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. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. 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. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Hostile Negotiations".
The Sorcerer's Game
By SN/TVfan
Email: Sam_Nary
Macbeth's Mansion
"He didn't believe us," Arthur sighed as he looked down at his feet, completely perplexed.
"Yes," Merlin sighed, "Apparently he believes that we are his true enemies, either that or he thinks that we are incapable of telling the truth."
"But I've never heard you tell a lie," Arthur countered.
"That doesn't change one's perception of the truth," Merlin replied, "Those that do evil usually perceive their actions as good or just. But, that is not the point of our current situation."
Arthur nodded, "I suppose we'll have to find some other way of defeating Khan then."
"More like we'll have to defend ourselves against the Illuminati," Macbeth commented, "Six showed up fully ready to fight us. I think the only reason he didn't do so is because when you told him Khan's plans, he believes you told him your plans, and therefore, fighting at that time wasn't necessary."
"I'm inclined to agree," Merlin sighed, "Una and Leo did report that someone had gone through their business records while we were talking on the roof. Six had to have sent spies to get more information."
"We can't defeat all the Illuminati, can we?" Arthur questioned.
"No," Merlin, "Not if they decided to destroy us completely," Merlin answered, "You and Macbeth are brave and skilled warriors, but neither of you are invincible. The Illuminati do have skilled warriors of their own, and given the size of their organization, there is little that they can truly fear."
There was a short silence before Merlin continued.
"I am powerful in magic, and the gargoyles and Rachel posses great natural sense," Merlin continued, "And some Illuminati soldiers may be wary of Rachel for obvious reasons, but my magic can be countered. The gargoyles are helpless during the day, and Rachel is vulnerable to silver, including silver alloys. Most silver bullets that were actually used by werewolf hunters were only 25 to 50% silver. The rest was a lighter and more durable material that would allow the bullet to fly better."
There was a short silence again for a moment as Arthur and Macbeth didn't know what to say at the moment.
"Thankfully, the Illuminati prefer to keep their operation secret," Merlin answered, "If they believe us to be trying to reveal them, they will make sure that nothing they do to attack us gives us proof."
"Which means they won't go all out," Macbeth commented, "At least not in a setting where they are more likely to win."
"That might be our only advantage," Arthur commented, "At least until we can persuade them that it is Khan who is the enemy. Not us."
"We can try," Merlin nodded, "But I didn't have a tape recorder with me when Khan told me his plans, so we have no hard proof."
"Perhaps we could ask the Manhattan gargoyle who apparently so computer literate," Arthur suggested, "Lexington, I believe his name is. Perhaps he could hack into Khan's databases and find the information that way."
"For right now, I'd assume Khan is using the Illuminati's computer system," Merlin answered, "As smart as that webwing is, I doubt he would have enough access to get that far into the Illuminati network. In terms of dealing with Khan, right now, my best suggestion, Arthur is that we continue to monitor the situation and wait. I'll try to see if I can find out how involved the present Royal family is involved with the Illuminati and how much the past Royal families have been involved with the Illuminati."
"That's all you think we can do for now?" Arthur asked.
"I'm afraid so," Merlin sighed.
Elsewhere
"You didn't make an effort to capture or kill Merlin?" One asked over a video-conference system.
"He and Pendragon revealed their plans to me," Six answered, "As I have already told you."
Six watched as One paced on the screen. After a few moments the leader of the Council turned to face Six again.
"You're sure that Merlin has no real proof of our existence?" One questioned.
"All our investigations teams found were business records," Six answered, "None of which with members of the Illuminati."
"We must not assume that he doesn't have proof elsewhere," One reminded the lower ranking Council member, "Merlin must be eliminated as soon as possible. Pendragon and his other allies will be easy pickings without the wizard."
"Of course," Six agreed, "I will begin work on ridding us of our magician problem."
"Good," One said firmly and their link terminated.
Six then turned and picked up a phone that was nearby. After a few moments, Agent Anglo answered on the other end.
"Yes, my Lord?" Anglo spoke as he answered.
"I have a little job for Lucius to do," Six spoke in a commanding voice.
