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: Good to hear that; I was worried that an all-dialogue chapter would be boring, but I felt like I had to write it to fill everyone in on Moran's background.
Sean Malloy-1: I've read 'Artemis Fowl', but I don't think I really need it for 'LXG 2004'; I've got a pretty good line-up already.
Drakena the Destroyer: Oh, believe me, they'll be giving Moran a right battering when the time comes...
Clez: Glad you like the flow from one point to another. Regarding the Mina thing, I'm assuming that, with some injuries, such as those that would cripple a normal human, she takes longer to heal than she would otherwise, and since Moran's bullet shattered her thigh bone, Mina's body is having to take its time healing.
AN: Just to clarify, this story is set just after the rest of the League have woken up. Hartdegen, Nemo, Jekyll and Frank have been filled in on the identity of the Beast, but that's about it.
Legacy
Jekyll blinked in horror at the news he'd just heard. "So, y-you're saying that this... this Beast... is actually a former agent of Moriarty's? With the powers of Edward, Mrs Harker, and Mr Skinner?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Sawyer replied, as he looked around at the other recently recovered League members. "He also has an aim that could probably equal Allan on his best day, with any kind of weapon he can lay his hands on. I think we can safely say this guy is bad news."
"And we created him..." Nemo said, his face contorting in pain at the thought.
"No, Nemo," Mina said, looking over at the captain. "Even if you believe that we are responsible for what Colonel Moran has become because he bears our powers, you and Agent Sawyer are innocent parties in this whole affair; the only League members who bear any blame are Doctor Jekyll, Mr Skinner, and myself."
"And even they aren't responsible for this... thing," Sawyer put in suddenly. Jekyll blinked in surprise; Tom's voice sounded almost angry. Angry at what?
Sawyer looked around at the other four members of the original League, his face reminding Jekyll of a statue with its frozen, neutral expression. Only his eyes gave any indication that he was angry at something; angrier than even Hyde had ever been.
"Get this into your heads, guys; We are not to blame for the Beast's existence, OK?" he said, taking time to emphasise each word. "You even start to think that you could have done something different that would have stopped him coming into existence, and I'll send to hospital, regardless of your powers. We made our choices, Gray made his, he nicked your abilities, and now we're just dealing with the consequences. Got that?"
The League simply nodded. He may have been one of the youngest members of the team, but Sawyer was still their unofficial leader, and he hadn't earned that title by being a pushover.
"Good," Sawyer said, nodding at them all briefly. "Now then, to business. We need to come up with a plan of attack to take care of Moran as soon as possible; he's too powerful to be left active. Frank, Nemo, you two-"
"Wait wait wait wait wait," Skinner put in, waving his arms frantically. "Are you telling me you still want to fight this thing?"
"Yeah," Sawyer said, looking over at Skinner. "You have a problem with that?"
"Well, of COURSE I have a problem with it!" Skinner yelled. "Sawyer, look at us; Terry and Logan are only active because Terry can't be hurt and Logan heals really fast, Mina's still recovering from getting her hip practically shattered, Jekyll has a hole in his hand and scars that make him look like he just got out of target practice in which he was the target, Frank has a punctured lung and would be dead if he was human, and if you stuck the rest of us together, you'd get a man with injuries that were all but fatal. We belong in the intensive care ward, not in the fight of a lifetime!"
"We can still win this fight, Mr Skinner," Nemo said simply.
"Oh, sure; maybe he'll die from laughing when he sees us challenging him," Skinner groaned, before a false smile spread across his face. "Hey, maybe the bastard'll cripple somebody this time!"
"Nobody will be crippled, Skinner," Sawyer said, looking at the thief in a criticising manner. "You need to take into account; this time, we know what we're facing. He had the edge over us last time in that we didn't know what we were dealing with, while he knew a great deal about us. He's lost the element of surprise, and we now have a better idea of what we need to stop him."
"Namely?" Terry asked, his voice as emotionless as ever.
"More brute strength then we'd normally need," Sawyer said. He looked over at Hartdegen. "Sorry to have to do this, Hartdegen, but..."
"We're going to need Joseph again?" Hartdegen asked, naming the muscular alter ego he'd called upon on their last mission.
"Yeah..." Sawyer said, nodding slightly. He knew how much Hartdegen was secretly afraid of his other self, even after only one experience; the League only knew a part of how much Jekyll secretly hated his Hyde aspect even as much as he was learning to channel it. Even after only one experience, Hartdegen had been complaining of a nagging voice in the back of his head for the next couple of days, and he had made it clear to the League that he wouldn't call on Seeqe again unless they had no other alternative.
