Recruitment
Part 2
Author: Darkness. Address: darknessdescending@yahoo.co.uk Author's Note: Once again, I don't own the Malus Codicium, it was created by sci-fi author Dan Abnett (who rocks!), now that that's cleared up, don't sue me!
The Macbeth Estate
The sun slowly set over the horizon, enveloping the enormous estate in darkness. Inside a particular room in the immense castle, which dominated the landscape, there were two statues, totally identical, each having a beak, horns, wings and long flowing hair, the only differences between them were the positions that they took. One sat on a chair with a concerned expression on it's face, while the second lay on a bed with blankets pulled over it, it looked asleep, there were bandages wrapped over it's right shoulder and right hand. A door near the foot of the bed opened, and two figures walked in, a man and a woman.
The woman was in her late sixties; she had a kind face and neat white hair. She wore a white blouse with dainty frills, a long black cotton skirt and a long red woollen coat, which fell to her ankles and was probably home made; her feet resided in a pair of sensible black shoes.
The man had a noble air of authority about him; he appeared to be in his late fifties, having grey hair and a short, neat beard. He wore a pair of blue jeans, brown boots and a red turtleneck jumper.
"I've never had the pleasure of witnessing this before," said the woman, clearly fascinated by the two gargoyle statues.
"It's much better than watching them turn to stone Jezebel," replied the man, with a mild Scottish accent, "Although I must say, it's very loud and often messy."
A brush was suddenly in the woman's hand, "I'm ready."
"I do wish you'd stop doing that."
"Old habit sir, sorry."
As the old lady spoke, the last rays of the sun faded from the horizon. The two statues' skin began to crack and break, all of a sudden; the statues began to move, in a sudden movement, the air was filled with flying bits of masonry, accompanying this movement were two terrifying, inhuman roars, the two humans appeared unphased by this, the woman was visibly fascinated, while the man appeared to be more worried about a nearby window, which was shuddering from the deafening roars, as if to confirm his fears, the pane cracked.
"Damn," he said under his breath. He looked over at his two gargoyle guests and smiled, they'd stopped roaring now.
It now became obvious that there were differences between the two gargoyles, the one who had occupied the chair had blood red skin and hazel eyes, while the one who had been resting in the bed had light green skin, while his eyes were a shade of light grey, other than that, they were totally identical, white hair and all.
"How you feeling Mal?" asked Brooklyn, walking over to his clone.
"Better," replied Malibu, stretching, before getting out of the bed. He looked over at the man and woman and grinned sheepishly. "Hi, I'm Malibu."
"Hello," said Jezebel, offering her hand, the gargoyle took it. "I am Jezebel Tibbs," she then motioned towards the man, "And this is my master, Macbeth."
"Thank you for helping us," said Malibu.
"Always willing to help any of Brooklyn's friends," replied Macbeth, taking Malibu's outstretched hand.
"Okay the three of you!" snapped Jezebel, "Get going, dinner's prepared for the three of you. Go on now and let me clean up this mess," she said pleasantly as she shooed them all out of the room so she could get on with the housework.
"She's a gem that one," explained Macbeth as he led his guests to the dining room, "I don't need a huge staff to keep this place, just Jezebel."
"She seems very. dedicated," replied Malibu carefully, trying to get the feeling out of his head that there was something not exactly right about her.
"She's a witch you see."
"A WITCH!"
Both gargoyles stopped dead and looked back to door they had just come out of. Macbeth noticed their alarm and smiled to himself.
"Relax, both of you, she's totally harmless, she looks after the estate for me while I deal with. other matters."
They entered the dining room, where a huge feast lay before them on the table. Brooklyn and Malibu both eyed the food hungrily, their mouths watering.
"Go on lads, dig in, I don't want to be accused of being a poor host!"
Roughly an hour later
Malibu leaned back against an extremely large couch, although his tail and wings made it a bit of a challenge to get comfortable, he achieved it eventually and sighed contently to himself. Never, in his entire life had he ever eaten so well, he felt a pang of guilt when he remembered what those down in the Labyrinth had to eat. He shuddered. One of the regular meals in the Labyrinth had fur, a tail and scurried about under Manhattan in very large numbers.
