Preparations
Author: Darkness. Address: darknessdescending2000@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 Labyrinth
Talon strode among the people of the Labyrinth, the poor, the downtrodden and the sick and sighed wearily. It had taken almost an hour to put out the fire, he had breathed in an awful lot of smoke and he was coughing considerably because of it. He was exhausted; he felt he was going to be sick while his head felt like there was a jackhammer pounding at his brains inside.
He needed to lie down before he collapsed.
"Talon!"
He looked up to see Maggie Reed, his wife for over two years run up to him; she was wearing a very frightened expression.
"What is it?"
"Fang's escaped!"
"WHAT?"
He rushed past her; it couldn't be true, could it? He tapped in the code and hurled the fortified door open, which led to the glass chamber that contained the cougar mutate. Maggie had been right, the three inch thick glass wall that served as the front of his prison had been totally shattered. It suddenly hit Talon that Fang's escape and the fire were connected. Someone had gone to quite a bit of trouble to get Fang out of his prison, but who? Or better yet, why? And why the Hell couldn't he get that nagging feeling at the back of his head that Malibu was connected in some way? Whoever did this knew the layout of the Labyrinth as they had started a fire, which would cause damage but not endanger life. They would also have to have known where Fang was imprisoned. They would have also have to know the code that opened the fortified door. Malibu knew all of this; he could easily have given the information to people who needed Fang.
"But for what?" he said to himself.
"Derek. What are we going to do?"
Talon looked over at Maggie, she had followed him inside.
"We're going to have to contact Goliath and his clan," was the answer, "Whoever got Fang out was a professional, they obviously needed him for some reason. What for, I don't know just yet but I'm sure Malibu's connected somehow. Whatever's going down I think we might need Goliath's clan to help. I'll leave for the Eyrie building half an hour before sunset, in the meantime I have got to get some rest before I collapse."
With that, Talon staggered to his bed to try and get some well earned shut- eye while Maggie began questioning people to see if they saw anyone suspicious looking around before the fire started.
The Eyrie Building, several hours later
The Gargoyles of the clan Manhattan awoke with their usual roars, as they broke free of their stone skin as the final rays of the sun vanished below the horizon.
Angela looked over at the perch to her father's right. It had been unoccupied now ever since she had invited her mother to a party celebrating her pregnancy. Brooklyn had walked out almost as soon as Demona had arrived, having first given her a look with murder in his eyes for several seconds before saying he needed some air. She had felt awful afterwards, she knew she should have asked the clan's permission first to see if she could invite her mother, but she was convinced that Demona was changing, all she had to do was show it to the others so that they'd understand. Her mother was no longer trying to destroy humanity; instead she was determined to have a meaningful relationship with her daughter. Angela was sure that Goliath and the others would eventually forgive her mother; the only member she wasn't sure about was Brooklyn. In truth, she had invited Demona for two reasons, to celebrate her pregnancy, and to try and have Brooklyn and her patch things up.
She sighed miserably at her failure.
Just then she felt a hand gently fall on her shoulder, she looked around to see her husband, Broadway smiling lovingly at her.
"Don't worry darling," said the huge aquamarine gargoyle, "He used to do this a lot, he just needs a few days to himself, then he'll be back and everything will go back to normal."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
"Do you think he'll ever forgive my mother?"
The smile and certainty on her husband's face vanished as he shook his head sorrowfully.
"Then how can mother ever be accepted back into the clan when Brooklyn refuses to have anything to do with her?"
"If Goliath welcomes Demona back then Brooklyn will have no choice but to accept his ruling. He's never gone against Goliath and it's doubtful he ever will."
Angela was still troubled at this, she knew Brooklyn had been acting a little strange the last few months but he had always insisted he was just fine whenever she had asked him about it. With her and Broadway spending all their time together, and Lexington now spending all his time with Alex or his computers, she was worried that Brooklyn might be feeling lonely. She smiled inwardly. Maybe they could convince him to go to Avalon to find a mate, she knew of at least four females without mates on the island, surely one of them would be interested in Brooklyn. She made a decision to talk to Goliath about this as soon as possible.
"Angela, Talon's here," said her husband, clearly a little curious.
Angela turned to see Goliath talking to the leader of the Labyrinth. Talon seemed very anxious about something, he was also coughing a little, she moved closer to hear a little better.
