Future Tense: Cry Havoc

by armesanNMU

The premiere of the alternate universe based off of the canon episode "Future Tense". Oberon is gathering his children back to Avalon, and he has set his sights on one Alexander Xanatos. With Goliath and company still missing, can Alex be saved?

1. Chapter 1

Previously on Gargoyles…

The fiery portal closed moments after the Phoenix Gate had entered it, disappearing in a flash of blinding light. For a few moments, Elisa and Angela could only stare in shock at what Goliath had just done.

"I'm sure you're going to explain this, right?" Elisa wondered, as Goliath picked up the oar and began rowing the skiff once again.

Goliath gave a sort of half nod as the skiff began moving again, surrounded in its continual mist of fog. "I had a nightmare, Elisa. Now we must get home and make sure it does not come true."

-Future Tense

"The time of the Gathering approaches. Oberon wants his children to return to Avalon," Banshee mused, floating above Goliath, Elisa, and Angela, her long lavender hair blown by a perpetual invisible wind. Her voice twisted in disgust at the mention of this Gathering on Avalon, but then she smiled as she continued, talking more to herself than to her captives. "But I like it here."

-The Hound Of Ulster

There was a sharp grunt of pain from Fox as she turned away from the cage where the Matrix was housed; calling her mother's attention almost immediately.

"Anything wrong?" Anastasia asked, concern for her daughter evident in her voice, as Fox was well into her pregnancy.

Fox turned around and grinned at her mother. "Your grandson just kicked me."

-Walkabout

"Hey, he'll come back. He has to," Brooklyn said, more to himself than the others. With Goliath gone, he knew that by the chain of command, he was supposed to be leader. But to be leader meant to admit that Goliath was never coming back, and honestly, Brooklyn wasn't sure that he was ready to handle the burden of leadership. Jersey, perched on the stone railing, sighed and twirled her tail around one of the posts.

"I wish I could say you were right," she said hoarsely, trailing off in thought. She didn't need to finish what she had started to say. It was evident.

"But what if he doesn't?" Broadway asked, stroking Elisa's cat gently.

-Kingdom

Oberon walked inside the castle gates, stepping foot in his home for the first time in over a thousand years. Titania, with her arms around Oberon's, walked in sync with him, a smile playing on her lips. To Titania, Oberon replied with his own grin. "And now my lady-wife, now it is time for the Gathering."

-Ill Met By Moonlight

To the untrained eye, the Island of Avalon was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a simple isle floating in the vast ocean, populated by trees, a mountain or two, and perhaps a few animals, but eventually it would be discovered that Avalon was on no map, and those few animals were nothing like anyone had ever seen. For on Avalon, lived gargoyles. For the last thousand years, a small clan of gargoyles has lived on the island with their human protectors, as oblivious to the outside world as the outside world was oblivious to them. The nightscape around the island was typical, as far as typical went, now that Oberon and Titania had returned to their island home. The gargoyles still remained, coexisting with the rulers of the fae and their children, who had been summoned to return home.

A lone gargoyle swooped in over the island, coming back from a night of patrol around the island. His usually quiet home was rather eventful tonight, as tonight marked the near completion of the Gathering. Gliding smoothly over the land, below he could see the line of lights, torches held by the gathering children of Oberon. As he neared the castle, more of his brothers and sisters, also returning from patrol, joined him as they passed the line of fae and took their places amidst the castle parapets. Some more of the clan were standing guard at the gate towers, armed if for any reason, the castle met with hostility, while the fae slowly processed into the castle.

Among the gathering fae were some familiar faces. One could see the familiar face of Coyote, from Arizona, Anansi, from Nigeria, Grandmother from Canada, and even Anubis from the pyramids of Egypt. The line of fae lead throughout the castle, underneath the galleries and balconies where some of the fae, already acknowledged by Oberon to have returned, were mingling with some of the gargoyles with which they now shared their home with. This was seen all the way into Oberon's throne room, where at the head of the line stood a fae adorned with heavy fur on his shoulders and a helmet akin to the Norse warriors, approaching the throne in which Oberon sat.

"Avalon welcomes its children home," Oberon proclaimed. Then he added as an afterthought, "Oberon welcomes his children home."

As he said this, the Norse warrior approached the throne, kneeling down on one knee before the Lord of the Fae, paying his respects with a kiss on the top of Oberon's outstretched hand. When he lifted his head, Oberon smiled at the warrior.

"Ah, Odin. I see you have recovered your lost eye."

Indeed, it was Odin, the Norse god, no longer missing his left eye, courtesy of a run-in with Goliath and his companions in Norway. Odin smiled as he stood up. "And the beauties of this island, thanks to you, my lord."

The serenity was shortly lived, for not moments after Odin had spoken, the room filled with a green light, originating from the back of the room. Attention drawn to the light, the occupants of the room, both fae and gargoyle, were hypnotized as the light, at the moment no larger than a firefly, floated up towards the front of the room, where it exploded into a flash of brightness, and took the shape of four women, three of them holding the fourth clearly against her will. The captive woman, bearing a familiarity to the Banshee of Ireland, shrieked wildly, trying vainly to escape her captors.

"Release me!" she yelled, thrashing about. Her three captors said nothing but complied, and promptly let go of the struggling fae woman, dropping her down to the ground with a resounding thud. The result was rather entertaining for the other fae in line, who couldn't help but laugh at the unfortunate lavender haired woman. Picking herself up, Banshee's yellow eyes narrowed in dangerously at her fellow fae, her three captors forgotten. "You dare laugh at the Banshee?!"

"You always were too high strung," Odin grinned, chuckling from his place off to the side of the stairs approaching Oberon's throne.

Banshee glared dangerously at the Norse god, fists balled up at her sides, rage building up inside. "High strung? I'll show you high strung." Her threat made real, the Irish siren let loose with an ear-piercing shriek, high enough to shatter glass. Odin, to whom this cry was targeted at, cringed, covering his ears in pain to block out the song, knees bent as he backed away from Banshee. In retaliation, Odin gritted his teeth and removed one hand from his ear, and in one grand swooping gesture, unleashed a blast of snow and icy wind at the siren.

"Let's see you weather this, harlequin!" Odin cried, beckoning the blizzard at Banshee, who upon being struck by the blast, was forced to her knees, trying to protect herself from the wind. Realizing the futility of using simply her arms as a shield against the wintry elements, Banshee's siren cry increased, forming a sort of vocal barrier to fight back Odin's attack, until the Norse god shattered it with a lightning bolt. With both the blizzard and barrier destroyed, the two faced off, Banshee shrieking still, until it suddenly deepened into a menacing roar.

Her form changed as quickly as her voice, the shape of the pale maiden rapidly being replaced by her alter ego, the Crom-Cruach Death Worm. Segments of the worm's body replaced her human-like form, her face jutting out into a huge gaping jaw, filled with rows of teeth that could have easily impaled a car. Claws replaced hands and multiplied down her body, shifting into rows of legs on her lower half. With the transformation complete, Banshee stood twice as tall as Odin, and lunged at him, her jaws coming within a hair's width of his skin. Though an aged man in appearance, Odin was as able bodied as any warrior, and managed to dodge the giant form of Banshee, putting enough distance between the two of them to counterattack.

Being a creature of magic himself, Odin's body began to change as well, the white fur on his shoulders fusing with his body and rapidly spreading across it, covering what used to be fingers and now were three inch black claws. His face elongated into the muzzle of a bear, jaw lined with steel-trap teeth, and muscle building underneath what was once armor, and now was a coarse coat of white fur. Fully transformed into his polar bear state, Odin leaped at Banshee, teeth and claws bared for the kill. In a flash, the Crom-Cruach was wearing an enraged polar bear around its neck, thrashing about wildly to try and get him off. Odin only persisted by digging his claws and teeth deeper into Banshee's thick neck.

Oberon, who for the entire time had been watching with interest, smiled gleefully as the two giants clashed before him. "Marvelous sport! Excellent!"

With a final savage thrash, Banshee threw Odin from her neck, sending the five-hundred pound polar bear flying into the corner of the room, where Oberon's mirror resided. The impact rattled the very foundation of the castle, and came dangerously close to toppling the mirror. Seeing the imminent damage that would be caused should the fight continue, Oberon held up a hand to Odin, who was in the midst of regaining his bearings. "Enough."

Odin, either choosing to ignore Oberon, or too caught up in the blood lust, got to his feet and growled at Banshee, charging again at the huge worm, a bulldozer of muscle and fur. The two immortals clashed again, a frenzy of tooth and claw, Odin trying to maul Banshee, and Banshee attempting to get in close enough to use her deadly fangs. Their dance took them back in front of Oberon's throne, where the Lord of the Fae proceeded to end the feud.

"Enough I say!" Oberon roared, standing up from his throne and releasing a blast of green light. When the light had cleared, the room was silent, all roars and impacts silenced, as Oberon had encased both Odin and Banshee in ice, stopping them where they stood. Oberon, pleased at the result, smiled. "That's much better," and then with a wave of one hand, muttered, "Revert."

