Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fusion

The Eyrie Building. July 3 rd , 1999.

Summer was in full swing. People were out and about; the City That Never Sleeps was keeping true to its reputation. Human life pulsed on the streets of Manhattan and gargoyles soared across the sky.

Lexington and Staghart entered their makeshift office. While the white-furred stag thumbed through his collection of manuals, Lex opened his laptop and checked his e-mail.

"Anything interesting, luv?" Amp asked.

"The usual," Lex replied. "Chain letters. A Nigerian Prince needing financial aid. An article about some ancient whip being dug up in Italy. The latest page of Blue Mug Productions."

"I'm always up for that last one," Amp said, with a grin.

"And," Lex paused, then clicked on an unopened e-mail. "Hey, what's this?"

"What's what?" Amp asked, as he came over and looked over his mate's shoulder. "Goldencup Bakery?"

"They're a government research lab," Lex said. His eyes began to bug out. "And they want to buy my anti-virus program for..."

"That's a lot of zeroes, luv," Amp said, before proudly patting Lex on the back.

"I wouldn't even know what to do with all that," Lex said, as he slowly backed away from the laptop.

"Figure it out later," Amp said. "Right now, just do it."

Lex considered the possibilities and then smiled. "All right, I will!"

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

October 5 th , 1999

Clad in his crimson Steel Clan armor, David Xanatos rocketed through the night sky. It didn't take long for him to reach his destination, the Goldencup Bakery Building.

Xanatos decelerated. Using his stabilizers, he came to a graceful landing. His razor-sharp wings retracted and he made his way towards the locked entrance. A cable emerged from his left arm and attached to the electronic lock, quickly disarming the alarm and unlocking the door. He entered and made his way down the flight of stairs, he turned and headed through the hallway towards the laboratory.

"Let's see what Uncle Sam is cooking up," he mused. He released the cable once more, and hooked it into the main terminals. Within his helmet, specs appeared on screen for military-grade weapons, vehicles, and buildings.

Suddenly the images cut off, and an alarm echoed throughout the building. Xanatos pulled back from the terminal just in time to see half a dozen guards getting into position, training their guns on him.

"Open fire!" the security chief shouted. It wasn't even a fraction of a second before his subordinates did exactly that.

Xanatos unsheathed his wings and powered up his rockets. Quickly accelerating to his top speed, he buzzed over them, then fired his arm-mounted particle beam at the wall. The wall exploded, creating a hole just large enough for him to fly through.

He flew south, over the Hudson Bay. Then he doubled back and headed north up the Hudson River. Circling over uptown Manhattan, he made his way south, towards the Eyrie Building.

Xanatos came to a landing on one of the building's helipads below the castle. Owen Burnett was there to greet him.

"I assume there were complications?" Owen asked, noticing the bullets embedded in the armor, as well as the scorch marks.

"Indeed," Xanatos said, removing his helmet. "I thought we were prepared for Uncle Sam's virus, considering we spent years dissecting it."

"Something new?" Owen asked.

"Perhaps," Xanatos replied as a monitor on his armor's left arm popped up. A readout of his armor's modem appeared, and he studied it intently. "Fascinating," he said.

"I recognize the programming," Owen said, observing the monitor.

"Lexington's been busy," Xanatos mused. He raised an eyebrow as he continued to study the screen. "Have him and Staghart tracked during their patrols," he ordered.

"Very good, sir," Owen answered. "For how long?"

"For the foreseeable future," Xanatos replied. He then headed into the building, towards the elevator.

"And what about Mr. Hale?" he asked. "Has he produced any results?"

"I have read his progress report, sir," Owen answered. "His efforts to locate another sorcerer have turned up another charlatan."

"Pity," Xanatos said. "I don't suppose Demona would consider doing me a favor for old time's sake."

"I highly doubt it, sir," Owen replied. Xanatos merely smirked at the thought of Owen taking his joke seriously.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

January 21 st , 2000

Angela and Broadway soared across the sky, as they slowly made their way to lower Manhattan. Passing over Packmedia Studios building, they proceeded a few more blocks before alighting on the roof of a building that was covered with dozens of gargoyle statues.

"Pretty neat," Broadway said, as he took in the statuary.

"It is rather lovely," Angela said, then eyed a pair of statues sculpted to hold hands. "I can see why he chose this place."

Broadway made his way towards a doorway, and held it open for Angela. She entered and proceeded down the flight of stairs. He followed.

They came out of the stairwell into a large room that appeared to take up most of the building's interior. Staghart was setting a crate down. He perked up when he noticed Broadway and Angela's arrival.

"They're here, luv," he said.

Lex looked up from his laptop. "Hey! What do you think of the place?"

"Those statues on the roof are awesome," Broadway said.

"Yeah," Lex replied. "Amp and I were checking out buildings for lease, and then we found this place. It used to be a photographer's studio."

"We took one look at the rooftop and it was just meant to be," Amp added.

"I can see why," Broadway said. "Also, a great place to settle down for the day if we're caught away from home at sunrise."

"That was the idea," Lex said. "The truck is out back. There's still a lot more to be brought in."

Angela nodded as she and Broadway stepped out back, into the truck and began to carry in the rest of the boxes. Once they had finished, they helped assemble the furniture and equipment. Two hours had passed, but things were slowly coming together.

"Hey, Angela?" Lex called. "You haven't said a word since you got here. Are you okay?"

Angela looked up and sighed. "I don't like that you're keeping all this from Goliath."

"You know I love and respect Goliath, but he's too old fashioned," Lex argued. "He doesn't think we have need of money, and even though I'm not doing this for money, the moment he hears the word 'business', he's going to think of Xanatos and Thailog first, and he'll blow up."

"Lying to him will just make it worse," Angela said. She then turned towards Staghart and scowled. "And I cannot believe you're enabling this."

"Don't look at me," Amp protested. "I agree with you. I told him he should tell Goliath. I'd rather make Goliath understand than just hide this from him."

"Look, I'll tell him when I'm ready," Lex cried. "But give me time, please. Let me wait until I have something really worthwhile to show him. I want to convince him with a win, please."

"All right," Angela said. "I'm still not happy about this, but it's not my secret to tell."

"Well, what are you cooking up?" Broadway asked.

"It's kind of a secret," Lex replied.

"You're already asking us to keep one big secret," Broadway said. "Come on!"

"Just tell them, luv," Staghart said, placing a comforting hand on his mate's shoulder.

"Oh, okay," Lex said. He pulled a spiraled notebook from a desk and opened it up, showing some design specs. "I don't have a name for it yet, but it will be a fusion of a cell phone and a personal computer. Just think, all that information at your fingertips, and you'll be able to clip it to your belt."

"It would certainly beat these crude earpieces we wear on patrol," Amp said.

"This is just the first model," Lex explained. "But in a few years, we might even be able to use it to wirelessly access the Internet from just about anywhere."

"It would revolutionize communications," Amp said, sounding giddy and excited.

"That sounds great," Broadway bellowed happily.

"Very exciting," Angela agreed. "As long as you tell Goliath about it."

"As soon as I have a few working prototypes," Lex said. "I promise."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Up on the rooftop, Xanatos landed, wearing his Steel Clan exo-frame. He watched the gargoyles work through the skylight; thanks to his armor's audio capabilities, he was able to hear every word.

He removed a small bugging device from his armor's left gauntlet then set it against the glass pane and the brick. The color of the device shifted, to match that of the brick. Satisfied, he activated his rockets and flew back towards the Eyrie Building.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

New Paltz, NY. April 18 th , 2000.

A gruff-looking man wearing fatigues and a beige cap stood on a hilltop, watching a hawk through a pair of binoculars. He smirked at the sight of it diving down and snatching a squirrel in its talons, before rising back into the air. But his concentration was broken by the arrival of another man.

"Xanatos is paying you to find him a wizard, Hale," the second man said as he strode over. "Not to go bird watching."

"Xanatos doesn't rule every moment of my life, Bruno," Hale replied.

"For what he's been paying you these last few years, he damn well does," Bruno growled. "From my point of view, he's burning money. Five years and no results."

"Why Bruno, I didn't know you were suddenly a believer?" Hale said, with a satisfied grin.

"I'm not," Bruno said, as he leaned against a rock. "But the boss is, that's what matters."

"You've seen gargoyles and the Loch Ness Monster," Hale said, then caught himself. "Sorry, 'Loch Ness Monsters'. Plural."

"They're all flesh and blood," Bruno said. "I can see 'em, I can touch 'em."

"And the werewolf that attacked the Eyrie Building back in 1995?" Hale asked, as he went back to staring through his binoculars.

"Probably one of Sevarius's freakjobs," Bruno said, tiring of this conversation. "Those are as real as the money Xanatos has been paying you."

"Well, would you look at that," Hale said, as a large bird landed on a rock about a hundred feet away. "That's a Eurasian Eagle-Owl."

"A what?" Bruno asked, feigning interest.

"A Eurasian Eagle-Owl," Hale replied. "One of the largest species on Earth. But they're not native to this region. Or this continent."

"Whatever," Bruno said, before he yawned.

"There's a bird sanctuary not too far from here," Hale said, as he observed the bird, then noticed a silver band around its left talon. "Yeah, it must be an escapee, perhaps," he paused as the owl took off, flying towards them.

The owl passed just overhead, knocking Bruno's cap to the ground. It then circled around and flew over them once more, this time dropping an envelope to the ground. Hale bent over, and gasped as he picked it up.

The envelope was blank, except for 'John Hale' written across it in cursive. Bruno looked over his shoulder, and rolled his eyes. "You set that up, didn't you?"

"Can't say I did," Hale replied. "Funny, it wasn't carrying that envelope when I was watching it."

"Whatever," Bruno grunted. "I'm headed back into the city."

"I'm sorry, Bruno," Hale said as he opened the envelope, finding a business card with a ten digit number written across it. "But you can tell Xanatos that I've found exactly what he is looking for."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Eyrie Building.

Owen entered Xanatos's office, carrying a manila envelope in his good hand.

"Mr. Hale just delivered this," he said, as he set it down on Xanatos's desk. "He claims he has located a sorceress."

"In a minute, Owen," Xanatos said. On his computer monitor, a black and white video played of Lexington and Staghart tinkering in their new laboratory. "Lexington is making progress," he said.

"It would appear so," Owen agreed. "I assume you are already formulating a plan."

"Whether Goliath understands or agrees with what Lex is up to or not, he'll rally to protect him from any theft I attempt." Xanatos steepled his fingers together. "This is going to require brute force."

Xanatos turned away from his monitor and clicked his remote control. The television on his wall flickered to life, and footage of the Pack's defeats began playing on a loop.

"Even with their upgrades, the Pack just can't compete with Goliath's clan," Xanatos mused. "And with King Arthur and the Redemption Squad out there as well, I'll need my own trump cards."

"The Pack have already been upgraded with technology that doesn't officially exist," Owen said. "How do you plan to go forward?"

The video on the screen shifted to the Manhattan Clan battling Wolf, Jackal, and Hyena in Times Square just after Brooklyn returned from forty years of TimeDancing. Xanatos watched as Brooklyn unleashed his new weapons on the Pack, and smiled. "I would enjoy getting a hold of weapons that actually don't exist yet."

He opened a drawer and removed an object wrapped in silk. Placing it on his desk, he uncovered it, revealing the Coyote Diamond. "Brooklyn's weapons would make fine additions to Coyote's next upgrades."

"And perhaps for Jackal and Hyena as well," Fox said, as she entered the office, and sauntered around the desk, taking her place at her husband's side.

"Pardon me," she added. "But Alex is eagerly awaiting his next magic lesson."

"Understood," Owen said. He nodded at Xanatos and took his leave.

After the door shut, Fox sat on her husband's lap. "You should sit in, some time," Fox suggested. "It's fascinating."

"It's helped you pick up a few tricks," Xanatos replied.

"Imagine if we had built magic into the Pack," Fox mused, then laughed. "I supposed we'd have had to battle Evil Magic Ninjas."

Xanatos's lips curved into a malicious smirk at the thought. He reached for the envelope that Owen had left on his desk, opened it, and removed the card with the phone number, along with Hale's report. He studied it for several minutes, then reached for his phone.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The studio apartment was lavish. It was one large room that contained everything its denizen needed. A kitchen with food ingredients as well as jars full of things that a visitor couldn't identify. A king-sized bed off in the corner, and a television hanging over the fireplace. Everything was minimalistic, but what was present was top of the line, the best of the best.

Most unusual, at least for the visiting masseur, were the branches and perches hanging from the wall near an open window. Perched on several of them were what appeared to be stuffed hawks, falcons, and other raptors. At least he hoped they were stuffed.

The masseur put it out of his mind as he continued rubbing the back of the raven-haired woman lying face down on his massage table. If she felt pleasure, she didn't betray it as she remained silent. The only sounds in the apartment came from the fireplace and the open window.