"As far as I can gather it was a professional job," said Talon.
"Do you have any idea who did it?" asked Lexington.
"No, but Maggie asked around and said some people noticed three guys walk in about five minutes before the explosion."
"Anybody get a good look at them?" inquired Broadway.
"All we know is that two of them were twins with long hair, while the other guy looked kind of old."
"And you think Malibu's disappearance is connected somehow?" asked Goliath. He appeared to be in deep thought over something. "Brooklyn hasn't returned yet, and now you say Malibu fled the same night, perhaps whoever took Malibu has Brooklyn as well." Goliath looked up at his clan, his eyes betraying his worry at the potential danger that his second-in-command was in.
"Talon, both our clans must work together on this. We must search the entire city and beyond. There is no telling what danger both of them are in."
The Macbeth Estate Two Days Later
"NO! Not again God damn it!"
Macbeth looked around at Brooklyn and frowned, "What's the matter?"
"This fucking computer's frozen again!"
Brooklyn was currently sitting at one of the eight computers in Macbeth's castle, he looked extremely pissed about something. Macbeth quickly came over to the gargoyle before he put his fist through the monitor and checked the screen; he tapped a few keys and checked the screen.
"This is the fourth time this thing has frozen on you, what have you been doing?"
"I don't know," said the red gargoyle, "I guess these things just don't like me."
"What are you doing anyway?"
"I'm trying to send an e-mail to Lex."
"Why?"
"I've been gone almost a week know. Goliath's already probably freaked about me. I just want to let them know I'm fine."
"You aren't going to tell them where you are, are you?"
"Give me some credit Macbeth. I ain't leaving until Demona's in a pine box."
"Then let me help you before you blow the damn thing up."
Macbeth quickly helped Brooklyn create a false e-mail account, and then told him how to e-mail before leaving the room to allow Brooklyn some privacy. After several minutes the Gargoyle exited the room he had been in and both then went to what had been dubbed the "War Room."
It was a fairly big room with a massive ebony table in the centre with several chairs around it. Malibu and Jezebel were seated at the table while Fang was standing at the head of the table, a very smug look on his face, Malibu seemed fairly happy for his friend while Jezebel appeared to be concealing a great deal of loathing behind a polite smile.
"So Fang, what is so important that you interrupt our preparations to finish Demona once and for all?"
"I found it," replied the cougar mutate proudly.
"Found what?"
"The second Codicium!" said Malibu happily, "I told you we needed him!"
Macbeth and Brooklyn stood where they were for a full minute absorbing the incredible news that they had just received before Brooklyn finally opened his mouth, still a little amazed and simply asked, "How?"
"I've got connections."
"With the most questionable people," cut in Jezebel, letting her loathing of the mutate flow.
"Well from what I understand Jezzy," shot back Fang, "You used to be quite questionable yourself."
Jezebel smiled politely and sat back in her chair, murder in her eyes.
"Don't ever call me "Jezzy" Fang, or I shall have to resort to removing your balls with my shotgun. Do you understand?"
Fang leaned over the table in the direction of the smiling old lady, smiling back with his large fangs.
"Loud and clear Jezzy."
Jezebel was about to remove her shotgun from her woollen coat to kill the rude and hairy son-of-a-bitch when Macbeth suddenly cut in.
"That's enough from both of you! Your acting like a pair of bloody children for God's sake!"
Both Jezebel and Fang looked over at their current employer innocently. Macbeth rolled his eyes in frustration before turning to Fang.
"Where?"
"It's owned by a Crime Lord named Lopez whose base of operations is in an Argentinean port called Bahia Blanca."
"Never heard of him."
"He's only regional, just about twenty or thirty under him, no problem for the four of us."
"Five of us," said Jezebel sharply.
"How'd he get his hands on it?" asked Malibu.
"Apparently he iced some old colleague professor in Montevideo in Uruguay who had supposedly returned from a trip into the Brazilian rainforests with a book he found at a strange underground temple," explained Fang, "This was about eleven months ago. Ever since then some people have been found dead with really strange markings carved into their bodies. Like the ones you showed me."
"He's obviously been trying to summon a daemon host," said Macbeth thoughtfully.
"But he can't succeed without the rod of control," joined in Jezebel.
"But he could always make another," said Brooklyn, not liking where this was going.
