Gargoyles: The Alternate Saga
Chapter One
The story begins in the similar manner to the original storyline of Gargoyles but jumping ahead to part 3 to when the clan wakes up in Manhattan. From that point is where the events all start to take an unexpected turn, showing just how much one small decision can lead to different outcomes. ENJOY and RATE!
Disclaimer: All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SWETE-ANGYAL.
For every decision made in one reality, the alternate one is played out in another…
…this is one of them.
Aura: What if there were other worlds out there? Similar to our own but different in many ways. For you see, any action or decision made in one; the alternate one is lived out in another, and these actions can send certain individuals down different paths for a different plot, or a different fate.
*Castle Wyvern, 975 A.D.*
"So you see, pop," Xanatos concluded, "I am indeed a self-made man."
Fox stood by him holding his arm and rubbed his cheek with unveiled affection. "I'm so proud of you."
Petros remained stationary, unwilling to give his son the pleasure. "All right, mister big shot time traveler, you sent off your little letter before answering one important question. How do we get back home?"
David smiled. "Oh, all in good time pop" he replied carelessly, 'all in good time. For now," he added cockily, "we're in medieval Scotland. This is an event that isn't likely to happen again in your life. Why don't you take in some sights?"
"Any of which will have to be better than the one I am seeing right now." Petros' frostily replied. His eyes narrowed on his son for a moment and than walked away. David and Fox just watched him as he went not doing anything about it but smiling.
He didn't even want to look at him; such a disgrace. All of this, nothing but a staged set up for him to receive a fortune that he had no right to.
He sat down on one of the courtyard steps. Thinking and wishing that there was something he could have done to prevent any of this from happening. If only he had known about all of this before David received that coin.
Almost on cue, a moth flutter down and land right onto his hand. He looked at it for a moment before gently lifting up his hand to look at the little creature better and shifted his gaze on his son and new daughter-in-law as they made their way inside together.
"Any chance you can try to cause a time-altering-effect?" Petros asked the little insect before going to give its wings a gentle stroke but it quickly opened them and flew off into the night instead
*Manhattan, July 18th 1994*
Eyrie Building
What would seem like your normal summer night in the bustling city of Manhattan couldn't be said for the unfortante indivduals who were near W 57th St. and witnesses to the unravelling events that were occurring.
The huge debris was falling down fast and hard as it slammed onto the pavement, it was quite the unnecessary disturbance for anyone walking near the well-known Eyrie Building. As the debris continued to fall a cab even got impaled by a construction beam, both the driver and passenger got out in time. The policemen were quick on the scene and one particular was Detective Elisa Maza.
She was not happy at all when she heard it over her dispatch and even more so when she heard which building it was. "Cocky son-of-a-bitch." She muttered under her breath as she made a sharp right turn on the corner.
Getting out her car and looking up, all she could see were bright lights coming from above the clouds. Seeing another officer trying to control the crowd she rushed over to him and showed him his badge while asking him what was going on up there.
"Got me detective," The officer answered back, "Must be one heck of a party up there."
More explosions followed as well as more debris. Elisa took a step back only to be thrown off her feet by the impact of more debris crashing in front of her.
She got behind one of the big rocks while ordering the crowd back. "Or you'll wind up street pizza." She than notices what appears to be claw marks in one of the stones that has fallen. She narrowly dodges still more falling debris. A fire hydrant is hit, dousing the crowd. Maza looks again at the claw marks as the water spreads. "What could be strong enough to leave claw marks in solid stone?"
Several minutes later after it died down just as she promised a fellow officer she was going to find out what the reason; the real reason was behind all this and maybe to also find out what made those claw marks into the stone too.
Once inside the lobby, she didn't even make it all the way to the security desk when she was greeted by his aide-camp, Owen Burnett. "Hello," Owen said while straitening his glasses. "And you are…"
"Detective Elisa Maza of the 23rd Precinct," Giving him a quick flash of her badge, "I would like to have a few words with your boss about the little 'party' I heard taking place up top."
"I can assure you Ms. Maza it wasn't what it seemed. It was a most unfortunate accident," Stated Owen, "One of the newly installed generators in the castle exploded. Mr. Xanatos is quite willing to pay for any damages that might have -."
She wasn't buying it however. "Mr. Burnett, I heard automatic weapons firing up there now you can let me look the place over I can come back with a warrant and a lot more cops." Crossing her arms, "It's your call." Giving her a small smile, realizing this was one that couldn't be fooled easily.