Breaking that silence, the phone began to ring. Its custom ring tone sounded like the shrill chwirk of a bald eagle.

The raven-haired woman reached for the phone and held it to her head. "I've been waiting for your call," she said... her English-accented voice sounding almost like a purr. "If you'll pardon me for but a minute."

She got up off the table, and donned a purple silk robe. "Steffan, this is business," she said. "Your money is on the counter." She sauntered over towards a white leather couch in front of the fireplace, and sat down, allowing herself to sink into it.

Steffan folded up his massage table, then made his way to the counter and retrieved five hundred dollars in cash. He briefly stared into the eyes of one of the stuffed hawks, then abruptly stepped away as it turned to stare back at him, and flared its wings.

The raven haired woman gestured towards the door, and it opened under its own power as Steffan took his leave. With another wave of her hand, it closed.

"Forgive me, Mr. Xanatos," she said. "I'm afraid I had to dismiss a visitor."

"It's no trouble, Ms...?"

"Lafayette," she answered.

"Well, Ms. Lafayette," he said. "My employee filled me in on the details. Either that was a very well trained owl, or you're exactly what I've been looking for."

"Both, Mr. Xanatos," she said. "And I've been aware of your search for a sorcerer for some time. Did you not once work with another?"

"We've had a falling out," Xanatos replied.

"I have no interest in turning the populace of New York to stone, Mr. Xanatos," she said, her lips curling into a smile. "I know a spell from the Grimorum Arcanorum when I hear one."

"I'm intrigued," Xanatos said. "My calendar is clear on May 20th.. Perhaps we could meet and discuss my business proposal in detail?"

"I will need some time to prepare," she said. "Tell me, what do you have in mind?"

As Ms. Lafayette continued her conversation, a red-tailed hawk took flight out the window. Moments later, two eagles landed, sitting on their perches as their host continued to speak with her new business associate.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Hong Kong, May 6 th .

The bank was surrounded by over a dozen police cars and trucks, and dozens upon dozens of police officers in riot gear, guns trained on the rooftop. Everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop. They didn't wait long.

A man appeared on the rooftop, wearing brown tights with black stripes, and a black cowl that resembled some kind of carnivorous beast. In his left arm, he held a shorter man as a hostage. In his right, a gun pointed at his prisoner's face.

"Congratulations, Hong Kong!" he shouted. He scanned the crowd and grinned as he spotted the news vans. He made sure he looked directly into each of the cameras. "You have been graced by the presence of the Tazmanian Tiger!"

"All right," the mutate criminal called Wolf said as he exited the building. "You've had your time in the spotlight. I say we take the money and get out of here, now!"

"Wolf's right," Jackal said as he also emerged, followed by Hyena. "It's been fun, but I'd like us to just split our take and go our separate ways."

"All right, mates," Taz said as he backed away from the ledge. "I got to be on TV with three of my favorite stars. A good night if I say so."

"Ooh, a fanboy," Hyena said, then laughed. "I guess that explains the pooches."

The cloned thylacines, Benjamin and Natasha, ran out of the doorway towards the master. He tossed his hostage towards Wolf, kneeled down, and stroked their fur.

"Loved watching The Pack before those Yanks pulled you off the air," he said. "Fox was always my favorite."

"Fox is overrated," Hyena chortled in disgust.

"If you say so," Taz muttered. "How about you and your brother blow us a path out of here!"

"I thought you'd never ask," Jackal said. He motioned for Hyena to follow him towards the edge of the roof. Then both of them raised their forearm particle beam blasters and started firing on the search lights and police vehicles, Hyena's cackle echoing through the sky.

Wolf made his way over to the edge and nodded approvingly. "All right," he bellowed. "Grab your sacks of cash and let's get out of here."

Suddenly, a spot light shined down from above them. The whir of a helicopter was deafening. The Tazmanian Tiger and the three members of the Pack looked up at the sight of a gigantic, two-rotored black helicopter hovering about twenty feet above them. Along its hull, in white, the name Redemption V was visible.

A door along the side opened, and Dingo leapt out, guns blazing. "Long time no see, mates!"

Behind Dingo, Fang and Yama emerged, spreading their wings. They soared down, landing at the criminals' flanks.

"Well, if it ain't our old pal," Hyena cackled. "Brought your goody-two-shoes buddies to get sliced up, again?"

"Hey, hey!" Fang cried. "Nothing goody-two-shoes about us!"

"Forget the banter!" Wolf growled as he pounced at Fang, pinning the cat-like Mutate to the floor.

Jackal unsheathed his claws and leapt towards Yama, quickly joined by Hyena. Yama drew his swords and parried their strikes. But the cyborg twins kept up their attack, slowly pushing the tengu warrior back.

As Dingo raised his weapon, Tazmanian Tiger watched and grinned, before lunging towards Wolf and grabbing his hostage once again. "Benjamin, Natasha, attack!" he said. The thylacines growled and leaped into the fray, both of them pouncing on Dingo.

The Tazmanian Tiger's grin of triumph morphed into a gasp of shock as a cable shot down, lassoing around his hostage, and lifted the man up into the air in time for Hunter to come to a landing between the two Australians.

"What have we here?" Hunter said, her lips contorting into a wicked grin.

"You just made a big mistake, sheila!" Taz yelled as he fired at Hunter. She leaped aside, narrowly avoiding the blast, and darted around him.

Wolf lifted Fang off the floor by the throat, and flexed his own claws. "You know, wolves do eat cats."

"And cougars eat wolves!" Fang shouted as he released a burst of electricity into his quarry. Wolf cried out in pain and rage, but Fang turned up the juice and didn't relent until Wolf collapsed into a furred heap.

Yama fell to the floor, and Hyena cackled. "I've got this, brother," she said. "Why don't you go chop Dingo up?"

"Good idea, sis," he said. "No reason to let Taz's mutts have all the fun."

Jackal stalked towards Dingo, grinning at the sight of his former comrade, pinned down by the thylacines. "You know, I think I'd prefer roasted meat over chopped, tonight," he said as his hand retracted, and a flamethrower emerged.

As Jackal took aim, the world around him went dark as Matrix emerged from the helicopter and completely enveloped the cyborg.

Still holding Jackal contained, Matrix extended himself towards Dingo, and restrained the thylacines, muzzling them both. "We had observed and predicted a 23.67% chance of your survival, Dingo."

"Yeah," Dingo muttered. "Thanks." He stood up and brushed the drool of the thylacines off his suit.

"Brother!" Hyena cried as she turned away. Seeing the opening he needed, Yama struck, severing Hyena's cybernetic hands.

Tazmanian Tiger was the last one standing as he fired blast after blast at Hunter, always narrowly missing. "You ruined my big night, you twat!"

Hunter's grin was replaced by a scowl as she tossed her own boomerang at the Tiger, knocking his weapon from his hand. As he stared at his hand in shock, she ran over, kneeing him in the groin. As he keeled forward, she reared back and then punched him in the throat, knocking him to the floor.

Taz looked up at her, a mixture of fear and contempt in his eyes. Her grin returned, and she pressed her gun to his leg. "Next time you talk to me like that, I'll empty my clip into your kneecap. And I'm told that's a very painful place to get shot."

Hunter surveyed the scene, and grinned. Tazmanian Tiger was down and the Pack was subdued. "Good work, boys. And Matrix."

Matrix released Jackal, or rather most of Jackal. His cybernetic limbs were gone, consumed by the mass of nanites. Only the thylacines remained restrained.

Hunter pressed a button on her belt and the Redemption V descended about fifteen feet. One by one, the Redemption Squad boarded, save Hunter. She released the hostage from the line, before boarding herself. Finally, the helicopter took off.

Not long after, a dozen police in riot gear stormed the rooftop, and surrounded the downed criminals.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

May 7 th , 2000.

They were defeated. Broken. And now being led out of the armored car and up the stairs into the plane, shackled and manacled.

The Tazmanian Tiger looked at the ground as he ascended the staircase, his hands cuffed behind his back. Wolf followed, titanium manacles covering his hands, and a steel muzzle covering his face. Next up was Hyena, shackled to a hand truck as most of her servos had been deactivated. Behind her, the limbless Jackal, being wheeled in strapped to a gurney. Finally, the cloned thylacines. Caged and being wheeled up, to be used as 'evidence' in a larger case.

They were being extradited. The first stop was Sydney, Australia; where Taz would be taken into custody. Then, for the Pack, New York City, where they would be returned to their prison cells. Locked away from society at large.

A shame for society that there were other uses for them.

As the plane prepared for take off, a particle beam fired at the landing gear, disabling it. The plane shook as something large and heavy landed on top of it. A laser cut the roof of the plane open.

The Interpol officers gasped at the sight of the ten foot tall, bipedal robot, tearing open the roof as if it were tinfoil. They opened fire on the automaton, but it raised its right arm and fired its vertigo beam at them. The guards' weapons slipped from their hands as each of them fell to the ground, shivering messes.

"Well, hello handsome," said Hyena, grinning.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Wolf growled, behind his muzzle.

"Just making an omelet, Wolf," Coyote 6.0 quipped. "Your guards would be the broken eggs."

"Unless you're offering me new limbs, I'm not interested," Jackal sneered.

"You're awfully demanding for a quadriplegic in police custody," the half-Xanatos robotic skull on the video screen said, with a smirk that did his creator justice. "But if you'll come with me, I'm promising upgrades all around."

"Music to my ears," Hyena said. In response, Coyote fired his cutting beam at the hand-truck, releasing her. A cable then shot out from him and into a port on her leg. Moments later, her limbs were functional.

"All right, I'm in, too." Wolf said, as Coyote cut open his manacles.

"Hey!" Taz cried. "What about me?"

"You're not on the manifest," Coyote said.

"Oh yes he is," Wolf growled as he snapped off Taz's cuffs. "This bastard owes us money, and he's not worming his way out that easily."

Taz ran towards the guard, stole his keys and then released his thylacines from their cages.

"But how are we going to get out of here?" Jackal said, glaring at Coyote.

"You still have little faith," Coyote said as the eyes atop his frame glowed red. Moments later, the teal-colored Pack hovercraft zoomed through the air and came to a stop, hovering above them.

The ramp lowered, and Wolf wheeled the gurney carrying Jackal aboard, followed by Hyena. The Tazmanian Tiger hesitated for a moment, then followed. His pets trotted right behind him.

As sirens announced the arrival of more police, Coyote smirked, then entered the airship himself. The engines roared to life as the ship took off, flying into the sky.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Eyrie Building, May 9 th .

"And though nobody was killed, the Pack and their accomplice, remain at large," the anchorman said as he turned towards the camera. "This has been Nightwatch. Sleep well."

Hudson clicked off the TV and reclined back in his chair. "That's all we need to be worrying about."

Lexington sat on the sofa, eyes blazing. "I hope they show their ugly faces back here."

"Now, now, luv," Amp said, placing an arm around his mate. "You have better things to be focusing that energy on."

Goliath stood stoically in the center of the room, nodded, then left.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

May 20th.

"Coyote 6.0 performed admirably," Xanatos said, as he reviewed the specs on his monitor. "But I think there's room for improvement. "

He turned away from his monitor, and swiveled his chair towards Ms. Lafayette. The raven haired woman sat on the edge of his desk. She was dressed in a stylish green blouse, a loose black skirt, a pair of sandals, and a belt with a buckle shaped like a barn owl's face. In her right hand, she held the Coyote Diamond.

"And this stone helps your robot think?" she asked.

"Coyote's mental processes are light-based," Xanatos explained. "The faster he thinks, the faster he can react, and make decisions."

"Then Coyote will be the centerpiece of your new Pack," she said. She continued to examine the diamond. Her green eyes briefly glowed, as did the diamond. But in the blink of an eye, the glows faded. "Up until now, Mr. Xanatos, you haven't even come close to unlocking the robot's potential."

The door to the office opened and Fox strode in, dressed in a pair of black jeans and a low cut red blouse, a leather bound book in hand. She took a seat opposite her husband and smiled. "Our guests are getting comfortable."

"Excellent," Xanatos said. "Oh, Fox, this is Ms. Lafayette. Ms. Lafayette, this is my wife, Fox."

Fox stood back up and shook the woman's hand, then gave her outfit a once over. "Sangral Fashions?" she asked. "I own a few of their line."

"You have impeccable taste, Mrs..."

"Just Fox," she said, as she sat back down.

Ms. Lafayette eyed the book in Fox's hand. "Jean Paul Sartre," she said. "I was always partial to Albert Camus."

Fox raised an eyebrow then changed the subject. "David tells me you're taking point on my old pals' next upgrades."

"I believe the components I need are available to us," Ms. Lafayette said, as she continued to look into the Coyote Diamond. "Your husband tells me you possess the key ingredient for Hyena's upgrade."

"Oh he does, does he?" Fox asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's just LaVonne," Xanatos said, his lips curling into a smirk.

Fox sauntered around his desk, and sat on his lap. "Tell me, Ms. Lafayette, will it be painful?"

