Disclaimer: I own the idea of the Shark, but I don't own his real identity,
nor do I own the League.
Feedback: I'll still write this if I don't get any of it, but I would like it.
AN: When these ~~~~~ appear at the start of something, everything that happens until they're repeated is a flashback.
funyun: Yep, noughts and crosses is pretty much the same as Tic Tac Toe. Also, regarding your question, I'm saying that, if Sawyer's coughing up blood so hard that it's landing on the Shark's mask, it means that Sawyer's in worse shape than he thought he was.
Niani: When you say 'random', do you mean having the villain be Huck is random? If so, I apologise, but I wanted a villain who could be a literal opposite to Sawyer, (The yin to his yang, if you will), and Huck was the only character I could think of.
Resurrection
Huckleberry Finn, or at least the man who once was Huckleberry Finn, gave a twisted little grin in Sawyer's direction. "You weren't expecting this, were you?" he asked, reminding Sawyer of the Fantom thanks to the gleam of madness in his eyes.
Sawyer, uncertain as to what else he could do, just shrugged. "I have to admit, I wasn't," he said, trying to sound casual. "Mind telling me how you managed to survive getting shot like that?"
"Ah, you mock me, Tom?" Huck asked, looking at his old friend with an expression that was as dark as Skinner's coat. "Tell me, how many missions did we share together before you decided to betray me?"
"I never betrayed you," Sawyer replied, feeling a little confused at that statement.
"Really?" Huck asked, throwing his mask onto the floor and walking towards Sawyer. He bent down so that he was squatting right in front of Sawyer, and glared at him. "Let me remind you then. It was on our last mission together, while we tried to hunt down the Fantom..."
*****
~~~~~ "He's gotta be here somewhere," Huck said, glancing over at his partner, Tom Sawyer. They had tracked their prey to this city's old warehouse district on the edge of the sea, an area with very little people already living there, and the few who did were often so drunk they could barely remember anything. In other words, the perfect place for a showdown if you didn't want anyone to know you were having one. "You're sure you saw him go this way?"
Sawyer nodded, his Colt pistols steady in his hands. It was almost like the old days back home, when they played at being pirates and other things. The only real difference was that they could conceivably die now.
And there were the guns, of course.
"He's here, Huck," Sawyer assured his friend. "After you managed to take out his bodyguard, this is the only place he had to run to." He indicated a large warehouse in front of them, standing on support struts above the sea. In the past it had apparently been used to store carts, but these days everyone ignored it.
"Chill out, Tom," Huck said, noticing that his friend was gripping his pistols so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. "He's only one man, after all."
Sawyer nodded grimly. "Just remember, Huck; this guy's regarded as the most dangerous man alive right now. He may only be human, but he shouldn't be underestimated."
"I'm not underestimating, I'm just being practical," Huck said, as the two of them entered the warehouse. "After all, dangerous or not, there's two of us and one of him. We've got him."
They walked into the warehouse. Inside, it was pitch black, almost as dark as the graveyard back home had been the night they saw Injun Joe commit murder. There were a few boxes in a couple of places, but that was about it. However, Huck noticed something glinting off the moonlight in one corner of the room. Something that looked like a face...
The Fantom's mask.
Indicating the direction to Sawyer, Huck cocked his own Colts and aimed them at the man.
"So, 'Fantom'," Huck said to the man in a conversational manner, "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice."
"Oh, by the way," Sawyer said, as he slipped his Colts into their holsters and pulled out his Winchester, "the hard way involves you getting shot. Does that make it easier to pick one?"
The Fantom looked back at the two American agents, his fur coat spread out behind him, his mask covering the nasty-looking burns that were all that was visible of his face. "A valiant effort," he said, his voice sounding harsh and croaky, as though whatever had damaged his face had scarred his throat as well. "But with one fatal mistake."
"That being?" Sawyer asked, steadying his Winchester.
The Fantom clicked his fingers.
Instantly, the warehouse lit up. Around them were sixteen of the Fantom's soldiers, each one pointing an extremely large, powerful, and fatal-looking gun at the two American agents. The soldiers were pressed against either the walls of the warehouse or some boxes that had been left in the warehouse, dressed in black clothes and armour, so it was no surprise that they hadn't managed to see them against the shadows.
The Fantom grinned at the two American agents. "Are you so sure you can stop me now?" he asked, grinning at them.
Sawyer and Huck glanced at each other, one thought racing through their heads.
