Yes, tis I once again. I have come back to haunt the League once more with my horrific writing skills. Bwhahahaha! Eh-hem
Anyways, sorry about all these long updates. However, this is the second to last chapter. I know I said some romance would appear in here, yet I must put that off until the last chapter, which I promise will come soon.
Steffi-333: Oh! Really? Thank you! Heh, I wanted you to pitied the poor guy.
Jaws Terror of the Lands!: heh! Yes! Thank you so much! I'll try to fit in Tom, but I can't promise anything. As you all notice, my friend is an obsessed Tom-lover...like the majority of people on ff.net. Thank you for all your advise!
Clez: Um. Heh. You won't kill me when I say I actually had that in my mind, did you? WAHHHHH! I'M SORRY TO ANYONE WHO LIKED EDIE! Sowwie! But, Tom will be fine, never fear! Edie really isn't.
Yet, she turned and gazed at the blood streaming from her hands that were clamped against her eyes. Edie's hands quivered in terror and almost diminutive embarrassment, as she slowly tore the bloodied hands from her faces. Mina gasped at the scars across the eyelids of Edie.
She herself turned towards Willow, who was actually smiling at the injury. Snarling, Mina charged towards the psychic. She dropped her daggers along the way, as she rammed her hands into ribs of the black-clothed girl.
For once, she saw fear in the girl's black eyes, as she desperately forced the enraged vampire off her. She was actually not much of a fighter, having once a frail immune system as a child.
She finally released the vampire's grip off her, and the two rose slowly to their feet, sneering at each other with bitter hate.
Edie could not help but give a small sob during the silent stare down. This was not supposed to happen to her. She didn't want to be weak, a cripple. She so despised Willow at the moment.
Mina, concerned for her ally, quickly glanced at the crippled hybrid. However, this gave the mutant enough time to take up her pole and charge at the beautiful vampire. She began to swing it violently, with not much of a chance of hitting anything.
A hand shot to her throat, as Mina began to tighten her grip; blue began to creep along the cheeks of Willow, as she struggled.
Her eyes flashed gold, releasing the vampire's grip. She coughed, leaving her opponent a chance to attack.
Picking up her daggers, the redheaded lady swiftly slashed everywhere on the girl: torso, face, and legs. With a snarl, she then rammed one of her daggers into the stomach.
A silence filled the room, as 19-year-old Ursula Jason gaped at her own injury, worse than Edie's. She let a hand to the dagger still stuck in her stroke the blood sinking out, as Mina backed away slowly, only just aware of what she had done.
A groan filled Willow, as she looked back at Mina, yet with different eyes. Her now normal black eyes told a story to her.
She had been a sex slave really for Morse, sold to him from her poverty- stricken family in desperate need of money. Yet, when he was drinking again, he fed her the potion as well, making her the second of his devious deed. Then, she was manipulated into his bidding.
Now, she was free, with painful eyes of woe. She smiled bitterly, as she limped to a switchboard next to one of the towers. A large hammer was next to it. She stared at Mina with eyes that clearly asked her to do that, then slowly guided herself up the ladder.
She gave the vampire one last look, as she let herself fall into the mutation, her arms out to her sides. The liquid began to boil viciously, soon stopping just as it had begun, Willow at the bottom of the tank. The dull thud had reached Mina's ears, as she grimly turned to the switchboard.
Gliding towards it jadedly, she took the heavy tool in her hands, and let it crash into the board, electricity crackling hazardously.
She decided it was best to be heading out now. Trying to look for the others was a good plan.
Working with Hyde had its advantages and disadvantages.
Well, the most obvious advantage was that he was strong. He could be cooperative when he had to be. Of course, this didn't mean he was always mild.
This was one of the many reasons Allan had his doubts in working with Hyde. Hell, he had his doubts when he chose the teams.
Seriously, he must've been on drugs when he thought of Nemo and Skinner. The two of them hardly got along, with all these quiet, mild threats the captain gave to the thief, who constantly found himself in trouble a majority of the time on the great ship.