Brooklyn stood near the fire, attempting to smoke a cigar that Macbeth had offered him, he was currently doubled over coughing from the fact the only time he had ever smoked in his life before hand had been the previous night, and that had been a small, cheap cigarette, not a six inch long Cuban cigar.
"I'm starting to understand why these are illegal over hear," said Brooklyn, between splutters and coughs. Malibu burst out laughing.
"I did try to warn you! But NOOO, you had to try and act like a big shot! You'll probably be coughing your guts out in a few minutes!"
Brooklyn tried to give him a dirty look, but was interrupted by his lungs trying to expel the large amount of tar that had suddenly invaded their territory. He simply bent over and started coughing again.
"Maybe I should take that off you before you kill yourself," laughed Macbeth, striding over to the doubled up red gargoyle. Brooklyn gratefully handed him the cigar, and watched in amazement as Macbeth took a very long drag from it, followed by blowing a smoke ring across the room.
"It's an acquired taste," said Macbeth, blowing another, "And skill." Macbeth motioned for Brooklyn to sit. Brooklyn sat on the floor, near to the fire, while Malibu remained lying lazily on the couch.
"And now gentlemen, if we may get down to some business."
Malibu eyed Macbeth suspiciously as he sat on a chair opposite the couch Malibu lay on. Macbeth met his gaze head on.
"Malibu, what are your feelings towards Demona?"
Malibu's eyes narrowed at the mention of that name, "I would like to slit her throat."
"Why's that?"
"She's evil."
"How do you know she's evil?"
"She keeps trying to kill the human race."
"Any other reason?"
"She and Thailog created my clan to help destroy Brooklyn's clan and to act like mindless slaves for them, which doesn't exactly come across as being very nice."
Macbeth casually looked over at Brooklyn, who gave him an "I told you so" smile. Macbeth then returned his attention to the clone.
"I am planning to move against Demona," he began, "You see, it has come to my attention that she may be looking for a certain book called the Malus Codicium, and has infiltrated the Manhattan clan to see if David Xanatos has it in his possession."
At the last part, Macbeth looked over at Brooklyn and gave him an unusual look, Brooklyn simply shrugged.
"Why else would she be trying to get close to the clan other than to steal a powerful magical artifact?" said the red gargoyle.
Macbeth nodded his head carefully and continued, "The Codicium is an extremely dangerous book of Black Magic, Demologly and Necromancy. It was supposedly penned by Lucifer himself in an attempt to have mankind destroy itself by using the power within the book's pages."
"Okay," replied Malibu, "And what has any of this got to do with me?"
"We were kinda hoping that you'd help," said Brooklyn.
"We?"
"Yes, I've already promised Macbeth that I'd help him."
"What about your clan?"
"They've all been poisoned by her deception, besides, Macbeth says he has a tome of lesser magic that will make sure that the clan never find out that I was involved."
Malibu turned to Macbeth, suddenly very interested, "Do you?"
"Yes," stated the immortal, "I take it that you'd be interested in it as well?"
Malibu looked at the ceiling, his thoughts racing. Everyone kept telling him that revenge was wrong, it never got you anywhere and made you just as bad as those whom you sought revenge against. From his own experience, those who spoke out against revenge (Talon for example) were those who could never achieve it (or just didn't have the guts to) and they knew it. He on the other hand, he knew what revenge was like, he'd already tasted the cold dish that is revenge, and not only did he think it tasted sweet, he was hoping to have seconds. He thought of Delilah lying sprawled before him, unconscious, if those humans hadn't have interrupted when they did, he would have let her know what it felt like to be abused. He smiled. Chances are, he would have raped the bitch.
"What will happen if she acquires this Codicium?"
"She will use it's powers to wipe out mankind," replied Macbeth.
Malibu plunged back into his thoughts. Here and now, he was being offered a chance to get back at one of his sick creators, Demona, the gargess who would have been happy if he had remained her mindless slave all his life. He licked his lips as he had an idea.