"Attack plan beta?" Sawyer asked Huck out of the corner of his mouth.
Huck nodded.
No sooner had his head stopped moving then Sawyer had cocked his rifle, aimed it at the nearest soldier, and fired. The bullet struck the man directly in the head, knocking him back into the nearby box and also knocking over his nearby colleague. The distraction was only slight, but it was enough for the two of them to dive to opposite sides of the warehouse, out of harm's way for a few seconds.
"Stop them!" the Fantom called out to his soldiers.
Glancing ahead, Huck saw five of the soldiers had already managed to get in front of him. With no time to grab anything more effective, he whipped out his Colts and began firing at the soldiers in front of them.
With an almost detached attitude, Huck watched as the soldiers fell down in front of him. He had reached a point in his life where he was almost immune to the suffering he might cause to other people by killing his opponents; it was a simple case of shoot your opponent before he shot you these days. He just tried to make it clean and quick.
As the fifth and final soldier fell to the ground, Huck noted with a certain satisfaction that he'd hit them all in the head, and always in one shot. He wouldn't deny that Tom was the better of the two of them when it came to close quarters, but somehow Huck had always managed to be the better shot.
And speaking of Tom...
Glancing to the other side of the warehouse, Huck noted that his friend was dealing with six soldiers, and currently only four of them were dead. The other two had been hit, but they'd been wearing that armour that the Fantom was making standard issue for his followers, and he'd only briefly stunned them.
Getting in close enough to fight them, Sawyer stopped firing his Winchester (Sensible enough, since Huck was fairly sure he'd heard it click), and began to use it as a more basic weapon, hitting the first soldier he encountered in the head before he could strike back. The second soldier was a bit more capable, and managed to land a couple of punches on the American, but Tom simply kicked the guy in between the legs, and he was down in a matter of seconds.
Glancing over at Huck, Sawyer raised a quizzical eyebrow. Huck, guessing what his friend wanted to know, raised five fingers. Tom nodded; that left them five remaining soldiers, along with the Fantom himself.
I can do this, Huck thought to himself, as he rapidly began to reload his Colts, hiding behind a pile of abandoned crates. On the other side of the warehouse, Tom had already strapped his Winchester onto his back and had pulled out his pistols, currently up against the wall in case someone came looking for him.
Just as Huck had finished putting the last bullet into his Colt, something fired at the ground right beside him. The bullets tore through the floor, destroying the wood that made it in a few seconds. It may have been strong wood at the time of its construction, but a combination of time and the water beneath had weakened it greatly.
Offering up a silent prayer to whatever god there was as thanks for his escape, Huck spun around the crates, leapt over the hole in the ground, and fired two shots at where he thought the man who'd shot him was standing. It paid off; the guy was standing there, and the first shot completely floored him. No sooner had the guy fallen, however, then the remaining four soldiers popped up from around Huck, their rifles pointing directly at his head.
Huck gulped. "A little help here, Tom," he whispered, his fingers tensing over his gun's triggers.
No sooner had the words passed his mouth than Sawyer was charging out from the side of the warehouse, his pistols blazing as he targeted the soldiers around Huck. Each bullet managed to strike one of the soldiers, and, by the time his guns clicked on empty, they were all down.
All except the Fantom.
At that thought, Huck spun around, drawing his Colts and pointing them in the direction where the Fantom had last been seen. There was nothing there. Groaning a little, Huck briefly slipped his pistols back into their holsters, pulled out his Winchester, and tossed it over to Sawyer.
Sawyer caught it and nodded his thanks, although he knew it was unnecessary; Huck knew he'd need a weapon, and the Winchester was the best thing they had. He'd just feel more comfortable if his friend held it.
Looking in front of them, the two agents saw the Fantom standing in one corner of the warehouse, his arms spread out in a combat stance.
He grinned a little at them under his mask. "A valiant effort," he said, smiling at the Americans. Then his face hardened. "But at least one of you shall not survive it."
Huck grinned a little as he walked towards the Fantom, leaving Sawyer standing behind him. Sliding the hammers back on his pistols, he aimed them at the Fantom's heart and mouth. He would have preferred the head, but he had no idea how hard the mask was, and didn't want to chance it.
"That's a bit presumptuous, isn't it?" he asked, as his fingers closed over the triggers. "After all, we're the ones who're pointing guns at you."
The Fantom smiled. "Really?"
And he charged at Huck.