"That would take months, even years," replied Jezebel, "The rod is covered by sixty-six intricately carved daemonic runes in a precise pattern, they must all be utterly perfect for the rod to be of any use at all, the slightest mistake in it's construction simply makes it a fancy looking iron stick."
"In that case we should all go there and wipe him out before he figures out he has to build the rod before he can summon any daemons," said Malibu, rising from his seat.
"No. Only Jezebel and I shall go," said Macbeth.
"WHAT?"
"Jezebel is a witch while I am immortal and a sorcerer. Between the pair of us, he doesn't stand a chance."
"What if he cuts your head off?" asked Brooklyn.
Macbeth smiled at the young gargoyle.
"It didn't work for Madame Guillotine. It won't work for them."
Eight hours later
Jezebel finished loading up the all-terrain hum-vee while Macbeth gave instructions to Brooklyn, Malibu and Fang. Although the sun had risen, the trio were in their human forms. Jezebel smiled as she listened in.
"Are you sure the three of you can handle Demona?"
"Yes Macbeth," replied three voices in unison.
"Now Brooklyn, I shall be back in two weeks. If you think the three of you can handle her, then go ahead and try. But for God's sake be careful."
"What about the tome of lesser magic?" asked Malibu worriedly, "Don't you think you might need it to get the second Codicium?"
"Not to worry my friend," replied the immortal slyly, "I have more than one book of magic." He winked, "Besides, the three of you need to use it's powers to disguise yourselves if you are going after Demona and Goliath and his clan interferes."
"Okay," said the clone, certainty returning to his voice.
Macbeth and Jezebel gave them all a final wave goodbye before getting into the ex-military vehicle and driving down the gravel road of the estate.
"Don't worry!" yelled Brooklyn as the pair left, "She'll be in chains in the dungeon by the end of the week!"
The trio continued waving until the hum-vee was out of sight. Brooklyn then threw his arms around his two new partners and guided them inside the castle.
"Let's get to the "war room" boys," he said as he licked his lips.
"We have a demon to hunt,"
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. My next instalment "Release the Hounds," should hopefully be ready by the end of the week.
Until next time.
Darkness.
Author: Darkness. Address: darknessdescending2000@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 Labyrinth
Talon strode among the people of the Labyrinth, the poor, the downtrodden and the sick and sighed wearily. It had taken almost an hour to put out the fire, he had breathed in an awful lot of smoke and he was coughing considerably because of it. He was exhausted; he felt he was going to be sick while his head felt like there was a jackhammer pounding at his brains inside.
He needed to lie down before he collapsed.
"Talon!"
He looked up to see Maggie Reed, his wife for over two years run up to him; she was wearing a very frightened expression.
"What is it?"
"Fang's escaped!"
"WHAT?"
He rushed past her; it couldn't be true, could it? He tapped in the code and hurled the fortified door open, which led to the glass chamber that contained the cougar mutate. Maggie had been right, the three inch thick glass wall that served as the front of his prison had been totally shattered. It suddenly hit Talon that Fang's escape and the fire were connected. Someone had gone to quite a bit of trouble to get Fang out of his prison, but who? Or better yet, why? And why the Hell couldn't he get that nagging feeling at the back of his head that Malibu was connected in some way? Whoever did this knew the layout of the Labyrinth as they had started a fire, which would cause damage but not endanger life. They would also have to have known where Fang was imprisoned. They would have also have to know the code that opened the fortified door. Malibu knew all of this; he could easily have given the information to people who needed Fang.
"But for what?" he said to himself.
"Derek. What are we going to do?"
Talon looked over at Maggie, she had followed him inside.
"We're going to have to contact Goliath and his clan," was the answer, "Whoever got Fang out was a professional, they obviously needed him for some reason. What for, I don't know just yet but I'm sure Malibu's connected somehow. Whatever's going down I think we might need Goliath's clan to help. I'll leave for the Eyrie building half an hour before sunset, in the meantime I have got to get some rest before I collapse."
With that, Talon staggered to his bed to try and get some well earned shut- eye while Maggie began questioning people to see if they saw anyone suspicious looking around before the fire started.
The Eyrie Building, several hours later
The Gargoyles of the clan Manhattan awoke with their usual roars, as they broke free of their stone skin as the final rays of the sun vanished below the horizon.
