Disclaimer: I own the idea of the Beast, but Colonel Moran is the property of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the League are the assorted properties of Mark Twain, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, James Cameron, and Marvel Comics.
Feedback: I would REALLY appreciate some of it.
Elenrod: Compliments are always welcome, but I can't guarantee faster updates; I'll just have to see how things work out.
Clez: Approval from you is as uplifting as chocolate, and I shall endeavour to ensure that the Trafalgar Square showdown does not disappoint.
Drakena the Destroyer: I assure you, the Beast shall be dealt with; he'll see soon enough why the League are so dangerous… By the way, thanks for the offer regarding Frank, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do anything with it; I lost the program I stored my web site on, and I haven't been able to replace it.
Legacy
Once he heard the news, Sawyer didn't even stop to button his shirt. He leapt out of his bed, his feet bare and he shirt flapping open, walked out of the door, down the corridor, and right into Mycroft's office.
"What the HELL are you playing at?!" he yelled at the large government agent as he sat behind his desk.
"What are you talking about, Agent Sawyer?" Mycroft asked casually, from where he reclined in his large leather chair.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about, Mycroft; don't play the innocent with me, OK?" Sawyer said, grabbing the edge of the desk and leaning menacingly towards the government employee. "Why, may I ask, have you refused us permission to cordon off Trafalgar Square after Terry and Logan made it crystal clear that the Beast is dangerous and must be neutralised at all costs?!"
"Agent Sawyer, please calm yourself," Mycroft said, sitting back casually in his chair as he looked at the young American. "My reasons were simple enough; I simply do not find it practical to seal off Trafalgar Square to the public solely because you feel it would make a good location to combat this current threat. There are other locations, just as capable of providing you with a good battleground, which are less public-"
"The fact that it's public is what makes it such a good choice for the fight, Mycroft!" Sawyer yelled, slamming the palm of his hand down on the ground. "It's big, open, normally undefended, and the last place Moran would expect us to set a trap!"
"Moran?" Mycroft blinked, looking at Sawyer in surprise. "What do you mean by that?"
"That's who the Beast really is, Mycroft!" Sawyer yelled at the large man. "An employee of the man who killed your brother! Does that make any difference to your ideas about whether or not our efforts are worth it?"
Mycroft seemed momentarily dazed, but then recovered.
"Agent Sawyer," he began, sounding almost impatient, "As an official of the British Government, I have been trained not to let emotion get in the way of performing my duties, and as your superior, you have-"
Sawyer laughed. "Superior?" he said, sounding only half-jocular as he spoke. "Mycroft, don't try and kid yourself, OK? You are not our superior, nor are you our friend, our comrade, or anything other than our associate, OK? We only stay in contact with you so that we've got a bit of authority in these parts, and don't ever tell yourself differently; we may regard you as our equal, but you're not our superior, got that?"
Mycroft stood up, his face a mask of anger- the first real emotion Sawyer had ever seen him show- and stared the spy in the eyes.
"Do you have any idea of the penalty for talking to the head of British Intelligence like that, Agent Sawyer?" he asked the young man. "I could have you imprisoned for behaviour like that."
"Quit with the empty threats, Mycroft," Sawyer retorted, starting to get ever more annoyed at the large man. "You know as well as I do that no self-respecting government agent would imprison a member of the League; we're the best line of defence this country has! Hell, we're the best line of defence the world's got against the more remarkable threats that are cropping up in this century! You wouldn't put any of us away, Mycroft, and we both know it."
He stepped back from the desk, trying to put some distance between the angry government official and himself; he didn't want to be knocked out a second time, particularly not with the upcoming struggle with the Beast…
Of course, that might not be a problem if Mycroft wouldn't cordon off Trafalgar Square for them.
Mycroft stared at Sawyer for a few seconds, and then sat back down. "We should not fight, Agent Sawyer," he said, his voice calm once again. "We may have different means of doing things, but our end objectives are the same." He nodded, a small gesture that might have gone unnoticed if Sawyer's eyesight hadn't been as good as it was. "I shall cordon off Trafalgar Square for you. Also, should you require any backup for the fight, do not hesitate to ask."
Sawyer smiled briefly at Mycroft. "Thanks but no thanks," he said simply. "This is a League matter, Mycroft; we'd never endanger innocent civilians when it's our responsibility to stop this bastard. We'll be fine."
Mycroft nodded. "Very well, Agent Sawyer," he said simply. "The Square shall be emptied within the hour; I recommend you all prepare yourselves for the fight."
"Right," Sawyer said, as he turned around and walked out of the office. He wasn't surprised in the least at Mycroft's abrupt change of the subject; the guy would do anything if it meant keeping the League on his side.
Of course, he wasn't complaining; as he'd said to Mycroft, no matter what their personal opinions were on him, they still needed his assistance to ensure they could help the maximum amount of people. He just wished that, at times, Mycroft wouldn't be such an arrogant idiot…
Anyway, there was no time for that now.
They had to get together, get those paint guns from the Nautilus, get to Trafalgar Square, and then take down the Beast before he could hurt anybody else.
It was time for the show to begin.
First, though, Sawyer had to remember to get his shoes back on…
"Dammit!" Frank winced, clutching his side in pain as he bumped into Terry. "Watch where you're going, willya? I'm still not quite at a hundred percent yet, you know?"