The force of the attack knocked Huck right onto the ground, flat on his back, his pistols flying out of his hands almost at once. Looking to his left, he saw one pistol lying on the ground. Rolling to his left and onto his front, he grabbed the gun, began to stand up...
And then got shot in the side of the head. ~~~~~
Huck touched the scar on his face gingerly. "It hurt like hell, Tom. You know that?" He sighed. "And believe me, matters weren't helped when I was dragged into the freezing cold water immediately afterwards."
His expression of sadness vanished, to be replaced by one of anger. "But that wasn't the worst part, Tom. The worst part, for me, was knowing that YOU fired the shot."
Sawyer stared at Huck in shock. "W-what?" he asked, horrified that his old friend even thought he was capable of such an act. "I never did that! It was the Fantom..."
"Please!" Huck said, spitting at a rock near Sawyer's head. "Don't insult me with obvious lies! The Fantom didn't have a gun on him as far as I could see, and even if he'd had one hidden, there's no way it could have been powerful enough at that size to do this!" He indicated his scar, and glared at Sawyer. "Only your Winchester- MY Winchester- could have done that."
Sawyer groaned. "Huck, we both knew that the Fantom had several inventors working for him. How come it never occurred to you that they'd made him a gun that had all the force of a Winchester but in the size of a Colt?"
Huck grinned, as he crouched down to stare at Sawyer. "Because he didn't," he said, smirking at his former friend. "Preach your innocence until the cows come home, Tom, but I know it was you who shot me." He reached behind his coat, and pulled out a small pistol. "Now I intend to return the favour."
Sawyer gulped as Huck levelled the pistol until it was pointing right between his eyes. He was in definite trouble. Silently, he offered up a prayer for the future that Terry was able to find some way for Mina to have his kids...
Just then, a massive thud sounded throughout the cave, followed by a loud roar. Startled, Huck looked back at one of his nearby soldiers. "What was that?" he called out to the man. The soldier shrugged.
Huck groaned. "Well, go and find out!" he cried at the man. "Take some men with you; at least ten of you should be able to handle anything in this area along with the others I've got stationed out there!"
"Does that include my friends?" Sawyer asked casually, as some soldiers began to run in the direction of the roar.
"What?" Huck asked, glancing back at the spy as around five or six soldiers began to run towards the source of the roar. "What do you mean?"
"That roar, my dear Huckleberry," Sawyer said, starting to enjoy himself despite the constant pain in his side from his earlier bullet wounds, "was the roar of one of the more ferocious of my teammates, a certain Edward Hyde." He grinned at his former partner smugly. "And, where Hyde goes, the League is sure to follow. You are in serious trouble now, Huck."
"Don't make me laugh!" Huck replied angrily. "I have an army down here! Your 'league' only has six members in it without you! They can't possibly win!"
Sawyer sighed. "Huck, you were never one to underestimate your opponents before this. It's tragic to see you've fallen apart in that regard."
Huck struck Sawyer in the jaw, so hard that Sawyer could have sworn he saw a tooth come out of his mouth.
"You'll pay for that," Huck whispered.
Sawyer's blood dripping onto his shirt from his lip, looked up at Huck, and spat the blood onto Huck's chest.
"Bring it on."
*****
"Come on, you stupid bastards!" Hyde roared, as he struck at the soldiers gathered around him again and again, always unable to knock back more than a couple at a time. The soldiers had deliberately positioned themselves higher up on the rock-face of the caves; almost out of range of Hyde's punches, but able to shoot him with their pistols. Unfortunately for them, Hyde's skin was so hard that all this achieved was making Hyde angrier.
Around him, the other League members were doing their best, but these soldiers were far more intelligent than they looked; they'd deliberately targeted the unarmed League members first, and were currently overwhelming them by sheer weight of numbers. Mina and Terry were doing fairly well, but they were unable to do a decent amount of damage with everyone being so close to them, and Hartdegen, Nemo, Becky, and Skinner (Who had been unable to ditch his coat) were just doing their best against the remaining few.
Actually getting to the caves had been easy enough; not only had Skinner just been to them (Although Terry had needed to lend Skinner his coat until he got his old one back from the Shark), but there was also Becky's expert knowledge of the area to take into account. However, upon arriving at the caves, they had stumbled across a sentry, whom Hyde had chased after when he'd tried to escape. Hyde's roars had brought the Shark's whole forces down on top of them, and now they couldn't get into the caves.
Right now, their main objective was to clear a path for at least one of them to get in and help Sawyer.
