"Crossroads Of Life" by Ryley Breen A.K.A Shadow Master
E-Mail Address: (ryley_ breen@hotmail.com)
In the past two stories I have told you of tales concerning the magical protectors of the city called New York, the people known as Gargoyles. Though they are by far the most isolated citizens the gargoyles aren't the only protectors who make it their business to keep the citizens of that fair city safe. Nor are they the only people who have to keep their abilities and appearances a secret. In this story we will see what is probably the most important meeting between the two most powerful teams in all of New York State. I mean the teams of your ever popular Gargoyles, ancient protectors of Scotland, and the X-Men (the ones from the cartoon show not the comic book), humans who because of an abnormality in their DNA have been given miraculous powers. Here they will meet and from this confrontation they shall both learn how alike they really are. Also I invite any who read this story or any of my other stories to use any elements they wish. If they wish to write a story based on the changes I've made (ie-Elisa becoming gargoyle for keeps) they are free to do so so long as I am given credit for my work. I would really like to see what other writers can do with what I've done. Without further chatter let us journey "once more unto the breach."
"Crossroads Of Life" "What's up Beast?"asked Jubilee as she entered the laboratory.
She had spent most of the morning in the danger room running through some training sessions with Rogue and Jean and was glad to be out. She knew that they had to train their powers to battle psychos like Sabretooth and The Friends Of Humanity but did they have to train four hours a day! After the over stressed work out she decided to check out what was going on in the rest of the mansion. In the main living room she found Gambit and Wolverine playing a game of poker and she could tell from the look on Logan's face that he was five minutes away from cutting the deck in his own style. Storm was tending the backyard and the professor was in the war room using cerebro. "That leaves Beast, knowing him he's probably down in the lab working on some way cool gadget" she thought as she walked down the stairs to his private work area. She had been right of course, he was in his lab but instead of working on a machine of some sort he was scrolling through something on his computer. As she walked closer she could see that he was looking at some sort of techno ad by a company called Xanatos enterprises. It took Dr. Hank McCoy only a few minutes to notice her presence and he immediately swivelled his chair around to greet her.
"Ah, to what do I owe the extreme pleasure of seeing yon beautiful maiden Jubilee?" he asked in his usual Shakespearean dialect.
She could never get over how he always seemed to surprise her with his very large dialogue, just how many words did he know?
"I just finished up in the danger room and wanted to see how things were going down here" , she replied as she began to read parts of the article on the screen, "I thought you'd be working on some weird new gadget but it looks like I was wrong."
Noticing where her gaze was directed he made two quick clicks on the mouse and a large diagram of a high tech mirror appeared.
"True enough, I had decided to give mine eyes a rest so as to catch up on the latest scientific achievement made by various monolithic companies" , said Beast as he continued to bring up more and more pictures of things she couldn't make heads or tails of, "All were extremely satisfying but I found the discovery by Xanatos Enterprises to be most entertaining."
As she looked at the screen full of writing she could just barely understand the idea of it but she decided that it would be for the best if she let Beast explain.
"What've they done, hopefully not more killer robots?" she asked.
She didn't mind when companies made stuff to make their lives easier but it seemed nowadays that all they seem to be doing is making more and more robots to kill mutants or take over the world.
"They have made a major breakthrough in the field of temporal mechanics and tacheyon manipulation" said beast as he brought up a detailed drawing of what she guessed was supposed to happen when they flipped the on button, "in fact the C.E.O of Xanatos Enterprises is going to be showing off a finished model tomorrow night."
It was obvious that Beast was way interested in this, he would probably give his eye teeth and some of his greatest gadgets to be able to attend. Come to think of it she'd like to see this high tech closet herself.
"Time travel, just one among the many things that we have to deal with in this world" , thought Jubilee as she listened to Beast ramble on in geek talk about this time portal, " I wonder if there's anything that those corporate hotshots can't make a reality?"
"Time travel sure would come in handy right about now" thought Xanatos as he leaned back in his chair.
Owen was just going over the basic security and seating plans for the unveiling of the temporal gate. He had organized a long evening of entertainment as well as discoveries for tomorrow night and he was already beginning to regret it. He knew that it was necessary to hear the security arrangements for the party, showing off one of the most potentially devastating tools of all time was not something to be taken lightly. In the wrong hands he could risk losing everything, his company, his family and even his life would be fair game.