But they all knew that this was such an occasion.
"So... what's the plan?" Logan asked, in an attempt to breach the awkward silence that had settled after Sawyer's last statement.
"Oh, yeah, that," Sawyer said, stopping his earlier train of thought. "Well, the way I see it, the Beast's main advantage in enclosed quarters is that only a limited number of us can attack him, which gives him the advantage in terms of damage he can inflict. So our best bet is to lure him into an open area where we can all attack him at once, and then find a way to ensure his invisibility can't help him take us down. Got anything that could do that?" he asked Nemo.
Nemo nodded almost at once. "I have," he said. "Recently, I have been developing guns which spray paint rather than fire bullets, much like the water pistols I developed a while back for use on vampires. If I send down to the Nautilus for them, I can have four of them delivered to us in a matter of minutes."
"Perfect," Sawyer said, nodding in approval at Nemo before he turned his attention to Skinner and Jekyll. "You two know London's secrets better than any of us; can you think of the best place to face something like the Beast in a combat situation?"
Jekyll and Skinner looked at each other, each one with a slight smile on their faces. It was almost as though they already had an option in their minds before Sawyer had even asked the question.
"The square?" Jekyll asked Skinner.
"Best place I can think of," Skinner replied, a slight smile crossing his lips as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Besides, after we tore up Piccadilly Circus fighting the Morlocks, it's the only place left, isn't it?"
"Excuse me, but are you talking about where I think you're talking about?" Terry put in, his usual blunt manner failing to betray any signs of emotion.
"Yeah, good point there, Terry," Sawyer said, nodding in thanks at their most curious member before turning back to Jekyll and Skinner. "Would we be wrong in assuming you're referring to... Trafalgar Square?"
Jekyll nodded. "Correct, Tom."
Skinner smiled. "Absolutely on the mark, my good man."
Noting the sceptical expressions of the other League members, Skinner shrugged. "Well, where else are we going to get the space needed to tackle this bastard?"
"Anywhere but there," Mina said. "Mr Skinner, there will be innocent people there. Admittedly, they may be some of the less... reputable members of society, but still, we are the League. We are not going to endanger the innocent, no matter who they are."
"Actually, I was thinking of asking Mycroft to seal the square off to the public for the duration of the crisis," Jekyll put in. "After all, we have the ear of the British Secret Service; we might as well use it."
Sawyer looked like he was about to automatically object o Jekyll's argument, but then took a couple of seconds to think about it and nodded.
"Good plan, guys," he said, nodding at them. He looked over at Terry and Logan. "You guys find where they put our clothes and then contact Mycroft with our new plan. Tell him to cordon off Trafalgar Square as soon as possible, regardless of what excuse he has to give, and then send down a message to the Nautilus for those paint guns Nemo mentioned." He looked around at Mina, Jekyll, and Frank. "Think you guys will be in good enough condition to fight?" he asked them; of all the League, they were in the worst condition.
Mina nodded. "My hip has nearly recovered from Moran's bullet, Tom, " she assured him. "I won't be winning any running races, but my strength should be unhampered, as should my speed in the air."
"Pretty much the same over here," Jekyll put in, raising one hand. "Edward won't be able to hit with his left hand that much, but otherwise he'll be as good as he ever is in a struggle."
"I won't last as long as I normally would in a fight, but I'll still be able to do some damage," Frank said, sitting up in bed as he spoke, clutching the hole in his chest as a brief spark of pain spread from the wound. "Just... don't push me too hard, OK?"
"Excellent," Sawyer said, as he looked around at the League. "Once we're at Trafalgar, everyone is to get into a good position to attack the Beast from, and then..."
He stopped talking, sighed, and looked over at Mina.
"Sorry to dump this on you, Mina, but we're going to need you to lure Moran into the trap," he sighed. "I mean, you're the fastest out of all of us, and you'd be able to hold him back if he gets too close to catching you, even if only for a little while. Can you...?"
Mina nodded, a smile on her lips. "I'll be fine, Tom," she assured him. "I've been in worse shape then this and survived. I think I can outrace Moran in either vampire form or as the Beast."
"Right," Sawyer said, as he looked over at the others, his eyes falling on Terry and Logan. "Get going, guys. We've got a one man army to crush."