*****
"Bloody hell!" Skinner yelled, as he ducked and weaved through the mass of soldiers around him, trying to take at least one of the soldiers down without getting shot. Assuming he'd be able to shed his coat before anyone found them, he hadn't bothered to grab a weapon, and was now finding him in ht e worst position of the entire League; hell, even that Becky woman had a couple of guns!
As it was, the only reason nobody had killed him yet was because he had partly ducked so that he was at about waist level to everyone else. The practical upshot of this was that, due to his running so fast that the tails of his coat were flying out behind him, it was difficult for people to decide where to shoot at him.
Just then, a thought occurred to him. Ducking down even lower, he stuck out his arms and charged towards the nearby soldiers, hitting them directly in the backs of their legs. Barely managing to get out of the way before they fell on him, he kept on going forwards, praying to find another member of the League soon.
He did.
It was Hartdegen.
The man in question had somehow ended up back-to-back with Becky Thatcher, the two of them brandishing their pistols at the surrounding soldiers in a very effective manner. However, Skinner knew that this couldn't last for long; right now, their leader needed their help, and these two were the best candidates to give it.
"Hey, Alex!" he called out, desperately. "This way! Now!"
The former teacher glanced in the direction of the voice, smiling in relief when he saw the crouching form of Skinner's coat.
"Right!" he said, grabbed Becky by the arm and diving down the corridor Skinner had just cleared for them.
Skinner looked at the two of them as they raced towards the cave entrance, now blissfully devoid of any soldiers. Briefly, his gaze flicked down to Becky's rear, but he turned away as soon as he caught himself staring; this was NOT the time to go lusting after his boss's ex.
Turning back to the remaining soldiers, who now had all their guns levelled at him, Skinner decided that it was now the time to run.
So he did.
Right in the general direction of Terry and Hyde. If they couldn't help him, he was dead meat already.
*****
"Tell me, do you have a definite plan right now?" Becky yelled at Hartdegen, as they began pounding through the caves. Glancing down towards the ground, Hartdegen gratefully noted that, from what he could see of Becky's feet, they were wearing what seemed to be some of Skinner's old shoes; they were a couple of sizes too big, but they'd do the job.
"Well, not really," he said, looking back up at her as the two of them ran around a stalagmite. "But I'm fairly sure I saw a light in this direction, so it seems as good a place as- SAWYER!" he cried out in delight, spotting the spy in question up ahead of him.
"TOM!" Becky grinned, her face lightly up at the sight of the young man. Hartdegen briefly wondered why she was so happy to see Sawyer (As he recalled, the two of them had been extremely hard on each other when the Nautilus had docked) but decided he'd just leave it alone. After all, it wasn't his business.
However, as the two of them got closer to Sawyer, they saw he wasn't looking as good as they'd thought. He was in a small chamber in the side of the cave, right opposite the door to said chamber, his arms held up to the wall by chains. His mouth was bleeding, and Hartdegen was fairly sure he could see blood on Sawyer's right side. However, he noticed the distinct rising and falling of the chest that showed the young American was still breathing so he still had a chance.
"Hold on, Tom!" Hartdegen yelled, as he and Becky drew ever closer to the chamber. "We'll get you out of there!"
"No," a voice said simply.
Instantly, the rest of the cave was lit up by several gas lamps. The new illumination revealed that Hartdegen and Becky were now surrounded by several of the Shark's soldiers, at least sixteen overall, each one wielding two deadly-looking pistols.
A man walked out from the chamber where Sawyer was hanging, smiling at them in a very unpleasant manner. He was around Hartdegen's height, with dirty brown hair hanging down at the back of his head. He was dressed in a black suit and cloak, the cloak having a slight trace of light grey fur with black spots around its edge, and reached down so far that a little bit of it was dragging along the ground.
However, his face was the really noticeable thing about him. Although the right half was normal, the left half was disfigured by a scar that appeared to have torn out the left eye and damaged the man's mouth and left shoulder. The unscarred side of the man's face revealed him to be around Sawyer's age, maybe a little older, with a brown eye and a tan.
"Who are you?" Hartdegen asked, just as he heard Becky give a horrified gasp.
He glanced over to her. "What's wrong?"
"It's... it's Huck..." Becky gasped unable to believe her own eyes. "But... but he's... he's..."
"Dead?" the man called Huck asked, grinning at them both. "I know you are, but what am I?"
He turned around to his guards. "Kill them."
The guards raised their weapons.