Then, there were Gray and Sawyer. Both of them had a timid dislike for the other, mostly from the competition of Harker. However, they didn't really make threats to each other. That still didn't mean you could sense the distrust in the air between the two gentlemen.
The only obvious reason Harker and Donatello worked together was because they were women that had proved capable to stand alone in a fight. He could sense the dislike Harker held for the hybrid. Of course, the vampire-lady had a suspicious feeling for everybody. Well, except the League.
Still, he and Hyde working together was still something he was working out in his mind. He had never had a chance to see the brute in action, really. He had worked along with Harker, Sawyer, and Nemo.
Of course, he had hoped Hyde would prove useful in overpowering Morse. He had heard of the ramblings from Jekyll about Hyde's enmity towards the absorbing madman.
All they had to make sure was that they didn't get in Morse's direct view for him to weaken them.
He glanced over towards Hyde, who was growling darkly. He stopped abruptly, which motioned Allan to do so as well.
The brute lifted his head in the air, a look of distaste on his face. "His stench poisons the air. He's near."
The hunter sniffed the air as well. A smell of arrogance was quite strong. He smirked. "That's our target. Lead the way, Mr. Hyde."
The monster snorted defensively, storming through the narrow hallway. The leader could just barely make out the threats of Hyde.
After just three minutes of silence, save the sounds of the two League's feet, the monster stopped, snarling darkly. Allan, who was behind the brute, came up right next to him to see a room not unlike M's.
However, while M had been unexpected with the League, Morse was standing there, smirking at them.
"Well, I can't say I'm a bit disappointed of not having the two women here, yet your presence still intrigues me. Gives me a sense of challenge."
The hunter glared, saying in a harsh voice, "This will be your last challenge, I promise you."
A cold, emotionless chuckle burst from Morse's lips. "Really? And what do you two intend to do with me? Personally, I always say staying alive is worse, while death is only semi-cruel."
Unfortunately, as it always is, Hyde was not a conversational, patient beast. He roared, charging at the absorber.
A slight moment was the only action Morse took, as the brute took a jab at the madman. Actually, jab was more of a nice adjective. Blow is literally correct.
Morse was thrown to the ground just two feet from where he had just stood. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, almost laughing at his wound.
Allan swiftly walked over, his gun cocked and pointed at Morse's face.
"What now? Will the almighty hunter actually kill me with honor?"
"No. I intend to keep you alive, in case there's more secrets we don't know about."
A wolfish grin crawled onto the absorber's face, as he knocked the gun away from his face, and took a jab into the elder man's stomach.
Doubling over from the pain, which was more like a shock, he glanced up to see another fist black his sight
Hyde took a step at him, yet his absorbed strength he had gotten from the brute gave Morse a chance to allow the monster a taste of his own medicine.
He let a fury of punches fly out at the beast, with no intention of letting one hit him. He actually had a feeling Hyde had only a few minutes left from the potion. Oh, it would be fun to let the quivering doctor have a few blows.
He smiled, turning away from the injured Hyde to receive a blow to the face as well. Allan quickly took up his gun and shot the left foot of Morse.
Not even a madman could hold his yelp of pain from a wound like that. He winced, determined not to bend over to allow the two men overtake him. Painfully, he let an elbow fly into the chest of Allan, who just gave the absorber a cuff to the cheek.
He let his good leg ram into the stomach of the hunter, pushing him down to the ground. He turned back, when he heard the common yells of Hyde transforming to Jekyll. He smirked at the pathetic man in front of him, who fell to his knees in front of Morse.
Jekyll lifted his head up slowly, almost knowing what would come to him. A fist to an eye; another fist on his chest; all this made his arms try to shield himself.
Morse couldn't help himself. He had always loved preying on the weak. He started towards the shivering man, when he felt a hand grasp around his ankle. He gave a yelp of surprise as he was taken down to the ground.
He looked to see Allan over him, his gun cocked and in Morse's mouth. "Now, either come quietly, or die the worst way possible."
Filling the bottles with the antidote was not at all a walk in the park.
It was tedious work, not to mention annoying. Luckily, Tom and Dorian had help.
