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.
Clez: Glad it went down well; I was worried it may have a couple of problems. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long?
Elenrod: Glad it's going well, and I hope that the upcoming battle scene won't disappoint.
Legacy
As the Beast fell to the ground, Hyde didn't even stop to give himself a chance to remember the original strategy or even ask Seeqe for some help; he just leapt onto the massive lizard-like form and started pounding away for all he was worth.
His left fist constantly felt wracked with pain as he struck at the Beast's leathery hide, the wound in between his knuckles bleeding slightly with each passing moment, but he refused to give up. He acknowledged that many outside the League regarded him as a monster, but even monsters could know fear, of a sort.
And this Beast, this thing that he was fighting?
He feared it.
He hated it for making him fear it.
And he wanted nothing more than to see it dead.
Watch out! Henry yelled in his head.
"Wha-" Hyde began to say, before he was interrupted by the Beast's forehead crashing into his, the sharp bones cutting his cheeks and breaking his nose.
Roaring in pain, Hyde lashed out at the Beast with one final desperate punch, and was rewarded with a satisfying crunch in the chest that could only be one of the monster's ribs, before he found himself thrown through the air to crash right into a nearby house, displacing large quantities of masonry before his massive bulk settled.
"HYDE!!" Seeqe roared in horror, before charging forward and leaping onto the already- wounded Beast, grabbing the monster's arms.
"You can kill all the people you like and we'll just treat you as a professional case, Moran!" Seeqe yelled at the monster in front of him. "But lay so much as ONE CLAW on Hyde, and you are GOING DOWN, you SON OF A BITCH!!!!"
And, enraged and uncaring about his opponent's incredible strength, he twisted one arm so far that it broke, grabbed two of the horns on Moran's face with his now-free hand, and yanked them off.
Moran roared in agony as Seeqe's fist pulled up into the air, clutching the bony protrusions in his fists, before he plunged them back down towards Moran's eyes.
Displaying a focus that was almost unbelievable through all the pain he must have sustained, Moran yanked Seeqe's remaining arm right into the path of his makeshift daggers, with the result that Seeqe impaled his own wrist with the blades. As Seeqe howled in agony, Moran punched him so hard on the chin that it threw him back into another wall, a couple of buildings down from Hyde.
"Ah, crap," Skinner whispered to Sawyer, as Moran looked towards the small gathering of Sawyer, Nemo and Skinner. "He's spotted us, Tom…"
"I know that, Skinner," Sawyer mumbled back in reply, as he reached under his waistcoat and pulled out his Colts. "Now, no offence, but maybe you could let me try and distract this bastard to give the others a chance to get into position?"
"OK, OK, geez, chill out…" Skinner groaned, as he reached into his jacket and pulled out the shotgun Nemo had given him for this mission. He smiled a little as he cocked the weapon, feeling a bit more confident as he felt it in his hands. He may be a crap shot, but with a target the size of the Beast and the shot range on this weapon, how could he miss?
Looking over at Nemo, he was relieved to see that the captain had pulled out his sword, and was holding it up and ready to strike. Somehow, that always made Skinner feel more comfortable, no matter how much weaponry he was packing himself; the memories of the League's first fight in Gray's library would never truly go away.
"Moran!" Sawyer yelled at the monster in front of them, twirling his guns around his fingers once as he walked closer to the monster before him. "Leave them alone, and tackle me, if you're not afraid."
Moran laughed as he looked at the young American. "So, you worked out who I am, hmm?" he smirked, his harsh, throaty voice tinged with malice. "Tell me, do you really think that'll make any difference? I'm still far more powerful than any of you could ever be!"
"Key word there, Moran; any of us," Sawyer said, as he slid back the hammers on his pistols. "Oh, you could stop any one of us in a fight, I'll give you that, but all nine of us? I doubt it."
Raising his guns, he fired four shots at Moran's still-bleeding facial injuries, the bullets burrowing themselves into Moran's jaw. Roaring, Moran charged towards the three League members, only to find himself suddenly staring into the rapidly-growing barrel of a shotgun.
