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Worlds at War

A few hours later, with the Nautilus only a couple of miles from London, the weapons had been picked out.

It wasn't all that different from their arsenal for the Morlocks, really; it consisted of several of Nemo's larger guns, along with a few high-power pistols in the event of the fighting getting too close. Nemo had even managed to track down an extremely large rifle for Hyde; in fact, it was meant to be used by almost three people holding it up and a fourth firing. Nemo had built it as a weapon for the Nautilus originally, but had abandoned it on the grounds that it would only slow down boats (His traditional target at the time).

"So, is that everything?" Skinner asked, as he dumped his last armload of weapons in front of Nemo. Jekyll had gone to his room to catch a couple of hour's sleep before their arrival, but Skinner had decided to stay on the grounds that he was feeling very energetic.

Nemo nodded. "Yes, this will suffice, Mr Skinner. I shall just fetch the others and we can get all these loaded up before we leave."

"Loaded up? Where are we loading them?" Skinner asked, looking at Nemo in surprise.

"In that," Nemo said, pointing to one side. Skinner looked and, to his amazement, saw Nemo's car, which had last been seen by Sawyer before the building it was in was destroyed by the Nautilus's missiles. However, it appeared slightly larger; it was far longer, and it had more seats in it.

"When'd you rebuild it?" he asked, glancing over at Nemo in surprise.

"Oh, just in between missions," Nemo replied, looking rather casual about it all. "After all, we do need everything we can get."

"True," Skinner said, as he got back up and stretched slightly. "Shall I fetch the others?"

"Please," Nemo said, as he headed over to the car and opened a smaller door at the back. "I'll start loading."

"Be back in a mo," Skinner replied, as he walked out the weapons storage cupboard and headed up the steps.

*****

An hour or so later, the League were driving through the streets of London, heading straight for the British Museum. Sawyer was driving in the front seat with Nemo right beside him, while Hartdegen, Skinner and Jekyll sat just behind them, Terry and Mina occupying the new back seats. The Nautilus had gone underwater when the League had driven out, but the crew were under orders to rise up again as soon as they detected the car coming back.

"Are we there yet?" Skinner asked, looking up at Sawyer and Nemo.

"Just about," Sawyer replied, looking back at his friends. He glanced ahead of him, and grinned. "Here we are."

He stopped the car, and the League got out. As the expected crowd began to gather around the car, the League entered the museum. Nemo lead the way as they headed down the long flight of stairs that led to what they had once believed to be the base of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

*****

As Skinner walked, he found himself remembering his previous visit to this place. He'd been so calm and casual on the surface, but inwardly wondering if he should really be here. Was he really the kind to save the world? Shouldn't he just ask for his cure and leave?

But some part of him had made him stick around. The first one there, he'd dumped his coat on a chair and just hung around in a corner until he wanted to make a contribution. M had been sitting in a chair when he came in, and had just greeted him before putting the lights out to wait. Then Quartermain had arrived, followed closely by Nemo, and he still hadn't felt like saying anything. Then M had commented about Harker being late, and he'd spoken to his teammates for the first time.

"Oh, chemist, eh? Do we get to blow something up then?"

Why had he chosen such a stupid thing to say?

But he knew the answer to that question. It was the kind of man he was back then. And, although he liked to think he'd changed a bit since then, he would be the first to admit he sometimes let the odd crack come out.

Before his train of though could go any further, Nemo had opened the door at the bottom of the steps, and the League had stepped into the room where they had first come together. Glancing around, Skinner noticed that they still had all the pictures of the 'prior' Leagues that Moriarty had made up; one picture of Robin Hood, Ivanhoe and the Black Arrow; a second of the Four Musketeers, the Sea Hawk and Captain Blood; and a third of Doctor Syn, the Scarlet Pimpernel, Lemuel Gulliver, Hawkeye, Lady Blakeney and Fanny Hill. He wondered if they would be taking them down in the future, but somehow doubted it.

Looking down the table, Skinner saw the large, obese figure of Mycroft Holmes sitting at the end of the table. Looking up as the League entered, Mycroft smiled and got out of his seat to shake Sawyer's hand.

"You made good time getting here, Mr Sawyer," he said, nodding at the young American.

*****

"Well, I did ask you to only call us if you really thought we were needed, so I figured we should get here as soon as possible," Sawyer replied, as the League members took a seat at the massive table. "So, what's the situation?"

"Well, it's- who is that?" Mycroft said, looking at Terry.

"Oh, sorry," Sawyer said, remembering that Terry was still a relatively new face to the League, never mind to this time. "This is Terry Michael Nator- well, that's what we call him."

"Oh," Mycroft said, turning to face Terry. "And what, exactly, is extraordinary about you, Mr Nator?"

Terry looked over at Sawyer. "Shall I demonstrate?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Sawyer replied, shrugging idly. "Just don't do anything too extreme, OK?"

Terry nodded. Then he got out of his seat and walked over to one of the lights placed on the wall, in between two of the 'previous League' paintings. He grabbed the metal rods that both lights were attached to, and, with as little effort as if they were small sticks, he turned them around a complete one hundred and eighty degrees, then bending them back into shape. He glanced over at Mycroft.

"Is that extraordinary enough for you, Mycroft Holmes?" he asked.

"Quite impressive," Mycroft nodded, looking inquiringly at Terry. "How do you do that?"

"It is complicated to explain," Terry replied. "All I will say is, I am not what I appear to be."

"I see," Mycroft said. He waited a few seconds, but when Terry showed no signs of replying, he turned back to face the League. "Anyway, time to attend to business."

"What seems to be the problem, Mycroft?" Skinner asked, as he swung his legs up onto the table in a casual manner.

