Chapter 8 Castle Wyvern: The Great hall. Elisa, Matt, and Argent broke the news of their findings at the Perez's family business to Goliath as soon as he awakened. Upon hearing the news, Goliath called for a special meeting in the great hall. Delilah and Argent were sent back to the Labyrinth to fetch Talon, Maggie, and Claw. As soon as they arrived, Owen escorted Xanatos, along with his wife and son to their seats at the table. Xanatos shot a questioning look at Goliath because this was the first such meeting that he had ever been invited to. "All right Goliath, your invitation intrigued me." Xanatos looked around the room at those assembled. "I understand why Derek and his clan are here, as they work more closely with you than I do..but was I included? You've never invited me to one of your strategy sessions before, why now? Goliath rose from his seat and faced the diverse group. "What I am about to say effects us all. Earlier today an attack was made on the business of the Perez family." A murmur of surprise went through the room. Goliath continued. "No one was hurt, but in the investigation something was found that could effect us all. Elisa, called Argent down to see if he could help to try and identify those that were responsible." "That makes sense," Brooklyn said. "He'd be able to track them down just by their scent." Goliath nodded. "Yes, but this time something else was discovered along with a scent." Goliath held up a copy of the handprint found on the counter top. "This handprint was found at the scene, it matches Argent's own, as did the scent that he found. These were in places that he had never been, and were fresh..only hours old." Matt's cell phone rang, and after conversing with the person on the other end he folded it and addressed the group. "That was the police lab. I had a couple of them go back again to do a more thorough sweep. They found hairs on the floor in front of the counter. Red hair." "Demona?" asked Lex. Goliath shook his head. "No not in broad daylight, she would be in her human form and would be noticed. This attacker was not seen." "The lab had a hard time identifying the hair..but they think it belongs to some kind of animal." He looked over towards Argent for a moment. "They think it might belong to a wolf." Xanatos was the first of the group to put two and two together. "So..you think that Sevarius has created another Argent, and that he was the one responsible?" "There can be no other answer," Goliath said. "It was always a possiblity that upon losing Argent that he might create another to serve him." Xanatos considered the implications. "If Anton did create another Argent, this one would be under his control and therefore very dangerous." He turned to Owen. "Could another Argent penetrate the security measures?" Owen adjusted his glasses. "Current measures could be circumvented by a being of Argent's abilities, counter measures could be in place with Argent's co-operation in their testing within a few days." "I'll help out however I can," Argent said while standing. Xanatos nodded his thanks. "Tell R&D that they have hours, not days. I want the building secure from attack as soon as possible." "If Sevarius did create another Argent, why would he order him to attack the Perez's?" Angela asked the group. "Sevarius couldn't know of their connection to him." "Good point," Brooklyn voiced from his seat near Goliath. "Could Sevarius be tracking his movements?" "Could be a might simpler than that," said Hudson. "It could be the doctor's new creation was drawn there by Argent's scent." Goliath looked thoughtful for a moment. "That might be one explanation, but somehow the co-incidence seems too remote not to have a connection to Sevarius." "Or someone else," Delilah said while looking into Argent's eyes. "Remember someone else hates both you *and* the Gargoyles just as much as Sevarius does. Someone who *you* met near the Perez's." Argent's eyes went wide. "Demona?" Delilah nodded. "What Delilah says might have merit," Xanatos rose from his seat and paced the floor. "Creating a being like Argent would be very costly. Anton might have had the funds once, but would need a new cash influx in order to duplicate the process." He turned and faced Goliath. "She has been alive for a long time, and has amassed quite a fortune that has grown since she and Thialog created Nightstone Ltd. With Thialog missing, and most likely dead, she would be the sole owner..and she would have the funds to have Anton duplicate his project. It wouldn't be the first time she's employed his twisted genius." "Aye," said Hudson. "She could have had Sevarius make him as a first step to building a new clan, one that would be loyal to her." "A clan of Argent's is something that I would not like to see Demona heading," Goliath said. "But for now we won't jump to any conclusions, but we shall take no chances either." He rose from his seat. "We shall split into three groups