Chapter 57 - Breaking Point
Continued
With Mina and Hyde's ferocious help, the gunmen were swiftly defeated. The League was forced to break apart immediately after. Mina had to leave to help Robur and Nemo. Hyde reluctantly manipulated back into Jekyll and had started to help Quatermain. With Sawyer guarding them both, Lupin rushed to Nyctalope's side.
"Stay awake, Leo. You must stay awake," Lupin pleaded. Nyctalope was sat up against the tree trunk, and he looked awful.
"I'll be fine," Nyctalope groaned. "Go, the others need you. Free Champeau." He hissed in pain as he tried to sit up.
"Keep still, I'll come back for you," Lupin promised. But Nyctalope was right, he was needed.
Lupin called out. "Please, will one of you look after Nyctalope until I get back? Keep him awake."
Jekyll looked up from Quatermain's arm, his eyes shifting as he prioritised patients. He glanced at Quatermain, who told him to go. Jekyll nodded to Lupin, climbed out of the car and to the trunk Nyctalope was sheltered behind.
Lupin was satisfied, he trusted Jekyll enough. He rushed toward the Albatross, knowing he needed to wrap this up, and quickly.
Jekyll looked down at the young man he had injured, an innocent man at that. He saw Nyctalope was holding onto his ribs, wincing and struggling to take deep breaths.
"Let me see that," Jekyll said gently, but Nyctalope shook his head.
"No, 't touch it." He groaned and let his head fall back against the trunk. His breaths were raspy.
Jekyll inched closer. "I understand that it's sore and you have plenty of reason not to trust me, but I also need to assess the damage Hyde has caused. Please, let me help you. You could be putting yourself at great risk." Concussion, breakages, internal bleeding, the list went on, but Jekyll decided not to say it out loud.
Nyctalope sighed, but yielded, forcing his arm away from his injured torso with a deep wince
"Thank you, I'll be as gentle as I can," Jekyll promised.
Nyctalope turned his head away and gasped as Jekyll raised his shirt, very gently tracing his fingers across the newly formed bruises. The lighthouse and the automobile lights were helpful, but he needed better light to really inspect the damage. No ribs felt like they were digging in, so he hoped he had time, that his ribs hadn't pierced any internal organs.
Jekyll sighed and lowered his shirt. "I need you to hold on until I have better light. Steady breaths… Nyctalope?"
Nyctalope nodded and tried to keep still and steady, struggling to stay awake. He'd also been beaten toward an inch of his life, even now, Nyctalope worried just how bad the damage was.
Lupin had barely gone halfway up the gangplank when Fantômas came rushing towards him. Lupin drew his gun, but he didn't have time to fire it. Fantômas was fast, and with an agonising twist of his already injured wrist, he was able to snatch the gun from him. He grabbed a fistful of Lupin's hair while he was close and dragged him in close, pressing the gun against his throat, right under his chin. Lupin yelped in alarm and desperately held onto Fantômas' arms, trying to ease the pain he caused.
A sharp yank forced Lupin to hold still, but he did not let go of Fantômas' arms, he couldn't fight that instinct.
"What wonderful timing! Do as you're told, Lupin, and I might even let you live. One wrong move and I'll blow out your brains," Fantômas growled.
Lupin scowled to himself but said nothing. Idiot that he was! He should have been better than that!
"I don't suppose you would care to surrender quietly?" Lupin grunted. "At least return my pocket watch, hm?"
"For such an intelligent man, you're disappointing," the assassin jibed. "But considering you managed to get here in time, I'd say you've earned it. It's in my left pocket."
"And despite all of your attempts to keep me out of this business, here I stand. I wouldn't say I'm overly disappointing," Lupin said, taking the time to retrieve his watch. He liked that one too much to leave it in Fantômas's hands. It was a gift from Victoire.
"You stand for now," Fantômas purred.
Now the scuffle was over, Lupin could see Quatermain had realised he had been grabbed. He had his gun in his good hand, but Lupin was sure that wasn't the hand he usually used. Sawyer was also at the ready. For goodness sake, Lupin hoped their aim was as good as was rumoured, or else he was a goner. With a hand in his hair and a gun digging into the bottom of his jaw, he knew there was little he could do.
"So now what do you intend?" Lupin asked quietly.
"There's a house in Germany waiting for me where I can continue my… work in France from afar- unless your new friends decide to shoot straight through you. Let's find out, shall we? Do they really care about you and want to be allies?"
Fantômas forced Lupin to walk back down, but it was awkward and Fantômas dragged his head back further than what was comfortable, and he hid his own head behind Lupin's body, so Quatermain couldn't try and shoot him.
"Head over to the empty car," Fantômas instructed, "Facing the Englishman and American at all times."
Lupin obeyed, he really didn't have much choice. He shuffled toward the empty automobile, the one with a roof.
Fantômas whistled sharply and a few of his men came out of hiding, the last few, approaching the automobile without fear.
"Guns down, gentlemen," he called out to the League. Quatermain didn't budge, neither did Sawyer. For a moment, Lupin wondered if he was just going to shoot straight through him and kill Fantômas that way. He really started to believe it the longer they waited. He meant nothing to the League. He was another stranger, another enemy, and they were more than capable of the shot.
"Or you'll kill your hostage?" Quatermain tested.
"Absolutely, he can block your bullets alive or dead. Don't tempt me, Quatermain. He's already on very thin ice." Fantômas yanked at his hair to emphasise the 'very' and made Lupin hiss.
It wasn't like Lupin could exactly keep eye contact with the League in this position. He closed his eyes for a moment. He was going to have to take matters into his own hands.
"Looks like things haven't gone to plan. Nemo and Robur don't look very dead to me," Lupin pointed out, glancing up towards the Albatross to see that Skinner and Mina had managed to get both captains up from falling to their death.
"Nemo is finished. Even if not, they soon will be."
Lupin frowned, he didn't understand. Fantômas pulled him down closer and whispered "It's too late anyway, so I'll give you a hint… Tick tock, tick tock."
He kept Lupin firmly in front of him until they were close to the door. "Open it."
Lupin knew now was going to be his best chance to escape. He was sure Fantômas would shoot him as soon as he and the other Henchmen were inside. Those men had already climbed in. Fantômas slowly let go of his hair, so Lupin could look down to see the doorhandle but the gun remained.
When Lupin let go of Fantômas' bloodied arm and made to reach for the door, he suddenly shoved Fantômas' arm up into the air and threw his head back, a startling dare, but a shot fired out. Lupin felt it whizz past his face and hit only air. Lupin battled to freedom and rolled out of range, barely missing the few shots Fantômas sent in his direction. Quatermain tried to fire but Fantômas ducked behind the car and Quatermain's shot, for once, missed. He didn't have the angle to try again. Fantômas climbed inside as it sped away.
For a moment, Lupin sat there in shock, his hands shaking, rubbing the top of his head to try to ease the pain where Fantômas had yanked out hair. He couldn't believe it. He'd gotten away again! There had still been questions that Lupin wanted the answers to.
Lupin slammed his good fist into the earth, "Damn it all!"
Sawyer hurried over to him, "You alright? You hurt?"
Sawyer helped Lupin up off the ground, Lupin glared down at the route they'd taken. He couldn't follow. He realised there was no time to worry about it. Fantômas' warning was too fierce to ignore. His mind was working vigorously to put the final pieces of the puzzle together. Fantômas had left one last puzzle. Perhaps one of his worst yet.
They soon will be...
Tick tock, tick tock.