Author's Note: Well, so glad to see you enjoyed the prologue! Goody, goody… *rubs hands together* I had planned for this chapter to be a little longer, but it seemed the right time to end it when I did. There's a bit of foul language in this chapter and some… nastiness, so if you're strict about that or squeamish… might want to get someone to test read it for you first *grins* Lol. Anyway, expect the next update soon. Here's the acknowledgements…

Drakena – I'm glad you're interested. I haven't read the book, but I saw the movie. Creepy as heck. You'll have to wait and see what happens I'm afraid, lol.

LotRseer3350 – Hey, thanks.

Sethoz – Very clever quote, lol. I thank you kindly for your praise. : )

Lady Moon3 – Thank you very much. : )

BloodMoonLycan – Hehe, thanks, Lycan!

The acknowledgements would be longer, but its very early, and my parents are miffed… d'oh. On with the show!

           *         *         *

           The carriage ride had not been long, and after a short journey, they arrived at the outskirts of London, on the rim of the common, their transport drawn by six large, powerful horses, which stamped their feet as the coach pulled to a final stop, shaking their heads with loud, tired snorts as they sent their manes into disarray, their blinkered eyes wide with a fright that could not –as of yet – be explained. The driver of the cab was a rough and grim man called Boyd. Though his name sounded Scottish, when they heard him speak – which was always with apparent venom and irritation in his tone – he sounded as though he had lived his entire life in or around London.

           The door opened at the hand of a policeman from the outside. Allan Quatermain, the hunter, stepped out proudly, landing on firm boots and striding away, followed by the rest of the League. He held the Winchester in his hand, ready, just in case something threatened. Nemo stepped out behind him, straightening his layers of pressed clothing, and resting his hand on his scabbard once more, with a rising of the eyebrow at the sight that awaited them. Dr. Jekyll was third, tugging at his colour and perspiring lightly as though overcome with a severe case of wracked nerves, clearing his throat quietly and glancing left and right. Mina Harker followed after that, levelling her veiled hat atop her head and casting a blue eyed gaze around, and making a quite noise of disapproval at what greeted her. Skinner dropped out of the carriage, landing simultaneously on both feet with a high-pitched whistle that stretched out into a tune, a newspaper rolled up under one arm. Finally, Tom Sawyer stepped out cautiously, cap atop his head, and Winchester over one shoulder, completing the group of five, before they walked in a line, side by side, toward the crowd.

           There was a wan glow coming from fires that people had built, amidst the crowd… which was a mass of both curious and frightened people of all sizes and ages, ranging from businessmen to tramps, who obviously had nothing better to do. Children clung to parents, and dogs ran in all directions, barking and nipping at heels – whether that be canine or human – and Skinner shooed one away, threatening it with his newspaper. Sawyer threw him a curious gaze, causing the thief to say, "Never was one for dogs. Always knew I was there, aheh."

           Mina raised a brow, and rolled her eyes casually with a slight smile, before pressing on between Sawyer and Quatermain, her veil casting a netted shadow over her face. The object – whatever it was – had fallen in the early hours of the morning, and whilst they had been in the Albion, combined with waiting for a coach, more than a few hours had passed, and the sun seemed to be retiring early. The light was already failing, and even as they approached a break in the crowd, they could see the large figure that was Campion Bond, smoking a cigarette and instructing an officer as to his duties. There were a large handful of policemen dotted around, keeping – or trying – people back from the edge of the pit in their line of site. Bond turned as they approached, his coat swirling at his ankles, his cane in one hand and his cigarette holder in the other. He looked extremely pompous and Mina had to fight back the sneer. She had never liked the man.

           "Mr. Bond?" she called to him, and the League stopped about ten feet from him, as though collectively unwilling to approach any more. His dark eyes met hers, and his brows rose expectantly.

           "Ah. Mrs. Harker… gentlemen."

           Bond approached them instead, clearing his throat and nodding to the men, inclining his head a little to Mina. She rolled her eyes with a light turn of her head. She did not want his 'chivalry' or manners… she wanted him out of her sight so they could investigate this disturbance. Was that too much to ask for, she wondered?

           "Where's Holmes?" Sawyer asked bluntly, casting his young, but intelligent gaze around, smiling a little dejectedly at a small boy playing with his dog, as though lost in a memory. "Isn't he here?"

           "The new M doesn't like to travel much. As you are aware, he sent me to liase with you." Bond furrowed his brow as he glanced around as well, tapping some ash from the end of his cigarette before taking another puff. "I still cannot understand what is happening exactly. Have you been able to figure anything out as of yet?"