"Very well Macbeth, I'll help you destroy Demona."
"Excellent!" declared Macbeth, clapping his hands together and rising. Brooklyn also looked very pleased.
"On one condition."
The smile on Brooklyn's face was suddenly replaced by a look of alarm while Macbeth remained impassive.
"And what would the condition be my friend?"
"I have a good friend in the Labyrinth who is currently being held prisoner there."
"Hold on a second," interrupted Brooklyn, quickly on his feet, "You don't mean Fang do you?"
"Of course."
"You can't be serious!"
"Who is Fang?" asked Macbeth, suddenly on unfamiliar territory.
"My only real friend in the entire Labyrinth."
"He's a scumbag!"
"How would you know!" yelled Malibu, now standing as well, "He helped me through that Hell that was supposed to be my new life down there! He was the only person I could ever turn to and confide in! He's changed Brooklyn! Help me to free him and I'll prove it to you!"
Brooklyn turned to Macbeth, "He's one of the mutates. He tried to lead a coup against Talon. I stopped him."
"Do you think we can trust him?"
Brooklyn looked over at Malibu, into his determined grey eyes. He sighed, defeated.
"If Mal thinks we can trust him then I guess we can."
"Then we will plan a strategy immediately. My tome of lesser magic should be particularly useful for his rescue."
"Thank you Macbeth," said Malibu, overjoyed that he had a chance to help his old friend, Macbeth smiled and he and the clone shook hands as Brooklyn shook his head silently.
-We are going to get in sooo much trouble for this.-
The Labyrinth: Two days later
Fang lay on the bed in his cell, looking at the ceiling when Talon arrived.
"Hey boss," said the cougar mutate mockingly, "Any luck finding your runaway?"
The panther mutate growled at him, "This is all your fault Fang."
"Really? How so?"
"You polluted that kid's mind with your garbage."
"Your right, I should never have told him to think for himself and stick up for himself, I can't get over how evil that was!"
"Shut up!" roared Talon, now severely ticked off, "It's because of you he nearly killed Delilah!"
"She and her lackeys were bullying him, she got what she deserved."
"You've no proof of that!"
"He told me."
"Hah! He's just a kid looking for attention, like so many others down here! You screwed his head up."
"Then why'd you keep sending him here to guard me?"
"He kept volunteering."
"Didn't that ever strike you as odd?"
"WHERE IS HE?"
"Even if I knew oh great leader I wouldn't tell you for the world."
Talon growled threateningly, before turning to head to the door, before closing the fortified door, which led to Fang's glass containment cell, he stopped an looked around at him.
"You're never leaving Fang," said Talon in a matter-of-fact tone, "I'll make sure you'll never corrupt anyone again." With that he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Fang laughed to himself before checking his watch, it was almost lunchtime, although he had his doubts that Talon would send him any after what happened with Malibu.
He chuckled.
He really did like the kid, they had gotten close over the past couple of years, he had helped Malibu to learn how to read, long before any of his fellow clones had, maybe that's why they didn't like him, he could out do them all easily. They used to spend hours talking whenever Mal was guarding him, he always went with him when he was allowed out for exercise, he had even turned Mal on to smoking (although was a little ashamed of himself for that one). He hoped Mal was all right wherever he was.
The fortified door opened quickly and closed again, allowing three figures dressed in worn old clothing to enter, all were human, two appeared to be twins, each having long shocks of white hair, tied back into ponytails, both were about seventeen or eighteen years of age. The man accompanying them appeared to be in his mid or late fifties, he had grey hair and a beard; all three wore long, tattered and dirty trench coats.
"Fang!" exclaimed one of the twins happily. He rushed to the glass wall and pressed his hands against the glass, while his fellow twin followed at a more restrained pace, his face showing that was obviously unhappy about something.
"Do I know you kids?" asked Fang, getting up from his bed.
"It's me Mal!" said the twin pressed against the glass. His brother had stopped several paces away, his arms folded, that displeased look still sitting on his face.
