All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek story-line, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes immediately after "Taking Apart Empires… Part 4."

Taking Apart Empires… Part 5

By SN/TVfan

Author's note: Since the site includes a review feature, I've removed my email from new chapters… Having it there seemed redundant…

Outside Wayne's Mansion…

Dingo only looked up at the mansion as flames seemed to engulf the mansion. He'd been looking for some time off to relax from many of his various responsibilities, which had kept him busy. He owed a private debt of gratitude to Fox and David Xanatos for whatever legal strings they'd pulled that allowed him essentially forget about the legal problems that he got himself into with the Pack. Of course many of those problems were initially caused by Fox and Xanatos, but it wasn't his place to judge them on that. And if pursued any sort of vendetta against them for the problems they caused he wouldn't fix his own. It was in many ways a lesson in being the bigger man, and so far that had worked, as he had a position as a field agent for Australia's justice department, which in its own way had many perks that the Pack could have never provided.

And partnering with Matrix provided new challenges that Dingo found interesting, which said something. Sure, Matrix wasn't human and often looked at things from a viewpoint that didn't comprehend many of the puzzling things about humanity. He was often puzzled by how much "chaos" that humans put up with while at the same time valuing "order." And in the course of teaching Matrix, Dingo privately admitted to himself that he actually found something of a friend in Matrix. It was true that he was an artificial intelligence that didn't need to eat, sleep, breathe, or anything that any human would need, but Matrix never had that ability and at least seemed willing to learn about those abilities. Unlike his former co-stars on the Pack that gave up their humanity for strength and paid for it.

Of course, the present "lesson" for Matrix had originally been in relation to rest and relaxation after intensive work. As "law and order" was a full time job that could be tiring. And while Matrix didn't necessarily need rest in order to function, learning on its importance for humanity would help Matrix better understand humanity. It had started with a camping trip that had taken them to a campsite not too far away, but that was soon interrupted by what sounded like an explosion. By the time that Matrix and Dingo arrived, they found large mansion on fire. They were able to rescue one woman from the blaze, but that was it. The only other body that Matrix's sensors could detect in the mansion's garage was that of a man with a large hole in his chest. That left him with something of a mystery that related to the fire that was consuming the mansion.

"What shall we do?" Matrix asked to Dingo as he separated from Dingo, leaving the darker skinned Australian man standing on the driveway to the mansion as the two of them looked at the flaming building.

"You sent a report to the local police and fire department?" Dingo asked back.

"Yes, they have trucks on the way, though it will take a fair bit of time," Matrix answered, "they've also sent an ambulance for the woman that we rescued, but it too will take a fair amount of time."

Dingo looked back over his shoulder to the woman, who was still seated on the ground for a moment. She'd regained consciousness and large insisted that she was "okay," but given that he'd essentially pulled her from a garage that was nearly completely consumed by flames, he figured it a good idea that she get medical attention and someone got answers on how the fire might have started. Matrix had full access to the internet and that had gotten Dingo access through to various records on the owner of the mansion, but for the moment, he had no way of knowing where the owner even was. The man who was dead, according to Matrix's systems WASN'T the owner.

"Would you wish me to do a further recon of the house?" Matrix asked when Dingo didn't say anything, "I believe I can endure the temperature and the flames…"

"Better not risk it," Dingo said slowly with a frown as he turned back to the blaze, and feeling himself sweat thanks to the heat coming off of the burning building, "place is already hotter than some jungle summer and I think we were lucky just rescuing her from the fire."

Matrix looked to Dingo and then looked back to the flaming mansion. For the moment he was silent and unsure on what to do. There was much about humanity that he was still learning. He detected some signs of what humans called "concern" in Dingo's voice and figured that this was just another one of those learning moments.

"If you can, see if you can bring some water up from the river," Dingo instructed, "See if we can prevent this fire from spreading any faster than it already is."

Matrix nodded and was soon off. Dingo then turned and made his way over to the woman who was seated still for the moment, he heard her cough a bit as he approached, but other than that she actually sounded rather healthy for someone who'd been caught in a burning building. It was something that Dingo figured that the police would want answered when they arrived, and he'd do his best to keep her comfortable and secure until they could get there.

"I'm fine, really," the woman insisted and gave a small cough, raising her fist to cover her mouth.

"Matrix and I pulled you out of a burning building," Dingo began to say before the woman soon cut him off.

"But I'm not burned," the woman answered, "as you can plainly see."

