Author's Note: Sorry for the wait; you knew I was going to say that. But this chapter should make up for it, I hope. A lot of alteration in this chapter, because it's now starting to take a turn from Moore's story and into my own… I hope.

LotRseer3350: Thanks very much. The frog… you should see the frog in the book. It's the one from Wind In The Willows. Heh.

Raven Silvers: Thank you, Rave'. Your poor Skinner has been through his turmoil though, so you needn't worry about me tormenting him anymore.

Marcus Lazarus: Glad you liked the last one, and I really hope you enjoy this one too. Happy you loved that line XD Had to be done. As to who shall survive… you'll see… o.O

Drakena: Didn't want to waver too far from the illustrated hybrids in the comic book. Though I really couldn't see a gigantic Rupert Bear coming in myself, so I changed that and a few other details. But I'm glad you were satisfied with that. And I loved that piece of fan art muchly XD One of my uber-faves from you, I think. Hehe, nice quip at the end of your review. Thanks.

Angharad: He is indeed a creepy person, isn't he? Glad you find him creepy in a good way, though. Hope you like this chapter, though there won't be any topless Jekyll, heh. XD

Sethoz: Very glad you liked, buddy. Tension is one of my specialties, you know that, hehe. Creepy is good, mwahahaha. Here's more! Enjoy!

And on that note, here is the new chapter of LXG2: Above & Beyond…


The day was rather pleasant, but it was drawing to a close, or so the light proclaimed. It was getting a little dusky off on the horizon, and the sun was waning. Quatermain, Mina and Tom stood on the track's edge at the station, their business with Moreau concluded, and none too soon, in the vampire's opinion. Even she found the man slightly unnerving. Part of her was very glad he hadn't discovered the bestial part of her nature. He may have tried to exploit it. Of course, she tried to deny that even to herself, and simply did not give it much thought now that they were awaiting their train back to London's centre.

Using her heightened senses, she locked in on a sound that had been bugging her for a while, and followed it to its location with her eyes, widening them slightly at what she saw. One of Moreau's hybrids… except, being eaten by a small family of foxes; one vixen and her two cubs were tugging at the clothed rabbit.

She quickly averted her eyes, and cleared her throat quietly. Tom looked to her curiously, asking her with a compassionate gaze if she was all right. She smiled softly at the handsome young spy, and nodded. He seemed mildly put at ease after that, and fell still and quiet once again, hat turning in one hat, rifle in the other. She held back from watching him, and glanced to Moreau as the 'doctor' spoke.

"So, you say there will be a train…?"

"I believe so," Mina confirmed, nodding. "Out landlady's brother cycled to Cocking yesterday evening and sent a telegram to London for us." She didn't like the thought of having to stay in this place much longer. As it was, they were at an old and rather rundown station that appeared to have been out of service for some time. She hoped it would come. "I imagine they'll arrange a special service."

Moreau nodded his grey head for a little while, looking down at his prim cane for a few moments. He was wearing a neat, pressed suit, and looked almost like he was going out to the opera or to dinner or some such affair. "I imagine so," he agreed. He sighed lightly. "And I am sure that they will be most careful with our cargo."

At that, there came a noise from behind, which the three members of the League recognised. Collectively, they turned their heads, to see two of the hybrids – H-9 and H-14; the bear and the tiger – carrying a crate. The hunter, the vampire and the spy tensed as one, and Tom's hand tightened slightly around his rifle enough to make the polished wood creak somewhat. Mina looked down at the discreetly whitened knuckles, and then to Tom's oddly impassive face. He didn't like the hybrids – none of them did – and he was trying to hide it. He put his hat on his head, and turned the peak down slightly. For some reason, he reminded her of someone then, as he shouldered his rifle almost nonchalantly, keeping his thoughts to himself in mind of the mission.

Shaking her head, she refused to remember anything of the incident with Count Dracula or anything about Lord Godalming, John Seward, poor Lucy, her poor husband, or her friend Quincey Morris. It was all in the past, and she had to move on. Looking away from Tom, she listened as Quatermain spoke.

"So that's what military intelligence sent us here for, is it? 'H-142'? Another of your ghastly hybrids."

Mina watched the two creatures struggle to keep the box steady, and furrowed her brow in consideration of its cargo.

"One of my hybrids, certainly. It disappoints me that you find my marvellous children ghastly," Moreau sighed with a subtle shrug. Quatermain was eyeing him with a frown. "As times change, so too, shall our definition of the human. You will see."