"I will have metal detectors as well as infrared sensors placed at all entrances" , said Owen in his usual humming tone, "I also have the radar antennas operational and twelve steel clan robots prepared in case of aerial assault."
"Good, good, that should be satisfactory" he said as he flipped through the security status reports on his computer.
There were definitely a lot of them but they were all necessary to protect what was inside his tower. He had been surprised when the Illuminati gave him the loan he asked for without so much as a warning of impending death. It had cost nothing short of two hundred million dollars to repair the castle and replace all of the electronics that had been destroyed by Loki a week ago. If it hadn't been for Detective Maza and her magical ability the entire tower may have been laid to ruin.
"Sir, forgive me for saying but you seem to be a bit less than ..content with the security measures being taken" said Owen as he pushed his glasses up farther on his nose.
He had always valued Owen, from the first day he walked in the door for the job as his assistant. He liked him even more now that he had found out that Owen was also an all powerful child of Oberon named Puck.
"Oh it's not that, I'm sure that the security measures are the best" , he said as he got up from his seat and looked out the window behind his desk, "It's just that it seems to be all so futile, I mean our past encounters with Oberon and Loki show just how insignificant and useless any security measure is."
"I realise that those two confrontations were a rather deep blow to your ego sir but I very much doubt that 'lightning will strike in the same place' a third time" said the tranquil form that was Owen.
"I know but still, if someone really wanted this device they might be able to get the means to steal it" he said as he looked at his trustworthy confidant.
"If it will make you feel any better I'll see about adding some 'special' security to the event" said Owen with a small grin forming on the edges of his lips.
"Whenever he does that I know that it's going to be bad news for whoever is on the receiving end of it" thought Xanatos as he resumed looking at the screen of security systems.
Night was falling once more on the city streets of New York, the end of a day and the promise of a new one. High above the city streets, high above even the top of the Xanatos Enterprises building sits the stone Castle Wyvern. Resting on the main tower of this ancient tower rests nine statues.
Some of them as old as the castle itself and others somewhat newer. On the lower half of the tower rests six while on the top lay three others stand ready to fend off whatever horrors and dangers threaten their home. Not two long ago there had been a mighty battle atop the Xanatos skyscraper, though the police and the people had been told that it had just been an experiment that had gotten a bit out of hand. The truth was that the defenders of this antique home repelled and attack forces not of this earth. As the light of the sun is extinguished by the watery horizon and the light of the moon replaces it forces that are actually of this earth are about to be released from their thirteen hour sleep. An eerie light falls over the statues, the silhouette of their winged forms being highlighted. At first it begins like a slow tinkle of stone hitting the ground, like a far away train that was slowly getting closer and gaining speed. Soon the air was filled with the sound of cracking and falling stone but those were not the only sounds that would reach the ears of the citizens. They would also hear the groans and roars of the cities secret protection against the forces of evil and chaos. One by one the strange creatures would erupt from their stone shells and announce their awakening. With eyes glowing and sharp teeth bared there are few who would challenge their right to soar through the city skies on their bat like wings. Tonight surprisingly they have a guest to greet them as they wake, or rather to greet those on the top portion of the tower. Goliath awoke from his stone sleep as intimidating as ever and the only difference he felt was the fact of the new gargoyle in their clan and the fact that the castle had returned to its usual appearance.
It had almost been completely obliterated by the god Loki's attack last week. It had also been last week that he discovered Elisa's true feelings for him, though he pretty much had know them all along. When he turned around he was surprised to see Owen standing next to the staircase waiting for them.
"So Owen, what's up?" asked Elisa as she did one final stretch and then hopped off her perch.
"Mr.Xanatos is having a social gathering tomorrow night to show off his companies latest invention in the field of temporal manipulation" said the four-eyed assistant.
"How does that concern us?" asked Goliath as he crossed his arms in front of him.
He had never really liked it when Xanatos had made some new machine, especially one such as this. He had heard Lexington talking about it the night before and from what he could make out it was an artificial Phoenix Gate.
"Mr. Xanatos is worried that his own security forces will not be adequate to keep the device safe" , Owen said as he took some papers out of his pocket and handed them to Goliath, "in an effort to eliviate his worries I would like to hire you and your clan to provide additional security."