Fang walked right up to the glass wall separating him from his visitors and looked the youth hard in the eyes. They were light grey and very familiar.
"Mal?"
"Yep."
"But how? It must only be a couple of hours since noon?"
The youth winked at him slyly and pointed at the older man who was watching the fortified door.
"It's magic," he said happily, producing a device from his trench coat and placing it against the glass containment wall, it stayed there while he began tapping buttons on a small control consul.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm breaking you out, now stand back."
Fang complied, taking several steps back from the glass wall. When Malibu was finished pressing buttons, he also stood back and covered his ears, as did the other two. Fang managed to cover his own ears before an ear- splitting sound shattered the glass wall, all the shards of it falling to the floor with none flying through the air to cause unhealthy lacerations. The instant the glass was shattered, the deafening sound stopped.
"Pretty cool huh?" said Mal, picking up his toy and shoving it back into his pocket. Fang leapt over the shattered glass and gave the kid a bear hug; Mal squeezed back, happy to have finally repaid his friend.
"We don't have time for this!" said the human who looked exactly like Mal, he had taken his trench coat off, revealing more tattered clothes, he also had a hat at hand, "Put these on so we can get the Hell outta here!"
Fang cloaked his wings quickly, slipped the trench coat on, used the hat to cover his pointed ears and followed his rescuers out the door. The old man appeared to have a device in his hand, he pressed a button on it and there was a muffled explosion somewhere.
"What the Hell was that?"
"A small fire bomb I placed," replied Malibu, "Don't worry, I made sure nobody was any where near it."
The four quickly headed towards the exit, totally ignored by the panicking population, they followed the women and children fleeing outside while the men ran to fight the small blaze.
After reaching the exit, the four quickly made their way to a car with tinted glass windows parked two blocks away from the Labyrinth entrance, making sure no one spotted them or followed them. Malibu and Fang got in the back while the man and the other youth got in the front, the man started the car and took them from the scene as quickly as possible.
"So how does it feel to be free Fang?" asked the man with grey hair, he had a mild Scottish accent.
"It feels great," replied the mutate, lying back against his seat and slipping his hat off, "Who are you anyway?"
"They call me Macbeth."
"Well thanks for the save Macbeth," he turned to look at the youth sitting next to Macbeth, "And you are?"
"Fang that's Brooklyn," said Mal.
"Brooklyn! Why the Hell are you helping me escape the place you helped put me in?"
Brooklyn turned in his seat to look at Fang, murder in his eyes, "Understand this right now Fang. The only reason I'm helped save you sorry ass is because Mal says you've changed and can be trusted to assist us."
"Assist you in what exactly?"
"We're gonna save the world," said Mal excitedly, "And get revenge against Demona at the same time."
"Demona! I thought she changed?"
"She hasn't," said Brooklyn, "Currently she's searching for a book called the Malus Codicium, a very powerful book of Dark Magic that's she'll use to wipe out humanity, that is if we don't kill her first."
"Kill her!"
"It's the only way we can make sure she doesn't get hold of the book," explained Macbeth, "So will you help us?"
"What's in it for me?"
"Two million dollars in cash and the spell I used to turn these two into human form," replied Macbeth, not even looking around to see Fang's astounded expression.
"Two million?"
"And a spell that will allow you to use it in public. So what's your answer?"
"Count me in!" yelled Fang, any apprehension he had forgotten. Malibu cheered and hugged his friend while Macbeth continued driving to his estate, a great big smile on his face. Brooklyn on the other hand was not smiling; he was just staring out the window, an angry expression on his face, working with scum like Fang was very unappealing. His face brightened up however as he thought of how sweet his revenge against Demona would be, in his own opinion, he had waited far far too long before acting against her, but still, he was going to savour every moment of it, along with any screams.
-Only a matter of time now.- He thought to himself.
-Only a matter of time.-
To be continued.
So what do you think so far? If anyone has any opinions (or questions) about the series so far then you know my e-mail address. I'll even accept flames, as long as they are decent, with intelligent arguments.
Until next time.