"Eat lead, Colonel!" Skinner yelled, as he pulled the trigger and fired at Moran's chest. The pellets didn't penetrate the Beast's strong hide, but they did knock him back slightly, their sheer force briefly leaving him dazed. Nemo took the chance instantly, charging forward to slash at the Beast's chest, leaving several long scratches on it before the creature managed to retaliate with a powerful blow that threw the Indian into the air.
"NEMO!" Sawyer and Skinner yelled, as their friend hurtled through the air beside them heading towards the buildings behind them. Sawyer instinctively started to run after Nemo, even though he knew he couldn't reach him in time, his friend would die before he could come close to saving him…
And then Hyde's large arms grabbed Nemo, halting his descent towards the wall, and put him back on the ground.
"Don't make a habit of that," Hyde grunted to the captain, as Nemo turned to look at his saviour, whose right hand appeared to be getting progressively worse. "We don't have the time for that to be a constant feature of this fight."
"Right," Nemo nodded his thanks, before turning to look at the Beast from where it was staring in horror at him. "Get it."
"Right," Hyde said, turning to face his opponent. "Terry! Frank! Attack Tri! Moran dies today!"
Then he charged towards the Beast, his feet pounding on the ground, his fists raised to strike at the Beast. Looking around, Nemo quickly realised what his friend had meant by 'Attack Tri'; the other two League members he'd called for were charging towards Moran in a formation that resembled a rapidly shrinking triangle, Terry attacking Moran from the right and Frank from the left, although Frank wasn't moving as fast as the other two.
Looking around at what was coming for him, Moran just swallowed, smirked, spread his wings, and leapt up into the air.
"Oh no you don't!" Hyde roared, as he leapt into the air, grabbing onto Moran's foot. "You're not getting away that easily, you bastard!"
Sawyer groaned as he watched the almost comical sight in front of him. This whole thing was not going according to plan; he'd been hoping that Hyde and Seeqe would manage to do enough damage to the Beast before he threw took them out for the rest of the League to stop him a bit quicker, but Hyde's hot-headedness had forced him to change all his strategies in a matter of seconds, and he wasn't even sure what he could do now to salvage the situation.
Then, things got worse.
Hyde fell off.
"Ha!" Moran yelled, grinning broadly as he began to flap back up into the air while Hyde lay amid the rubble that had been the roof of London's underground train service. "Nice try, League, but I must fly!"
"Not if I can help it," a voice said off to the side.
"Wha-" Moran began, starting to turn in the direction of the voice before he suddenly found himself struck in the side by a fast, angry, and powerful winged vampire, that started to punch him on the wounds he'd already sustained.
Roaring with a rage that Sawyer could rarely recall her displaying, Mina spun in a circle in the air, slashing at Moran with her two daggers and her heeled boots, tearing through his reptile-like hide in her blind anger…
And then Moran grabbed her throat.
"Bad little vampire," he said mockingly as he looked at her, spitting some blood from a cut into her face. "Hitting your betters?" He smirked. "I'll have to teach you some manners."
Grabbing Mina's left arm with his free hand, he jerked it rapidly, and smiled as she screamed at the loud crack that resounded through the square. Then, releasing her neck, he grabbed her right leg and raised her broken body above his head, before throwing her towards the ground….
Only to witness her being grabbed before hitting the ground by the large, albeit slightly dazed, form of Joseph Seeqe.
Moran laughed. "You think that'll do anything for you?" he said, smirking slightly as he spoke. Then he sighed and shook his head. "Then again, I've been fighting you on equal terms up until now. Maybe I should just move into the final stages of this game…"
"What?" Sawyer asked, trying to sound like he hadn't been expecting Moran to say that. "What are you going to do now?"
"This," Moran grinned.
He vanished into thin air, the small scraps of his trousers all that were left of him that the League could see.
Sawyer grinned.
At least that had gone according to plan.
"Logan!" he yelled up at the top of the column. "Plan Hull, now!"
