![[Picture of Derek Maza]](derick.jpg)
![[Picture of Talon]](talon2.jpg)
Above right- Talon. (Picture courtesy of Flynt.)
Species: Mutated Human
Gender: Male
First Appearance: (as Derek Maza) "Deadly Force" (as Talon) "Metamorphosis"
Other Appearances: (as Derek Maza) "Her Brother's Keeper," "Metamorphosis" (as Talon) "The Cage," "Kingdom," "The Reckoning," "Genesis Undone"
Derek Maza is the younger brother of Elisa Maza. Like his father and his big sister Elisa, he joined the NYPD. He was a helicopter pilot.
He came to see Elisa when she was shot. Later, when he was helping Elisa track Xanatos by helicopter (which he saw no point in as Xanatos had served his time, and Elisa couldn't give a better reason to tail him than "I know he's dirty") he and Elisa wound up in the middle of an attempted robbery by Jackal and Hyena. Jackal aimed a bazooka at them, but Xanatos tackled Jackal and threw off his aim so that the missile from the bazooka hit only the helicopter's tail. Derek managed to land the helicopter, but Jackal and Hyena escaped. Xanatos was "impressed" by Derek's skill, and offered him a job at Xanatos Enterprises as his pilot and bodyguard. He seriously thought about it, and despite Elisa's protests, he took the job.
Almost immediately, he had to defend Xanatos from Jackal and Hyena, who had been told by Fox to assassinate Xanatos. Their first attempt, attacking Xanatos's helicopter with their own, was foiled by the Trio. The second attempt was stopped by the entire clan using Jackal and Hyena's helicopter, which had been rebuilt and modified by Lexington. Elisa had managed to get evidence to prove what she had been saying before as the reason Xanatos wanted Derek; a recording that Elisa secretly made where Fox told her that she ordered Jackal and Hyena to assassinate Xanatos so that Xanatos could use Derek against Elisa. He never listened to the tape, though.
Things got worse later that year, when Xanatos "discovered" that his chief scientist at Gen-U-Tech, Dr. Anton Sevarius, had hired mercenaries for his building. When he and Derek went to investigate this "mystery," they "discovered" that Sevarius had mutated three humans into pseudo-gargoyle creatures. When Xanatos "threatened" to undo Sevarius's work, Sevarius "tried" to "shoot" Xanatos with an apparent tranquilizer dart, but Derek pushed Xanatos out of the way and was hit with the dart instead. Sevarius then revealed that it contained the mutagenic formula used to create the other mutates. Xanatos "forced" Sevarius to try to make an anti-mutagen, but the gargoyles, who were there to rescue Maggie Reed, another mutate whom had been encountered by Brooklyn, interrupted Sevarius's injection of the "anti-mutagen" into Derek, and knocked the injecting device containing it out of Sevarius's hands, shattering Derek's "cure." Sevarius was then "killed" when Goliath knocked him into a tank of electric eels in the lab, "electrocuting" him and "forever destroying" the possibility of a cure for Derek. He blamed the gargoyles for this, just as Xanatos had intended.
Derek took the new name of "Talon," and became the leader of the other mutates. He led them against Goliath and his clan when they followed after Maggie Reed. Elisa stopped Talon from killing Goliath, and discovered his true identity. When Talon accidentally zapped Elisa with his new electrical powers, the look of terror she gave him drove him to lead the other mutates away from Xanatos.
During their time away from Xanatos, the mutates mutated further, into their current forms. Presumably, Maggie Reed and Talon began to pursue a romantic relationship during this time as well.
Weeks later, Goliath discovered that the mutates had moved back with Xanatos. After Derek appeared outside Elisa's window for a minute, she mentioned it to Goliath, who hadn't told her because he didn't want to cause her pain. He told her, and they went to Castle Wyvern- only to be attacked by Talon and the mutates. Elisa stopped him, and tried to convince him of Xanatos's evil. Elisa failed, because Talon, Maggie, and the other two mutates, who had named themselves Fang and Claw, saw Xanatos as their only chance for a cure. Elisa and Goliath left, and as they left, Goliath was threatened by Talon to watch his back, because he would be coming after him.
