All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.
Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one week after "Other Adventures".
Return of the Imitators
By SN/TVfan
Email: Sam_Nary
London Street
Arthur cautiously followed his latest suspect. Like most of the cases he had received, it was to deal with a suspected cheating spouse. Arthur still thought these cases were not fitting for a man of honor, but he had managed to accept that it was a job he needed to do. This case, so far, was stranger than the other cases that had involved adulterous acts. One was that the client who had hired him seemed to be overly nervous about almost anything and two, her husband didn't seem to be very different. Every few seconds the man would turn and Arthur was forced to duck or pick up his pace to appear like he was merely walking in the same direction. At the same time the places he stopped at seemed to be rather innocent. Various shops along small streets throughout London.
The man turned his head to look back and Arthur just barely managed to slip into an alley without being seen by anyone to avoid detection. He later peaked out to see where his suspect had gone, and found that he had gone into a small bakery to take care of some errand.
"This has to be the strangest 'simple' case I've had," Arthur quietly grumbled to himself.
Above him Griff and Octavia landed on the roof of the building Arthur was standing near. Both gargoyles looked down to observe Arthur's observing of his suspect. Their patrol had been rather quiet and they were now taking a brief break.
"Dealing with another cheating husband I see," Griff commented as he saw what Arthur was doing.
"I still find it disturbing that there are some humans who are so unfaithful to their mates," Octavia answered.
Griff placed a hand on the Roman gargoyle's shoulder, "I know, and Arthur feels the same way. He actually isn't too fond of the job itself as well."
Octavia nodded, "Yes, he's upset about 'spying' on people."
Griff was about to say something when a powerful electric blast came from nowhere and knocked the griffon-like gargoyle out. Octavia turned to watch Griff slump into her arms, but couldn't do anything to deal with whoever attacked the male as another electric blast came from behind her and knocked the female Roman gargoyle out. On the ground the sound of flying electricity made Arthur pause.
"Has a wire gone out somewhere?" Arthur wondered to himself as he took his attention off of his suspect and turned toward where he had heard the noise.
Arthur didn't get a chance to find out what had made the noise. Just as he had turned around, a fist came flying at his face and knocked the 'once and future' king out.
Octavia woke up very slowly hours later. She saw that Griff was also beginning to wake up again as well.
"Ungh, what hit me?" Octavia commented as she pulled herself to her feet.
"Felt like electricity," Griff answered, "But I don't know exactly."
"Why did they just leave us here?" Octavia wondered, "Whoever attacked us must have had a reason."
That made Griff pause. They had clearly been attacked by someone, but both of them had not been taken prisoner or killed. They had been left alone and unconscious on the rooftop. He glanced toward the east and saw that the sun was close to rising.
"I don't know," Griff answered, "but right now, we should return to the mansion. Perhaps the others might have some ideas."
Octavia nodded and prepared to leave with Griff when something caught her eye. It was a sheet of paper, held down by a brick. She slowly approached it and picked up the piece of paper. Her eyes widened when she saw what was written on it.
"What is it?" Griff asked.
Octavia only handed him the note. Griff was even more shocked by the words that were written.
"We need to get back to the mansion now," Griff said urgently, "Apparently we weren't the intended target!"
Warehouse
Arthur was very groggy as he managed to slowly open his eyes. They had not opened far when he heard a voice speak to him.
"Ah, you're awake," Lucius's voice commented to him, "Good."
"Lucius?" Arthur demanded, "What do you want now?"
"You remember me?" Lucius questioned.
"I can recognize your voice," Arthur answered as if talking to someone of no intelligence, "It's a bit rougher then the last time I saw you, but I can still tell it's you."
"That's quite the memory you have if you can remember what my voice sounds like," Lucius commented humorously, "but I doubt you would recognize my appearance."
Arthur silently guessed that Lucius was referring to his mutation and knew that the 'man' was going to try and frighten him into being docile. He thanked Goliath's clan for their telephone call that reported their recent fights with Lucius and his followers. He finally managed to open his eyes all the way when he saw a mutate that resembled and African Wild Dog standing before him, looking triumphant. Arthur maintained his cool, knowing that shock had to be one of Lucius's weapons.