Darkness.
Author: Darkness. Address: darknessdescending@yahoo.co.uk Author's Note: Once again, I don't own the Malus Codicium, it was created by sci-fi author Dan Abnett (who rocks!), now that that's cleared up, don't sue me!
The Macbeth Estate
The sun slowly set over the horizon, enveloping the enormous estate in darkness. Inside a particular room in the immense castle, which dominated the landscape, there were two statues, totally identical, each having a beak, horns, wings and long flowing hair, the only differences between them were the positions that they took. One sat on a chair with a concerned expression on it's face, while the second lay on a bed with blankets pulled over it, it looked asleep, there were bandages wrapped over it's right shoulder and right hand. A door near the foot of the bed opened, and two figures walked in, a man and a woman.
The woman was in her late sixties; she had a kind face and neat white hair. She wore a white blouse with dainty frills, a long black cotton skirt and a long red woollen coat, which fell to her ankles and was probably home made; her feet resided in a pair of sensible black shoes.
The man had a noble air of authority about him; he appeared to be in his late fifties, having grey hair and a short, neat beard. He wore a pair of blue jeans, brown boots and a red turtleneck jumper.
"I've never had the pleasure of witnessing this before," said the woman, clearly fascinated by the two gargoyle statues.
"It's much better than watching them turn to stone Jezebel," replied the man, with a mild Scottish accent, "Although I must say, it's very loud and often messy."
A brush was suddenly in the woman's hand, "I'm ready."
"I do wish you'd stop doing that."
"Old habit sir, sorry."
As the old lady spoke, the last rays of the sun faded from the horizon. The two statues' skin began to crack and break, all of a sudden; the statues began to move, in a sudden movement, the air was filled with flying bits of masonry, accompanying this movement were two terrifying, inhuman roars, the two humans appeared unphased by this, the woman was visibly fascinated, while the man appeared to be more worried about a nearby window, which was shuddering from the deafening roars, as if to confirm his fears, the pane cracked.
"Damn," he said under his breath. He looked over at his two gargoyle guests and smiled, they'd stopped roaring now.
It now became obvious that there were differences between the two gargoyles, the one who had occupied the chair had blood red skin and hazel eyes, while the one who had been resting in the bed had light green skin, while his eyes were a shade of light grey, other than that, they were totally identical, white hair and all.
"How you feeling Mal?" asked Brooklyn, walking over to his clone.
"Better," replied Malibu, stretching, before getting out of the bed. He looked over at the man and woman and grinned sheepishly. "Hi, I'm Malibu."
"Hello," said Jezebel, offering her hand, the gargoyle took it. "I am Jezebel Tibbs," she then motioned towards the man, "And this is my master, Macbeth."
"Thank you for helping us," said Malibu.
"Always willing to help any of Brooklyn's friends," replied Macbeth, taking Malibu's outstretched hand.
"Okay the three of you!" snapped Jezebel, "Get going, dinner's prepared for the three of you. Go on now and let me clean up this mess," she said pleasantly as she shooed them all out of the room so she could get on with the housework.
"She's a gem that one," explained Macbeth as he led his guests to the dining room, "I don't need a huge staff to keep this place, just Jezebel."
"She seems very. dedicated," replied Malibu carefully, trying to get the feeling out of his head that there was something not exactly right about her.
"She's a witch you see."
"A WITCH!"
Both gargoyles stopped dead and looked back to door they had just come out of. Macbeth noticed their alarm and smiled to himself.
"Relax, both of you, she's totally harmless, she looks after the estate for me while I deal with. other matters."
They entered the dining room, where a huge feast lay before them on the table. Brooklyn and Malibu both eyed the food hungrily, their mouths watering.
"Go on lads, dig in, I don't want to be accused of being a poor host!"
Roughly an hour later
Malibu leaned back against an extremely large couch, although his tail and wings made it a bit of a challenge to get comfortable, he achieved it eventually and sighed contently to himself. Never, in his entire life had he ever eaten so well, he felt a pang of guilt when he remembered what those down in the Labyrinth had to eat. He shuddered. One of the regular meals in the Labyrinth had fur, a tail and scurried about under Manhattan in very large numbers.
