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 appreciated
Sean Malloy-1: Well, glad to hear I kept you guessing about his identity; I was trying not to make it too obvious.
Rhinoa Katherine Silvermoon: That shall be explained, I promise you that.
Felicia Angel: Glad that Gray's resurrection meets with your approval, and I assure you, I have a VERY interesting explanation as to how he's come back.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 2004
The three League members just stared at Dorian for a few moments after that statement, but then Bond broke the silence.
"You can't be Dorian Gray," he said simply.
"Really?" Dorian asked, twirling his cane in one hand as he spoke. "And what makes you so sure of that? I am an immortal, am I not?"
"Ah, well, you see, even if you are who you say you are, I doubt that you actually are an immortal, given that Mrs Harker managed to kill you when the two of you fought all those years ago in this place," the Doctor said, smiling casually at Dorian. "After all, the last time I checked, you were only an immortal if you couldn't die."
Then he raised one finger to make his next point all the clearer. "Besides, the last time I checked, you were dependant on your portrait for your immortality, and according to those files we were given pieces of the portrait were found at the scene of each crime. If you were really Gray, how could you live without your picture?"
"You would mock me, Doctor?" Gray asked, turning to look at the Time Lord. He smiled. "Ah… that is unfair of you, my good sir. You could not know what I have been through… what I have had to sacrifice to get to this point… and who I have made deals with…"
"If you mean the Syndicate, we're not exactly impressed," Elektra said, slowly raising her arms. "I mean, we managed to take them down fairly quickly even when they had the element of surprise; it's not like they were all that hard to handle." If she could just time it right, she might be able to stab Gray in his eyes before he could do anything about it…
"Oh, the Syndicate?" Dorian asked, looking over at her with a smug grin on his face. "No, I'm talking about someone far more evil than any of them, Miss Natchios." He grinned widely. "I'm talking about the very father of Evil himself."
Bond stared at Dorian for a few seconds, an incredulous expression on his face, before he eventually spoke.
"Are you talking about the Devil, or somebody else we might know about?" he asked.
Dorian looked over at Bond with an impressed expression on his face. "Good job, Mr Bond," he said, his voice conveying his surprise. "You got it right on the first guess."
Elektra blinked. "What?" she said, looking at Dorian in nervous apprehension. "Are you telling us that you… sold your soul to Satan or something?"
Dorian grinned. "Exactly," he said, looking over at her. "In exchange, he sent my mind and body back to Earth, regenerated into a stronger form then what I had previously possessed, as well as removing my connection to my portrait that I was once dependant on for my immortality, and gave me the innate ability to sense the evil within men and women."
He smirked as he looked over at them. "I must say, you three are an interesting little blend of good and evil; this world is losing its innocence with every generation. I don't know why anyone bothers to try and save it anymore; even the 'heroes' have a remarkable amount of darkness within them."
The Doctor shrugged. "Someone has to do the job," he said. "Besides, if you look at the negatives, it's no wonder you think we don't deserve to make it; you have to take the bad and the good, Mr Gray."
"Well said, Doctor," Bond said, patting his strange friend on the shoulder. Then he raised his gun and pointed it at Gray. "Now then, what would you prefer me to do to you? Shoot you and kill you, or just shoot you and cripple you?"
Dorian shook his head pityingly. "Oh, come now, Bond, why is it you secret agents always think you can solve your problems by shooting at them?" he said, looking over at Bond. "You don't honestly think that your stupid pistol could ever hope to stop me? I am a god upon this earth, and you? You are just a mere man."
Bond shrugged. "You may have a point there, Gray," he said casually. "Shall we find out if it's an accurate one?"
And he fired the gun at Dorian, two bullets striking the immortal in the face before he could do anything about them.
Blinking, Dorian held up his hand to his face and felt at the two holes, one across his left cheek and another slightly lodged in his jaw. As the League watched, the injuries healed up, light sprinklings of grey ash falling out of the holes before they completely disappeared.
Dorian looked up at Bond and smiled.
