Day and Night

Fifteen

Anton looked at the man floating in the tube, smiling coldly. Tony Cheung had approached him with footage and information about his niece. What a fool. He wasn't interested in buying such data, and anyway he didn't want someone close to him being spied on. Instead he had drugged the man, and now intended to use him as a test subject.

Humming to himself Anton walked by other tubes, where other experiments were floating. He frowned as he noticed the new Gargoyle clone was developing a clubbed foot, and sighed. Gargoyle DNA was SO finicky! He hit a switch, releasing powerful acid into the tube and calmly watching the creature dissolve.

He shouldn't be surprised, really. Gargoyles had evolved along completely different lines than other terrestrial life forms, it was no wonder their DNA was difficult to work with. Yes, Anton had some success with cloning Goliath but looking back at it he wondered if it hadn't been first time lucky. His later attempts had all had problems of one type or another.

That was why he had decided to branch out into animal hybrids, really. You could reliably graft cat DNA into a human and get a furred, inhuman fighting machine. YES they tended to go mad, refuse to eat, starve and die, but that was all finicky details. The theory was sound. And using mindless, conditioned clones helped solve the 'go mad and die' problem too.

Anton walked by his other experiments. A armored, armadillo-like man floated in one tube. A bird winged man floated serently in another. And a subject was on the table as his automated systems attached a robotic arm and claws to it. All were progressing normally.

AS he walked he considered another issue. Money, sadly, was a problem. Science was a cruel mistress, and equipment cost money. He had nearly exhausted his funds from previous employments by Xanatos, Demona and Thailog, and he needed to acquire more funds. A bank robbery was a thought, but it was so MESSY. And honestly he wasn't sure if his experiments were up to it.

On the other hand, there was the offer from Anthony 'Tony' Dracon. The gangster had put out feelers about having his troops enhanced, either cybernetically or via biological enhancements. It was kind of... tacky to put his science to that kind of use, Anton thought, but bills were bills. He wouldn't allow them in his main lab, but he had a back up lab where he could work on them, maybe...

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Are you sure we should get into bed with someone like Sevarius?" Hyena asked skeptically as they moved through the tunnel beneath New York.

Jackal raised his eyebrow, "He is briliant."

"And if you look up Mad Scientist there;s a picture of him," Hyena said dryly.

Wolf, Coyote and Panther followed, all three looking rather thoughtful at the discussion. Wolf was a tall, blond haired man, one of those rugged types who could be anywhere from thirty to fifty and would always look the same. His blue eyes were amused looking, but also faintly cold.

Coyote was a younger man, in his twenties. He had a long rap sheet with the cops, known for being a safe cracker, white collar crook and confidence man. While not the most physically imposing, he had a tightly coiled energy about him. One expected him to be able to lunge at your throat at any moment.

Panther seemed to almost glide down the corridor, her long black hair swaying as she moved. She wasn't as muscular as Wolf, but she was damn strong and fast. She was also keeping a wary eye on Hyena, the two having not gotten off to the best start a few days ago. Oddly, Hyena seemed to have dropped their earlier animosity, though Panther wasn't sure she trusted her. The woman was clearly missing a few nuts and bolts.

"So, he's going to turn us into cyborgs like you two?" Panther had to ask. Grimly she added, "I'm not sure I signed up for that."

"There will be other options," Jackal said casually, "but if we're crossing swords with Gargoyles you're gonna have to up your game."

"Wouldn't mind some armor or something," Wolf noted thoughtfully. "No offence to you two, but we gotta blend in too."

"It's a thought," Hyena conceded as they neared a heavy, armored door.

Without warning the door opened, and the beaming Sevarius stepped out with wide open arms. "Welcome, welcome!" he beamed, "New lab rats!"

"I ain't no lab rat," Coyote said quickly.

"Yes, yes, come in please," Sevarius said as he waved them inside. "This is a secondary lab, but I have all the equipment needed to upgrade you all."

"Secondary?" Panther noted as she looked around.

"If you think I'd take you to my primary lab, you're even crazier than I am," Sevarius noted cheerfully. The lab had piles of cybernetic parts, the incubation tubes for genetic modifications and other, unidentifiable pieces of gear scattered around.

"Funky," Wolf conceded as he too considered the lab. "Is there any way we could get a upgrade that wasn't exactly... obvious?" he asked.

"It would be a interesting challenge," Sevarius acknowledged cheerfully.

Coyote and Panther exchanged wary looks as Sevarius circled Wolf eagerly as he considered what to do with him. It was going to be a long day...

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Demona smiled as she let the wind fill her wings, carrying her over the city. Not long ago she had made sure that Alicia had made it home, and now was out on her usual patrol of the city. It was still slightly strange, patrolling like this. Not all that long ago she had been willing to kill most of humanity to preserve the Gargoyles... how things could change.