Another flash of his magical light reverted both immortals to their humanoid forms, any traces of worm or polar bear gone, but still trapped within their icy prison. Stepping up to Banshee, Oberon sighed as he spoke. "Banshee. You were called to the Gathering and you disobeyed. Have you anything to say in your defense?"

Banshee, being frozen in ice, could say nothing. Because of this Oberon's smile didn't vanish as he continued, walking circles around the accused fae as he judged her. "I thought not. You pride yourself in your siren voice. That pride has lead to this transgression. So we would remove your voice until we hear true humility from your silent plea." Pointing a finger at Banshee, Oberon carried out his sentence, placing a magical barrier on Banshee's mouth, muting her from any spoken words as the ice melted from around her and Odin. Once freed, both Odin and Banshee took their leave of Oberon, Banshee attempting to pry the barrier from her mouth, though ultimately in vain.

Sitting down again in his throne, Oberon's attention was quickly called to another matter as the three women who had been Banshee's captors, floated down to land in front of Oberon. They were completely identical, down to the robes they wore, all with fair skin and wearing pale blue robes and slate-gray shawls. The only identifying difference between them was their hair color. One had jet black raven colored hair; the second was a golden blonde, while the third had a mane of platinum silver hair. All were, by human standards, very beautiful, not bearing the blue skin of Oberon, or the animalistic looks of some of the other fae. Everyone knew them as the Wyrd sisters, and knew that while beautiful, they were spiteful and manipulative witches.

"The Gathering is nearly complete, my Lord Oberon," the blonde fae, Phoebe informed. Her sisters, Selene and Luna, continued for her.

"Save only for Queen Titania," Selene said. Then, more harshly, Luna finished the thought.

"And your servant, Puck."

Oberon acknowledged them with a nod. "My Queen comes and goes as she pleases. Puck is another matter. He forgets that he is mine to command," Oberon growled, clenching a fist at the mention of the trickster fae.

"We could hunt him down for you, Lord," Luna grinned rather sadistically. Her sisters seemed in agreement, enjoying their roles and Oberon's huntresses. Oberon, however, stood up and went over to his mirror, mulling over the options he had.

"Mmm, no. You three have done quite enough. I would prefer to fetch the Puck, myself," Oberon said, paying no attention to the Wyrd sisters as he faced his magical mirror, which had nearly suffered fatal damage none too earlier. Waving a hand over the glass, Oberon's powers shifted the image of his reflection to that of another room, where Princess Katherine, in her aged years, sat by a burning fire reading a book. At her feet, sleeping on the ground was the gargoyle dog Boudicca, one of the eggs that had been rescued from Castle Wyvern after the massacre. Through a combination of his own will and the magic of the mirror, when Oberon spoke, Princess Katherine, though located walls and walls away from Oberon, heard. "Princess, we require your best tracker. We would borrow Boudicca."

Katherine, still not used to the magics of the fae, jumped a little upon hearing Oberon's voice in the air, but settled down when she realized who and what it was she was hearing. Boudicca, hearing her name, woke, and got to her feet. "O-of course your majesty. I'll bring her to you," Katherine stammered, putting her arms around the gargoyle dog, preparing to lead her up to the throne room.

"No need. We thank you, Boudicca, come," Oberon beckoned, dismissing Katherine's offer. There was a moment where nothing happened, just before Boudicca simply stepped through the glass mirror and into the throne room to Oberon's side. Kneeling down, Oberon patted the dog's head, conjuring a golden flute into his other hand. "Find me the one who crafted this," Oberon told Boudicca, offering the flute, recognizable as one of Puck's creations, to Boudicca.

She sniffed the flute a few times, picking up the scent from the flute, and as though confirming what Oberon had requested, let loose with a long howl. Standing up, the flute melted into the green magical light in Oberon's hand and lashed out, fastening itself to Boudicca's neck just as she turned to leave. "Now we journey to the mortal world," And then to the fae still standing in the throne room, he said, "Stay put. This won't take long." With that, Oberon walked towards the mirror disappearing into the glass just as Boudicca had when she had come from Katherine's room, only now they walked into an image of the New York skyline at sunset, in search of Puck.

Eerie Building
Manhattan

The Eerie Building, headquarters to industrialist David Xanatos and his wife Fox, was easily one of the largest buildings in the city, if not this part of the world. While mostly offices and staircases, the top floors were sealed to the public, as they were connected to the reconstructed Castle Wyvern that now stood atop the proud building, and served as the Xanatos' home and headquarters. Just below the rooftop where the castle began was a section constructed like a greenhouse, containing an elaborate park-like garden, which had small rivers racing through some of the trees and plants. Placed between sections of plants and waterfalls were walkways and railings, serving as a sort of walking tour through the gardens. Up atop the balcony that overlooked the lower levels were the elevators leading to and from the other floors, which were normally rather vacant. Tonight, however, they were populated by several visitors to the Eerie Building, two men and a woman, who could not keep herself from pacing. The group of three seemed impatient, as though waiting for some news.

The pacing woman was easily into her fifties, and had shoulder length brown hair that fell in locks down her back, occasionally falling over her shoulder along the jade green suit coat she wore with the matching skirt and blue blouse. The two men could not be more different from each other, one being bound in an electric wheelchair, and bearing the looks of an aged and decrepit old man, though in reality he was no older than the woman. Stricken by illness, his health had rapidly deteriorated over the years, aging him faster than normal. The other was much younger, possibly into his mid-thirties with jet-black, slicked back hair. He stood rigid and upright, his pose causing his chest to puff out a little, his suit trimmed and clean. The wire frame glasses that rested on his nose only increased the expressionless attributes of his posture, as it was rare that a smile ever crossed the square-jawed expression.

Whatever private thoughts that were running through their heads was abruptly interrupted when the elevators nearby announced the arrival of two more people with a resounding ding. The doors had barely opened when the occupants began speaking and exiting the elevator.

"Right this way, sir." Leading the way, the tall, rigid, blonde man lead the older occupant out into the gardens, where the other three were waiting. Bearing a striking resemblance to the black haired man at the side of the wheelchair, he too wore wire frame glasses over a sharp nose, and had the same rigid expression across the square face, his blonde hair slicked back in a similar manner. This man, however, was only wearing a white dress shirt, lacking the suit coat of the raven haired man, and his left hand was permanently clenched into a fist that had been frozen in stone, clearly visible due to the rolled up sleeves of his shirt. Behind him came an older man, appearing to be in his sixties, his hair bearing streaks of white throughout the gray, and a bushy moustache across his upper lip. Wearing a tan suit, he seemed to come from much humbler backgrounds than the finely dressed woman and black haired man. Continuing to speak as soon as they had exited the elevator, the blonde man, Owen Burnette, gestured towards the three people already waiting in the area. "Petros Xanatos, this is Halcyon Renard. Fox's father."

The gray-haired man, referred to as Petros, approached the aged man in the wheelchair, his hand extending to grasp his in a hearty handshake. He smiled as he greeted the wheelchair bound Renard. "A pleasure to meet you at last," Petros proclaimed, his voice gruttled slightly by an accent of some sort, seeming to be of Eastern European origin.

In response, Renard nodded and indicated the black-haired man behind him. "This is my aide du cant, Preston Vogul." Petros did a double take when he looked up, seeing almost immediately the uncanny resemblance between Vogul and Owen Burnette.

"Ah…uh, are you two related?" Petros inquired, a finger pointing between the two men, who interestingly enough, when standing side by side, resembled a male version of the Wyrd sisters, Luna and Phoebe. Owen smiled while glancing at Vogul next to him. Vogul, on the other hand, adjusted his jacket and proceeded to defend himself.

"I assure you sir, we are not," Vogul said stoically, soundly vaguely offended.

"And might I present Fox's mother, Anastasia Renard," Owen offered, indicating the woman, who had stopped pacing with the arrival of Owen and Petros. She held herself with elegance, but at the same time, gave the impression of importance. She smiled slightly as she replied to Owen's introduction.

"It's no longer Renard. I have remarried," Anastasia informed. Hearing this, Renard, her once husband, turned to her in shock.

"Remarried?" he asked, taking her hand. Anastasia didn't object, and only looked down at the aged man. "When? Who?"

"My first husband," Anastasia said simply, shrugging it off as though it were nothing surprising. Owen, however, found this very surprising, as if the mere mention of Anastasia's remarriage triggered some alarm in his head.

"Uh, I-I-I have something to attend to. Elsewhere. Excuse me," Owen said, trying to cover any surprise that may have been seen and acting as though something important was waiting for him on the elevator. He quickly made his way to the elevator, trying to excuse himself from the situation as quickly as possible without raising any alarm from the visiting families. The doors slid shut without a hitch, taking its rider to some unknown destination. Being observant enough to notice the hasty departure, Petros and Renard turned to each other, and then to Anastasia, who could only shrug, unaware of what startled the usually unphased Owen.

