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Bloodletting

Meanwhile, back in Burgas, the sun was setting over the town. As it vanished from the roof of the city's central tower, the black lump that was Tom Sawyer stirred. Getting up from where he'd been sleeping the day away, Tom glanced around the city. The light could have been better, but fortunately it was nearly a full moon and the city had quite a fair amount of lamps in its streets. Plus, most of the buildings were light colours, meaning that the vampire would have difficulty finding camouflage in the city.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Sawyer decided to keep an eye on the side of the city on the other side of the docks; it wasn't exactly a large town, but there was a fair chance that not many people on that side were aware of the recent killing. It wasn't much of a chance, but it was all he had.

Pulling out Matilda, he put the target scope to his eye and began to scan the area in front of him. His eyes may have been reaching a state that could have equalled Allan's, but a little help never hurt.

Nothing.

Once again, he scanned the streets.

Still noth-

Wait.

Spinning back around, he checked again. His suspicions were confirmed; there was something flying across the streets there. Actually, several somethings; it would appear the vampire had acquired a great deal of bats to help protect him from anything that may attack him.

That was fine. Sawyer had always preferred a face-to-face showdown with his enemies. However, just to attract the vamp's attention...

Slowly but surely, he aimed the gun again and held it on the swarm of bats. They were moving fast, he wouldn't deny that. However, he was fairly sure he'd actually get one of the bats if he fired right about...

Now.

The bullet tore through the air and struck one of the bats around the vampire. It fell to the ground at once, and the rest of the swarm changed direction and began to head towards Sawyer.

As they flew towards him, Sawyer quickly reloaded Matilda and began to fire at the bats, managing to get off around four or five shots despite needing to reload after every one. Thanks to his recent training, every single bullet found its home in one of the flying mammals charging towards him.

But he couldn't pick off enough of them to get a clear shot at the vampire. Just as the bats finally reached him, he threw Matilda to his left so it would be out of harm's way, dived to one side so the bats went past him rather than hitting him, pulled out one of the phials in his pocket, and threw it towards the bats. As it broke, something let out a strangled squeal before it collapsed onto the roof of the tower beside Sawyer.

Spinning around, Sawyer pulled out his Winchester and pointed it at the mass of bats lying on the ground. "Get up," he said, as he raised the rifle to his eye and aimed at the pile. He had the gun pointing at where he thought the heart would be if there was a human underneath all those bats, but it was hard to be sure. "I'm not sure if silver bullets are for your lot or werewolves, but they have to do something to you."

The bats fell from their heap as a man stood up and faced Sawyer. He was wearing a black suit, white shirt, and black shoes, with a long black cloak with a red inner lining almost completing concealing his body. He had dark black hair and a small moustache, along with skin so pale that put Sawyer in mind of Skinner. However, his most distinguishing feature were his dark red lips, with two long sharp teeth poking out over the bottom one.

The fact that this guy was a vampire made this strictly a good-news/bad- news situation for Sawyer.

Good news- he wasn't facing Mina. Therefore, there would be no worries about whether or not he'd pull the trigger.

Bad news- he wasn't facing Mina. Therefore, this vampire could be capable of doing some things that Mina couldn't do.

"You are aware of what I am?" the man said. Sawyer noted the slight accent in the voice- almost flawless English, but some foreign touch that wasn't immediately identifiable.

"Yep," Sawyer said, still staring at the man down his rifle's targeting scope.

"Then you are either brave or a madman for attacking me," the vampire replied, as he shifted his body slightly. Sawyer had been in enough fights to know when an opponent was preparing to attack. "Who are you?"

"Secret Agent Tom Sawyer, formally of the American Secret Service."

"You're a bit far from America right now, aren't you?" the vampire replied, as he began flexing his fingers. Sawyer was tempted to fire, but he'd prefer to know more about his opponent before killing him.

"At the moment, I'm technically on vacation," Sawyer informed the vampire as he used one arm to ensure the stakes were safe. "I'm currently a member of a fairly new group called the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."

"The what?" the vampire asked, cocking one quizzical eyebrow.

"We deal with things that are outside the abilities of the normal law enforcement organisations. Things like you."