Across the city she flew, perching, climbing up buildings, then leaping off again to catch up-drafts. Demona could cross much of the city quickly, but she liked to take her time, enjoying her flight. It was one of the few things she wished she could do in daylight, but Puck's spell didn't allow for that. Too bad.

As Demona alighted on a building she paused, then leaped as she heard a muffled cry. Stretching her wings out she swiftly reached the alley, then pulled her wings in to rapidly plunge towards the ground.

"Come on, grab your end," the one man ordered as he dragged a woman along the street.

"She kicks!" the other man complained as he tried to get her flailing legs.

"Oh would you," the first bruiser started right as something dropped on them with a stunning crash.

Demona rose, her eyes glowing dangerously as she ordered, "Let her go and give up. Now."

"Oh crap," one man pulled out a boxy device and hit the switch.

Demona recognized the taser and dodged sideways, the charged strings zipping by her. She didn't THINK it could hurt her, but no reason to take chances. She closed with him and ripped the device out of his hand, tossing it aside.

The other man abandoned his victim, turning and running towards his car. Demona slammed the first man against a wall, stunning him, then gave chase to the other. He ran fast but Demona was much faster, closing with him in a second or two, then grabbing him as she skidded to a halt.

"No!" he yelped, ripping free of his coat and dropping needles and other gear on the ground.

Demona side-stepped the junk and clouted him before he could escape, knocking him out with a single blow. She dragged him back to the other unconscious man, where the victim was looking on, stunned. "Are you all right?" Demona asked curiously, feeling a bit guilty she hadn't checked on the girl earlier.

"Oh wow," she breathed out, the black haired girl looking stunned.

Demona decided that probably meant she was fine. "Do you know why they tried to kidnap you?" she wondered as she trussed the men up in zip ties they had in their pockets.

"No, I was just walking down the street," the girl shook her head.

"Huh," Demona muttered thoughtfully. She found a phone on one of the men, phoned the police and told them where they were, then hung up. "Here," she tossed the phone to the girl, then nonchallently began to scale the wall.

"Oh, thank you!" the girl called as Demona climbed away.

Demona listened with some amusement as the girl began to curse and kick at her attackers, but decided not to stop her. It wasn't any of her business anyway. Reaching the roof Demona noted it was about a hour or so to dawn, and decided to head back home.

Later during the day, Nightstone enterprises was bustling as usual. Dominique Destine had already concluded a deal to purchase the rights to a company producing a improved tablet screen. She could leverage that to Cyberbiotics, providing a profit to both their companies.

Even better, Dominique and Alicia had managed to sneak off and have lunch together. There was something innocent about how much Alicia enjoyed her food, eating happily and with no self awareness. And she enjoyed talking to Alicia, even if she did fangirl over Demona a bit too much.

Returning to the office, however, meant bad news. "Could you repeat that?" Dominique asked after a moment.

"Lennox Macduff, ma'am," Alicia answered cautiously, "he's got no appointment, should I send him away?"

For a moment Dominique was amused by the mental image of her assistant sending the impressive Macbeth away, but decided it was a bad idea. "Send him in," she ordered instead.

Macbeth was dressed in a stylish suit and tie, and would by most be considered a handsome older gentleman. HOW old was what would trip most people up, Dominique knew. Still, he was smiling as he strode in, and was as relaxed as he ever got.

"Dominique, good to see you," Macbeth offered his hand.

"You too," Dominique agreed as she shook it, waiting for the door to shut. She pressed a concealed switch, locking the door and activating soundproofing, just in case. "What can I do for you, Macbeth?" she frowned.

Macbeth looked amused as he answered, "I'm bringing you bad news, of course. That always brightens my day."

Dominique had to fight back a smile. "What news?" she asked instead.

"Our old friends the Hunters have gotten free," Macbeth told her. "The two Canmores who had been arrested are freed, and it appears Jason is still skulking around too."

"Oh you have GOT to be kidding me," Dominique groaned. "How did they manage that?" she demanded.

"Robyn made a deal with the federal government, thought I don't know all the details," Macbeth admitted. "She got a clean slate and medical treatment for Jason."

"And the third brother, Jon?" Dominique asked.

"Underground. I'm gotten hints he plans to continue the Hunter's legacy, but exactly how I don't know," Macbeth told her. "Keep your guard up."

"Sevarius and the Hunters," Dominique sighed, "what else can go wrong?"

"You did hear about the Pack reforming, right?" Macbeth teased making her groan.

To be continued...

Notes: Yeah, kinda retconing something from the cartoon. Why didn't Sevarius make more Gargoyle clones? He HAD the DNA and such. So I'm assuming there were glitches in doing it more often.