           "Mr. Bond," Quatermain interjected roughly, "we have been on the scene for a grand total of two minutes. What makes you believe we could ascertain anything in so short a time, hmm?" He raised his dark brows, and Sawyer smirked, shouldering his rifle a little more, ever the cowboy, Mina thought humorously. A gentlemanly, considerate cowboy nevertheless, but still… somewhat a gunslinger at heart.

           "Nobody is entirely sure as to what is happening," Mina cut in before a disagreement could begin and swell out of control. "It seems, from hearsay, that an object arrived here early this morning, as Wilkins told us. Is it a military project of some kind?" Mina usually handled this side of things, whereas Tom Sawyer took care of the 'manly' side… as in interrogation and plans of action. He was actually rather good at it.

           "I assure you," Bond began as they started to make their way along, through the crowd once again, pressing closer to the pit at the centre of attention, "we've nothing like that at present. Perhaps the French."

           What a bureaucrat…

           "Or the Prussians." Bond took another drag on his cigarette, shaking his head disappointedly, as if musing over the places mentioned.

           That's it… blame everyone else. Mina took another step on the chain and decided she really did not like the man at all. He seemed to have his head somewhere where he could not see reason due to its positioning, and it was blinding him to other possibilities. Up in the clouds maybe, although there was another place she imagined…

           They reached the edge of the colossal pit then, and they stood side by side at its drop face, looking down on the massive bullet-shaped object that sat snugly in the centre of it all, with eyes washing over it. Movement could be seen all around it, people milling about with shovels and equipment, as Wilkins had reported. There were simply dozens of them, and Mina cast her gaze over them, trying to get an idea of the number, before she gave up, and turned to Jekyll at the sound of the man's voice.

           "What are those labourers doing down there? Do they have permission, do you think?" he asked, squinting to get a better view, fiddling – as ever – with his pocket watch, nervously… more so than normal. Mina had noticed that recently, and though it was worrying her, she didn't dare to inquire, for fear of making it worse. Jekyll respected others' privacy, so she saw it only fit to do the same.

           "They're performing the humane task of assisting anyone…" Bond began loftily, as though bored, glancing to the glowing end of his cigarette, "English, French or Prussian, who might still be alive in that hulk." He turned his head in Jekyll's direction, shrugging lightly beneath his ghastly jacket. "I don't imagine they felt permission was necessary."

           Sawyer looked agitated for some reason, and was watching the children as they played nearby as though concerned one of them would fall into the pit. He looked poised and ready to spring to their aid if they stumbled, even as he said, "I heard someone say about that Stent guy… the astronomer everyone's been talking about."

           Bond was dismissive at once, scoffing, "Stent's a babbling lunatic. He probably thinks this proves his eccentric theories of life on other planets." He chuckled, shaking his head as he tapped his cigarette end again, muttering quietly beneath his breath, even as Skinner ruffled the pages of his newspaper, lifting them to his face again and reading closely.

           "And is the notion truly so insane, Mr. Bond?" Nemo asked casually, his tone calm and precise as always. He never took his mysterious gaze from the labourers.

           Mina nodded. "You've said so yourself that England is planning a moon expedition."

           "Well, yes. But we're not expecting to find life there, Mrs. Harker!"

           She growled in the recesses of her throat, narrowing her eyes in a way that seemed to dare the man to chide her again, before Quatermain interrupted by raising an arm to gesture, saying, "Look up there. Something' happening…"

           "Blimey!" someone yelled inside the pit, the voice carrying to the League as they all assumed ready positions, prepared to spring into action. The Winchesters lowered – or rose respectively – and the crack of their cocking was heard. Skinner's paper was lowered drastically, and held only in one hand. He ignored the fact that he lost the middle pages when they fell to the dirty ground, his covered eyes fixed firmly on the object as it began to move.

           Cries rose out from around the common from those who could see the spectacle, even as the 'bullet' started to shift and quake, mud falling from its shell. "Keep back, you men!" cried one of the labourers, one who seemed to be in charge of the operation.

           Someone to Nemo's right yelled in a panic, and the Indian threw him or her a reproachful glance as if to tell them to keep their head in the situation, his hand never leaving the hilt of his sword.