"Ah," the vampire said, nodding a little. Then his face hardened. "Of course, you realise I won't be a pushover."

"Who's to say I'll be one?" Sawyer asked.

Then two things happened at once. The vampire leapt towards Sawyer, claws outstretched, and Sawyer fired the rifle. The silver bullet quickly bit into the vampire's left shoulder, tore out the other end, and glanced off the foot just below.

The vampire fell to the ground, slightly wincing from the pain. Quickly, Sawyer reloaded the rifle and aimed it at the vampire's head. Sensing it, the vampire rolled his head slightly and looked up at the rifle, which was now pointing right at his eye.

"Tell me, would a silver bullet to your brain kill you, or do I need to aim for your heart?" he asked casually. Suddenly, the vampire grinned.

"You can't find out," he said. Before Sawyer could even pull the trigger, the man had grabbed the rifle and yanked it out of his hands. The vampire then leapt up onto his feet and, before Sawyer could attack, he'd thrown the rifle into the wall of the tower. It didn't break, but it definitely wouldn't be capable of firing anything soon.

Staring down at the gun, Sawyer briefly found himself grateful he hadn't kept Allan's old rifle on hand for this fight. Then he got back to business as he reached into his pockets and pulled out his pistols, pointing them both at the vampire.

"I'm not going to fall that easily," he informed the vampire, his trigger fingers just itching to fire. "Care to find out what else I'm packing, or shall you just stop now?"

"No," the vampire replied, as he leapt forward again, his fangs now far more prominent than they had been before.

Instantly, Sawyer fired two bullets directly into the vampire's chest, followed by another four in rapid succession. Although none of them managed to hit the heart, it wasn't an issue for Sawyer; all he'd been hoping to do was immobilise the vampire while he tried to get a better idea of a strategy. His old one, which was basically 'find it and kill it', was looking more problematic by the minute, mainly due to the fact that he'd never fully appreciated how much power Mina could pack before now.

Then, another thought occurred to him.

The holy water! It would probably do a fairly good amount of damage to the vampire, if nothing else. And, unlike the silver bullets, he didn't need to hit one particular target to ensure he'd do some serious damage; the water would cause a pretty severe burn that might manage to ground the vampire, no matter how briefly.

Quickly, Sawyer slipped his guns back into his pockets, grabbed a phial from his pocket, and thrust it towards the vampire's face as he began to scrabble to his feet. The glass shattered over the vampire's face, as the water burned like it was a vat of fast-acting acid. The vampire screamed and clutched his face, but Sawyer could see that the vampire was rapidly coming back to full health.

It was now or never. Reaching inside his coat, he pulled out one of the stakes and, while the vampire was still distracted by the agony, leapt towards him, aiming for the heart.

"This one's for Mina!" he yelled, as he began to bring the stake down... Only to have his wrist grabbed and twisted so hard that he could have sworn that he heard his bones crack. The stake fell from his hand and struck the ground, only to be crushed by the vampire as he walked towards Sawyer. A dark-looking smirk appeared on the vampire's face as he looked at Sawyer.

"Mina, hmm? Well, that explains your interest in taking me out, I suppose," he grinned. "Tell me, did she kill someone you know and you're using me as practice for killing her, or what?"

Sawyer winced as he spoke, but he was determined to show this vampire that he wasn't going to collapse because of a bad wrist. "Neither... She's... a... team-mate... of mine."

"HAH!" the vampire laughed, throwing his head back in hilarity before looking back down at Sawyer. "I have no idea why you said that, but it makes no difference to me. There is no way you would be anything to Mina other than food; my blood cannot be controlled by a mere human!" Then he looked down at Sawyer and licked his sharp teeth. "Ah well, never mind; a liar or not, you'll still make a very good meal."

He began to bring his teeth towards Sawyer's neck. Desperate, Sawyer tried to reach one of the stakes inside his coat, but the vampire had a tight hold of his right hand, and he wasn't as good with his left as he could be. This was it. So he was going to die at the hands of a vampire. Still, it could be worse. Maybe he'd come back as one and be of a bit more use to the League than as just a fancy shot. Admittedly he wouldn't be bringing anything new to the party, but still...