Angela looked over at the perch to her father's right. It had been unoccupied now ever since she had invited her mother to a party celebrating her pregnancy. Brooklyn had walked out almost as soon as Demona had arrived, having first given her a look with murder in his eyes for several seconds before saying he needed some air. She had felt awful afterwards, she knew she should have asked the clan's permission first to see if she could invite her mother, but she was convinced that Demona was changing, all she had to do was show it to the others so that they'd understand. Her mother was no longer trying to destroy humanity; instead she was determined to have a meaningful relationship with her daughter. Angela was sure that Goliath and the others would eventually forgive her mother; the only member she wasn't sure about was Brooklyn. In truth, she had invited Demona for two reasons, to celebrate her pregnancy, and to try and have Brooklyn and her patch things up.
She sighed miserably at her failure.
Just then she felt a hand gently fall on her shoulder, she looked around to see her husband, Broadway smiling lovingly at her.
"Don't worry darling," said the huge aquamarine gargoyle, "He used to do this a lot, he just needs a few days to himself, then he'll be back and everything will go back to normal."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
"Do you think he'll ever forgive my mother?"
The smile and certainty on her husband's face vanished as he shook his head sorrowfully.
"Then how can mother ever be accepted back into the clan when Brooklyn refuses to have anything to do with her?"
"If Goliath welcomes Demona back then Brooklyn will have no choice but to accept his ruling. He's never gone against Goliath and it's doubtful he ever will."
Angela was still troubled at this, she knew Brooklyn had been acting a little strange the last few months but he had always insisted he was just fine whenever she had asked him about it. With her and Broadway spending all their time together, and Lexington now spending all his time with Alex or his computers, she was worried that Brooklyn might be feeling lonely. She smiled inwardly. Maybe they could convince him to go to Avalon to find a mate, she knew of at least four females without mates on the island, surely one of them would be interested in Brooklyn. She made a decision to talk to Goliath about this as soon as possible.
"Angela, Talon's here," said her husband, clearly a little curious.
Angela turned to see Goliath talking to the leader of the Labyrinth. Talon seemed very anxious about something, he was also coughing a little, she moved closer to hear a little better.
"As far as I can gather it was a professional job," said Talon.
"Do you have any idea who did it?" asked Lexington.
"No, but Maggie asked around and said some people noticed three guys walk in about five minutes before the explosion."
"Anybody get a good look at them?" inquired Broadway.
"All we know is that two of them were twins with long hair, while the other guy looked kind of old."
"And you think Malibu's disappearance is connected somehow?" asked Goliath. He appeared to be in deep thought over something. "Brooklyn hasn't returned yet, and now you say Malibu fled the same night, perhaps whoever took Malibu has Brooklyn as well." Goliath looked up at his clan, his eyes betraying his worry at the potential danger that his second-in-command was in.
"Talon, both our clans must work together on this. We must search the entire city and beyond. There is no telling what danger both of them are in."
The Macbeth Estate Two Days Later
"NO! Not again God damn it!"
Macbeth looked around at Brooklyn and frowned, "What's the matter?"
"This fucking computer's frozen again!"
Brooklyn was currently sitting at one of the eight computers in Macbeth's castle, he looked extremely pissed about something. Macbeth quickly came over to the gargoyle before he put his fist through the monitor and checked the screen; he tapped a few keys and checked the screen.
"This is the fourth time this thing has frozen on you, what have you been doing?"
"I don't know," said the red gargoyle, "I guess these things just don't like me."
"What are you doing anyway?"
"I'm trying to send an e-mail to Lex."
"Why?"
"I've been gone almost a week know. Goliath's already probably freaked about me. I just want to let them know I'm fine."
"You aren't going to tell them where you are, are you?"
"Give me some credit Macbeth. I ain't leaving until Demona's in a pine box."
"Then let me help you before you blow the damn thing up."
Macbeth quickly helped Brooklyn create a false e-mail account, and then told him how to e-mail before leaving the room to allow Brooklyn some privacy. After several minutes the Gargoyle exited the room he had been in and both then went to what had been dubbed the "War Room."
It was a fairly big room with a massive ebony table in the centre with several chairs around it. Malibu and Jezebel were seated at the table while Fang was standing at the head of the table, a very smug look on his face, Malibu seemed fairly happy for his friend while Jezebel appeared to be concealing a great deal of loathing behind a polite smile.