"A minor miracle in and of itself," Dingo answered as he turned his head to see Matrix return with part of his form arranged to serve like wings and small jet engines to dump some water on the blaze. It wasn't much, but Dingo figured it might do something until main emergency services units could get there. "And even with that, it's likely that you inhaled a lot of smoke. You can't be caught in a blaze like that and NOT get a mouth full of smoke."

The woman tried to shake her head to disagree but ended up falling into a coughing fit after a moment. It seemed as though it was quite forceful as her head, neck, and shoulders seemed to shake forward and back with each cough. It only confirmed to Dingo that all was not well with this woman that at least some care would be required from someone a bit more medically skilled than himself or Matrix.

"And your coughing only reinforces that," Dingo stated, "you may not be fatally injured, but it'll be smarter to let you see a professional before you're let go… and at the same time, people will want to know what caused this blaze."

"You're not blaming ME for this, are you?" the woman asked she looked up and coughed again.

In a way it sounded sort of suspicious, as though this woman knew something and was wanting to see what he suspected. He remembered using similar tactics back in his days as a mercenary and soldier of fortune, mostly to make sure that things done to accomplish the mission weren't attracting legal trouble. It was something that became especially big after becoming involved with Xanatos and the Pack. It gave him some experience to work with in his new role in life, but he also knew that since he'd been on vacation, he couldn't use that role to start any sort of investigation.

"At the moment I'm not blaming anyone," Dingo spoke, "I'm just trying to bring some common sense to…" he paused to gesture to the burning mansion with one arm before continuing, "this."

The woman opened her mouth, as if to say something, but other events soon prevented her from doing so, as the sound of sirens could be heard coming up the road in the direction of the mansion making Dingo look up. He looked up from the woman to see the alternating flash of red and blue and yellow as two rural fire engines, one police car, and one ambulance arrived, their sirens blaring as they arrived. This brought Matrix down for a landing and maneuvering the nanites that made up his body into a more plain human-like appearance.

The firemen rushed more to get their hoses set up while the officer slowly walked up to Dingo with the ambulance crew following behind.

"Henry Monmouth?" the officer asked as he approached, using Dingo's real name, "I was told you reported this…"

"Yeah," Dingo answered, "You want to call me Dingo… go ahead. A lotta people seem to think that's all I'm worth being called."

There was some tone of frustration in his voice, but one that wasn't necessarily unearned. While his legal problems had been "fixed," that didn't mean that his reputation didn't proceed him. Most people knew of his involvement with the Pack and their early crimes before realizing just how ludicrous they were and often referred to him by the codename for the Pack. It was only rarely used as a complement and Dingo had generally adapted to it.

"And I trust your robot partner can provide us with some time for where you were when this fire started?" the officer asked looking between Dingo and Matrix.

"If you have smartphone or other electronic device, I could interact with it and show you what my sensors have showed," Matrix spoke up, "and show you that we were a few miles away enjoying some basic camping and were not involved in… this…"

Matrix knew of Dingo's past with the Pack and how the man was trying to make up for his past misdeeds. In some ways it reflected Matrix's own private concerns about how chaotic a world where you had so many different minds thinking individually and thus represented some of the lessons that Dingo had been teaching him. Dingo stood by as the Matrix then went through the process that was needed to transfer the timing and recordings of their camp out and the sounds that had drawn them to the present blaze. The officers slowly watched as Matrix provided that information and were actually quite amazed by it all. Eventually the lead officer nodded.

"Okay, you're clear," the officer spoke as he accepted the recordings that Matrix downloaded into his phone, "Any clue on HOW the fire started?"

"No," Dingo answered, "the only person I found alive is the woman… and that's about it. Matrix's sensors were able to pick up the presence of a body in the garage… but it was already dead."

"And my sensors indicated the man who was killed by a non-projectile weapon," Matrix added.

"Like lasers?" the officer wondered.

"Sorta," Dingo said simply, "never put much thought into the science of how it works. But it has worked…"

The officers slowly nodded. While non-projectile weapons were still rather new and for the most part were only issued to a few militaries around the world, many law enforcement agencies had been made aware of the development of the weapons. Some countries regulated them more than others, but while that part could be a mystery in and of itself, that didn't change that a man was dead, the mansion was on fire, and the only surviving person was either another victim or the attacker as part of something more. There would also be to thoroughly check the mansion for any sign of other survivors or victims, but that would wait until after the fire was out.