"For both of them," Ms. Lafayette replied.

Fox leaned over, and she and her husband shared a passionate kiss, all while Ms. Lafayette continued to study the diamond.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Izanami-no-Mikoto , refitted oil tanker owned by Xanatos Enterprises, anchored five miles off the East Coast. May 21 st .

The Tazmanian Tiger paced back and forth in his 'hospital room', the empty dinner plate resting on his mattress. He had been confined to this room for two weeks, demanding to see Xanatos. But the billionaire never showed.

Taz sighed and sat down on the mattress. As he was about to recline, he heard the clanging sound of a lock being released. The door slowly opened, and Owen Burnett stepped inside.

"Who are you?" Taz cried. "Where's Xanatos?!"

"Mr. Xanatos is rather busy," Owen said. "But he is impressed by your cloned thylacines. Is he correct to assume that they are the work of Dr. Sevarius?"

"Indeed," Taz said. He then stood back up. "If he's so impressed, then why won't he meet with me?"

"Mr. Xanatos is not sure what to do with you," Owen replied. He stared down at Taz as if he were an insect.

"He doesn't want to meet me, fine!" Taz said. "But I want to be a part of the new Pack."

Owen merely raised an eyebrow.

"It's obvious," Taz said. "He's reassembling the Pack and I want in."

Owen cleared his throat before he spoke. "Mr. Xanatos does not consider you to be a part of the Pack. He created the Pack. He put it together. You are not a part of that design."

Taz gritted his teeth in anger as he considered his next words. "You need a new Fox," he said, with a grin.

"I beg your pardon?" Owen replied.

"That tin can is great for herding your little dogs. But can it think on its feet?" Taz asked. "Can it improvise? Can it do anything without a bloody order?"

Owen continued to listen, uninterested in the conversation.

"So where does that leave you when you need someone to give that order?" Taz asked. "The mutt, the psychopath, or the sociopath?"

"That would be," Owen said, but Taz immedietely cut him off.

"Or maybe... me?" Taz took a step closer to the majordomo. "Hey! I get it. I can toe the line. Play 'follow the leader' when the Tin Can barks. Only opening my muzzle when he doesn't know what to do."

The silence was deafening. Finally Owen spoke. "I will speak with Mr. Xanatos."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Wolf looked up from his leg of lamb as the door opened and Ms. Lafayette entered.

"About time," he growled.

"Tell me," she said. "Do you want power?"

"Lady, I wouldn't be here otherwise," he replied.

She briefly stepped out of the room, then re-entered carrying a large black pelt, and placed it on a table.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Put it on," she ordered.

Wolf hesitated, then slowly grabbed it and quickly donned it.

"So, I have a furry shawl," he sneered. "Now what?"

Ms. Lafayette strode up to him, placed her hand on the pelt and began to chant.

"Lupus ad gerunt potentia. Nocte sub illuni inseratur tota lunae inluminabit te!"

She removed her hand, and Wolf keeled over in pain, as the pelt began to glow.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Ms. Lafayette strode down the hallway, then turned towards a doorway, unlocked it, and entered.

"Well, well," Jackal said, getting to his feet. "What do we have here?"

"Your future, perhaps," she replied.

"Not that I'm ungrateful for the new arms and legs," Jackal said. "But Xanatos has yet to make my time here worthwhile."

"Tell me," she said. "Does what little of your remaining humanity mean anything to you?"

"Not at all," Jackal spat. "I've felt true power, and there was nothing human about it."

"I see," Ms. Lafayette said as she raised her right hand, and placed it on his metal chest. "And there is still a trace of that power."

"What are you saying?" Jackal asked.

Ms. Lafayette smirked, and her eyes began to glow green as she started to chant.

"The jackal wishes to bring others death,
Let him wield this power til his final breath."

"What are you doing?" Jackal said, as he backed away.

Ms. Lafayette's hair began to rise as the green glow in her eyes engulfed her body. She leaned forward and the energy blasted from her eyes, surrounding him.

Jackal cried out in pain as he felt the change begin.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

"So where's my upgrade?" Hyena demanded as she followed Ms. Lafayette down the hallway.

The raven-haired woman remained silent, as they approached a steel door at the far end of the passage.

"Tell me," Ms. Lafayette began. "Does your life hold any meaning to you?"

"I don't care," Hyena sneered. "Just upgrade me!"

Ms. Lafayette smiled as she opened the door. She ushered Hyena to enter first, then followed her into a blank white room. Blinding light seared every square inch of the interior, except for a rectangular depression in the corner that held a thin layer of earth.

Upon that thin layer of earth sat a very pale young woman, who didn't even bother to look up at her visitors. She just sat there, hugging her knees. Under her breath, she sang "Someday my prince will come. Someday we'll meet again. And away to his castle we'll go... to be happy forever I know..."

"What the hell is this?" Hyena asked. "Who's her prince?"

"Vlad Dracula," Ms. Lafayette said. Hyena just gawked at the pale young woman, not noticing as Ms. Lafayette slowly drew a dagger. "But that is of no concern to you, my scavenger."

The door slammed shut.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Tazmanian Tiger sat on his bed in silence as his cell door opened again, and Ms. Lafayette stepped inside. "I have spoken with Mr. Xanatos," she said. "He has agreed to allow you to join the team on a probationary status. But there are a few rules that you'll have to obey."

"Thank you, Ms..."

"Lafayette," she replied. "So tell me, what kind of upgrade would interest you?"

"None," Taz replied. "No offense to the others, but I still want to be able to get a date on Saturday night." He grinned. "Perhaps with you, even."

"I do not think so," Ms. Lafayette said, shaking her head. "But you may walk with me."

Ms. Lafayette exited the "hospital room", followed by by Taz, with Owen trailing them. After a few moments, they entered another room. The thylacines were loose, eating the cow meat tossed on the floor in front of them.

"Would you be interested in upgrading them?" she asked.

"I think I would," Taz replied.

"I think we can work something out that would link you with them, and allow you to continue your weekend activities," she said.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

August 2 nd , 2000.

"Okay," Lexington said as he counted the cash in the thick envelope. "That's five thousand."

"Thank you, Lexington," Shari said as she accepted the envelope. Behind her, Delilah merely nodded.

"We'll be able to buy food and medicine," Al said, as he shook Lex's hand."

"You have no idea how many people you've just helped," Shari said, as she shook Staghart's hand.

"It's our pleasure," Amp said. "What's the point in accumulating wealth if you don't give back to those who truly need it?"

"How did you get rich?" Delilah asked, finally breaking her silence. She looked around the laboratory in wonder. "I haven't seen equipment like this since I left Thailog."

"By working on a few patents," Lex replied. He noticed that Delilah still appeared skeptical. "Look, we're nothing like Thailog."

"I know that," Delilah replied. "He would never give to charity unless it helped his image or if it would give him leverage."

"I know our clans have had their differences," Lex said. "But..."

"Your help is appreciated," Delilah said. "The people of the Labyrinth mean a lot to me."

"I'm glad," Lex said. "Oh, and if you could please not tell Talon where it came from, I would really appreciate that."

"Why?" Delilah asked.

"Because I haven't told Goliath about this enterprise yet," Lex said. "I'm waiting for the right time."

"Oh, kid," Al said. "Don't keep this from him for too long. Besides, Talon is going to wonder where we got five thousand in cash."

"I'll tell him a story," Shari said. She grinned and shook Lex and Amp's hands again. "Thank you."

Amp escorted them to the back door, held it open as they exited, watched as they entered the open manhole, then closed the door behind him. "And now back to the fun," he said.

"You read my mind," Lex said, as he unlocked a cabinet and pulled out a hand-held device. "Ready for the test drive?"

"Hatched ready, luv," Amp said as he reached into the cabinet and pulled out an identical device.

"Okay," Lex said as he slid the top half of the phone up, revealing a keyboard. He typed the word 'HI' into it, then clicked 'Send'.

Amp looked at his phone's screen and waited. After about five minutes, it vibrated, and the message was received. "Finally here, luv," Amp said as he hit 'Reply' and typed in a message of his own before hitting 'Send'.

Another few minutes passed, and Lex's phone vibrated. The little gargoyle opened the message and then burst out laughing. "You're terrible," he said, as he caught his breath.

"But the LexPhones work," Amp said, sitting down next to his mate and wrapping a wing around him.

"Yeah, but it shouldn't take five minutes to receive a message," Lex said. "There are still some kinks to work out."

"Then let's get to work," Amp said.

"Wait," Lex called. "Did you look at the logo?"

Amp turned his LexPhone over and grinned. Printed on the back was the silhouette of a white stag. "Oh, luv, you really shouldn't have."

"Hey, better your silhouette than mine," Lex replied. Lex then began to dissemble his prototype, while Amp turned on a stereo. A CD was already inside and started playing, blasting Wreck 55's first and, so far, only album.

So many strangers on the street.
Yeah, nearly everyone you meet.
Can't relate, can't translate, can't create
A connection. No.

Easier to keep your distance.
Tread the path of least resistance.
Don't engage, keep to your cage, stay offstage
For protection.

Then everything changes.
She's there. Life rearranges.
Winged angel from above...
Helped me find the Will... the Will to love...
The Will to love... The Will to love...

As they basked in their work and each other, neither one of them noticed the beeping of their communicator left on top of the coffee table.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Eyrie Building

"They aren't answering," Goliath said with an angry snarl. He turned towards the entire clan, minus Lexington and Staghart, gathered in the courtyard.

"We can't wait any longer," Elisa shook her head.

"Big deal!" Broadway bellowed. "So Jackal says that the Pack is throwing another reunion on Fifth Avenue. Nothing we can't handle."

Katana stepped forward, her hands clutching the hilt of her blade. "They were not the threat that I was told of when last we met."

"No," Goliath rumbled. "But in Hong Kong, they were joined by a new human and rescued from custody by Coyote."

"Which means..." Angela began.

"Another one of Xanatos's games," Goliath growled.

"I grow weary of them, brother," Coldstone declared, as he stepped forward. "Why don't we finally behead the snake?"

"And then an investigation into the murder of one of the world's most powerful men drives you all into the heart of a city that will be hunting you, and I won't be able to protect you." Elisa said, then sighed. "No one here despises Xanatos as much as I do, but we're in no position to strike at him directly."

"For our own safety," Coldfire said, sidling up beside her mate, "we will need to dance to his tune."

"Xanatos knows we will not allow his minions to wreak havoc upon our protectorate." Goliath unfurled his wings, and stared out over the metropolis below. "Despite what he might believe, this is not his city!"

"Then let's show him, again, that we can beat back whatever he might throw at us!" Brooklyn cried, to the cheers of his kin.

Goliath lifted Elisa into his arms, and the Manhattan Clan soared off into the Manhattan skies, heroically but cautiously towards whatever might be waiting for them.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Xanatos sat back in his chair, and grinned as he watched Goliath lead his clan away from the castle, while his new ally observed the scene from the center of the office.

"Your gargoyle has quite the martyr complex," Ms. Lafayette said.

"No matter how much time passes, he's always ready to assume the worst in me," Xanatos said as he steepled his fingertips.

"Tricksters are often confused with Satan," she replied, as she lifted her glass of Merlot and took a sip.

Xanatos ignored her and tapped a button on his speakerphone. "Coyote, they're on their way."

"Now the fun begins," Coyote replied, his robotic voice emanated from the speakerphone and echoed throughout his creator's office.

To Be Continued...

Chapter Text

Goliath growled slightly as he carried Elisa in his arms.

“I’m sure Lex and Staghart have a good reason,” said Elisa, as she stroked her mate’s cheek.

“The Pack wants us there,” Goliath said, as he drew Elisa closer. “This is a trap.”

Broadway, holding his own mate’s hand, soared up alongside Goliath’s left flank. “We’ve beaten that tin can before. Lex and Staghart can sit this one out, we’ve got it!” he said, before wincing in pain as Angela squeezed his hand more tightly. He looked towards her, and winced even more at the sight of her eyes narrowing and then glowing.

Goliath veered south and the rest of the clan followed as he soared down Fifth Avenue. So far there were no signs of trouble. They continued over 57^th Street. Before they could pass Trump Tower, Goliath cried out as something massive slammed into his back.

As they plunged to the ground, Elisa looked up in horror. A gray-furred hand was wrapped around Goliath’s neck, and just behind Goliath’s head was a feral, snout-like face. Despite the new snout, she recognized their attacker. “Wolf,” she gasped.

Goliath tried to shake the mutate off, but Wolf’s relentless grip wasn’t broken. The gargoyle tried to hold onto Elisa for dear life, but his enemy’s attacks forced him to lose his grip. She cried out as she slipped from Goliath’s arms and began to fall, head first, towards the pavement below.

Angela dove as fast as she could, grabbed Elisa, and hugged her tight, as she spread her wings just quickly enough to catch an updraft that decelerated their fall. They came to a rough landing on the sidewalk, in front of the black tower.

