Hello everyone!
I hope you all are doing okay right now. As promised, here's part two of the current Taken arc, in which a whole lot of conflicts and other cool stuff is set up!
Enjoy!
Taken - Part Two
The sudden figure breaking through the window startled the two villains. When Wolf's grip slackened, Elijah threw his elbow back, hitting him in the chest so he. The mutate howled with anger and let him go, the teen running away and throwing himself behind a nearby lab table as glass rained down from above.
"What the- YOU," Wolf roared, followed by the sound of glass beakers breaking; apparently, the gargoyles had attacked Wolf and had tackled him. Elijah had no idea what had happened to Sevarius [he could have sworn he saw the man bolt for the door], but he figured that the gargoyles would catch him quickly. He was about to stand up when he heard someone shout something.
"Where'd he go," someone yelled, and the teen froze, not recognizing the voice. This was a woman's voice, but it did not sound like Angela or Elisa. Her accent was Scottish, like Hudson's, and Elijah started to wonder if it was the gargoyles that had shown up, or someone else. This was confirmed seconds later when someone replied.
"I do not know," a calm voice answered. "I believe our Dr. Sevarius may have escaped."
"No shit, Yama," a third, brash voice said, and this was one the teen vaguely recognized, but couldn't place. "Someone wanna help me keep Wolfie down?"
I'VE GOT HIM, a metallic voice said, almost like a talking robot. There was the sound of a brief struggle, then silence. HE IS NOW UNCONSCIOUS.
"Where's the kid," a male Australian voice asked, making Elijah flinch. Whoever these people were, they weren't the gargoyles; for all he knew, these could also be bad guys that were trying to kidnap him too. Not wanting to stick around, he started to crawl across the floor, heading for the nearest exit.
SCANNING THE ROOM. The deaf teen crawled faster, getting closer to the door. HE IS FOUR METERS NORTHEAST OF HERE. COORDINATES ARE-
"We should be fine," the Scottish woman said. "Let's find him and get out of here."
Realizing he had moments to act, Elijah jumped to his feet and ran for the door. He heard a few surprised shouts but ignored them, bursting through the door and racing down the hallway. It turned right a few yards ahead of him, and the teen ran past identical doors, trying to find a way out of the place. Or maybe find a phone, so he could call his uncle or Elisa Maza. He tried one of the random doors, closing it behind him and catching his breath.
"Yes," he muttered, looking around and realizing he was in an office of some kind. A phone sat on the desk, and he rushed over to it, typing in his uncle's number. It went straight to voice mail, which didn't make sense; surely his uncle would be worried about him-
Unless he's been taken too, Elijah thought, horrified at the thought. Hanging up the call, he started to type in Elisa Maza's number, hoping she wasn't on duty and could answer. The phone ringed a few times, and then-
"Hello?"
"Miss Maza," the deaf teen asked, relief breaking over him like a dam. "Thank God you picked up!"
"Elijah," the detective asked, sounding shocked. "Is that you? Are you okay?!"
"Yes! I was kidnapped by Wolf, and Dr. Sevarius is here and I don't know what's going on and I-"
"Woah, slow down! Keep calm, and tell me everything you can."
"Okay. I was riding home with-"
The line suddenly went dead, silencing the teen's explanation. Frowning, he looked down at the phone, hitting the receiver button and trying to figure out what happened. Desperate, he even followed the cord off to the side, confused even more when he saw it plugged in.
SORRY ABOUT THAT.
Elijah yelped, whirling around and dropping the phone. At first, he didn't see anyone behind him, but then he looked down to find a sliver puddle on the floor of the room. He paused, unsure of what the metallic puddle was or how it got there, then gasped as the puddle suddenly moved by itself, transforming into the shape of a human being. It had no face, and stood upright, reminding him of an alien creature.
WE CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO TALK TO ANYONE AT THE MOMENT, the silver thing said in the familiar robotic voice from the lab. YOU ARE IN DANGER, AND MUST COME WITH US.
Elijah screamed, grabbing a heavy book off the desk and chucking it at the metal man. Instead of hitting it, it sank into its silver skin, as if it were still made of liquid. The silver man looked down at his chest, then back at Elijah. Suddenly, the door behind the man was flung open, and the teen screamed again as four more figures ran into the room.
The first was a woman. She wore some sort of black outfit with plates of armor on the shoulders and legs. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she sore a mask over her eyes; it was a black piece of fabric with three red slashes across them. Two pistols hung from her belt, and though her hands were empty, she had an air of someone being extremely skilled at fighting.
