Chapter 8

Inside the Bio-Med Labs building

The sound of breaking glass brought Dr. Anton Sevarius's attention to focus on a lab technician who had just dropped a beaker onto the floor. He shook his head. "Perhaps I should look into finding more competent help here in the lab." He fixed the lab-tech with a cold stare. "Or perhaps I should look into making some adjustments to jolt your I.Q. and co-ordination up a few notches." He watched the technician shiver for a moment. "I suppose not, I'd have to deduct the cost of the procedure from your meager paycheck."

"It wasn't my fault doctor I bumped into something."

"Oh? What could you have possibly bumped in to? You're in the middle of the room, whith nothing around you for at least ten feet, so tell me... what could you have possibly bumped into?"

The lab-tech looked down, not answering.

"Now clean up this mess, and get out," Sevarius said and watched as the lab-tech wiped up the spilled material and exited the lab. He turned to go back to his previous experiment, but stopped as something brushed past him. He nervoulsy looked around the lab, and finding himself alone he thought it was just a case of nerves... and too many late nights in the lab. He was about to leave and lock up when he noticed a light blinking on the panel near on of the alcoves. "No, it couldn't be," he said out loud. He looked around the room once more. "My dear boy, is that you? Argent... you can come out now, that other person is long gone and we're alone." Sevarius held his breath for a moment in anticipation, and was rewarded with a faint blue light just a few feet from him, followed by the appearence of his greatest creation. "My dear boy... I thought you had been destroyed in the fire at Gen-U-tech!"

"No, I wasn't," Argent responded. "I've been in storage at the police evidence warehouse."

"The police had you? Of course... I recall reading an article about a break-in, but it was a break-out... wasn't it!"

"Yes, I escaped custody unseen," Argent said somewhat mechanically.

"Of course, of course dear boy. It was part of your programming." Sevarius turned, and sat down. "Speaking of which, if you are here then you must have brought me something... a present perhaps?"

"Yes. I did," Argent turned and went back towards the alcove. pressing a spot on the wall, a hidden panel popped open and out fell Derek, Maggie, and Claw onto the floor. There they lay unmoving while Sevarius gloated.

"My... you've done your daddy proud!" Sevarius laughed, and patted Argent on the back. "Now be a good boy and place them in the containment unit in the corner."

Argent walked over, slung Maggie over his shoulder and hoisted Claw up by his belt. He began walking towards the containment chamber, but stopped half way and turned around to face Sevarius once more. "Is there any chance of them escaping the chamber once inside?"

Sevarius looked at Argent for a moment. "No. I designed it myself. Once inside there is no way they could escape."

"Good," Derek said as he rose from behind Sevarius, grabbing him by the arms. "I guess you can be the one to appreciate it better than we would... from the inside!" Derek flung Sevarius into the cell and sealed the door.

"What are you doing!" Sevarius raged as he watched Argent let go of Claw, and gently place Maggie on the ground.

"Helping out some friends of mine," Argent said with a grin. He then turned to Derek. "Any ideas on a diversion?"

Derek went to a wall panel and looked at the different symbols posted near it. "I think a fire alarm should be just what the doctor ordered." He pushed one of the switches, and an alarm bell began to sound throughout the building.

"Won't that bring the fire-department?" Maggie asked.

"No. Sevarius would never chance the authorities coming here, even for a fire," Derek explained. "He couldn't take the chance of them finding anything incriminating like they did at the Gen-U-Tech fire. This alarm is only hooked into the building for his personel."

They watch on a nearby monitor as building staff responded to the fire alarm coming from the lab.

"You realize that you're all trapped here inside the building," said Sevarius from inside the cell. "Once they figure out it's a false alarm, my security staff will be here in a matter of moments!"

Argent turned to face the cell. "That's what we want, they'll be so busy looking for something here in the lab... that they'll never know what hit them from the other direction."

"Look, here they come!" Maggie said, pointing at the monitor.