Mina did not at all like the sound of that sentence. If she hadn't known any better, she could have sworn that sounded like a threat of sorts. Some sort of doomsday prophesising from some out-of-the-loop madman in the woods. Looking back to the struggling hybrids, she asked, "Is it sedated inside that crate?"

"It sleeps, after its fashion," Moreau responded, leaning on his cane a little more. "When it wakes, it will perform the task our masters have in mind for it."

"I'm amazed, Dr. Moreau," Mina began coolly, turning her head to the man, "at how you keep your… children… hidden here, and under control."

"Well, naturally, they revere and love me. But you are right, mademoiselle." He chuckled softly. "Sometimes, to restrain them it is not easy. Some of them retain their animal urges." Tilting his head slightly to one side, he added nonchalantly, "H-9 there, for example, has strong sexual instincts."

The three members of the League looked a little awkward at that revelation, and shuffled slightly on their feet. They couldn't help but look to the large bear in question though, even as Moreau continued, "When I have pairs of them all, this will not be so much a problem. At present though, he can become frustrated, and also aggressive."

Mina noticed Tom looked up at that, almost with a grimace on his face.

"Luckily, a gypsy woman lives nearby, who can placate him."

Mina looked nervously to Moreau, asking rather tentatively, "You… you mean with herbs, perhaps, or…?"

Moreau looked very serious as he simply said, "No, mademoiselle."

Tom's awkward and sudden clearing of his throat cut the doctor off from continuing any further, and for that rather crude interruption, Mina was most thankful. She had rather a vivid imagination, and did not need anything of the sort that Moreau spoke of blooming in her mind just then.

"Ah," Moreau began sombrely. "That sounds like our train. H-9? H-14? Please conceal yourselves."

And with that, the two lumbering creatures made off through the tall grass to do as their master had commanded, with Quatermain, Mina and Tom watching them disappear. That was the last they saw of the peculiar creations before the train started to rattle into the abandoned station. It was a rather unmarked black engine with a small number of carriages, though one was clearly set aside for cargo alone. Mina and the others let it slide up noisily in front of them, the steam and smoke billowing from around the train covering the platform and wafting around them even as it ground to a halt.

Some men climbed out, with high collars, helmets, and showing the insignia of the government on their jackets. They were armed with rifles slung over their shoulders, and both men tensed for a moment, one either side of Mina. She rolled her eyes slightly, even as the leader of these arrivals spoke huskily, "You're Harker and Sawyer?"

Quatermain made a low grunt of a noise, no doubt offended, but Mina jumped in, "Yes. The object you're here to retrieve is over there." She indicated it with a motion of her hand, and added, "Please handle it carefully."

The men made themselves busy with collecting the crate and – as Mina had suggested – carefully loading it onto the train's cargo compartment. They also collected their small amount of luggage for them, and took that aboard as well. Quatermain and Tom were less enthusiastic about bidding farewell to Moreau than Mina, and she supposed this was because they had been the ones to be attacked by the hybrids, whereas she had had not been touched.

"Come on, Mina," Tom said quietly.

"We'd best be getting aboard," Quatermain added hastily, and made to do so, even as the vampire turned herself to the doctor. It didn't hurt to be polite to the man who had quite possibly given them something to turn the tables in the war, after all.

"Goodbye, Dr. Moreau," she said, offering her hand to him, which he took gently, as if afraid to break it. "I hope you will not lack for human company, after we have gone."

"I am grateful for your concern, mademoiselle," he said politely with a wry chuckle. "But you need not worry." He smiled in a warm fashion becoming a grandfather. "I've a nephew who sometimes visits."

Mina could smell Tom just behind her, and heard Quatermain board the train impatiently.

"An artist living abroad, sometimes he comes up here and paints my chimerae, as he calls them." Moreau seemed amused by this sharing of information, and released Mina's hand. "I tell him 'Gustave, your work is excellent, if only you would finish it!' Ah, well." He sighed lightly again, and indicated the engine behind the vampire. "Your train awaits."

It was on that note that Mina turned, smiling lightly and somewhat wanly at Tom, boarding the train. Tom remained on the platform a moment longer, watching Moreau, before he nodded to the man briefly, and followed Mina onto the train.

As they settled themselves in their compartment, they saw Moreau tip his hat out the window, watching him curiously as the train started to pull out from the station backwards. Staring out of that same window, they saw the trees, and the old, seemingly harmless man shambling through them, before out of nowhere melted the forms of the two large hybrids, the tiger on all fours in front, and the looming bear behind.

And just for a moment, Mina met the dark, ominous gaze of that bear as he turned his large snowy head to stare at the retreating train. She swallowed dryly, and said, "My god… what a nest of horrors." She cursed herself for her term and words, ashamed to think such things of other creatures when she herself was no angel.