The second person was a gargoyle, surprisingly. It wasn't one Elijah recognized, however; this one had grey skin and wore a black kimono. The gargoyle held two long swords, similar to what Katana used, and his long black hair rivaled that of Goliath's. Despite knowing about the existence of gargoyles, the teen couldn't help but flinch, frightened of the winged creature.
The third person was another human, this one male. He looked like a professional fighter, with large muscles and a frown to match. However, the most noticeable thing about him was his hair; he had a combination mullet and mohawk, a long trail of hair hanging behind him. He was dressed similarly to the woman, minus the mask, and held a gun in his hand.
The last individual was someone Elijah recognized, and realized was the owner of the voice he had heard earlier. The arrival of the final group member also confirmed that these were bad guys, and the teen grabbed a stapler from the desk behind him, chucking it at the mutate. It actually hit the cougar-like creature on the head, making him yelp with pain.
"OWW," Fang complained, rubbing his head. "What was that for?!"
"You probably earned it," the gargoyle said.
"G-Get away from me," Elijah yelled, grabbing a pair of scissors and getting ready to throw it. "I'm not gonna be kidnapped again!"
"Calm down," the woman said, holding up her hands. "We're not here to hurt ye!"
"Don't lie to me! If you're with him," the teen said, pointing at the mutate, "then you're clearly not the good guys!" The woman sighed, and the group turned to look at Fang, who suddenly looked like a deer in the headlights.
"Don't look at me like that," he snapped. "I don't know this kid!"
"Oh really," Elijah asked. "Halloween last year? You tried to kill me and my friends!"
"Really," the mohawk man asked, revealing himself to be the Australian. "You tried to kill a kid?"
"I'm honestly not that surprised," the gargoyle quipped.
"I never tried to-" The mutate frowned, as if trying to remember, and then his face brightened. "Oh yeah! I remember ya now! He was with a gargoyle and some chick; I was sent to scare 'em a little bit. No big deal."
"Last I recall, you said you were there to kill Brooklyn," the teen countered. "And you nearly killed me!"
"Okay, let's all calm down now," the woman said, clearly the leader of the group. She just had the aura of one who was confident and knew how to take charge. She took a cautious step forward, still holding her hands up. "Yes, we all know Fang isn't exactly a model citizen-"
"Hey," Fang whined.
"-But he's not the bad guy, nor are any of us," the woman continued. "We're here to rescue ye from Sevarius."
"Besides," the Australian man added, "if we wanted to kidnap ya, we woulda done so already."
The woman turned and glared at him. "Not helping!"
"Oh I'm sorry, fearless leader," he countered. "He's not five years old! He can clearly handle the truth; there's no way he could take us on with a bleedin' pair of cutters!"
"You are familiar with gargoyles, are you not," the gargoyle asked Elijah, sheathing his swords, his voice calm and clear.
"No," the teen lied, still not sure if he could trust these people.
"C'mon, kid! Don't lie about this," Fang said. "Remember I was there last Halloween, and know what actually happened! You were there with a gargoyle!"
"And my girlfriend pepper-sprayed your ass," Elijah stated.
The group of could-be villains had the strangest reaction to this piece of news. All of them, with the exception of Fang and the silver man, started laughing, losing composure as they howled with laughter. It surprised the deaf teen, watching these clearly well-trained adults laughing at their friend being pepper sprayed. For some reason, it put Elijah a little at ease, but he was still unsure about the group.
"It isn't that funny," Fang muttered unhappily, glaring daggers at the deaf teen. "And if I remember correctly, I just about cooked your goose last time." He held up a clawed hand, which cackled with electricity. "Ready for round two, punk?"
"None of that," the woman snapped, no longer laughing. Her harsh glare made the mutate wilt a little, and he lowered his hand. "We're here to rescue him, not hurt him."
"How watery did his eyes get," the Australian asked, snickering a little.
"Are you supposed to be professionals or something," Elijah questioned.
"We are," the woman explained. "We're the Redemption Squad."
"I never agreed on that name," Fang muttered.
"And as for us being bad guys, you're not far off," the woman continued. "We're all reformed, now working for-"
LAW AND ORDER, the silver person finished. I AM MATRIX, AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
"Okay… what are you made of," the teen questioned.
