Griffin Tale
Chapter 1
The lives of a boy and a griffin
Somewhere out in Domino City, a gull was struggling to get free of a wire cage setting on the top of a building. He was turning blue and trying not to panic. If he didn't get free soon a hawk could easily come along and eat him. "Hey, it's fine. Lots of gulls who find themselves in this position don't get eaten by hawks," the gull was thinking. "Plenty of times, there aren't any hawks. No hawks. Not one. Then you're able to wriggle free and fly away. Yup! Nobody's gonna eat me up. No reason to panic…"
The gull heard a distant flap of wings in the air. He turned his head slowly to see what it was. There, not two inches from him was a bird. A very large bird. As it got closer the gull noticed that it had just the head and wings of a eagle, but the rest of its body was like a lion's. It was in fact, a Griffin!
This particular griffin was a medium golden colour with a light golden colour around its underbelly, ears and paws. It had a huge, hairy golden mane and its wings were a medium brown. It had blue, green and yellow feathers on its head, sharp golden-yellow eyes, a razor sharp beak and four razor sharp black claws on all four of its paws.
"Time to panic!" the gull thought.
"Hi! I'm Harry." The griffin said.
The gull's eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fainted.
"Oh, little buddy. Did I scare ya?" Harry asked as he gently took the small bird into his rather large paws.
Harry shook the little gull lightly, "Wake up! Wake up, little birdie!"
The gull awoke and looked up at Harry. Looking into the griffin's eyes, the gull could see that they didn't seem frightening at all! They were actually quite…friendly.
"You stuck in that net?" Harry asked. "Don't worry about it. I'm gonna get you out in a jiffy. You just hang in there, little birdie. Okay, here we go…and…gotcha!"
The gull found himself out of the net, sitting in the griffin's paws.
"Okay, buddy, you're free." Harry added. "Now escape. Go. Just go. Cry freedom!"
The gull shook his head in disbelief. Who was this guy? Then he spread his wings and flew away as fast as he could.
Harry watched as the gull flew away. "Cute little thing." He thought as he turned back towards the building. A large brown head rose up beneath him.
"AHHHHHH!" Harry shrieked. It was his brother Bruce.
The older griffin didn't look the least bit like his younger brother. No one would ever be able to tell that they were related. Bruce was slightly bigger than Harry and he was stronger as his great strength showed on his well-muscled body. Bruce a medium brown colour with a bright tango colour around his underbelly, legs and paws. He had a huge, hairy orange mane and his wings were a dark brown. The feathers on his head were red, purple and green. Bruce had ruby-red eyes and his expression was harsher than Harry's.
"You almost gave me a heart attack!" Harry jabbed his brother in the beak.
Bruce just shook his head in disgust. "Harry," he said. "What are you doing?"
"I was just, um, picking you some flowers." Harry said, quickly scooping some up out of a balcony garden.
Bruce gave him a hard swat.
"Hey!" Harry cried. "Mom said it's not okay to hit."
Bruce responded by swatting him again. "Mom's not here!" He said and flew away. Sometimes Bruce was sure Harry had been adopted. He couldn't be a pure Headfeathered Griffin. There was definitely guppy blood in his veins.
Griffins didn't behave like Harry. Griffins behaved like…like…Pop did. Pop was the most ruthless, dangerous, Headfeathered Griffin in the whole city.
Bruce puffed out his chest proudly and snapped up a small canary that had wandered into his path. Now, there was a true griffin. His father. Lino. Godfather of the entire city.
As Bruce's and Harry's shadows flitted across the city and finally disappeared, the huge Jumbotron in the centre of Times Square switched back on and the beaming face of Katie Current, resident sweetheart news anchor, appeared on the screen.
"Good morning, Domino City. I'm Katie Current, keeping it current! We've just received news that the threat level is back down to green. The griffins are gone. I repeat THE GRIFFINS ARE GONE!" she said.
Almost as soon as the words had left her mouth, the city came alive. Blinds in windows flew up, the streets began to fill up with taxis and buses, and the trains began to run as thousands of people began to emerge from hiding.
Back on the Jumbotron, Katie was finishing her report, "Tonight at eleven – an in-depth report. With the increasing griffin activity, are your kids safe? You know they're not. Is there no hero among us? Who can stop the griffin menace?"
In another part of the city, a small teenage boy with wild blonde and black hair trimmed in red and big child-like black and violet eyes appeared to be enjoying the luxury of a high-rise penthouse. It had everything: a sixty-inch high definition flat screen TV with six speaker surround , CD, DVD, PlayStation hook-up, and even an 8-track player.
"Welcome to Yugi's crib." The boy boasted.
"Hey, Yugi!" shouted a little kid who was even smaller than him, "Don't forget your floor to ceiling lava lamp!"