"So Fang, what is so important that you interrupt our preparations to finish Demona once and for all?"
"I found it," replied the cougar mutate proudly.
"Found what?"
"The second Codicium!" said Malibu happily, "I told you we needed him!"
Macbeth and Brooklyn stood where they were for a full minute absorbing the incredible news that they had just received before Brooklyn finally opened his mouth, still a little amazed and simply asked, "How?"
"I've got connections."
"With the most questionable people," cut in Jezebel, letting her loathing of the mutate flow.
"Well from what I understand Jezzy," shot back Fang, "You used to be quite questionable yourself."
Jezebel smiled politely and sat back in her chair, murder in her eyes.
"Don't ever call me "Jezzy" Fang, or I shall have to resort to removing your balls with my shotgun. Do you understand?"
Fang leaned over the table in the direction of the smiling old lady, smiling back with his large fangs.
"Loud and clear Jezzy."
Jezebel was about to remove her shotgun from her woollen coat to kill the rude and hairy son-of-a-bitch when Macbeth suddenly cut in.
"That's enough from both of you! Your acting like a pair of bloody children for God's sake!"
Both Jezebel and Fang looked over at their current employer innocently. Macbeth rolled his eyes in frustration before turning to Fang.
"Where?"
"It's owned by a Crime Lord named Lopez whose base of operations is in an Argentinean port called Bahia Blanca."
"Never heard of him."
"He's only regional, just about twenty or thirty under him, no problem for the four of us."
"Five of us," said Jezebel sharply.
"How'd he get his hands on it?" asked Malibu.
"Apparently he iced some old colleague professor in Montevideo in Uruguay who had supposedly returned from a trip into the Brazilian rainforests with a book he found at a strange underground temple," explained Fang, "This was about eleven months ago. Ever since then some people have been found dead with really strange markings carved into their bodies. Like the ones you showed me."
"He's obviously been trying to summon a daemon host," said Macbeth thoughtfully.
"But he can't succeed without the rod of control," joined in Jezebel.
"But he could always make another," said Brooklyn, not liking where this was going.
"That would take months, even years," replied Jezebel, "The rod is covered by sixty-six intricately carved daemonic runes in a precise pattern, they must all be utterly perfect for the rod to be of any use at all, the slightest mistake in it's construction simply makes it a fancy looking iron stick."
"In that case we should all go there and wipe him out before he figures out he has to build the rod before he can summon any daemons," said Malibu, rising from his seat.
"No. Only Jezebel and I shall go," said Macbeth.
"WHAT?"
"Jezebel is a witch while I am immortal and a sorcerer. Between the pair of us, he doesn't stand a chance."
"What if he cuts your head off?" asked Brooklyn.
Macbeth smiled at the young gargoyle.
"It didn't work for Madame Guillotine. It won't work for them."
Eight hours later
Jezebel finished loading up the all-terrain hum-vee while Macbeth gave instructions to Brooklyn, Malibu and Fang. Although the sun had risen, the trio were in their human forms. Jezebel smiled as she listened in.
"Are you sure the three of you can handle Demona?"
"Yes Macbeth," replied three voices in unison.
"Now Brooklyn, I shall be back in two weeks. If you think the three of you can handle her, then go ahead and try. But for God's sake be careful."
"What about the tome of lesser magic?" asked Malibu worriedly, "Don't you think you might need it to get the second Codicium?"
"Not to worry my friend," replied the immortal slyly, "I have more than one book of magic." He winked, "Besides, the three of you need to use it's powers to disguise yourselves if you are going after Demona and Goliath and his clan interferes."
"Okay," said the clone, certainty returning to his voice.
Macbeth and Jezebel gave them all a final wave goodbye before getting into the ex-military vehicle and driving down the gravel road of the estate.
"Don't worry!" yelled Brooklyn as the pair left, "She'll be in chains in the dungeon by the end of the week!"
The trio continued waving until the hum-vee was out of sight. Brooklyn then threw his arms around his two new partners and guided them inside the castle.
"Let's get to the "war room" boys," he said as he licked his lips.
"We have a demon to hunt,"
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. My next instalment "Release the Hounds," should hopefully be ready by the end of the week.
Until next time.
Darkness.