He takes her up to the Great Hall to meet Xanatos. They walk into the center of the hall as Elisa gives the place a quick look around. "Must have one heck of a heating bill." She remarked as Xanatos came walking out.
"Detective Maza," He called out to her. "I just got off the phone with the Mayor to offer my profound apologies for what happened here."
"What exactly did happen here Mr. Xanatos and please don't try to tell me it was an exploding generator." Xanatos decided to show her the battlefield and they began to walk outside.
"Owen was a little confused. That's for the press. The truth is that my men repelled an invasion from a rival corporation trying to steal some of our new technology."
His ridiculous-sounding statement nearly caught Elisa off-guard as she let out a surprised gasp but quickly recounted it by leaning forward. "Repelled an invasion? You're a private citizen Xanatos; not a country."
"Detective, I am the owner of a multinational corporation, which is bigger than many countries you can name."
"Hey, your corporation is not the only one Xanatos; and so far they've never had problems 'repelling invasions'."
"True." He said pressing a button that opened a door leading out to the lower battlements. "But than again I do have some enemies." He gives her an amused smile and continues walking.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Elisa muttered to herself again before she followed him outside.
They weren't even outside for less than a minute when Elisa spoke out again. "You've got castle on top of your skyscraper? True, your company might be a bit bigger than some countries but that doesn't make you a king."
"On the contrary Detective; I thought it would add a unique finishing touch to my building."
"This must have cost a fortune to have built." She commented.
"Actually the price was astronomical seeing as how it's an actual authentic castle all the way from Scotland."
"Hold on. You mean to tell me that you decided to have a valuable piece of history ripped out of its ancestral roots and brought here for your own personal gain?" She asked standing firmly with her hands on her hips.
"Why not?" he simply asked. That was enough for Elisa to shoot her eyes wide for a moment. "You see unlike some people, I'm not afraid of opening my wallet and spending some money a bit."
She knew fully well who he was talking about and really didn't like the sound it. "No. It's just that unlike you, they have more respect for ancient artifacts." She stated. "So why spend a huge fortune on an actual one when you could have saved a lot more on having a replica one built?"
"Reason not the need Detective, I wanted it, so I took it."
She gave him a look when he turned back around. She didn't like the sound of that giving her another good reason to not like him.
They walked a little further down into the lower end of the courtyard and among all the rubble and debris; Elisa stops him again. "I assume that you have permits for the weapons I heard being fired up here."
"Of course." Xanatos simply replied.
Goliath stepped out from behind one of the towers on one of the higher parapets of the castle, watching them.
Elsewhere in the castle two of the other gargoyles were exploring the refurnishings and renovations of their old home. The two warriors found their way down the kitchen, via elevator. Both were taken in by all the strange devices.
"Oh, look at all this stuff its fantastic." The smaller one exclaimed as they started to walk through and look at everything.
"Yeah." Replied the bigger, bulker one as he tapped at one of the hanging ladles and watched it swing back and forth. "Too bad our brother didn't want to join us. He would have found this stuff interesting too." He looked over at 'little' brother who was sticking his head into one of the big saucepots. The smaller male's response was garbled, coming out all tinny and echoing from inside the large pot.
DING
The elevator doors opened and out jumped a red beaked male. He had declined on the invitation to go exploring with his brothers and had decided to look around by himself.
Until a few minutes ago, he had been in one of the hallways of the castle looking in some of the rooms that had been renovated into many different modern styles. He turned back and watched the elevator doors close. "What the hell was that?" he muttered to himself before making his way over to the balcony.
Looking up, he saw that he was now 300 ft or so _below_ the castle. The red male still couldn't believe a thousand years had passed since the time they were cursed. It was wonderous how much things had changed. Turning his attention back to the majestic view of this new place the gargoyle leaned forward and rested himself on his arms; shaking his head again at their fates. To the survivors of the Clan last night had been so so far away... His thoughts turned back to Scotland, wondering how much it had changed; what the area around where the castle had stood now looked.
A cold breeze blew by him and just out of habit capped his wings around himself, although he didn't really care of the chill; so much was on his mind.
"You are the last of your kind." Those words echoed painfully through his mind while he unconsciously stroked his beak. "No more watchbeasts, no more eggs, no more female gargoyles…" He thought to himself putting his hand to his head and the disheartened look on his face went even darker.