And maybe he'd have a better chance with Mina!

Just goes to show there's always some good in every situation, Sawyer reflected. Just before the vampire's fangs could pierce his neck, something charged at the vampire at a speed that prevented Sawyer even seeing what it was, before ramming the vampire into the wall of the tower. Fortunately the vampire had let go of Sawyer's wrist before it hit the wall, or he'd probably be dead. As the thing stopped, Sawyer finally identified it.

It was Mina.

"Boy, now you are a sight for sore eyes!" Sawyer smiled, as Mina looked back at him.

She smiled briefly.

Than she slapped him in the face.

"OUCH! What was that for?!" Sawyer asked, clutching his cheek.

"For being such an idiot as to take on a vampire by yourself!" she yelled.

"Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and the others were so busy wondering if it was you or not I figured they'd take ages to decide what to do! Besides, as I recall your husband and his friends battled another vampire without any means of fighting him at long range!" Sawyer retaliated.

"Not another," a voice suddenly said from behind them. Instantly Sawyer and Mina spun around, and saw the vampire facing them, covered in dust but looking ready to attack.

Mina stepped back in terror at the sight of the vampire. "Oh my god..." she said, her face looking even paler than normal.

"What?" Sawyer asked, looking from one vampire to the other. "Do you two know each other or something?"

"Yes," Mina whispered, reaching one hand up to tap her neck. "He gave me this."

"Oh my God..." Sawyer said, as he looked from Mina's neck to the vampire. He knew what Mina meant; the two small wounds on her neck that she said had been made by the vampire Dracula.

He had just been fighting something that was far older and deadlier than even Dorian Gray.

"We're in trouble," he whispered.

"Yes, that's true enough," the vampire- Dracula- said, sweeping his cape back in an overly dramatic gesture. "So, now that you know the full story, are you prepared to surrender?"

In answer, Sawyer pulled out both pistols again and aimed them at Dracula's heart, while Mina took up a combat stance as well.

"Well, your funeral," Dracula smiled, licking his lips. Then he leapt towards the two of them, his fangs bared once again. Instantly, Sawyer fired both guns, striking Dracula in the chest, and Mina leapt towards Dracula, slashing at his face.

*****

Outside Burgas, far out in the ocean, the large, sleek figure of the Nautilus rose out of the ocean, and began to turn towards the city beside it.

On the observation deck were the three figures of Nemo, Skinner and Jekyll. Nemo was examining the town with his telescope, while Jekyll fingered a phial of his serum in the event he needed to become Hyde, and Skinner just waited.

Suddenly, Nemo groaned and lowered the telescope from his eye.

"Found them?" Skinner asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Nemo replied. "But there is a problem. I believe I saw Mr Sawyer and Mrs Harker in the tower in the centre of the city."

"And the problem?" Jekyll asked.

"They appear to be fighting another vampire," Nemo sighed, as the Nautilus drew even closer to Burgas. "They're in the main tower, so it's hard to make out what exactly they're fighting, but it is definitely a vampire. After all, how many other creatures can match Mrs Harker for speed and strength?"

"Good point," Skinner said. As they drew ever closer, he glanced over at Jekyll. "Think Hyde can get us there in time?"

"More to the point, is he willing to?" Nemo asked, facing Jekyll as well.

Jekyll briefly stared vacantly up at the sky, as though he was looking at the stars. Then he looked back at Skinner and Nemo.

"Yes to both," he nodded, as he pulled out the phial and opened it. "He can jump over to Brugas from here, and you two can be given a lift by him if you want. It wouldn't be too comfortable, but it would be quick."

"Fair enough. Let's go!" Skinner smiled, as he slipped his glasses into his pocket, while Jekyll swallowed his serum. Instantly, his muscles began to bulge out and his clothing began to tear apart, and, in a matter of seconds, he was the eight-foot-tall, massively muscled, steel-hard creature known as Edward Hyde.

"Get on," he grunted, stretching out his arms. As the two of the grabbed one arm each, Hyde leapt off the viewing deck, ran all the length of the front of the Nautilus, and leapt off the point at the end. After a brief flight, they landed on the end of Burgas's main pier. From there, Hyde leapt up onto the roof of the nearest building, and began to run towards the tower.