Shit, Hartdegen thought to himself.
Feedback: I'll still write this if I don't get any of it, but I would like it.
AN: When these ~~~~~ appear at the start of something, everything that happens until they're repeated is a flashback.
funyun: Yep, noughts and crosses is pretty much the same as Tic Tac Toe. Also, regarding your question, I'm saying that, if Sawyer's coughing up blood so hard that it's landing on the Shark's mask, it means that Sawyer's in worse shape than he thought he was.
Niani: When you say 'random', do you mean having the villain be Huck is random? If so, I apologise, but I wanted a villain who could be a literal opposite to Sawyer, (The yin to his yang, if you will), and Huck was the only character I could think of.
Resurrection
Huckleberry Finn, or at least the man who once was Huckleberry Finn, gave a twisted little grin in Sawyer's direction. "You weren't expecting this, were you?" he asked, reminding Sawyer of the Fantom thanks to the gleam of madness in his eyes.
Sawyer, uncertain as to what else he could do, just shrugged. "I have to admit, I wasn't," he said, trying to sound casual. "Mind telling me how you managed to survive getting shot like that?"
"Ah, you mock me, Tom?" Huck asked, looking at his old friend with an expression that was as dark as Skinner's coat. "Tell me, how many missions did we share together before you decided to betray me?"
"I never betrayed you," Sawyer replied, feeling a little confused at that statement.
"Really?" Huck asked, throwing his mask onto the floor and walking towards Sawyer. He bent down so that he was squatting right in front of Sawyer, and glared at him. "Let me remind you then. It was on our last mission together, while we tried to hunt down the Fantom..."
*****
~~~~~ "He's gotta be here somewhere," Huck said, glancing over at his partner, Tom Sawyer. They had tracked their prey to this city's old warehouse district on the edge of the sea, an area with very little people already living there, and the few who did were often so drunk they could barely remember anything. In other words, the perfect place for a showdown if you didn't want anyone to know you were having one. "You're sure you saw him go this way?"
Sawyer nodded, his Colt pistols steady in his hands. It was almost like the old days back home, when they played at being pirates and other things. The only real difference was that they could conceivably die now.
And there were the guns, of course.
"He's here, Huck," Sawyer assured his friend. "After you managed to take out his bodyguard, this is the only place he had to run to." He indicated a large warehouse in front of them, standing on support struts above the sea. In the past it had apparently been used to store carts, but these days everyone ignored it.
"Chill out, Tom," Huck said, noticing that his friend was gripping his pistols so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. "He's only one man, after all."
Sawyer nodded grimly. "Just remember, Huck; this guy's regarded as the most dangerous man alive right now. He may only be human, but he shouldn't be underestimated."
"I'm not underestimating, I'm just being practical," Huck said, as the two of them entered the warehouse. "After all, dangerous or not, there's two of us and one of him. We've got him."
They walked into the warehouse. Inside, it was pitch black, almost as dark as the graveyard back home had been the night they saw Injun Joe commit murder. There were a few boxes in a couple of places, but that was about it. However, Huck noticed something glinting off the moonlight in one corner of the room. Something that looked like a face...
The Fantom's mask.
Indicating the direction to Sawyer, Huck cocked his own Colts and aimed them at the man.
"So, 'Fantom'," Huck said to the man in a conversational manner, "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice."
"Oh, by the way," Sawyer said, as he slipped his Colts into their holsters and pulled out his Winchester, "the hard way involves you getting shot. Does that make it easier to pick one?"
The Fantom looked back at the two American agents, his fur coat spread out behind him, his mask covering the nasty-looking burns that were all that was visible of his face. "A valiant effort," he said, his voice sounding harsh and croaky, as though whatever had damaged his face had scarred his throat as well. "But with one fatal mistake."
"That being?" Sawyer asked, steadying his Winchester.
The Fantom clicked his fingers.
Instantly, the warehouse lit up. Around them were sixteen of the Fantom's soldiers, each one pointing an extremely large, powerful, and fatal-looking gun at the two American agents. The soldiers were pressed against either the walls of the warehouse or some boxes that had been left in the warehouse, dressed in black clothes and armour, so it was no surprise that they hadn't managed to see them against the shadows.
The Fantom grinned at the two American agents. "Are you so sure you can stop me now?" he asked, grinning at them.
Sawyer and Huck glanced at each other, one thought racing through their heads.
"Attack plan beta?" Sawyer asked Huck out of the corner of his mouth.