Xanatos's deception began to disintegrate when Talon discovered that Dr. Sevarius still lived. Goliath had kidnapped Sevarius to make a true cure for the mutates, but Xanatos used this as well as Talon's hatred of Goliath to his advantage, weaving a new illusion where Goliath and Sevarius were in cahoots. Since Maggie knew the location of the gargoyles' home, he sent her, Fang, and Claw to set a trap for Goliath. They captured Hudson and Bronx, but the Trio defeated them. However, Brooklyn, in a show of leadership, released them, because he figured that Xanatos couldn't keep the deception up forever. He was correct. Soon after, thanks to Xanatos, Talon and the other mutates found out where Goliath was- in the old abandoned underground Cyberbiotics lab that Hudson and Bronx raided soon after their awakening. Sevarius offered the mutates a false cure he had created, but Talon said he was long past caring about a cure- he just wanted revenge on Sevarius and Goliath. But when Talon was about to kill Sevarius, Xanatos was forced to reveal his true colors by holding Talon at bay with a force of four Steel Clan robots to rescue Sevarius. He felt Sevarius was too useful to lose. Talon was shocked to learn Elisa was right all along. Thanks to Elisa, Talon and the other mutates met with the other Mazas. They went to live in an underground labyrinth presumably either in or near the abandoned subterranean laboratory.
Talon set up a benevolent anarchy in the Labyrinth, and the mutates became the protectors of a group of homeless people. Fang didn't agree with this, though, so he started shaking down the homeless people and gathered a gang with Claw and two human criminals. Brooklyn came to the Labyrinth to ask Talon if he knew anything about the recently disappeared Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx, and caught Fang shaking down an old homeless man named Al. Brooklyn tackled him, but Talon interceded, and Fang lied and said that Brooklyn had attacked him for no reason. Talon ignored him, and informed Brooklyn that he knew nothing of what had happened to Goliath, Elisa, or Bronx. He came to the clock tower later, fueled with anger at Xanatos that had been increased by comments from Fang deliberately spoken for that purpose, in the hopes that Talon would get himself killed. He basically took over, leading the Trio against Xanatos, who Talon was sure had done something to Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx. Xanatos used his new anti-air defenses against them, which they destroyed. Talon angrily confronted Xanatos, who calmly allowed them to search his castle and computer system for information. They could find no evidence that Xanatos had them, just as Brooklyn expected. All their endeavor had resulted in was revealing Goliath's absence to Xanatos, a severe error.
Talon returned to the Labyrinth, where Fang and his "gang" had imprisoned the homeless humans using laser weapons they apparently found in the old lab and Maggie in an invulnerable container, also from the same place. Talon tried to fight him, but was defeated. Claw had allowed Maggie to escape in the meantime, though, and she went to the clock tower to get the aid of the Manhattan Clan. Talon was imprisoned in the container, but thanks to Brooklyn and the rest of the Manhattan Clan, Talon was freed and Fang was imprisoned for his crimes. Just as Brooklyn had to accept responsibility as leader of the Manhattan Clan, so too did Talon have to assume leadership of the Labyrinth.
Months later, Talon allowed the Manhattan Clan to imprison Demona in the Labyrinth. After three months in "prison," Demona escaped with Thailog's help, and she took Fang with her. Talon helped the Manhattan Clan against Thailog, Demona, Fang, and the newly created Clone Clan. He defeated and recaptured Fang. When the Clone Clan was left without knowing what to do or where to go as a result of Thailog's death, he allowed them to live in the Labyrinth, and planned to allow them to think for themselves.
In the Goliath Chronicles, Talon alerted the Manhattan Clan to the Clone Clan's deterioration.
In the Future Tense reality, he was killed along with Coldstone and Maggie Reed when the three and Broadway tried to prevent Sevarius and the Ultra-Pack from turning the last free humans into mutates.
In Greg Weisman's Master Plan, Talon would never be cured, but he and Maggie would one day marry.
As Derek Maza, he was a normal male human with various police- and pilot-related skills. As Talon he can glide like a gargoyle and has superhuman strength like a gargoyle. He can also fire blasts of electricity. This came from the combined genetic makeup of jungle cats, bats, electric eels, and of course humans. The electric eel abilities were added to make up for the energy needed to support a creature like a gargoyle. The electrical blast ability was a side effect of that.