"Well, we have received reports about recent volcanic eruptions on Mars," Mycroft explained, looking focused. "Normally, this wouldn't be of very great importance, but observers have described it as being like 'flaming gases rushed out of a gun.' Also, we have recently had several strange cylinders landing near London, which appear too smooth to be natural."

"So, what? You think they're from another planet?" Hartdegen asked.

Mycroft looked over at Hartdegen. "That is exactly what I mean, Mr Hartdegen."

"Oh God..." Sawyer said looking over at Mina. Both knew what that would mean. Life forms from another planet were on Earth.

Therefore, they were capable of flight between planets.

Therefore, they had technology was far in advance of even Captain Nemo.

They also had no idea what they were doing here.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Jekyll asked, looking over at Mycroft.

"You are to make first contact with these... Martians, let us call them," Mycroft explained. "If they are peaceful, then we shall have at least given them some... interesting examples of humanity's development. If they are hostile, well, you seven are the best people currently alive to deal with them."

"Yeah, sure, but don't we get a little extra backup?" Skinner replied. "You know, like an army to help if they're hostile?"

"No, Mr Skinner," Mycroft replied, looking over harshly at the invisible man. "If we send an army to meet the Martians, they may believe we have hostile intentions. However, in the event of you requiring backup, we have tracked down two new members for this mission."

*****

As Mycroft finished speaking, the room's doors opened up and two men walked in. The first one was a tall man, wearing black trousers, a white shirt and a long brown coat. He had dark hair that hung down in a straggly manner that resembled Sawyer's, except that his was straight and a little dirty. He looked remarkably normal, except that his skin was remarkably pale and he also appeared to have several scars on his face and hands.

The second person was also rather unusual. He wasn't remarkably tall, maybe only a few inches above five feet, but he appeared to be remarkably well built nevertheless. His hair struck out on the sides of his head, in a manner that slightly resembled horns, and his eyes had a vaguely animalistic look about them, although they also held what appeared to be a glint of intelligence about them. However, even with this, he struck the League as being a bit wild, even before he'd spoken. His clothes only added to this appearance; his black jacket was slightly tattered around the bottom, his originally white shirt was nearly yellow with grime, and his trousers were in a similarly tattered state to his jacket.

Mycroft spoke after the League had taken in the newcomers. "Let me introduce you to Doctor Victor Frankenstein's monster-"

"Call me Frank," the scarred man commented.

"And Mr Logan of Canada," Mycroft said, pointing at the smaller man.

"Glad to be here," the man nodded. His voice gave the impression of being very well educated, but there was a slightly rough edge to it that even Nemo couldn't identify.

It was Hartdegen who eventually broke the silence. "I know what... Frank's abilities are- superhuman strength and all that," he said, looking around at the others. "But I'm afraid Mr Logan is an enigma to me."

"Let's put it this way, Alex," Logan replied, as he raised one hand. "I've got some things in common with a man I understand you knew- a Mr Dorian Gray."

Before the League could take that in, Logan then clenched his hand into a fist and three long claws stuck out of it. Even the League members unused to death in later stages recognised what the claws were made of.

Bone.

"That's... interesting," Skinner said, getting out his seat and examining the claws.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Logan commented, as he held his claws to his chest, and suddenly struck them right into it.

He fell back to the ground, pulling the claws out as he did so, but leaving the holes in his chest.

"What the hell?!" Skinner yelled, as the League got up and ran to check on Logan- well, except for Terry, but he rarely ran under any circumstances.

Sawyer glanced over at Mycroft. "What was up with this guy? Suicidal attitude or just plain crazy?"

"Neither, Mr Sawyer," Mycroft replied, smiling. "Look at his wounds."

Sawyer looked, along with the others. To their mutual amazement, the wounds were closing up so that it was like they had never even been there in the first place; they had practically gone already.

As the wounds finally vanished, Logan got up and shook his head slightly.

"Not the best way to demonstrate what I can do, but it's easier than getting shot," he commented, glancing over at the League. "What do you think?"

"Wow..." Sawyer said, looking at where the wounds had been. Then he looked over at Mycroft. "Is he like this because of magic, or what?"

"'Or what' is a very apt description, Mr Sawyer," Mycroft explained, as he got out of his chair and walked over to join the League. "Really, we have no idea what Mr Logan is-"

"Logan's fine with me," Logan butted in.

"Right, very well," Mycroft said, before continuing. "However, our scientists have a theory about him. You are aware of Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, I presume?"

"Oh, you mean how animals change over time to adapt to their surroundings?" Jekyll asked.

"Exactly, Doctor," Mycroft replied, nodding at Jekyll. "Anyway, we believe that Logan is an early example of a future evolution of humanity. His body in itself appears perfectly normal baring the extra bones that are his claws, so we are assuming the change runs somewhere deeper than our science can find at its present stage. He also possesses a heightened sense of smell, which could be very useful in tracking people. Anyway, he and Frank will be joining you for at least the purposes of this mission, in the event of assistance being required."

"Fair enough," Sawyer said, shaking Logan's hand. "Welcome aboard, Logan, Frank," he said, as he shook the hand of the other as well.

"Glad to be here, Agent Sawyer," Frank replied.

"Just Sawyer, please, Frank," Sawyer replied, before looking back at Mycroft. "Shall we get going?"

"You should," Mycroft replied. "We have little time before someone attempts to open one of the cylinders. They are just on the outskirts of town."

"Why are we waiting, may I ask?" Skinner asked, as he headed for the door in a determined manner, followed closely by Hartdegen and Nemo.

The rest of the League looked at each other, shrugged, and followed on after their friends.

"Do we have enough room in the car for Logan and Frank?" Jekyll asked Sawyer as they walked up the massive staircase.

"I think so," Sawyer replied. "It'll be tight, but there's always some little problem, isn't there?"