Huck nodded.
No sooner had his head stopped moving then Sawyer had cocked his rifle, aimed it at the nearest soldier, and fired. The bullet struck the man directly in the head, knocking him back into the nearby box and also knocking over his nearby colleague. The distraction was only slight, but it was enough for the two of them to dive to opposite sides of the warehouse, out of harm's way for a few seconds.
"Stop them!" the Fantom called out to his soldiers.
Glancing ahead, Huck saw five of the soldiers had already managed to get in front of him. With no time to grab anything more effective, he whipped out his Colts and began firing at the soldiers in front of them.
With an almost detached attitude, Huck watched as the soldiers fell down in front of him. He had reached a point in his life where he was almost immune to the suffering he might cause to other people by killing his opponents; it was a simple case of shoot your opponent before he shot you these days. He just tried to make it clean and quick.
As the fifth and final soldier fell to the ground, Huck noted with a certain satisfaction that he'd hit them all in the head, and always in one shot. He wouldn't deny that Tom was the better of the two of them when it came to close quarters, but somehow Huck had always managed to be the better shot.
And speaking of Tom...
Glancing to the other side of the warehouse, Huck noted that his friend was dealing with six soldiers, and currently only four of them were dead. The other two had been hit, but they'd been wearing that armour that the Fantom was making standard issue for his followers, and he'd only briefly stunned them.
Getting in close enough to fight them, Sawyer stopped firing his Winchester (Sensible enough, since Huck was fairly sure he'd heard it click), and began to use it as a more basic weapon, hitting the first soldier he encountered in the head before he could strike back. The second soldier was a bit more capable, and managed to land a couple of punches on the American, but Tom simply kicked the guy in between the legs, and he was down in a matter of seconds.
Glancing over at Huck, Sawyer raised a quizzical eyebrow. Huck, guessing what his friend wanted to know, raised five fingers. Tom nodded; that left them five remaining soldiers, along with the Fantom himself.
I can do this, Huck thought to himself, as he rapidly began to reload his Colts, hiding behind a pile of abandoned crates. On the other side of the warehouse, Tom had already strapped his Winchester onto his back and had pulled out his pistols, currently up against the wall in case someone came looking for him.
Just as Huck had finished putting the last bullet into his Colt, something fired at the ground right beside him. The bullets tore through the floor, destroying the wood that made it in a few seconds. It may have been strong wood at the time of its construction, but a combination of time and the water beneath had weakened it greatly.
Offering up a silent prayer to whatever god there was as thanks for his escape, Huck spun around the crates, leapt over the hole in the ground, and fired two shots at where he thought the man who'd shot him was standing. It paid off; the guy was standing there, and the first shot completely floored him. No sooner had the guy fallen, however, then the remaining four soldiers popped up from around Huck, their rifles pointing directly at his head.
Huck gulped. "A little help here, Tom," he whispered, his fingers tensing over his gun's triggers.
No sooner had the words passed his mouth than Sawyer was charging out from the side of the warehouse, his pistols blazing as he targeted the soldiers around Huck. Each bullet managed to strike one of the soldiers, and, by the time his guns clicked on empty, they were all down.
All except the Fantom.
At that thought, Huck spun around, drawing his Colts and pointing them in the direction where the Fantom had last been seen. There was nothing there. Groaning a little, Huck briefly slipped his pistols back into their holsters, pulled out his Winchester, and tossed it over to Sawyer.
Sawyer caught it and nodded his thanks, although he knew it was unnecessary; Huck knew he'd need a weapon, and the Winchester was the best thing they had. He'd just feel more comfortable if his friend held it.
Looking in front of them, the two agents saw the Fantom standing in one corner of the warehouse, his arms spread out in a combat stance.
He grinned a little at them under his mask. "A valiant effort," he said, smiling at the Americans. Then his face hardened. "But at least one of you shall not survive it."
Huck grinned a little as he walked towards the Fantom, leaving Sawyer standing behind him. Sliding the hammers back on his pistols, he aimed them at the Fantom's heart and mouth. He would have preferred the head, but he had no idea how hard the mask was, and didn't want to chance it.
"That's a bit presumptuous, isn't it?" he asked, as his fingers closed over the triggers. "After all, we're the ones who're pointing guns at you."
The Fantom smiled. "Really?"
And he charged at Huck.