“Thanks,” Elisa said, as Angela helped her to her feet. The two of them didn’t have time to check each other for injuries as Goliath crashed into the roof of a yellow taxi. Wolf quickly stood straight up and roared in triumph.

It was Elisa’s first chance to finally get a look at him. He had changed. His face was truly more feral, more bestial. His formerly flat, almost-human face was replaced by a canine-snout. He had also grown a long, gray, bushy tail. His costume had also changed. Atop his head was what appeared to be a medieval Viking helmet. The formerly gold Pack insignia on his chest had changed; it now took on the appearance of a diamond. A diamond with a large split running down the middle. Finally, she took notice of the large, black pelt that he wore like a small cloak.

“I’m a little disappointed to end this before we actually fight,” Wolf said, then drew what appeared to be a hi-tech ax from his belt and raised it above his head. “But I’ll get over it.”

Before he could deliver the killing blow, Wolf cried out in pain, and covered his ears. Goliath realized that Brooklyn must have taken a shot at the mutate with his sonic-blaster, seized the opening and, with a mighty roar, rose to his feet and knocked the werewolf off of him.

Wasting no time, Goliath tore the door off the cab and peeked inside. He took in the driver up front, and the two humans in the back. “Get away from here, now!” he cried.

“You don’t need to tell me twice,” the driver said as he ditched his cab.

The two humans exited the car, on the opposite side, and ran.

“’Take a cab,’ you said!” the woman shouted. “’My brother needs to borrow my car,’ you said!”

“Give it a rest, Margot!” Brendan snapped back.

“Goliath,” Angela called out. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Goliath replied. He took in the large crowd of civilians gawking at him either out of fear, fascination, or both, and his brow furrowed with worry. He reached for the communicator around his neck and pulled it towards his lips. “Brooklyn, keep the rest of the clan in the air. The rest of the Pack are no doubt nearby.”

“Closer than you think, Goliath!” the familiar voice of Jackal called out. A black cloud gathered across the sidewalk across the street, and the civilians began to cough; some even collapsed on the ground, vomiting.

Goliath growled and his eyes glowed white as Jackal flew overhead before coming to a landing, his back towards Angela, Elisa, and himself. But the glow in his eyes faded and was replaced with dread, as Jackal turned around to face them.

“No,” Goliath said, his mouth hanging open.

Jackal laughed as they took in his new, but terrifyingly familiar form. Where his brown hair had been, now he sported a long, gray mane. His blue chest plate had been replaced with a red, ornate steel covering. But most importantly of all, was his anthropomorphic jackal face, sporting the cybernetic monocle.

“Jalapena,” Elisa muttered.

“He’s… he’s become the avatar of Anubis again,” Angela cried. “But how?”

“That’s right, sweetheart,” Jackal said, as he raised his arm-cannon and took aim. “And I promise that your death will be very, very slow.”

Before Jackal could fire his particle beam, Coldstone rammed into him from the side, and pulled the avatar into the air. “Let’s see how your powers fare against one who is already dead!”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Bronx howled at the moon, and Fu-Dog joined him, as Katana and Brooklyn carried them in their arms.

“The beasts are getting restless,” Katana said.

“And so am I,” Nashville yelled, as he dove down to the street.

“Wait Gnash,” Brooklyn called out. However, before he could pursue, his ears perked up at the distant sound of what could only be rocket thrusters.

“Do you hear something?” Broadway asked as he came up alongside Brooklyn.

“Yeah, almost sounds like -” But before he could finish his sentence, Brooklyn’s eyes went wide as a man in orange and brown exo-armor, flanked by two armored beasts, made a bee-line towards them. “We need to get Fu-Dog and Bronx on the ground! Now!” Brooklyn and Katana dove towards the street below, as particle beams started firing from the armored beasts’ shoulder cannons.

“Benjamin, Natasha!” the Tazmanian Tiger shouted. “Sic ‘em!”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Nashville landed on the street, in time to watch Wolf get back to his feet and pounce towards Goliath. The young gargoyle unsheathed his kodachi, ready to leap to his leader’s aid. The sound of a woman screaming, however, stopped him.

“I’ll save you!” Gnash cried as he bounded away from the fight towards a white panel truck that was stuck in the newly created traffic jam. As he bounced around the truck, the color faded from his cheeks as he took in the horrific sight before him.

A red-haired woman, half-dead, being held by the almost familiar form of an old enemy.

“Hyena?” Gnash half asked.

Hyena’s eyes slowly took in the young gargoyle, her fangs plunged into the neck of the woman. As she released the woman, blood trickled form her lips, and she stood straight up, revealing her new form. Her gold-plated cybernetic implants had been replaced with blood-red limbs and a matching chest-plate. Even more spikes had been added to her shoulders and thighs. But it wasn’t just her implants. Hyena’s hair had grown longer and even spikier, as had her ears. There was no longer any color in her face, save for her blood-red lips that matched her blood-red eyes.

“Don’t worry, kid,” Hyena said, as she cast the woman aside. “I’ve left plenty of room for dessert.” And then she cackled… a cackle that echoed unnaturally over a three block radius.

“I’m not afraid of you!” Gnash cried, trying not to stutter but failing.

“Look me in the eye,” Hyena said, as she captured his gaze. “Now tell me you aren’t afraid.”

“I’m not afraid,” Gnash said, his voice becoming a monotone as he lowered his blade to his side.

“Now come closer,” Hyena ordered. The young gargoyle slowly stepped towards her, and the vampire allowed herself another echoing cackle.

Before Nashville could walk straight into the cyborg’s claws, Coldfire flew overhead, looped upwards and then landed beside him. She grabbed the young gargoyle by the shoulders and pulled him aside.

“I heard Hyena’s laugh, young warrior, where is she?” Coldfire asked. She looked Gnash in the eyes, but he didn’t look back.

“What do you mean, where am I?” Hyena asked, as she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Coldfire whirled around, but did not lock her eyes on Hyena. “Show yourself?!”

Hyena lowered her eyebrow and her lips spread in a sadistic grin as a realization dawned on her. “You can’t see me.”

Coldfire turned in the direction of Hyena’s voice and blasted a stream of flame. But the cyborg vampire leaped aside.

“Okay, Goldilocks, let’s play blind man’s bluff!”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The news van came to an abrupt stop, and the reporter, cameraman, and boom operator quickly piled out. Beatrix Carradine pulled her compact mirror out of her jacket pocket, and double-checked her make-up.

“Bea,” her producer called, as he exited the van. “You’re on in six seconds!”

Beatrix slipped her mirror back into her pocket and raised her microphone, as her producer concluded his countdown.

“This is Beatrix Carradine reporting live on Fifth Avenue. One of the world’s most elegant streets, tonight it has been transformed into a war zone as monsters wreck havoc. On one side, those gargoyles that have infested our fair city, and on the other...” Before she could continue, the Tazmanian Tiger came to a hard landing mere inches from where Beatrix was standing.

“Miss Carradine,” the Tiger said from behind his metal mask. “I like your style! I hope the city doesn’t mind the show that my colleagues and I are putting on.”

For the slightest moment, Beatrix hesitated. “And who are you?”

“My fans call me the Tazmanian Tiger!” he boldly declared. He motioned towards the steps of the black skyscraper nearby, as his two armored thylacines engaged the two gargoyle beasts in a ferocious battle for territory.

“And what is the purpose of this battle, Mr. Tiger?” Beatrix asked, then pointed her microphone towards him.

“Tonight is our coming-out party!” Taz said. While his face wasn’t visible, the grin behind his mask was audible. “Tonight the world meets the magnificent, the incredible, the uncanny Ultra-Pack!”

As if on cue, Goliath cried out in pain as he was violently thrown over Beatrix’s crew, and landed on top of the van, crushing the roof of the vehicle.

Wolf came bounding over, ax in hand. He glared over at his new teammate and growled. “Taz, stop fooling around and pick a gargoyle to finish off!”

Beatrix gasped in fear at the sight of Wolf. She slowly turned her attention back to the Tazmanian Tiger, who then grabbed the microphone from her hand and mugged the camera.

“Are you not entertained?” he yelled.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Coldstone rocketed into the air, his left hand wrapped around Jackal’s throat. But the jackal-faced cyborg merely grinned, and then laughed.

“There’s nothing funny about your impending demise, monster!” Coldstone yelled as he raised his arm cannon and pointed it at Jackal’s face.

“You said you wanted to how my powers dealt with someone already dead?” Jackal said, as black energy emanated from his cybernetic eye.

Coldstone cried out in pain as his cybernetic parts began to rust over. Suddenly, his back-mounted rocket pack gave out, and he fell towards the pavement.

Jackal kicked the cybernetic zombie in the chest, breaking Coldstone’s grip. He activated his own jets and descended. “Now let’s see how you handle a little bit of erosion.”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Coldfire continued to wildly fire off blasts of flame, as Hyena continued to circle her, mocking the android with her laughter.

“All right,” Hyena said, as she stopped laughing. “Bored now!”

Coldfire lunged in the direction of the voice, but Hyena sidestepped her, and grabbed her right arm. With all of her strength, the vampire tore the android’s arm off at the elbow. She cackled once more, and tossed the arm aside. The golden warrior fell to the ground.

“Now for dessert,” Hyena said, as she turned her attention back towards young Nashville. She flexed her fingers, and the claws extended. “Don’t worry kid, you’re not going to die until I’m at least halfway done eating you.”

The echoing roar of another gargoyle drew Hyena’s attention, just in time to raise her claws in a defensive maneuver before Katana could take the vampire’s head off with the very blade that was her namesake.

The vampire bared her fangs in Katana’s face, hissed, and then leaped backwards. Before she hit the ground, her body shifted, her face stretching into a snout, brown and black fur growing from her skin. Her bipedal form stretched, became quadrupedal, became an actual hyena with red cybernetic implants.

Hyena darted on to the sidewalk, and bounded inside FAO Schwartz. Katana’s eyes glowed red as she watched. The glow faded as she looked back towards Nashville, still in his trance.

Coldfire crawled towards the young gargoyle, and raised her remaining arm. “I’ll protect him,” she said.

Katana nodded. The glow returned to her eyes and she pursued Hyena inside the building. Entering the lobby, she made her way up the escalator, ignoring the recorded loop singing “Welcome to our world, welcome to our world, welcome to our world of toys...”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Bronx wrestled with the armored thylacine, Benjamin, and barked out in pain as the marsupial sank his teeth into the beast’s flesh.

Fu-Dog slowly backed away from Natasha, growling at his enemy. But the beast did not comprehend the shifting particle beam on the thylacine’s shoulder. As Fu-Dog slowly backed away, towards the entrance to the tower, the cannon targeted the steel T bolted above the doorway, labeling the building as Trump Tower.

The cannon blasted the T, dislodging it, and it fell to the ground, landing on top of Fu-Dog. The beast cried out in pain, a cry that quickly became a whimper.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Goliath cried out as he was flung through the window of Tiffany and Co. He gasped as Wolf pounced in. Before he could recover, Wolf stomped down on Goliath’s chest, pinning him to the floor. The gargoyle glared into the werewolf’s face, and growled.

“What have you done to yourself this time?” Goliath asked.

“I figured being a genetic werewolf was a half-measure,” Wolf replied, before growling. His eyes glowed yellow. “So I became the real thing.”

Goliath tried to give himself some leverage, but Wolf’s strength was too great. Wolf raised his ax into the air and, before the gargoyle’s eyes, the metal blade shifted. It took on a more spherical form, and spikes seemed to grow out of it.

“Nanotech,” Wolf said, as he admired his ax, now turned mace. “I hear these things shattered gargoyles by the hundreds,” he growled as he raised it back above his head. “Now I’ll shatter your skull.”

Wolf cried out in pain as the sound of gunfire echoed in the room. Goliath turned towards the sound and smiled as Elisa leaped in, raised her gun and emptied her clip into Wolf’s back. The gargoyle took advantage of the distraction, and threw the lupine-creature off of him.

“Are you all right?” Elisa asked, as Goliath made his way towards her and took her into a protective embrace.

Wolf growled and got back to his feet. “That little peashooter of yours might have stopped me before,” then he roared. “But not now!”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Katana rounded a corner in the giant toy store, and came to a stop. Most of the shop had been evacuated, leaving her alone in the aisle of gigantic stuffed animals. She stalked forward, slowly. First she passed a six-foot plush of a Japanese fire-breathing lizard.

As she approached a row of life-sized, stuffed lions, her skin crawled at the sound of Hyena’s echoing laughter. She whirled around, with her blades, but was unable to track the sound of her enemy.

The tengu passed a mirror and was momentarily distracted as she tried to catch sight of her prey. But it did not reflect the sight of her enemy as Hyena dropped down from above, having resumed her humanoid form. Her limbs quickly extending from her body, taking on an almost arachnid-like appearance, as she pinned Katana to the floor.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Brooklyn and Broadway grappled with the Tazmanian Tiger, dodging his particle beam attacks, but barely able to scratch his exo-armor.