Only Terry, Hyde, and Seeqe could see Moran's reaction to that news now, and of those three, Terry alone could appreciate the full scene in front of him in all its detail. He watched as Moran turned in confusion to look at the column, his eyes widening as he saw the small, dirty form of Logan rise from his hiding place behind Lord Nelson, the large paint gun in his hand. Quickly, Moran reached down to his tattered trousers as though to tear them off, presumably to try and escape from Logan by depriving him of a visual target.
It was an intelligent attempt to escape, Terry had to admit, as Moran's trousers fell to the ground (Terry adjusted his infrared's focus instantly; he may have been a machine, but there were some things even he didn't want to have to look at), and he flew to the left, moving in closer to Logan.
Logan sniffed briefly, smiled, raised the gun in his hands, and fired it directly at Moran. The Beast was so shocked he didn't even have the time to dodge the blast; the sheer force of the silver paint in his chest threw him back a few feet in the air, as well as covering his entire chest and a sizable portion of his face, arms, and legs with glowing silver paint.
"What the hell??!!!" he roared, staring down at his body in horror. "How the hell did you do that?!"
"We're the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Moran," Logan smirked, as he put the gun down and shifted into a combat stance. "We can do anything."
His claws burst from his hands and he leapt towards the massive form in front of him, slashing away at Moran's still-open wounds, now covered in paint and obviously hurting far more than before.
Roaring, Moran punched Logan in the chest again, throwing the small man back onto the roof of a nearby building. A loud crack was heard as Logan struck the roof, before he fell back down to the square, his back twisted in a hideous manner. His back was broken, and even with his rapid healing ability, he definitely wouldn't be getting up any time soon.
"Logan!" the League yelled in horror, their concern for their friend briefly driving the Beast out of their minds.
Unfortunately.
"Well well," Moran smirked, as he grabbed Sawyer by the throat and held him up in the air, as the rest of the League turned back to face him. He may have been covered in so much cuts that he resembled a patchwork quilt, but he still looked ready for action, and none of them were fooling themselves into thinking it would be an easy struggle. "This is interesting, isn't it?"
"Let him go," Mina said, staring at Moran with an icy gleam in her eyes.
"Oh, why should I do that?" Moran smirked, as he ran one long claw along Sawyer's jaw line. "I mean, you claim that you're stronger than me because you are a League and I'm just one man, don't you? Why should I let him go when you can just make me, hmm?"
"I said… Let. Him. GO!!" Mina roared…
And she threw one of her daggers directly at Moran's face, lodging it in his left eye.
Screaming in agony, Moran dropped Sawyer as he yanked the dagger out of his eye, blood pouring out of the hole where it had once been.
Looking back at their massive foe as he screamed in pain, Sawyer smiled.
Now or never.
"League…" he said, as he leapt onto his feet and pulled out his Colts, "attack!!"
Instantly, Nemo and Skinner pulled out their own weapons and fired rapidly at Moran. The buckets that didn't hit his wounds often put so much strain on his already-tender hide that they created new ones, and the sheer force of the bullets was enough to daze Moran by themselves.
As soon as their guns clicked empty, the three of them stood aside, allowing Frank, Logan, Terry, and Mina to take up the attack. Logan launched the first assault, slashing away at Moran with his claws, before Terry, Mina, and Frank began to launch their own attack, Terry managing to tear off another bone before the four of them stepped back to allow Hyde and Seeqe the final strike.
Roaring in rage at the powerful foe in front of them, Hyde and Seeqe charged forward, Seeqe tackling Moran from the front while Hyde tore away at him from behind, only breaking away when a loud crack was heard; Hyde had broken the Beast's left wing.
"NNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Moran yelled, as he struck out desperately, throwing the two massive figures back. Just as the rest of the League were preparing to strike, he leapt up into the air, lagging down slightly on the left because of his bad wing.
"You're bailing out now?" Sawyer asked, smiling a little as he slid his Colts back into their holsters. "What happened to you being better than us?"
"Shut up," Moran growled, as he looked down at the League. "The day is yours for now, League, but I shall be back; don't doubt that."
Then he flapped away, lagging down to the side as he slowly vanished from view over the tops of the London buildings.