Taken In Again
Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.
As usual, Alisha was the last to show up to dinner. She entered through the large white doors, wearing a blue dress the league hasn't seen before. All the members were sat in their usual spots, and staring right at the witch as she walked in. She wasn't surprised Tom and Rodney had told the rest of the league her secret. She walked to a seat further off from the rest of the members, and sat down in hesitation for a response…which was first given by Henry.
"Since when were you going to tell us that you were from the future?"
Alisha opened her mouth to speak, and hung it open in thought of a good answer. With a sigh, she said finally, "I don't know." She took her napkin and was about to put in on her lap, then decided not to.
"I…It's just…It's really hard to describe…hard for you to take in, even if you are The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. There's a lot you still don't know."
Allan made a face. He didn't know the witch much, but he could see the relationship which had obviously grown during his absence.
"Like how you're a different age in the future? What's that all about?" asked Tom.
Alisha's face showed pain. "It's…it's a disguise. The whole thing is pretty complicated."
"I think we'd understand." said Mina coldly.
Alisha sighed, making a face to show how she didn't want the league to know something.
"I can't blend in my time as the way I am. People know me as a different age. So I used my magic…unknown by everyone in my epoch…to make myself older and to go back in time. I never felt that I fit in my era, so I thought I could live a secret, double life as Alisha the witch of 1899. In my time…I do live my alternate life, however. I'd like to show you, but I'm afraid you wouldn't fit in and someone would find out our secrets, or you wouldn't accept me for what I am.
"Well of course we would accept you, Alisha." said Henry with a slight smile. Rodney's eyes made a glare in his direction of near suspicion.
"I—I—" Alisha just simply couldn't find the words.
"What exactly do you think we wouldn't accept?"
Alisha looked up to Rodney, slowly taking all this in. Giving a deep breath, the words fell out of the witch's mouth.
"In reality, I'm fifteen years old."
A minute passed over the league's expressions…empty, confused, and slightly sickened, especially for Rodney.
"Oh…my god." he said, staring down the dining room table.
"You're…what?" said Mina.
"Well that's young!" Tom said, one of the most positive members.
Nemo and Allan had nothing to say, however their taken aback emotions said it all.
"I was born fifteen…I am fifteen…the way I am now is a disguise…a mask."
"A darn good mask!" Rodney exclaimed, purposely to himself.
Henry thought of the irony; of the dance where he met Alisha in the first place. She had never taken off her mask even since then, apparently. He didn't seem surprised, or disgusted with the fact. He didn't even seem to mind at all. Neither did Nemo or Allan. Mina seemed to slightly like the fact, however Tom…and especially Rodney looked a bit more disturbed.
"Okay then, so you're fifteen…heh…well that's a new one!" Allan exclaimed. "How many more secrets do you have, anyway, Churchill?"
Alisha gave a smirk, happy that they were taking this lightly.
"Can you be fifteen here?"
Alisha looked to Tom. "Sure."
"Huh…can you show us?"
Between a sigh and a hesitation, Alisha got up from her chair, slightly lifted her head, and in one quick second, the twenty seven year old witch morphed to fifteen years old. She wore a different outfit…less mature than normal and darker features. Rather than light blonde hair and lilac-sky blue eyes with glowing skin, Alisha now had a more golden blonde color for hair, grey-blue eyes, and a red-beige skin tone. Her hair was down rather than pinned up, and grown out bangs on the sides of her forehead gave a feathery affect. Her outfit consisted of dark blue skinny jeans, a brown belt, two blue layered shirts, and tall black UGG boots.
"Woah." Tom raised his eyebrows, slightly amused of the non-expected teenager in front of his eyes, supposedly portraying the Alisha he knew.
"Mmm…" Alisha gave a 'Bite me' kind of look to Tom, and he seemed to back off. In a flash, Alisha soon changed back to her normal…well, normal for the league…state.
"Right…well…the point is, when you can't find me, I'm going to be in my time trying to continue my teenage years. I wouldn't mind you to visit; we'd just have to keep it low-key. People would ask questions as to who you are, why you're dressed as you are, why you talk as you do, and why you're…like…twenty years older than me."
Allan gave a chuckle. Alisha gave a slight sigh.
"I'd just like to see more of 2008. All we saw was her basement." Tom gave a slight snicker as well, addressing the league. Alisha leaned over to smack him lightly on the arm. Rodney Skinner continued to remain silent.
"Of course…I would as well like to see as well what the future brings all of us." Nemo said.
"Don't get your hopes up." Alisha smiled. Nemo didn't seem to understand.
