with Tom's rifle, but the thugs and McCane were wearing vests made of the strongest iron (Author's Note: I'm not going to disappoint you all by bringing bulletproof vests into this, thank you very much. I think radars, helicopters, and fire extinguishers have been enough for one story.) No way was Nemo going to drink Jekyll's potion. He would only resort to that if he was about to be executed by a firing squad.
And no way was he going to use the secret weapon. He was using that to fight Que herself.
After he had run out of ammo, Nemo had resorted to physical fighting. That didn't go very far, seeing as how the thugs were about 800 pounds bigger than he was.
Skinner had thought he was going to get away, but he wasn't. McCane, whose special ability was only known to Que, was able to conveniently back Skinner into a corner with his back turned to him, pretending to watch the fight, then grab him. Nemo and Skinner were both in custody.
And now they were in front of Que.
"So? Come to save your friend, have you?" Que demanded of them.
"Yes," said the invisible Skinner.
"You think I'm going to give him up to you after you two were weak enough to lose to my men?" Que sniggered. "I don't think so."
"Wait!" said Nemo. "You have underestimated the League this time, Quinicia Moriarty. We have a secret weapon. A weapon you are not ready for."
"Yeah?" asked Que, unbelievingly. "Prove it."
Nemo wrestled his arm free of the thugs who were holding him. He reached into the inside pocket of Skinner's jacket, which he was still wearing, and pulled out the plastic bag. He opened it up and lifted the secret weapon out.
*
Oooh, I can't stand the suspense, can you?
Don't worry, the next chapter will be up before long! Remember to read and review!
~ Alisonia
Enjoy the next chapter.
*
Nemo's helicopter floated high above the sky. Down below, the Atlantica sat docked in the Moroccan harbor.
"Look, there it is!" Nemo exclaimed, pointing out the window. Skinner turned to look.
"Ah, you're right. Where do you want to land?" Skinner asked. He was the one piloting. Nemo didn't like this, but he didn't know how to pilot a helicopter, and Skinner did. No one else from the Nautilus had come along.
Nemo shrugged. "It doesn't matter. She's expecting us, isn't she?"
So the helicopter landed on a football field, right in the middle of a game, and Nemo and Skinner got out.
"For pete's sake, Skinner, why in Heaven's name did we land here?" Nemo demanded as the men who had been playing ran away, screaming.
"This is a big, open area," Skinner explained. "It makes it easier to land."
"Well, I UNDERSTAND that, but couldn't you try landing somewhere a little less public? Now all of these people are going to know why we're here!"
"Actually, I have two reasons for landing here. One, I just got my pilot's license a few years ago, and I haven't had much experience with landing, so I picked a big open space, where it would be hard to screw up. Two, none of these people are going to know who we are. We don't wear uniforms, such as the police do," said Skinner, trying to be as patient as he could.
"Still, it was a very stupid idea to land here," said Nemo, still ticked off.
"Stupid to you but safe to me," Skinner replied as he got his bag of weapons out of the cockpit. He had loaded the rifle and potion in with the secret weapon earlier. "Now, let's go. I can see the harbor from here!"
Meanwhile, on the Nautilus, docked only a few thousand miles away in Venice, Italy, Jekyll and Mina slept on.
* * *
A few minutes later, Nemo and Skinner stood at the entrance to the Atlantica, shaking with trepidation.
"Do you have any ideas?" Nemo asked his partner.
"Actually, yes. You say you've fought Que before?"
"Yes," said Nemo, not knowing where this was going.
"Have you ever been on this thing before?" Skinner asked, pointing up at the Atlantica.
"Why, yes," said Nemo, "but I don't know it as well as my own Nautilus."
"But you know it well enough?"
"I suppose so. Skinner, what are you trying to get at?"
"I have this idea, Captain. You see, I'm going to take off my coat and hat, and remove my face paint, so I'll be completely invisible," he said, proceeding to do so. "And then, I'm going to follow you onto their sub. You are going to lead me to Que. If you get captured, it's okay, because they'll only capture you."
"They won't know you're with me, because you're invisible!" Nemo exclaimed, excitedly. "I'm getting it now!"
"Exactly," Skinner nodded. "So, if they catch you, I can continue to proceed to try and find Que."