Brooklyn stood near the fire, attempting to smoke a cigar that Macbeth had offered him, he was currently doubled over coughing from the fact the only time he had ever smoked in his life before hand had been the previous night, and that had been a small, cheap cigarette, not a six inch long Cuban cigar.
"I'm starting to understand why these are illegal over hear," said Brooklyn, between splutters and coughs. Malibu burst out laughing.
"I did try to warn you! But NOOO, you had to try and act like a big shot! You'll probably be coughing your guts out in a few minutes!"
Brooklyn tried to give him a dirty look, but was interrupted by his lungs trying to expel the large amount of tar that had suddenly invaded their territory. He simply bent over and started coughing again.
"Maybe I should take that off you before you kill yourself," laughed Macbeth, striding over to the doubled up red gargoyle. Brooklyn gratefully handed him the cigar, and watched in amazement as Macbeth took a very long drag from it, followed by blowing a smoke ring across the room.
"It's an acquired taste," said Macbeth, blowing another, "And skill." Macbeth motioned for Brooklyn to sit. Brooklyn sat on the floor, near to the fire, while Malibu remained lying lazily on the couch.
"And now gentlemen, if we may get down to some business."
Malibu eyed Macbeth suspiciously as he sat on a chair opposite the couch Malibu lay on. Macbeth met his gaze head on.
"Malibu, what are your feelings towards Demona?"
Malibu's eyes narrowed at the mention of that name, "I would like to slit her throat."
"Why's that?"
"She's evil."
"How do you know she's evil?"
"She keeps trying to kill the human race."
"Any other reason?"
"She and Thailog created my clan to help destroy Brooklyn's clan and to act like mindless slaves for them, which doesn't exactly come across as being very nice."
Macbeth casually looked over at Brooklyn, who gave him an "I told you so" smile. Macbeth then returned his attention to the clone.
"I am planning to move against Demona," he began, "You see, it has come to my attention that she may be looking for a certain book called the Malus Codicium, and has infiltrated the Manhattan clan to see if David Xanatos has it in his possession."
At the last part, Macbeth looked over at Brooklyn and gave him an unusual look, Brooklyn simply shrugged.
"Why else would she be trying to get close to the clan other than to steal a powerful magical artifact?" said the red gargoyle.
Macbeth nodded his head carefully and continued, "The Codicium is an extremely dangerous book of Black Magic, Demologly and Necromancy. It was supposedly penned by Lucifer himself in an attempt to have mankind destroy itself by using the power within the book's pages."
"Okay," replied Malibu, "And what has any of this got to do with me?"
"We were kinda hoping that you'd help," said Brooklyn.
"We?"
"Yes, I've already promised Macbeth that I'd help him."
"What about your clan?"
"They've all been poisoned by her deception, besides, Macbeth says he has a tome of lesser magic that will make sure that the clan never find out that I was involved."
Malibu turned to Macbeth, suddenly very interested, "Do you?"
"Yes," stated the immortal, "I take it that you'd be interested in it as well?"
Malibu looked at the ceiling, his thoughts racing. Everyone kept telling him that revenge was wrong, it never got you anywhere and made you just as bad as those whom you sought revenge against. From his own experience, those who spoke out against revenge (Talon for example) were those who could never achieve it (or just didn't have the guts to) and they knew it. He on the other hand, he knew what revenge was like, he'd already tasted the cold dish that is revenge, and not only did he think it tasted sweet, he was hoping to have seconds. He thought of Delilah lying sprawled before him, unconscious, if those humans hadn't have interrupted when they did, he would have let her know what it felt like to be abused. He smiled. Chances are, he would have raped the bitch.
"What will happen if she acquires this Codicium?"
"She will use it's powers to wipe out mankind," replied Macbeth.
Malibu plunged back into his thoughts. Here and now, he was being offered a chance to get back at one of his sick creators, Demona, the gargess who would have been happy if he had remained her mindless slave all his life. He licked his lips as he had an idea.