For the moment they turned to the ambulance crew who were tending to the woman. She was continuing to insist that she was fine and periodically coughing, which only served make the paramedics look a bit skeptical as to whether or not she was fine. The officers, however, had other concerns that they wanted to look into, as while they may know that Dingo didn't start the fire, they still didn't know who did. Finding that out was going to be the big thing for them for the moment, particularly with the report that the man who was dead looked like he'd been killed by a non-projectile weapon, not the fire.

"How is she?" the leading officer asked.

"She's inhaled a lot of smoke… but that might be the worst of it," the paramedic tending to her, "once she gets that out, she should be fine… but given that blaze, there are now burns or anything else that would relate to being pulled from a fire."

"Dingo was able to get me out pretty quick!" the woman insisted and then coughed again, drawing her hand in front of her mouth.

"Can you tell us anything on how this fire started?" the leading officer asked, "this blaze is big and Dingo's reported to us we got a guy in there that has a pretty big hole in his chest… and that that was likely done by a weapon that can cause fires if one isn't careful."

Dingo nodded at that. The non-projectile weapons that Xanatos Enterprises weren't explicit incendiary weapons, but the way in which they functioned, it was entirely possible that a poorly aimed shot could start a fire regardless. A part of Dingo's suspicions was that the woman was the one who'd fired the shot that killed him and hit something flammable by accident, but since neither he nor Matrix got there for the start of the blaze, they couldn't be sure. In this, he supposed it could have been some freak accident, but since he'd been on vacation, he couldn't make any jurisdictional claim under the agency he and Matrix worked for.

"Did you know the guys who owned this place?" Dingo asked.

"All I got were first names," the woman coughed out, "I'd been sorta wandering as it were and seein' the sights. They were Wayne and Roger… though I never got a last name or who owned the house."

"Where did this Wayne and Roger pick you up?" the second officer asked.

"I'd just made it through some town… wasn't paying close enough attention to know the name," the woman answered, "Mostly just enjoying the scenery. They came up in their car offered a lift here for some fun, which I figured couldn't be too bad."

The officers traded looks. They knew the address as it fell within their jurisdiction, but as far as they knew, the owner was a fairly respectable man and not the sort to simply pick a random woman off the streets. He'd also paid for various charitable events that had also helped fund the police department he worked for, but in the end, it was an answer and there were always surprises with people.

"Can you say again on what happened?" the leading officer asked, "What started this fire?"

"We got here and we were talking… about what I was doing and all that," the woman gave a cough, "tossing back a beer or two in the house. Though, I think one of them got a bit hammered and started playing with some sort of weird gun. He ended up firing a bunch of random shots that got us running and we came toward the garage, mostly to get away from the shots but he drunkenly followed…"

"He who?" the second officer asked.

"I can't remember which," the woman spoke, sounding a bit irritated, "I never really bothered to keep track of who was who… Anyway, two of us fled toward the garage where the guy with the gun finally blasted himself which sent the gun flying and killed himself in the process… Though it also started the fire that sent the first man fleeing in a car outside while everything in the garage erupted in flames. It was only a few moments later when Dingo arrived to get me out."

By now the light from the fire was beginning to go down as the firemen seemed to get the blaze under control. Dingo glanced back as the light levels going down and he could see that the firefighters had begun to pour water onto the blaze, it was having a clear effect. The fire being under control was good, though Dingo still wondered some of the details in the woman's explanation. It was possible that she and the owner and the third party were drunk, but her explanation was not impaired or slurred in any way. She coughed periodically, but that was different than being drunk.

"She really could stand to rest," one of the paramedics spoke, "If you don't have any other immediate questions… I'd think it best to get her to the hospital, at least for treatment for smoke inhalation."

"I'm fine!" the woman insisted before coughing again.

"You wouldn't be coughing so hard if you were fine," the paramedic said to and worked with the second paramedic to help her into the ambulance.

The woman seemed to comply, but it did look like she didn't want to. This made some sense in relation in what the woman had being saying to Dingo, and that was enough for the officers to allow the paramedics to leave with the woman. They soon departed into the night leaving Dingo with the now smoldering remains of the mansion that they had found ablaze. Some smoke drifted out of the garage and the windows of the mansion, but the firemen had now thoroughly drenched the building.

With the fire now out, the group then slowly made their way into the garage. They soon found the body that lay on the floor of the garage. Unlike the woman's body, which showed no signs of burning, while they could tell the body had burned and burned black. Dingo could barely keep himself from choking at the scent of burnt human flesh. However, it was pretty clear that the man hadn't burned to death as there was a large hole in his chest, and since he wasn't laying on any debris, it was unlikely that hole was created by any secondary explosion or damage.