"But what if they take me right to her?" Nemo asked him. "You'll be wasting your time trying to find her, when I'll be there already."
"Good point," Skinner said. "Okay, so first, I'll follow where they're taking you. If they're not taking you to her, I'll retrace me steps to the place where you got caught, and continue to look for her."
There was a silence. Then Nemo said, "Agreed."
So Skinner, now completely invisible, and Nemo, wearing Skinner's long black coat to hide himself as best he could, gently snuck onto the Atlantica, using the port entrance. With the bag of weapons stuffed into the pocket of Skinner's coat that he was wearing, Nemo carefully looked around. They were alone in the hallway.
"We're on the fifth floor," Nemo whispered to Skinner. He had no idea where Skinner was, but he knew Skinner was somewhere close by. "There are thirteen floors altogether."
"Which floor is she on?" Skinner whispered back. It sounded as if he was right behind him.
"The tenth, I'm pretty sure," Nemo whispered back. "At least, she was the last time I was on this thing, and it was five years ago. She might have rearranged things a bit."
"Women," Skinner said in disgust. Their habit to rearrange things was the one things about women that Rodney Skinner did not like. Why did women want to make life more confusing than it already was?
Carefully tiptoeing through the corridor, Nemo led Skinner to the nearest stairway, trying to make it up to the tenth floor.
* * *
"We have intruders!" an Atlantica crew member whipped around, facing Que. "On the fifth floor landing!"
"How many?" Quinicia Moriarty fumed.
"The radar says two, but only one shows up on the security camera," the crew member said, confused. The floors of the sub were padded so that whenever someone stepped on them, they showed up on the radar. Too bad for Skinner.
"Must be that darned invisible man," Que said. "McCane?"
Andre McCane whipped around. "Yes?"
"Did you happen to meet him on the Nautilus? That invisible man?"
McCane shook his head. "Sorry. I never even saw him."
By the way, there's something else you should know about Andre McCane. He had literally the best eyesight in the world. He could read a book if the book was 200 feet away. He could see invisible things. He could also see things behind him. If we, the readers of this story, didn't know any better, he could have been a member of the League.
Que frowned. "Just bring them to me!" she shouted to the crew member. "McCane, go with them! They'll never be able to catch that invisible man without you!"
The crew member bowed to her and signaled to some thugs, who went to the fifth floor landing to get Skinner and Nemo. McCane followed.
* * *
It wasn't more than a few minutes before the thugs returned, bearing Nemo and then what appeared to be nothing at all. McCane, the ringleader of the attack, brought up the rear.
The fight to apprehend them was brutal. Nemo shot with Tom's rifle, but the thugs and McCane were wearing vests made of the strongest iron (Author's Note: I'm not going to disappoint you all by bringing bulletproof vests into this, thank you very much. I think radars, helicopters, and fire extinguishers have been enough for one story.) No way was Nemo going to drink Jekyll's potion. He would only resort to that if he was about to be executed by a firing squad.
And no way was he going to use the secret weapon. He was using that to fight Que herself.
After he had run out of ammo, Nemo had resorted to physical fighting. That didn't go very far, seeing as how the thugs were about 800 pounds bigger than he was.
Skinner had thought he was going to get away, but he wasn't. McCane, whose special ability was only known to Que, was able to conveniently back Skinner into a corner with his back turned to him, pretending to watch the fight, then grab him. Nemo and Skinner were both in custody.
And now they were in front of Que.
"So? Come to save your friend, have you?" Que demanded of them.
"Yes," said the invisible Skinner.
"You think I'm going to give him up to you after you two were weak enough to lose to my men?" Que sniggered. "I don't think so."
"Wait!" said Nemo. "You have underestimated the League this time, Quinicia Moriarty. We have a secret weapon. A weapon you are not ready for."
"Yeah?" asked Que, unbelievingly. "Prove it."
Nemo wrestled his arm free of the thugs who were holding him. He reached into the inside pocket of Skinner's jacket, which he was still wearing, and pulled out the plastic bag. He opened it up and lifted the secret weapon out.
*
Oooh, I can't stand the suspense, can you?
Don't worry, the next chapter will be up before long! Remember to read and review!
~ Alisonia