"Very well Macbeth, I'll help you destroy Demona."
"Excellent!" declared Macbeth, clapping his hands together and rising. Brooklyn also looked very pleased.
"On one condition."
The smile on Brooklyn's face was suddenly replaced by a look of alarm while Macbeth remained impassive.
"And what would the condition be my friend?"
"I have a good friend in the Labyrinth who is currently being held prisoner there."
"Hold on a second," interrupted Brooklyn, quickly on his feet, "You don't mean Fang do you?"
"Of course."
"You can't be serious!"
"Who is Fang?" asked Macbeth, suddenly on unfamiliar territory.
"My only real friend in the entire Labyrinth."
"He's a scumbag!"
"How would you know!" yelled Malibu, now standing as well, "He helped me through that Hell that was supposed to be my new life down there! He was the only person I could ever turn to and confide in! He's changed Brooklyn! Help me to free him and I'll prove it to you!"
Brooklyn turned to Macbeth, "He's one of the mutates. He tried to lead a coup against Talon. I stopped him."
"Do you think we can trust him?"
Brooklyn looked over at Malibu, into his determined grey eyes. He sighed, defeated.
"If Mal thinks we can trust him then I guess we can."
"Then we will plan a strategy immediately. My tome of lesser magic should be particularly useful for his rescue."
"Thank you Macbeth," said Malibu, overjoyed that he had a chance to help his old friend, Macbeth smiled and he and the clone shook hands as Brooklyn shook his head silently.
-We are going to get in sooo much trouble for this.-
The Labyrinth: Two days later
Fang lay on the bed in his cell, looking at the ceiling when Talon arrived.
"Hey boss," said the cougar mutate mockingly, "Any luck finding your runaway?"
The panther mutate growled at him, "This is all your fault Fang."
"Really? How so?"
"You polluted that kid's mind with your garbage."
"Your right, I should never have told him to think for himself and stick up for himself, I can't get over how evil that was!"
"Shut up!" roared Talon, now severely ticked off, "It's because of you he nearly killed Delilah!"
"She and her lackeys were bullying him, she got what she deserved."
"You've no proof of that!"
"He told me."
"Hah! He's just a kid looking for attention, like so many others down here! You screwed his head up."
"Then why'd you keep sending him here to guard me?"
"He kept volunteering."
"Didn't that ever strike you as odd?"
"WHERE IS HE?"
"Even if I knew oh great leader I wouldn't tell you for the world."
Talon growled threateningly, before turning to head to the door, before closing the fortified door, which led to Fang's glass containment cell, he stopped an looked around at him.
"You're never leaving Fang," said Talon in a matter-of-fact tone, "I'll make sure you'll never corrupt anyone again." With that he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Fang laughed to himself before checking his watch, it was almost lunchtime, although he had his doubts that Talon would send him any after what happened with Malibu.
He chuckled.
He really did like the kid, they had gotten close over the past couple of years, he had helped Malibu to learn how to read, long before any of his fellow clones had, maybe that's why they didn't like him, he could out do them all easily. They used to spend hours talking whenever Mal was guarding him, he always went with him when he was allowed out for exercise, he had even turned Mal on to smoking (although was a little ashamed of himself for that one). He hoped Mal was all right wherever he was.
The fortified door opened quickly and closed again, allowing three figures dressed in worn old clothing to enter, all were human, two appeared to be twins, each having long shocks of white hair, tied back into ponytails, both were about seventeen or eighteen years of age. The man accompanying them appeared to be in his mid or late fifties, he had grey hair and a beard; all three wore long, tattered and dirty trench coats.
"Fang!" exclaimed one of the twins happily. He rushed to the glass wall and pressed his hands against the glass, while his fellow twin followed at a more restrained pace, his face showing that was obviously unhappy about something.
"Do I know you kids?" asked Fang, getting up from his bed.
"It's me Mal!" said the twin pressed against the glass. His brother had stopped several paces away, his arms folded, that displeased look still sitting on his face.