"Well, anyway…all this intense talk about our futuristic member is working me up an appetite!" As Tom said this, he reached for something off the seafood buffet in the table's center. As Alisha had a sudden thought however, she caught Tom's hand in action. "Wait!"
"Hey…what's the big idea?" said Tom, half-annoyed, half-amused as he rubbed his arm after retrieving it.
"You all want to see 2008? The why don't we all eat out!"
"You mean like at a restaurant?" asked Tom, getting the idea.
"Yeah! And as we drive there…in the automobile if you don't mind, Nemo…I don't own a car yet at fifteen years old…you can all see what the year 2008 for New York looks like. You'll even be able to taste the food of 2008!" she gave a small giggle.
"That sounds like a great idea!" said Mina, slightly surprised to her positive attitude towards Alisha's idea. The rest of the league seemed quite surprised, too. Even Alisha.
"I'm in." said Rodney, vaguely shrugging his shoulders.
"Me too. I'd love to see the future." Henry suggested.
"Same! You in, Allan…Nemo?" said Tom.
Allan nodded his head from side to side, indicating his scarce approval. Tom looked to Nemo.
"That sounds like a marvelous idea. I'll set off and get the automobile prepared."
As the Captain got up to leave, the league expressed various emotions. Mina seemed slightly stunned and confused, Allan and Henry seemed to act content, Tom seemed excited, and Rodney slightly uneasy. Alisha observed the league and their reactions.
God knows what's going on that head of his…I mean…he must feel some sort of guilt for having sex with an under aged teenager. I kind of feel sorry for him.
…
No…no, not really. That's just not my style.
Henry, on the other hand I can tell is quite pleased…more positive than usual, I mean. I don't know if he's happy with the news, but he doesn't have angst like normal. Which is a good sign…I think. I guess he can think of 'Alisha the teenager' as a Hyde for me, like I have two sides as well…however what he doesn't know…is that she's the Jekyll, not the Hyde.
---
As Captain Nemo retrieved the automobile, the league assembled around the device.
"I must ask, Miss. Churchill. Wouldn't the automobile stand out in your era? What kind of transportation systems do they acquire there?"
Alisha gave a huge grin. "Their called 'cars'. Exactly like the automobile, yet slightly less designed. The same mechanisms are used, though. They can be called automobiles, too."
Nemo seemed very surprised. "My automobile as the main transportation system for your era?"
"Yup! I don't know exactly who they said first invented it, but yours is the first I've ever seen yet. The guy they say invented the first car…Henry Ford; I think…I don't even know if he was born yet…"
"I don't mind credit. I'd just love to think my technology is the basis for your time."
Alisha nodded in agreement. "I'd say so…and give you the credit." She smiled. "OKAY! So, let's get rolling, shall we?" Alisha took out her personal P.P.R., and was about to draw the portal when Tom stopped her.
"Wait! Wouldn't the car end up in your basement?"
"Oh, no. You can adjust where the portal opens. That's very crucial, too. The people in the future don't know about this type of technology yet, or the abilities we all contain. That's why we need to keep private and unexposed. The portal should be open in a place where no one is around."
"Oh...okay. Then where will you open it?"
"My garage."
With that, Alisha drew a circle within mid-air, the portal opened, the league got inside the automobile, and drove through the portal…with it closing behind them.
The doors of Alisha's garage crashed to pieces as the automobile drove straight through the elderly, chipped wood. At the crash, the automobile spun to the side, facing the barely destroyed garage. The league stood there in guilt, Alisha in slight embarrassment.
"Uh…I guess I forgot to open the doors first?"
Tom gave Alisha a look. She smiled guiltily.
Just then, the rest of the garage collapsed along with the pile of wood once known as doors. Alisha winced at the sight.
"A-heh-heh…oops…"
Mina raised her eyebrows in disbelief. Henry looked as if he felt the structure's pain, thinking 'that's got to hurt'.
"Ah, no need." With a wave of her hand, the damage of the garage had been undone…rewound to its normal state.
"How'd you do that?" asked Tom.
"Anything that goes wrong in this world, caused by the other, can always be undone. Lets just leave it at that."
"Uh…okay?"
The league now noticed the small backyard, and deck attached to the single floored, grey house. The league heard a dog's bark, and saw Reeda's face in the glass kitchen door.
"Hey, Alisha…isn't that your dog?" asked Rodney.
"Yeah. The fat, lazy, and unimpressive side of her, anyway."
"You mean she has a double life too?"
"You got it."
"Does everyone?" Rodney raised his eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"Do we have other halves here?"
Alisha thought about that for a minute, never having to come across the fact.