"The wound is consistent with a non-projectile weapons," Matrix stated and looked around and noted some other damage on a far wall, "and the energy dissipated/exploded more in that direction…"

Dingo looked at where Matrix was pointing and nodded but then said with a sigh, "that would seem the most likely… a shot through him and then detonating near a petrol can or something like that… assuming the blaze started in the garage."

"We'll only confirm that as we move deeper into the home," the second officer commented and moved toward an open doorway.

They passed over a pile of ash and entered into sort of hallway area, and soon found another pile. Though, this time, the ash was more rectangular and to a degree mechanical. This drew everyone's attention and the first officer stooped down to look at it while pulling out a pair of gloves from one of his pockets. Once had his gloves on, the lead officer lifted it with some of the ash falling away to reveal a lone laser rifle.

"Here's your non-projectile weapon," the lead officer commented, "the woman's story might well be true… that our guy on the floor was too drunk to think straight and shot himself."

"Though the fire would have also removed any hope finding any alcohol," Matrix commented.

The others nodded and they proceeded to make their way further into the house with the hope of getting some indication from the firemen who'd gone in to put out the blaze that would give some indication on what was the cause of the fire. There would also be questions as to whether or not there were other victims. The firemen moved along with them carrying smaller fire extinguishers, in case there was anything still burning. Though, for the moment, things didn't look too bad.

Wayne's Car…

Wayne blazed along the road and was headed toward the only safe place he could picture at the moment. His mansion, while it was close to the back-woods areas that covered many of Australia's ranches and recreational camping areas, it also wasn't too terribly far from the major cities on the east coast. For the moment, getting to one of those cities was the only thing he could think of. This included getting in touch with law enforcement that would be more capable than a local sheriff or town constable, for the woman that had appeared in his home had to be far more than they could handle.

As an Illuminati member, there were some sites that might do better and might have better security or more technologically advanced means of dealing with someone like the woman that had appeared in his home. However, stricken with panic at her sudden appearance and the horror stories that had been popping up on the news of Illuminati members turning up dead all around the world was enough to keep Wayne in a blind panic and racing down the roads in search of an obvious safe shelter. Shelter that would protect him from the chaos that seemed to be spreading.

Wayne had guesses that had it starting with Khan's war in Tibet, based on the news reports, but he really didn't have enough information to say for sure. He could guess on what was the origin of the present chaos, but guesses could very easily be wrong or at least incomplete. As, while Wayne was an Illuminati member and a high enough one to have some influence, he wasn't quite high enough that he had access to everything the society worked on. All he knew for sure was that Illuminati members were dying and now, whoever had been behind their deaths, was now after him personally. He'd already seen the strange woman kill Roger, who tried to protect him.

He reached for his hand's free device, which was mounted in a special panel on the dashboard and let it ring for a few beats. He had to get help, and for the moment, there was only one organization in Australia that could stop the witch that was giving the Illuminati so much chaos.

"Australian Federal Police, this is Officer Tyra Johns, how may I be of assistance?" came a female voice on the other end of the line while Wayne returned his hands to the wheel and drove along.

"This is Wayne Wirey, and I must report at least one attempt on my life," Wayne answered.

"Mr. Wirey, this is going to be something that you would want to report to your local police forces for protection and for the identification of the person attempting to kill you, and your territorial police units if you do not live in a city," Officer Johns answered, "The Federal Police do not have immediate jurisdiction for everything…"

"Normally, I'd agree with that," Wayne answered, "believe me. I am normally quite obedient to hierarchy and so on… but the situation is such that I don't believe that local police and territorial police units can deal with this threat. It's BIGGER than what they can handle."

"You're certain of this, Mr. Wirey?" Officer Johns asked, sounding rather skeptical which Wayne accepted fairly easily.

Much of the world lived in complete ignorance of what went on around them and created their narratives on the world and normality to fit what they knew. Things like magic and secret societies typically went beyond what people knew, and thus when those things were revealed, chaos followed. America was still in a sense recovering from the events of the Hunter's Moon incident in New York City, which revealed to humanity that humanity was NOT the ONLY sentient and sapient life on Earth. Now, from the news, Wayne figured they had made progress in recent months, but that didn't change that they'd had a lot to adjust to and would likely be adjusting to that for quite a while. Khan's war in Tibet against the Illuminati had a similar effect, with the Illuminati being proven real… in China at least. Now, though, with the unsolved murders of those Wayne knew to be members of the Illuminati a part of him wondered if that war was expanding. That the entire Illuminati organization was being dismantled… and by a foe with power far beyond what normal people could handle.