“I can see why my new mates are so obsessed with you,” Taz said, from behind his metal faceplate. “I never had a bigger thrill than this.”

“Can it!” Broadway growled, as he lifted the armored human off the ground, throwing him head first into an abandoned hot dog stand.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Angela rushed over to Nashville and shook the young gargoyle. “Gnash,” she cried. “You need to snap out of it.”

“Err,” Gnash groaned as the world became clear again. He smiled at the sight of his rookery mother’s face. “What happened?”

She hugged the young gargoyle tightly, but that did not ease his distress as he noticed Coldfire on the ground, slowly pushing herself up on her feet, with just the one arm. He pulled away from Angela to help his other rookery mother up.

Angela looked up into the air, scanning the skies. There had been no sign of Coyote yet, and this had worried her. But her worries were soon confirmed as her mouth hung open in fear at the sight of what was landing in front of Tiffany’s and Co.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Goliath’s eyes burned white, as he assumed his battle stance, ready to continue his battle with Wolf. But before he could grapple with his enemy again, a gigantic black, clawed steel hand reached in through the shattered window and wrapped its fingers around Goliath’s midsection. It quickly pulled the gargoyle out of the shop and into the open air of Fifth Avenue. Goliath managed to turn in the giant's grip and took in the sight of his new attacker.

This was quite possible the largest robot he had seen to date. Bipedal, a gold chest, forearms, thighs, and haunched feet. The gold was off-set by black. Its left arm lacked a hand, but in its place was a gigantic cannon. Atop a long, prehensile black neck was a diamond colored canine-face, with a crack running down the middle. But Goliath’s attention was drawn to the spherical orb on the robot’s chest. Within it appeared a hologram of an unwelcome sight: the hideous half-Xanatos, half-mechanical skull face of the Ultra-Pack’s leader.

“Did you miss me?” Coyote 6.0 asked, the fleshy side of his face taking on the familiar grin of its creator. Then the robot dropped Goliath as a red beam blasted it in the side of his right arm.

“No, can’t say I did,” Brooklyn said, smiling as he kept his hand blaster trained on the robot.

Wolf emerged from Tiffany’s and Co, carrying Elisa in his left hand. “Goliath!” he growled. “Come here and die, you coward!”

On instinct, Brooklyn turned his blaster towards Wolf, which gave Coyote the opportunity he needed to backhand the red, armored gargoyle into the middle of the street, near the twitching carcass of Coldstone.

The robot then whirled around towards the were. “Toss the detective over here, Wolf,” he said as he picked up Goliath, again, and chucked him on top of Brooklyn. “Let’s stack them all in a pile.”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Jackal landed less than ten feet from Angela, Nashville, and Coldfire, and sneered. “You heard the giant toaster,” he said. “You just join Goliath and the rest.”

“I’ve been watching you,” Angela said, as her eyes narrowed and glowed. “You’re not as powerful as you were in Egypt, are you?”

“Powerful enough!” The cyborg avatar turned his head towards a couple of civilians trying to extricate themselves from their car, and blasted them with his black beam. The couple, once in their mid-twenties, aged before the gargoyles’ eyes, until their appearance matched a couple in their nineties and they keeled over.

“You wouldn’t want to see me bring the gift of death to more innocent people, would you?”

Angela defiantly growled, and Gnash’s eyes glowed white. But Coldfire placed a hand on their shoulders and nodded.

Reluctantly, they obeyed Jackal’s orders and made their way towards Goliath, Brooklyn, and Coldstone.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Goliath got to his feet, helped Elisa to her feet, and gazed down in horror at Coldstone’s twitching body. Brooklyn also stood up, and, as Angela, Coldfire, and Nashville were herded towards them, placed a reassuring hand on Gnash’s shoulder.

Broadway cried out as he was tossed into the pile with them by the Tazmanian Tiger, who also landed at Coyote’s side.

Bronx and Fu-Dog barked and growled as the armored thylacines forced them into the small space with their masters.

Goliath surveyed their situation, and his resolve hardened even as he and his clan were surrounded by Coyote 7.0, Wolf, Tazmanian Tiger, Jackal, and the armored thylacines.

“I think we’re a little bit short,” Coyote mused.

As if on cue, Katana was thrown through the air, landing at Brooklyn’s feet. He kneeled down and his eyes widened in horror as he noticed how much color had drained from her face. Turning her head, he noticed the two puncture wounds in her throat.

Hyena bounded towards the rest of them, briefly hugging Coyote’s gigantic arm, and then smirked at Brooklyn, blood trickling from her lip. “Tastes like chicken!” she said. Her cackle echoed throughout the area.

“Thank you, Hyena,” Coyote said. “I believe we’ve made our point.”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Eyrie Building

Inside his office, Xanatos watched as events unfolded through the wall monitor, Coyote’s visuals being broadcast back to them.

“Tell me, David,” said Fox. “How is Coyote able to see Hyena when Coldfire can’t?”

Ms. Lafayette smiled with pride, before she answered. “The lenses in his eyes have been treated with a special brew. Alchemy is more than a match for anything a scientist concocts in a laboratory.”

Xanatos stepped out from behind his desk, and placed an arm around his wife. “All right, I think the show is over.”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Fifth Avenue

On the roof of Trump Tower, there was a brief, but no less blinding flash of green energy, and Ms. Lafayette appeared. She strutted towards the edge, and cast her eyes down to the street below.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

“Do you really believe you’ve defeated us?” Goliath shouted. “We’ve defeated the Pack before!”

“Ultra-Pack, Goliath,” Coyote said, with a grin, before briefly looking over at the Tazmanian Tiger. “I like the sound of that.”

“You didn’t beat us, tonight!” Hyena said.

“If anything, Goliath, we were holding back,” Coyote declared. “Now, imagine the damage we could really do.”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Fifty-eight stories up, Ms. Lafayette spread her arms, as her eyes glowed green.

Underneath each member of the Ultra-Pack, a green ring appeared. The rings levitated up, swallowing each member into it, as they vanished into thin air.

A similar green ring appeared beneath Ms. Lafayette and, she too, vanished.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Goliath watched in stunned disbelief as his enemies vanished before his eyes. He roared at the heavens in frustration. The white hot anger was shattered by the sounds of sirens and approaching helicopters.

“We have to go!” Brooklyn said, as he lifted the sickly Katana into his arms.

“I’ll be all right,” Elisa said as she backed away. Goliath understood, and picked up the fallen Coldstone.

Their beasts and wounded accounted for, the Manhattan Clan disappeared into the shadows.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Eyrie Building. August 3^rd.

Katana lay across the hospital bed in the castle’s infirmary as Dr. Jay Sato concluded his examination. Goliath, Brooklyn, Elisa, and Hudson, holding Tachi in his arms, stood against the wall, waiting anxiously.

“She’s lost a lot of blood,” Dr. Sato said. “But with a blood transfusion, she’ll make it to sunrise and, hopefully, a full recovery.”

“All right, Doc,” Brooklyn said, holding out his arm. “Take as much as she needs.”

Dr. Sato pulled up a chart on a clipboard, and briefly consulted it. “I’m afraid your blood type doesn’t match hers.

“Peachy,” Brooklyn muttered, as his shoulders sank.

“Tachi’s blood type does match, but she’s too young to make a donation.” The doctor ran his finger down his chart and then perked up. “But Hudson and Broadway do,” he said.

“I’ve watched enough hospital shows on the television,” Hudson said as he extended his arm. “Whatever the lass needs, just take from me.”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Lexington laughed in excitement as he and Staghart landed in the castle’s courtyard. “So, how much do you think we’ll net from these babies?”

“I don’t know, luv,” Amp replied. “Into the Mystic is just an old book store, not Ground Zero for a technological revolution.”

They entered the Great Hall, and Lex’s spirits dampened as he came upon the rest of the clan. He gasped at the sights of the slings and bandages most of them were in. It was like the night they were defeated by Thailog’s Shock Troops, but far worse.

Coldstone lay almost motionless on the ground, his robotic parts rusted, and Coldfire kneeled at his side, holding his right hand in her only remaining hand.

“Lexington!” Angela said. She stood up and ran over to them when she finally noticed the two lovers enter. “Thank heaven you’re here.”

“What happened?” Amp asked.

“Xanatos created a new Pack!” Broadway bellowed, as he slowly made his way over to them. “An Ultra-Pack!”

“What!” Lex growled, his eyes glowing white. “Oh, man! I should have been there!” He quickly calmed, once his mate placed a comforting, furred hand on his shoulder.

“Good news,” Brooklyn said as he and Goliath entered the Great Hall. “Katana is going to live.”

“Live?” Lex asked, stunned. He sank to the floor. “What happened to her?”

“What I would like to know is, where were you two?” Goliath asked. “You did not answer my call.”

“We were -” Lexington stuttered. “The signal was bad where we were?”

Angela drew back, but stared daggers into Lexington and Amp. Broadway put an arm around her before addressing his rookery brother. “You know what, Lex? Angela and I are done covering for you. Tell Goliath the truth or I will.”

“What truth?” Goliath asked.

“Last summer, I created an antivirus program. I threw it up on the Internet and then, well, someone bought it. For a lot of money!” Lex explained.

“That does not explain where you were when your clan needed you,” Goliath rumbled.

“I was getting to that!” Lex cried out. “I donated most of that money to charities. You know, to help people.”

“And what did you do with the rest?” Goliath asked, folding his arms.

“Amp and I started a tech company,” He unclipped a cellular phone from his belt, and flipped open the screen. “People will be able to search the internet with this little fusion of a cell phone and a computer. It’s going to change the world! For humans and gargoyles alike!”

“Actually, people will mostly just use it to post videos of their cats to the Internet,” Brooklyn said dryly. “But, I won’t lie, it is pretty cool.”

“But think of all the people we could also help!” cried Lex. “You want to protect the city, Goliath! But there are many ways to do that besides just punching bad guys in the face!”

Goliath growled, flaring his wings as his eyes blazed white. The Great Hall was silent. All around him, nobody dared to speak a word.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Goliath demanded to know.

“Actually...” Broadway began.

“He told us,” Angela finished.

“Would you have really understood?” Lex replied. “The moment you hear about money and corporations, you’re going to drop Xanatos and Thailog on top of me!”

“Halcyon Renard was my friend,” Goliath said, his voice dropping, but still seething with anger. “That you founded a company without consulting the clan angers me far less than that you have deceived me for a year.” He sighed, then he added. “That is what Thailog and Xanatos do.”

Lexington and Staghart winced at the sound of that. Broadway and Angela also sank back a bit, when Goliath looked in their direction as well.

“All right,” Brooklyn said, as he forced himself between all of them. “What’s done is done. Let’s all just sleep on it...”

Before another word could be said and inside the Great Hall, the gargoyles turned to stone.

A few minutes passed before Elisa strode into the massive chamber. She placed a hand on Goliath’s stone cheek. Briefly she considered storming into Xanatos’s office to confront him. “What’s the point?” She muttered to herself. “It won’t change anything.”

She made her way behind the table set in front of the massive fireplace, sat in the large throne-like chair, and rested her eyes.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

As the gargoyles turned to stone, Xanatos shut off the monitor then sauntered behind his desk and sat down.

“Congratulations, Ms. Lafayette,” he said. “The Ultra-Pack passed their first test.”

Ms. Lafayette smiled, and delivered a courtly half-bow. “And the second test?” she asked.

Before Xanatos could respond, the phone on his desk briefly rung. Recognizing the number, he activated the speaker. “Well done, tonight, Coyote.”

“Wolf wasn’t happy about the withdrawal,” the robot replied.

“Tell him that the real action is yet to come,” Xanatos said, his lips curling in a self-satisfied smirk.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

SoHo

About ninety minutes after the sun had risen, Elisa was awakened by the sound of Owen Burnett setting a small tray with a mug of coffee and a buttered English muffin on the table, in front of her. She was not in the mood. She made her way back to her loft in SoHo and was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

The detective awoke shortly before 5pm, and finally checked her answering machine. Five messages. All from Matt Bluestone.

“Elisa, mandatory meeting of the GTF, tonight. Your second family is going to have to fend for themselves tonight.”

She took a fast shower, dressed, and donned her badge and gun. Glancing out of her skylight at the Eyrie Building in the distance, she sighed. “You guys be careful, tonight.”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

As the sun set, the stone skin of the gargoyles began to crack. The last rays dipped beyond the horizon as the clan awoke inside the Great Hall.

“I’m out of here!” Lexington cried, as he scuttled off before anyone else could finish shaking the flakes of stone skin off of them.

“Wait!” Goliath called out. But there was no response.

“I have to apologize for this, Goliath,” Staghart said. He brushed the flakes out of his white fur as he approached his leader. “But Lex just didn’t know how to tell you about the Lexington Corporation. And the more time that passed, the more difficult it became.”