They mystery of Owen's departure was short lived as seconds after Owen's elevator left, another arrived, announced by its routine ringing bell, and the mechanical hum as the doors opened. Its occupant hadn't even left the elevator before he started talking, as though what he had to say couldn't wait another minute. "You're all here. Excellent," David Xanatos beamed, stepping out from the elevator shaft as the doors closed behind him. He was out of his usual business suit and dressed in a doctor's scrubs, cradling a bundle in his arms, identity hidden by a blanket. He smiled as he approached his in-laws and father. "Come and meet your new grandson. Alexander Fox Xanatos."

The announcement drew the eager grandparents to him like moths to a flame, for indeed, wrapped in the blanket was an infant with a thin mop of carrot-red hair, mirroring that of the Renard's daughter, Fox. The room, previous filled with the trickle of water and the occasional comment, suddenly was abuzz with coos and good wishes, upon seeing their new grandson, born only hours ago. This day, above any other day, was the best day of their lives.

Clock Tower
23rd Precinct

The clock tower atop the police station in the 23rd Precinct was no different than any other precinct. At least during the day. Stationed on the parapets encircling the clock faces, were five stone gargoyles, each with teeth and talons bared in a battle-ready stance, tails lashing out behind them and wings spread wide to mimic the statues of demons. Normally the two empty parapets would be filled, but lately, they'd been left vacant, though the tower was too high up for many people to notice. It was sunset, and as the sun sank lower into the horizon, the shadow of night began creeping over the towering buildings of Manhattan, making its way towards the towering clock and its stone inhabitants. As it was summer, the night was slow to arrive, but none-the-less, darkness was still descending, edging its way over the granite bodies of the clock's gargoyles. The shadowed line between where daylight ended and darkness began crept over the gargoyles, one by one, beginning with the western face, and as the line crossed over the statues, they began to wake up.

At the seams of the statues, small creases began racing along the stone, deepening to cracks, and soon into gouges, groaning as the stone began to give way, and the once stationary gargoyles began to move. As the stone gave way, their ability to move increased, the moaning of stone being replaced by growls and soon roars as the stone surrounding their throats released. Pieces of stone chipped away, falling off as though the top layer had been chiseled away, only beneath it was not more stone, but shades of unique skin colors. Jaws snapped open, breaking the bindings around the heads, tails whipped around, throwing off the stone shell, wings receded inward towards their bodies and then flared open, talons broke free from their shells, and in one great explosion of movement, the statues came to life, greeting the night like any other, with a chorus of primal roars.

Shaking the remnants of stone skin from his back, Brooklyn, stationed in the center of the line of gargoyles, took at look over the edge of his parapet, shielding his eyes from the blazing orange-red hue that still lingered from the as of yet, unset shadows of daylight. Sighing mostly to himself, Brooklyn took notice of the humidity that still hung in the air from the apparently warm and humid summer day. "That heat wave is still with us," he groaned, looking out over the cityscape, taking note of the thick thunder clouds that were moving in with the help of a steady wind.

On the next parapet, Lexington, affectionately called Lex, looked up at the rapidly darkening sky, and the slight rumble of thunder. "Bronx would hate this weather," he muttered, looking over at one of the empty parapets, usually occupied by their dog, which they had named Bronx. Over on the other side of Brooklyn, a small gray cat, which had been living with the gargoyles in the tower for awhile now, hopped up to Broadway's parapet, rubbing against the teal blue gargoyle's taloned foot and mewing softly. Acknowledging the cries, Broadway leaned down and picked up the cat gently, cradling him in his arms and gently stroking his head.

"Cagney misses Elisa. So do I," Broadway mused, turning from the cat to the sky as he talked absentmindedly to himself.

From over on one of the western parapets, the golden form of Jersey leaped elegantly across the gap between the parapets and the balcony at the base of the clock face, not even looking directly at Broadway as she spoke. "I think its safe to say we all do," Jersey sighed, rolling one white eye in the direction of the city streets below as her wings caped themselves around her shoulders.

Hudson, the elder gargoyle on the eastern most parapets sighed upon hearing the mundane comments from the other clan members, and glanced at the other unoccupied parapet at his side. Goliath, Bronx, and Elisa had been missing for months now, and so far the only information on their whereabouts came from members of the Maza family that had seen them in some remote part of the world. Their latest report had been weeks ago from a London gargoyle named Griff, who had seen Goliath in London several weeks before that. Recently, no one had seen them, and the clan left behind was quickly losing hope of finding them. Lowering his wings and lacing the talons at the tips together around his shoulders, Hudson lifted his head to the thundering sky and muttered, "Aye. Goliath, where are you?" No one answered.

Central Park

Being only slightly after sunset, the famous New York park was not yet vacant of its daily visitors, one of which was jogging along the running path, as he had every other night. Coming up to a set of benches on the path, the jogger slowed to a trot and then to a complete stop, taking a moment to rest and recuperate for the remainder of his run. Reaching behind him, he pulled out a water bottle and greedily drank from, his throat parched from the run. Normally, this was nothing special, and it would have just been another night at the park, had he not seen the flash of green light appear out of thin air not a few feet down the path.

At first it seemed like nothing more than a firefly, a small speck of green light, until it expanded in an explosion of neon green, taking the shape of a rectangle edged by some invisible frame. Had the jogger known any better, he would've seen the parallel to Oberon's mirror in the frame of light. As if this magical light wasn't enough to startle the man, the twin shadows mimicking a tall man with a cape and an oddly shaped dog certainly were, as upon their appearance through the portal of sage, what water he had been drinking was quickly spit out in shock.

The two shapes, Oberon and Boudicca, stepped fully out of the mirror's portal, setting foot on the running path as the portal began to close, basically ignoring the jogger, who was now staring with an open-jawed expression of awe and disbelief. The mirror's frame remained until a final burst of light blinded the jogger, forcing him to shield his eyes. When he was able to look again, where the Elvin Oberon and gargoyle Boudicca once stood, was a normal elderly man with white hair and pale skin, and his great Dane on a normal everyday leash. No fae, no monster, no more green light from anywhere, just normalcy. Of course, there was a logical explanation for what the jogger had just seen, and to prevent such a hallucination from happening again, he dumped out what was left of his water, and continued on his way, breezing by the elderly man and his pet.

Watching him go, the white-haired man and the great Dane let him pass, none too concerned with what he had seen or did not see. Kneeling down, the man patted the Dane's head, whispering something in her ear. "Find Puck for me," Oberon whispered to Boudicca. Boudicca, heeding her master's command, led the way, just as behind them a trail of thunder and lightning began to brew.

Eerie Building

The normally quiet top castle floor of Xanatos' skyscraper was anything but, tonight. With the arrival of his son, Xanatos, his father, and the Renards were unable to keep their excitement contained, as they sat around the canopy bed in which Fox was sitting in, holding her newborn son. Alex, completely oblivious to the attention he was receiving, reacted as any other child would, by simply watching with interest, and playing with whatever came within arms reach.

"He looks just like David," Petros cooed, allowing Alex to play with his outstretched index finger. The aged man grinned as his grandson's touch, all bitterness forgotten for the moment.

"Yes, but he has my daughter's eyes," Halcyon retorted, from his place at the side of the bed, eternally bound to his motorized wheelchair. Anastasia, beside him, looked down at Alex in Fox's arms, smiling serenely at him.

"He's perfect. Aren't you my little prince?" she asked Alex rhetorically. Alex responded with a childish giggle, setting the grandparents off on another bout of affectionate comments. With Alex to distract them, no one noticed as Owen reappeared outside to doorway, and entered, making a direct b-line towards Xanatos, who was standing at the foot of Fox's bed and watching his wife and son.

Back in his full suit with the jacket and tie, Owen wasted no time in speaking to Xanatos. "A word sir," Owen said quietly, as to prevent the other occupants of the room from overhearing. "It is imperative that you do not leave Fox or your son alone with Anastasia."

Xanatos, ever the cautious and calculating man, raised an eyebrow at his attendant, wondering what he could possibly suspect from Fox's mother that would require him to stay with them, but a shrill and sharp wail from Alex distracted his attention back to the bed, where Xanatos watched Anastasia reach out towards Alex.

"Let me hold this angel boy," she requested, arms open as Fox allowed her mother to hold the infant. Anastasia, while gazing down at Alex in her arms, smiled as she spoke to the baby, her voice taking on a velvety tone. "Oh yes, my little one. You have so much to look forward to. Such marvelous potential."

Xanatos' sentinel gaze became a glare as he watched Anastasia rock Alex slightly back and forth, a spark of suspicion rising from both Owen's warning and the words spoken by Fox's mother. Remembering Owen, Xanatos turned back to where he had left him, only to find his attendant no longer there. A quick glance around the immediate area revealed nothing, nor any indication of where Owen had gone. He'd simply vanished.