"So that's what you've been mutated into," Arthur commented, "Not exactly Roman, you know."
Lucius gasped. He hadn't expected Arthur to react so calmly to the fact that he had been mutated. He had hoped that his appearance would frighten the 'once and future' king. Instead Arthur had reacted calmly, almost as if he already knew.
"How did you...?" Lucius began.
"I heard from some friends that you had caused some trouble in New York," Arthur answered, "still defeated, I see."
Lucius growled. He didn't know or think that Goliath's clan had any relations with Arthur other then the brief period during the Second Unseelie War. It turns out that that was a poor assumption.
"I am not defeated," Lucius growled.
"You lost three of your followers," Arthur answered, "And you didn't have many to begin with."
"I've still captured you, and left your gargoyle friends unconscious," Lucius gloated.
"What?" Arthur demanded.
"Oh, don't worry," Lucius chuckled, "They'll be fine, for now. Right now they should be reporting to their clan that you've been kidnapped. Then, they'll get very emotionally involved in rescuing you and will not be able to adequately perform the rescue operation."
"You underestimate them," Arthur warned, "You'll only fail again."
"No I won't," Lucius growled back, "This time I will succeed."
"You haven't succeeded before," Arthur pointed out.
"Only because my followers weren't fully trained and usually outnumbered," Lucius growled back, grabbing Arthur by the shirt, "but now they are ready, and your 'friends' will be defeated in their rescue attempt. Then nothing will stand in my way of establishing the Terran Empire."
"And how do you intend to rule the world when you're dog-man with wings?" Arthur questioned, "And with such a small following. You'd be slaughtered by squad of well armed infantryman in the armies of today."
"I will find a way," Lucius answered, "But I will deal with that once I've removed you from this life."
Arthur sat silently while Lucius continued to gloat about his victory. Neither noticed that a small robotic device flew out of a nearby window and off into the soon to be brightening sky.
Mansion
Macbeth sighed heavily as he read the words that were written on the sheet of paper that Griff and Octavia handed him. The note read, 'We have Pendragon in a warehouse on the west side'.
"We've got to rescue him," Lancelot urged.
"That I'd presume would be a given," Macbeth answered, "The real question to ask is who is 'we'? I'd like to know who we will be fighting."
"It has to be the Illuminati," Guinevere commented, "They've been causing us the most trouble lately."
"Whoever attacked us used electricity," Octavia pointed out, "I very much doubt it was the Illuminati."
Griff nodded in agreement, "I think it was a mutate actually."
"A mutate?" Leo asked, "They only live in Manhattan."
"Some could have moved here," Griff pointed out, "Remember that Goliath's clan called here a while back and told us about their encounters with Lucius. He's been mutated."
"But from what you all told us, Lucius was never that competent a leader or skilled a warrior," Gawain argued.
"Anyone can be dangerous when you have surprise on your side," Octavia answered with Julia nodding in agreement.
"But we haven't heard from Lucius in a while," Chloe commented, "And subtle ambushes were never his thing. I agree with Guinevere, this has to be the work of the Illuminati."
"How do you explain the electricity then?" Griff asked.
"Macbeth has his electric blasters," Chloe commented, "surely the Illuminati has similar weapons."
"They probably do," Macbeth sighed, "but my blasters can not fire a charge strong enough to knock out a full grown gargoyle in one shot. Your species's endurance in any fight is very commendable. They could knock out a human, but not a gargoyle. Not in one shot anyway."
"Why is that?" Lancelot asked, "Those blasts still hurt when the Archmage had you and Demona attack Avalon."
"Electric blasters can only fire so much current safely," Macbeth answered, "Any more then that, and the gun itself will explode. That's why I think that Griff and Octavia's suggestion that it is a mutate that committed the act. They would have the ability to use more electric power then my blasters could with risk to themselves."