Three little kids ran up in front of a large billboard advertising penthouse properties and shattered Yugi's daydream. They giggled at the billboard's headline, If you're rich, you could be here.
"Hey!" Yugi shouted. "Come on, Shorties. Why are you always messing my fantasy?"
"Because you're so broke you're baloney had no first name." One of the Shorties giggled.
"Ha ha ha! That's very funny." Yugi laughed sarcastically.
"Hey, Yugi!" an enthusiastic, but somewhat silly voice called.
Yugi looked into a nearby alley way across the street. It was Crazy Joe. He was a homeless old man who lived in an old dumpster inside the alley. His real name was Joe Riggery, but everyone called him Crazy Joe because that's what he was…crazy! But Yugi didn't think he was crazy. He just wasn't very bright.
"Yugi, over here!" Crazy Joe called. "I gotta talk to ya!"
"I'll be right there!" Yugi said. "Here! Hang onto these for me!" He gave the Shorties his sunglasses, baseball cap and his medallion.
"Yugi, you the best!" One Shorty said as Yugi gave his sunglasses to him.
"Yo, dude!" another said as Yugi put his cap on his head.
Yugi placed his medallion around the girl Shorties neck. But the heavy necklace was a little too big for her and she fell onto her rear end. The other Shorties laughed.
Yugi ran up to Crazy Joe, "Hey, Crazy Joe!"
"Now that you live in that great penthouse can be you're financial advisor?" The old man asked rather sweetly.
"Uh, that's a billboard Crazy Joe." Yugi told him
"You live in a billboard?" Crazy Joe asked, looking at the young boy questionably.
"No. I-
"And they call me crazy!" Crazy Joe laughed and disappeared back into his dumpster.
Yugi chuckled. Crazy Joe wasn't very bright, but he was always good for a laugh.
"Hey, Yugi look who came to visit." The Shorty with the cap said as he and the others spray painted the billboard.
Yugi gasped. There was graffiti all over the billboard. There was a picture of a great Headfeathered Griffin busting through the board opened mouthed with Yugi trapped in its jaws. Yugi frowned. The Shorties were always teasing him, they were always spray-painting things and they were always in trouble.
"No!" Yugi said, wiping some of the paint off the board. "Don't do that! Shouldn't you kids be in school?"
"Shouldn't you be at work?" one of the Shorties shot back.
"Ooh, right back at me, huh. Little smart-mouth. Look, I'm on my way. You kids stay out of trouble, all right. And clean up that stuff!" And with a wave of his hand, Yugi walked away.
"See ya!" the Shorties called as they began to clean up the billboard.
Yugi worked at Sykes' Draco Wash, a state-of-the-art dragon cleaning assembly line. It wasn't much of a job when he really thought about it. All he did was scrub away the grime and slime off the dragons tongues with his friends Joey and Tristan.
He walked down the assembly line of dragons. The great beasts smiled warmly at him and waved. Yugi smiled. He was pretty popular with everyone in the Draco Wash.
He walked past the bungee jumpers that jumped down on their bungee cords and scrapped the rotten scales on the dragons' backs. Yugi saw his friends Mokuba and Emily as they jumped onto the dragon's back, "Hey, Mokuba, Emily!"
"Hey, Yugi!" Mokuba waved.
"Hi, Yugi!" Emily said.
Yugi exchanged high fives with the youngsters. He then past the unicorns. The Unicorns looked like pure white creatures with the body of a horse, the tail of a lion, the legs of an antelope and a single horn on their heads. Yugi thought that they were the most beautiful of all magical creatures.
They zapped the gems that were stuck on the dragon's underbelly with they're horns. Gems usually got stuck on the dragons' stomachs when they lay on their treasure nets. Yugi smiled as he saw his friends Georgie and Jenny. "Hey, Georgie, Jenny!"
"Hey, Yugi! What's 'zappining'?" Georgie giggled.
"Hi, Yugi! What's the latest wave of news?" Jenny chimed in.
Yugi laughed along with his friends. He past the control tower that controlled all the machinery in the wash. He looked up and smiled as he saw his friends Seto Kaiba and Kisara Hikari working at the controls. "Hey, Seto is it lunch yet?" Yugi asked.
"You just got here!" Seto smiled.
"That's the point!" Yugi said, chuckling.
"Yugi, you're hopeless!" Kisara said with a smile.
Yugi just laughed. He then past the brushers, among the humans were the Centaurs. The centaurs looked like creatures that were half man and half horse. They had the upper body of a man, but the legs and body of a horse. Thou they looked a little strange, Yugi knew that with they're horse speed and human intelligence, they were very powerful. They scrubbed the dirt and grime off the dragons' skins. Yugi smiled as he saw his friends David and Mimi, and his older brother Yami. "Hey, guys!" Yugi waved.