The little group watched as Sevarius's security force filled the hall-way.

"And here comes our back-up." Derek pointed at the monitor just as Goliath and the other Gargoyles came from behind the security team. It was a short battle, and the outcome was never in doubt. In a matter of moments Sevarius's forces were tied up, unconscious or both and their weapons destroyed. The Gargoyles then made their way into the lab with Argent and the rest.

"Now I know what happened Argent." Sevarius said as the Gargoyles entered. "He fell in with the wrong crowd." He looked at Argent. "I'm very dissapointed in you my boy, and I thought I raised you better than that."

"You didn't raise me!" spat Argent. "I was just someone for you to control, a puppet at you beck and call to hunt Derek, Maggie, and Claw." He snarled at Sevarius. "What was going to be next If I had captured them? Were you going to send me after Goliath and his clan?"

"Of course, and you would have done it too if you were still under my control. By the way... how did you over-ride my programing?" asked Sevarius. "I would have thought it wasn't possible... at least it shouldn't have been."

"I almost did what you wanted," Argent told him. "But my friends helped me realize that what I was doing was wrong. I then shorted out your little gadget with an electrical charge."

"That must have cost you dearly," Sevarius sighed. "And I tried so hard to free you from the burden of thinking for yourself, where did I go wrong?"

Goliath stepped forward to face Sevarius in the cell. "You have been beaten Sevarius. Argent is no longer under your control, and your mercenaries can't help you now. Give us the cure so we can change Derek and all the other mutates back to what they once were."

"And if I refuse?" Sevarius asked.

Derek and Argent moved forward, and growled at him.

"All right, all right. I can give you the anti-mutagen... but I'm afraid that it's not going to do him any good." Sevarius pointed at Argent.

"What do you mean?" Argent asked, his eyes glowing eyes narrowed into slits.

"If you go to the main console over there, you will find all the information that you'll need to know." Sevarius pointed over towards his work station.

Lex went over and accessed the computer's memory log files. "I think this is it the file has Argent's name." He brought up a file and the monitor came to life showing the lab and Sevarius. The doctor was addressing the camera.

"After going over the files from my last efforts of both cloning and gene-splicing I have come to the conclusion that neither of these proccesses have worked to their full potential. The subjects of the gentic-splicing were, for the most part, good but they displayed the all too human trait of free will and have since left and are now out on their own, unsupervised. The clones have proved to be just as difficult at times. I beleive that this has to do with the fact that even after extensive programing that they are still copies of the original, with the same drives, wants, and desires. The Gargoyle clones were a bit closer to what I wanted. The maturation process was halted in their higher brain functions in four of them resulting in very loyal... if not too bright, servants for Thailog. The one female gargoyle clone was not, due to the fact that she might not have survived due to the fact that she was created from the DNA of both a female gargoyle and a human female as well. This resulted in a Hybrib of sorts. The female, which Thialog named Delilah, has apparently developed a free will of her own, and tried to teach this to the other clones. This was not successful due in part to the unstable nature of the gargoyle clones. They fell ill and in the final stages of their sickness turned to stone forever. The Female, Delilah, survived in part because of the incorperation of human DNA in her genetic makeup."

Delilah gasped. "I guess I owe you my life," she told Elisa.

Elisa smailed, and they both went back to watching the screen.

"It is this Human Element that I will try to bypass in my next creation... which I have already started the computer models for." The image of Sevarius tapped a screen. "I have named him Argent and he will be my finest creation. I will be using the very lastest techniques of gentic engineering for this, and it will be my first attempt at making an entire being from scratch!"

"What!" Argent could not believe his ears. He looked back at Sevarius, who only smiled at him.