"Couldn't agree more," Quatermain grumbled, crossing his arms tightly over his broad chest and falling silent for a while.

Tom pulled his cap slowly from his head, tugging his hair forward with it so that it collapsed into his eyes like a veil. In a low tone, he asked, "What sort of nightmare is in that crate, do you think?"

"H-142?" Mina responded quietly, turning her head to the spy across from her. "I don't know. Something dreadful to repel the invaders?"

"What, like, I don't know, a hybrid dragon, or something? Fiery breath against that heat ray device?" Quatermain was being annoyingly cynical, and Mina gritted her teeth for a moment, biting back her vicious retort.

"Perhaps," she let out slowly instead. "Although the crate's rather small…" She smiled at the corner of her mouth in Quatermain's direction.

"And not particularly heavy, from the looks of it," Tom interjected, turning his youthful gaze from the window. "Presumably London know exactly what they're getting."

Mina nodded an affirmative as the train pushed under a bridge. "Let's hope so."


The train had been in motion a little under half an hour when Allan Quatermain opened his eyes from resting them. He shifted slightly in his seat, looking to his left, and seeing Sawyer in a similar restless state. Mrs. Harker seemed perfectly relaxed, and her eyes were closed peacefully. She looked perfectly collected, sitting there, as though the world were not at war.

Allan envied her for that.

Everything seemed too quiet, and Allan opened his mind to everything around him, hunter's senses working on overtime… and tuning in to a slight noise he thought he recognised. The train's churning and grinding was hard to ignore, but his eyes narrowed, and then widened slightly.

Clambering over to the window, he tugged it open, grateful it did so without much reluctance, and then stuck his head out of it, eyes shooting open wider than he could remember them ever being. "Dear god…"

Sawyer was next to follow suit, with Mina not far behind. All three stared in dismay and horror as the gigantic tripod toppled onto the track some two hundred feet down the line. Sawyer cursed colourfully, and couldn't tear his eyes away. Allan however, pulled back into the window, nearly falling on his face, and ran for the attention of the driver, calling out, "Stop the train!" as he went.


Tom's breathing quickened unbelievably, almost to the point of hyperventilation, and for a moment, everything else around him melted away, before he felt a powerful tug on his jacket, with a yell of his name, and then he fell backwards, into the compartment, landing… on Mina.

"What…?" he began, before she let out a breath.

"I hardly think you getting your head knocked off will help this situation," she said briskly, helping him up, and dusting herself off. "Come on. We need to get that monstrosity off the line."

They felt the train lurch, and grabbed the sides of the compartment to keep from toppling again. Tom screwed his eyes shut for a moment, but when he opened them, Mina's heels were already briskly carrying her for the nearest exit. "Mina!" he yelled in concern, snatching his rifle, and hurrying after her, even as she flung herself out the next door. She practically leapt into the air, exploding into a cloud of feral, screeching bats as she went, and taking off towards the enemy.

"Mina!"

Oh god, oh god, oh god, ohgodohgodohgod…

Quatermain landed beside him on the grassy edge of the track, and they watched in disbelief as the cloud of vampiric bats tore towards the tripod, which either didn't notice the oncoming mass, or didn't care in the slightest. Either way, it seemed intent on watching and stopping the train. What the thing was doing out here all by itself, neither man knew or could comprehend, both too caught up in watching those bats, hell-bent on either colliding with the head structure, or distracting it.

Whatever she was doing, Tom's innards were being torn apart by panicked worry.


Mina encouraged her bats forward, calling them to spread out around her whilst keeping her body concealed so the Martian tripod had nothing solid to concentrate on should its heat eye come into play.

She came up on the construction fast, the mass of it astounding up close, and she sucked in a breath, her bats closing in around her as she swarmed about the head. She reached into her coat, tearing two wicked silver daggers free with a ring of metal, before she took diving swoops at the tripod, trying to damage it, or break through.

Growling savagely, she stabbed at it again and again, almost feeling the concern from the two men she had left behind.

But the matter was simple. They were mortal… and she was a vampire. She stood a better chance of injuring or damaging this thing than they did, and if they came any closer, they would surely be destroyed.

Tentacles flailed around her now as she caused minor scratches in its shining exterior. Where were the men with their rifles now? She couldn't help but wonder about their bravery. They were nowhere to be seen outside the train, and this was when they were needed most.

She did her best to dodge the dangerous limbs as they wove around her, snapping here and there to try and dislodge her presence, and she snarled at them, lashing out with her daggers, hearing Tom cry out her name as he stood by the train, unable to help her. She was worried for him, and in doing what she had set out to do, perhaps she could help him survive a little longer for the main battle.

