Derek Maza

Derek Maza is Elisa Maza's younger brother. Like his father and older sister, he joined the NYPD. Derek, however, was a helicopter pilot.

History
He came to see Elisa when she was shot. Later, when he was helping Elisa track Xanatos by helicopter (which he saw no point in as Xanatos had served his time, and Elisa couldn't give a better reason to tail him than "I know he's dirty") he and Elisa wound up in the middle of an attempted robbery by Jackal and Hyena. Jackal aimed a bazooka at them, but Xanatos tackled Jackal and threw off his aim so that the missile from the bazooka hit only the helicopter's tail. Derek managed to land the helicopter, but Jackal and Hyena escaped. Xanatos was impressed by Derek's skill, and offered him a job at Xanatos Enterprises as his pilot and bodyguard. He seriously thought about it, and despite Elisa's protests, he took the job.

Almost immediately, he had to defend Xanatos from Jackal and Hyena, who had been told by Fox to assassinate Xanatos. Their first attempt, attacking Xanatos's helicopter with their own, was foiled by the trio. The second attempt was stopped by the entire clan using Jackal and Hyena's helicopter, which had been rebuilt and modified by Lexington. Elisa had managed to get evidence to prove what she had been saying before as the reason Xanatos wanted Derek; a recording that Elisa secretly made where Fox told her that she ordered Jackal and Hyena to assassinate Xanatos so that Xanatos could use Derek against Elisa. He never listened to the tape.

Things got worse later that year, when Xanatos "discovered" that his chief scientist at Gen-U-Tech, Dr. Anton Sevarius, had hired mercenaries for an "unknown" reason. When he and Derek went to investigate this "mystery," they "discovered" that Sevarius had mutated three humans into pseudo-gargoyle creatures. When Xanatos "threatened" to undo Sevarius's work, Sevarius "tried" to shoot Xanatos with an apparent tranquilizer dart, but Derek pushed Xanatos out of the way and was hit with the dart instead. Sevarius then revealed that it contained the mutagenic formula used to create the other mutates. Xanatos "forced" Sevarius to try to make an anti-mutagen, but the gargoyles, who were there to rescue Maggie Reed, another mutate whom had been encountered by Brooklyn, interrupted Sevarius's injection of the "anti-mutagen" into Derek, and knocked the injecting device containing it out of Sevarius's hands, shattering Derek's "cure." Sevarius was then "killed" when Goliath knocked him into a tank of electric eels in the lab, "electrocuting" him and "forever destroying" the possibility of a cure for Derek. He blamed the gargoyles for this, just as Xanatos had intended.

Derek took the new name of "Talon," and became the leader of the other mutates.

Talon would later discover the truth about Xanatos' manipulations, and made peace with Goliath and his clan, even aiding them when Goliath and Elisa were "missing". In return, the Manhattan clan aided him against Fang's attempted coup.

Characteristcs
Talon's mutate form combines genes from a black panther, a bat and an electric eel with his natural human DNA. He is very strong, can fly and is capable of producing powerful electric blasts.

Talon has some personality flaws which allowed him to be manipulated by Xanatos in the first place. He's stubborn and very opinionated, and doesn't like to admit when he's wrong, opting to delude others and himself into believing mistruths. He refused to listen to Elisa's advice concerning Xanatos, feeling that he had to prove to his family and himself that he has good judgement. ("Her Brother's Keeper") He lets his emotions overule logic when things turn bad, and he's easily manipulated.

Despite all this, he's kind-hearted, just and charitable, helping others who can't help themselves by providing them with shelter. He has been able to have a relatively happy life despite the tragedy that has befallen him. He is also a Christian.

As a human, Derek Maza was quite skilled at operating aircraft, most notably helicopters such as Xanatos' Helicopter or the Police Helicopter (which he managed to land once despite heavy damage), but he could also fly craft such as a glider and presumably other aircraft as well. The skills have been shown to be translatable, after his Mutation, which is perhaps one more reason Xanatos recruited him for the Mutate Project.

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