The Next Day
"Finally," Lucius said triumphantly, "They've finally consented to giving me a chance."
"But we are only supposed to deliver a message," one of his followers told him, "And we can't even deliver it until the sun goes down."
"Those gargoyles always travel in groups," Lucius answered.
"So?" the follower asked.
Lucius groaned and looked at his follower with a look of fierce frustration.
"How many men does it take to deliever a message?" Lucius questioned.
"One," the follower replied.
"Exactly," Lucius smiled, "We ambush the patrol team and give all of them the message. Kill all but one of them and leave the lone survivor to tell the message. It will reduce Pendragon's number of followers and will make them all go into morning as I doubt any of them could stomach losing a friend."
"Right," the follower answered, "Now, uh, Agent Anglo is here to supervise the remaining training exercises for the afternoon."
Lucius nodded and began to walk toward the main training area. His follower was close behind him.
Macbeth's Mansion
"So all we can do is watch?" Griff asked as he and the rest of the clan stood around Arthur.
"It is not something I am particularly fond of," Arthur admitted, "But I don't think there is much we can do. We need the Illuminati's resources to prepare for what Khan's planned, and while they do not believe us, we lack the strength to take on both at the same time."
"Who do you expect to attack first?" Julia questioned, "Khan or the Illuminati?"
"I do not know," Arthur answered, "I'd assume the Illuminati, but Khan could launch his plans at any moment."
"So, we should expect Khan's paratroopers at any time?" Chloe asked.
"I think Merlin said that he could appear at anytime," Gawain commented, "That doesn't necessarily mean that he could directly attack England at any time, does it?"
"His announcement is the greatest problem," Arthur nodded, "And that is what will come first. Taking out his paratroopers would be the easy part. Griff could easily give you tips on how to take down aircraft."
"I can try my best your majesty, but modern aircraft and the aircraft of the Blitz are two very different things," Griff answered.
"How so?" Lancelot asked curiously, as knowledge of aircraft was still a very new thing to the Avalon newcomers to the London clan.
"Well modern aircraft are much bigger," Griff answered, "The largest aircraft I ever faced in 1940 was Bf 110, and even that aircraft is tiny compared to modern fighters and modern fighters are tiny compared to what modern countries use for transport aircraft. You could probably pack any fighter used in World War II inside a 747."
"There's also the fact that modern aircraft are faster then World War two aircraft," Octavia added, "A modern 747 with its jet engines at full power could probably out run a Mustang, and the Mustang was one of the fastest aircraft of World War II. Modern fighter aircraft can reach speeds of nearly three times the speed of sound. The basic principles of bringing a plane down won't change, but the amount of work that must be put into bringing one down will."
"Sounds like we'll need to be learning more about math then," Chloe commented.
The group looked toward the forest green female with a look of confusion.
"Wouldn't we need to do some sort of mathematical calculation to figure out when to dive on an aircraft in order to arrive at the same point at the same time?" Chloe asked.
"I'd say just try to stay close enough in altitude that if you can react quickly, you're likely to make contact," Griff commented with a shrug, "If we were manning anti-aircraft guns, maybe, but from my understanding they aren't used anymore."
"In the meantime, I'd patrol as normal," Arthur spoke, "The Illuminati won't go all out against us and Khan doesn't know where we are, so isn't likely to go after Merlin again."
"Right-o, we'll see you later tonight," Griff answered.
Arthur nodded and turned to head out while Griff assigned patrol teams for the night. He then walked into another room and found Rachel, watching a nightly news program.
"Anything happen?" Arthur asked as he sat down.
"Nothing that would be an indication of Khan's activity," Rachel sighed, "Other then the continuing violence in Tibet, but that is no longer headline news."
Later, Over London
Griff, Octavia, and Chloe made a slow turn as they reached the end of London along the southern side of the Thames and prepared to turn around and head up the north side. The night had been rather quiet, with only a few minor crooks out, but that was nothing that couldn't be easily handled. They had just crossed the river when a lightning blast suddenly few between Griff and Octavia.
"What the devil?" Griff spoke in surprise and the group then looked down to see Lucius and five of his followers standing on the roof of a warehouse.