Far below the excitement of the newborn child atop the castle floors of the building, the ground entrance doors swung open slightly, allowing entrance for the white-haired man from the park and his great Dane, known to be Oberon and Boudicca in disguise. They only made it to the front desk before they were stopped by the security guard.

"I'm sorry sir, but only guide dogs are allowed in this building," the guard said, stepping in front of Oberon's path. Oberon, coming to a stop and facing the guard, simply waved his hand through the air in front of the guard.

"But my pet and I have pressing business within," Oberon objected softly, inducing the guard into a hypnotic trance. Succumbing to the mind tricks of the fae, the guard's face became blank, and his voice monotonous as he repeated what Oberon had told him.

"You have pressing business inside," he stated blandly.

"And you have other matters to attend," Oberon finished, dismissing the guard with another wave of his hand.

"I have other things to do." Obeying the fae's commands, the guard turned his back to Oberon and Boudicca, mindlessly going back to his post, as though he'd never seen a man or a dog inside the building. The mind trick would subside in time, causing no harm to the guard, and allowing Boudicca enough time to lead her master up the stairs to the elevators, which took them up the full extent of the building, until they came to the top most floor.

The elevator doors announced their arrival with the typical monotonous ring, doors sliding open to release the two travelers into the main room that had once been the throne room of Prince Malcolm and Princess Katherine back in the medieval times of the Scottish castle. Now, with the relocation, the room had been remodeled into a master office, headed not by a throne, but a desk, flanked by several tapestries and suits of armor on both sides, the elevators taking up the north wall across from the windows on the south. Upon leaving box-like atmosphere of the elevators, Oberon smiled slightly to himself as he examined the Grand Hall.

"A pleasant conceit," he muttered to himself, taking in the blend of ancient and modern décor. Boudicca moaned slightly, looking around as well, tracking her quarry, and began to pull on the leash when Oberon stopped her. "What's this?" Being a fae not only made him a creature of magic, but he was sensitive to other magical beings as well, and the power he felt was undoubtedly familiar.

Boudicca, ever persistent in her search, again pulled on the leash in the direction she sensed Puck to be, but was once again halted by Oberon. "Puck can wait," Oberon told her. "Titania is near."

None too far from Oberon and Boudicca, the commotion in the bedroom surrounding Fox had begun to settle down. Xanatos, still keeping his sentinel stance, went over to sit down beside Fox on the edge of the bed, facing Anastasia, who was still holding Alex. She looked up at Fox, the first time in awhile she'd taken her eyes off of Alex.

"You look worn out my dear," Anastasia pointed out. Fox nodded a little in response.

"I am, a bit," she admitted, holding out her arms to take Alex back. Anastasia however, instead of giving Alex back to his mother, stood up and turned to Petros and Renard, who were standing off to the side of the bed.

"Alright you two, you can see them later. Fox needs her rest," she said, ushering the two men out of the double doors and of the bedroom. Petros and Renard, understanding as they were, complied without question, and left, getting one last glance at their grandson before the doors closed behind them. Turning back to Fox and Xanatos, Anastasia adjusted the blanket around Alex, the smile having not left her face. "I'll keep the baby while you sleep."

Suddenly, the warning Owen had given him jumped up in Xanatos' mind, as Anastasia began to leave while still holding Alex. Reacting on gut instinct, Xanatos leaped to his feet and literally threw himself in Anastasia's path, stopping her by grabbing her shoulders, as to avoid startling or waking Alex. "NO!"

Anastasia was frozen by shock at Xanatos' outburst, making it easier for Xanatos to take Alex back from her. Quickly amending his rather harsh demand, Xanatos cleared his throat as he cradled Alex in his arms and returned to Fox's side. "That's not necessary. We have a nurse."

"But David, I'm his grandmother!" Anastasia protested, as if hurt by his insistence to keep Alex with them.

"And you must be tired from your trip," Xanatos added, handing Alex over to Fox, who readily took back her son, but eyed her husband suspiciously.

"What's going on?" she asked Xanatos.

"Yes. What exactly is going on?"

The three remaining occupants of the room jumped at the sound of the new voice from the doorway. With lightning reflexes, they all turned to the direction from which the voice had come, finding in the doorway Oberon, having dropped his human guise, and a very gargoyle-looking Boudicca at his side.

The shock of seeing the blue skinned fae in the room was apparent on all of their faces, but Xanatos forced himself to shake off the shock of seeing a blue elf in his bedroom, and took a protective stance in front of Fox and Alex. "Who are you?!" he demanded, hands balled up into fists as if anticipating a fight. Oberon, ever arrogant, ignored Xanatos, and took a few more steps towards the bed.

"What are you doing here my love?" he said, unafraid of Xanatos. "Have you forgotten the Gathering?"

To everyone's surprise, Anastasia answered him. "I am "gathering" even now," she replied. Fox and Xanatos were stunned. From the way Anastasia and Oberon exchanged words, it was like they'd known each other.

"We discussed this, my dear. It is my law that we not directly interfere in human affairs. Let the woman keep her child," Oberon scolded light, glancing back at Fox, and Alex in her arms. This was too much for Fox to let go unanswered.

"'Keep my child'? Mother, who is this guy?!" Fox demanded, clutching Alex closer to her, and glaring at her mother, who averted her eyes to the ground when Fox referred to her as mother. Oberon, however, found this rather amusing.

"'Mother'?" he repeated, following it with a bout of laughter. "Oooho, Titania. What have you been up to?"

"Who is Titania?" Fox cried, becoming rather annoyed by being left in the dark. "Mother, explain yourself."

Xanatos, returning closer to Fox's side, glared at the blue fae and then at Anastasia, as she turned her back to Oberon and the young family. "This should prove interesting."

Oberon grinned slightly, mostly to himself as he turned to Anastasia. "More interesting than you know. It is time to drop this façade, my queen," Oberon said to Anastasia, who had secluded herself further away from the group. Lifting a hand and facing the palm up, Oberon blew gently over his empty hand, causing a cloud of sage green dust to appear in the air, directed towards Anastasia. The dust blew across Anastasia, who sighed half heartedly and closed her eyes as she spoke.

"As you would, my lord," she said sadly. Suddenly the room erupted in a flare of magical light, originating from the contrasting black shadow of Anastasia, until the light blinded the mortal occupants of the room. Oberon, unphased by the change in light intensity, only smiled.

"Much better," he grinned as the light grew dimmer, allowing Fox and Xanatos to open their eyes once again. Fox was in shock, staring at the person who stood in her mother's place.

"M-mother?"

The green skinned woman looked over at Fox. "You see me as I really am, child. Titania, Queen of Avalon. And this is Oberon. My lord and husband," Titania explained, indicating Oberon as he stepped up beside her. She proceeded to turn to the vacant wall opposite them and waved her hands in the air, manipulating her magic to change the images of stone wall into her life's story. Her explanation to Fox. "Oberon and I were divorced a millennia ago. With little to do, I have spent the last century studying the human magic men call science. Then, some years ago, I met Halcyon Renard. In him, I found my intellectual match. We fell in love, and we were married."

All while she was speaking the images shifted from the cobblestone castle wall to a magical slide show of a young Anastasia and Halcyon, a man as of yet to be bound by a wheelchair and illness. As the others watched, Titania continued. "Then you came along, Fox. Time passed. Halcyon proved too rigid to hold my interests. Truthfully, no one can, save Oberon. And so, we reconciled."

The images disappeared as soon as Titania ended her tale, and Oberon, as intrigued by this as Fox or Xanatos, nodded. "Fascinating, my dear. And does your daughter possess magic?"

Titania shook her head sadly. "Alas, no. Fox was raised among humans, and whatever magical abilities she might have inherited have withered to nothing."

"Can you be so sure?"

"I have seen her in crisis after crisis. She has a keen mind, but her magic, if she possesses any, has never come to the surface," Titania explained. Taking the moment of distraction the two faes seemed to be having, Xanatos stealthily stepped back near the headboard of Fox's bed and using his body to cover his movements, he reached behind the bed and tapped a small button, releasing a hidden door that housed a small laser pistol. Taking the armament in hand, Xanatos kept his hands crossed behind his back, as not to arouse suspicion, should either of the two faes know what a gun was. Titania and Oberon, oblivious to Xanatos' movements, continued to discuss Fox's fate.

"And what of her child?" Oberon wondered, taking another glance at Alex.

Titania gave him a distasteful look for a moment. "That is what I was addressing when you came in, my husband. Although the bloodline has thinned, he has great potential."

Jumping in, Xanatos to a small step forward. "With his pedigree, of course he does."

"He has magic in him. I would not see it die as did his mother's. It must be encouraged, nurtured," Titania pleaded, more to Oberon than Fox and Xanatos.

"This is ridiculous," Fox spat, glaring dangerously at her mother and tightening her hold on Alex. "My son will be 'nurtured' right here with his father and me."

Titania shook her head and turned to address Fox directly. "No Fox. The boy must be taken to Avalon where he can be properly trained in his mystical heritage," Then, changing her tone to a gentler one, she turned to Oberon. "If of course, you will allow it, my lord."