I only hope we get there in time, Edward, Jekyll said inside his alter ego's head.

We will, Henry, Hyde promised, as he leapt to another roof, narrowly avoiding dropping Skinner. We will.

*****

"So," Mina asked, as she grabbed one of Dracula's hands and flipped him over in a circle, "Would you mind telling me exactly how you're alive after we staked you and cut your head off?" The fight had rapidly progressed onto the roof of the tower for Mina and Dracula, and Sawyer had been reduced to just firing off a shot whenever he got an opportunity to do so. "Van Helsing was certain that doing that would kill you."

"Oh, it would normally kill vampires, but how it didn't work is simple enough," Dracula smiled, as he attempted a few more punches at Mina's chest, all of which were blocked. "If a vampire lives as long as I have, he becomes practically impossible to kill. Admittedly you and your friends came close, but they made the mistake of leaving my ashes lying around on the ground. All I needed to do is wait until someone bled on where my ashes lay, and I'm back." Just then he managed to get one hard into Mina's chest, knocking her back and onto a broken roof slate. It wouldn't kill her, but she would be unable to get back up by herself, from where it stuck into her spine. "I get the feeling you won't."

"She won't need to!" another voice yelled. Dracula glanced up just in time to see Sawyer, who'd used his rope to get up onto the roof, fire two silver bullets directly into his shoulders. Or rather, the bullets would have hit the shoulders, but Dracula managed to leap up out of harm's way before they struck. No sooner had the bullets gone past then he dived towards Sawyer, ramming him hard into the roof.

*****

As he held Sawyer down, Dracula glanced back at Mina, who still hadn't fully recovered from his last punch. Still, with the slate in her back, she wouldn't do much good even if she was awake.

"Ah, decisions, decisions. Which one of you do I kill first?" he asked mockingly, looking around at the two of them. Eventually he looked over at Sawyer. "Easiest one first, I think," he grinned.

"NO!" a third voice screamed. Dracula looked around in the direction of the voice, and saw what appeared to be a massive ape dressed in tatters with two men clutching onto his massive arms leaping towards him over the rooftops. No sooner had this gone through his mind than Dracula found himself pinned down by the monkey's right hand on the roof, while the other two examined Sawyer and Mina.

"Well, this was unexpected," Dracula, commented trying to sound casual. Secretly, however, he was puzzled; not only did this creature look far too human for a monkey, but it was also abnormally powerful. Normally he'd have thrown it off him already. "So, you three are?"

"Edward Hyde, at your service," the monkey informed Dracula, as its fingers closed around his chest and picked him up. "The man in blue is Captain Nemo, and the other is Rodney Skinner."

"Well, always nice to meet new people," Dracula said, straining his arms slightly as he tried to get away from the monkey, "but I really must be going now."

"I don't think so, mate," a voice said to Dracula's side. Looking around, Dracula saw it was the man in the long black coat who had helped Sawyer back up. Then Dracula noticed something odd; he could see the man's clothes and hat well enough, but there appeared to be nothing wearing them. An invisible man, or just a fancy trick? "Hyde here's a pretty dangerous character when he's in a good mood, and you really don't want to see him mad."

"Don't...antagonize...him...Skinner..." another voice said. Dracula recognised it as Mina; evidently, the man in blue (Captain Nemo, he vaguely recalled) had gotten her off the slate, and her body was recovering from the spinal damage. "This man...is older...then even...Dorian..."

"Ah," the floating clothes said, before the hat rotated to look at Sawyer, who was standing slighting behind Hyde. "That accurate?"

"Pretty much," Sawyer replied, flexing one shoulder slightly. "This, my friends, is that Dracula sucker Mina mentioned."

Dracula was pleased to note that these people had heard about him; Nemo and Hyde looked slightly shaken at that revelation, and although he couldn't see the expression on the face of the invisible man (Skinner, if that was what and who it was) he could now hear an accelerated heartbeat.

"Oh nuts," Skinner groaned, as the hat moved back as though he was looking up in the air. "The last thing we need is a vampire."