"Nanorobots," the Australian explained. "Billions of tiny robots workin' together to do just about anything; we usually work together during battles. I'm Dingo, by the way."
"Dingo… wait, weren't you on that TV show-"
"Yeah," the man interrupted bitterly. "I'm sure your gargoyle friends told you all about me."
"Well, Goliath said you became good," the teen said, racking his brains to remember the details of the story. "You helped him save the world."
The Australian looked surprised. "He said that," he asked.
"Yeah." Elijah turned to the silvery man. "And is he the AI that nearly destroyed the world?"
YES, BUT SINCE I WORK FOR THE SAKE OF LAW AND ORDER NOW, DESTRUCTION OF THIS WORLD CANNOT BE ALLOWED, Matrix said.
"You already know Fang," the woman spoke up, the mutate and deaf teen exchanging dark looks. "This here is Yama of the Ishimura Clan."
"Ishimura," Elijah asked, recognizing the name. He hesitated, trying to recall what to say. "Uh… よろしく?" The gargoyle's eyes widened with surprise, and it was apparent that he had said the right thing. He started to speak in rapid-fire Japanese, but the teen held up his hands. "I don't know that much."
"Oh. But it is still impressive," Yama said, bowing slightly towards him. "I do not know of many humans outside of Japan that know the language."
"I did," the woman grumbled.
"Ya can't speak Japanese with that accent," Dingo said, rolling his eyes at the glare she gave him.
"One of my friends married someone from the Ishimura clan," Elijah explained. "I mean, technically she was born over 400 years ago, so their Japanese probably isn't that accurate to today's language, but I've picked up some Japanese from him while I'm teaching him ASL." The Redemption Squad blinked at him, confused and surprised expressions on their faces.
"What," Fang finally asked.
"It's time travel… and a long story."
"That makes sense," Yama nodded.
"No it doesn't," the mutate complained, more to himself.
"My apologies. I'll make it simpler for you to understand."
"Why you horned little -"
"I'm Hunter," the woman said quickly, probably to prevent another fight. "And you're Elijah Robbins, Jeffry Robbins' nephew."
"How did you know-" the teen started to ask.
"Again, we're here to rescue ye," she explained. "We're going to take ye to our safe house in-"
"Wait, you're not taking me home," Elijah interrupted. "Why not? My uncle might have been taken too, and if he's here-"
"Your uncle is fine," Hunter assured him. "And right now, we can't risk whoever hired Sevarius and Wolf to try to kidnap ye again."
"Can I call and let him know I'm okay?"
"That wouldn't be smart," Dingo said. "Your uncle's blind, right? Lives alone?" The teen nodded. "We don't know if his phone's been bugged; you call him, someone can track our location."
"When would anyone bug his phones," Elijah asked, becoming more exasperated by the second. "He's not even that famous!"
"I know, but we didn't know that Sevarius was involved in this, and whenever he's involved, ye can't take any chances," Hunter said. A sympathetic look crossed her face. "Look, we're going to do our best to get ye home as soon as possible. We just have to capture Sevarius first; no telling what he wanted to do with ye."
"He wanted to make me a mutate," the teen said, shuddering at the memory. "He had this syringe of something… He said he wanted to see how his mutagen would affect someone with a disability."
"Your ears," Fang said suddenly. "You had these machines in your ears… you deaf or something?"
"Yes," the teen said shortly, still disliking the winged mutate. "Sevarius said he was going to test the serum on my uncle, but he decided I would be easier and more... interesting to work with."
"Any reason he would have chosen your uncle or yourself," Yama asked.
"He said it would get back at Xanatos more-"
"Xanatos," Dingo interrupted, a frown on his face. "Why am I not surprised that he's a part of this?"
"Yeah. My uncle is friends with him, so I guess he thought he'd be someone he could attack more easily than Xanatos. Maybe he even figured it was a way to get back at Xanatos or something." The teen finally set down the scissors; he doubted he could do much damage with them anyway. "I hope you guys are good at finding criminals; I've got school tomorrow."
"I thought kids hated school," Fang said.
"I want to grow up smart, thank you."
"I like him," Yama said, smiling a little. "He's very intelligent."
"Screw you," the mutate snapped, flipping him the bird.
"Can ye boys stop messing around and get back to business," Hunter asked. "We need to get out of here. Matrix, is Wolf still incapacitated?"
YES.
"We'll interrogate him for information. Dingo, want to take the lead with him?"
"Like he'll talk to me," the Australian said. "We didn't exactly part on good terms."
