Adeline Fogg sat in her workshop tinkering away at the new device she'd been working on. If her calculations were correct it would revolutionize the way modern women washed clothes. Of course the mechanics of the device never wanted to work properly and required the smallest amount of finagling to do their jobs. Still Ms. Fogg loved her work and with her beloved uncle aging rapidly she felt it was her duty to carry on the family reputation and business.

Just as she began to fiddle with one of the steel screws someone cleared their throat, causing the young women to look up. Her brown eyes found her uncle's longtime friend and butler Lau Xing standing in the doorway. A smile spread across the young girl's lips. "Good afternoon, Lau Xing. Is Uncle alright?"

The white haired Chinese man nodded, "He is well. You have a visitor."

Adeline's dark eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion, "I am a bit busy at the moment if you please inform whoever it is that I will see them at a later time-"

"I'm afraid he said it is urgent," Lau replied.

The young women sighed, "Very well, send them in."

Lau nodded and disappeared down the hall before returning with a well-dressed young man, probably four or five years her senior, with his top hat tucked under his arm. "Miss Fogg, this is Mr. Sanderson Reed."

Adeline rose slowly from her chair and shook the man's hand, "A pleasure to meet you Mr. Reed. Would you care for some tea or perhaps something a bit stronger?"

The man shook his head as he sat down in front of her desk, "No ma'am that won't be necessary. I will not rob you of your precious time, this will not take long."

She nodded and sat down once more, "That will be all Lau, please make sure my uncle has his afternoon tea." Lau gave her a small smile before leaving her. "So Mr. Reed, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"I represent a small part of her majesty's special forces. We are putting together a group made of special individuals with special talents to save the world from impending war," Reed explained.

Adeline's eyes widened a bit, "That's quite the operation. I still do not see what it has to do with me?"

"With your uncle out of commission, we cannot hope for him to embark on such a quest. And since you are his student, we would like to offer you the chance to help the Empire," Reed replied leaning forward in his chair a bit. Adeline still wasn't sure what to say.

"What would this sort of quest entail?"

"There will be six others in the League that will help you stop forces that threaten to throw the world into chaos. If you are interested the first meeting will be later this week," Reed said as he stood up. "Thank you for your time. I shall leave the address with your butler. Good day, Ms. Fogg."

"Good day, Mr. Reed." The second the man was gone, Adeline leaned back in her chair her mind plagued without thoughts. After a few minutes she decided to seek out advice from her uncle.

She found him where he always was, his lab. Despite his progressive age and illness he never refused to stop inventing nor did he allow Adeline to slack in her studies. At that precise moment he was tampering with the engine he'd used for a horseless carriage years ago that he had continued to make improvements on.

"Still not working properly?" she asked smirking slightly.

Her uncle looked up and smiled as he wiped his dirty hands on a handkerchief. "No, I believe that the coals are not producing enough energy for the coils to spin. If there was only some other energy sourceā€¦"

"Uncle Phileas, may I ask your advice on something?"

"I don't see why not. What is it?" her uncle shrugged going back to his tinkering.

"Well, a man came by today and offered me the chance to join this special group to help stop war from spreading through Europe," she tried to say casually. Uncle Phileas paused and looked up at her. "A part of me wants to go, to see new places and do my duty to Britain but how could I possibly help prevent a war that will consume the continent?"

Uncle Phileas walked toward her and put his hands on her shoulders, "Adeline, I have raised since you were a small girl after your parents died. I have tried to pass on all my knowledge to you and give you all the love a family should have. Your Aunt, God rest her soul, Lau Xing, and I have been telling you stories of our adventures for far too long. It's time to make your own." Adeline beamed and hugged her uncle tightly.

"I'll miss you."

Uncle Phileas pushed a strand of her dark hair back behind her ear. "So will I. But you have the chance to make a difference for the new century to come, take it."

And so Lau Xing helped Adeline pack her bags and prepare for whatever was to come and later that week she arrived at the address Mr. Reed had left. In the pouring rain she saw Mr. Reed speaking to an older man dress in safari-like clothes as the latter got out of his carriage.

"You made good time getting here," Reed told the man.

"Not as good as Phileas Fogg. Around the world in 80 days? Huh," the man replied with a small wry smile.

"My uncle would be flattered. Twenty-six years and people still speak of his accomplishment," Adeline said announcing her presence to the two men.

"Ah, Miss Fogg, glad you could make it. Miss Fogg this is Mr. Allan Quartermain. Mr. Quartermain this is Adeline Fogg," Mr. Reed introduced them.

Quartermain shook Adeline's hand, "A pleasure. Will you be joining us in this endeavor?"

Adeline smiled mischievously, "You could say it runs in the family."

"Shall we?" Reed said as he led them inside the massive stone building. Adeline removed her hat as Quartermain removed his coat. Reed continued to lead them down long hallways and staircases under the building.

"Where are we going? Australia?" Quartermain asked with a small chuckle.

The young women chuckled as well, "I hear it's lovely this time of year."

Finally they reached a pair of grand wooden doors, "And here we are sir and lady." Reed opened the doors revealing a grand library with a long wooden table in the center of the narrow but long room. Adeline and Quartermain handed Reed their things as they continued into the darkened room. "I don't like theatrics," Quartermain called to whoever was in the room with them.

"After Africa's velds, London isn't helping your mood, I see," a masculine voice said as a shadow moved toward them in the low light.

"Identify yourself," Quartermain ordered as a few lights brightened.

"I'm known by many names, Mr. Quartermain," was the reply. "My underlings call me sir. My superiors call me 'M'."

"M?" Adeline questioned.