"No chance at ever finding a mate." He growled low in frustration; balling his hand into a fist and bringing it down strong and hard enough to make small cracks into the stone-balcony.
He looked over to his right and saw some clouds breaking and one very particular star burning brightly than any he's ever seen, looking at it he let out a sigh. "Any chance that I can find love with someone in this new world?" He asked in a weary tone, as if half hoping he'd receive an answer.
"AHHHHHHahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The high, piercing, _intense_ scream brought him out of his deep thoughts and he looked up to see someone falling down from the castle. He didn't get a good look at the unlucky person as it dropped past but from the screams the gargoyle could tell that it was a woman.
The red male without thinking dove after the falling female, keeping his wings tucked close to maximize his speed. If they hadn't been so high he never would have caught her; as it was he barely had time to check their fall once he did grab the arm reaching out to him. There were a number of screams at the sight of his gliding over gawkers still on the street with the strange woman dangling below him from one hand. Before the people on the street could do more than that the two of them were out of sight, blocked from view by the cornice work of a ledge overhanging the street about 50 feet up. If asked some of the witnesses would swear the winged 'thing' had flown around the corner, taking his 'prisoner' onto the darkened side street nearby.
Maza barely kept her feet after her rescuer let her go to drop onto the ledge but her eyes never left him as he backwinged to check his flight and landed a few yards away. Despite herself the Detective took a step back and started to look her rescuer over. She didn't get far past his big feet when the sound of another landing came from behind her and her head snapped around to see the big purple one she'd run into in the castle was standing behind her. She immediately put her back to the wall and looked from one to the other.
"Okay, okay, just take it easy," she said, her decade of dealing with stressful/dangerous situations keeping her voice steady despite her pounding heart and nervousness at her lengthy fall.
"What were you doing in my castle?" demanded the bigger one, leaning a little closer. Elisa shrank from him a little and he eased off.
"You can talk?" she gasped out. "Who, _what_ are you?"
"My kind have no need of names, but you humans call me Goliath."
"Your kind? You mean there's more than just the two of you?" Closed looks clouded both their faces and Goliath's expression darkened even more. "Barely," he ground out just before he turned away from her. The red one started to follow his lead.
"Wait, don't go," she said, and they both looked at her again. "Uh, look, we either need to get back down to the street, or up to the castle. Since you guys can fly-"
"We can't fly," cut in Goliath, "We can only glide on currents of wind. There are none strong enough here to lift us back up."
"So we're stuck here?" The two gargoyles looked at each other and the red one stood up from his crouch, nodding at Goliath. The bigger male nodded back and dug his fingers into the side of the building, beginning to climb. Elisa watched him for a second before the red one grabbed her under the arm and, despite being a smaller frame than the larger one; he lifted her easily and moved so she was against his back.
"Hold on," he said as her free arm matched the one he set over his shoulder and he too started up.
After a minute or so Elisa glanced down and gasped before grabbing tighter around the red one's neck.
He turned his head slightly and Maza could see the upturned smile/smirk on his beak. "Trust me," he said and the Detective relaxed her hold a little.
"I don't believe this," she muttered, thinking it was to herself. She was unprepared when her ...host chuckled.
"You have _no_ idea," he retorted and Maza's estimation of his intelligence rose a bit.
"Do we _have_ to climb all the way back up on the outside of the building?" She asked a few minutes later, a few hundred feet higher.
"Hm," he mused, "After you snuck into our castle like that and stood up to Goliath so readily I thought you more a daring female, not a spineless one."
"Hey!" she sputtered, "I'm plenty daring. I'm a cop!"
"Then be still, Lady Cop, and believe it when I say we're fine. If you want to keep your mind busy, why don't you tell me something of this wondrous place? We've never seen anything of such size in all our nights. Is this a city?"
She reacted to his comments immediately, despite her confusion. "Okay, first off, don't call me Lady Cop, all right? It's Detective Maza; Elisa Maza. Second; yes, you're right: this is Manhattan Island in New York City."
"Manhattan..." he repeated slowly, letting the word roll around his mouth.
"Yes. It's the island center of the five Burroughs that make up the city."
He paused in his climb and turned his head to almost look at her again. "Burroughs?"