"Surprise, gargoyles!" Lucius screamed as he and his followers took to the air and began to glide toward them.
"Not you blighters again," Griff grumbled as he dodged Lucius's charge and kicked one of his followers, "You've sunk to ambushing our patrols in hopes of getting lucky?"
"Our primary objective is to relay a message," Lucius answered, "ambushing you is just one of the perks."
Lucius then dove down and grabbed Griff by his wrists, forcing the two into a dive back towards the warehouse roof. Griff landed hard, but quickly recovered and kicked Lucius off of him. The mutate that had he had earlier kicked then swooped low and hit Griff with an electric blast as he tried to get up.
"And what sort of sort of message about your 'glorious' new Rome that you wish us to deliver?" Griff gasped as he managed to pull himself up as Lucius and his follower approached from two sides.
"My message does not come from me, actually," Lucius replied, "But from a higher power."
"A higher power?" Griff questioned, "Don't tell me you've quit being a megalomaniac and are actually working for some one?"
Lucius threw a strong punch that Griff managed to dodge, and forced the griffon-like gargoyle to charge into Lucius's follower, knocking the mutate to the ground. Griff kicked the mutate again, to make sure he staid down and then turned to face Lucius again.
"Actually, I'm working WITH someone," Lucius answered and fired another electric blast, which Griff dodged, "not for someone."
"Alright, who are you working with?" Griff demanded.
"A group your precious Arthur has also recently angered," Lucius answered and fired another electric blast.
The blast knocked Griff back and he nearly fell off the roof, but managed to use his talons to prevent himself from falling.
"You're working for the Illuminati?" Griff growled.
Lucius nodded with a smile.
"And what do they want now?" Griff growled again.
"If Merlin wants to persuade Six to join his cause, he must meet with him at Stonehenge," Lucius spoke in a calm voice, "If he comes, Six promises to give unto Merlin one favor."
Lucius then threw another punch at Griff, who caught the punch, grabbed Lucius by the arm and slammed him to the ground.
"If they want to do Merlin a favor, why are you attacking us?" Griff demanded.
"That's because I am not your typical ally," Lucius replied, "I don't entirely know what all their plans are, but I still my own. I will establish my Terran Empire."
"Consider this another defeat then," Griff growled and landed a strong blow to Lucius's temple, knocking the mutate out.
Griff then took off to rejoin Octavia and Chloe and make sure they were alright. He found Octavia about a block away, just as she was finishing off the second of the two mutates that had jumped her. Some of her feathers were singed, but the Roman gargoyle was not seriously harmed.
"This is got to be the weirdest thing I've ever encountered," Octavia commented, "I've heard of enemies suddenly deciding to 'switch' sides when it suits their strategic goals, but actually switch sides while attacking you at the same time is quite another."
"Attacking us at this time was Lucius's idea," Griff commented, "He says he's working WITH the Illuminati not for them."
"Then it looks like he will be in trouble with his 'allies' then," Octavia commented, "The Illuminati won't like someone going beyond their orders."
"I'm not so sure," Griff answered, "Something about all this smells of a trap. I don't think the Illuminati would care what he did."
"Come on then," Octavia sighed, "Let's pick up Chloe out and get back to Arthur and Merlin. I'm sure they'll want to know about this."
Chloe was only two rooftops away and had held her two opponents to a draw, largely. They had her flanked from two sides, but she managed to avoid their electric blasts, which by a stroke of luck, hit the two mutates. Once they saw Griff and Octavia coming, the two mutates decided they had had enough and quickly fled the area. Chloe prepared to go after them, but Griff waived her off.
"Shouldn't we go after them?" Chloe asked.
"No," Griff answered, "Let them run back to the Illuminati. We have to let Merlin know what's going on."
Later
"A favor?" Merlin asked as Griff finished his report.
"That's what he said Six was prepared to give," Griff answered, "All he said you had to do was go to Stonehenge."
"A sense a trap," Macbeth answered sternly, "He was pretty firm in rejecting our opinion when we tried to contact him. Why would he offer to give Merlin another chance and even offer a favor now?"
"I agree, old friend," Arthur said to Merlin, "This whole thing doesn't sound right."
