He finally pulled up to the warehouse he had given to the gargoyles as a new home. It was an old place, making it a perfect place to hide. After all, what kind of people would want to visit an old warehouse owned by a nobody? Well, almost nobody.

He walked in. Dragon was watching Intel do something on the computer, which looked like a complex program. It seemed there was more to Intel's know-how of computers than meets the eye. Getting back to the matter at hand, he quickly ran over to Dragon.

"Uhm, Dragon. We have a serious problem," Tim said, dropping off the things Crysta went to get.

"And what is that Tim?"

The leader turned aroudn towards Tim, making him feel like a weak person compared to the height and power he could see in this gargoyle. He regained his confidence, and spoke quickly.

"Crysta was taken hostage by those goons over at Xanatos's Lab. I tried to save her, but they managed to get into their helicopter and escape. I followed, and saw that they took her back to the lab. I'm guessing any hour now they are going to deliver her up to New York and have her experimented on."

Dragon frowned. He quickly walked away a second, then turned around with a swirl of his wings, which looked like a fine cape wrapped up the way it was.

"We must rescue her now!"

"Let's not be rash! We need a plan, and I have one in mind. Gather the other gargoyles. By the time my plan is done through, it will be sunrise, and we can get a fresh start. I seriously doubt they are going to send Crysta to New York right away. Besides, I'm going to head back to the lab and make sure that truck doesn't leave while you guys sleep."

Dragon considered this, and nodded. After about a half-hour, everyone was gathered in the main room. Tim cleared his throat, and started to speak.

"Alright everyone, here's what we are going to do. I had Intel hack into the Lab's computers. THey know something was downloaded from it, but they don't know what. We now have a complete blueprint of the entire lab. Dragon and I will enter from where I was before, in the ventilation system, with me bypassing the security as we go." Tim pointed to a couple of gargoyles. "You, you, and you will sneak around the outside of the compound and take out guards, making sure your not caught. It will be hard for them to see you, since your skin is black. Meanwhile, you two will guard our way out, which will be here." Tim pointed to a point on the map. "I'm guessing at maybe a 15-20 minutes to get in and out. We have to move fast, and pray that no one notices a commotion. Sun's rising, and you guys need your sleep. I'm heading out to make sure Crysta doesn't leave right away. Have a nice sleep."

Everyone nodded, understanding there roles in this rescue. Dragon walked up to him as everyone headed out to the roof.

"Thank you my friend. If it weren't for you, I would have probably taken my clan and rushed in. This way, we will not be noticed. But remember one thing before you take her out of the lab. Get rid of any tracers...we have already found a new home, and I don't want to have to search for a new one and lose this one."

"You won't Dragon. Now head out there and get some sleep. You'll need it."

Dragon nodded, and headed outside. The sun rose, and the loud cracking of the Gargoyles turning to stone could be heard. Tim sighed, and went to work. He had to drop by his home and pick up a few things. He drove at regular speed on the main streets, reaching his home a little slower than he would have if he did a high-speed chase through the side streets. He went inside, and noticed that his browser had mail. He quickly opened it up, and read quickly.

To:Tim Daniels

From: Dominique Destine, CEO of Nightstone Unlimited

Dear Mr. Daniels,

It has come to my attention that another person might be of some use to us at our corporation here. We would like you to come in and do a few demonstrations for us. If you do manage to prove yourself to me and my scientists, then I might consider you part of the Nightstone team. Here is everything you need to know.

Following this were various specifics of some activites in Nightstone Unlimited, and the when and where of what he was doing. It was located at the Miami Division of Nightstone Unlimited. Funny how the CEO herself...Tim smiled, figuring that one of those major corporations had to have a women in charge...wrote the letter. Tim doubted she wrote it, but you never know.