"Yes," Wayne answered, "It's a rather complicated story, if you'd care to hear it? Or would you rather I wait until I arrive at your headquarters? Don't worry, the device I'm on is hands free."

"If you're truly certain on the… uniqueness of the case, go ahead," Officer Johns eventually spoke, "though, keep in mind that if you can't prove it… you WILL face misdemeanor charges for wasting our time."

Wayne didn't say anything in the sense of proving it, as he was fairly certain to a degree that the Australian Federal Police were fairly well aware of odd cases and things that went beyond what was considered "normal" by most people. For a few years now they'd been employing a former television star from "the Pack" that had operated under the codename: Dingo. Wayne didn't even need to be an Illuminati member to then know that Dingo was involved in things that went beyond what was "normal."

The Pack was known for its criminal activity and some of its members having their bodies drastically altered. Two became cyborgs with much of their organic material replaced with mechanical parts that could move with the various adaptations that would be otherwise anatomically impossible. One had literally had some quack of a mad scientist splice his DNA with that of a wolf and became something a werewolf or something like that, if more by science than magic. Dingo was the only one who didn't have himself permanently altered and wore a suit of power armor. He now wore that armor in his service for the Australian Federal Police and had the assistance of a being named "Matrix" that was apparently designated as a near perfect artificial intelligence made up of nanites.

"Okay, just to remind you, this will come off as weird, and might be something you'd put 'Dingo' on," Wayne spoke, "a friend of mine and I had just returned home and were debating the recent string of international murders that had been going on… all Asia, Europe, and now heading toward Oceana and Australia…"

"We've seen news reports of various unsolved murders in various countries, sir," Officer Johns spoke, "and while they are disturbing in their violence… from the news reports, I DON'T think they're connected."

Wayne sighed, as this was another thing that was a problem with the overall situation. The Illuminati Society's control over the world had depended on the world not knowing of its existence. And while some people might look at certain actions and see them as 'evil,' that really wasn't the intention of the society. They had had their hopes for good, but they often ran into many of the same problems that everyone ran into, and as such sometimes drastic measures had to be taken. Yet the Society's secrecy was still something that was typically to be protected at all costs to let the society function. It took fairly specific circumstances for anyone to be told, and more often than not, that was limited to initiating new members. However, when that secrecy broke down, the entire system broke down and chaos ensured.

"I didn't mean to imply that they were connected, officer," Wayne spoke, figuring it best to keep the Illuminati's part out of it for right now, though more due to Officer John's skepticism than anything else, "We were merely debating it… the effects the potential causes… and why such violent murders seem to be on the rise and spreading around the globe. That is all it was."

"Okay," Officer Johns spoke, "Continue…"

"Anyway… we'd just gotten home when this woman appeared out of nowhere," Wayne reported, "and I don't mean an intruder who came out around a corner. I mean she LITERALLY appeared out of thin air."

"That's practically absurd, sir," Officer Johns answered.

"Years ago, we wouldn't have thought that genetic science could turn a overly testosterone driven actor into an actual facsimile of a werewolf possible," Wayne answered, "Or that gargoyles were actual living creatures… They may not live in Australia, but they are real, nonetheless."

"Point taken," Officer John said slowly, "can you say how this woman appeared in your home?"

"All I know is that she appeared," Wayne spoke while keeping his eyes on the road, "she appeared, killed my friend, and fired a non-projectile weapon at me… set my garage on fire… at least my garage. She's well beyond what any local authorities can handle. Dingo's the only one with the experience and weaponry to counter this witch."

"Can you describe her, sir?" Officer Johns questioned.

Wayne slowly described the woman that he'd seen and the commando gear she wore. He mentally shuddered as he offered the description, remembering the confident glint in the woman's eyes as she chased him and Roger through his own mansion firing on them as she chased them and finally killing Roger in his garage. Thankfully the road wasn't slick or filled with traffic as he drove along, or he feared that his troubled thoughts on the loss of his friend would have sent him going off the road.

"In commando gear?" Officer Johns to confirm what Wayne had just reported.

"Just as I described," Wayne answered, "It's out of the ordinary… but I'm telling you the truth."

"And you're on your way to us?" Officer Johns asked.