"I'll do it then," she replied, rolling her eyes. Elijah noticed that there was clear tension and conflict between Hunter and Dingo; he probably wanted to be leader or something. They bickered like an old married couple, and the teen could not help but feel sorry for the others [even Fang] for having to deal with them 24/7.
"Can we leave now," the teen asked. "And will this safe house have a TV; I don't wanna miss Murder, She Wrote."
"I like that show," Dingo said, grinning at the teen. "That Angela Lansbury's a real gem!"
"Okay," Hunter said, looking torn between laughing at Dingo and throttling him. "Let's go."
[][][]
"There's nothing else here," Nashville complained, kicking a stray rock aside. "We've been here for half an hour!"
Brooklyn, Goliath and Nashville were currently by the side of the road where Elijah was abducted, looking for any clues. So far, they had found nothing, and the humans had cleaned up any debris that had been there earlier. The only thing they managed to find were tracks leading off towards a clearing in the woods, and tire tracks leading off towards a back road. If Wolf went that way, then he could be anywhere by now; the back road led up to the main road a mile north, and if Elijah was taken hours ago…
"When I get my hands on Wolf," Brooklyn said angrily.
"You know that is not a wise decision," Goliath reminded him. "And immediate violence is not something you want to teach you child."
The red gargoyle sighed, looking at his son, who was out of earshot, drawing something in the dirt with the tip of his sword. "You're right, Goliath." He raised his voice. [And you better clean off your sword when you're finished!] Nashville straightened up at the command, wiping the blade with his shirt.
"I just can't believe that this would happen," Brooklyn continued, turning back to Goliath. "Do you ever think that it's our fault that the humans close to us get in danger?"
"I wouldn't go as far as to say that," Goliath replied. "It is probably a coincidence that Wolf happened to kidnap him. We have no proof of any other foul play."
"Cool," Nashville said, picking something up off the ground. "Look at this!" The two adult gargoyles walked over to him, and the blue gargoyle held up a small gold coin. One one side was lettering in an unfamiliar language, the other had a picture of a laurel leaf on it. "This doesn't look like any human money I've ever seen."
"Indeed it isn't," Goliath said, taking the coin and looking closely at it. "It looks familiar…"
In the distance, a whirring noise came from overhead, as if a small plane was approaching. It was getting closer, and the three gargoyles quickly backed into a nearby patch of bushes, unsure of what was approaching. When the flying machine appeared, Goliath stood up, shocked by what he saw.
It looked almost like a chariot, except it was not being pulled by a horse, and had a sleek futuristic design. Small rocket engines on the side kept the vehicle hovering above the ground, but it then slowly landed on the street, its driver stepping out and looking around.
"Woah," Nashville whispered. "What is that?"
"I can't believe it," Goliath whispered. He stepped out of the bushes, walking towards the alien figure. "Taurus?"
The figure turned around, a surprised expression coming over his face when he saw the gargoyle. He was a towering, hulking figure in red and gold armor, and a helm on his head. He had humanoid limbs, save for the head of a bull, cloven feet, and two large horns and a tail.
"Goliath," the minotaur asked, gaping at him. "What are you doing here? Are you tracking Proteus too?"
"No. My friends and I were looking for a missing friends of ours." Brooklyn and Nashville stepped out of the bushes. "This is my second-in-command, Brooklyn, and his son Nashville. This is Taurus, the Chief of Security on New Olympus."
"New Olympus," Brooklyn asked. "Where's that?"
"None of your business," the bull-man said a little harshly. "We still wish to keep our existence a secret from humanity. I see, Goliath, by your friends' surprised expressions, that you did not tell them about your time on New Olympus. I thank you for keeping your word."
"Of course," Goliath said. "But why are you here in New York? I thought New Olympians preferred to keep to themselves."
"Proteus escaped from prison," Taurus explained, taking a small hand-held device from his belt. "I tracked him here, but I lost the trail. New Olympians give off a certain aura that I can track using this device. I picked up a small signal while flying over head, and thought he might be here."
"Do you mean this coin is from this New Olympus place," Nashville asked, pointing to the coin in Goliath's hand.
"That is a New Olympian coin," the minotaur confirmed. "But what is this about your missing friend?"
"Our friend Elijah was abducted this afternoon," Brooklyn explained. "An old enemy of ours broke out of prison and took him. We were hoping to find some clues as to where he's been taken."
