Disclaimer: The usual: I own nothing you know, that sort of thing.

Feedback: Please do.

AN: Those wondering why I put Frankenstein's monster and Logan (AKA Wolverine) on the team, the reason is just what Mycroft said; the League need extra muscle, and these guys are very capable of providing it. Whether or not they'll stick around regularly is something you'll have to read on to find out about.

Worlds at War

An hour or so later, the League had arrived at the location where the cylinders had landed on Earth.

It wasn't much to look at; just a vast, empty field with very little in the way vegetation that didn't include grass. The most interesting thing about it was the reason for the League's visit; a long cylinder that had landed in the middle of the field, leaving a massive hole where it had landed, and the sand and gravel had been spread out all over the field, forming heaps that could be seen over a mile and a half away. Most of the cylinder was buried in the ground, with only a little bit stick out. However, the top was turning slightly, as though

"Not much to look at, is it?" Skinner said, as he studied the cylinder. The area had been cordoned off by the Government, but Sawyer had shown the officers guarding it some papers that Mycroft had given him and they couldn't let the League in fast enough. He'd instructed them to leave the field for the moment as well; he didn't want any civilians getting hurt if things turned ugly.

"No, but I'd prefer to be prepared to greet whatever comes out of it," Sawyer replied, glancing around at his friends. "So, everyone get ready. Look impressive, but not threatening, OK?"

"Just one point," Hartdegen said, speaking up. "In the future, several stories have been written about aliens, and some of the aliens had a very different physical appearance to us. How do we know these Martians will be able to understand our body language?"

"We don't," Sawyer replied. "But, until further notice, let's act like they can, OK?" Hartdegen nodded.

"Right," Sawyer said, before glancing over to Jekyll. "If you let Hyde out right now, will he be prepared to just watch and not go around attacking us?"

Jekyll waited for a couple of minutes, and then shook his head.

"He says no, but I get the impression he's lying," he said to Sawyer. "If they prove hostile, I'll let him out, but not otherwise."

"Well, fair enough," Sawyer said, as he looked around at the others and starting to issue orders. "Skinner, get your face paint off in the event of these guys turning out to be hostile. Logan, get your claws out. Jekyll, keep your serum available. Hartdegen, get yourself, Terry and I some weapons. Not too big, but tough enough to do some damage."

"Check," Hartdegen said, as he headed back to the car. He came back with three moderately long rifles in his hands, two of which he handed over to Terry and Sawyer while he kept the third for himself.

"Something's coming!" Skinner yelled, looking over at the cylinder. The League looked and saw that he was correct; the top of it was nearly completely unscrewed, and as he spoke it detached from the rest.

As the cylinder opened, a large grey creature, almost the size of a bear, rose slowly and painfully out of it. It had two large, dark-coloured eyes, with a lipless V-shaped mouth underneath it that constantly panted and dripped saliva. It had a vast amount of tentacles which reminding Nemo of a picture of a Gorgon he'd seen in a Greek mythology book, a couple of which appeared to be holding some kind of weapon. "Ugly sucker, isn't it?" Skinner whispered to Jekyll.

"We probably don't look any better to it, Skinner," Jekyll replied. At the same time, Sawyer was walking forward, his rifle by his side and his hands held up before him in a peaceful gesture.

*****

"Um, hi," he said to the Martian. He mentally kicked himself; first contact between mankind and another species and he had to just go and say 'Um, hi'? He'd need to think of something better now to make up for that.

"I'm Tom Sawyer of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Earth's representatives to meet you," he said. That sounded better, he thought to himself. "We come in peace, and would be glad to talk with you."

The Martian looked over at him with something that, in humans, Sawyer would have thought to be disdain, but with an alien he couldn't be sure. Then the Martian raised its weapon and pointed it at Sawyer.

Instantly, reflex took over and Sawyer ducked down, yelling to the League to do the same as he did so. As they ducked, one of the weapons fired, and it struck a tree behind them.

The League didn't need Logan's enhanced sense of smell to know what had just happened; the stench of burning was very apparent.

"Some kind of heat ray!" Jekyll yelled, the scientist in him overcoming his temporary terror.

"We noticed!" Sawyer yelled back, before he pulled his Winchester out of its holster and fired a shot at the Martian's weapon.

It struck the weapon that the alien held in the right bunch of tentacles, blowing it in two and knocking it out of the Martian's hand. With an expression that Sawyer took to be outrage on its face, the Martian pointed its other weapon at Sawyer...

And he didn't have another bullet in his gun!

I'm in trouble, he thought to himself. He prepared to dive to the side, even though he had little to no chance of succeeding...