"Yes," Wayne replied, "For your man Dingo might be the only man in Australia who can take this witch on and win…"

"Very well," Officer Johns said slowly, "Follow the rules of the road and come in unarmed. We will want to run a test or two to make sure you're telling the truth and aren't under the influence of anything… standard procedure, considering what you've told me."

"Of course," Wayne answered and continued on, with only hope that the witch could caught and stopped.

Wayne's Mansion

They'd all spent a little while observing the interior of the mansion. It was clear that the non-projectile weapon had been fired more than once, as judged by holes and areas that looked more densely burned than others. They'd also found that the farther and farther they got from the garage the less and less the interior of the mansion was burned. It gave the impression that the fire was started in the garage and probably when one of the non-projectile shots blew up a petrol can or some other container of flammable liquid which served to spread the fire there and made it burn hot there.

It may have blazed into other parts of the mansion and particularly on the outside when it got access to more oxygen, but the real heat was localized in the garage and that slowed the fire's progress through the house. The spots that had seemed to burn a lot inside the home were areas where a blast from a non-projectile weapon had hit. The firemen guessed these were local flashpoints that either started local small fires or left scorch marks that gave an indication of added heat, but had not actually lead to open flame.

"Well the woman's report on the fire starting in the garage when the non-projectile weapon's blast hit a petrol can or a car or something like that," one of the firemen spoke, "though I think there were some smaller fires that were started by some of the other shots."

"Though I've had no sensor data that would indicate the presence of alcohol," Matrix said slowly, "at least not at the levels with which the woman claimed."

"Though they could have been drunk BEFORE they picked her up," one of the two police officers said slowly with a heavy sigh, "though… if that were the case, I wish she could have given us more specific information on WHERE she was when they picked her up and when they picked her up."

Dingo nodded at that. In many ways the woman's report didn't sit right with him. Something about it just seemed to be a little too convenient, especially with the fact that he'd rescued her out of a garage that was blazing. She should have been far more badly burned than she in fact was. However, he had no concrete proof and for the moment had to go with what she had said, and even what they were finding out wouldn't actually prove anything that would contradict what the woman said either.

"The one thing I'd want to know is where these guys got the non-projectile weapons," one of the other firemen commented, "wasn't a lot of those weapons sold to very specific customers?"

"That would depend on the firearms regulations in question," Matrix spoke out, "though most countries have limitations on whether or not private citizens can own said weapons, security services, police units, and military units can buy the weapon. In the United States and a small handful of other countries, there either is no regulation on either Constitutional grounds or a lack of perceived threat that people would be able to buy the weapons. There is also some directed efforts to put the weapon on the open market. At present 1,000 of these weapons are presently owned by American private citizens with the only regulations being that they are used in coordination with a formal gun club with accredited licenses and that they be used on a specified range, although there is pressure by the NRA to make these weapons completely deregulated."

"That doesn't help with our present situation," the second officer spoke, "Australia has only ordered a handful of them for heavy weapons units with the army and no private citizens nor even private security firms have access to weapons that could theoretically damage a tank. I think the Federal Police might have some… but that I don't know for sure. What the Yanks decide to do with them doesn't affect us. And I'm pretty sure that this guy ISN'T in one of those units and thus shouldn't have the weapon just laying around his home."

"It could relate to what you call the "black market" as Xanatos Enterprises has suffered various robberies of these weapons over the years," Matrix answered, "and they've likely either sold them on the street or found someone who could reverse engineer them and produce them in secret."

Dingo only sighed and raised his hand to rub his pointer finger and his thumb to the bridge of his nose. The clarification that Matrix provided would provide some reasoning and might help them figure out more on what was going on. However, it would also mean finding whoever owned the mansion. He followed the officers along through an open living room and toward a flight of stairs, with the firemen leading the way. One of them had just reached the stairs when Matrix suddenly stopped, making Dingo stop as well. The officers and firemen soon stopped, more in fear that something was wrong and that only Matrix's sensors could pick it up.

"What is it, mate?" Dingo asked to Matrix.

"It would appear that appear that the owner of the mansion has contacted the Federal Police and has described an attack on the mansion that was made by a woman with powers or abilities beyond what any local police forces could handle," Matrix answered in a calm voice.

"A woman?" the first officer blinked, while Dingo's mind drifted back to the woman who they had found.

"But the woman you rescued said it was a drunken accident…" the second officer said to Dingo and Matrix as they all stopped at the base of the stairs.

"And counters what was said," Matrix answered, "as the man also gave a description of the female attacker, which would be fairly close, if not identical to the woman we "rescued." The biggest concern we would have would be in relation to the human mind's ability to accurately remember and present detailed information."