And that was when one of the tentacles struck her, the flexible yet strong metal lashing her across the back and causing her to give a scream as it tore through clothing and into flesh. Blood poured for just a fraction of a moment before the wound sealed, but another strike landed, and then another and another… she was being assaulted now, and her bats were failing, their screeching growing faint as they started to vanish.

She tried with all her might to call them back, but her strength was fading her fast, and she dropped one of her daggers… and then the other, even as one of the tentacles struck across her stomach, cutting deep.

She screamed out weakly, and fell…


"Mina!"

Tom's entire world was set ablaze in a burning panic, and his breath caught in his throat as he watched her fall, something inside of him going with her. Cursing loudly, he turned his head wildly in each direction, trying to find something – anything – that would help.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…" He jogged out from the train a little, turning his head, and then he saw it… something that could quite possibly give him a chance to save Mina. If someone didn't go get her, she'd be trampled. Even a vampire wouldn't survive being crushed by one of those three legs. He set off towards the trees on the other side of the train, mind set on what he was going to do, everything else locked out.


"Sawyer! Come back!" Allan turned his body just in time to see the young agent disappear around the other side of the train, gone from sight, and he cursed loudly and generously. He leapt back onto the train, and grabbed his elephant gun from the compartment where it had been left.

He jumped back out of the train, wishing he were younger as his knees protested the landing, and looked around. Still no sign of Sawyer… where the hell was he? Surely he hadn't retreated now?

No… the spy was up to something; he could feel it.

And that was when he heard it. A mad crash of thunderous approach, and he turned his head, just in time to see the shape explode from around the back of the train, a wild whinny accompanying the movement. Tom sat atop the large black horse, gripping the reins tightly, and giving an encouraging yell at the startled animal, kicking it forward into a mad gallop.

As they passed Quatermain, the hunter nearly dropped Matilda in surprise.

Well… Sawyer certainly was resourceful.


Tom kept yelling at the animal as they galloped blindly towards the shambling tripod, and he looked down between the three legs, seeing the motionless form of Mina as she lay on the ground.

Please be okay… he inwardly begged, and looked up at the Martian creation. It hadn't noticed him yet. If it had, he would have been burning by that point, he knew. He remembered the common all too well.

He had found the horse, along with a carriage abandoned on the road beside the track behind the train, and had run for it. The carriage horses were too alarmed, and too attached to break loose, and Tom didn't have that time, he knew. So he had taken the grazing riding horse from where its reins had become tangled in some branches. The rider was long gone, probably fled along with the carriage's driver and passengers at the sight of the tripod. One thing he was beyond thankful for was that the horse seemed to belong to either a farmer or a hunter. There was a rifle holster down the leg of the saddle, and the Winchester had slotted in there nicely before he'd mounted and taken off towards his target.

You could very well die here, you know… but you don't care do you? … Didn't think so.

He shut off his mind, unwilling to give in to distraction at this vital moment, and saw the tripod turn slightly.

It had seen him…

"Well I see you too, you ugly bastard," he growled as the eye lifted and focused on him. It started to glow. "I don't think so…"

With one hand, he snatched down to the holster, and grabbed the stock, tearing it out and up, catching it with ease. Letting go of the reins with his other hand now too, and simply letting the animal tear forward, he cocked the Winchester, and brought the barrel up, aiming quickly and precisely.

"Let's see you burn this," he mumbled angrily, and even as the eye started to whine as it built up heat, Tom fired off a shot, the bullet exploding from the barrel's end, and rocketing forward and up…

… And smashing into the lens of the heat eye. It cracked, and reeled as if pained, but did not break. It faltered for a moment, and Tom cocked and readied the rifle again, giving a snarl as he pulled the trigger forcefully.

This time, the eye could not take the pressure from the hit, and the lens shattered under the force, glass and other material raining down from the flailing eye. It seemed agonised by the hit, and a kind of squeal came from the tripod.

Tom grinned mischievously, and tossed the rifle up into the air now that the immediate threat was gone, spinning and catching it, before throwing it down into the holster again, unneeded for the time being. Crying to the horse again, the animal gave a loud bellow of a snort, and thundered forward, mane and tail flying out wildly behind it as it streaked forward like a thoroughbred.

Coming up near the tripod, he saw Mina's head lift slightly, groggily, even as they moved under the groaning metallic creation. "Mina!" he yelled over the din, and saw her look to him. He galloped up beside her, reluctant to let the horse stop lest he couldn't get it going again, and reached out a hand. "Come on!"

