The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen:
The New Generation
Chapter 3
The League is Gathered
That afternoon, Shaw had stopped by each of their homes to fetch them. When Michael got in, he saw that Joe, Amy and Bob were already in the limousine. He looked around in awe.
"Bloody awesome, innit? I've never been in a limo before," Joe said, grinning.
Michael said, "Yeah." He went in and sat down beside Bob, opposite Joe and Amy, who at least seemed to be at peace at the moment. "All right, Bob?"
Bob nodded. "Hey, Michael."
"Where's Jekyll?" Michael asked. Joe and Amy shrugged.
Bob furrowed his brows. "Who's Jekyll?"
"He's this miserable lad who don't like company. Real little. He's like a boffin, though, really smart."
"Oh."
Mr. Shaw could be heard talking to Mr. And Mrs. Quatermain. There was a short laugh, and Mrs. Quatermain told him to take care of Michael. Shaw said to not worry, everything would turn out all right. After exchanging their goodbyes, Mr. Shaw entered the vehicle.
"Everyone all right back there?"
"Yes, Mr. Shaw," came their reply.
"All right, then." The car started, and soon the ride went along smoothly.
Bob turned to Michael. "Hey, Michael, whaddya think about this? I never knew about a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and here I am, chosen for the job."
"Yeah. I think it's awesome, being chosen. Makes me feel kinda special, you know? I didn't know there was a League, too, before Shaw came along and told us about it. I think Jekyll's the only one who knew about the League. No surprise, though. He knows all sorts of weird things."
Bob looked at Amy and Joe, who were bickering in whispers.
"What's up with them?" he asked Michael.
"Ah, well, see, Joe fancies Amy but she doesn't quite return the feeling. In fact, I think she hates him."
"Bickering like an old married couple, aren't they?" Bob sniggered.
Michael snorted. "Yeah."
They sat through the remainder of the car ride making small talk and listening to Joe and Amy bicker.
After what seemed to be an hour or so, the car slowed to a halt.
Bob immediately leapt out of the car, followed very closely by Michael. "Finally…!" Bob exclaimed. "I've just known them and they're already starting to annoy me. How're you able to sit through that, I just don't know."
"I'm probably immune to it by now, from having to endure it… all my life." Michael grinned.
Slowly, Amy emerged from the limo, followed by Joe. They appeared to have stopped with their bickering and were now trying to avoid each other.
"Whoa." Joe's jaw dropped. "What is this place?"
They all looked ahead. There was a huge mansion ahead that looked as though it belonged in the Victorian era.
"Is this where we'll be staying, then?" Joe asked, grinning ear to ear.
"Yes. You'll be staying here for a week before we leave for Ireland." That was Mr. Shaw, who had just gotten out of the vehicle, and was walking towards them. "Come on, we don't want Mr. Jekyll and Miss Nemo to worry. We took a longer time to arrive than I had expected, due to the traffic congestion we encountered. I told them we'd be back in a bit more than half an hour, and look, now it's…" He checked his watch. "Three minutes past five. That's more than an hour." He gestured at them to follow him. "Come on, then."
They walked a short distance and reached the mansion in just a few minutes. Shaw lifted the ornate door-knock and rapped the door twice. After a quick wait, the heavy wooden double doors creaked open – just like in the horror films, remarked Joe – and there stood a prim and proper butler. "Bloody hell, we get a butler too!" Joe exclaimed, grinning ear to ear now. "Will he do everything I tell him to, then?"
The butler frowned at him. "I assure you, young man, I can hear you perfectly from here. And, yes, I suppose I do have to take your orders, as per the arrangement. However, if Mr. Shaw's orders contradict your own, I'm afraid he outranks you."
"Don't matter… ! You'll let us do anything we want, won't you, Mr. Shaw?" Joe asked, quite sure that the answer would be yes.
Shaw looked at Joe and shook his head in defeat. "We'll see."
The butler led the way through the mansion's confusing corridors.