Merlin sighed, "I don't think we can ignore it though."
"Don't tell me you're actually considering to go, are you?" Rachel gasped in surprise.
"Khan is the larger enemy," Merlin reminded them, "The Illuminati, while not necessarily good, they are not entirely evil either. They only oppose us now because they think we are going to do what Khan is already doing."
"Then why walk into a trap?" Macbeth questioned, "Why not just wait and prepare for Khan's attack and then step in to make sure any damage he does is minimal. Then the Illuminati will be bound to believe us."
"By that time it may be too late," Merlin sighed, "Khan intends to reveal the Illuminati to the world. We have no idea how much chaos that will actually create, and we have no idea what the Illuminati will do to try and maintain their power. They may by then decide to go all out against anyone who they think conceivably threatens them."
"I still think this is too dangerous," Arthur said firmly, "We don't know the limits of the Illuminati's power."
"Which is why I request that you and Rachel come along," Merlin answered.
"What?" Arthur gasped.
"The Illuminati are likely to use sorcery to aide in whatever trap they intend to set," Merlin explained, "The enchantments and blessings on Excalibur and Rachel's abilities would allow you both to deal with whatever trap they had set."
"Excalibur is blessed?" Arthur asked.
"Yes," Merlin nodded, "The Legionnaire aided the Lady of the Lake in forging the sword under the guise of a priest."
"Wouldn't it be best for some of the clan to come along?" Griff asked, "Or at least the knights?"
Merlin shook his head, "You will be needed to insure that London is safe. Lucius may try to ambush some patrol groups again tomorrow night while we are absent."
"There's no way we can talk you out of this, is there?" Rachel asked.
"No," Merlin answered, "You can not."
Elsewhere, After Sunrise
"You attacked the patrol group?" Anglo demanded, "That was not in the plan!"
"Your boss's message was delivered," Lucius growled back, "What do you care?"
"Your attack was not part of the plan," Anglo answered, "The plan was merely to deliver a message to the gargoyles who would then relay it Merlin and Arthur. They're now bound to relay the information about your attack as well."
"So?" Lucius growled.
"So?" Anglo questioned back, "They're bound to know it's a trap now and are likely not to come. Which means that Six's entire plan has been wasted."
"I have my own plans to carry out," Lucius reminded the Illuminati agent, "And they largely involve the end of Arthur and his followers."
"And without Merlin backing them, you would stand a better chance," Anglo countered, "Now you've not only failed in accomplishing you own goals, you've screwed up our plans as well."
Lucius growled bringing his fists to a full electric charge and advanced toward Anglo. The Illuminati agent did his best to hide his fear. He feared the mutate's strength, but he feared Six and the Council more, and reached for a gun he kept under his table. If Lucius tried anything, Anglo would be fully ready to strike back.
"You know, you once spoke to me that I didn't treat you fairly," Lucius growled, "I'm now getting the suspicion that I'm not being treated fairly. I was told to follow your plan as you planned it, and now, I'm not allowed to get what I want. Perhaps you ought to explain things more thoroughly before you make alliances, or send you 'allies' out to do meaningless work."
"Who told you your work was meaningless?" came Six's voice from the doorway.
Lucius pointed at both Six and at Anglo.
"Both of you," Lucius growled, "You 'ask' me to deliver a message and now you tell me I can't take what I want!"
"He did deliver the message, but he also attacked the patrol team he came across," Anglo reported, "Merlin is certain to suspect, and our trap has been wasted."
"Not necessarily," Six spoke in a low tone, and then gestured to Lucius, "I'm sorry for Anglo's temper. I would request that you return to your training area now."
Lucius grumbled something in a low voice and then walked out very slowly. He did not look remotely happy as he did so.
"What was that about?" Anglo demanded, "Why'd you apologize to him? He fouled up the plan."
"As I said earlier, not necessarily," Six answered.
"I don't understand, my Lord," Anglo spoke.
"I felt a great amount of desperation in both Merlin and his allies when they made their first attempt to persuade me to let them live," Six explained.
"That doesn't mean that they're desperate enough to knowingly walk into a trap just to try and prove something," Anglo warned.