She was on her feet at once, blood on her face from a blow that had already healed, and reached out with a gloved hand, catching his in it. With a grunt, Tom heaved on her hand, and she spun up into the air, landing squarely behind him on the powerful horse, which tossed its head and gave a whinny as she settled.

Turning the horse on its quarters with only minor difficulty, Tom slammed his heels into its flanks, and spurred it on its way back to the train, calling over his shoulder, "That was stupid, you know that?"

Mina clung to his waist as if her life depended on it, looking back with blue eyes at the wounded tripod for a moment, before saying into his ear, "Well, so was this, but you don't see me complaining."

Tom laughed quietly, and grinned, warmed by her contact with him, even as they sped towards a rather startled-looking Quatermain and his own gun. He was staring with wide eyes, and Tom glanced over his shoulder. The tripod was moving away from the tracks, and towards them, slowly but surely. It certainly wasn't happy about Tom's shooting it.

Shaking his head, he muttered, "These guys just don't quit, do they?" Calling over his shoulder, he said, "Grab the reins, and when I say so, yank to the left!"

Mina hesitated for only a moment, before he lifted his hands, letting her reach around him and grab the leather firmly in her grasp. She nodded into his shoulder, saying, "I have no idea what you're doing… but I trust you." She kissed him on the side of the neck briefly, and Tom almost faltered, before shaking it off, and yanking the Winchester free again.

"Quatermain!" he bellowed over the approaching noise. "Aim for the foremost leg!"

The hunter seemed awakened from his daze at that order, and nodded gruffly, cocking the hammer back on his elephant gun, and lifting to aim.

"Now, Mina!"

The vampire tore to the left on the reins, tugging the horse's large head with it. It gave a wail, but turned, the bit tugging at its mouth, and soon, the legs followed. The body swivelled quickly and somewhat unnervingly to the left, and Tom immediately raised the rifle after cocking it.

"Quatermain!" he cried out, sighting down the barrel. "Fire!"

As one, the two armed men let off shots at the front leg of the tripod, each bullet slamming into the metal and chipping away at it. It weakened visibly, creaking and groaning dangerously, and the spy noticed the unsteadiness with which it moved.

Giving a loud growl, he cocked the rifle for the last shot, Quatermain having run on empty, and yelled, "Die, you bastard!"

Firing the last shot, he watched as the bullet slammed into the leg, and weaken it all too much for the device to handle. With an almighty groan and whine, the leg caved under the massive weight above it, and the huge mass over it seemed to wobble… before it started to fall.

The horse reared, but Mina braced both herself and Tom from falling, even as they watched the tripod topple to its right, away from the track, too unbalanced to stop itself, despite the flailing of the tentacles. It crashed down like the meteors it had brought with its creators, and kicked up a gigantic cloud of dust and debris, giving a moan as the tentacles dropped around it lifelessly, dying as if they had truly been alive. The last two legs twitched like an injured spider, and then fell still.

The horse snorted and panted, exhausted, tossing its head down and to the sides, shaking its shaggy mane as if to tell Tom it had had enough. Tom, Mina and Quatermain stared at their kill for a few minutes, transfixed.

Tom, for one, was amazed it had all come together. He had felt certain for a moment that he really was going to die. Then he smiled slightly, as Mina embraced him from behind for a tight moment, and then reached up with a hand, turning his head to her quickly, and kissing him passionately, throwing him almost off balance.


Allan had been going to comment on the fiasco, when he looked up onto the horse, and saw the scene of 'romance' for a moment, and his mouth snapped shut.

"Well…" he muttered. He had had a feeling, but nothing concrete. This confirmed his suspicions. He couldn't help but smile as they broke apart, eyes closed, foreheads resting together, and one of Mina's gloved hands stroking affectionately down the spy's young face.

Chuckling quietly, he said, "We'd best be getting back on this train, hmm?"

It was at that moment that the armed guards practically fell from the carriages, rifles in their shaky hands, looking around in wonderment, and seeing the spy and vampire on horseback, and the downed tripod. "We… uh…"

With a roll of his eyes, Sawyer dismounted the horse, offering a hand up to Mina, who gracefully followed him down. Looking reproachfully to the guards, he said dangerously, "Go back to sleep, we've handled the 'crisis'." Shaking his head, and patting the horse on the neck gratefully, he and Mina boarded the train once again, never far apart.

Quatermain saw the embarrassment in the guards' faces, and nodded at Sawyer's attitude. He certainly had become a man.

Following suit, he climbed back on the train as well, smiling all the way. Things didn't look so terrible all of a sudden.