"It's been a long time since I've been injured like that," he said casually. Then his smile vanished, to be replaced by a glare that looked like it had been carved from stone. "And I don't like it a bit."
Raising his cane, he grabbed the end of it and pulled it off, revealing a long silver sword that he held with an ease that suggested it had been in his hand since the day he was born. He smiled as he looked over at the three League members.
Pointing the sword towards them, Dorian took up an offensive stance, and smiled at the League. "Shall we dance?" he asked casually.
Elektra snapped.
Leaping forward, Elektra struck Dorian's sword with one of her daggers, throwing the blade off to the side long enough for her to launch the second dagger straight towards Dorian's voice box, only to have her wrist caught and be thrown off to the side by the immortal before she could even make contact.
As she landed hard on the ground, Dorian swung around, his sword pointing downwards as though he was intending to cut her throat, but the Doctor grabbed his arm and yanked the sword back before it could strike home, following it up with a swift punch to Dorian's face that sent the immortal reeling backwards, knocking him off balance long enough for Bond to fire two bullets through Dorian's jaw and into his brain.
As the immortal collapsed to the ground, Elektra got back onto her feet and looked down at his fallen form, blood streaming from the wound in his head, before turning back to Bond and the Doctor.
"Well, that was easy enough," she said, flexing her shoulders as she slid her daggers into her belt and began massaging her wrists.
The Doctor didn't answer. Instead, he crouched down and checked Dorian's neck for a pulse, before looking back up at Elektra.
"No, it wasn't," he said, as he got to his feet and brushed the blood off his fingertips. "Gray's still alive; all the bullet did was put him out of action for a few minutes while his body tries to repair the damage it did." He looked up at Bond. "We'll need some help."
Bond nodded as he slid out his cartridge and began to check his pockets. "I'll get this loaded, then we have to get back to the others," he said, as he pulled out some extra bullets and slid them into the cartridge. Taking one last look at Dorian's fallen body, he slid the cartridge back into the gun and ran back down the corridor towards the rest of the League.
If they couldn't find a way to stop Gray, he didn't want to imagine what would happen…
AN: For the following combat scenes with the rest of the League, they'll all be taking place at around the same time, in case you're wondering why nobody went to the aid of their teammates once their opponent was down for the count.
"Stop running, you alien freak!" one of the men in the suits yelled at Clark, as he dodged another laser blast that had been fired at him.
"No thanks; I happen to like this shirt," Clark said, smiling slightly as he looked back at the two suits that had been on his case since the fight started. Eilidh was keeping the other two occupied mainly by using her telekinesis, he assumed; every time one of them aimed a gun, she looked at it briefly and then it jerked up to point at the roof just as it fired.
As another shot headed towards him, Clark dodged to the side and sighed as he looked up at the roof. He'd been having fun taunting these guys for a while- it wasn't often he got the chance to just goof about and show off when in action- but things were starting to get a bit too close for his liking.
It was time to end this.
Charging towards the nearest suit, he grabbed one of its arms and yanked it towards him as he launched a punch at the thing's chest with his other hand, tearing through the thick layers of metal and striking the man's ribs at such a speed that Clark only just managed to stop the blow before he broke the man's ribs. Grabbing the torn metal, he yanked a large chunk of the suit away from the rest of it, following it up with tearing a chunk off the opposite side before finishing it off with a resounding uppercut that knocked the helmet right off the suit and sent the man in it crashing to the ground with a massive thud.
Clark stared down at the fallen figure for a few seconds, using his X-ray vision to make sure that the man wasn't permanently injured, and then spun around and dashed towards the second suit he'd been keeping occupied, raising one fist in preparation for the first strike…
"Stupefy!" Harry yelled, firing the spell at the insane vampire in front of him, only grazing Drusilla's side due to her heightened reflexes. He consoled himself with the fact that it probably wouldn't have done much good anyway; he wasn't sure if the Stupefying curse would work on something that was technically dead.
