Disclaimer: None of the League here are mine, and Eilidh, Fiona, Sarah, Kate, and Gash belong to themselves and their names are used here with their permission.
Feedback: Much appreciatedSean Malloy-1: This soon enough for you?
Rhinoa Silvermoon: Glad you like my choices for the League; hope I didn't keep you waiting too long.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 2004
"Ah, you're back!" the Doctor said, as Angel's car stopped in the Nautilus's hold, and the three people in it climbed out of the car. "Any luck in finding something?"
"In a sense," Harry replied, looking over at the Doctor. "Shut the door, take the Nautilus underwater, and then contact the others. We have to talk."
The Doctor, knowing when to question his teammates and when not to, quickly pushed a button near the outside door to the hold. As the door shut, he pulled a radio off the wall and tapped a button.
"Yes?" a voice said from the other end of the radio.
"Captain Tyne, the final League members are on board," the Doctor said. "Take the Nautilus underwater and out of Paris, and then contact the rest of the League. Tell them to meet us in the main room; Mr Potter has something to tell us."
"Right," Tyne said, as he terminated the call at his end.
The Doctor smiled a little as he felt the Nautilus begin its descent; Tyne may have only trained at being the captain of a fishing boat, but his experience in that storm thirteen years ago had proved his worth as a captain, and he commanded the Nautilus with a mastery that did honour to Captain Nemo's creation.
Realising that Angel, Fiona and Harry had already left the hold, he walked out of the door and down the corridor towards the meeting room. They had business to attend to right now, and then they needed to work out their next move against their adversary...
Whoever, or whatever, it may be.
"So," Gwen said, as the entire League gathered around the table that was their main meeting room in the Nautilus, "Did anyone discover anything interesting on their trips around Paris? Because, quite frankly, we need something more than we've got at present, which is, oh, nothing!"
"Easy, Gwen," Angel said, raising one hand in a calming gesture. "We're getting there, OK? Just let us go over what we've got so far, and then we'll decide on our next course of action." He looked over at Bond. "What did your group find out?"
"Well, it would appear that Im Ho Tep, whoever he really is, demands remarkable loyalty from the members of his gang," Bond explained, as he sat back in his chair and looked around at all the others. "According to Linus, my traditional contact in Paris, there are only two ways out of his organisation once you've joined it. Either you're killed in the line of duty, or you commit suicide."
"Not much variety there, is there?" Eilidh asked.
"No, not really," Clark replied. "Apart from that, the only thing we know for sure is that our foe has a bank account in Zurich, which he set up under the name 'Hawley Griffin', for some reason. Whoever he is, he appears to have a fixation with the names of villains from around the time of the original League." He sighed and clasped his forehead in his right hand. "Why is it there are no sane super-criminals out there? They're a lot easier to understand..."
"It didn't do us much good, anyway," Elektra put in. "The thing about bank accounts in Zurich is that, even if people give their names when they set up the accounts, they can only be accessed by people with access to the numbers of those particular accounts. So, unless we know the number of the account in question, we're-"
Harry broke in. "You need the account number in order to get at it, and that's it?" he asked. "No passwords, no keys, just the number?"
"Yes..." Elektra commented, looking curiously at Harry. "Why do you ask?"
"Because," Harry replied, as he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, "We ran into some old acquaintances of ours while checking out Angel's old contacts, and it would appear that Im Ho Tep has employed them to take us down. Anyway, I found this piece of paper on one of them, which tells him to access a certain account in Zurich and then follow some instructions in order to receive payment for doing their job."
"What?" Bond asked, looking at the wizard. "Are you telling me you have our foe's account number?"
"Yep," Harry nodded, passing the piece of paper to him. "Right there, we have everything we need to dig up the personal details of this bastard."
Gwen gave Harry a brief smile, and then turned to face Bond. "I presume our next move shall be to check out his bank account in Zurich?"
Bond nodded, and looked over at the Doctor. "Prepare the League-mobile, Doctor. We have to make a withdrawal."
"Right!" the Doctor said, as he got out of his seat and walked towards the door, looking back at the rest just before he opened it. "Get your things together; we're off to Zurich."
Then he walked out the door.
Bond looked at the rest of the League, and smiled.
"You heard the man," he replied. "Get everything you need for the next few days together, and also everything you'll need in the event of a combat situation." He got up from his seat and placed his hands on the table, leaning forward to look more closely at the rest of the League. "Based on what we've seen of our foe's strategies so far, he's not going to let us get the contents of this account without a fight; be prepared for anything he'll throw at us."
He looked over at Harry, Fiona and Angel as he spoke. "You three have already encountered some of his new operatives; you should use this opportunity between now and us reaching Zurich to tell us who they are, and if they mentioned anything that could be helpful to us in the long run."
"Check," Fiona said, before the rest of the League got up. "Let's pack. We'll meet in the hold in a few minutes, OK?"
"Check," Elektra smiled, before the rest of the League got up and left the room.
In a matter of minutes, the entire League had loaded their luggage into the League-mobile, and the Nautilus was beginning its ascent to a new port along the Seine. Captain Tyne had taken them out of Paris and to a small area just some way down the river; not only did it prevent any questions being asked about the League-mobile, but it gave the Nautilus somewhere to wait for the League without attracting any attention.
