Disclaimer: I own the idea of the Beast, but his real identity is the property of his creator, as are the League.
Feedback: I would REALLY appreciate some of it.
Elenrod: Glad you liked the Mina/Tom bits; I'll try and include more of those in the future.
Clez: Glad to hear you liked the last chapters, and I appreciate your saying you liked my Mycroft; I wasn't sure about him. And don't worry, the League will wake up soon, but, no matter what shape they're in, Moran won't go down easily...
tonianne: Glad I didn't disappoint; I'll trying and continue not doing so.
Drakena the Destroyer: I'm OK about you not being logged in; I appreciate getting reviews, and that's all I ask for. Don't worry, Jekyll will get better soon, but I'm a little confused as to how the Beast being Moran is amusing.
Kaudrim: Don't worry, I'll be explaining that one here.
Sean Malloy-1: I'll keep it in mind, but I can't make any promises.
LotRseer3350: Thanks for the pointer about the screwy line; I've corrected it. Also, regarding the Moran thing, he'd be familiar to Sherlock Holmes readers, but that's about it. Don't worry; I'm providing his backstory here, so you'll know who he is soon enough.
Legacy
"Colonel who?" Skinner asked Sawyer, sitting up in his bed despite the pain in his head. "Who're you talking about?"
"He was a member of Professor Moriarty's gang, back in the days when only Sherlock Holmes was aware of his existence as a criminal mastermind," Sawyer explained. "When we visited London to deal with the Martians, I asked Mycroft for access to Holmes's files on the Moriarty gang, so we'd be prepared for a revenge attack from any of his old acquaintances."
He sighed a little, got out of bed (Although he looked a little cold in his hospital nightshirt), and looked around at the others. "I'll tell you this for nothing; Moran was a very dangerous character. He was to India and its tigers what Allan was to Africa and its elephants, except he didn't earn as good a reputation for himself among humans as Allan had. Despite that, he was a man of iron nerve, and made a name for himself when he crawled down a drain after a wounded man-eating tiger."
"So, how'd he end up in Moriarty's employ?" Logan asked.
"Holmes had a theory that some individuals like Moran represent in their development the whole procession of his ancestors, and that such a sudden turn to good or evil stands for some strong influence which came into the line of his pedigree. The person becomes, as it were, the epitome of the history of his own family," Sawyer explained.
"Bit fanciful for a rational man like Holmes, in my opinion," Skinner said. "Well, based on what I've read about him, anyway."
"I don't quite agree with it myself, Skinner," Sawyer explained, scratching the back of his neck as he looked over at the still forms of Nemo, Hartdegen, Frank and Jekyll; with someone like Moran after them, he really hoped they'd regain consciousness soon.
"Anyway, whatever the reason, Moran made India too hot for him, somehow. Net result is that he fled to London, where he got a job as Moriarty's best assassin and chief of staff. After the guy's apparent death, he went solo until he was arrested in 1894 for the murder of the Honourable Ronald Adair, who was threatening to expose him for cheating at cards in a club; Moran could never abide loosing face."
"But if he was arrested, how's he running about with all this power?" Skinner asked, as he and Mina sat up in their respective beds, Mina wincing at the pain in her thigh.
"Seems easy enough to work out one part," Logan replied. "Moriarty must have broken Moran out of jail at some point in between Reichenbach and Moriarty's time as the Fantom." Then he looked over at Sawyer. "What I'm hazy on is how he's meant to have acquired this much wallop in between then and now."
"Simple," Sawyer replied, glancing over at Mina, Jekyll and Skinner. "He got it from Gray and M."
"What?" Skinner asked, slightly confused at that statement. "What the hell do you..."
His expression suddenly changed as inspiration dawned. "Oh my god."
"That is putting it mildly, Mr Skinner," Mina said, looking over at Sawyer with open fear in her eyes; evidently, she'd worked out what the spy was referring to as well.
However, Logan and Terry were still a bit behind their friends; they were intelligent enough, but they hadn't been there for the mission they were referring to.
"What?" Logan asked, looking from one League member to the other. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Sawyer looked over at Logan. "On our first mission, we were sent to Venice, apparently to provide security for a peace conference- 'we' consisting of me, Mina, Nemo, Skinner, Jekyll, and two others you don't know; Allan Quartermain, a legendary hunter, and Dorian Gray, an immortal. However, it turned out that the whole thing was a scam by this guy called 'the Fantom', also know as Professor James Moriarty, who wanted to use our powers in a war he would start."
"OK...." Logan said, as he started to see what his friends were saying.
"Gray, as it turned out, was an inside spy for the Fantom, sent to infiltrate the League and acquire samples from Mr Skinner, Doctor Jekyll and myself," Mina explained. "He succeeded in that endeavour, but we managed to survive his attempts to destroy the Nautilus, and, thanks to Mr Skinner spying on Gray, we were then able to track M to his secret Mongolian fortress."
"Once there, I planted bombs to destroy the fortress while Allan and Sawyer tackled M, Nemo and Hyde freed the prisoners, and Mina dealt with Gray," Skinner said, picking up the story from the vampire. "When we left the fortress, it had collapsed in on itself, apparently killing everyone in it."
"Everyone but Moran," Sawyer said.
"How?" Logan asked, looking around at the other League members. "How did he manage to get out?"
Mina looked over at Logan. "Simple, Mr Logan," she said to the enigmatic individual. "He was in the same room as the Fantom's scientists when the fortress started to collapse. Realising he would never get away from the explosion as he was, he grabbed all three of the serums that had been created, and..." she swallowed, "used them on himself all at once."
Logan stared in horror at that final statement. "You mean..." he whispered, half-hoping he was mistaken.
"Yep," Sawyer commented, looking over at Logan. "We're dealing with a guy who can not only shoot as well as, if not better, than me, but also possesses the powers of a vampire, the raw power of Hyde, and the ability to become invisible at a moment's notice."
Skinner groaned. "Well, now that we've got that part out of the way, can I just throw in my proverbial two cents?" he asked.
Sawyer sighed in an exaggerated manner. He could guess what Skinner was going to say, but decided he might as well let the thief get it off his chest.
"Go ahead," he said simply.
"Thank you," Skinner said. "Gentlemen, lady; we're screwed."
"Pardon?" Terry asked, looking curiously at Skinner. "What do you mean; 'We're screwed'?"
"Simple," Skinner said. "We can't fight this bastard, Sawyer! He's a one-man League! How the hell can we stop someone with all our powers in one body? We can't overpower him, we can't outlast him-"
"We can outsmart him," Mina put in.
"What?" Skinner asked.
"We can outsmart him," Mina repeated. She looked around at the forms lying in the other beds; Nemo and Frank were already starting to regain consciousness, and Jekyll and Hartdegen looked like they were going to be following their example soon. "We are not just raw strength, good shooting, and various assorted powers, Mr Skinner. We also possess some of the greatest intellects in the world at the present moment, both in terms of general knowledge and planning combat strategies." She looked over at Skinner with a determined gleam in her eyes, that put the thief in mind of when he'd seen her leave to confront Gray.
It was never a good idea to get in Mina's way when she had that look in her eyes.
"You have a plan?" Sawyer asked his lover, noticing the determined gleam in her eyes as well.
Mina smiled at the young spy. "I have the beginnings of one, Tom," she said. "I shall need your help in the finer details, but, otherwise, I believe I have the idea that will allow us to defeat the Beast." She turned to face the other League members. "Firstly, we need to wake these four up. And then..."
Sawyer smiled. He could guess what she was going to say.
"It's time to kick some monster's butt."