"No…at least, I don't think so…I don't know…" the witch seemed to be very deep in thought and perplexed. Her mind pondered very hard to that thought, really. Had the league members been in this world after all?
"Right…well…where to, Miss. 2008?"
Alisha gave Tom a questionable look to her nickname. "Miss. 2008?" He shrugged, and in return Alisha sighed. "I'll drive." She motioned for Nemo to switch places with her. He got out of the car, taking Alisha's place as she sat in the driver's seat.
"Aren't you a little young to be driving?" Rodney smiled.
Alisha shot back a vicious look, and the invisible thief playfully backed off.
---
Alisha drove down the main highway of her town. The league viewed a small town in upstate New York. It had several stores, restaurants, and a large mall all near the highway, and the weather was cold, windy, and slightly misty. Alisha had driven for about twenty minutes down the road when she turned right into a parking lot. A few small stores surrounded a restaurant with red awnings, a wooden build, and a sign that said "Red Lobster".
She parked the car vertical from the place, and looked to Henry, Mina, Tom, Allan and Rodney, who sat in the backseat of the automobile, Nemo being seated in the front next to Alisha.
"I…thought we'd like to enjoy a more futuristic type of nautical dinner." she smiled.
The league all at once turned their heads to the large sign of the lighthouse resembling eatery, indicating one which sold seafood.
---
As the league opened the claw-handled doors, they looked around to the dark wooden walls, sea creature patterned seats and wooden tables, and the crowded tank by the door, occupied by monstrous lobsters. The witch went to the podium where a man was waiting to seat his customers, while the league took in the modern scenery. The man led the league to a booth next to the bar, and they sat down; Allan, Mina, and Nemo on one side, Rodney, Alisha, and Tom on the other. Henry sat at the end of the table with an extra chair the member of staff seating the league added. They were handed menus, and the league looked at them with curious and engrossed hunger.
"So…does the food taste any different than in 1899?" asked Rodney. He didn't look up from his menu.
"Yeah. I would definitely say so." Alisha didn't leave her menu either.
Another waiter attended the league's glasses, filling them to the rim with water. Not long after did a basket of cheese biscuits come to the center of the table. Alisha took one immediately and began to consume it. With shy faces the league gave the biscuits a try. Henry took one first and took a bite, not all so big, yet however not tiny. The league trusted his reaction to their sense of bravery.
He nodded in approval. When Alisha looked up to see the league slightly afraid to try them, she shook her head with a smile.
The league soon ate the biscuits right before their waiter came. He was about twenty five years old, with beige skin, black hair, and a goatee. He wore his proper Red Lobster uniform.
"Hey, my name is Jacob. I'll be your server today. Is this your first time to Red Lobster?"
Everyone but Alisha nodded their heads.
"Is it that obvious?" Rodney said with a slight chuckle.
The waiter laughed, and then passed on for about two minutes informing the league of specials, favorites, and recommendations at Red Lobster. The league, except for Alisha, listened with opportunistic interest. Afterwards the league nodded in confirmation of their suggested orders. The waiter started at Allan.
"For you sir?"
"The…seafood platter, I guess." his Scottish tone was thick and hard, yet soft at the same time unaware if ordering in the future was different than in the past.
"And for drink?"
"Um…you got brandy?"
"Yes sir." The waiter nodded. He wrote down on his pad, and shifted his gaze to Mina.
"I suppose I'll have the twin lobster."
He wrote the order down. "Ok…and what side dish would you like? The choices are rice, salad, vegetables, or mashed potatoes."
"Salad, please."
"Caesar or garden?"
"Um…garden..." It sounded more like a question rather than a statement.
"And for a drink?"
"I'll just have water, thank you."
After scribbling down some more, Nemo was next. He nodded to indicate for him to proceed with his order. He did so, and then came Henry, Tom, Alisha, and Rodney. The waiter saluted his approval, and walked off into the kitchen. The league kept silent before Jacob brought back their drinks. It wasn't long after that when drinks were being refilled, jokes were being passed on, and laughter filled up the entire restaurant. Rodney had his arm around Alisha, and held up his fifth glass of scotch, telling a supposedly amusing story. Alisha seemed uncomfortable with Rodney touching her, and attempted to take his arm off. She simply dug into her food, strangely having a hard time to avoid the fun. Tom and Henry joined in as well, however not as implicated. Nemo, Mina, and Allan all laughed at a joke here and there, but stayed calm during the night's episode.
And so it would seem the league is settling in on my era. As much as I enjoy the comfortable feel they can take from it, I can only fear the worst as to my secret being let out. And that somehow, the portal will be attained by our enemy, whomever that may be. Yet I smile, willingly to let the night pass away in sanctuary.