"That's right. This area, a large river valley, was developed into a group of cities by the explorers who came west across the ocean more than 400 years ago and saw that it made a good area for ports to move resources back to the countries of Europe. Manhattan and four other principal cities around it were consolidated into the modern idea of New York city in the late 1800's; all of them have still kept-" Maza paused in mid sentence, halted by the befuddled look he was now wearing. "All that was new to you, right?" He nodded slowly, trying to wrap his head around the idea of humans having actually _crossed_ the ocean. "Let me go out on a limb here; you two aren't from around here; are you?"
"No. We were brought along when Xanatos brought our home, Castle Wyvern, here from Scotland." He started to climb again.
"Huh? He brought you here unknowingly; against your will?"
"Uhm, yes, I guess you could say that. We weren't of a mind to object when he did it."
The Detective was quiet for a few seconds. "...Listen, hmm, hey, you know my name, what's yours?"
"I don't have one. Goliath is the only one among us who does." He shifted his eyes up towards Goliath.
Elisa looked up too and frowned slightly. "What's makes him so special?"
He let out a nervous chuckle and smiled. "Uh, well, he does lead the Clan."
"Only the leader is allowed to have a name?"
"Well, no." He shrugged slightly. "It's never been our way in the Clan to take names; there was no reason to."
"Really, than how do you tell each other apart?" She asked.
"We look different." He answered, and she chuckled. "Yeah, but what do you call each other?" Maza felt his shoulders tense and there was a sudden crunch as the gargoyle dug one hand into the masonry deep enough to pull a piece out of the wall and crush it.
His voice was now growlly and colder. "What's wrong with calling each other friend?"
The reaction caught her off-guard. 'Ohkay, wrong question, Maza. Think of something else, something safer...' She looked around again, having almost forgotten what they were doing. Her body shivered again lightly and she almost clutched him tighter again.
By this point they had nearly climbed back to the balcony the male had jumped from originally. Goliath was a good bit higher, having moved around to the other side of the building and now able to walk up the slanted brickwork.
"Goliath!" Brooklyn called up to him. "Could you wait a minute? It's a little harder for me to keep pace with you while I'm carrying the... Detective Maza." She was about to respond to that when a sudden rush of wind caused her to loosen her grip slightly. Her companion moved them over to the ledge so Elisa could let go and relax on solid ground.
"What are you doing?" Goliath asked looking down at them.
"I'm not sure she would last the whole climb up to the castle, Goliath." He explained, walking over towards a spot below the bigger male. "I'm going to talk with her a bit, find out more about what she doing in the castle." Goliath's gaze moved between the two of them for a few seconds before grunting assent; he really didn't want the female up in the castle anyways.
"Very well, but don't be too long," He moved to the edge of the wall then looked over his shoulder. "Be careful with the female;" he added, "I'm not sure we can trust one who would so brazenly invade our home." He jumped off the tower, snapping his wings out to catch the winds that would carry him the rest of the way up to the castle.
They watched him go, Elisa walking over to join the red male. "Well he seems like a cheery fellow," she remarked, tilting her head slightly then suddenly taking a step back as the other whirled and glared at her, pointing.
"If you had _any_ idea what happened to us, Detective Maza, you would no more blame him for not wanting to trust you than I do." He stepped closer, dropping his hand. "Now, once again, what were you doing in our home? This time, please," he added, "don't fall off the building." Despite herself, Elisa gave him a smile.
*Meanwhile, Back at Castle Wyvern*
At the same time, above them in the castle, the oldest of the survivors was in the middle of berating the other two young warriors for their little 'adventure' in the kitchen. "A fine mess ye two made out o' the larder. When I heard all that noise I thought- "
"Look there," interrupted the smaller of the two warriors, pointing up at a familiar figure and hoping to change the subject. "It's Goliath." They all saw the silhouette of their leader pass overhead, almost seeming as if he hadn't seen them, before landing near where their beast was standing and starting to stroke it.
"Hey, Goliath." He looked around and saw the others coming over towards him. "What were you doing?" asked the webwing.
"Did you go out into the city?" added his brother.
"No," Goliath answered while still petting the watchbeast. "We had another trespasser in the castle."
"WHAT!" They all shouted in unison. The two brothers asked him if he was okay, while their mentor quickly whipped out his sword as if preparing to fight again.
"Calm yourselves everyone." said Goliath, simply raising a hand. "It doesn't seem to be anything very serious at the moment; it was only one human female." That made the others settle down somewhat.
"Where is she?" asked the turquoise male.