"I apologise for the accident," Terry replied, his manner as straightforward as ever. "However, we have little time to wait; if we do not hide the guns soon, the Beast shall most likely destroy them as soon as he sees them, and our best chance of success is to keep them concealed until the time is right."
Frank sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know all that, Terry," he sighed, looking at the gun Terry was carrying as he spoke. He understood the necessity to conceal it easily enough; it looked like a normal gun, but far smoother and shinier, with slight specks of colour visible through glass holes that allowed the gun to be refilled with paint when the need arose, coupled with a small heater to prevent the paint solidifying before it could be used. Nemo had selected the typical silver paint he used for all his vehicles these days, mainly because he had no alternatives immediately available, but also because it would stand out more amid the darkened streets.
There was no way Moran could look at it and not suspect they'd find a way to use it against him, so it had to remain hidden until they were ready to use it; Frank just wished his damn lung didn't hurt so much. Even if his nerves were mostly dead, this still wasn't exactly something he could ignore unless he had something else to focus on, and he mostly preferred fighting when it came to ignoring something like this.
"Everything finished yet?" Sawyer called out to his friends from where he was standing at the centre of the Square. At the moment, he and Mina were planting a couple of the guns at the top of the column, the idea being that the Beast wouldn't notice them at such a height, particularly when taking into account the lack of light to make the silver more noticeable.
"Yeah, we're pretty much set over here!" Frank called back to the League's leader, noticing as he spoke that the other League members were coming back from their allocated hiding locations as well.
"Good," Sawyer smiled, as he glanced around at the others. "You guys?"
"The same," Jekyll said. The others nodded in agreement.
"Right then," Sawyer said, as he turned back to look at Mina. "You're up, Mina. The sun's down, we're ready for Moran; all we need is for you to find him. Think you're up to it?"
Mina nodded. "My hip's not quite there yet, but I'll be fast enough, I think," she replied. Closing her eyes briefly, she leapt up into the air, her bat-like wings spreading from her shoulders as she rose into the air and dived down a nearby street.
Sawyer smiled as she vanished, but then his face became more serious as he looked back at Jekyll and Hartdegen.
"You guys better drink that potion of yours," he said. "We're going to need Hyde and Seeqe fairly shortly, and I'd prefer it if we started off with the element of surprise as far as they're concerned."
"Ah, I see," Jekyll nodded. "You're thinking that if we hit the Beast just he comes in, he might be off-balance long enough for us to gain the advantage in the fight?"
"Precisely," Sawyer nodded. He looked over at the others. "Frank, remain at the back, you're still not at your peak, don't fight unless he gets too close to you. Terry; stick close to Hyde and Seeqe; you'll be needed if things get ugly on that front. Skinner, stay ready and don't get too close to him; you might have a certain element of surprise, but I'd rather not use it straight away. Nemo, you're with me on the side; we attack the Beast after he's down, but try and stay out of his reach when he's fully aware."
He pulled out a pistol, slid the hammer back, and looked around at them once again. "This may be the toughest fight we've ever had, guys. Remember; we're a team, and he's only one man. That gives us a certain edge."
Moran grinned as he eagerly devoured his latest meal; a young woman who'd wandered into his more favoured hunting ground, apparently a prostitute looking for a client. He wondered if she'd heard about the murders he'd been committing lately and decided to brave it anyway, or if she was just stupid and hadn't heard anyway.
He hated idiots.
He heard a faint flapping sound in the air, accompanied by a vague squeaking noise that he recognised all too well these days.
It was a swarm of bats.
And, given the distinct lack of bats in London in numbers like the ones that would be needed to cause this racket, that led him to only one conclusion…
Mrs Harker had come looking for him.
Looking up, he saw her distinctive red-haired form flying through the air, her large black wings gliding through the air while various assorted bats flapped around her, screeching like terrified mice.
Might as well make that part of the description accurate, Moran thought to himself, as he stood up, leaving the hooker's half-savaged body to decompose at his feet. Grinning, he closed his eyes, and felt the power of the Beast wash over him. In the early days of his new existence he'd found the feeling of the spikes popping out of his face a little disconcerting, but now he rarely noticed it when they came out; he just treated it as a mild itch that would stop sooner if he ignored it.
Plus, the large muscles and the wings more than made up for that little annoyance…
Leaping into the air, Moran flew eagerly towards Harker, already planning what he'd do to her first. Simple murder was an option- after all, his claws were more than sharp enough for the job- but, given her stamina, he felt like maybe prolonging the experience; after all, it was so difficult to get a decent bit of action now…
However, it was going to have to wait; he noticed, much to his annoyance, that the vampire was flying away from him and diving down towards the streets.
Smirking, he charged down after her. Might as well show this bitch why I'm the best… he thought to himself, as he ducked and weaved through the streets of London. The narrow alleyways, the wider mains streets, those streets somewhere in between… nothing was impossible for him. His bulk may appear cumbersome, but he could manoeuvre through these streets like he was only a normal vampire.
He grinned as he saw the fleeing form of Mina Harker tearing along in front of him. He was getting closer.
Closer…
Closer…
Suddenly, he noticed a large wooden barrier in front of him, blocking off all entrance to the area ahead. He thought he vaguely saw a large pillar in front of him, but was going too fast to fully process it.
He crashed through the barrier…
And was instantly hurled down into the floor by two large, powerful fists simultaneously slamming into his face.