The force of the attack knocked Huck right onto the ground, flat on his back, his pistols flying out of his hands almost at once. Looking to his left, he saw one pistol lying on the ground. Rolling to his left and onto his front, he grabbed the gun, began to stand up...
And then got shot in the side of the head. ~~~~~
Huck touched the scar on his face gingerly. "It hurt like hell, Tom. You know that?" He sighed. "And believe me, matters weren't helped when I was dragged into the freezing cold water immediately afterwards."
His expression of sadness vanished, to be replaced by one of anger. "But that wasn't the worst part, Tom. The worst part, for me, was knowing that YOU fired the shot."
Sawyer stared at Huck in shock. "W-what?" he asked, horrified that his old friend even thought he was capable of such an act. "I never did that! It was the Fantom..."
"Please!" Huck said, spitting at a rock near Sawyer's head. "Don't insult me with obvious lies! The Fantom didn't have a gun on him as far as I could see, and even if he'd had one hidden, there's no way it could have been powerful enough at that size to do this!" He indicated his scar, and glared at Sawyer. "Only your Winchester- MY Winchester- could have done that."
Sawyer groaned. "Huck, we both knew that the Fantom had several inventors working for him. How come it never occurred to you that they'd made him a gun that had all the force of a Winchester but in the size of a Colt?"
Huck grinned, as he crouched down to stare at Sawyer. "Because he didn't," he said, smirking at his former friend. "Preach your innocence until the cows come home, Tom, but I know it was you who shot me." He reached behind his coat, and pulled out a small pistol. "Now I intend to return the favour."
Sawyer gulped as Huck levelled the pistol until it was pointing right between his eyes. He was in definite trouble. Silently, he offered up a prayer for the future that Terry was able to find some way for Mina to have his kids...
Just then, a massive thud sounded throughout the cave, followed by a loud roar. Startled, Huck looked back at one of his nearby soldiers. "What was that?" he called out to the man. The soldier shrugged.
Huck groaned. "Well, go and find out!" he cried at the man. "Take some men with you; at least ten of you should be able to handle anything in this area along with the others I've got stationed out there!"
"Does that include my friends?" Sawyer asked casually, as some soldiers began to run in the direction of the roar.
"What?" Huck asked, glancing back at the spy as around five or six soldiers began to run towards the source of the roar. "What do you mean?"
"That roar, my dear Huckleberry," Sawyer said, starting to enjoy himself despite the constant pain in his side from his earlier bullet wounds, "was the roar of one of the more ferocious of my teammates, a certain Edward Hyde." He grinned at his former partner smugly. "And, where Hyde goes, the League is sure to follow. You are in serious trouble now, Huck."
"Don't make me laugh!" Huck replied angrily. "I have an army down here! Your 'league' only has six members in it without you! They can't possibly win!"
Sawyer sighed. "Huck, you were never one to underestimate your opponents before this. It's tragic to see you've fallen apart in that regard."
Huck struck Sawyer in the jaw, so hard that Sawyer could have sworn he saw a tooth come out of his mouth.
"You'll pay for that," Huck whispered.
Sawyer's blood dripping onto his shirt from his lip, looked up at Huck, and spat the blood onto Huck's chest.
"Bring it on."
*****
"Come on, you stupid bastards!" Hyde roared, as he struck at the soldiers gathered around him again and again, always unable to knock back more than a couple at a time. The soldiers had deliberately positioned themselves higher up on the rock-face of the caves; almost out of range of Hyde's punches, but able to shoot him with their pistols. Unfortunately for them, Hyde's skin was so hard that all this achieved was making Hyde angrier.
Around him, the other League members were doing their best, but these soldiers were far more intelligent than they looked; they'd deliberately targeted the unarmed League members first, and were currently overwhelming them by sheer weight of numbers. Mina and Terry were doing fairly well, but they were unable to do a decent amount of damage with everyone being so close to them, and Hartdegen, Nemo, Becky, and Skinner (Who had been unable to ditch his coat) were just doing their best against the remaining few.
Actually getting to the caves had been easy enough; not only had Skinner just been to them (Although Terry had needed to lend Skinner his coat until he got his old one back from the Shark), but there was also Becky's expert knowledge of the area to take into account. However, upon arriving at the caves, they had stumbled across a sentry, whom Hyde had chased after when he'd tried to escape. Hyde's roars had brought the Shark's whole forces down on top of them, and now they couldn't get into the caves.
Right now, their main objective was to clear a path for at least one of them to get in and help Sawyer.