"Hey, Yug! What's new?" David said.
"Hey there, Yugi!" Mimi waved.
"So you finally decided to show up little brother!" Yami said with a smile.
Yugi just smiled. Next to the brushers were the waxers. Among the human waxers were the Phoenixes. The phoenixes looked like enormous magical birds with fire-red feathers. Some had rainbow coloured wings. Yugi thought that these birds' feathers were beautiful, but he knew that they weren't just respected creatures because they were birds of fire. They were also respected because they had the power to heal any wound or injury with they're magical tears. They rubbed hot wax onto the dragons' skins with either sponges or their backs.
Yugi looked up as he saw his friends Tea and Kenai, and his older sister Mai. "Hey, sis, guys!"
"Hey, Yugi!" Tea waved.
"Hi, Yugster!" Kenai said.
"Hey, there little bro!" Mai smiled.
Yugi waved at them and finally walked up to the time clock on the back wall. He grabbed his time card to punch in, but then realized that someone had already done it for him.
"Huh? I'm already punched in?" He stared at the card and smiled: "Mhairi."
"Good morning, how can I help you?" Mhairi asked the dragon that was hovering just outside the tower, just opposite her reception desk.
"One wash and lube, please." The dragon said in a gruff, but somewhat warm voice.
"Hot wax?" Mhairi asked.
"Please." The dragon replied.
"Scale scrape?" Mhairi smiled at him. "We're having a special. Whaddaya say?"
"Why not? Its mating season and I'm feeling lucky." Said the dragon, wriggling his eyebrows. Besides, it was hard to say no to Mhairi.
The phone rang and Mhairi answered it as the dragon flew into the wash. "Sykes' Draco Wash. You get a flare of a wash, and the price…oh my gosh."
Mhairi yawned slightly as she listened to the dragon on the other end. Working at the Draco Wash with her older sister Mimi and her older brother Kenai wasn't the most exciting job in the world, but it was a living. As the dragon continued to talk, Mhairi doodled little hearts on the pad in front of her, filling each one with the word 'Yugi'. "Oh. May I suggest a scale peel? It removes lines and rain damage. Good."
Just then, Yugi walked into the office, "Hey, Mhairi!"
"Oh, my gosh!" Mhairi cried. She quickly covered the pad with some papers before Yugi could see it. "Hi, Yugi!" she giggled.
"Thanks for covering for me." He said. He grabbed the phone from Mhairi as it started to ring again, "Hi, I'm sorry buddy, but Mhairi's a little busy right now, would you hold for one moment please? Thanks bud."
"Yugi!" Mhairi said, annoyingly.
Yugi punched the hold button then grabbed Mhairi whirled her around. "Come on, Mhairi. Dance with me! Tomorrow I will be rich! Come on, Mhairi!"
Mhairi smiled as she sat down again, "Yugi! You're gonna get me fired!"
Yugi looked at Mhairi in mock horror. "Please, you fired? Nah, that can't happen. 'Cuz then I'd have absolutely no reason to come to work."
"Oh, you don't mean that." Mhairi said, blushing.
"Of course I do." Yugi went on, getting his safety goggles on. "You're my best friend."
"Yup, best friend." Mhairi said in a small voice.
Suddenly Yugi turned to her and began to speak in an excited voice. "Listen, tell me what you think about this. This is like the best idea ever! It's a sure-thing-guarantee-cash-extravaganza!" He paused for a moment, and then announced, "Duel Monster cards!"
"Oh no." Mhairi said, rolling her eyes.
"I know, I know, I know." Yugi said. "Now all I need is another advance on my pay check from the boss and Mhairi I am outta this place!"
"Yugi! Instead of getting in Mr Sykes' face with another one of your get-rich-quick-schemes, go and do something you're actually good at – your job – which, with some miracle, you still have." She put his belt on him, "There, handsome."
Yugi turned to leave. "Oh, I almost forgot." He said. "I brought you some breakfast." He held out a paper bag.
"You didn't! Tuna mayo?" Mhairi couldn't help smiling.
Yugi nodded. "Your favourite. Oh, by the way? You're still on hold!"
"Oh, my gosh!" Mhairi made a dive for the phone. "Thank you for holding! Sorry we're busy, busy, busy!" She gestured at Yugi. Go! She mouthed. Then she turned back to the phone. "How can I help you?"
As she listened to the dragon on the other end, Mhairi watched as Yugi walked out of her office. Yugi was always flirting with her…but he flirted with everyone. He didn't have a clue about how she really felt.
She shook her head and sighed. It was probably just as well. If he knew she was stuck on him, he'd probably never talk to her again.