tonight. Argent, you Delilah and Bronx will stay here to guard the castle and to help Xanatos's technician's secure it from attack. Lexington, Broadway and Angela will be the first patrol unit while Hudson, myself, and Brooklyn will comprise the second. Make sure to keep communications open at all times and be sure to stay on guard for anything unexpected." Talon rose up and stood next to Goliath. "Maggie, Claw, and I will help patrol the city if you need us." "No. If Sevarius has created another hunter he may be programmed to attack you, as Argent once was. You will be needed by those in the Labyrinth for protection." Goliath placed his hands on Talon's shoulders. "But your offer is a welcome one, and was not unexpected." He motioned to Lexington, who brought each of the Mutates a communications unit. "I had Lexington make each of you one of these to keep in touch, even underground. If we need you we call for assistance, and if you have need of our help then you can call for our aide as well." Talon and Maggie placed the tiny units on their belts, and the ear pieces in their ears. Claw gave Lex a questioning look. "I know you can't use the Mic to talk," Lex said. "That's why I made yours a little different." He held the unit up for Claw to look at. "Your unit has a built-in keypad, and a send button. What ever you type in is translated into speech by the communication system's computer, then transmitted for the rest of us to hear." Claw looked skeptical. "Go ahead and try it," urged Lex. Claw tapped out a brief message on the keypad, and hit the send button for all to hear. A slightly familiar voice came through the ear pieces. "Is this really going to work?" it asked. Claw was stunned, while Maggie and Derek laughed out loud. "You gave it Mel Gibson's voice to use?" Maggie asked while still laughing. The rest of the Gargoyles looked at Lex, who mearly shrugged. "Well I thought it was a good voice, if Claw wants me to change it..." Claw shook his head and a very firm, but pleasent "No" came to the ears of those that could hear it. "All he needs now is a kilt, and a big sword", joked Brooklyn. Everyone else grinned, but the biggest smile of all was worn by Claw, who now had a voice, albeit an electronic one. After everyone had left to go about their assigned patrols, Argent accompanied Owen down to the lab. The technicians attached electrodes and EEG leads to him and studied the readouts as he used his biological stealth field to become invisible. They had him do this several times, as well as trying different types of sensor equipment to register his presence. An hour later Argent asked Owen how much longer it would take for the testing to be completed. "Not much longer," Owen assured him. "They will be taking the data gathered here, and use it to devise better sensors that will detect the energy output of your invisibility field." As soon as the technicians had finished with their tasks, Argent went to find Delilah. He soon discovered that she, along with Bronx and Tammy had had staked out a place in the Great Hall near the large fire- place. Bronx was laying near the hearth, and Tammy was asleep on the couch with her head in Delilah's lap. "Shhhhh..she just fell off to sleep," Delilah whispered while holding a finger to her lips. "She's been studying so hard, and I was so worried about her I had Maggie bring her from the Labyrinth." Argent watched as Delilah stroked Tammy's hair, and was glad that both of the most important people in his life were here with him. He only hoped that the others out on patrol were doing all right. High over the city: "Hey Lex, how come you brought your lap-top with you tonight on patrol?" Broadway asked while catching an updraft. "I thought it might come in handy later on," Lex told him as he adjusted the harness on the pack holding his computer. "Since we're going to be in the neighborhood, I thought we'd make a stop on our patrol route." "A stop?" Angela looked puzzled. "Where are we going to stop at?" "I thought since we might be dealing with another creation of Sevarius's, it might be interesting to stop by Bio-Tech labs and see if we can find anything." "But Bio-Tech labs is on the other side of the city," Broadway said. "We can't fly all the way over there tonight." "We won't have to," Lex told him with a grin. "Bio-Tech has a separate accounting office near here." "How is searching there going to help us?" Angela asked. "Because all of their computers are linked," Lex explained while patting his computer. "With this I'll be able to plug into their network, and look around. If Sevarius kept any records of this other Argent, I might be able to hack past his safeguards and find them." "All right, but if we get into any trouble..it was *your* idea," Broadway said firmly. High over the city: Midtown "Do you think we'll find any trace of this *other* Argent tonight?" Brooklyn asked as he continued to scan the streets below for any activity. "I wouldn't