Day and Night
Chapter 28
Tony Dacon was (quietly) waging a gang war against the supposed Mace Malone.
Of course, neither of them were openly moving against each other. Both knew that would instantly bring the cops down on them, as well as the Gargoyles. So they covertly fenced against each other, absorbing smaller gangs and striking indirectly.
"So he really IS Mace?" Tony Dacon asked.
"Best we can tell, yeah," Luna said, one of the silver haired triplets reporting in. "Have you heard of the Illuminati?"
Tony blinked, "That's a fairy tale."
Phoebe shook her head, "While they're not the organization in the tall tales, they do exist."
"And they're dangerous," Selena added.
"So Mace is connected to them?" Tony still sounded dubious. "And why go after me?"
"I'm not sure they're going after you specifically," Luna observed.
"Huh?" Tony asked.
"I think they want control of the New York underworld for whatever reason," Luna pointed out, "and they need to go through you to get it."
"Oh joy, I'm collateral damage," Tony noted.
"Basically," Selena agreed.
"And how do you know about them?" Tony had to ask his mysterious advisors.
"We're thousand year old witches," Phoebe deadpanned.
"Yeah, right," Tony sighed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"You can't just TELL him that," Luna scolded.
Defensively Phoebe said, "He's a mortal. They don't believe this stuff anyway."
"Still!" Luna sighed.
"We may be exiled, but Oberon's law is firm. We must not reveal ourselves," Selena reminded her with a sigh.
The three were, in fact, the three Witches from the play Macbeth, and were children of Oberon. However, some of their actions had displeased Oberon, and they had been exiled for a human lifetime. Not hugely long, but annoying none the less.
"I still want to beat Puck up for suggesting this job," Selena added.
"Oh, I don't know. It has been interesting," Luna mused.
"Just don't get carried away and offer Tony magic or bargains," Phoebe reminded her sisters. "That never ends well."
"Macbeth is STILL out to kill us," Selena added with a sigh.
"AND Demona," Luna added.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Dominique Destine sneezed suddenly.
"Hmm?" Alicia looked up from taking notes. "Catching a cold?" she asked her boss.
"I hope not," Dominique smiled faintly, "winter is the worst season for those."
"Oh I don't know, snuggling on a couch with someone as you get well is nice," Alicia noted.
Dominique blushed just slightly.
Alicia hadn't brought up the kiss a few days ago, nor had Dominique. For a brave, forthright person, her boss could be chicken about personal things.
'Not that I've brought it up either,' Alicia mused even as she efficiently took down information on a tablet.
"We've gotten inquires about weapon imports," Alicia noted. "I didn't even think we did weapons," she added.
Dominique made a face, "I'm not happy about it. We bought a research company, that owned a side company, that in turn owned a advanced weapons developer."
'And we can't just get rid of it?" Alicia had to ask.
"To whom?" Dominique asked. "I don't want to sell it to someone who'll use it for corrupt purposes." She added, "We're in talks with David and Halcyon, obviously."
"Ah," Alicia nodded.
"And while I'm not overly attached," Dominique added, "I'm trying to make a deal that will save the employee's jobs too. I don't want everyone fired and the company gutted."
"I knew you had a heart, ma'am," Alicia teased gently.
"Don't tell our competitors," Dominique noted wryly. Getting back to Alicia's original question she asked, "Do we know who wants to buy them?"
"They're running through several shell companies," Alicia noted, "at least that's what our investigators note. They think they're organized crime."
Dominique tapped her desk thoughtfully as she mused aloud, "Maybe the ones Cyberbiotics cut off, recently?"
"If so it's not a good thing," Alicia added. "If they want more advanced weapons, the conflict they're dealing with is getting worse."
"And might spill over on anyone nearby," Dominique agreed. She nodded, "Call Eliaa Maza for me, we'll pass that on to her."
"Will do," Alicia agreed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The lab door was ripped off, then the figures strode inside.
"Damn it! Gone!" Talon cried angrily, the tall, winged humanoid punching a wall.
"Easy," Maggie patted his arm, the catlike woman by his side loyally.
Claw looked around warily. They had found booby traps in Sevarius old labs before.
"Sorry," Talon sighed.
Griffin, a recent discovery of the Mutates, followed them in, the tall winged woman ripling with muscle. "We always seem weeks behind the bastard," she growled.
"It's not like we have the cops helping us," Maggie pointed out.
The Mutates had been transformed by Anton Sevarius, as part of a plot by David Xanatos. Xanatos had wanted a force he could pit against the Gargoyles, and had framed Goliath as being the one behind it. The deception held for awhile, but eventually the Mutates learned the truth.
"I still want to rip Xanatos' lying head off," Griffin added.
"If I thought we had a chance in hell of getting to him and living," Talon shrugged. "With his battle armor and such? No."
Claw nodded, the huge mute following the conversation.
"I can't believe the Gargoyles moved back in with Xanatos," Maggie sighed.
"I kinda get it," Talon admitted. The others looked at him so he added, "If you could go back to your family home, even if the landlord was a dick, wouldn't you?"
"Huh," Griffin frowned.
They finished searching the lab, then moved to go. "And WHY does he still use paper files?" Talon wondered aloud.
Claw just shrugged eloquently.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Anton Sevarius chuckled as he watched the video feed from his old lab.
"There are paper records," Anton mused aloud, "because you need clues to follow, hmm?"
Anton found it quite entertaining, watching the Mutates try to find him. To keep the game going, he 'seeded' each lab with enough info to lead to the next. Of course HE was usually at least two steps ahead of them.
"One of these days someone is going to find you and kill you," Thailog noted, the Gargoyle clone communicating over a video link.
"What's life without risk?" Anton shrugged casually.
Thailog grunted. "Gargoyle clones," he said, "Have you made any progress?"
Anton scowled. "Not so far," he said, even though he hated admitting he was having trouble.
"Contact me when you've succeeded," Thailog said and severed the link.
"Cranky cranky," Anton sighed. He suspected Thailog wanted a 'clan' of his own, but obviously couldn't get one naturally. So, cloning.
"Subject 23?" Anton called.
The former PI, now a lobotomized soldier, walked up and waited orders.
"I really need to add a conversational subroutine," Anton muttered to himself.
To be continued...
Notes: More Mace vs Tony bits. And yes those ARE the Weird Sisters from various story arcs. And Mace thinks DEMONA might sell him weapons? Ha.
I haven't touched on the Mutates, so there you go. It's interesting that even though Xanatos has 'reformed' they probably still hate his guts.