Boats rarely visited this part of the river, and there were hardly any real roads in the area either, so they wouldn't be disturbed when they were unloading the League-mobile.
Of course, it wasn't much of a problem for the League; the League-mobile's anti-gravity unit would allow them to move around on ground even if the terrain was covered in sharp rocks. However, as the door to the hanger fell down, and Bond and the Doctor saw the sight in front of them...
Well, they had to wonder if there was such a thing as being too careful.
There were several rocks around the riverbank, all of them large and none of them very smooth; in fact, a couple of them appeared to have dead animals stuck on them. Beyond that were only some remarkably bumpy fields, which continued for about a mile or so until a road could be seen.
Elektra looked over at the Doctor. "Can this thing get above those rocks?" she asked him, indicating the League-mobile.
"Oh, it should do," the Doctor replied, as he opened the door of the League-mobile and ducked inside the remarkable car, leaving the rest of the League standing outside it with various suitcases beside them. "Just let me do a little recalibrating of the anti-gravity unit..." he called out, his voice echoing slightly from the enlarged interior of the League-mobile, "...and... we're done!" he smiled, his head popping out of the door. "Everybody in! Captain Tyne, keep the surrounding area under constant watch for us coming back!"
"Of course, Doctor," Tyne replied, as the League filled into their remarkable car like children on a field trip. "See you all soon."
"Hopefully," Clark whispered, as he shut the door behind him and looked over at his fellow League members. "Well, let's get going."
"Of course," the Doctor said, as he sat down at the front of the League-mobile, Bond sitting beside him. The rest of the League just spread out around the various rooms in the League-mobile; Harry, Fiona, Eilidh, Clark and Gwen settled down in the entertainment room, while Angel and Elektra picked up a couple of weapons and headed to the training room.
"Hang on tight!" the Doctor called back, as he set the car moving forward. Of course, there was little point in him saying that; the League-mobile, like the Doctor's car Bessie, was fitted with dampeners that absorbed inertia, so the passengers rarely ever felt the car moving even when it was moving at almost a hundred and forty miles an hour. The Doctor just felt like doing it, just for the sake of things.
The League-mobile leapt over the top of the rocks, its new anti-gravity motor keeping it a safe distance above them until it reached the other end of the rocks. Then it landed back on the ground, the car jolting slightly at it moved from flying through the air to landing on the ground. However, the anti-gravity unit compensated for the transition fairly quickly, and none of the League even noticed the change in motion anyway.
"How long will this take us?" Bond asked the Doctor, as the League-mobile reached the road and began to head down the road towards Zurich.
"Oh, only two or three hours," the Doctor replied.
"Right then," Bond said, as he got up out of his seat. "I'll go over what we've got so far; see if there's anything we've missed about our opponent. Let us know when we're in Zurich, OK?"
"Of course," the Doctor replied, as Bond entered the main body of the car, shutting the door to the driver's area as he went. "Enjoy yourself!" he added, before he was alone in the driving area.
Turning back to face the road, the Doctor pushed down on the accelerator, intending to make the most of this time without any other cars to keep an eye on.
"So," Im Ho Tep said, as he stared down at the three figures of Malfoy, Drusilla and Kate in front of him. "You destroyed the target I gave you, and then, not only did you get beaten by only three of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but you," he said, looking over at Malfoy, "lose the piece of paper with my Zurich account number on it to that Potter character?"
"Well, yes, technically..." Malfoy replied, trying not to show how scared he was by this man. "But..." he nearly spat the word out, "sir, we were-"
"Silence," Im Ho Tep replied, raising one hand up in front of him. "However, do not be overly concerned; as problematic as it was, we have made progress here while you three were away. In fact, your accident may have given us the opening we need to destroy the League once and for all."
"Really?" Kate smiled. "You mean the other members of the Syndicate have been chosen?"
"Exactly," Im Ho Tep smiled. "In fact, there is only one thing that needs done, and we require some assistance from you, my dear," he asked, looking at Drusilla with a smile just visible underneath his mask.
"Yes, Mr Tep?" Drusilla asked eagerly.
"We wish you to sire someone," Im Ho Tep explained, looking like a parent promising a child a treat. Malfoy was always nauseated at the sight of his... boss (Much as he hated to call him that) treating a two hundred and something year-old vampire like she was a little girl. "Shall I have him brought in?"
"Please," Drusilla smiled, looking like an eager child the night before her birthday; she hadn't even seen the present, and she was already anticipating getting it.
"Just one request," Im Ho Tep said, as he tapped a small red button on the side of his chair. "Once you've sired him, inject him with..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small needle filled with a dark red liquid, "this."
Drusilla took the syringe, looked at it for a few seconds, and smiled up at Im Ho Tep.
"It'll bring back Daddy?" she asked eagerly.
"Well, he won't look the same, but in personality and memories, yes, he shall be back," Im Ho Tep replied. "Just inject the subject with that while he drinks your blood, and he shall be restored in a new body."
The door opened in front of Im Ho Tep's chair. As Drusilla, Kate and Malfoy looked around to see who was at the door, Im Ho Tep smiled briefly.
Soon, he would have the final member of the Syndicate of Remarkable Criminals available to him. Then he would send them out to battle the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, reborn for a new era, and they would fall before the wrath of a man with a century-long score to settle.
And after the League fell, the world would do the same...