“Staghart, you are part of this clan, now,” Goliath said, placing a hand on the English gargoyle’s shoulder. “And that means this clan is your family as much as your kin back at Knight’s Spur.”

“I know,” Staghart said with a shrug. “Una would never have tolerated us keeping such a thing from her for over a year.”

“Then why did you do it?” Goliath asked.

“He didn’t think you would understand,” Staghart replied. “That you believed gargoyles had no need for things such as business and money. But the London clan has operated the shop for centuries. So that we can support ourselves. And, after last night, do you really want to be entirely dependent on Xanatos? And how much can we force Elisa to take care of us should things ever permanently fall out with him?”

“You still should have told us,” said Goliath.

“I know, and I’m sorry. You invited me to live here, and I’ve behaved abhorrently,” Staghart replied. “Look, I’ll go talk to Lex and help smooth things out.” Staghart quickly exited the Great Hall, into the courtyard.

“So, does this mean we are leaving our home?” Angela asked.

Before Goliath could respond, the doors to the Great Hall opened and Xanatos strutted in, hands behind his back as Owen wheeled in a cart covered by a white sheet. The gargoyles all turned on him, eyes glowing, and growling.

“That’s not necessary,” Xanatos said before uncovering the cart. “This is as much your home as it is mine. You will always be safe here. Besides, I come bearing gifts.”

“What makes you think we want anything you have to offer?” Goliath said, as he continued to growl.

But the industrialist ignored the gargoyle leader. He picked up a golden robotic arm from the cart and slowly approached Coldfire. “Now hold still,” he said. Coldfire tried to react, but found her body incapable of movement. Xanatos attached the new arm to her stump, connected a few wires, then tightened the bolts connecting the appendage to the elbow.

“Do you think just giving Coldfire a new arm is going to make up for last night?” Broadway growled.

“Wait,” Brooklyn said, as he placed an arm on Broadway’s bicep, holding the big gargoyle back. “Let’s see where this goes.”

Xanatos reached up to Coldfire’s face and removed her red eye lenses. After about fifteen minutes of work, he replaced them with new ones. Then he reached into his pocket and activated a switch. Coldfire immediately started moving her arms again.

“What did you do to me?” she asked.

“Yes,” Coldstone growled, still lying on the floor. “What did you do to her?”

“Special alchemically treated lenses,” he replied. He turned and looked Coldfire straight in the eye. “With them, you’ll have no trouble seeing vampires.”

“Why are you doing this?” Goliath growled.

“Because the Ultra-Pack will be making another move,” he replied. He strode back to the cart, and picked up the one remaining object, a sword. He brought it over to Goliath and handed it to him.

“What’s this?” the gargoyle asked, the glow remaining in his eyes.

“Silver,” Xanatos replied. “I’m confident you’ll figure it out.”

“You want to test the Ultra-Pack’s weaknesses,” Goliath rumbled. “You mean to use us as pawns!”

“Well, let’s see who wins,” Xanatos said, as he made his way out of the Great Hall. “I know where I’d bet my fortune.”

Goliath held the sword in his hands, staring at it for a few moments. He turned towards his clan, and his first smile of the evening crossed his lips as Hudson entered the Great Hall, escorting Katana.

Brooklyn rushed towards his mate, took her into his arms, and brushed her black hair, before nuzzling his brow against hers. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m healed,” she replied.

“But not whole,” Goliath said. “Perhaps you should stay here and protect Coldstone.”

“If we are to face the Ultra-Pack again, then Bushido demands that I face that abomination,” Katana declared, as she tightened her grip on the hilt of her blade. “Whether I am whole again or not.”

“That’s my girl,” Brooklyn said, cupping her cheek. “Nashville, you stay here and protect Coldstone.”

Nashville opened his beak to protest, but the look Katana shot him made him re-think his words. “Yes, Brooklyn. I won’t let you down.”

“You never do, kid,” Brooklyn said.

“If it pleases you, Nashville, I will regale you with the tale of when my rookery siblings and I did battle with a mighty dragon that was ravaging Wyvern Hill!” said Coldstone.

“Okay,” Nashville replied. “Then I can tell you about the time I fought three dragons in Ancient Germania.”

“We have work to do,” Goliath said, as he led the clan out into the courtyard. “For now we’ll split up into teams of three. Report back at the first sign of this Ultra-Pack.”

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Xanatos entered his office where Fox and Ms. Lafayette awaited. As he made his way towards his desk, he couldn’t help but take in the two women. The similarities between them were just as striking as their differences. Fox was taller, and her fiery red hair contrasted with Ms. Lafayette’s raven-haired locks as much as Fox’s red blouse clashed with the shorter woman’s green. Both of them were exceptionally beautiful, and carried themselves an almost divine dignity.

“Now lets see how things play out,” Xanatos said, as he turned on the monitor.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

It didn’t take long for Staghart to catch up to Lexington. As he took his mate’s hand in his own, he could feel the tension before looking into the smaller gargoyle’s eyes.

“I am just as much as fault as you are,” Staghart said.

“No, you’re not,” Lex sighed. “At the end of the night, it’s on me. Maybe if I told Goliath months ago...”

“What’s done is done, luv,” Staghart replied, as he guided Lexington towards the roof of their building. “Goliath won’t be banishing you from the clan. We just all need to cool off and then you two can talk.”

“I guess,” Lex said sadly.

As soon as they landed, they made their way past all the stone gargoyle statues to the stairwell. As Lex opened the door, he paused briefly. The sound of howling echoed nearby. “Do you hear something?”

“Just some stray dogs,” Staghart said. He followed Lexington inside.

“All right, I’ll get the lights,” Lex said as they emerged from the stairwell into the dark room.

But before either could make another move, the lights in the laboratory came on. The two gargoyles covered their eyes with their arms. Lex uncovered his eyes and found a thylacine in exo-armor growling in his face.

“Oh no,” Lex whispered. Before them stood four members of the Ultra-Pack. The lab had been ransacked. Boxes and crates had been opened, papers were scattered all over the place. Even the pool table was overturned and the cushions on the couch shredded.

“I hope you don’t mind that we let ourselves in,” Coyote said, as his canine-face took them in, before it began scanning the LexPhones.

“Are we done here?” Jackal asked.

“Not until I shish kebob these flying rats!” Hyena cried, as she extended her claws. The sounds of the stray dogs howling outside grew even louder. “Now that’s music to my ears!”

“Those dogs are your doing?” Staghard cried.

“Ever since I had my makeover, I’ve got powers I haven’t even discovered yet!” Hyena said, before cackling.

“Listen to them,” Tazmanian Tiger said, attempting a terrible Eastern European accent. “Children of the night.”

The back doors opened and Wolf entered, carrying his nano-ax. “Xanatos’s guys just took the crates,” he said. His eyes glowed yellow the moment he spotted the two gargoyles. “Well, it’s about time.”

“We have what we came for,” Coyote said after he finished scanning the last harddrive. “Everything else is expendable.”

“You heard the toaster!” Wolf said, then chuckled ominously. “Torch the place!”

“With pleasure.” Jackal’s hand retracted into his arm, and out popped his flamethrower. The flames shot out and lit the pool table on fire, then the furniture, and finally the walls.

“No!” Lex screamed. He was about to pounce towards the Ultra-Pack and attack the first member he could, not knowing or caring which it would be. But Staghart wrapped his arms around the smaller gargoyle and began dragging him off. “Let go of me, Amp!”

“I’m not watching you die tonight!” Staghart cried. He bounded up the stairs towards the roof, and quickly caught the nearest updraft.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

“And we’re just letting them get away?” Wolf shouted.

“Of course not,” Coyote replied. “I’m already tracking them by radar.”

“Nothing like a good chase to build up an appetite,” Hyena cackled.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

“Let go of me, Amp!” Lex continued to scream as they soared over downtown Manhattan.

“Do you promise not to do anything crazy?” Staghart asked.

“Yes,” Lex said, catching his breath. His mate released him, and Lex caught the current with his wings. He looked behind them and gasped.

Jackal, Hyena, the Tazmanian Tiger, and his two thylacines flew in formation as they flanked Coyote. Wolf rode on the robot’s back, his nano-ax in his hands.

“Don’t look now, but I think crazy is coming our way!”

To Be Continued...

Chapter Text

The breeze was cool on the hot summer night as Goliath came to a landing atop a roof in lower Manhattan. Broadway and Angela landed beside him.

"Are you all right?" Angela asked.

Goliath bent down on one knee and didn't survey the street so much as a line outside of a free clinic. His eye followed the line towards the clinic and a sign in the window, written in sharpie. We here at Sacred Heart thank the Lexington Corporation for their generous contribution.

"Angela, do you remember the night just before we returned to Manhattan?" Goliath asked. "I had a nightmare."

"I remember," she replied as she slowly approached him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You said it was a deception by Puck, but you never told us what it was."

"The clan dead, the city in ruins." Goliath shut his eyes. "The deepest of betrayals."

"We all have our dark sides," said Angela, understanding whom Goliath was referring to. "But you can't think..."

"Lex would never turn on us!" Broadway said as he took a seat beside Goliath. "He made a bad choice by hiding his company, but he didn't mean any harm."

"I know." Goliath stood back up. "I regret that he felt the need to hide things at all… perhaps I unintentionally contributed to his deception. We are a clan, there should be no secrets."

"The building he and Amp bought isn't too far," Broadway said. "Just a few more blocks."

As Broadway pointed south, the sight of smoke rising in that very direction caused his eyes to widen.

"Quickly!" Goliath cried as they took to the air. In a matter of minutes, they landed across the street from Lexington's headquarters.

Angela gasped at the sight of the flames rising from the windows. The lights and sirens of several fire trucks helped light up the block as the firefighters blasted jets of water from their hoses into the building.

Goliath clicked the communicator in his ear, then drew the mouth piece to his lips. "Lexington! Can you hear me?"

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Lexington and Staghart dodged particle beam fire as they soared south. The Ultra-Pack was still on their tails, firing blast after blast like predators playing with their food.

The sound of a quiet beep distracted Lex for a split second; reaching into his small pouch, he pulled out the old communicator and held it to his lips.

"Goliath?" he asked.

"Tell him we could use some help!" Staghart cried as a particle beam blast singed the white fur on his right arm.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

"Lure the Ultra-Pack to the Brooklyn Bridge!" Goliath said into his communicator. "The clan and I will join you. Perhaps this time we will trap them."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

"Lure them to my bridge," Brooklyn grinned as he held his communicator to his ear. "Got it!"

Katana rolled her eyes at the sound of it, while Hudson merely chuckled. "Come on, lad," he said. "I know you can do better than that."

"Everyone's a critic," the second-in-command mused.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Brooklyn Bridge

The two gargoyles soared over the city, managing to narrowly avoid every particle beam blast fired at them by the Ultra-Pack. They passed over Wall Street and City Hall; the Brooklyn Bridge stood before them.

Staghart came to a rough landing on the west tower of the bridge, and Lexington joined him, stopping to catch his breath.

"We made it, luv," the furred gargoyle said, quickly embracing his mate.

"Yeah, now hopefully we'll survive long enough for Goliath to arrive," said Lex.

"Oh, I doubt it," the unwelcome voice of Jackal cried as he flipped up the side of the bridge and came to a landing mere feet away from the two gargoyles. Before either of them could react, Jackal blasted Staghart with a black beam from his cybernetic eye.

Lexington cried out in horror as his mate began rapidly aging before his eyes. Staghart's white fur darkened to an almost sickly gray. Cracks formed in his antlers, and the formerly young gargoyle keeled over, collapsing onto the floor of the tower.

"We overheard your little plan," Jackal said with a sadistic grin. "Lure us to the Brooklyn Bridge and then the rest of your clan will fly in to save the day?"

"How?" Lex yelled, his horror replaced with a white hot anger.

"You really need to tell Goliath to upgrade his phone service," Jackal mockingly replied, unsheathing his claws. "You never know who might be listening." Lexington quickly leaped aside to avoid Jackal's claws. But the cybernetic avatar was quicker.

Piercing Lexington's wing, Jackal grabbed the gargoyle's arm with his cold, steel claws and held him over the edge of the tower in triumph.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Goliath's roar echoed through the sky as he led his clan over lower Manhattan towards the Brooklyn Bridge.

"We'll make it, lad," Hudson said, an assuring tone in his voice.

The glow faded from Goliath's eyes and he gaped in shock as the view of Jackal waving Lexington around like a rag doll while standing over Staghart entered his field of vision. "Brooklyn!" he cried.

"I'm on it." The second-in-command drew his hand blaster and opened fire.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Lexington perked up at the sight of his clan, but Jackal stood his ground in the face of Brooklyn's blaster fire. "As if he thinks that I'm dumb enough to believe he'd shoot through you to get to me."

"We'll kick your freakish asses, Jackal!" Lexington growled. "We always have."