Oberon, taking careful consideration through the entire exchange concerning the fate of Alex, looked down at Titania with a calculated expression on his face. "As I see it, Fox has turned out to be, regrettably human. Thus we cannot interfere in her life." Titania, disappointed, hung her head low in defeat, until Oberon gently lifted her chin and smiled. "However, the baby is still of our blood. And if it pleases you to take him, you have my permission."

"NO! You can't have him!" Fox cried, turning her shoulder to Oberon and Titania, shielding Alex from them. Xanatos, taking the moment, took another step forward that put him slightly in front of Fox, positioning himself between the two fae and his wife and son.

"It's alright, no one is taking our son anywhere," he said. Fox, wondering what her husband was planning, looked up at him in confusion, until she caught a glimpse of the pistol still hidden behind his back. Keeping the smile to herself, Fox turned back to the face the two fae as Xanatos continued with his diplomatic approach. "Taking a child from his parents is the epitome of interfering in human affairs. By your own law, you cannot allow this."

Oberon glared at Xanatos. "I have made up my mind."

Fox grinned openly, one hand gripping the blanket on the bed. "Hm," she chuckled darkly. "Too bad for you."

Simultaneously, Fox pulled the blanket over her to shield herself and Alex and rolled off of the bed to take cover behind Xanatos, who pulled out his pistol from behind his back and fired at Oberon and Titania. The shot missed Titania, who managed to dodge out of harm's way, but Oberon took the full hit of the blast and was knocked back into a table near the windows across the room. Being an immortal, the shot did not kill him, but it did however employ enough force to crush the table under the combination of Oberon's weight and the force of the blast.

Taking the instant during which Oberon was stunned and recovering, Xanatos let loose with another round of shots, missing him by hairs, until Oberon regained his bearings and raised his hands out in front of him, creating a magical barrier that deflected the blasts that would have otherwise hit him. The deflected blasts, still as deadly, bounced back in random directions, some of which Xanatos had to dodge himself. One of them had been deflected at such an angle that it was aimed for and hit one of the canopy posts, burning it through and weakening the supports enough so that the weight of the canopy began to collapse the top of the bed. Titania, who was stationed at the base of the bed after dodging the initial attack, rolled out of the way just as the canopy collapsed. Fox, already out of harms way from the canopy, put some extra distance between her and the collapsing structure, shielding Alex from the destruction with the blanket.

Oberon, quickly tiring of the shots that were continuously fired at his shield, despite its reflective properties, took the momentary pause between shots and lowered the shield while at the same time implying his powers to seize the gun from Xanatos' grip, as Xanatos was unable to hold onto it against Oberon's powers. With the gun in hand, the shots ceased, and Oberon stood up, examining the gun. "Interesting toy," he commented, toying with the gun in his hands.

Xanatos, unwilling to give up merely because he was no longer armed, rose from his crouched position, taking off in a charge towards Oberon, preparing to tackle the Ruler of Avalon. Oberon, with his back to Xanatos, did not even turn to face him. "Boudicca?"

Having forgotten completely about the gargoyle dog that had been with Oberon, Xanatos' charge was abruptly halted when he was intercepted by Boudicca, who pounced on the man and pinned him to the ground in defense of her master. Oberon, done examining the gun, melted the weapon down to molten metal, so it would be unusable against him again. Going up to the immobilized Xanatos under Boudicca's talons, Oberon looked down at him, unphased by the shot that had hit him not moments ago. "You have fought for you child admirably against impossible odds. I hope you find some comfort in that," Oberon said monotonously.

Xanatos, enraged even more by the heartless comment, found new strength in the adrenaline rush, and managed to free one arm and punch Boudicca hard enough to throw her off of him. Free of the gargoyle dog, Xanatos charged again, this time from a much closer distance, arms raised to strike the fae lord. Oberon, still unphased, extended his index finger and literally poked Xanatos lightly in the chest. "I would not see you damaged further," he explained as his magics turned Xanatos from living breathing flesh and bone into a crystallized statue at Oberon's touch. Xanatos froze in place, unable to move. Fox, having watched this, gasped in horror at her husband's transformation.

Titania, near enough to Fox to see her horror, reached out towards her, only to be shunned by an angry arm. "Get away from me!" Fox cried, thwarting her mother's extended reach and throwing off the blanket. With Alex still in hand, she ran from her mother to Xanatos' side, gently stroking his crystallized cheek sadly. "David."

"We are not without a heart, child," Oberon said as he walked past Fox and the frozen Xanatos. Titania followed suit, taking her place at his side, followed shortly by Boudicca, the three of them stopping and turning to face the couple once across the room. "You may have one hour to say good-bye to your son, before we return to take the child to Avalon. Forever."

Fox couldn't even bear to watch them disappear, as the mere thought of losing her son broke her down into tears. As the green light from the fae's departure faded, so too did the spell that had frozen Xanatos into a crystal statue, allowing him to revert to normal. Upon his release, Xanatos couldn't think of anything to do, except simply hold the grieving Fox. His mother's tears waking the slumbering baby, Alex began to cry, only adding to the chorus of wails emanating from the destroyed room. Xanatos' mind began working frantically. He had one hour before he would lose his son forever to a pair of elves. He had to do something, and this was one fight he could not afford to lose.

Clock Tower
23rd Precinct

Recently, life at the clock tower had been rather routine, consisting of menial chores and lazy nights. Aside from the incident involving Fang down in the Labyrinth and the unexpected arrival of Griff and King Arthur through a magical portal in search of Excalibur, there was little else to do but wait and hope that Goliath would return. The gargoyles had cut back on their patrols, only sending one or two of them out on their nightly sweeps across the city, leaving the rest at home to wait for Goliath. There was little reason to have all five of them out on patrol.

Tonight was no different. Broadway and Hudson were gathered around the T.V., Hudson residing in his favorite and only recliner chair, and Broadway stationed on the floor with a bowl of popcorn he'd conjured up, watching the late news intently, learning what he and the others had missed during their sleep. One such announcement caught their attention immediately, and also those of Lex, who was tinkering away on some gadget at his workbench, and Brooklyn, who was in the middle of feeding Cagney. Jersey was no where to be found inside the tower.

"This just in," the news anchor announced. "Billionaire industrialist David Xanatos and his wife, former television star Fox, both of them ex-convicts, have announced the birth of their son, Alexander Fox Xanatos."

Brooklyn, after setting down the bowl of cat food for Cagney, looked up and over her shoulder towards the television set. "Oh this I gotta see."

Lex, having heard the bit about Alex as well, grinned and hopped off his chair, scurrying over to where his rookery brothers were gathered around the T.V. "Me too!"

"Me three!" That had been Broadway, who had gone to refill his popcorn bowl, but returned upon heard the announcement about Alex.

"Get a good look ladies. In twenty years this may be the face of the world's most eligible bachelor," the anchor said, voicing over a picture of Alex, cradled in Fox's arms, taken earlier that day.

Hudson, in possession of the remote control, grinned as he snapped off the screen. "Well lads, what do ya think of that bit o' news?"

"Why do I have a feeling that that little baby is going to be big trouble?" Brooklyn remarked rhetorically. As if to answer his question, a boom of thunder and flash of lightning erupted outside, shining through the glass of the clock face and illuminating the usually dimly lit interior of the tower. Cagney, who had up until now been peacefully eating his food, suddenly jumped, hair raised on his back, claws extended, teeth bared, as if anticipating an attacker. Hissing and snarling in the direction of the door to the tower, the gargoyles, with their alert sense of danger, leaped to their feet, taking an instinctual battle stance.

Hudson, out of habit, drew the sword at his side, flaring his wings menacingly and glaring at the door with his good eye. "Who's there?!" he roared. The others, behind him, prepared to launch a surprise attack when no one answered, and a winged shadow appeared at the peak of the staircase. Dangerous growls could be heard from the other three gargoyles behind the elder, as the winged shadow took another step forward and spoke.

"Hey, easy guys. It's just me." The group of four suddenly relaxed a little, Brooklyn shielding his eyes to block out the light that foreshadowed the staircase and blotted out the shadow's features.

"Jersey?" Brooklyn wondered, squinting a little to see better. It was indeed Jersey, though slightly wet from the storm outside, white hair matted down against her head and a few strands draped over the brim of her Bavarian crown and across her petite bird-like beak, covering up one of the sigma marks around her eyes. Shaking off what she could from her wings, she fearlessly leaped off the edge of the high staircase and glided down to where the others were.

Hudson, breathing a heavy sigh of relief, replaced his sword at his side and glanced at the young gargoyle. "Ya have a knack for getting the jump on us, lass."

Jersey smiled sheepishly and shrugged helplessly. "Unconscious habit I guess."

"Any sign of Goliath or Elisa?" Broadway asked hopefully. It was another routine question. Jersey, sadly, shook her head.

"No, sorry. Hey, did you guys hear about the Xanatos baby?"