"It will make things harder to figure out," Dingo commented, "though… I would say that something didn't sit right with me with her answers to even my questions."

The officers nodded in agreement and both looked to him and Matrix, possibly for ideas as many things were already going beyond what struck them as "normal."

"Where is the man now?" the second officer asked to Matrix, "even if the woman lied… we may still need testimony from him as to what happened and the circumstances that lead to those events."

"At present he is driving to Federal Police Headquarters," Matrix answered, "which should enable formal answers to be gotten from… not to mention standard testing to make sure that there are no drugs involved."

Dingo and others soon nodded, though Matrix soon continued as there appeared to be more to report.

"However, the report included direct request for our involvement in the case," Matrix continued, "and provided enough of a story that we are being requested to report in… just in case."

Dingo looked down and sighed heavily. His planned time off and helping Matrix with his understanding of many of the things that humanity did that seemed chaotic had seemed to have already been beaten by the fire that had brought him to the mansion they were now in. There would surely be some measure that would complicate things. Of course it could be an annoyance, as that sort of thing could happen on occasion, but some of the oddities he'd already suspected told him otherwise. The blackened floor underneath his feet didn't change that opinion.

"How much time do we have?" Dingo asked to Matrix.

"The instructions given was 'with all possible speed,' so I would assume we will need to move quickly," Matrix answered.

Dingo looked up to the officers, who had quietly observed things but stayed where they were. By now the firemen had gone further on to double check to make sure all the fires were out.

"We might need to get some information from the woman regarding what this guy has reported mine and Matrix's superiors," Dingo eventually said to the two officers, "though… what you may need to ask may have to wait until after we know more…"

"We might have a few questions of our own," the first officer spoke, "we'll try to keep an eye on her and we'll see what we can do."

The Ambulance

Marilyn sat quietly on one of the chairs in the ambulance that was set aside for patients. Her mission was still to take apart the Illuminati's leadership and control, one group at a time and felt more than confident in being able to handle that mission. Though her strike on her latest target didn't quite go as planned. She did get and kill one Illuminati member, but he was a security man who's only real job was to protect the man who had more influence within the secret society. Normally she would use her magic to escape into the mirrors, which she used as her means of transport, but the battle that had unfolded in that mansion had seen one set of mirrors leave when her main target drove off and the rest were destroyed or at least likely destroyed by the fire. That lowered her ability to handle the process of moving on after making a hit and actually tracking the target that had escaped.

That had bought time for this "Dingo" and "Matrix" to arrive. The former was of no great consequence to her, as he was only human with all the weaknesses humans had, though he did seem suspicious of her act at pretending to be some woman that had been picked up for a "good time" before drunken lunacy caused the fire and that made her a bit suspicious of him as well. However, the later was far more concerning to her. From the files she'd had access to, she knew that Matrix was an artificial life-form, in that he wasn't a naturally born being, but essentially a machine. However, unlike the weapons the Chinese and Khan used, Matrix was actually a collection of highly intelligent machines working as part of a singular consciousness.

This meant that Matrix had the potential to learn and process information very quickly, far quicker than even she or any of Khan's supermen could. The Illuminati had no programs like this running on their own, but they did note that Xanatos Enterprises had been the source of the original project and David Xanatos was an Illuminati member, though very low on the society's list of agents. This then raised the question on whether or not the Illuminati had worked through Xanatos or if it was all a coincidence. She had the power to force them to answer, but while Matrix seemed to be in support of enforcing law and order in Australia, forcing such a confrontation might only complicate things at the moment.

However, she figured she could handle those matters later once she was able to get back to a situation she fully controlled and could back on the trail of her target. However, for the moment that was partially delayed by the consequences of what had happened as a result of her "rescue" from the fire, and that was being placed on the ambulance with one paramedic seated with her in the back of the ambulance while the rest of the group were in the cab of the vehicle. She'd have to wait a bit to make sure when she made her actual move that no one would notice, and that had meant continuing her little charade a bit longer.

"You ought to lay back and rest, ma'am," the paramedic spoke, "you may be doing fairly well, but it is quite a drive to the hospital where they can make doubly sure that you're not at any real risk of injury from the smoke you had to have inhaled."

"Actually, I didn't inhale any," Marilyn answered, "I just had to make sure I could get away from the burning building without a bigger fight than was necessary."