However, he was relieved to see that his attempt had given Fiona the chance to launch a punch of her own, knocking Drusilla off-balance long enough for him to fire a quick Jelly-Legs jinx at her, sending her off-balance and allowing Harry to fire a second Stupefying spell, this time actually managing to hit Drusilla rather then just graze her.
As the vampire collapsed to the ground, Fiona turned visible once again and gave Harry the thumbs-up.
"Nice job," she said, smiling at him.
"Thanks," Harry said, shrugging slightly. The he sighed. "Too bad it may not keep her down for long…"
"What?" Fiona asked, looking over at Harry, shock evident on her face. "What do you mean, it won't last long?"
"That spell was only ever intended to be used on a human, Fiona," Harry explained, as his teammate moved a few feet away from Drusilla. "I can't be certain what effect it would have on someone who's technically dead; she may only be down for a few minutes at best."
"Well then," Fiona said, walking over to stand beside Harry, "it would appear we've only got one option." She held out her hand. "Your wand, please."
"What?" Harry said, looking at her in confusion. "What do you need my wand for?"
"What do you think?" Fiona shrugged. "We don't have anything else that's sharp enough for us to use as a stake; your wand's going to have to-"
She was stopped when a powerful fist struck her in the jaw, sending her flying back onto the ground with a cracking sound that didn't sound too good to Harry. He turned around…
And found himself face to face with Drusilla.
"Hello, my little owlet…" she said, grinning widely at him.
Harry didn't even hesitate. Remember what Angel had told him about Drusilla's ability to mesmerise her opponents, he closed his eyes and, wand clenched in his left hand, launched rapid punch at her head with his right, and was grateful when he made contact with cold, unliving flesh. It didn't feel like it had done much damage to Drusilla, but right now, all he needed was to get her off guard for a few seconds so he could try something else…
"Reducto!" he yelled, his eyes still shut as he raised his wand, to be rewarded with a sharp scream of agony and a slight fizzing sound that was accompanied by the smell of burning flesh.
Opening his eyes, Harry smiled with relief at the sight in front of him; Drusilla, lying on the ground, clutching her side in agony, a neat semicircle grazing her ribcage.
Then he remembered Fiona, and, turning around, charged towards his friend, narrowly avoiding the struggle between Angel and Rigelus in the process, before he was standing beside her.
Checking her over, he was relieved to see that she seemed relatively unharmed; she was still breathing, and there weren't any obvious cuts or broken limbs, but her jaw was unpleasantly distorted in a manner that Harry was sure couldn't be healthy.
Swallowing, Harry prayed that he remembered this spell Hermione had taught him a couple of years back after she'd become a Healer, placed his wand against Fiona's jaw, and said clearly, "Bono Reparo."
Instantly, a soft glow surrounded Fiona's face, and her jaw automatically slid back into a normal shape, followed closely by Fiona blinking her eyes open and looking up at Harry with a curious expression.
"What just happened?" she asked him casually.
"Well, Drusilla's down for the moment, I've just healed your injured jaw, and right now, you just need to give it a few minutes to let the spell settle before you get back up," he said, shrugging in an attempt to match her casual manner. Then he stood up, drew his wand, and turned to stand in front of her. "I'll make sure nobody tries to hit you while you're down."
"Whoa!" Gwen yelled, leaping back as Gash launched another powerful punch at her; the bastard hadn't even transformed into his wolf shape and he was already giving her trouble. Evidently, his strength wasn't totally dependant on him being in his animal form; he could access its power even when he was only human, if only to a certain degree.
"Stay back, you freaky bastard!" she yelled, throwing a ball of electricity at his chest. He flinched at the strike, which at least showed that he could be hurt, but given that he continued throwing punches at her after that, it evidently wasn't enough damage to stop him for any length of time.
"You little BITCH!" Gash roared, as his nails suddenly grew longer and he lashed out at her again, his claws hurtling towards her arm. Instantly, Gwen boosted the electricity in that part of her body, forming a small electric force field that burnt through the claws before Gash could do anything to stop himself.
As Gash roared in pain, Gwen spread her arms out, fingers stretched as far as they could go, crackling with electricity. The energy began to gather in the palms of her hands, and, as she looked up at Gash, who was already recovering from his last injury, he was shocked to see that there were small sparks coming from her pupils.