           A man screamed as he toppled, landing in a cloud of dust at the bottom of the pit from the ledge where he had fallen, and the League all cursed inwardly, regretful that they could not do more. Mina was about a heartbeat away from carrying herself on bat's wings into the pit to help any way she could, before the end of the shell fell from its lodgings and careened into the crater with a clang and a dull, resonating thud that echoed around the common for a few unbearable moments.

           "Ooh, gawd," someone behind Skinner muttered, and he winced at their over exaggerated cockney accent.

           Before anyone could say or do anything further, something started to wriggle inside the cavernous interior of the now opened object. The eyes of the League widened collectively as something started to come into focus, shuffling to the front of the opening, tentacles – from the looks of it – squirming out in front as if to feel its way through the darkness that prevailed within.

           That was when it entered the light, and Sawyer for one – along with Jekyll – did not hide his disgust. He grimaced and visibly edged away, his eyes showing his disbelief as to the thing that was pushing its way forward into the failing sunlight. It oozed with something that Mina could only imagine – with her far too vivid imagination – was mucus of some sort, and seemed to stare blankly with large, vacant black orbs of eyes, opening a wicked maw that dripped saliva. Tentacles rippled around its front, and its bulbous body looked gorged and hideous.

           It seemed from their collective reactions that they could not move, and in a few of them, that was quite literally the case. Skinner dropped his paper in shock, his jaw dropping. Jekyll paled considerably. Quatermain gripped his rifle tighter, and Sawyer did not move at all for surprise and disbelief. Nemo's eyes hardened and his jaw set grimly. Mina, for one, had never seen something so hideous yet fascinating at the same time, and was beside herself for what to do. Bond was mopping his forehead with his handkerchief, mumbling in dismay.

           "Maybe we should move back, 'eh?" Skinner muttered shakily, unable to hold back the apparent fear from his voice. He glanced inquiringly to his fellows, and they did as he suggested, possibly without realising. Mina was reluctant, intrigued yet horrified, and wanted to get a closer look, even as the bizarre creature shifted its weight at the edge of the shell, and then dropped out of it, even as one of the men who had fallen climbed his way toward the top of the rim. The creature waved its lengthy tentacles, and wriggled, as if trying to move, but Mina noticed the difficulty with which it did so. It seemed exhausted or wounded, and she wondered which it was.

           When Mina glanced around her to see where they were, she said, "Surely we're far enough from the hole now. I believe we can stop."

           "We don't know what it can do, Mrs. Harker," Sawyer said to her, and she thought she detected a slight hint of panic in his voice. Suddenly, she was concerned, especially when she saw the fear in his eyes.

           "Calm yourself, Agent Sawyer," Nemo said stalwartly. "Mrs. Harker is correct… whatever breed of devil that was, it could barely move."

           Sawyer glanced to Nemo, removed his cap, and sighed. "You're right. Sorry." He appeared ashamed or apprehensive all of a sudden, and his eyes lowered as he muttered, "Just reminded me of a dream I had once…" Mina believed she was the only one who heard him, for the others appeared not to notice. She kept her eyes on the young man for a moment, fascinated by his change in posture and expression. He seemed lost in memory for a moment, once again, and she was tempted to reach out to comfort him, when she heard voices from behind her, as the locals in the crowd spoke of what they had seen.

           "What ugly brutes!" one was saying stiffly. "Good god, what ugly brutes!"

           As Mina mused on the prejudice of some people, she heard Skinner speak, with a more stable tone, "Life from other worlds, 'eh, Bond? Earlier, someone mentioned those Martian volcanoes everyone's been jabberin' about. Saw it in the paper too." He gestured to where his tabloid was fluttering in the breeze and regarded the government representative through his glasses.

            "Th… that's just coincidence, I'm sure," Bond muttered. When he continued, his volume increased, "This crowd's been gathering all day. Obviously, wild rumours are circulating." He tutted.

           "Someone's taking it seriously. Isn't that the astronomer royal, that Stent fellow, in the pit now?" Quatermain pointed out, waving with the barrel of the Winchester. He and Sawyer moved forward together, and Mina followed them, her scarf catching in the breeze slightly. It remained around her neck, but gave her a flighty appearance that was rather fitting. Skinner, Jekyll and Nemo stuck close, with Bond scuttling up to their rear. They formed a line at the edge of the pit again, seeing the hideous 'alien' turn its vacant black eyes in the direction of the men entering its nest of a landing site.