"Yeah. It was just on," Lex piped up. "Who'd have thought that Fox could actually handle being a mom?"

"Or Xanatos being a dad?" Brooklyn mused lightly.

"I pity the kid," Jersey muttered, wringing out the end of her ponytail.

"Don't be so hasty to judge lads," Hudson said. "This child may be a new beginning for Xanatos. Family is a very powerful thing. It can transform anyone, for better or for worse. Let's just hope that this Alexander will make a change for the better."

"Yeah. Maybe it'll bring Goliath and Elisa home sometime soon," Brooklyn added in as an afterthought.

Eerie Building

After the battle with Oberon, Xanatos wasted no time in securing Fox and Alex inside the center of the castle's top floor, which was to be Alex's nursery. Renard, after learning of the incident and Anastasia's true identity and intentions with Alex, had gone with Vogul, leaving Petros with Xanatos and Fox. Currently, Xanatos was on his way up to Owen's office, intending to find out just how he knew to warn him about Anastasia before even he knew that she was the Queen of the Fae.

Barging into his attendant's office, Xanatos found Owen at his desk, reading over some papers and something on his computer screen. "Did you know Anastasia was actually Titania?" Xanatos demanded harshly, storming up to Owen's desk.

Owen, as stoic as ever, only went about his business while replying. "Yes, I did," he said, taking out a computer disk from his hard drive.

"Then you knew that she came here to steal my son," Xanatos accused, anger building from his being felt betrayed. Owen looked up at Xanatos, and stood up, holding out the disk to Xanatos.

"No, but I feared it. This contains security measures which I've already implemented."

Again, the feeling of betrayal for not knowing of this, Xanatos eyed his attendant suspiciously. "Who authorized this?"

"I did sir. As soon as I learned Fox was expecting," Owen admitted. He picked up the stack of papers he'd been reading when Xanatos came in and handed them over to Xanatos. "Everything has been built to my precise specifications."

"Excellent," Xanatos mused, letting go of whatever anger he'd held against his friend and servant.

"There are two things to remember. One: Energy is energy, whether generated by science or sorcery. Two: Oberon is vulnerable to iron. His magics are powerless against it," Owen informed, turning his back to his employer to hide the rather forlorn expression he had when he spoke, and then turned to leave.

"I knew you wouldn't let me down, Owen," Xanatos crowed triumphantly, as if the battle was already won, but then he stopped, as Owen began to leave, rather than stay by his side as he had in other such predicaments. "Wait! Where are you going? We've got a fight on our hands!"

Owen sighed almost silently and turned once more, hand on the doorknob and already halfway through the doorway. "I'm truly sorry Mr. Xanatos, but this is one battle in which I can't risk becoming involved." And with that, he left, closing the door behind him.

Clock Tower
23rd Precinct

The storm, or what little had been of one, had passed about an hour ago, but the lingering thunder and lightning indicated that another wave of the storm was approaching, and this time, it would be worse than a simple sprinkling. Taking the momentary lapse in rain, the old quartet, consisting of Brooklyn, Broadway, Lex, and Jersey, were sitting out on the balcony, passing them time with simple conversation.

"You sure you didn't see anything?" Broadway asked again, ever hopeful for some sign of their missing comrades. Jersey raised an eye ridge at Broadway, as this was the third form of the same question in the past hour.

"Like I said before, I was up around the dockyards and I thought I saw some sort of boat floating in the harbor, but when I got there, it was gone. It was foggy all the way up through the warehouses. I saw tons of small rowboats, and there's a rental place for paddleboats not three miles up from there. If there was something, it was probably just one of their boats that got loose," Jersey explained.

"Did Matt hear anything about a missing boat?" Lex wondered.

"I caught up with Matt at his house, and told him. He'd been on the radio all night and no one reported seeing a boat down at the dockyards in the harbor."

"One can always hope," Brooklyn piped up.

Jersey sighed, resting her chin on one hand. "You guys don't know how much I wish that phantom boat had been Goliath."

"Believe me, I think we do," Brooklyn countered. There was a moment's silence where the four simply stood there in thought, until it was interrupted by a flare of lightning, followed almost immediately by a rumble of thunder, and almost fittingly, the beginning of the storm's next wave, a few raindrops spattering on the railing near where the gargoyles were.

"Talk about fitting the mood," Jersey muttered, mostly to herself.

Eerie Building
Front Entrance

With the beginning of the storm, the streets of the City That Never Sleeps were suddenly very vacant, the few people still outside racing for shelter, or reaching for their umbrellas or raincoats. One exception, however, was at the front of the Eerie building, where a single man stood stationary, facing the front doors. From behind, he looked like a normal everyday old man, but upon closer inspection, one could recognize the human guise of the Lord Oberon.

Suddenly, the sound of pounding rain was joined by the shrill cry of a fire alarm from within the building. By wordless command, Oberon had set off the fire alarm inside all of the offices where innocent people were working, which quickly herded them out of the building. Those who took the front exit ran by Oberon, some not giving him a second glance, but the few that did merely did a double take, wondering in the back of their minds why this man was standing in front of the building with his arms crossed, while everyone else ran from the supposed fire somewhere in the building.

Clock Tower
23rd Precinct

With the start of the rain, the quartet had only remained outside a few more minutes before the heavy rain began, driving them back inside their clock tower sanctuary. Brooklyn had picked up one of his books he'd been reading for the past week, and was somewhere in the last third of it, Broadway was at the "kitchen", or their reasonable facsimile of a kitchen, cooking what would eventually become their dinner, though no one wanted to know how he made their dinner, Hudson was at the T.V. with Cagney on his lap, Lex was back at his workbench, and Jersey was deeply engrossed by a Shakespeare play she'd found in the downstairs library. She hadn't put it down since she'd come back from patrol. All in all, they were at the yet another routine point in their recent nights, where each went about their own business, while secretly wishing that their missing leader would return before the night was over.

The only sounds that actually could be heard over the canned laughter of whatever show Hudson was watching was the soft pattering of rain outside, until the loud roars of thunder rocked the catwalk platform above the staircase. They, for the most part, could ignore the thunder, until one of the loudest claps they'd ever heard crashed through the night sky.

BA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The thunder nearly shook loose one of the cans of food from the shelf in the kitchen, and woke the normally unwakeable Cagney. Jumping slightly from the blast, those that had been reading looked up from their books and glanced at the door, which was opened just enough to keep an eye on the weather outside.

"Whoa!" Broadway yelped, grabbing the loosened can of food before it fell.

"You can say that again," Brooklyn grumbled.

"I haven't seen it storm like this since Griff and King Arthur came through that portal of Macbeth's," Lex observed, glancing out the door at the howling wind and pounding rain.

"Aye, only this one seems much worse. If there are magics behind it, they're far more powerful than an Macbeth can wield," Hudson said, mostly to himself, petting Cagney to settle to startled cat.

Jersey smirked, chuckling a little to herself. "Yeah, let's just hope that no one falls from the sky this time."

"I assure you, the sky is the least of your worries, gargoyles."

The reaction was instantaneous. The gargoyles heard the voice, their heads snapped around to locate the intruder, and they leaped to their feet, taking battle stances, and some flaring their eyes as they glared and growled at the figure of Anastasia, that had mysteriously appeared at the base of the stair case.

"Who are you? How did you get up here?" Brooklyn roared, stepping further forward than the rest of the clan, subliminally announcing himself as leader.

Anastasia smiled, and raised her arms in the air, revealing the fact that she was unarmed. "I come only to ask of your help, in the name of Avalon," she said, shifting her form from that of Anastasia to her real form of the green-skinned Elvin queen, Titania.

The group behind Brooklyn gapped when they witnessed Titania's transformation. "One of Oberon's children?" Broadway gasped, pointing one talon at Titania.

"No, gargoyle, I am Titania. Queen of the Third Race."

"You still haven't answered my question. How did you get up here?" Brooklyn snarled, eyes flaring empty white as he crouched into a cat-like stance of attack.

"Ask your leader Goliath, and your questions shall be answered," Titania said, keeping a steady stare on Brooklyn, who's eyes reverted to normal on the mention of Goliath. The others, upon hearing his name, were equally shocked, but Brooklyn held his ground.

"I don't know how you know about Goliath, but I'm the leader here, and you'll answer to me," he hissed, returning Titania's glare.

Titania could not have hidden her surprise even if she'd tried. Her shock was obvious beyond question when Brooklyn told her of Goliath's absence. "This cannot be. By Avalon's will he should have arrived some time ago. Both him and his companions should be here!"

Brooklyn raised an eye ridge, subconsciously wondering what she was talking about, but kept to the matter at hand. "Well lady, time to face facts. Goliath isn't here. Now what are you doing here?"

"My name is Titania, Queen of Avalon. I seek your help with the child of David Xanatos and my daughter Fox."

"What? Daughter? But Fox is human! Not one of Oberon's children," Lex jumped, stepping in front of Jersey and Hudson, who he was behind.