Tim grabbed some equipment he would need, and sent the e-mail reply that he would make the meeting. As he drove towards the lab, he adjusted a few things on the AI overrider he had, just in case some robots got in his way. He pulled up a couple hundred feet away. The truck which would carry Crysta to New York stood there, with the Xanatos logo on it. He sneaked towards the fence, and placed a stick on it. This time, it sparked, showing the fence was electrified. Apparently, they had beefed up the security since he last was here. He placed two clippers on each side of the fence, which rerouted the power through the small machine he had and made this part of the fence unelectrified. He took out some wire cutters and went to work. It was going to be harder to sneak in, since it was daylight. He saw a few guards patrolling the grounds. He dodged behind the truck, and took out a knife. He quickly and quietly slashed the tires of the truck, and made sure that they were flat. This way, they would not leave untilthey got them repaired, he hoped. He looked around the corner of the truck to see a guard was headed his way. He quickly dove under the truck, and brushed quietly his tracks in the dirt. Then, he inched forward, and slashed the front tires. While the guard was standing there, looking for something, he quietly rolled out to the other side, and quickly ran. The guard didn't see him, and he made it out.

Sunset was hours away, so he had some time to spare. He decided to see if he could take care of that meeting with Nightstone Unlimited right away, rather than put it off. He e-mail a letter to Nightstone, and was suprised to get a response minutes later. They were ready for him, all he had to do was come down.

It was about noon when he went down to the Nightstone building in Miami. It wasn't a very large place, but it was big enough to house some important equipment. A guard greeted him at the gate, and he was admitted in. He parked his car, and went inside. The secretary directed him to the fourth floor, which contained the computer and demonstration labs.

He was about to close the doors to the elevator when a women's voice rung out. "Hold the elevator open!"

Tim quickly hit the door open button, as a red-haired women walked into the elevator. "Thank you, was afraid I was going to have to take the stairs." She sneered a bit at the thought, then she pressed the button for the top floor. She was a beautiful, youthful looking women, wearing a red business suit. Tim bit his tounge a bit..then quickly hit the fourth floor button. The ride was quiet. He got off, and looked back to see that the women was eyeing him suspiciously, then she quickly looked away. Tim rose an eyebrow, then shook his head and walked into the labs.

It was like walking into a mess. Right now, wires and comptuer systems were all over the place. It looked like they were just setting up. Tim looked around, as a man quickly ran up.

"Hey you! Who are you?"

"Uh..my name is Tim Daniels, I'm here to see a Dr. Rou in regards to a computer test?"

"Oh, I'm Dr. Rou. Right now, we could really use your help setting up these computers. How long can you stay?"

"Till sunset..then I really need to be leaving."

"Really? Same with our boss...Miss Destine needs her *beauty sleep* she says...what's your excuse."

Tim quickly cleared his throat. "Uh, I just have to...I'm meeting some friends that are really important to me, and tonight is an especially important...date."

"Fine...now get in here and help us out! We can do your test soon as this is done. Shouldn't take more than a couple hours."

The work passed quickly, and soont he wire mess was turned into a neat computer lab. Tim went to get a drink after all the work, then returned to see that Dr. Rou had logged onto the rather large computer that they had set up. On it was the women he saw in the elevator. Could this be Miss Destine? He would probably find out later, for now he had to get a job.

Dr. Rou finished his talk with the mysterious woman, and turned around to face Tim. "Ok, we have a pretty simple thing for you to do. Crack this code here, and we will hire you for a basic salary. The more you do, the more you'll get to do. Might even get to work with Miss Destine herself...she's been looking for an aide for a long time."

Tim nodded, and was allowed onto the computer. When the code came up, he almost choked. This was superior stuff before him, he could probably crack it in a half-hour, which was a long time for him. He went to work, as Dr. Rou timed how fast he went. After the half-hour he was supposed he would be done in, he pressed enter, and cracked the first level of the code. He could see the sun in the window...he had to leave in an hour. A second level of code came up. Tim groaned, as Dr. Rou smiled. He went to work as fast as he could, expertly hitting the keys, and finally getting past Level 2. Finally, the third level came up, as the sun was now falling between the buildings. He cracked the code after the sun was on the horizon. "I really have to go, did I pass the test?"

"Well Tim, "Dr. Rou began, "You did better than the best we have. It took our guys hours upon hours to crack that code, and you did it in one and a half hours. Congratulations, Miss Destine would like to see you tomorrow to help her with a problem."

Tim smiled. Not only did he get to have this job, he would meet Dominique Destine for the first...maybe third time. He nodded to the doctor, and took his leave.

Minutes later, he was on the roof of the warehouse, watching the sun go down. The cracking of stone could be heard, and the gargoyles awoke. All was ready, as Dragon picked him up, and took 10 gargoyles with him. They were all set to rescue Crysta.