Goliath was rather surprised that Xanatos didn't have any faith in his own security forces and Owen would wish to ask them to help. It was true that they had aided Xanatos in aiding in the defence of the city and the world but Xanatos had never asked them to provide protection like this. Still, if such a device were to fall into the wrong hands it could prove devastating to all, human and gargoyle alike.
"Very well, we will attend this gathering but what is that you have?" he asked pointing to the papers in his hand.
"I felt it would be best if Xanatos Enterprises had written documentation concerning your temporary employment" , replied Owen as he unfolded the papers to reveal the words of legal context, " I would prefer that you remain out of sight until you are needed and in the event that anyone discovers you or you are needed we will have the law on our side."
Elisa was a bit worried when she heard the word temporal mentioned, the thought of time travel always scared her a bit. She had seen all three of the "Back To The Future" movies at the theatre and learned that time is just something they weren't meant to have control over. As Owen's explanation of their involvement concluded she felt a bit more comfortable in the area of time travel, it was the way he said "law on our side" that worried her. Though he wasn't specific she knew that the assistant to David Xanatos didn't have to be. Things must be getting steadily worse down in the city below, bad enough for people not to take the word of David Xanatos seriously. She watched as Owen passed out the contracts for the others and herself to sign. She briefly skimmed over the contents of the agreement and found that it was actually half decent. She had thought that it would have been written up so Xanatos would be legally in the clear if anything went wrong but it protected them as well as the company. With a feeling of reluctance still vibrating in her mind she took a pen and signed the contract, but instead of using her real name she wrote down "Donna Wyvern". She didn't want people to know that the once and former human detective Elisa Maza was now a taloned gargoyle. When she passed her contract back to Owen she noticed a slight rise in his eyebrow as he read her signature. She noticed that the others had waited until she had begun to sign her contract before beginning on theirs.
"With their legal knowledge several hundred years out of date I'm surprised they know what a contract was" she thought with a smile as she watched them write on the dotted line.
It took her a while to notice but she saw that Luna hadn't left her perch, she was just sitting there gazing out into the night sky.
"Hey Luna, are you going to join us for breakfast?" she asked after walking up behind the lavender gargoyle.
Luna had hardly said a word in the past few nights, though losing two of your sisters and being punished in such a cruel way could do that to a person.
"I shall join you later, I just want to be alone for a little bit" Luna replied as she twisted her head around slightly to look at Elisa.
Elisa knew better then to bother someone in mourning so she began to walk towards the opposite side of the tower.
"Okay, maybe after we can go catch a movie or something" she suggested to the newest member of the clan.
"Perhaps" said Luna and with that she returned her gaze to the open air.
They have treated her amazingly well considering the harm she and her sisters had thrown their way in the past. At the mention of her sisters tears begin to trickle down the side of her face. She missed them greatly, it seems as if it were yesterday that they were battling Loki here atop the Xanatos building. Where she had saved Goliath, the leader of the gargoyle clan, from certain death at the hands of Loki. It was here that Loki was defeated by Elisa Maza and confined for the rest of eternity in the shell of a mortal man. A fitting punishment, he will undergo much suffering and pain in trying to adjust to a life without magic. In a way so would she, after violating the supreme law made by Oberon so long ago she had been banished from Avalon and confined in the form of a gargoyle. Her magical abilities, which over a week ago were strong enough to best almost all her brothers and sisters, were now as restrained as Puck's. She could only use them in the supervision and teaching of Elisa on those rare occasions when the gargoyle absorbed any magic.Elisa's new abilities intrigued her, to have the ability to absorb and rechannel that magical energy into anything she wanted was definitely useful. Unfortunately as she knew all to well, the chances of another magical confrontation so soon after Loki's escape from the Kjolen Mountains was highly unlikely. Perhaps sometime in the future she would get to use her abilities once again but for the time being she would have to be content with the natural abilities and duties of a normal gargoyle. Those abilities and duties weren't all bad, being strong enough to tear metal apart with her bare hands and having claws that could rip through solid stone were definitely some of the positive perks of her new form. Being able to fly was also a joyful distraction from the mundane world to which she was now confined. True, compared to the abilities she once possessed these were about as useful as being able to feel and to sense certain sensations on her skin. Insignificant if compared with the awesome abilities a child of Oberon had at their disposal.