"You never know," Six countered, "If Merlin doesn't show up, it means that he's not as desperate as I thought, which means the plan might not have even worked even if Lucius did his job correctly."
"You need to be more careful in how you treat him," Anglo whimpered, "Every time we restrict his actions, he gets angry and I feel like I'm going to be electrocuted."
"You needn't worry about him," Six answered, "He is a fool, but controllable. And perhaps the time is coming when we must let him go all out against Pendragon and the let them whittle his forces down to a size where they will have no choice but to submit to our law."
Stonehenge, Night
Rachel slowly sniffed the area around the ancient monument, her tail slowly moving back and forth behind her.
"Anything?" Arthur asked.
"I don't smell anything," Rachel answered, "That doesn't mean that there is no one there. If all Merlin's talk of magic is accurate, then someone could have merely used some spell to hide their scent."
"You're still sure you want to do this?" Arthur asked Merlin.
"Of course," Merlin nodded, "Besides, the Illuminati have gone through a lot of effort to keep all the tourists away and given us permission to get close. Might as well make sure that their work wasn't wasted."
Arthur and Rachel shared glances at each other, shrugged and then followed Merlin into the massive stone monument. They eventually found the robed man that had identified himself as Six waiting for them in the center of the monument.
"This was to be private meeting," Six said in a firm voice, "You were not to bring Pendragon and his pet along."
"I'm not his pet!" Rachel growled baring her fangs.
Six only chuckled in response.
"I suspected that this was all a trap," Merlin answered, "They are here to deal with whoever you have hiding in the shadows while I try to convince you that we are not lying."
"You were right to suspect a trap," Six smiled from under his hood, "But wrong to assume I have accomplices in this trap."
Six then raised his hands and fired two blasts of lighting from them at Arthur and Rachel. The blasts were strong enough to throw both the Once and Future King and the female werewolf out of the monument.
"Arthur! Rachel!" Merlin called out and moved to help them.
Six merely pulled out a small bag from inside his robes and spread the dust around the site around him. Merlin coughed as the dust enveloped him, but felt no pain or any other sort of effect. But once the dust hit the stone slabs, symbols that Merlin knew only existed on Avalon appeared, creating a force field around the monument. Merlin tentatively pressed a hand against an open space and was suddenly flung back into the center of the monument.
"I wouldn't try that again if I were you," Six commented.
"So you know sorcery," Merlin commented, "I'm surprised the Mage has let you live. He never brought the Archmage into your little circle."
"The Archmage was never invited because the Mage sensed his more direct tendencies when he finished his training," Six answered, "The Illuminati is a secret society. We don't like to do things in the open. And secret manipulations of governments are something I did best."
Merlin looked at Six for a moment and then at the great stones around him.
"How?" Merlin asked, "I've known that Stonehenge holds some mystical powers, but even I've never discovered them all."
"That's because you do not know the history of Stonehenge," Six answered, "The real history, anyway."
Merlin looked at him with a semi-puzzled look on his face, "It's a sort of calendar isn't' it?"
"That's what the early Britons used it for, before Claudius brought the Julian calendar from Gaul to Britain," Six answered, "That's not what it was constructed to do."
There was a short pause as Six then began to walk around Merlin.
"Do you know how Stonehenge was built?" Six asked.
"Not precisely," Merlin answered, "It had already been standing when I was born, and from my conversations with the Legionnaire, it had been standing when Caesar first ventured to Britain, although why the Legionnaire had come this far is beyond me."
"It was built by the Unseelie to help them in their war against Oberon," Six answered, "During the first Unseelie War."
There was a brief pause in the conversation.
"The Unseelies created Stonehenge and used it to drain the energies of any Seelie they captured," Six continued, "Largely as they never had any members who were powerful enough to literally pull the magic out of another fey."
"How do you know this?" Merlin questioned.
"The Unseelie made multiple contacts with the Illuminati, largely as they thought that since the Mage was fighting the Seelie Court that his organizations would be easily controllable by them," Six answered, "Madoc never seemed to notice when we would capture one of his followers, torture, and finally kill him."