They landed several hundred feet from the compound. The black gargoyles Tim had selected moved into position. Tim snuck up, and found the hole he made earlier was gone. Also missing was the truck. That was not good...they may have already taken Crysta, and were walking into a trap. He made a new hole, noting that they had increased the voltage on the fence. The group went in, as a few guards were seen, then not seen...the back gargoyles had taken them out quietly. Tim went into a ventilationn shaft outside the building, with Dragon following in a tight fit. Two gargoyles guarded their exit. Everything, so far, was going to plan.

Tim quickly checked the map, and they made there way towards where Crysta was assumed to be. If she wasn't there, hope was not lost. They could search the computers as to where her location was. They passed over a vent below them, showing them something that increased confidence in their search. It was the garage to the lab, and the truck Tim had disabled earlier was in there under repairs. However, they had just finished. Tim quickly moved towards the lab. Dragon grunted behind.

Then, Tim saw the lab below him. Apparently, it was the same as before, except something was amiss. Again, he propped and brought up the vent, and saw the camera right there. He took a recording of the lab for a few minutes, and then sent it through to the camera...now security was getting a recording of a peaceful quiet lab. Tim quickly jumped down, then immediatly stopped, holding onto the vent. He saw some black devices situated against the wall, not a good sign to him. He quickly had Dragon haul him up, and took out a small smoke bomb. He didn't exactly drop it, but he aimed the direction of the smoke towards the floor. The smoke filled the lower portion of the room, revealing dozens of lasers and tripwires. Tim groaned. "We are going to have to deactivate them. I have an idea...stay here."

Tim quickly dropped to the floor where no wire did pass, and made his way slowly and efficently towards one of the wires. He assumed that this tripwire would set off an alarm, but as he got closer, he saw it was a tripbomb. That means, if he tripped a wire, the whole place could blow, or at least him...he assumed that the place was protected. He quickly flipped the switch on one bomb, deactivating it and the laser. He then took the laser off the wall, and placed it in his pack. "Might be useful."

He hadn't checked to see if Crysta was in the room, but after about 10 minutes of slowly deactivating these bombs, he realized he was behind schedule. He saw no Crysta, and checked the computer to see where she might be. She was in the building, but was under Maximum security, guarded by some heavy duty robots. He quickly placed all the tripbombs in his pack, save one, which he activated and placed so that if anyone moved after opening the door, it would blow. This lab could take a hit, so he set all protection off after hacking his way in. It was set, save for one minor detail. He rerouted all alarms to sound in the lab, so that if they screwed up anywhere, they would go to the lab and get a nice suprise. Finally, he placed a CD into a drive on the computer, and downloaded something. He shut down the computer, and headed towards the vent. He grabbed Dragon's arm, and flipped back up. "Very nice, but we need to hurry Tim. We only have a limited time."

It was true. They were behind schedule, and someone had to notice that something was going wrong. They quickly took the shaft deeper into the facility, and hopped out into the hallway leading into the large room which held Crysta. No one was around thankfully. Tim got an idea, and quickly placed a wire into a computer in the hall. He set off the alarm, and had Dragon cling to above the wall. He sent a message saying a minor intruder alert, and have every person in the maximum security hold exit and get the intruder outside in the hall. It worked, as they all saw Tim, and not Dragon, who expertly came down and knocked em all out. They quickly shut off the alarm, and saw Crysta lying there. Tim quickly sent to work freeing her, for she was behind a forcefield. Unfortunatly, cameras were in the room, and there activites could be seen. A guard hit the alarm, and expected the guards to head to the Hold, but was suprised when he the guards enter the lab, and get thrown back out by the lab blowing up.

Tim quickly worked against the klaxons of the alarm, cracking the code and freeing Crysta. Then, several robots descended on them, the ones that were guarding the room had been activated. Tim quickly whipped out his AI overrider, but it was shot from his hand by one of the guards. It slid across the floor, nearly getting crushed by a landing robot. Dragon went to work, letting out an inhuman battle cry, and started to fight the robots. Tim quickly tried to dodge past one of the robots, but one grabbed him by the neck, and threatned to snap it. However, another cry echoed in the room, and he felt a sudden shake from the robot. It fell, revealing Crysta standing there with some wires in her hand. She had slashed and destroyed it. "Thanks! Now, go help Dragon, I'll try and take care of em."