"Wh… what are you doing?" he asked her, as he actually took a step back as he stared at her.
Gwen grinned. "What does it look like?" she asked, sounding a bit more powerful then before, somehow. "You wanted to hit me hard, Gash; I'm just returning the favour…"
She chuckled slightly as she moved her hands in front of her, bringing the massive balls of energy together. "Tenfold," she added casually.
Then she fired a massive bolt of electricity at his chest, watching dispassionately as Gash screamed and roared in pain, his whole body crackling with electrical energy, before collapsing to the ground, his body slightly smoking and his eyes half-shut, as he stared up at the roof.
Gwen lowered herself to the floor as her residual electrical energy vanished into the air, and her eyes returned to normal. Looking over at Gash, she sighed slightly; he'd taken everything she'd been able to hit him with, and had almost stood up to it.
She really hoped that was him down; she wasn't sure she'd managed to hit him like that for a second time.
"Stop that!" Rigelus yelled, as Angel grabbed his fist before it could strike and just stared casually at the other vampire.
"Stop what?" Angel asked casually, before launching a punch of his own at his opponent's scar, knocking him down to the ground. "Stop overpowering you? Stop outmanoeuvring you? Stop just being better then you?" He grinned and leaned over slightly to look his old demon in the eyes. "Not going to happen, Rigelus; you're weaker then me now. You're as experienced as I am, but I've got the advantage in raw strength and speed; you don't have much of a chance at stopping me."
Rigelus growled and launched a punch at Angel's face, leaping up while the part-vampire stumbled back slightly in surprise.
"You'll pay for that!" he roared at his former host. "I'm far better then you could ever be!"
With those words, he redoubled his efforts, launching several punches at Angel, who was forced back as he desperately deflected the blows. Angel vaguely saw Harry run past the two vampires as they thought, but didn't bother calling out for help; this was his battle, and he'd win it on his own merits. Besides, he doubted Harry could spare time from his own battle to help Angel win his; the young wizard and definitely looked pretty concerned when he'd dashed past…
Turning his attention back to Rigelus, Angel briefly went over his options in his head, before hitting upon the one thing he could do that might win this fight, mainly because he'd practically never used it before. True, he normally hated hitting below the belt, but in this case, it just had to be done…
He rammed his knee directly into Rigelus's groin.
Yelping in pain, the other vampire briefly dropped his guard, allowing Angel to launch a powerful punch at his foe's head, knocking him down and out straight away.
"What… are… you!" Whitney roared, as he launched punch after punch at Terry, who deflected every one of the blows easily; Whitney's new body may have been based on his own, but, at heart, Whitney was still just a normal human being, with too much strength and little practical knowledge of hand-to-hand combat, while Terry had over a century of experience to draw on, coupled with the information pre-programmed into him by Skynet.
"What I am is simple enough, Mr Fordman," Terry said, smiling as he grabbed both of Whitney's fists in his hands to look the other cyborg in the eyes. "I am the Terminator. You know, Skynet, Sarah Connor, Cyberdyne, artificial intelligence, all that sort of thing?"
Whitney looked at Terry for a few seconds, and then lashed out with a powerful kick to the stomach that knocked Terry off-balance long enough for Whitney to break free.
Whitney just smiled at Terry as his opponent regained his footing, looking at the older cyborg with a casual confidence.
"Nice lie, whoever you are," he said, smirking slightly as he spoke. "But you can't fool me; I'm not the crazy one here. The Terminator's just something from a film; it doesn't exist, except as an idea."
Then his smile dropped and he looked back at Terry. "Besides, even if you are telling the truth, the last time I checked, the Terminator also got destroyed at the movie's end."
Terry sighed, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small device that looked like an electric razer, which he then pointed at Whitney.
Whitney looked at it in confusion. "What…?" he asked.
Terry looked Whitney in the eyes.
"Shut up," he said.