"Shame… I won't be able to sneak around. It's like one o' those… labyrinths… in here. Oi, Mike, if I do get lost in my night-time wandering, do come and look for me, will ya?" Joe said cheerfully.
Shaw gave Joe a stern look. "You will not go on any night-time strolls, do you hear me? Now, this mansion is one of the safest place to be. But it is only safe because of a very good security system. Our traps, if you will, are handed down from the previous generations of land owners. They don't possess the level of sophistication our modern security systems have, therefore they cannot tell if you are a friend or an enemy. You could very well be killed in friendly territory."
Joe was quite put off by the lecture and he could be seen making faces at Shaw when Shaw turned away.
"Ah, here we are," Shaw said as the butler pushed another set of double doors open.
Inside, seated at a long dinner table, was Jekyll and an Indian girl, sitting opposite each other. They appeared to be in conversation.
"I believe most of you already know Mr. Jekyll. Allow me to introduce… Miss Judith Nemo."
She waved shyly and said, "Hello." Michael noted that she had a perfect English accent.
"Well, I'll leave you all to it, then. Dinner will be ready in an hour. You needn't leave this room, for I'm sure you have plenty to discuss." With that, Mr. Shaw left, along with the butler, who closed to doors behind them. The children were incredibly relieved when they didn't hear any locks clicking shut.
Those who had just arrived settled into the seats surrounding Jekyll and Nemo.
"Jekyll!" Michael began. "How'd you get here before us?"
"Mr. Shaw was kind enough to grant me asylum here when he visited my house yesterday. The circumstances are rather personal, but suffice it to say, I have been here since yesterday."
"Ah, right. How is it? I mean," Michael grinned, "Any ghosts or anything?"
"No, I have yet to see a spirit about."
"Right. Good to know." Michael turned around to see Joe chatting with Judith.
"So, Jude… India's very exotic, innit?" Joe asked, and Amy could be heard telling him matter-of-factly, "She's English..." Joe turned to her, annoyed, and shushed her.
"I wouldn't know. I've never been to India. I'm from Oxfordshire. And please, all my friends call me Judy."
Having being proven wrong, Joe tried to cover up. "Yeh, I know. But India's nice and exotic all the same, innit?"
"Yes, I think so. I'd love to go there some day, see how it's like."
He quickly decided to change the subject. "Hey, how'd you get along with that Jekyll lad before we got here? I mean, he's got his head buried in some musty old book most of the time, and when he's not, he'll be sitting around moping like he's at a funeral, y'know? He's that lost." Joe circled his index finger at his temple – the universal sign for crazy. "Y'know. He's a nutter."
"I happen to be very keen on books," Judy said curtly. "And as a matter of fact, I found him to be a very interesting person to talk to."
"Ah. Right." Amy was smirking at Joe, who glared at her.
"Jekyll and I had an interesting conversation about our ancestors. I'm the descendant of the legendary Captain Nemo. He was an inventor, and a very skilled fighter, too. Jekyll said he realized his own forefather wasn't the best person there was, but he was a brilliant scientist, just on the wrong trail is all."
"Yeah? I bet my great-grandfather was a brilliant man or some sort of glorified warrior, too."
"You're Skinner, aren't you? We were just talking about your forefather. Jekyll said that he was a ruffian and a thief." Joe looked indignant. "Oh, don't get me wrong. He proved himself to be a good man in the end."
"Yeah? I won't be surprised if your great-grandfather turned out to be a pirate."
Joe gave her a look that could kill.
Michael was introducing Bob to Jekyll and they had a nice long chat about worldly issues, with Jekyll mostly just nodding affirmatively. Joe got into an argument with the two girls, and now they were all sulking.
Time had passed quickly, and very soon, Mr. Shaw had returned, along with several servants pushing trolleys of silver platters and the like. Forgetting their arguments for the time being, they happily tucked in to the impressive variety of food.
"Dinner is served."