"Still there is nothing I can do about it so no sense crying over spilt milk" , she thought as she gracefully stepped of the perch where she had slept during the day , "If I am going to live in the mortal world I might as well learn to live in like everyone else."
Looking out into the night for a final time she jumped over the side of the tower and glided down to the entrance to the castle.
"Alright, not a authority figure in sight" , thought Jubilee as she tip-toed her way towards the front door of the Xavier Mansion.
For the past few nights she had been grounded for going into Beast's lab without anyone else there and nearly blowing everyone sky high. She didn't mean for anything to go wrong, it had just seemed so easy for Beast to whip some way cool chemical or gadget that she thought she could do it. She reached out for the door handle, feeling the joy of freedom well within her grasp, but then felt her feelings hit rock bottom when she felt a restraining hand fall on her shoulder.
"And just where do you think you're going Jubilee?" , sang Jean Grey's lovely voice, "If I remember correctly your still grounded which means late evening excursions are out of the question."
Jubilee turned around to see the green bloused slim figured form of her friend and teammate standing there with her hands on her hips and a stern cross look on her face.
"Ahh c'mon Jean, you know as well as I do that this the professors punishment was way too severe" , she pleaded trying to push Jean's 'sympathy button as hard as she could, "besides I'm only going out to see a movie!"
"What's playing now?" Jean surprisingly asked.
Jubilee was definitely a bit uneasy now, people giving you the punishment lecture rarely worried about the little details.
"It's called 'Independence Day', its about aliens coming to destroy the earth and Will Smith has to stop them" replied Jubilee as she waited for the 'No' answer that was the usual response to any violation of the rules of Xavier.
"Sounds like fun, let's go!" said Jean as she opened the nearby closet to get her coat.
"What, your actually going to let me go?! What about my punishment?!" exclaimed Jubilee in disbelief.
She couldn't believe her ears, Jean was actually breaking a rule that she had just drilled her on a few hours ago.
"Sure you deserve a little reward for your workout in the danger room this morning, besides Wolverine is in another one of his moods and I think it would be best for all concerned if we weren't around to bother him" , she said as she began walking toward the door, "unless of course you want to stay home and avoid Logan's tantrum all by yourself?"
"Not a chance! Let's go" exclaimed Jubilee as she ran out the door towards the garage.
"So it's a done deal then Owen?" asked David Xanatos as he looked at the signatures of Goliath's clan.
He had to admit that he was a bit surprised when Owen revealed that he had hired the gargoyles to provide extra security but he was even more surprised that Goliath and the others agreed to sign the contracts.
"Yes sir, Goliath has agreed to provide security of the perimeter of the building and to remain hidden from the guests" replied the blonde clean cut butler.
He didn't really like going over the mundane details of security again but Owen insisted that they go over it again to accomadate the gargoyles. To make it a bit more informal David said that they would do in down in the arboretum. David had always been impressed at how clean cut Owen had been able to keep himself, even under the most 'physical' of circumstances. Of course that impression did waver a bit when it became known that Owen Burnett was actually the changeling Puck. He was a bit disturbed when he saw Owen's eyes look over his shoulder to the elevator behind him. He turned around to see a fairly well dressed man dressed all in black and with a pointed black goatee.
"Excuse me but I don't remember having an appointment scheduled at this time, do you Owen?" he said as he tried to deduce the mans 'profession' by his clothes and body language.
"No sir, you don't have any appointments schedules for the entire evening" replied Owen as he began to walk toward the mysterious stranger.
"It is true that you do not currently have an appointment with me but at least wait until you have heard what I have to say before your assistant attempts to throw me out" , said the man as he removed his gangster like fedora, "Mr name is Mr.John Essex and I am very interested in your latest discovery."
"So I have been told by a great many people, how does that concern you?" asked Xanatos as he managed to place a reputation to the name. Essex was a very recluse scientist and investor in the modern business world, He was rarely seen in public and definitely had a few skeletons in his closet.
"I have an interesting business proposition for you, one I am sure you will find most intriguing" Essex said as he took a portfolio out of his trench coat pocket.
"Well I might as well find out what he's offering me" , thought Xanatos as he reached out for the papers, "it might just prove useful."
"I have you now you horned showboat!" exclaimed Lexington from in front of the television set.