"It could have been a sorcerer as well," Una spoke up, "Magic, when properly used, can be almost as powerful as anything the modern world has produced. But I don't think there is anyone with that kind of skill after us right now. The Unseelies are hiding, Demona has no particular interest in London, and from what Wedrington told us, is reforming, and Merlin is our ally. The theory that it was a mutate is the most likely."
"This still doesn't answer the question as to where Arthur is," Gawain pointed out, "Does the note say anything specific about where they have him?"
"No," Macbeth answered, "Only that they're in the western part of London."
"We must search then," Lancelot stated.
"No," Griff answered, "It's too close to dawn now, and London is a big city. Even if we divided it up, it would take a while to search each sector. Besides we have something, or someone, that could get us Arthur's location much easier, regardless of what is on that note."
"What is that?" Lancelot asked.
"Griff is referring to me in his own way," Una spoke up, "We can find Arthur with a simple tracking spell. It will take me a little while to get everything ready tomorrow evening, but it will be able to lead us directly to Arthur."
The others quickly voiced their agreement to the plan, but couldn't say more as the sun rose and all the gargoyles went to sleep for the day. Macbeth meanwhile set about preparing for his day of teaching and what was sure to be a very hectic night to come.
Elsewhere
Agent Anglo watched the small video screen that Jeremy Irons had placed before him. His face showed looks of both interest and shock.
"Has one or both of the Sevariuses come to London?" Anglo asked.
"According to all our sources, Alex Sevarius, the clone, is employed by Maddox Technologies," Jeremy answered, "And Anton has apparently disappeared. It could be possible that he is hear, but that doesn't seem likely."
"Arthur is talking to a mutate, Irons," Anglo said firmly, "Who created the mutate formula?"
"Anton Sevarius, under the direction of David Xanatos," Jeremy answered.
"Is Anton Sevarius in London?" Anglo asked.
"I can not be sure," Jeremy answered, "It is possible."
"We will need to keep our eyes peeled for any further activity that would indicate that the scientist is here," Anglo answered.
"I am again going to voice my opinion that Sevarius is not likely to be here," Jeremy answered, "He has seemed to be more interested in the Manhattan Clan then anything else."
"Yes," Anglo nodded, "But that doesn't rule out that he's come here."
"I find it interesting though that this mutate seems to have the same beef with Pendragon that we do," Jeremy commented, "Perhaps we should just let his plot go and see what happens."
Anglo paused to think for a moment and looked down at the screen again. After a few moments later, he looked up again at Jeremy with an idea in his head.
"That could be an option," Anglo commented, "Or we could make direct contact with this 'Lucius'. Perhaps we could get him and his followers to leave Sevarius and join us."
"Join us, sir?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes," Anglo nodded, "We've lost that idiotic werewolf, so we need some agent that can risk a direct one on one battle with a gargoyle, and I doubt the Council is going to go to Xanatos Enterprises to have him build something to capture gargoyles. Not now, anyway."
"He's wanting to rule the world, sir," Jeremy answered, "I doubt that he would be easy to control."
"We have the devices to insure that they are controllable," Anglo answered, "And that will only be speculation for the moment. I will have to contact the Council before anything can be finalized. For now, keep observing the situation."
"Yes, sir," Jeremy answered.
Warehouse
Arthur worked to try and work his hands out of the ropes that Lucius's mutates had tied him in. After Lucius had gotten tired of arguing with him, he had moved off to a different part of the warehouse, leaving two mutates guarding him. He had hoped that they would give him the lack of attention necessary to escape from his confinement, but Lucius had trained them to be good guards and they paid very good attention. He decided to see if he could try to get Lucius's followers to go against one another. The distraction might allow him to escape.
"May I ask a question?" Arthur asked.
The first shrugged, which gave Arthur the go ahead.
"Why do you serve Lucius?" Arthur asked.
"What?" the mutate asked back.
"Why do you serve Lucius?" Arthur asked again.
The first mutate looked at the second and then commented, "You have to be the strangest prisoner ever. You don't ask those questions of your captors."
"I'm only curious," Arthur answered.
The first mutate shrugged and then said, "Well, it beats being homeless."
"There are other options besides serving a man wanting to conquer the world," Arthur pointed out.