"I don't think so," Jackal hissed. "For you allowed us to set the perfect trap."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

"Tazmanian Tiger and his critters at two-o-clock!" Broadway called as he watched the armored human and his thylacines land atop the tower of the bridge.

"Where are the rest of the Ultra-Pack?" Goliath thought aloud.

At that moment, Coyote 6.0 flew into the air behind them, Wolf perched on the automaton's back, and Hyena comfortably in his right hand. Raising his left arm's hand-cannon, the massive robot began firing a rapid succession of particle beam blasts.

"Scatter!" Goliath ordered. But to no avail, as the robot's blasts tracked all of the gargoyles faster than they could glide, forcing them towards the bridge.

"He's herding us!" Brooklyn cried as each of the dozens of blasts pushed them over the bridge.

The robot's holographic half-Xanatos face smirked, and once the gargoyles were over the bridge, it stopped firing particle beams, adjusted the cannon and, rather than blasting even more particle beams, it fired its vertigo ray.

Caught in the very path of the weapon, the gargoyles grabbed their heads in pain, as their very perceptions of reality warped all around them. Then they began falling out of the air.

Angela, Bronx, Hudson, Brooklyn, and Fu-Dog crashed into the pedestrian walkway at the center of the bridge, while Broadway, Katana, and Goliath crashed onto the street.

Reality quickly returned to Goliath, now that the vertigo beam was, for the time being, no longer a factor in time for an SUV to come to a violent stop mere inches from his head.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

"They're all ours," Coyote said as he came to a landing on the tower.

"Finally!" Wolf cried as he leaped from the robot's back down to the bridge below.

"And thank you for the lift." Hyena nuzzled her pale cheek against the robot's chasis.

"I know that you have trouble crossing running water," the robot said.

"Hey, I always did want to ride you." Hyena cackled and leaped into the fray.

Jackal sighed and tilted his head towards Lexington. "Tell me," he said. "Do any of your siblings ever just sicken you?"

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Katana opened her eyes, andgasped as Wolf fell towards her. She quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the werewolf's nano-mace as it left a small crater in the pavement. The tengu was quickly on her feet. She drew her blade and stared Wolf down as her eyes burned red.

"You think I'm afraid of your little toothpick?" Wolf chuckled as he tapped a switch on his weapon's handle. The mace head's shape began to change and then it expanded into the head of a mighty war hammer. But Katana stood her ground and re-sheathed her blade.

"Giving up already? I'm not surprised," Wolf said. "Hyena said you were barely worth it."

A wall of flame blasted from the air, separating the two opponents as Coldfire hovered above the street.

"We need to take this fight back up there," Goliath pointed to the bridge tower.

"You're not going anywhere!" Hyena cackled as she extended her blood-red steel claws and slashed at Goliath.

The gargoyle leader leaped aside, and scanned the area for the silver sword that he had lost during the fall.

Broadway got to his feet, stared up the side of the tower, dug his claws into the limestone and began to scale it.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

On the pedestrian walkway, Angela slowly opened her eyes, and began rising to her feet. Hudson and Brooklyn were still fighting off the effects of Coyote's vertigo beam.

Suddenly, the Tazmanian Tiger grabbed Angela's hand and finished helping her back up, before stepping back and taking a look at her. "Nobody ever told me a gargoyle females were such babes," he said. Angela's eyes glowed red, and she responded with a snarl. "Oh, that's spicy," he replied. "Taz likes getting down and dirty with the hotties."

Bronx and Fu-Dog barked in near unison as they tackled the Tazmanian Tiger to the wooden boardwalk. "Benjamin, Natasha!" he called. "Sic 'em!" Using their rocket-powered jets, the thylacines rammed into the beasts from the air, knocking them off of their master.

Before Taz could get back on his feet, Hudson ran over, sat on the armored human's torso, and held his sword to his throat. "What was that ye were saying about 'gettin' down and dirty?'"

"Old farts aren't my type," Taz growled as he activated his armor's boosters and broke free of the old soldier's grip. "But if you really want to play with me."

Angela ran towards Hudson and Taz, but Jackal slammed down between her and her quarry, reared back up to his feet and laughed. "This time I'm going to age you into dust!" He fired his black eye beam, but she quickly leaped aside, just barely avoiding it.

Brooklyn grabbed Angela by the shoulder, and pulled her aside. "Didn't you once tell us that he wiped out an entire town in Egypt?"

"He did," Angela replied, as Jackal raised a particle beam and fired. The two gargoyles leaped aside. "He should have been able to kill us all last night!"

"So, he's working off of whatever scraps of magic Anubis left inside him," Brooklyn pondered. "I've seen something like this before. We just need to find the nearest source of iron."

As they dodged another series of blasts, Angela pointed towards the black fence that surrounded City Hall, not too far from the ramp up to the bridge. The two gargoyles nodded to each other and quickly scaled the bridge just high enough to catch a decent current.

"I don't think so," Jackal activated his jets and followed.

It took barely a minute for the gargoyles to land on the grass lawn in front of City Hall, and less than six seconds for Jackal to catch up.

"Did you really think that you could escape death!" Black energy began to emanate from his cybernetic eye, when Brooklyn drew his sonic blaster rifle and fired it at the avatar.

Jackal cried out in pain as he grabbed the side of his head. Angela quickly tore a part of the fence out of the ground, rushed him, and held the cold iron against his forehead. He cried out in pain as physical contact with iron burned him.

Angela pulled back as Jackal glowed, and while continuing to cry out, his body began rearranging itself, no longer quite as feral. His legs lost their haunches and resumed their humanoid shape once more. Jackal's face changed, the snout receding, his hair darkening, until he looked just as human as he did the first time he traded in pieces of his body for metal and circuitry.

Jackal slumped forward, and fell face first into the ground.

"That's one," Brooklyn said.

"Let's go make short work of the rest," Angela grinned.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

"I must admit that next to Goliath, Mr. Xanatos holds a special respect for you," Coyote lifted Lexington into his steel claws. "You might think that means I plan to go easy on you. Unfortunately for you, I am programmed for vengeance." The robot aimed his arm cannon into the small gargoyle's face.

"Put him down!" Broadway shouted, climbing over the side of the tower.

Coyote whirled around, and then cast Lexington aside before advancing on Broadway. "I am shivering in my harddrive."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Goliath dodged slash after slash after slash from Hyena, all while avoiding looking her in the eye. "Come on, Goliath," she grinned. "Don't you want to take a look into my beautiful red eyes?"

But Wolf growled and rushed between them. "I've told all of you, Goliath is mine." He pointed towards Katana. "You can have the ninja."

Hyena frowned, then perked up as she rushed towards the tengu. "Seconds!"

"Not this time, foul creature!" Katana growled. "Goliath!" she called. "Wolf draws his power from the hexenwolf pelt!"

Goliath nodded, and leaped over Wolf's head, quickly righting himself and grabbed onto the black fur on Wolf's back. He pulled, but the werewolf only laughed.

"You really think I'm wearing it like a cape?" he grabbed Goliath's wrist and flipped the gargoyle over. "The lady's magic merged it with me. It's as much a part of me as this snout, and these fangs!"

"And this pleases you," Goliath growled, eyes glowing red. "Abandoning your humanity to become this monstrosity!"

"Hey, it pays the bills." Wolf lifted his war hammer and charged.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Katana continued to avoid every slash and particle beam attack from the vampire, who continued to lick her fangs in anticipation of finishing her off.

"Hold still!" Hyena yelled as Katana continued to do anything but. "I know you want seconds, too. It was as good for you as it was for me."

Katana remained silent as she plotted her strategy. But she did not count on Hyena stopping to think, as the cybernetic vampire stopped shooting, tore the door off of one of the stopped cars and pulled a young woman from the vehicle.

"Here, catch this!" Hyena yelled, throwing the woman at the tengu. Katana grabbed the woman, and gently lowered her to the ground, which was all the opening Hyena needed to slash Katana across the side.

Katana fell to the ground, clutching her wound as Hyena loomed over her. But out of the corner of her eye, the gargoyle caught a glimmer on the side of the street. The silver sword that Goliath had dropped earlier.

Focusing on her mind over matter, Katana ignored the pain, and rolled towards the sword, grabbing it in her taloned hand. Adjusting to the weight of the broadsword, in comparison to her normal blade, Katana stood her ground.

"Oh, I'm going to paint this bridge red!" Hyena cackled as she pounced towards her prey.

But Katana parried her away, the silver burning Hyena's exposed pale gut. The vampire cried out in pain, as she fell to the ground. She was down, for now.

Holding the sword in both hands, she charged towards Wolf; the were still swinging his war hammer at Goliath… and penetrated his side.

Wolf screamed in pain, mustering what strength he had to knock the tengu to the ground before he collapsed.

"Thank you," Goliath said as he helped Katana back up to her feet. "We must help the others!"

But Hyena's snarl cut through the air, as she leaped at both gargoyles, claws fully extended, murder in her mind.

Goliath gasped; neither he nor Katana were fast enough to avoid certain death at the vampire's hands. But a burst of flame fired from the air, enveloping Hyena, who screamed in agony.

Coldfire hovered above them, and fired more jets of flame into the vampire. Now, completely on fire, the cybernetic vampire cried out before frantically running towards the edge of the bridge and leaping into the river below.

Breaking all discipline, Katana allowed herself to crack a smile. "I must admit that was satisfying."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

"Why are ye helping these demons!" Hudson growled as he parried his sword against the Tazmanian Tiger's armor.

"Because I liked the show." Taz shrugged. "And it's so thrilling."

"Ye sound young, and foolish," Hudson sidestepped a blast from the armor and pinned Taz face down on the ground. "A friendly word of advice. Go home."

The thylacines began howling in agony as Brooklyn soared overhead, blasting them with his sound cannon.

"Gotta love 2198 technology," he said as the beasts collapsed. Bronx and Fu-Dog barked as they stood over their defeated opponents.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

With most of the Ultra-Pack down; the gargoyles leaped from the bridge, catching an updraft they all soared into the air and landed on the west tower. Staghart was still barely conscious, Lexington groaned on the ground, and Broadway was held in Coyote's steel grip.

"Let him go!" Goliath yelled.

"The show must go on," Coyote raised his left arm and fired his vertigo beam, catching all of the gargoyles with it once again. "Personally, I prefer hi-tech upgrades to ancient magic." As the robot continued to hold his vertigo beam on the gargoyles, he dropped Broadway and reached for Brooklyn's sonic cannon.

Lexington's eyes burned white as he stared up at the robot. "Gotta think, gotta think," he said.

Coyote held the sonic cannon in his right hand and raised it towards his canine-face. The red eyes glowed and scanned the weapon. "Error message," the robot said. He continued attempting to scan it.

Lex reached into the small pouch on his belt and pulled put the prototype LexPhone and a USB cord. He plugged the cord into his phone and then accessed the phone's hard drive. Grinning, he leaped onto the robot's back, and ripped out a piece of steel plating. Coyote dropped the gun and activated his internal tasers, but Lexington held on and clicked SEND.

Falling to the ground, the robot's vertigo beam deactivated, and Goliath slowly made his way towards Lexington.

"What happened?" asked the gargoyle leader.

"I kept a copy of that virus I reverse-engineered last year on my phone. The one that turned Coldstone into a vegetable back in '95!" Lex called, very excited by it.

"I see," Goliath smiled and patted Lexington on the back.

Coyote began to go crazy and started randomly firing off particle beams into the air. Goliath rushed the robot and began tearing into it with his talons.

"Follow the leader!" Brooklyn ordered. "Take it down." The Manhattan Clan all plowed into the robot, tearing off steel plating and wires.

Teetering on the edge of the tower, Coyote 6.0 powered down, and its carcass fell from the ledge and plunged into the East River below.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

"Oh crap!" Tazmanian Tiger cried, as he watched Coyote's destruction. He activated the jets in his armor and flew up to the west tower, narrowly avoiding Hudson's last sword strike.

Activating the radio inside his armor, he sent a signal to the Ultra-Pack's hovercraft, which took off from a rooftop not too far away and quickly made its way out over the river.

"Coyote's down, everyone!" Taz yelled into his radio. "Time for a tactical retreat!"

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Jackal flew over the river and found Hyena, burnt to a crisp but still twitching, floating face down. He lifted her into his arms, and flew her to the hovercraft.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Clutching his abdomen, Wolf leaped towards the approaching hovercraft, just barely landing on it, and made his way inside.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

"Benjamin, Natasha, go with them!" Taz ordered. The two thylacines complied, rocketing away from the walkway and entered the hovercraft.

Taz then flew headfirst into the East River, near where Coyote's chasis had sunk.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

"I'm not waiting for that groupie," Jackal said as he laid Hyena out on the floor his twin still twitching.

"What does that idiot think he's doing anyway?" Wolf growled.

Suddenly, Coyote's half-Xanatos face appeared on one of the monitors and grinned. "The Tazmanian Tiger is about to go from fan to pro.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

As police cars and helicopters were mere seconds from swarming the bridge. Goliath lifted the aged Staghart into his arms.