The trio had been at that video game since after breakfast and showed no signs of giving it up any time soon. Goliath didn't like the fact that they were spending so much time in front of the television, no matter how 'awesome' it was. Being lazy like that dulled the fighting skill they had built up through the nights they had lived. He had tried to pry them away from the video game once before but they just brushed him off with a "just one more game" and "awww, just one more game" and more excuses like that. He figured that he would have to take more drastic measures later on but for now he would let them have their fun. He had more important matters to attend to, mostly concerning the gathering that Xanatos was holding tomorrow night. According to what Owen had given him it would be held down in the arboretum, which would definitely have some advantages since there were skylights on both sides.
"The windows will make it difficult to keep a close eye on the proceedings but there should be enough room on either side of the windows to stay hidden and keep an eye on things" he thought as he turned to the next page.
Out of the corner of his eye his spotted a form moving towards him and turned to meet whoever it was.
"Hi Goliath, how's my favourite lavender hunk?" asked Elisa as she draped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.
"Goliath my boy, things are definitely taking a turn for the better nowanights" he thought as he returned the hug and folded his wings around her.
He had been quite a bit more comfortable with things like this since they both made their feelings known to each other, though he wished that Elisa's had been revealed under somewhat less 'tense' circumstances.
"What have you planned for tonight my angel?" he asked as he lowered Elisa to the ground and eased her out of his leather cape-like wings.
"'Independence Day' that's what" replied Elisa as she showed him the advertisement in the evening paper.
"A movie eh, are you going alone or would you like some 'company'?!" Goliath asked in a mocking tone.
"Maybe, I thought that I'd take Luna to the movie to help get her mind off her sisters for a while but I'm not sure if she wants to go" she replied as she looked over to Luna who was sitting by Hudson near the fireplace in an easy chair.
"Well I'd love to join you but I must familiarise myself with these security sketches" he said as he picked one of the countless sheets in front of him.
"Hey no need to explain to me, I used to have to do it a lot of times when I was a detective" she said as she briefly looked at the sketches that Owen had left.
"You still are a detective, you're just working undercover" he said with a crooked sly grin on his square-like face.
"Yeah, so undercover not even Captain Chavez can get a hold of me" she said with a small chuckle.
It had been almost two weeks since she had become a gargoyle and almost as long since she had seen the Captain. The last time she had disappeared for a long time Chavez had half the prescient out looking for her along with a few agents from the federal government. It had surprised her that one missing cop and a missing prisoner had caused this much fuss. She had already met up with Matt soon after her species change and told him to try and keep things halfway calm at the prescient and to tell Chavez that she was okay but that would only work for a little while. Sooner or later Chavez would want to see her and find out what she had been up to, but for now she was going to keep things under wraps.
"Well I'd better get going if I want to catch the start of the movie" , she said as she started toward the door, "Hey Luna, are you going to come with me or are you going to stick around here?"
It was a few seconds before the white haired gargoyle did anything but she soon got out of the chair and started for the door as well.
"I believe I shall go with you, it has been a while since I last witnessed mortal entertainment" Luna said with a slight smile.
"How Long exactly has it been?" asked Maza. "About one hundred years, give or take a decade" said Luna and with that they were both out the door.
It hadn't taken Elisa and her more then five minutes to get outside and airborne but it still seemed to take forever for her. That wasn't surprising since she was used to much quicker methods of travel, like teleportation among others. Still she did kind of enjoy the restraints that had been placed on her, it would help to toughen her and get used to mortal life. Gliding through the air was definitely one of the few pleasures that this form offered, having the wind in your face created such an unbridled sense of freedom. As she looked down to see where Elisa was leading her she was puzzled to find that they were not heading for the theatre but rather for her apartment from when she was a human.
"Elisa, why are we stopping here?" she asked as they landed outside her large rooftop window.
Looking inside she saw that Elisa did have quite a unique style when it came to interior decorating, her special personality was shown off everywhere.
"I just want to pick up some cash before we go" she said as she opened the window and stepped in.
"Why do you need money, from what the young ones have told me you have your own private 'box seats' "she asked as she entered behind the black haired gargoyle.
"I know but I just couldn't go there and watch the movie without leaving something to make up for the eaten popcorn and the movie itself" , she replied as she opened a drawer in the kitchen, "I guess I just can't go back on what I was taught, I just have to obey the law, even if it is inconvenient."
Luna could see that she wasn't the only one who was facing new challenges by a drastic change in her appearance.