           Indeed, as Quatermain had stated, Stent was at the head of the group. In his hand he carried a pole, with a white cloth, like a large handkerchief fixed to it. It flapped in the wind, and Mina couldn't take her eyes off it for a moment. She couldn't help the feeling of foreboding that settled in her, and glancing to Sawyer and Quatermain, she saw it mirrored on their wary faces. Stent wasn't alone either. A suited, bespectacled gentleman with a cane was behind him, carefully making his way down, and someone was helping an elderly man along unsteadily. A fifth man was in their group, but she could make out very little about him from their distance, despite her supernaturally heightened sight.

           "That's Stent with the white flag," Jekyll pointed out. Perhaps he had met him, as he was able to identify him so certainly in so short a space of time from the distance, but this was no time to inquire. "I think the clergyman might be the Reverend Harding who writes to the newspapers so often." Skinner nodded in an affirming manner, and shoved the toe of his footwear into his flapping tabloid on the floor. It blew in all directions away from them, and off above the crowd. He watched it for a moment.

           "Those fools aren't authorised to make an approach," Bond growled as though he had been slapped in the face… hard. "What do they think they're doing?"

           Mina listened to the voices drifting from down below, and paid close attention to their actions as they moved past the abandoned equipment from the fled workers, and approached the odd beast.

           "Steady, old fellow, I've got you," the reverend's assistant said to him softly.

           Stent lifted the flag carefully, trying not to make any sudden movements, and the League watched, eyes fixed on him as he said, "It's all right, everyone… I think our chap's spotted us." He gestured slightly with the flag then and addressed the creature as though he expected it to return his greeting. "I say, you there! Peace, 'eh?"

           The creature made a low groan of a noise, and waved its tentacles expectantly, almost, never taking its eyes from the approaching strangers.

           "We come in peace…" Stent emphasised, and Mina winced at the cliché.

           "What's happening?" Bond blurted. "Are they talking to that thing? I can't see them below the edge of the pit."

           He was quite right. They had lost sight of them for the most part, and even the vampiress was having trouble making them out now.

           "Aheh, you could always step closer," Skinner muttered, and Jekyll hid his smirk. Sawyer was too taken up in his horrified awe to react, as he normally would have.

           "Actually, one of us could go and observe," Mina suggested coolly. "I'll-"

           "No," Quatermain barked. "It isn't-"

           A puff of great green smoke wafting in front of them made Quatermain and Mina freeze in their bickering, and the hunter's hand hovered, reaching out for the woman's arm. Sawyer's jaw dropped slightly, and his breathing became that little more rapid.

           Something had emerged from within the shell of the – she guessed – ship, and it rose as if on a steel neck, smoke of an eerie colour of green slipping around its metal head. In the centre was what resembled a green eye, never blinking, but ever glowing as if enraged and burning with a fire of hatred. It chilled Mina to the bone to see it, and subconsciously, her eyes widened just that little bit more and she edged closer to Sawyer, ready to grab him should something happen, though she wasn't sure what good it would do.

           And then it happened…

           "What on…" Stent muttered at the sight of the object that had appeared, shortly before an ember that appeared out of nowhere seemed to spark on his clothing. It swirled around him, and engulfed his torso hungrily with an otherworldly speed, eating away at him with green flames that hissed and roared.

           "Stent!" his companion cried.

           "Oh god," the reverend wheezed, shortly before the others were consumed as well. The flag dropped, burning merrily, to the ground, landing in the dirt and blazing as the fire destroyed the men.

           A curse died on Sawyer's lips, even as the object extended on the neck, up over the rim of the pit, glaring frighteningly over the crowd that had gathered.

           "Down!" Nemo bellowed, and slammed into the rest of the League, barrelling them all with the force of a human anvil to the ground, where the wind was knocked out of them. "Everybody get down!" Mina wasn't sure whether the was yelling to the crowd as well, but Bond threw himself down also, covering his head and hugging it protectively. Sawyer and Mina did the same, and she screwed her eyes shut, hearing the American's rapid breathing. Skinner tugged his trilby tighter to his skull, and Jekyll – she wasn't certain – pulled his jacket around his face. Nemo and Quatermain were close on their respective sides to Sawyer and Mina, as if protectively, and the hunter had an arm pushing down on the spy, as if to keep him from moving.

           The horrible, sickening smell of burning flesh reached her nostrils despite her face practically being tucked away, and she gagged though she was trying not to. The crackling of flame reached her ears, and the screams started, reaching a fever pitch as the heat washed over them and around them, brushing at their exposed skin. She felt more than saw Sawyer and Skinner's fear, and when she glanced very slightly to her right, she saw the American's tremble. She had forgotten about the incident in Mongolia until now. Skinner even whimpered.