"True, but one can not glide or shot lightning bolts in those other options," the second mutate spoke up, "Wouldn't you want to be able to fly and shoot lightning bolts."
"I wouldn't want to give up my humanity to gain that ability," Arthur replied.
The two mutates only shrugged.
"You don't mean to be saying that you enjoy serving Lucius?" Arthur asked.
"It's better then being homeless," the first mutate answered, "and we can do things that we couldn't do before."
Arthur sighed, "But why do you serve Lucius? He hasn't won a battle he's ever engaged."
"He's better then anyone else who is available to us," the first commented.
"I don't know," the second said and he brought his had up to his chin, "We took some pretty bad beatings from the Manhattan gargoyles. Maybe we ought to find someone besides Lucius."
"So who is going to replace him?" the first asked, "I certainly don't want to be the leader."
"I don't want to be the leader either," the second replied, "Maybe one of the others would be…"
"WOULD YOU SHUT UP!?" Lucius roared as he stormed up, "Can't you see what he's doing? He's trying to turn you against me!"
"And I nearly succeeded," Arthur commented.
Lucius hit Arthur with a weak electric blast.
"Don't do that again," Lucius growled, "You've lost and I hold you prisoner. You will be silent. If you make one more noise, I will allow them to give you more shockings."
Lucius then turned to the other two mutates, "He is not allowed to speak. If he so much as makes a noise he is to be given an electric shock."
Mansion
Most of the clan gathered on the roof of the mansion shortly after dusk to find Macbeth waiting on his sky-cycle.
"We're ready," Lancelot announced.
"Very good," Macbeth answered, "We must still wait for Una to arrive with the ingredients for her spell."
They had to wait a few minutes for Una to arrive with a few small paper bags and what appeared to be one of Arthur's sweaters. She set quickly to work while the others watched silently. After a few moments, Una began chanting in Latin, and once she had finished there was a brilliant flash of light. Once the light had faded, a small orb, no bigger in size then a golf ball hovered right above Arthur's sweater.
"This orb will lead us directly to Arthur," Una explained, "I've also altered the spell so that it will wait until Macbeth is ready and so that it will not leave those of us without an engine behind."
"Good job," the group gave their combined praise for Una's work and then moved to a position where they would be ready to go.
The orb slowly took off once Macbeth started his sky-cycle, and the group began to follow it through the air.
"Anything happen during the day?" Griff asked as they went.
"Merlin called," Macbeth answered, "He and Rachel are of investigate something in either Montana or Canada."
"Has he found anything more about 'Britain's Greatest Hour of Need'?" Julia asked.
"If he has, he didn't say it to me," Macbeth answered.
"I just hope we can get to Arthur in time," Guinevere commented.
"I'm sure he's fine at the moment," Octavia answered the Avalon female, "They wouldn't leave us a note saying that they have him if they only wanted to kill him."
"Which means we must all be careful," Macbeth instructed, "They are waiting for us to charge in without a plan in an attempt to rescue Arthur."
"Do you have a plan Mr. Macbeth?" Lancelot asked.
"Not as yet," Macbeth answered, "We need to see specifically where they're holding him, first."
It took roughly half an hour for the group to arrive on the roof of a building opposite a warehouse. The orb continued on and hovered just over the top of the warehouse and then flew down through the roof.
"You were right about it being mutates that committed this act," Julia exclaimed, "Look!"
The group looked forward to see two mutates standing guard on the roof of the warehouse. Thankfully, both appeared to be looking in the opposite direction at the moment, allowing the rescue party to move to a position where they would be out of sight.
"I thought they'd have more guards," Griff commented quietly.
"I assumed so as well, the rest are likely to be inside the warehouse," Macbeth replied and turned to Una, "Do you have any spell that could deal with those two on the roof in a quiet manner so that we can get in?"
"I do, but I will need to get closer," Una answered and peered around the corner.
The two mutates were not looking in the same direction as before, but the still were not looking in the rescue party's direction. Una took the opportunity to make a quick dive and glide across the space between the warehouse and the building that the others were on. Quickly, she pulled out a small charm that she used as a conduit to cast her spells and prepared to cast a spell on the two guards before they could turn around and warn the rest of their group. They turned just as she began speaking.