Fang walked right up to the glass wall separating him from his visitors and looked the youth hard in the eyes. They were light grey and very familiar.
"Mal?"
"Yep."
"But how? It must only be a couple of hours since noon?"
The youth winked at him slyly and pointed at the older man who was watching the fortified door.
"It's magic," he said happily, producing a device from his trench coat and placing it against the glass containment wall, it stayed there while he began tapping buttons on a small control consul.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm breaking you out, now stand back."
Fang complied, taking several steps back from the glass wall. When Malibu was finished pressing buttons, he also stood back and covered his ears, as did the other two. Fang managed to cover his own ears before an ear- splitting sound shattered the glass wall, all the shards of it falling to the floor with none flying through the air to cause unhealthy lacerations. The instant the glass was shattered, the deafening sound stopped.
"Pretty cool huh?" said Mal, picking up his toy and shoving it back into his pocket. Fang leapt over the shattered glass and gave the kid a bear hug; Mal squeezed back, happy to have finally repaid his friend.
"We don't have time for this!" said the human who looked exactly like Mal, he had taken his trench coat off, revealing more tattered clothes, he also had a hat at hand, "Put these on so we can get the Hell outta here!"
Fang cloaked his wings quickly, slipped the trench coat on, used the hat to cover his pointed ears and followed his rescuers out the door. The old man appeared to have a device in his hand, he pressed a button on it and there was a muffled explosion somewhere.
"What the Hell was that?"
"A small fire bomb I placed," replied Malibu, "Don't worry, I made sure nobody was any where near it."
The four quickly headed towards the exit, totally ignored by the panicking population, they followed the women and children fleeing outside while the men ran to fight the small blaze.
After reaching the exit, the four quickly made their way to a car with tinted glass windows parked two blocks away from the Labyrinth entrance, making sure no one spotted them or followed them. Malibu and Fang got in the back while the man and the other youth got in the front, the man started the car and took them from the scene as quickly as possible.
"So how does it feel to be free Fang?" asked the man with grey hair, he had a mild Scottish accent.
"It feels great," replied the mutate, lying back against his seat and slipping his hat off, "Who are you anyway?"
"They call me Macbeth."
"Well thanks for the save Macbeth," he turned to look at the youth sitting next to Macbeth, "And you are?"
"Fang that's Brooklyn," said Mal.
"Brooklyn! Why the Hell are you helping me escape the place you helped put me in?"
Brooklyn turned in his seat to look at Fang, murder in his eyes, "Understand this right now Fang. The only reason I'm helped save you sorry ass is because Mal says you've changed and can be trusted to assist us."
"Assist you in what exactly?"
"We're gonna save the world," said Mal excitedly, "And get revenge against Demona at the same time."
"Demona! I thought she changed?"
"She hasn't," said Brooklyn, "Currently she's searching for a book called the Malus Codicium, a very powerful book of Dark Magic that's she'll use to wipe out humanity, that is if we don't kill her first."
"Kill her!"
"It's the only way we can make sure she doesn't get hold of the book," explained Macbeth, "So will you help us?"
"What's in it for me?"
"Two million dollars in cash and the spell I used to turn these two into human form," replied Macbeth, not even looking around to see Fang's astounded expression.
"Two million?"
"And a spell that will allow you to use it in public. So what's your answer?"
"Count me in!" yelled Fang, any apprehension he had forgotten. Malibu cheered and hugged his friend while Macbeth continued driving to his estate, a great big smile on his face. Brooklyn on the other hand was not smiling; he was just staring out the window, an angry expression on his face, working with scum like Fang was very unappealing. His face brightened up however as he thought of how sweet his revenge against Demona would be, in his own opinion, he had waited far far too long before acting against her, but still, he was going to savour every moment of it, along with any screams.
-Only a matter of time now.- He thought to himself.
-Only a matter of time.-
To be continued.
So what do you think so far? If anyone has any opinions (or questions) about the series so far then you know my e-mail address. I'll even accept flames, as long as they are decent, with intelligent arguments.
Until next time.
Darkness.