Crysta nodded, and went over to where Dragon was, who was getting shot by lasers while taking out another robots. Crysta immediatly jumped high, spread her wings, and attacked the flying up and taking some other robots. Tim quickly grabbed his AI overrider, and hit it on maximum power. The robots immediatly went haywire, with minor explosions on there system, and electricty being seen in them. Dragon and Crysta immediatly disengaged. Crysta landed in Dragon's arms and cuddled up...for some odd reason, this made Tim hesitate, and he felt a sort of sadness in himself, but he quickly regained his posture. "We got to get out of here, and guards are starting to join the party." Tim locked the door. "Surely there must be another vent or exit in here?"

Dragon looked around, and quickly grabbed Dragon while he let Crysta down. Dragon and Crysta swooped up, searching the walls. Finally, the found one just as the guards broke through and started firing on them. They quickly went in, and made there ways towards the outside.

When they finally went, they didn't see the two gargoyles who were guarding the vent immediatly. Then, as they got out, they heard a whisper, and saw them on the roof, hiding. "Let's get out of here!" Tim nodded, and looked at Dragon. "Just call your gargoyles back in, and we'll make a run for it...wait..I almost forgot." Tim quickly searched Crysta respectfully, and picked off a small device. "Another blasted tracker...everyone check yourself and make sure you don't have one on you." Tim quickly searched himself, while the other gargoyles returned with no device on them.

"Crysta, did they inject you with anything?" Tim said with a hint of concern.

"No, not that I remember. Let's get out of here before they find us," Crysta replied.

Soon after, no helicopter was following them, and as Tim made a quick scan, no signal or tracking device was coming from them. They had succeeded. They had gotten Crysta back, without even losing there home or one of their gargoyles.

They landed back at the warehouse. Crysta ran up to Dragon, who wrapped his wings around hers.

"I missed you so much, my love," Crysta said full of joy.

"As I have missed you, " Dragon said.

Deep inside Tim, a part of him just broke. He wondered why a slight part of him wanted to be with Crysta, but knew that was impossible. He changed back into a victory mood.

"Well guys, looks like our mission was a complete success."

"Aye, Tim. One question though. What do we do to celebrate?" Dragon said happily.

Tim chuckled. "I'll get some pizza for you guys..you'll love it."

The night passed in a celebration. Everything had turned back into normal, with the gargoyles not in danger of being destroyed, and having a safe, secure home. All was once as it had been. They had even gained a human friend. Now, a new chapter begins in the life of these gargoyles. One where not only do they have a new home, but a new friend to help them through.......

Epilouge

Tim quickly walked into the office building. He had been working in Nightstone for a week now, and had been helping the gargoyles all that time. Nothing important besides them taking out thugs has happened, and all was quiet. He logged onto his computer, and started doing his job for Nightstone. He checked his e-mail, and found the latest activites of the gargoyles. Apparently, a new orginization had arisen in New York, called the Quarrymen. They had attacked Goliath and Eliza whlie they were trying to have a date, but eventually a unknown man had helped them thrugh. Other than that, the other gargoyle activites are unknown, but it is assumed the Angela is going out with someone. Tim wondered about this, and sent a reply. It was addressed to David Xanatos. Apparently, Xanatos had gotten in touch with Tim in the last week, and knew he was intrested in gargoyles. He had given him information, in return if he didn't destory anymore of his labs. So Xanatos was sending him a weekly update of the Gargoyle situation, while Tim sent his. Xanatos, apparently, had become an honest man in the past couple of days, and was actually helping the gargoyles, so Tim put his trust into him...for now. But he had another message, one from someone very important to him.

To: Tim

From: Nightstone Unlimited Offices; Paris

I finally has time to put you into my schedule to have a meeting with you. Unfortunatly, you will need to take a trip to Paris, for that is where I am right now. Please note this is strictly a business meeting, and you will have no chance to visit the sites, no matter how tempting. You will be immediatly planed in and out for our meeting. Good Day.

Dominique Destine

A trip to Paris? Might be more intresting than he thinks.

Now, the story continues! Tim is going to Paris, but what about the gargoyles in Miami? Stay tuned, as we follow both of their stories. This is the end of the New Clan, and the beginning of new stories! E-mail thoughts to daniels@naplesnet.com!

Story by: Tim "Nigeria" Daniels