We all walked out of Dorian's destroyed home, and followed Nemo to one of the docks nearby. We stood and waited in silence. I looked up at the sky. It was the same as when I first got the letter at the circus. I looked at Mina and whispered as quietly as possible,
"Um, what are we waiting on?"
At that very moment, something huge erupted out of the water.
"This," said Nemo, turning to face me "is what we are waiting on."
It seemed to me like it was a huge wall of solid steel was rising several stories up to meet us. It was shaped like a normal ship, the top part of the stern coming out farther than the rest of the ship. On the side was a huge pearl white circle surrounded by quite intricate designs. On the top there was what seemed to be a large crow's nest, but on a very short "mast".
"The Nautilus."
Once Nemo had shown us to all of our rooms, on the glorious Nautilus, he and Allan (followed by Sawyer) went to the main control room to plot out a course to go retrieve the last member. I had no idea why they were making such a big deal about some guy with a super power. It's not like he's a monster or anything…right?
I set my clothing suitcase down on the bed, and went over to a desk to put all of my pyrotechnic things out. As I was getting everything put away, I heard my door quietly open and shut. I kept on with my work, but slowly so I could hear anything going on.
"'Ello Amelia!" Said Skinner loudly behind my back. I jumped and turned around. No one.
"Skinner?" I called out.
"Yes?" behind me again. I turned around. Still no one.
"Skinner, you stay put or I'll…" I didn't want to make any enemies.
"You'll what?" he said to the silence.
I burst out laughing, I couldn't think of anything else to do.
"Amelia," said Skinner, worried "what, exactly, are you doing?"
"I don't know." I said, still giggling.
"You are one crazy acrobat," he said laughing "you know that, right?"
"I guess; if you say so." That's when I felt Skinner's hand ruffle my hair.
"I suppose I could manage to clothe myself," he said sarcastically, his voice heading for the door "in your presence only, of course." That's when I realized that he was naked.
"Skinner," I said as he opened the door "you are a sick man."
"That's what makes me 'extraordinary'." We both started laughing as he left my room.
We had been sailing, or swimming (Nemo explained the submarine and its works to me) for about a day when we sailed into the English Channel and up the Seine which runs through Paris, France, where our last member was residing.
We had been pulled to a stop for about an hour, and I was working on my newest pyrotechnic project; shooting stars. I figured that I needed more deadly weapons, seeing as I was now part of a superhuman team fighting a madman for the world. Shooting stars would simply be small rockets, encrusted with small, sharp pieces of glass, that shot out of your hand and, with the right take off, you could direct it to hit an enemy wherever needed. After that was successfully done, I would create bigger versions that would kill an enemy instantly…
I was in the middle of the very delicate process of breaking the glass just so and inserting it into the near-finished shooting star, when the ship shook violently, causing me to cut myself pretty badly on the glass. I quickly tended to my wounds as the ship shook again, accompanied by some angry roars. I paused, holding a cloth to my fingers, listening as the roaring started again and the ship shook again. I secured James' notes and took off down the narrow hall towards the noise.
Once I got close to the commotion, I met up with Mina, whom I followed down the narrow hall the rest of the way. When we got to the door where the noise was coming from, Skinner and Dorian met up with us coming down the hallway the opposite way. We all paused and looked at each other thinking Do you know what's going on, because I have no idea. Then, as whatever was in there roared again, I followed Mina in to the room, followed by Skinner and Dorian. What I saw in there was… interesting.
It was a man, sort of, he was about nine feet tall, extremely muscular, and had arms that reached the ground as he slouched over. His legs and feet, however, were perfectly normal. He was covered in chains and snarled and roared as he effortlessly swiped the frightened and shouting crew men who were trying to tame him with spears, into the walls, knocking them out. For every man swept away, another man came and replaced him.
"Stay back!" shouted Quatermain holding his gun "If you value your lives."
The monster man effortlessly swiped two more men away into the wall behind him. He only stopped when Quatermain started,
"You have done terrible things Mr. Hyde." Hyde stopped his thrashing and started angrily pacing in front of us. I looked around and saw Dorian, Skinner, and Sawyer standing on the opposite side of the room. Mina, Nemo, and I were standing behind Quatermain as he lectured Hyde. We were all very nervous.
"So terrible, that you fled the country." Quatermain continued "And I am ashamed to say, that her Majesty is willing to offer you amnesty for your crimes, in return for your services." Hyde paused when Quatermain said "You want to go home."
Then, to everybody's surprise, he spoke, and in a deep, raspy, yet defined voice
"Home, home is where the heart is, that's what they say. And I have been missing London so." He closed his eyes and recited, "Its smell is as sweet to me as a rare wine." Everybody paused at such refinedness coming from such a savage creature. He opened his eyes and looked in Mina and my general direction. "I'm yours."
I blushed, not knowing who he was talking to. He suddenly turned and looked at Sawyer.
"Don't be afraid."
"Who says I'm afraid?" he said laughing.
"YOU DO!" roared Hyde as he yanked a chain so hard it broke off a piece of the wall and swung it at Sawyer's head, who ducked just in time.
"You stink of fear!" he yelled as Sawyer got up.
"Quite the parlor trick." Said Dorian conversationally.
"You wait till you see my next one." He said angrily.
Suddenly his face was twisted with pain as he tensed up. He glared at Quatermain as he started shaking, faster and faster. There was a loud crack and some smoke as he roared pathetically. When the smoke cleared he was deformed, and I could barely see him before he shook and changed again with a crack. I only got one glimpse of him as he changed and it was not pretty. One half of his face was swollen and the other half small. He only had two fingers on one disfigured arm. His other arm was that of a normal man. His left eye was bulging out and the left side of his mouth was pulled open. He changed again and again and again, until finally, there was nothing but a normal man standing there, panting and sweating, both arms held out.
Call me crazy, but while the others were probably suffering a high case of disgust, the only thing I could feel right then was pity. Pity for any man who had to undergo such painful and, probably, agonizing transformations. He gathered his stretched out pants around his waste as the chains fell off of him and he said shakily
"Doctor Jekkyl, at your service."
Quatermain turned and looked back at us.
"That's it then, the League is set."