The image on the screen flickered once and when it focused once more it showed both Sevarius and the lab once more... along with a large oblong tank in the background. "The project has been going on for four months now, and everything is proceeding as planned. I have been using the DNA of the finest predators for my creation. Chief among these is the DNA of a newly discovered species of wolf found in the far reaches of the Arctic. This species, named Canis- Lupis-Argentis-Giganticus... or Giant Silver Wolf, is the core DNA strand of which Argent is being based on." The image of Sevarius stepped aside and the contents of the tank could now be seen. Everyone gasped!

"I think I'm going to be sick!" Argent said as he saw what was clearly himself inside the tank... but with no skin. His skeleton, muscles, and intrenal organs were all exposed!

"The one problem that has occurred is the brain. Such a creature would have only limited intelligence at best, and could not be trained to adapt to various situations. This problem was anticipated, and a solution is at hand." The doctor reached of screen, and wheeled in a small tank. Elisa turned and buried her head in Goliath's shoulder. Angela held Broadway tighter, and the others could only stare in morbid fascination as they watched what was clearly a human brain and spinal column floating in a clear liquid. "These will implanted in place of the original brain and spine in a matter of moments." The doctor was putting on surgical gloves. "The brain has been fitted with a computer chip that is connected to the area that governs memory. Once the operation takes place he will be placed back into the tank for maturation. Final growth will continue and once he awakens he will be loyal only to me, and have no memories other than the ones that I have given him. The Human Element that has cropped up in my previous experiments will at last be bypassed." The screen flickered once more and an image of Sevarius peeling off a pair of bloody surgial togs addressed the camera again. "The operation was a complete success. Once complete Argent will be far superior in strength and speed to either the bothersome Gargoyles or the Mutates. His senses will be razor sharp, he will heal much faster, and as an added bonus I have engineered his skin to be able to conduct the electrical charge like the ones the mutates can produce. It not only will be able to use as an offensive weapon, but he will be able to create a biological stealth field around himself that will render him totally invisible! And in addition I have given him control over his autonomic functions as well to fool heat and infrared scanners." The image on the screen flickered once more and jumped... then went dead all together.

Argent went into a frenzy and tried to launch himself at Sevarius's cell but was just barely restrained by Hudson, Broadway, and Brooklyn. "It's a lie!" He raged. "It has to be a lie... I'm human!"

"Your statement is partially true," Taunted Sevarius from within his cell. "I did have to use a tiny part of your human body's DNA to get the general humanoid form you have now. That and your brain are the only things I needed from it."

Lex came down from Sevarius's workstation, he handed Elisa a data tape. "That's all there was in his file. It must have been just before the fire... that's why there's no more information on Argent. Sevarius must have thought that the machine and the tank Argent was inside was destroyed in the fire. He looked back towards Argent, who had stopped struggling with those trying to hold him,

"There has to be more than that!" He looked towards Sevarius. "What happened to the body, what was my name, who was I?!"

"After I took what I needed from your human body, it was just so much un-needed raw material." Sevarius said while backing away from the front of the cell. "It was disposed of. As to who you were, I really don't know... the body was brought in from a third party source that I deal with for such raw material. They never told me who you were because I nerve asked."

Argent collapsed to his knees, and began to beat the floor in frustration.

"I'd love to stay and chat with you, to recall old times but I simply must be going now." Sevarius smiled and backed into a corner of the cell.

"And how do you plan on leaving?" Derek asked while standing near the cell door. "This is the only way out."

"When I built this cell I made a fail-safe system part of it. When the door is closed the fail-safe has to be activated or within a certain time period..." Sevarius looked at his watch then down at the floor, that was now tilting to one side. "A way out is provided, in the event that myself or anyone in the lab is accidentally locked in." He gave the Gargoyles, Mutates, Elisa, and especially Argent, a jaunty wave before disappearing down the escape chute.

"NO!!!!!" Argent launched himself towards the cell once more and clawed at the door in an effort to open it but Sevarius was long gone. He sat there for some time... looking down at his own hands, and sat there unmoving. After ten minutes, Goliath and Delilah tried to get him to stand up... but he just sat there looking down at his hands.