Elisa couldn't help but feel a bit out of place among all the human trappings within her apartment. Even the clothes she wore seemed a bit out of place, they seemed different and yet the same. All the other gargoyles wore nothing but the loin clothes that they had worn since almost birth. Sure every couple years they had to make a change in size but aside from that they stayed the same. Still deep within her she knew that she would stay wearing these clothes for as long as she could. They were a symbol of her past, of the humanity still within her. While the wings and the talons of her new gargoyle form would remind her of the new beginning in her life. It would remind her of the sacrifice she had made and the price that went with it.
"Enough of the philosophical talk Maza" , she thought to herself as she put what money she could find into her pocket, "that's Goliath's department, besides you've got more important things to worry about."
As she began to make her way to the window she began to hear footsteps in the hallway and they were getting closer.
"Oh no" gasped and she immediately ran for the window.
"What is wrong Elisa?" asked Luna as she tried to deduce what was happening.
"There's someone coming!" she whispered with authority.
Immediately they jumped through the window and hid among the stone pillars of brick and cement on the rooftop. There Elisa waited, listening for any signs that her apartment was being entered. Slowly she could hear the door lock clicking back into it's housing in the frame of the door and the door sliding open. At first all that could be heard were the pitter patter of big feet on the tile-carpet floor of the apartment. Elisa first thought that it might just have been the landlord just checking in to see if she had returned but she was soon proven wrong.
"Well looks like she didn't come back today Peter" , said the sorrow filled voice Elisa knew as Diane Maza, "Oh where do you think she is, why hasn't she called?"
It pained her to the very core of her gargoyle being to hear the sadness in her voice, so much so that she just wanted to run right in there and tell them everything but she didn't. She couldn't tell them right at the moment what had happened to her, maybe some other night but not right now. With one deep breath she leaped off the building and glided into the night. Glided off and thinking not about the events that happened in the past but what was going to happen in the near future.
"Ohhh, this line is taking forever!" exclaimed Jubilee as she leaned a bit over the guard rail.
They had already been waiting for ten minutes already and they weren't even close to the front of the line.
"Take it easy Jubilee we'll get there soon enough" said Jean Grey as she pulled Jubilee back into the line.
Jubilee didn't like the catch of having to have a chaperon but it was definitely better then having to stay at the mansion. It was a nice place to live and relax but not all the time, there had to be some time off from looking at the same scenery all the time. The line started to move quite a bit quicker as she was gently pushed forward by Jean. Apparently there had just been one large group at the front. Jumping to see over the heads of the other citizens of New York she could just barely catch a glimpse of the group as they went in. She couldn't see their faces very well but they were obviously slobs, that much she could tell by the stains on the back of their jackets.
"I hope I don't have to sit next to those creeps" mutter Jubilee as she took a few more steps forward.
Jean's face twisted as a frown came over her face, she obviously didn't like that comment very much. Jubilee had always been told from the very beginning of her stay at the Xavier school for the gifted, not to call people names no matter how much they might deserve it. That was how people like the Friends Of Humanity and Magneto thought and the X-Men were supposed to be better than that. Just as she was about to resume looking over the heads of the people in front of her, for a few seconds she saw two shadows dart across the ground and the back of the person in front of her. Jerking her head to look up she tried to see what had made those two shadows but all she saw was what looked like a flapping piece of cloth and then it was only for a split second.
"What is it Jubilee?" asked Jean as she followed Jubilee's gaze skyward.
"I thought for a second that I saw something fly over us just a minute ago and land on the roof" she replied shaking her head.
Jean gave out a slight giggle at her statement and Jubilee agreed with her.
"Must have been just the shadows playing tricks on me" she thought as the line surged forward.
As she dismissed the thought from her mind, had she only looked up for a little bit longer she might just have seen two glowing pairs of eyes looking down at her.
"Why did you hide from your parents like that Elisa?" Luna asked as they sneaked into the theatre through a rusted metal panel in the roof.
"I just didn't want them to see me like this just yet" , replied Elisa as she made herself comfortable.
The hole in the roof led right into an apparently abandoned balcony area, rotted chairs and decaying popcorn buckets scattered around the floor. Luna couldn't help but feel a bit 'uncomfortable' with sitting in these surroundings, they were so lewd and dirty.