count on it lad," Hudson said sagely. "If Sevarius's new hunter is half as clever as Argent, he'll hide. And if he's being controlled by Demona, she'll be sav'n him for when she thinks the time is right." "And if he's not being controlled by either one..what if he's like Argent and escaped?" Brooklyn looked to Both Goliath and Hudson for an answer. Goliath spoke first. "Then we can only hope to find him first before anyone else does..and something tragic occurs," Goliath told him. Brooklyn was about to ask another question when his attention was drawn by small arms fire from below. "Gunfire..coming from that direction." The three of them went lower, and glided towards a construction site. The bare skeletal structure of a building halfway finished rose from the ground below them, and the sound of gunshots and shouts grew louder. "Stay close together," Goliath instructed. "We're going in." Bio-Tech Labs Accounting Office: "You'd think that an office like this would have a better security system", mused Lex as he continued to hack into the Bio-tech mainframe. Angela said nothing, she stood guard near the door. A movement to her right drew her attention to Broadway, who was about to open a mini-fridge. She frowned at him. "We're here for information..*not* for snacks." Broadway grinned sheepishly, like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and moved over to where Lex was typing away. "Any luck yet?" "Just about..got it..there!" Lex announced proudly. "I'm in the main system now. I was right about the codes I got from the machine Argent was in, the security subroutines haven't been changed, and the access node is still active." "That's good..right?" Angela asked. She knew very little about computers, but what little she did know paled in comparison with what Lex knew. "It's very good..for us," Lex told her and Broadway. "Right now I'm accessing and doing a system search for anything that relates to the old Argent project file." "How long is that going to take?" Broadway asked while pulling up a chair to get comfortable. The computer terminal beeped, drawing Lex's attention to what was now on the screen. "I think this might be it." Angela leaned over and read the word on the screen out loud. "Bloodwulf. What does that mean?" "I don't know," Broadway said while frowning. "But it doesn't sound good." Lex tapped out a few more commends and the screen came alive with charts, diagrams, and the outline of a familiar figure. "That's Argent!" Angela tapped the screen. "No it's not," Lex said as the outline became a 3D color image. "Look." The image on the screen took on a sinister, almost feral look about it. Reddish colored fur, jet-black wings with blood red membranes running thru them, bright green eyes that even from the tiny picture looked cold and calculating. "What's that?" Angela asked while pointing to a line coming from Bloodwulf's neck. "Let's take a closer look." Lex moved the mouse pointer and clicked on the command line. Another window opened and a silver object appeared as well as a diagram of the brain and spinal column. Lex quickly read thru the data provided. "Looks like Sevarius put something in this one too, but it's not a computer. Looks more like a monitor with a tracking device built in..but it's connected to something called the *Thalmic Nerve*." "So..what good does that do us?" Broadway asked. "Quite a bit," Lex answered. "It says that the thalmic nerve is what feeds the sensation of pain in humans. Sevarius must have put it in as a safety in case his knew creation tried to attack him." "So..Sevarius *is* controlling him," Broadway hissed. His eyes glowed in the dim light of the computer screen. "I don't think so..look at that." Angela tapped the bottom of the screen where billing information was displayed for materials used. It read "Nightstone Ltd." "Demona!" Lex griped his keyboard tighter. "She and Sevarius are working together!" "We'd better get this information to Goliath," Angela said. "He'll want all the details." She was about to activate her com-unit, but the sound of gunfire and the roar of Gargoyles in battle suddenly filled her ears through her ear piece. "Father..father, can you hear me? Father!" Broadway and Lex activated their com-units, the voice of Goliath came thru. "We're under fire at a construction site near mid-town. It looks like..," the signal stopped. "Father!" Angela cried, and raced back up the stairs to the roof. Broadway and Lex followed close behind. "I thought you said these com-units couldn't be jammed?" Broadway asked as the trio took flight. "They can't, but his unit could have been damaged in the battle." "Let's just hope we can get there in time" Broadway looked over towards Angela. She didn't speak, but they look in her face and eyes reminded him so much of her mother, that he had to turn away for a moment. He hoped that when they got there that Goliath was all right, if not Angela would reek havoc on those responsible.