"Well, you don't need to worry about that," Dracula said, as he suddenly had an idea. "Because," he explained, as his bat wings spread out from his shoulders, "tonight," he added, as the shock of the wings made Hyde drop him, "You all DIE!!" he yelled, as he dropped to the ground and leapt towards the first person he could, his fangs growing to a length that put the target in mind of a sabre-toothed tiger.

The target was Skinner.

*****

As Dracula flew towards him, Skinner did the only thing he could; grabbed his hat off his head and threw it onto Dracula's face. Although it was only a brief distraction, it was long enough for Skinner to shrug off his coat and dive to one side, where even Dracula would have difficulty finding him.

Just as Dracula tore the hat off his face, Sawyer fired off his last few bullets at the vampire, striking him in an arm, a leg, a wing, and somewhere in the chest, knocking him out of the air. Dracula hit the roof, and Hyde instantly grabbed him by the arms and wings and held him up into the air.

Seeing their opponent immobile, Nemo thrust forward with his sword at the heart, while Mina slashed at his throat, both of them obviously terminal wounds.

Dracula screamed once as his body quickly turned into dust, the death that he had evaded twice rushing to collect, and then those ashes, that had once tried to terrorise London, collapsed onto the ground.

The League stared at the ashes, until Skinner broke the silence.

"Well, that was quick," he said, as he picked his hat up and put it on, his coat still lying on the edge of the tower. "Would have thought he'd put up more of a fight."

"We had him at a disadvantage," Sawyer put in, slipping his pistols back into their holsters and staring at the pile. "Believe me, I've seen what he could have done in a fight if you'd given him the chance. He wasn't expecting Skinner to retaliate that fast, that was his problem."

"Well, what he could have done isn't important," Hyde grunted at the rest. "Now, do you four want to be carrying Jekyll all the way back to the Nautiloid, or shall we get going now?"

"No," Mina said, walking round to the other side of the tower and picking up Skinner's coat. "If any of Dracula's ashes spread out, they could come in contact with blood and he would be reborn again. We have to get rid of him for good."

"And why do you need Mr Skinner's coat for that?" asked Nemo.

"What else can we use to carry the ashes?" Mina asked simply.

Skinner groaned. "You're kidding, right? I'm expected to go through the air, all the way back to the Nautilus, in only my hat? It was bad enough with the coat on!"

"Which is more important; that you're warm, or that the world is spared from the terror of a blood-sucking monster?" Sawyer asked casually, as he shrugged off the coat he'd borrowed from Skinner and passed it over to him. "Besides, aren't you forgetting this?"

Skinner looked down at the coat in his arms, and sighed with relief. "Thanks, mate," he smiled at Sawyer, as he shrugged the coat on and wrapped it around himself. At the same time Mina was sweeping the ashes into the centre of the other coat, with Hyde occasionally pointing out a little bit she'd missed. Eventually, everything was done and Mina had the coat held in a bag-like shape, with the dust at the bottom.

"Well, shall we go now?" Sawyer asked, as Mina tied the coat up at the end in a knot.

"Agreed. I'll fly to the Nautilus, and you three can follow on with Hyde," Mina said, as bat wings sprouted from her back, and she began to flap them.

"Actually, I don't think I can carry all three of you," Hyde said. "The more I need to use my strength the faster Jekyll's serum wears off, and with all three of you on me it might run out before we can get there. Even with only two of you there's no way I'll be able to jump back onto the Nautilus; it's the Nautiloid all the rest of the way."

"No sweat," Sawyer smiled, as he picked up the pieces of his rifle and slipped them into his pockets. "I'll take the streets. After all, it's not that far from here to the Nautiloid. Just remember, whoever's there first waits for the other lot."

"We will," Skinner said, as he and Nemo climbed back onto Hyde's arms and looked over at Sawyer. "See you later- coming back along the streets, of course!"

"We'll see about that!" Sawyer smiled, as he opened the door of the tower and began to race down the stairs to the streets. At the same time as he went down, Mina took off into the sky, and Hyde, Skinner and Nemo began to leap towards the Nautiloid.

When you've just survived a showdown with an insanely powerful vampire, Sawyer thought to himself, as he began to run along the streets after Hyde, a little race is no bad thing.