*****
"Bloody hell!" Skinner yelled, as he ducked and weaved through the mass of soldiers around him, trying to take at least one of the soldiers down without getting shot. Assuming he'd be able to shed his coat before anyone found them, he hadn't bothered to grab a weapon, and was now finding him in ht e worst position of the entire League; hell, even that Becky woman had a couple of guns!
As it was, the only reason nobody had killed him yet was because he had partly ducked so that he was at about waist level to everyone else. The practical upshot of this was that, due to his running so fast that the tails of his coat were flying out behind him, it was difficult for people to decide where to shoot at him.
Just then, a thought occurred to him. Ducking down even lower, he stuck out his arms and charged towards the nearby soldiers, hitting them directly in the backs of their legs. Barely managing to get out of the way before they fell on him, he kept on going forwards, praying to find another member of the League soon.
He did.
It was Hartdegen.
The man in question had somehow ended up back-to-back with Becky Thatcher, the two of them brandishing their pistols at the surrounding soldiers in a very effective manner. However, Skinner knew that this couldn't last for long; right now, their leader needed their help, and these two were the best candidates to give it.
"Hey, Alex!" he called out, desperately. "This way! Now!"
The former teacher glanced in the direction of the voice, smiling in relief when he saw the crouching form of Skinner's coat.
"Right!" he said, grabbed Becky by the arm and diving down the corridor Skinner had just cleared for them.
Skinner looked at the two of them as they raced towards the cave entrance, now blissfully devoid of any soldiers. Briefly, his gaze flicked down to Becky's rear, but he turned away as soon as he caught himself staring; this was NOT the time to go lusting after his boss's ex.
Turning back to the remaining soldiers, who now had all their guns levelled at him, Skinner decided that it was now the time to run.
So he did.
Right in the general direction of Terry and Hyde. If they couldn't help him, he was dead meat already.
*****
"Tell me, do you have a definite plan right now?" Becky yelled at Hartdegen, as they began pounding through the caves. Glancing down towards the ground, Hartdegen gratefully noted that, from what he could see of Becky's feet, they were wearing what seemed to be some of Skinner's old shoes; they were a couple of sizes too big, but they'd do the job.
"Well, not really," he said, looking back up at her as the two of them ran around a stalagmite. "But I'm fairly sure I saw a light in this direction, so it seems as good a place as- SAWYER!" he cried out in delight, spotting the spy in question up ahead of him.
"TOM!" Becky grinned, her face lightly up at the sight of the young man. Hartdegen briefly wondered why she was so happy to see Sawyer (As he recalled, the two of them had been extremely hard on each other when the Nautilus had docked) but decided he'd just leave it alone. After all, it wasn't his business.
However, as the two of them got closer to Sawyer, they saw he wasn't looking as good as they'd thought. He was in a small chamber in the side of the cave, right opposite the door to said chamber, his arms held up to the wall by chains. His mouth was bleeding, and Hartdegen was fairly sure he could see blood on Sawyer's right side. However, he noticed the distinct rising and falling of the chest that showed the young American was still breathing so he still had a chance.
"Hold on, Tom!" Hartdegen yelled, as he and Becky drew ever closer to the chamber. "We'll get you out of there!"
"No," a voice said simply.
Instantly, the rest of the cave was lit up by several gas lamps. The new illumination revealed that Hartdegen and Becky were now surrounded by several of the Shark's soldiers, at least sixteen overall, each one wielding two deadly-looking pistols.
A man walked out from the chamber where Sawyer was hanging, smiling at them in a very unpleasant manner. He was around Hartdegen's height, with dirty brown hair hanging down at the back of his head. He was dressed in a black suit and cloak, the cloak having a slight trace of light grey fur with black spots around its edge, and reached down so far that a little bit of it was dragging along the ground.
However, his face was the really noticeable thing about him. Although the right half was normal, the left half was disfigured by a scar that appeared to have torn out the left eye and damaged the man's mouth and left shoulder. The unscarred side of the man's face revealed him to be around Sawyer's age, maybe a little older, with a brown eye and a tan.
"Who are you?" Hartdegen asked, just as he heard Becky give a horrified gasp.
He glanced over to her. "What's wrong?"
"It's... it's Huck..." Becky gasped unable to believe her own eyes. "But... but he's... he's..."
"Dead?" the man called Huck asked, grinning at them both. "I know you are, but what am I?"
He turned around to his guards. "Kill them."
The guards raised their weapons.
Shit, Hartdegen thought to himself.