"True, my daughter is mortal, and thanks to her upbringing among the humans, any inherited magical abilities she possesses have long since faded away, thus making her seem like a true human. But her child, on the other hand, has great potential." Titania mused, pleading her case to the clan

"And what does this have to do with us?" Jersey asked, raising an eye ridge in Titania's direction.

"The time of the Gathering is upon us, and the boy must come to Avalon with the rest of the children. To avoid the same fate as his mother," Titania explained to the clan. "I wish no harm upon either child or mother, but I fear Fox may fight for her son."

Brooklyn's glare never faltered, and only intensified when it became apparent what Titania was asking. "And you want our help in stealing a kid from his parents?"

Titania raised an eyebrow skeptically, and then smirked. "Think of it this way gargoyle. The child is as much Fox's son as he is my grandchild. I would merely be relocating him with the proper family upbringing."

"There is nothing worse than stealing a helpless child from his parents!" Hudson barked, the notion of such an act unacceptable to him. Titania shifted her gaze to the elder gargoyle.

"Even if one of them is your enemy?" There was a collective silence, intertwined with a mixture of angry and annoyed growls from the gargoyle clan. Sensing their mistrust and resentment, Titania continued. "I ask only for your aide gargoyles, for Fox's sake as well as the boy's. Oberon is not a man of great patience, and any resistance on the part of the humans will certainly make things…more difficult."

"And you expect us to trust you, a complete stranger who appears in our home out of nowhere?" Brooklyn asked, indicating he had no intention of considering aiding Titania. "Give us one good reason why we should help you."

"And how exactly did you know about Goliath? We haven't seen him in months!" Broadway interjected. Brooklyn's hand went up to try and stop Broadway from mentioning Goliath again, but far too late to be of any use. Sighing inwardly, Brooklyn mentally noted to have a talk with everyone about mentioning Goliath's absence to strange fae that appear in the clock tower out of thin air. Titania turned to Broadway.

"Our paths have crossed many times. Over time I expected that Avalon's magic would have brought him here, but something apparently has gone awry. We met on Avalon. His clan's existence was threatened, and I helped to give them asylum within the land. Were Goliath here, he would vouch for this. All I ask in return for my help, is yours."

The mention of this clan perked Brooklyn's interests, as well as the others'. "His clan? What clan?" Brooklyn inquired of the Avalon Queen.

Titania grinned, and lifted one hand behind her, bending the air into images of her choosing, similar to what she had done in Fox's bedroom. "The gargoyles of Avalon were brought there by humans. I believe you knew them," she said, manipulating the clock tower stairs with her will.

The scenery that had once been the clock tower stairs suddenly swirled and faded into a dense, and at first glance, seemingly empty beach shore, until three figures on an elaborately decorated skiff floated through the misty scene, running aground on the sand. Stepping off from their vessel, a young Magus and Katherine disembarked, followed by the young boy, Tom. Brooklyn, Broadway, and Lex, after taking a closer look at him, recognized him as the boy they'd talked to the night before Castle Wyvern's Massacre. He'd tried to become friends with them.

At first this seemed pointless, until a second skiff floated ashore, having been tied to the first. Once through the mist, the clan could see the violet spotted eggs nestled in the hay occupying the boat.

"By the Magus!" Hudson gasped, realizing what he was seeing. Titania smiled gleefully as she shifted the images to the castle on Avalon, with a much aged Katherine and Tom, now fully grown and well past their prime, in the company of a group of seven or eight gargoyles, all near the age of forty or so. The images continued to shift, showing group after group of gargoyles, all living somewhere within the castle grounds of Avalon. If they'd counted, the Avalon gargoyles numbered twenty-eight, of the thirty-six eggs that had once occupied the Castle Wyvern Rookery.

"The eggs?" Lex muttered, transfixed by the images of the rookery they never knew.

Jersey, furthest back in the group, staggered back a few steps from the images that haunted her vision. Being from the same rookery herself, she'd grown up believing that she and her seven rookery siblings were all that survived. Before now, she had been the only survivor. "Impossible," she whispered. Titania, still manipulating the images, looked back past Brooklyn and Hudson, finally taking a long clear look at the young female, who seemed awestruck with disbelief and uncertainty. "You mean to tell me that the other rookery eggs, all of my brothers and sisters that disappeared, are alive?"

Titania, after studying Jersey for a moment, smirked again, realizing just who and what she was. "Ah, the white-eyed one. I see you survived after all. Fear not, your siblings live among us on Avalon," she said, lowering her arms and letting the images of Avalon's gargoyles fade back into the form of the clock tower stairs. "Aside from your young female friend and her other seven siblings, all of your clan's eggs survive on Avalon."

"And Goliath?" Brooklyn wondered again, thinking that if Titania could know so much about the fate of their lost rookery, perhaps she knew more about Goliath than she was letting on. Unfortunately, Titania shook her head.

"I know not where Goliath is. It is the will of Avalon alone, that decides when he returns, not mine," Titania said. Then, more to the matter at hand, she added, "I only hope you will be able to decide a course of action in his absence."

"So you expect us to help you kidnap Xanatos' son because of some bargain Goliath made with you over the fate of our brothers and sisters?" Lex asked, as though he didn't understand the proposition Titania was implying.

"The choice is yours, but it would be wisest to help, rather than hinder our efforts to collect the child."

Brooklyn's hard glare returned, directed back at Titania. "And if we don't?"

Titania sighed, looking rather stoic as she spoke. "I'd hoped it would not come to that. If you choose to oppose Oberon's will, you will be obliterated."

"And what of the eggs? What will become of them?" Hudson demanded, taking a step towards the Avalon Queen.

Titania held up her hand to indicate Hudson to halt his intended charge. "No harm shall come to them, regardless of your choice, so long as Oberon has no quarrel with them." Then, more darkly, she added, as she faded away from the clock tower, "Though should you choose to be our foe, I cannot promise you the same."

Left alone once more in the clock tower, with only the pounding storm outside for company, the clan mulled over what had just happened. Broadway was the first to break the silence, turning to Brooklyn. "Guess you weren't that far off when you said the kid would be trouble."

Brooklyn groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead. "Man, I hate it when I'm right."

There was another awkward silence between the members of the clan, during which Brooklyn made his way over to one of the smaller stairs and sat down, head in his hands while thinking over the situation at hand. Hudson, seeing his inner debate, approached the young leader. "Well lad, what's our next move?"

Brooklyn lifted his head from his talons, but kept his chin rested on his open palms. "Well, judging by the looks of things, we have three options. We can either help Titania, or help Xanatos, or we can just stay out of this all together." The other members of the clan looked from one to the other, each unsure of what to do. "Any thoughts?"

After a moment's thought, Lex was the first to speak. "I say we just stay out of this whole mess. Since when has Xanatos deserved any of our help? And I'm certainly not looking forward to teaming up with Fox."

Broadway nodded in agreement, seeing the obvious logic in Lex's idea. "Lex is right. This is his problem. Not ours."

Hudson turned from the two young gargoyles back to Brooklyn, not seeming to be as enthusiastic about their choice. "I'll go with your decision, lad, but personally I don't think even the worst of men deserve to lose a child. Not like this."

Brooklyn sighed again, faced yet again with two conflicting options. So far two had opted to stay out of the affair, and one was in favor of helping protect Xanatos' son. Turning to the deciding vote, Brooklyn looked up at Jersey, who was still sitting back on the arm of Hudson recliner. She had her hands clasped together and was toying with her talons, wings hung low over her head, which was hunched over between her shoulders. She hadn't spoken since Titania had showed them the rookery eggs. Apparently this new fact hit her harder than they'd first thought. "Jersey?"

The other four members of the clan turned and looked back behind them, not realizing before now that she'd been back there. At the sound of her name, Jersey looked up, her dead white eyes seeming to have glazed over. Sighing, Jersey finally spoke. "For so long, I thought I was the only one, when really they were all alive. And if what Titania says is true, then it was because of her that they still live. All she asks, in exchange for her protection of them, is our help."

Lex nodded in agreement, glad that his vote to leave Xanatos, and particularly Fox, at the mercy of Oberon and Titania was agreed upon by the majority of the clan. "Yeah, so let's let Xanatos handle Oberon!"

Brooklyn was about to say something, but before he was able, Jersey rose from her hunched over position and hopped off the arm of the chair, stepping up closer to the group. The movement called their attention back to her, as she continued speaking. "But at the same time we'll have stolen an innocent child from his family. No matter what happened between Goliath, Titania, and my rookery siblings that does not change the fact that New York is our protectorate. And Xanatos' son is just another innocent baby in this city." Her eyes had lost the sad gleam from before, and were narrowed in determination.

Hudson subconsciously smiled, taking note of Jersey's actions. "The lass has a point," he said simply.

Lex, previously smiling, narrowed his eyes dangerously, glaring at Jersey as she took her place in the group. "But this is Fox we're talking about! You want us to help save the people who've tried to kill us?!"