And, suddenly, the Martian's other weapon broke neatly in two as well.

Amazed at his luck, Sawyer glanced back at the others to see if it had been any of them. But no; Skinner, Jekyll, Mina, Logan and Frank hadn't bought any weapons but themselves, Nemo only had his sword, and although Hartdegen and Terry were carrying guns, neither of them looked like they'd fired them.

Sawyer noted that piece of information and put it in the back of his head; he'd discuss it with the rest of the League when he had the time.

Right now, he had a very disgusting alien to take care of.

Quickly reloading his Winchester, he pointed and fired at the Martian, hoping that its skin was no tougher than the human norm.

It wasn't. The bullet bit right through the Martian's skin, striking it in what appeared to be a vital organ. The Martian opened and closed its mouth in a manner that put Sawyer in mind of someone gasping for air, and then it fell forward and collapsed into the pit.

*****

The League walked forward and peered into the pit at their late adversary.

"That didn't go very well, did it?" Skinner commented, staring at the corpse in the ground.

"That has to be the greatest understatement I have ever heard anyone make," Mina said, looking over at Skinner. "We're sent here to make peaceful contact with these people, they attack us, we're forced to shoot the first one we see. If that's a promising beginning, I'd hate to see a bad beginning."

"Yeah, I know, but they did start shooting first, Mina," Sawyer said, looking over at his lover. "If nothing else, we didn't exactly start shooting unprovoked."

"It's still not a very promising start," Hartdegen put in.

"Well, at least this is over," Terry commented. Just then, another figure clambered out of the ship, and looked over at the League. The Martian had an expression that appeared to be rage on its face, but due it being another species it was hard to tell if that was an accurate assessment.

"Oh nuts," Sawyer said, as the Martian leapt towards him.

Just before it struck him, however, there was a blur in front of Sawyer's eyes and someone grabbed the Martian by the head.

It was Mina.

"If you even try to punch Tom, you will have a great deal of problems on whatever your species has for hands," she coldly informed the Martian. Then she twisted its head violently, and it collapsed to the ground.

The League looked over at Mina.

"Wow..." Logan said, looking at the new corpse. "I wouldn't like to get on your wrong side, Mrs Harker."

"No, you wouldn't," Mina replied, smiling slightly. Then she groaned and looked down at the corpse. "This situation is getting more and more awkward. That's two Martians dead already, and we haven't even tried to talk to them."

"Excuse me, Mina?" Skinner called out incredulously. "These guys have tried to kill us twice already, and you want to try and talk to them?"

"Well, it can't hurt to try," Frank said, shrugging his shoulders. However, none of the League were looking very cheerful; on the contrary, they were all lost in thought, wondering what they were to do now.

*****

Eventually, after a couple of minutes of silence, Hartdegen sighed and looked around at the others. "Shall we go back to talk things over with Mycroft?"

"Probably best," Sawyer replied. "If nothing else, he needs to know about the recent turn of events."

With that, the League turned around and headed back to the car. However, Terry remained where he was, holding his gun and waiting at the edge of the pit.

Sawyer glanced back and saw the machine standing there. "Um, Terry, what are you doing there?" he asked.

"Someone must remain to ensure that any remaining Martians do not escape and start killing innocent people," Terry replied. "Since I am capable of remaining here without falling asleep or getting stiff, I am the logical choice. Besides, I am also strong enough to do a fair amount of damage to the Martians even without my gun."

By this point the rest of the League had stopped to listen to Terry's reasons as well. Sawyer looked over at them and raised an inquisitive eyebrow to ask for their opinion. The League nodded.

Sawyer glanced back at Terry. "OK then. Just, if it looks like something's going to happen that you can't handle by yourself, don't fight it, OK? I'd rather not have anyone dying right now."

"Check," Terry replied simply.

Despite himself, Sawyer couldn't help but smile. Terry was already starting to sound more human than he had on his arrival; it wasn't too long ago that he'd have replied with 'Affirmative', or something similar.

"See you later," he said, waving back at Terry as the League got into the car and drove off.

*****

As he stood above the Martian ship, Terry removed the pince-nez from his nose and slipped them into his pocket. Looking at the Martian ship, he instantly shifted his vision into scanning mode, and began to gather all the information he could about the ship. He may have difficulty in explaining to the League some of his discoveries, but he would work on that problem later.

Right now, he had to gather the greatest weapon against the Martians that he could, and that was information about their strengths and weaknesses.

If he had been human, he'd have been hoping that they'd get a chance to use that information against the Martians before it was too late.

But he wasn't, so he didn't. He just gathered the information that was required, and stored it away for later.