Nemo and Skinner worked along side of the two, with at least five containers total with the liquid. They had about three more of the large containers to go, with the thought of the bombs exploding in about 30 minutes in their minds.
Having just finished with one, making it two more to go, Tom looked up to the sound of footsteps in the hall. He saw Mrs. Harker and Ms. Donatello stop suddenly at the sight of the four (well, eight, including Nemo's men) men working. They glided over, yet he noticed Ms. Donatello covering her eyes, which timidly stared at the floor. She looked as if she had blood splatter around her eyes.
Mina looked over at the four, a look of fear in her eyes. "Where are Quartermain and Hyde?"
Dorian shrugged, having just finished with his container, making it one more to go, which Nemo was working on swiftly. "Have no idea. However, I have a sense they'll be here just about..."
On cue, as if, Allan and Henry appeared, with Morse next to them. The American let out a sigh of relief. At least this time they caught the enemy.
Skinner looked up as well. "Oi, you two caugt te baddie? Bloody nice."
A chuckle arouse from Morse. Tom found it strange, since he had Allan's gun to his neck. "Aren't you all forgetting somebody?"
Everybody stopped abruptly. That was quite true. He was certain Mrs. Harker and Ms. Donatello had taken care of one of the girls, while he and Dorian took down Eve. Nemo and Skinner had informed them before they released Xavier. Weren't there three girls?
The soft patter of feet alerted everybody's attention to the door. The small girl of Morse's best soldiers, Blaise, stood in the doorway, a small, cold smirk on her lips. In her hands, two long, thin swords (katanas) were held dangerously. Tom, like the others, had a sinking feeling she knew how to use them.
Slyly, she started towards Jekyll, who was obviously the weakest out of them all at the moment. He slowly backed away, clutching his vial as he tried to open it.
However, with a swift strike of her sword, she cut the glass, taking another swipe across his cheek.
Tom, boldly, withdrew his guns and began to rapidly fire at her, in the safety of his comrade. Mina, as well, snarled, as the familiar blood glow started around her eyes. She glided over to the girl, taking out her daggers and let it crash against the longer, slower swords.
Morse had taken this opportunity to elbow Allan in his gut, joining his soldier's side. He grinned coyly down at her, and asked, "What kept you?"
"I apologize, Master, yet I was detained for a while, sending all the guards away."
'Sending the guards away? Was that it was so easy getting through the fortress? How crazy was this guy?' All these thoughts raced in Tom's head, yet he had to duck from the swipe of Blaise's left katana blade, as she made another attempt at Dorian.
While she did succeed with that, it really didn't help, since the immortal was able to still heal while fighting. He let his own sword clash with one of hers, as Nemo took the other.
Mina, however, had focused her attention on Morse. Unladylike, she charged towards him, tackling him by the waist. She pinned his arms down, her vampire face snarling into his.
He grinned coyly, yet anybody could smell his fear. "I always had dreams of this. This was my most common of dreams."
Outraged at his remark, she struck him across the chest. Then, she let out her fury into her daggers, drawing blood.
For some reason, he laughed. Soon, he used pulled her down to his chest with her red hair, his wounds healing themselves from the absorption of Dorian. He rammed her lips with his.
Finally, Allan stepped in, unable to go through with this. He roughly pulled Mina away from him, cocked his rifle, and fired five bullets straight into Morse's chest.
Morse was not all that skilled with his temporary immortality. With a look of outrage on his face, Richard Morse laid on the ground dead, with the dream of women in his head, just before it lingered away, like his life.
A gasp could be heard, as Blaise dropped her weapons at her side. She looked at her former leader with a terrified look, glancing at all of the League members.
She was too young to be slain. She had often thought of herself as a fearless warrior, yet now, she realized how she really felt about death. She dropped to her knees, looking up at the two men who had been opposing her. "Please, don't kill me! I'm so sorry! Please, do whatever you want, but don't kill me!" Okay. I apologize to any author who I have been criticizing about cliffies. Yes, I am a hypocrite. Just let me say, I will try to get the last chapter done as soon as possible.
Okay, now you all can throw whatever you wish at me. BRING IT ON!!!