Jersey looked over at Lex, an eye ridge raised. "I have no desire to help Xanatos or Fox, Lex! But what you're talking about is ignoring a kidnapping of an innocent! Gargoyles protect. Regardless of who it is."

Lex's eyes flared, and his temper exploded. Ever since he'd been betrayed by the Pack, Fox in particular, he'd harbored a deep grudge against any of the members of the Pack. The thought that his clan might actually help Fox was too much for him to accept. "We don't owe her anything! We help her and she'll turn around and stab us in the back, just like the Vikings a thousand years ago!" Lex roared, facing off against Jersey angrily. "But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?!"

"That's how MY brothers and sister died a thousand years ago!"

Everyone was silent, afraid to come between Jersey and Lex. Jersey had practically charged at Lex, her eyes flared a blood-red in contrast to their normal white, her voice distorted by the half-growl that rumbled from her throat. Almost complimenting her sudden outburst, a low clap of thunder shook the tower again, almost matching Jersey's growl. Lex, who'd never seen Jersey like this, suddenly backed down, eyes reverted from glowing white, his clenched teeth released as he realized just what he'd said to her. As soon as Lex pulled back, Jersey, still growling at him, stepped back and sat down on a chair that was stationed nearby, her eyes also reverting, but still narrowed in angrily, a low growl still rumbling from her throat.

"I-I-I had no idea…I just…"

Jersey's eyes suddenly relaxed, her threatening expression softening to the more forlorn yet determined look it had before the outburst. She sighed heavily, hanging her head low as though her near attack on Lex had drained her energy. "It's okay, Lex. I don't like this idea anymore than you do, but it's something we have to do. Whether we like it or not."

Finally, Brooklyn spoke up, trying to ease the still lingering tension by making a final decision. "Then I guess it's settled. We protect the kid," he said, getting to his feet, and turning towards the door. He turned around at the top of the stairs and motioned for the others to follow. "Let's go."

The clan followed their young leader, taking steps out into the howling storm. Ignoring the pounding rain against their skin, they took off from the clock tower balcony one by one, utilizing the abnormally strong air currents to glide in the direction of the towering Eerie building in the east. Two of the last to leave, Brooklyn flared his wings, preparing to take off when he stalled, glancing behind him at Jersey, who was just staring out into the open sky, in a sort of trance-like state.

Well, it's no wonder she doesn't talk much about her past, Brooklyn mused mentally. "Are you going to be okay?"

Jersey looked up to Brooklyn, smiling weakly as she climbed up on the balcony railing and spread her wings in preparation for flight. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine," she said, leaping off into the air before Brooklyn could reply. Watching the young golden female take off, Brooklyn only sighed, yet again, and took off after her, slowly taking the lead of the small clan of gargoyles as they flew towards the Eerie building, their aerial path lit only by flashes of lightning.

Eerie Building

The rain not only held no deterrents for the gargoyles, but also Xanatos seemed unaffected by the pounding rain. After Owen had left, he'd gone over the defenses given to him, and readied all that he could for the imminent battle with Oberon. Standing atop one of the castle towers, Xanatos stood alone, facing the empty sky and falling rain. His father, Petros, came out to join him.

"How could he desert me now?" Xanatos asked, not expecting much of an answer from his father. It was more of a rhetorical question, but Petros answered anyway.

"At least he left you well armed," he said, putting one hand on Xanatos' shoulder.

Xanatos sighed, pulling out a small remote from his jacket pocket. "In theory, anyway," he muttered, pressing one of the buttons. The resulting reaction opened a set of doors at the base of the building, one at each corner. From each of those doors rose two robots, one of which was fitted with a propulsion system that activated upon their release. The other stayed stationary on the ground. The robots with the jets propelled themselves up the sides of the building, stopping only when they came about five to six feet above the tallest castle tower, upon where their systems reconfigured to suspend them in midair, until the beams originating from the ground based units activated, in which the force of the beams held them up instead. The yellow cross-beams rose from the ground-based robots, connected with the top corner units, and then from their split to connect with each other, forming a protective fence around the entirety of the Eerie building. The open spaces between the beams suddenly filled in with a barrier shield, powered by the cross-beams.

With Owen's defense shield activated, Oberon, still down at the ground level and in his human guise, approached the newly erected shield. Curiously, he reached out and tested the shield, getting shocked in the process. A minor shock, which did little more than a static shock would do to a human, but it kept him out, and held its ground.

"Ooo," Oberon mused, rubbing his hand gently. "Impressive what these mortals can achieve with their science. Never-the-less…"

Stepping back a few feet, Oberon extending one arm, palm facing the force field, and released a blast of the magical green energy, sending it charging at the shield. Expecting it to allow his entry, Oberon only became more aggravated rather than impressed when his attack was deflected harmlessly. "You cannot thwart the will of Oberon!" he roared. Employing his powers of telekinesis, a car parked behind Oberon suddenly lurched from the ground, rising six feet off the ground in rhythm with Oberon's movements, and at his command, hurled itself at the invisible wall, crushing itself against the shield, which only totaled the car, and did not break.

Being New York, even though it was pouring outside, the streets were not completely deserted, so when the sound of a colliding car erupted in the middle of the night, someone naturally heard, and went to investigate. This particular someone, however, was Morgan, from the 23rd Precinct station, and a colleague to both Matt and Elisa. Having been charged with nighttime patrol, Morgan was dressed in a standard issue raincoat that bore his identity as a police officer. Hearing the car crash, Morgan naturally went to investigate, and at the scene discovered an aged man, Oberon, standing back and staring at the totaled car at the foot of the Eerie building. His first instinct told him that that man must've been in the car, and gotten out before he'd suffered fatal injury, despite that Oberon bore no signs of external injury.

"What's going on here? Were you in that car?" Morgan asked, running up to Oberon. As if on some sort of celestial cue, the car which had previously only been smoking from the crash, suddenly erupted in a ball of flame, the combination of twisted metal and a possible puncture into the gas line causing the explosion. Wracked by the concussion of the blast, Morgan stepped back, taking Oberon with him, out of what he thought was harm's way. After recovering, Morgan turned his attention to the "injured" Oberon, and waved a hand in front of his face, which was currently twisted into an expression of disgust. "Sir, you may have a concussion. Are you feeling sleepy?"

Oberon, for the most part ignoring the waving hand in front of his face, turned and glared at Morgan, the aide of the human trying to help him only annoying him more. "No, but you are," he growled, deepening his stare until his very eyes began to glow with his trademark sage light, the spell casting Morgan into an induced sleep, causing the poor man to collapse in a deep sleep on the sidewalk. Realizing that having every human in New York awake to possibly interfere in his efforts to take Alex, Oberon cast his gaze to the sky, raising his hands and bellowing out the simple incantations, "SLEEP! SLEEP! SLEEEEEP!"

At first, it seemed like nothing had happened, until the cars passing behind Oberon suddenly began to waver, and then careen off the road uncontrollably. Some of the harmlessly skidded off to the side, stopping at the curb, others hit lampposts at a slow enough speed to avoid injury, some into hydrants, and some into each other. Upon closer inspection, it became apparent why all these cars were suddenly colliding with one another. Oberon's sleep spell had indeed been cast upon the entire isle of Manhattan, and with the city asleep, those who happen to be in a moving car were unable to drive once under the spell. All across the city, the scene was the same, the cars on the streets had either crashed, or were simply slowing to a stop with their drivers asleep inside, people at home simply had fallen asleep where they stood or sat, and those at work were found collapsed on their desk. On the late news, the anchor had his head down on his desk, face buried in his arms in his sleep, as his viewers too were unconscious. Even Cagney, nestled in Hudson's recliner was asleep, parallel to the news anchor. Now, there was little to stop Oberon, save a simple barrier.

Inside the Eerie building, Xanatos and Petros had retreated to the interior of the building, watching the building perimeter through the security cameras, searching for any indication that Oberon's attack had begun.

"The hour is up. Has the attack begun?" Petros asked, nervous as to what this Oberon could inflict upon his family.

Xanatos shook his head, rubbing his chin in deep thought as he surveyed the area. "I can't tell. If it has, the force field must be protecting us."

And indeed it was, as some of the still moving cars veered off the road, and actually made contact with the force field, most ending up with little more than a fender bender or a crushed grill. Oberon, angered still further by the fact that getting by this force field was going to be much more difficult than he first thought, growled angrily.

"I am through playing games mortal! I will not be denied!!" he roared, dropping the human guise and regaining his true Elvin form. As though commanding the elements themselves, a bolt of lightning shot down from the storm clouds, striking Oberon directly, but instead of suffering injury from the strike, Oberon began to change his form, doubling, tripling, quadrupling his size, and becoming a giant that rivaled the size of the Eerie building. The huge Elvin lord leered in dangerously, a feral grin stretching across his face as he laughed maniacally, preparing to attack the building, and claim his prize. Alex.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Gargoyles © of Buena Vista.
Original characters © of me.