           Dear god…

           The wailing of a dog made her stomach twist with discomfort and the smell worsened as the pitched screech of a horse close by, in terror, made her eyes screw shut even tighter, so tight in fact that colours danced their merry way behind the lids. The last of the screams started to fade away as the heat receded slightly, wafting back from them, and risking a glance towards the pit, she saw the weapon – or whatever it was – had disappeared again, receded into its shell. She was beyond thankful, and breathed out a sigh of relief, glancing quickly to her left and right to find the rest of the League still intact, and alive, if not shaken. Skinner coughed, quietly at first, and then letting the volume grow, dusting off his trilby, before looking up from underneath it. "Bloody hell… bloody hell… bloody hell!" He yelled the last, emphasised curse in the hopes that it might help his nerves.

           Sawyer and Quatermain glanced up together, the former still trembling slightly, his grip on his rifle so tight that his knuckles had paled and the gun rattled. Mina touched his arm gently, as he muttered, "Shit…"

           Before Quatermain could say what it was he obviously wished to, there was a deafening roar to the left of Nemo, and a huge, surging shape pounced upright, tearing the remains of the white shirt and black jacket from its bulging, muscular frame.

           Edward Hyde!

           "You bastards!" he bellowed in a rage, flailing his limbs and roaring. "I'll eat you, you bastards!"

           Mina and the others stood shakily, eyes wide in shock as to the sudden appearance of Dr. Jekyll's beastly alter ego, wondering when the man had taken his elixir.

           "Oh, dear lord, not now," Quatermain grumbled, disturbing something with his foot. Sawyer bent down, and lifted a shard of a small glass vial with his hand, glancing to Mina, before turning his gaze back at the infuriated Hyde.

           "Hyde, that's enough!" Nemo commanded, impatiently for a change. "We have to get off the common now!"

           "No! I'll tear out your brains, you slimy buggers!" Hyde roared, and Mina stepped before him, poised for a fight if he wanted one, even as he persisted, "I'll trample your hearts!"

           "No, sir, you will not," she hissed at him, letting the demonic red consume her blue eyes and remain threateningly. She had no idea if she could handle Hyde and his brute strength, but she was willing to try if he got out of hand. "You are not fireproof, nor do I believe you to be stupid. Now back down, Hyde."

           The beady eyes, filled with fury, turned on Mina, and she saw the slight cut on his chest, where it seemed a shard of glass may have wounded him slightly… his elixir vial… it must have shattered upon landing on the hard ground, and perhaps it had seeped into his bloodstream. Fighting down the chemist within her, she growled quietly, waiting for the submission that she hoped would come.

           "Wh… when did he change?" Bond chattered, a nervous wreck now, his neatness lost in the chaos.

           "Probably when that thing started firing," Sawyer replied, turning the glass over and over in his hand, before dropping it carelessly back to the common. "Mrs. Harker, are you all right?"

           "Of course I am," Mina snapped, in no mood for his gentlemanly consideration when faced with Hyde. She turned her attention back on the brute, seeing his slight relaxation, and taking the oppurtunity to say, "Now, Mr. Hyde, will you please escort us from this hellish place?"

           She had not dared – along with the others – to regard the massacre around them yet. The fires still raged, and she could feel their heat, see Sawyer and Skinner's hesitance at its proximity. Both pushed it down, it seemed, and squared their shoulders.

           "I…" Hyde pondered for a moment, before growling and letting his shoulders slump at the defeat. "All right. But they needn't think I've forgotten them!"

           I very much doubt you would let them, Mina thought.

           The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen turned to the common's expanse then, and as one, their faces fell at the death and utter destruction they saw there. No one had been spared… men, women, children and animals alike had been burnt into ashes and nothing but withered skeletons that were twisted into rotten, horrid shapes that screamed of painful ends. Some of the skeletal mouths were open in silenced wails of agony, and Mina shuddered once. She had seen horrors in her time… but this…

           This was quite possibly the worst canvas of slaughter she had ever seen. She tried her best not to notice the withered remains of a mother and her baby not ten feet from them, and tears burned madly in her eyes before she blinked them back swiftly.

           Sawyer's face was painful to look upon, just to see the youthful distress there, and the tears in his own green eyes as he observed the carnage. He moved forward, his boot brushing past a child's plaything, a… it was impossible to make out the definite shape and identity with the damage done to it, but he stared at it for a horrible long moment, before he closed his eyes and said heavily, "Come on… let's get out of here."