"So you intend to drain me of my energies then," Merlin answered, "You do realize it will do the same to you?"
"I am not half fey, as you are, Merlin," Six answered, "The spell will do nothing to me. I'm afraid our game is at an end, and I have won!"
Outside the stone monument, Arthur and Rachel slowly pulled themselves up to their feet. Arthur groaned slightly with pain as he did so.
"He's a sorcerer too," Rachel growled as she got up and looked back toward the monument and, if it was visible through her fur, paled, "Uh, Arthur…"
Arthur looked up to see an energized barrier around the massive stones of the monument. He then rushed toward them, Rachel close behind him. When they arrived at the area where they could look into the center of monument, they found Merlin laying on the ground with Six standing triumphantly over him.
"Merlin!" Arthur screamed and slammed Excalibur against the energy field.
The blow did was generate sparks and force Arthur to take a few steps back. Rachel gave a low growl and then decided to go over the energy field and leaped on top of one of the stone monuments. To her surprise, the field extended around the top of Stonehenge as well. Six then hit her with another lightning spell, knock her back to the ground.
"Rachel?" Arthur asked, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Rachel sighed, "But the field goes around the top too, and I don't think I could tunnel fast enough to get to Merlin in time."
At the same time, the energy field dissipated and Six began to walk toward them.
"You are too late in either account," Six said triumphantly.
Arthur raised Excalibur and pointed the weapon at the Illuminati Council member.
"You villain!" Arthur growled, "What have you done to Merlin."
Six looked back at Merlin, who lay face down in the center of the monument and then laughed.
"That is for you to find out," Six laughed and then vanished out of sight before Arthur could thrust Excalibur through his neck.
With Six gone, Arthur and Rachel then rushed forward to try and make sure Merlin was okay. Thankfully he still had a pulse and was breathing normally, but he was unconscious.
"What should we do?" Rachel asked.
"We get him back to London," Arthur answered, "The police will probably be arriving soon to investigate the lights and possible trespassers. We need to get out of here."
Rachel then lifted Merlin up into her arms and turned to run out.
"I'll meet you back at the car," Rachel spoke and dashed off.
Agent Anglo's Office
Anglo looked up with some surprise when he saw Six appear in his office without prior announcement. It didn't take him too long to recover from his surprise, however.
"How did it go, my Lord?" Anglo asked.
"Very well," Six answered with a smile, "Merlin was in deed desperate enough to walk into the trap. He babbled on about how it is all Khan's doing, but in the end, he failed. Both to persuade me and to escape the trap."
"What do we do now, my Lord?" Anglo asked.
"We might not have to do anything," Six answered, "Without Merlin, Arthur is powerless."
Macbeth's Mansion, Dawn
"I told you it wasn't a wise idea," Macbeth grumbled as Arthur sat quietly in his chair, sipping a cup of tea and eating his breakfast.
"I didn't think it was an entirely wise decision, either, but Merlin felt he could persuade him," Arthur answered, "and he is far wiser then either of us combined."
"And he's now unconscious and we don't know if what Six did has done anything else to him," Macbeth answered.
It was then that they noticed Rachel step into the room. Arthur looked up hopefully.
"Merlin's awake," Rachel said in a weak voice, "He said he wants to speak to you."
Arthur was up in a hurry and moving toward Merlin's room. Macbeth and Rachel followed slowly behind. They found Merlin sitting up in his bed with a rather defeated look in his eyes.
"Merlin?" Arthur asked, "Are you alright?"
"I'm not in danger of dying anytime soon, if that is what you mean," Merlin sighed in response.
"We feared the worst when we saw you laying unconscious," Arthur spoke, "It is good to see that Six didn't kill you."
"His trap was not designed to kill me," Merlin responded.
"What?" Macbeth asked.
"I feel like such a fool for falling for his rouse," Merlin spoke weakly.
"We may need the Illuminati's help to defeat Khan," Arthur answered, "It's not your fault they can't believe an honest person."
"My honesty is not the problem now," Merlin replied.
"Why?" Rachel asked, "What is it?"
"I can't feel my magic," Merlin spoke to hear the horrified gasps in response.
To Be Continued…