"What, ma'am… you need," the paramedic turned to see Marilyn wave her hand with a green glow of light surrounding it and with Marilyn giving a fairly confident grin. After that his eyes began to feel rather heavy. He tried to stay awake, but soon slumped in his seat and then fell over to his side onto another of the side chairs inside the ambulance.

Marilyn ignored him for the moment and turned toward the wall that separated them from the cab of the ambulance. On the other side were the driver and the other paramedic through a metal frame, which she sensed was either Aluminum or Steel, not pure Iron. That made Marilyn smile and she quickly chanted.

"Ambulance of steel and heart," Marilyn chanted, "slow your engine till it falls apart."

The reaction was almost immediate as Marilyn could hear a series of loud rattling that seemed to shake the entire ambulance. Marilyn could even feel the vibrations run through the floor of the ambulance in the back area of it where she was. She then gripped the edge of the bed she'd been sitting on while waiting for the ambulance to come to a complete stop. She didn't think the ambulance would tip over, as her spell was designed to kill the engine's power and thus slow it down rather speed it to the point where its own momentum would take it out. However, she couldn't be fully sure what would happen as she couldn't look outside the ambulance for the moment, and if they went down a steep hill and then hit a curve, tipping over was theoretically possible. So she braced herself for whatever what might happen and listened carefully through the wall to the cab of the ambulance to listen in on what was being said.

"Damn!" a voice cursed loudly.

"What happened?" a second voice asked, though in a softer tone.

"It's like the whole engine just died," the first voice answered, "all we're doing is coasting."

"Well…" the second voice answered, "she is old…"

"Not THAT old!" the first voice answered, "And we've kept her in good enough shape that she's not going to just die like this."

Marilyn sat back as the vehicle began to steadily slow down. She had some sense that once they stopped she would get her chance at escape and moving on with her plans in this area and possibly even sway Matrix to reveal more about himself, including any and all potential weaknesses. The paramedic driving and the one in the passenger seat would likely open the door to the back part of the ambulance once they came to a stop. That would be the opening that Marilyn was waiting for.

The ambulance slowed down slowly and it had been moving at a fairly decent speed and it took time for the momentum the vehicle had built up to lose that momentum. Thankfully though, they didn't hit any tight curves and were able to simply coast to a stop. As it finally came to a stop, Marilyn readied herself for what would come next. Eventually the ambulance did come to a full stop and settled onto the side of the road. As it stopped, Marilyn moved into a crouching position as she heard one of the doors from the front open and smiled.

The door opened slowly and Marilyn heard one of the paramedics speak as he opened the door, but she didn't a chance to identify him before she moved. He managed to say the word "well" before Marilyn made a rapid lunge forward and landed a strong kick to the man's sternum. The move caught him by surprise and he could do nothing to stop himself from falling back with Marilyn landing on him and then stepping on the ground behind the now disabled ambulance.

"Cecil?!" came the voice of the other paramedic, sounding like it was from the driver's side of the vehicle, "Cecil what's going on back there?"

Marilyn turned to look to Cecil, who was laying on the ground and clutching at his chest. He gave a few panting breaths but was unable to move at the moment beyond laying on his back. Marilyn didn't say anything and simply waited. She could soon hear the driver come toward the back of the ambulance, as he had probably heard Marilyn's attack on his partner but had not heard any answer to his calls from Cecil. The driver soon arrived, pushing the back door on the driver's side of the ambulance closed only to find Marilyn lunging at him as well.

He managed a small surprised scream as Marilyn grabbed him by the front of his jacket with one hand and then reached over with her other hand to then grip his hair and shove his head hard against the side of the ambulance. The man's head hit the side of the vehicle with an audible crack and then fell to the ground at Marilyn's feet. She looked down to find that the driver was still alive but out cold. Meanwhile, Cecil had caught his breath enough to glare her from the ground, still clutching at his chest.

"You'll never get away with this!" Cecil vowed from the ground, though he was unable to hide the pain in his voice.

"I'm afraid I already have," Marilyn answered, "be thankful though that my mission to take down the Illuminati is bigger than the likes of you and your friend here… and when I'm done, you'll actually have a freer world where secret societies don't control everything from the shadows."

With that, Marilyn left the scene and dove into side rearview mirror with a smile as the reflective glass shimmered as she entered the "mirror-verse" through it. There was a lot to do and she had a lot to catch up on with regard to her original target and other leading figures the Illuminati had in Australia. She couldn't let any more time waste and figured that leaving these two with a mention of the Illuminati would be enough to throw off immediate pursuit and thus buy her time to catch up with Wayne Wirey.

To Be Continued…