Then he charged forward and rammed the device in Whitney's chest, sending a massive electrical discharge throughout Whitney's metallic skeleton. Whitney opened his mouth as though he was going to scream, but then a small explosion sounded from somewhere inside him, and he collapsed onto the ground.
Terry sighed as he looked down at the body.
"They never learn…" he said, smiling slightly at the fallen form. He knew it wasn't much of a victory, but it meant a great deal to him. After all, Whitney was almost the flip-side to him, in a sense; he was a machine who'd learned how to be more human, and Whitney was a man who had become a machine.
He was just grateful that was as far as the similarities in their histories went; it was disturbing enough having a copy of him running about the place, he didn't want to sympathise with it as well…
"Whoa!" Eilidh yelled, as she launched herself up into the air, narrowly avoiding the oncoming laser fire from the suit. "Watch where you're firing that thing, willya?" she yelled at the man inside the suit, all the time trying to come up with a good strategy to put this guy down.
Telekinetically tearing the suit apart had its charms, she'd have to admit, but it would take too long and she couldn't be sure what to hit first to stop him firing at her. The mind clench would be the easiest, but she needed time to focus for that to work, and these guys weren't giving her that opportunity right now…
That left only one option.
Landing on the ground, she spun around to face the two suits that she was dealing with and, before they could do anything, had raised her hands and thrown them back into the wall behind them. Eilidh watched as the force of the impact shook the already rather fragile wall apart, sending quite a few tonnes of rubble tumbling onto the suits, burying them in a matter of seconds.
Eilidh smiled.
"And that, I believe, is where you stay down," she said to the pile of rubble.
Then a third suit flew past her and crashed into the rubble, the tearing sound of metal making it clear that it wouldn't be getting back up any time soon.
Eilidh sighed and turned back to look at Clark, who was standing in the middle of the building with one hand outstretched in a punching motion.
"Did you have to hit him that hard?" she asked, indicating the fallen suit behind her.
Clark shrugged. "Had to be sure," he said, taking his hand down and looking around at the others. He smiled; everyone had apparently defeated their respective opponents. Now all they needed was to know how things had gone for the others in their confrontation with Im Ho Tep, and they were home and dry…
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a door burst open and Bond, Elektra and the Doctor came charging through it.
The Doctor quickly glanced around the room and then smiled up at the rest of the League.
"Excellent job, everyone," he said, smiling broadly, his face looking like his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets, he was grinning so much…
Then his gleeful expression vanished, and he looked serious again. "Now, get ready to fight."
"The Im Ho Tep fight didn't go too well, then?" Fiona asked, as Harry hauled her back onto her feet and she looked over at the new arrivals.
"Oh, it might have gone well; it's just that the bastard turns out to be a resurrected Dorian Gray who's sold his soul to the Devil!" Elektra yelled desperately. She was already scanning the area around her, as though trying to anticipate which they'd be attacked from when Gray came in.
"What!" Terry yelled, looking over at Elektra in horror. "Dorian Gray is ALIVE!"
"Yes, he is," Bond said, looking over at the cyborg. "No offence, but I thought you joined the League after he was killed; why are you so bothered by it?"
Terry looked over at Bond, looking a bit angry at first, but then he calmed down and sighed.
"I think it's more the principal of the thing," he said, eventually. "You know, he was a major threat to the first real family I ever had; I just… just hate the idea that he's back to cause more damage, I guess."
"I see," Bond said, nodding briefly before looking around at the League. "Everyone get ready; we know for a fact that Gray can't be killed for conventional means, and he may be stronger than you'd expect if he can be believed. We can't afford to give him the chance to get a shot in!"
"Hey, relax, willya?" Gwen smiled, looking over at the spy. "There's one of him, and ten of us. How hard can it be?"
A wall crashed open, and the darkly-clad form of Dorian Gray walked into the room, followed by four massive werewolves, four men clad in black leather suits who could probably be vampires, and two men with large metallic appendages stretching over their arms up to their elbows.
Gray smiled at the League, twirling his cane-sword as he looked at them.
"Ready to die?" he asked them casually.