"We must go, quickly!"

Catching the currents, the gargoyles took to the air, soaring northward.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Eyrie Building

Xanatos stepped out of the castle into the courtyard as the Tazmanian Tiger came to a landing.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure?" the billionaire asked.

"I brought back the Coyote Diamond," Taz replied, tossing the stone into Xanatos's hand. "I know the tinker toy needs it to think."

"I appreciate it," Xanatos smiled. "Now, go join your teammates."

"Do you mean it?" Taz asked.

"Welcome to the Ultra-Pack," Xanatos grinned.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

"And what's that?" Fox asked as her husband entered his office.

"The Tazmanian Tiger brought me a cubic zirconia," he replied, as he casually tossed the rock into a wastepaper basket. He sat behind his desk, and patted the real Coyote Diamond, that was sitting on his desk, inside a device hooked up to a computer.

"Are you pleased, Mr. Xanatos?" Ms. Lafayette asked as she sauntered over.

"Of course, I no longer need to risk the diamond's safety," he replied. "Thanks to you, the diamond can act as Coyote's brain from this office while a satellite instantaneously beams his processes into a body anywhere on the planet."

"The Coyote Diamond is the most valuable stone on Earth," Ms. Lafayette replied. "It just needed my touch to achieve its full potential."

"Just think of the possibilities, David," Fox grinned, as she opened a bottle of champagne and poured three glasses.

"And I've acquired Lexington's technological breakthroughs," Xanatos said as he pulled up the specs on the monitor.

"I'm pleased by the Ultra-Pack's performance," Ms. Lafayette said. "I trust you'll be analyzing their weaknesses so they can't be exploited again."

Xanatos's reply was a quiet smirk.

The doors burst open, and young Alexander Fox Xanatos ran in. "Mom, Dad, I have something to show you, I..." He quieted down at the side of Ms. Lafayette. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a meeting."

"It's all right," Xanatos said as he stood up. "Ms. Lafayette was just leaving."

Xanatos and Fox shook the sorceress's hand, and she grabbed her purse.

"I look forward to more collaborations in the future," Xanatos said.

"Likewise, Mr. Xanatos," she smiled.

"I'm sorry for interrupting Ms. Lafayette." Alex looked her in the eye, a guilty tone in his voice.

Ms. Lafayette took in the boy, and her smile became a grin as if she recognized something about him. She got down on her knee and put a hand on his shoulder. "You have nothing to apologize to me over, my dear child."

"Thank you, Ms. Lafayette," Alex said, returning her smile.

"Oh, 'Ms. Lafayette' sounds too formal," she said. "Just call me Auntie Morgana."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Eyrie Building

One by one, each of the gargoyles landed on the parapets of the castle. Goliath landed last, laying Staghart down.

Lexington ran over, and took his mate's right hand between his own. "I'm not going anywhere, Amp," he said, a tear welling up in his eye. "I'm with you until the end."

Goliath sidled up to Lexington and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Staghart is part of this clan, we will all be here for him."

A few moments passed and Lex felt a vibrating in his pouch. He reached inside for his LexPhone and answered it. "Uh, yes, this is Mr. Lexington," he paused and listened. "Look, e-mail me whatever and I'll sign it tomorrow," he ended the call.

"That was the fire department," Lex said. "They saved the building, but everything in the lab and offices was incinerated."

"I am truly sorry," Goliath said. "And I also apologize for making you feel like you needed to hide your company from me."

"I shouldn't have," Lex replied. "I have no excuse. Like you said, you and Renard were friends, and he..."

"No, I probably would have responded ill-mannerly," Goliath replied. He sighed before continuing. "Before Avalon sent Angela, Elisa, Bronx, and I home, Puck showed me a dark future in which you had betrayed the clan and destroyed our protectorate."

"What?" the color drained from Lex's face. "Goliath, you can't think….."

"I know you would never do such a thing, Lexington," Goliath said. "But perhaps I have kept you at a slight arm's length. Perhaps a part of you noticed. And perhaps part of me is stuck in another age. And perhaps you can help me better adapt."

"Goliath, you're adapted as well as any of us," Lex said. "Nobody else could have led us into this new millennium better."

"Thank you," Goliath said. "Lexington, I want you to continue with your business. You have my blessing."

"And mine," Angela added.

"Mine, too!" Broadway bellowed.

As the rest of the clan chimed in, Lexington blushed. "Look, thanks everyone, but I don't think there's anything left to proceed with."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Brooklyn Bridge

As the police finished cordoning off the bridge, Matt approached Elisa with a cup of Dunkin' Donuts' coffee. "The Pack… er, Ultra-Pack sure made a mess."

"Thankfully nobody was really hurt," Elisa said. "I look forward to the day when this city pins a medal on Goliath."

"Take the rest of the night off," said Matt. "I've got this."

Elisa got into her car as her cellphone began to ring. She recognized Dr. Sato's number and answered. "Hey, Doc."

"Detective Maza," Dr. Jay Sato said. "I've been helping out with Jackal's victims from last night."

"What happened?" she asked.

"Two of them didn't make it," he said, solemnly. "The rest of them are, I don't know how to quite describe it, but they're regaining their youth. Albeit slowly."

"So the affect was only temporary," Elisa said. "That's great!"

"It depends on how much damage was done before they could recover," said Dr. Sato. "It's too soon to say for sure, but I expect these patients to make a full recovery within a week."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

August 4th, 2000.

Lexington and Staghart rummaged through the burned remains of their lab. "This is going to take a lot of coats of paint," he said.

"Cheer up," Amp said, leaning on a cane. "Into the Mystic went up in the Great Fire of London, and we rebuilt."

"I'm just glad you'll be back to normal soon," Lex said, as he stroked the fur in his mate's arm.

"And better than ever!" Amp added. "Just like this place."

"Indeed," said a third voice.

Lexington and Staghart turned in the direction of the front door, eyes glowing at the sight of David Xanatos entering their lab, alone. "What do you want?" Lex growled.

"To do business," said Xanatos. He reached into his left breast pocket and pulled out a check. "This should not only cover the damages, but rebuild, as Amp put it, better than ever."

Lexington hesitated before taking the check and examining it. Staghart peered over his shoulder and whistled at the number on the check in awe.

"And why would you want to help me?" Lex growled. "You took all our stuff. I'm sure your guys are going over it right now. Another forty billion in your bank account by the end of the year."

"I was really impressed with this LexPhone you've developed," Xanatos replied. "You've literally put every last one of my SCARAB scientists and employees to shame."

"We do that every time we break one of your robots," Lex sneered. "Which is often, by the way."

"I can and will always make more," Xanatos grinned. "But a few more innovations like this LexPhone, and you could end up being a serious competitor. Which is why I want to invest in your company, Lexington."

"Why?" Lex said. "You've already won."

"No, I haven't," said Xanatos. "I'd rather be a stockholder than someone you put out of business eventually."

"You think that you can write me a check and make all this go away?" Lexington cried in disbelief.

Xanatos reached into his breast pocket a second time and produced a disk. "This has all of your specs on it. I didn't keep any copies, and feel free to search my office and database when you get back home."

Lexington stared at Xanatos, as awestruck as his mate was when he saw the check. "And what about my prototypes?"

"They should be back here within the hour," said Xanatos. He turned and headed back towards the door. "By the way, I am impressed that you managed to lease this building without ever meeting the owner in person."

"I helped with that," Amp said. "The London Clan does this sort of not-present purchasing all the time."

"Lease, nothing," cried Lex, excitedly. "We're buying this place!"

"Then I'll leave you both to it," Xanatos said, as he showed himself out.

"You know, luv," Amp said. "We should bring Coldstone here and polish him up."

"I'll call Goliath and tell him," said Lex. "I mean, how lucky are we?"

"You're not saying that you trust Xanatos now, are you?" Amp asked.

"Not as far as I can throw him," Lex replied. "But first that startup capital from Goldencup and now..." he paused suddenly.

"What's wrong now, luv?"

"In all the excitement over the last few months, it slipped my mind," said Lex. "My anti-virus program was based on their virus. They could have easily turned it into an anti-virus program themselves. So, why buy it from me?"

"Perhaps we should take another look at Goldencup," Amp said, leaning on his cane in deep thought.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Hotel Cabal

The elevator doors opened and Shari stepped out into the hallway. Aaron smiled at her and nodded before escorting her towards the ballroom. As they approached, the sounds of a conversation already in progress emanated from the chamber.

"The young gargoyle is gifted," said a tall, gray bearded man in a three-piece Armani suit. "And you know how much it takes to impress me."

"Then let's continue to encourage his gift," Tamora the Goth replied as she sipped her wine. "I trust Goldencup will continue to invest in him?"

"Your prompting is unneeded, Tamora," the man replied, and smiled as her lips parted in a grin. "I only request that some evening, you finally let me paint your portrait."

"I look forward to it," Tamora held out her hand. The Director of Goldencup took it in his and then briefly kissed it. Tamora tilted her head and watched as Aaron escorted Shari into the ballroom. "I apologize, Leonardo. But my next meeting is here."

"Enjoy the wine, my lovely Queen of the Goths," Leonardo said. He then allowed himself to be escorted out of the ballroom by Aaron.

Tamora greeted Shari with a hug, then poured a second glass of wine and offered it to her. "Chianti Classico, aged fifty years," she said before sitting down at her grand piano.

"Mr. Thailog's new spy has confirmed that Xanatos is also now investing in the Lexington Corporation," the storyteller reported.

"Good," Tamora replied. She began to play Chopin's Prelude in C-Minor, a favorite of hers. "It saves the Illuminati the trouble of encouraging him to."

"If you would like, I can encourage Mr. Thailog to do the same," Shari said before taking a sip of her drink.

"That won't be necessary," Tamora said, having clearly given the matter thought. "The more gargoyle-run businesses, the merrier. But a little competition is good, even for my kind."

"Mr. Thailog thrives on competition," Shari said, the pride she took in her in nighttime assignment clearly evident.

"I've noticed," Tamora replied, smiling once more. "Oh, and do tell him that I enjoyed the dinner he hosted for me, and I look forward to dining with him again."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Morgana Lafayette's penthouse was briefly bathed in green light as she teleported into the center of the room. She opened a paper bag and pulled out a few rats, feeding each of them to her hawks and falcons.

A Eurasian Eagle-Owl, wearing a silver band on his left talon landed on her arm. "Hello, Gwrlais," she said. "I've brought you a special treat."

She headed towards the double doors, and stepped out of her penthouse and onto the balcony of the Apex Tower. Reaching back into the bag, she produced an English lop. The owl took the rabbit in his talons and flew off.

Morgana le Fay smiled, as she stared out over the soot covered falcon statues. "I really should have these polished," she said. "They used to be such a beautiful shade of silver."

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The Eyrie Building

Owen Burnett opened up the wall safe, and placed the Coyote Diamond inside. As he closed the safe, he didn't notice the green glow emanating from the stone.

Never The End.

Featuring the voice talents of:

Thom Adcox Hernandez – Lexington
Ed Asner – Hudson
Dee Bradley Baker – Fu-Dog, Benjamin
Brigitte Bako – Angela
Jim Belushi - Fang
Jeff Glenn Bennett – Brooklyn, Owen Burnett, Matrix, Bruno
Steve Blum – Tazmanian Tiger, John Hale
Clancy Brown – Wolf
Alan Cumming – Staghart/Amp
Jim Cummings – Dingo
Keith David – Goliath
Michael Dorn – Coldstone
Sheena Easton – Hunter
Bill Fagerbakke – Broadway
Zehra Fazal - Shari
Jonathan Frakes – David Xanatos, Coyote 6.0
Pat Fraley – Brendan Quarters
Matt Frewer – Jackal
Grey Griffin – LaVonne
Charles Hallahan – Travis Marshall
Stana Katic – Tamora
Yuri Lowenthal – Nashville/Gnash
Masaya Moyo – Beatrix Carradine
Ming Na – Katana
Ron Perlman - Al
C.C.H. Pounder – Coldfire
Jamieson K. Price – Vincent Leonardo
Salli Richardson – Elisa Maza, Delilah
Laura San Giacomo – Fox
Marina Sirtis – Margot Yale
Cree Summer – Hyena
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa – Yama
Catherine Tate – Morgana le Fay/Morgana Lafayette
Frank Welker – Bronx, Natasha
Tom Wilson – Matt Bluestone

Acknowledgements: Thank you to Todd Jensen for continuing to be my editor. Thank you to Algernon84 for letting me borrow LaVonne (check her out in his fic: "Lips Red as Blood") and special thanks to Gryphinwyrm7 for not only allowing me to use his version of Morgana le Fay, but to introduce her. It was an honor and watch his "Pendragon" fics for more of her. Also be sure to check out on Deviant Art to see her artistic renderings of the Ultra-Pack, Morgana, Tamora, and more. And check out Masterdramon's Hawaiki because it is terrific.