"Must we sit in such squalid surroundings Elisa?" she asked the orangish-tanned gargoyle.
"Yes, unless you would rather take your chances down in the crowd below" replied Elisa as another small handful of popcorn went from the bag to her mouth.
Looking down at the people below them she decided that it would be best to just bear with the 'unsanitary' surroundings rather then face a potential mob scene. Within a few moments the movie started and all was dark and quiet. The contents of the film after half an hour or so were your basic struggle against seemingly unbeatable forces. It wasn't much different then the battles she had seen in the past century, except there was a definite increase in dialogue and bravado.
"Why must humans always see anything new and different as a threat?" she thought to herself as an action scene began.
It seemed to be the main thing that filled the thoughts of these mortals, being wiped out either by themselves or others. When she turned to Elisa she noticed that her attention seemed focused on something other then the movie.
"What is it Elisa? What do you see?" she whispered to her gargoyle companion.
She followed the detectives gaze down to the left isle of the theatre and saw a rather large group of men making their way to the front entrance of the theatre. Not giving a word of explanation Elisa jumped up from her seat and made her way out of the theatre.
"Well, I might as well follow her" thought Luna and with that she dropped her bag of popcorn and followed her comrade.
"Something's just not right about those fellas" thought Elisa as she made it to the roof of the theatre.
Normally she wouldn't have given those punks a seconds thought but the fact that more than one person was leaving a theatre just after paying six bucks to see it seemed a bit stupid which meant something was definitely amiss. There were about five of them there and they were all very large, though it wasn't hard to see that from the tightness showing on the backs of their trench coats. Gliding over to the building across from the theatre she strained her eyes to get a look inside the theatre but could not see past the front ticket booth. Suddenly shots rang out into the cool evening air, screams and cries of pain soon followed.
"A robbery" , she muttered as she stood up and spread her wings, "Man are they going to get the surprise of their lives!"
It was only a few seconds after the first shots were fired that the five figures emerged from the theatre, each carrying a bag.
"Alright Luna it's time to show these punks that crime doesn't pay" said Elisa and with a shrill gargoyle battle cry she dove off from the roof of the building and glided quickly down at the robbers.
They were shocked out of their wits when they first heard the inhuman scream and they didn't get any better when they saw the source. She thrust a side kick right into the rib cage of one of the crooks and sent him flying through the front doors of the theatre. After she landed she saw as Luna rammed at break-neck speed into the side of another and sent him tumbling in to a brick wall.
"Didn't your mama's ever tell you that crime doesn't pay!" she said sarcastically as she spread her wings and lit up her eyes like blow torches.
The adding of the glowing eyes obviously did the trick as she watched the three conscious thugs take a few steps back.
"S-s-stay b-back!" stuttered one of them as he took a snub nosed pistol from his trenchcoat.
Elisa could almost admire the kids guts, even is it was really pure stupidity. Like a bull whip striking out at it's target so did her tail lash out and wrap around the hand of the ugly customer and through him head over heels ontothe top of a parked car. When the others saw this they began to clumsily try and run away but they obviously didn't remember that that escape was also cut off by a white haired gargoyle named Luna.
"Alright girl, time to show these pieces of pond scum what happens when they commit a crime in this city" thought Luna as she saw the two remaining criminals heading her way.
In the past week she had been the basics of the art of gargoyle fighting by both Goliath and Elisa. True once upon a time she would have been able to kill these cretins without so much as a twitch of a muscle. Now thanks to her actions considering Goliath she was forbidden from using her powers in such a manner. Therefore it was required for her to learn a somewhat more 'crude' form of dealing with these villains. Fortunately she was a quick learner and by her fourth night of training could pretty much match Elisa blow for blow. Returning her thoughts to the task at hand she focused on her prey and spread her wings and let out a low pitched growl as her eyes became a dark red. The first to attack her was not much of a challenge, he threw out a hay maker that anyone with any skill could dodge. Taking advantage of the off balanced fool she grabbed him by the scruff of his coat and rammed his head into a nearby lamppost. With a dull thud the body slumped to the ground and there it stayed, this only left the remaining criminal to deal with. By this point he was scared out of his wits. Seeing his fellow sewer rats taken out obviously left him less then happy about facing two ferocious creatures.
Suddenly another noise made itself known and it was one that all members of the clan knew meant it was time to leave.
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