The shadow nodded as more lights brightened, "Just M. I must say, the delight is mineā€¦meeting such notable recruits to this newest generation of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." More lights brightened filling the entire room and revealing a man younger than Quartermain but older than Adeline in an expensive looking suit and sporting a well groomed mustache.

"League of what?" Quartermain questioned glancing at Adeline, who only shrugged in confusion.

"There have been other times when a danger upon the world required the services of singular individuals," M explained.

"How very curious," Adeline muttered.

"This museum is full of the curious," M said as a man with a blue turban and beard entered the room. "Allan Quartermain. Adeline Fogg. Captain Nemo."

The captain nodded, "I know of Mr. Quartermain and of Miss Fogg's lineage."

"And I know of you, Captain," Quartermain replied.

"Rumor has it that you're a pirate," Adeline told the man with curious eyes.

The man glanced at her sternly, "I'd prefer a less provocative title." Adeline nodded in understanding. She'd heard much of Captain Nemo and his adventures.

"Oh I'm sure you would," Quartermain commented with a snarky smirk.

"Gentlemen, please," M interceded as Nemo wound his way around the long table. "Nations are striking at nations. Every attack marked by the use of highly advanced weaponry. They've discovered these attacks are all the work of one man who calls himself the Fantom." Quartermain sat down in one of the chairs and took out a pair of spectacles to browse the files on the table. Adeline looked over his shoulder at the photos of a masked man.

"Very operatic," Quartermain remarked quietly.

Adeline glanced up at M, "What's in it for him?"

"Profit," M answered. "Those machines are his creations. The work of scientists he holds imprisoned. His attacks have every nation clamoring for the very weapons that assailed them."

"Then it's a race for arms," Quartermain stated studying a photo of one of the machines M had mentioned.

"And millions will perish," Nemo added grimly.

"There is one last chance to avert war," M announced taking a seat in one of the chairs. "The leaders of Europe are to meet secretly in Venice."

Quartermain looked up from the file, "And you believe this Fantom will attack the conference?"

M nodded, "If he can find it. We need a team to get to Venice and stop him. This team will consist of seven members. You will have four days."

"Four days to get to Venice?" Quartermain questioned in disbelief. "It's impossible."

"Let me worry about that," Nemo assured them. Adeline studied the captain curiously. What sort of technology did he have at his disposal that would get them to Venice that quickly?

Quartermain smiled a bit crookedly, "Well, now, extraordinary gentlemen indeed."

"One of them is late," M announced. "Harker. The chemist." That had Adeline's interest peeked.

"A chemist? Interesting," she said glancing at the photo of Harker in Quartermain's hand.

"Do we get to blow something up then?" a new voice asked excitedly. Everyone glanced around the room in hopes of finding the owner of the voice, but there was none to be found. Adeline, however, knew that voice.

Quartermain looked confused, "My eyesight must be worse than I thought."

"No, your eyesight's fine," the voice assured the older man as a stack of files fell in front of Quartermain. The elderly man stood up and pointed at M.

"No games, M."

M grinned slightly and stood up, "Sometime ago, a talented albeit misguided man of science discovered the means to become invisible."

"Yes, I recall the tale but didn't he die?" Quartermain continued.

"Well, he did, but his process didn't," the voice explained. "You see, I stole it, and here I stand for all to see."

Adeline chuckled quietly at Quartermain's look of bewilderment. "Is this some parlor game?"

"Believe it," the voice ordered as Quartermain was shoved forward. The man pushed the invisible voice back in retribution. "Easy now, Allan. I'm feelings a bit of a draft in my nether regions." Adeline scoffed in disgust. "And I must say it's quite refreshing" A black leather coat that had been on one of the chairs was suddenly floating in midair as the invisible man put it on. "Allow me to introduce myself. Rodney Skinner, gentleman thief." Skinner took out some sort of container and began to put some sort of white paste on his face so the others could see him. "Now, I thought invisibility would be a boon to my work. Well, you can imagine, it was my undoing. Once you're invisible, it's bloody hard to turn back."

Adeline glanced over at M, "I cannot believe you invited him."

"We finally caught him," M announced with a small shrug.

Skinner looked past Quartermain at the young women, "Ah, Addie, nice to see you again."

"Skinner, nice to not see you again," she quipped casting the invisible man a glare.

Quartermain glanced between them, "You two know each other?"

Adeline nodded, "He came to see my uncle and I to find an antidote to his problem. Couldn't though plus he was a bloody nuisance."

"Aww, Addie, you know you missed me," Skinner teased causing the girl to roll her eyes. "Well, after I got nowhere with Addie and her uncle, M found me and they'll provide an antidote. Well, that's if I'm a good boy."

Quartermain eyed him critically, "And are you a good boy?"

Skinner smirked, "I guess you'll find out, won't you?"

Suddenly the door burst open and in walked a woman, a fair few years Adeline's senior, with auburn hair pinned under a black hat with a long black coat. Her green eyes scanned the room, "Am I late?"

"A woman's prerogative, Mrs. Harker," M assured her.

"Please tell me this is Harker's wife, with a sick note," Quartermain grumbled.

Mrs. Harker sauntered into the room and gave Quartermain an exasperated and knowing look, "Sick would be a mild understatement. My husband's been dead for years."

"Gentlemen, and lady, Mrs. Wilhemina Harker," M introduced. Mrs. Harker nodded to everyone present. "Mina's prior acquaintance with a reluctant league member may prove useful."

Quartermain glance between Adeline and Mina doubtfully, "I'm waiting to be impressed." Adeline restrained herself from reprimanding the man for his callous words.

"The fate of the world is at stake. There are still two more members to recruit," M continued ignoring Quartermain. "The clock hands turn, gentlemen."

"Kicking us out already? A moment ago it was sherry and giggles," Skinner noted before turning up his collar and walking out.