The New Olympian looked deep in thought. "Proteus is a shape-shifter," he said. "This enemy of your could have been Proteus in disguise, but then again, he could be any living creature on Earth. I find it troubling that Proteus was here, at the same spot of your friend's abduction."
"Is Proteus super evil or something," Nashville asked.
"He murdered my father," Taurus said darkly. "If he has your friend, then he is in grave danger."
Brooklyn and Goliath exchanged worried looks. "We need to find Proteus," Goliath said. "Is there any way you can make your device strong enough to track him within the state?"
"I'm afraid not. Our technology is advance, but I do not have the proper materials to do so."
"Dammit," Brooklyn muttered. Then, he straightened up. "But I know someone who will."
[][][]
"You didn't have to pull me out of there," Mason said angrily. "I had it all under control!"
"We needed it to look like that Sevarius had taken you as well," the Illuminati head explained, the two of them currently in a safehouse in Queens. "Don't worry, the boy will be fine, but it will send a message to Xanatos. He will know that people are after the Fourth Eye of Mab, and will go to make sure that it is properly secured. Naturally, he will most likely move it to somewhere else, and that is where will we go to retrieve it."
"Has the Illuminati ever done this much against one of its own members," Mason asked.
The man gave him a small frown. "None of that, Thirteen. We are still his allies, but something of that immense power should not be in the hands of a single member; it should belong to the Society as a whole."
The agent was a little annoyed by this, not liking the decision that the higher numbers were making. However, he was bound to obey, and he nodded. "Fine. When do I return to the Robbins?"
"You will be going to where Dr. Sevarius currently has Elijah," the other member said. "When it is time for the gargoyles to find them, they will find you too." The door opened off to the side, and another member rushed in.
"We have trouble," he gasped. "Sevarius has fled and Wolf is gone; surveillance shows a strike group attacking the hideout."
"What," Mason asked, a pang of fear in his chest. He wasn't supposed to get attached to anyone, but he was worried for Elijah's safety.
"It was that group from Eastcheap Isle," the Illuminati agent continued. "They took the boy." Mason jumped to his feet, but the older Illuminati member remained calm.
"An unseen difficulty, but one we could perhaps make the most of," the man said. "Any other news?"
"Yes." The third agent looked over at Mason. "According to police records, you just gave a statement to the Weisman Police department an hour ago."
Mason blinked with surprise. "That's impossible," he said. "I've been here the whole time!"
"Then who was it," the agent asked. "They had your wallet, apparently."
"No. My wallet's right-" The agent felt his coat pocket, his face going pale as he felt nothing but an empty pocket. To be sure, he checked all his pockets, taking off his coat to make sure he had not missed it. "... Shit."
[][][]
Proteus was released from the human hospital, still in his human disguise.
It had been a crazy stroke of luck that he was hiding in the woods when those two humans were attacked by that wolf creature. It had taken the younger human, the other one waking up a few minutes later, walking up the road and away from the scene. Seeing the opportunity, the New Olympian criminal had quickly changed his appearance, climbing into the vehicle before the human security forces appeared. He had found the man's identification on the ground nearby, and was able to quickly figure out who he was to pretend to be. It helped that the man was just in an accident; any confusion was chalked up to a concussion.
"Ah…" Proteus sighed, looking around the primitive human town, wondering where he should go next. He was in the mood to cause some trouble, and was about to look for someplace to do so when a red car pulled up in front of him, the driver rolling down her window. The driver looked vaguely familiar to the criminal, but he could not place her.
"Mason," the woman said. "Come with me. We just got a call from Elijah; he seems to be alright, but he's still missing."
Immediately recognizing that this woman knew him, and that Elijah was someone he was supposed to care about, the New Olympian immediately put on a worried expression.
"Really," he asked. "When?"
"Half an hour ago," she said, unlocking the car doors. "Get in; we're going to the Robbins house until all this chaos is over."
Proteus smiled internally, though he still pretended to look worried on the outside. It is only about to begin, he thought, opening the door and climbing into the car.
Yes, I know that the third season of Gargoyles [which we do not talk about] did a whole Taurus and Proteus storyline where Taurus has to capture Proteus, but I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if I put my own spin on it. The third season is considered garbage by most people, but I figured that this particular scenario would work with what I have planned later on for this story. I hope those of you that think that this new addition to the storyline is a cop out will give it a chance.
Feel free to favorite/follow this story, or leave a review! Have a great day!
-aggiefrogger