"Dormite, hostes mei ubi statis!" Una spoke clearly as the two mutates gave a gasp of shock at seeing a gargoyle on the same roof as them.
The two mutates quickly fell unconscious while Una turned and gestured for the others to move to the warehouse roof.
"How long will they be out?" Chloe asked as the rest of the group arrived.
"A few hours," Una answered, "we should have plenty of time."
Macbeth meanwhile looked down through one of the windows to scan the warehouse's interior. Inside he saw seven scattered mutates performing various basic tasks. Two were guarding Arthur, and one seemed to be doing nothing.
"Griff and I will deal with rescuing Arthur and dealing with the 'leader', which I'm guessing is the one that looks like an African Wild Dog," Macbeth announced, "the rest of you are to spread out so that they can not converge on any one group."
The others nodded and moved toward a position where they could jump through one of the windows. Griff grabbed hold of Macbeth.
"I doubt you can glide or fly without that cycle of yours," Griff commented.
Macbeth only nodded. Once ready the group dove through the windows, sending glass shards flying everywhere. Griff dove directly toward the two mutates that were directly guarding Arthur while Macbeth fired blasts from his electric blasters. His shots took both mutates to their knees while Griff landed a strong punch on one as soon as he landed. The other attempted to fire an electric blast back at his attackers when Macbeth hit him with another blast from his own blasters. That blast sent the mutate flying into a pile of boxes. Griff and Macbeth were about to turn to Arthur when a powerful electric blast hit them in the back, knocking them to the ground.
"NO!" Lucius roared, "You will not deny me my triumph!"
Chloe and Gawain barreled into a mutate working near some large crates and knocked him into it, shattering several of the crates. The mutate fired off an electric blast that knocked Gawain back a few steps as soon as it recovered. It tried to fire a second blast at Chloe, but wasn't fast enough to be kneed in the gut and clubbed over the head with both fists. That, successfully knocked the mutate out.
"You okay?" Chloe asked, turning to Gawain.
Gawain nodded, "He didn't hit me that hard."
"Come on," Chloe urged, "Let's go help Macbeth and Griff."
Una and Leo dove after two that looked as if they were trying to fashion old support bars into makeshift spears to throw at opponents. They threw electric blasts at the two gargoyles, but both were easily able to dodge the mutates's attacks. Leo managed to land a punch on as he came in for a landing, knocking the mutate off his feet. The other charged him in an attempt to drive Leo off, but Una landed on his back and quickly cast her sleeping spell once more. Both mutates were quickly out cold.
Julia and Octavia's opponent didn't put up much of a fight to the two Roman gargoyles. Both had the element of surprise to knock him to the ground before he had a chance to do anything, and even after hitting Octavia with an electric blast, it was not enough to stop Julia from knocking him out with one punch.
The mutate that Lancelot and Guinevere went after reacted much quicker then the others. He stood his ground and hit Guinevere with an electric blast, knocking the white female back. Lancelot pressed on to try and get close to the mutate. It dodged Lancelot's attack and fired an electric blast that sent him flying into the wall. This, however, distracted the mutate from Guinevere who had recovered from the earlier attack. Guinevere, seeing that the mutate was distracted lunged forward and raked her talons across the mutate's back. It screamed with pain and dropped the ground. Guinevere then clubbed the mutate upside the head with both fists.
"Good job," Lancelot congratulated the female.
Guinevere gave a triumphant smile, "Thanks, let's go help the others."
Lucius fired to rapid electric blasts at Macbeth and Griff as they realized who had attacked them. Both blasts were off target, and narrowly missed hitting Arthur behind Macbeth and Griff.
"You will not deprive me of my victory!" Lucius roared again.
"Your aim is as desperate as your tone," Macbeth answered back, hitting him with a shot from his electric blasters.
The shot knocked the mutate leader to ground, but didn't knock him out. Griff then lunged forward and grabbed Lucius by the collar and threw him into a nearby wall. Lucius hit the wall hard and once he finally landed on the ground, he was out cold.