"No, I'm sorry." She said into the phone. "Mr Sykes is at a meeting right now. Won't be back until later."
"How are my little babies this morning? You miss me? You doin' good, huh? Huh?" Lino peered into the fish tank in his office, tapping on the glass with his paw.
"You see, Sykes?" Lino gestured towards the tank approvingly. "It's a dog-eat-dog world. You either take or you get taken."
He dropped a little chop of meat into the tank. As he watched, the cute little fishes opened they're mouths and surrounded the meat. Snapping at the meat with they're huge razor-sharp teeth. They were piranhas.
Sykes – a part bird and part human creature, and one of Lino's most trusted employees – nodded, while trying not to puff up with fright, looking at the fish tank. "Truer words have never been spoken. So. Is that it? That all? We done?"
Sykes looked like a man with the head of a bird, the legs of a bird, the wings of a bird and his whole body was covered in the feathers of a bird. He was a blue colour with a white underbelly and the tips of his wings were navy blue. He was a fat, bad tempered, but cowardly little creature.
Lino, on the other hand, was a well-muscled, ferocious, but equally bad tempered Headfeathered Griffin. Lino a rich black colour with a light grey colour around his underbelly, back and paws. He had a huge, hairy black mane and his wings were a raven black. The feathers on his head were grey, red and yellow, and Lino's expression had no soft look to it.
Lino stared at Sykes. A long moment went by.
Sykes looked down, his shaggy eyebrows hiding the sudden fear in his eyes.
"Now you and me, Sykes," Lino said smoothly, "we've worked together a long, long time."
"Please, Lino!" said Sykes, grinning weakly. "It's hardly been like work."
"Let me finish," Lino said, waving his paw. "As you know, I've lived my life for my sons. Raising them and protecting them. It's all been for to prepare them for the day they run the city. Well today is that day."
"Long story short," he went on. "From now on you's work for Bruce and Harry. Capisce?"
Sykes laughed a little. "Harry? Bruce I understand. But Harry? You can't be serious!"
"I'm dead serious." said Lino. "It takes more than muscle to run things. Harry now – he's got the brains. That's somethin' special."
Sykes nodded. "Oh, yeah. He's 'special' all right."
Lino's eyes narrowed a little. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Nothin', nothin'!" Sykes said quickly. "I'm just sayin'-"
"Hey, Sykes." Lino barred his teeth. "I bring you in here. Look you in the eye, tell you what's what and WHAT?"
"What?" Sykes asked.
"What?" Lino said. "What!"
"What nothin'!" Sykes said, completely confused. "You said 'what' first."
"I didn't say 'what' first." Lino said. "I asked you what."
"No. You said what, and then what, and then I asked you 'what'." Sykes' head was swimming.
"No. I said what, what!" Lino said, equally confused. "Like what 'what'."
Sykes paused for a moment, and then said, "You said 'what' first."
"Now your makin' fun of me." Lino moved closer to Sykes.
Sykes could smell his breath. He had been eating…chicken. "No, no, no!" Sykes said quickly. "You misunderstood! You misunderstood-"
Just then, Bruce and Harry walked into the room. "Sorry we're late, Pop." Bruce said, walking up behind the office bar. "Harry had an accident. He was born."
"Heh! Heh! Heh!" Harry laughed sarcastically as he sat on a stool beside the bar. "You're a comic genius."
"Look," Sykes said, quietly. "All I'm sayin' is, the kid ain't exactly no killer."
"My Harry IS a killer! Ya hear me!" Lino said angrily. "A cold blooded killer! Look at him!"
Sykes and Lino looked at Harry. The young griffin took no notice and spun around on his chair. He looked more like an innocent kitten than a ferocious Headfeathered Griffin.
Sykes gestured towards Harry approvingly.
Lino looked from Harry to Sykes. He muscles bulged under his fur. "That it! THAT'S IT! You are OUT!" he shouted. Lino gave Sykes one of his famous I'm-a-griffin-and-I'm-going-to-devour-you-whole looks.
Sykes panicked, blowing up like a balloon. Some of his feathers fell out all over his body. He hated it when he panicked and puffed up like this. It was embarrassing. Besides, it made him itch.
"What!" Sykes gasped, hovering in the air like a balloon. "Whaddaya mean, I'm out?"
"You're fired!" Lino swatted Sykes hard, sending him flying over to the other side of the room and making him crash through the wall. "And on top of that, you're gonna have to start payin' me."
"For what?" Sykes asked.
"So that nothin' happens to that little Draco Wash of yours." Lino sneered.
Sykes wriggled out of the wall and darted out of the room as fast as his wings could carry him. If Lino thought his sweet, good-natured son Harry was going to be able to take over the city, the old man was nuts. Sykes wondered how long it would take him to find that out.