"Apparently mutation has not improved his skills any," Griff commented with a chuckle as the rest of the rescue party began to arrive.
"Thank you," Arthur said plainly as Macbeth undid the ropes that held him down with a knife.
The others nodded. Chloe turned her head to the unconscious mutates that lay throughout the warehouse, including Lucius.
"Did you have your sword with you when they kidnapped you?" Chloe asked.
"Thankfully no," Arthur commented, "Excalibur wasn't needed to follow a suspect, and given the changes that occurred in the world, I felt it would be safer in this instance to leave the sword at the mansion."
"Which is a good," Julia commented, "What should be done with the mutates?"
Arthur looked at Macbeth, who only sighed.
"I don't think we can do anything," Arthur slowly sighed, "While we have plenty of rooms in the mansion that we could use as containment cells, we do not have equipment that could prevent them from escaping, and with Merlin gone, any attempt to use magic would overtax Una."
"Could you find a spell that could restrain them?" Leo asked his mate.
"Only for a short time, and I would be exhausted after performing the spell for the first mutate," Una answered, "I hate to admit it, but I'm afraid that we will have to let them be for now."
Lancelot and Gawain looked ready to protest, but Julia interjected before either could speak.
"At least we know they are here now," Julia commented, "They will not be able to pull this stunt off again."
"We'll just have to leave it at that then," Arthur sighed.
The others nodded as the group then prepared to depart.
The Next Day
Arthur sat quietly in an easy chair, trying to relax after dealing with Lucius's return to London. He knew he still had work for his client to do, but he assumed that one day off wouldn't hurt. Especially since many of these cases took several days to truly solve unless he got lucky. Rest and relaxation were the best thing for him at the moment, so he was taking the day off. The ringing of the doorbell prevented him from getting truly comfortable, however, and he was soon slowly walking to answer the door. He found that it was the client who had hired him a few days before.
"Mr. Dragon?" the woman asked nervously for a moment, fingering her purse, "May I come in?"
Arthur slowly nodded and stepped aside, allowing her to enter.
"Oh, Mr. Dragon, I'm afraid there's been a tremendous mistake made," the woman then said very quickly and in a nervous manner.
"Mistake?" Arthur asked, knowing he didn't make a mistake, "I followed the man on the picture you gave me."
"Oh no," the woman said quickly, "The mistake was not on your part, it was on mine."
"On yours?" Arthur asked, now becoming curious.
"Yes, you see, it was my birthday last night, and he threw a big party for me," the woman began to explain, "But I didn't know about it, he'd kept it secret, to surprise me, you see, and when I got nervous about him cavorting with other women, it turns out he was only preparing for the party."
"So that's why every place he stopped at seemed to be a basic shop," Arthur thought to himself before speaking, "Well, anyone would be nervous when people keep secrets."
"Maybe, but I should have trusted him more," the woman responded, "and I'm afraid I've wasted your time."
Before Arthur could speak she pulled out some money from her purse and handed it to him.
"There, that should take care of everything," the woman finished, "I'm sorry for wasting your time."
The woman then left in quite the hurry. Arthur was meanwhile left standing near the entryway, holding the money he had been given with a rather confused look on his face as the door shut. After a few moments he shook his head and began to walk back toward the room he was in earlier.
"This has been the strangest case I've ever had," Arthur mumbled to himself.
Elsewhere
"The mutates and their leader have left the warehouse they were using recently," Jeremy Irons reported, "I had a crew investigate the warehouse, and there was no sign that Sevarius was there at anytime."
Anglo nodded, "I take it the London gargoyles were able to rescue their captive leader?"
"Yes they were, sir," Jeremy answered.
"They will need proper training if we are to provide them with enough aide so that we can be rid of Pendragon," Anglo commented.
"Sir?" Jeremy asked.
"I've spoken with the Council," Anglo answered, "They will accept anyone who is willing t fight Pendragon at this time. This 'Lucius' could prove useful."
"Yes, sir," Jeremy answered.
The End