"On a lower level below the castle; talking to your brother." Goliath.
The two young warriors looked at each other with the same surprised expressions, seeing as how their brother never had much interaction with humans
"Are you sure it was wise to leave him alone with her?" asked the smaller male a little worriedly. "I mean, what if-."
"Ye know yuir brother is a fine warrior," their elder reminded them both, "and he can take care of himself."
"Hmm, I'm more concerned about the human." the webwing answered, "He's never had much luck when it came to talking to humans." The two older males gave the him looks of disdain mixed with curiousity for his sense of distrust in his brother.
"So a thousand years ago you were betrayed by the only human you trusted." Elisa summarized after hearing his story. She looked back at where he stood, leaning against the railing of the balcony below the castle where they'd been talking.
"Does anyone else besides Xanatos know about you?"
"Aside from you," he told her, still carrying a distrustful tone to his voice, "No, no one else." He shifted his eyes from her and turned so he too was facing the vista of the city below them.
The detective continued to look at him, the deep melancholy showing on his face touching her deeply enough that she was near the point of weeping for him, but she fought down the urge. She could now see why he and Goliath had little reason to want to trust her, or anyone else for that matter, but felt compelled to try and do something about it.
He leaned back up and turned to look at her. "So, Detective Maza -."
She cut him off as she seriously she couldn't help but laugh. "Please, call me Elisa."
"Uh, okay, ...Elisa. You're a…detective?"
She reached into her jacket and pulled out her badge. "Yep, Second class; NYPD."
He stepped closer and leaned in more to look at it, finding it to be quite intriguing. "So what exactly does a Detective do?" He asked curiously.
She crossed her arms and thought for a second, trying to think of the best and easiest way to explain it to him. "Uh, well; when somebody does something wrong I find out whom and arrest them." .
He cocked an eyebrow. "Who decides what's wrong?"
"Well, we have a justice system. Laws, penalties, assessments that the people decide upon."
"Don't you mean that the humans decide?" He countered a bit sarcastically. Before Elisa responded the male's eyes suddenly shifted to the sky, noticing that it was turning a lighter color that meant the sun would be up before too long.
"Sorry, but I have to go now," he said as he jumped onto the balcony rail, catching Elisa off guard, and opened his wings.
"Wait!" she nearly shouted, her surprise making her voice more forceful, and lunged forward to grasp a hold of one of his ankles with both hands. The sudden grip nearly made him loose his balance but didn't stop him from rounding on her with a growl and a return of the dangerous glint in his eye.
"What are you doing?" he snarled and Elisa immediately let him go and backed off a step.
"Well, I was just wondering if I could see you again?" She simply asked.
Taken aback by her question, his expression softened as he caped his wings and he sank down onto his hind legs to look at her with eyes close to level with hers.
"You want to see me again?" He asked, his voice quieter and holding a touch of curious confusion.
"Yeah," she said, giving him a smile, "I would like to know more about you." When he looked at her with commenting for a few seconds Elisa pressed on. "Look, you saved my life so I owe you. Let me help you understand the city."
"I don't know," he said finally, after thinking about it for a moment. It did sound like an intriguing idea and it would be very helpful to learn about their new "home" but he had to take into account that Goliath probably wouldn't approve of it.
"You need to know how it works." She added.
He placed his hand underneath his beak, rubbed his knuckles against it. "Well, if we are to survive here, I guess we'll need to learn all we can about this new world." He looked at her again as she smiled. "Okay."
"Good. Tomorrow's my day off I'll meet you in the afternoon at-."
"After dark." He told her quick and firmly enough to make her raise her hands in defense before she smiled and tossed some of her hair back over her shoulder. "Why am I not surprised? Okay, here after dark."
"No, not here." He pointed up at a building across the way. "Over there, on that rooftop."
"Why there?" She asked.
"Why were you sneaking into the castle?" He responded, leaning in a bit towards her.
"A good Detective trusts no one."
"Oh yeah," He added standing up again. "Than that's one thing we have in common." On that note, he flung out his wings and dove off the ledge. Looking over, Elisa watched him as he glided back up, performing a quick loop-de-loop before heading back towards the castle.
He was quite an intriguing creature, intelligent and a bit of a hot-head. He wasn't very courteous to her but Elisa knew well enough that she couldn't blame him, and was hoping to change some of that. She didn't know why but at that moment she couldn't help but take into account the nice build he had.
He felt a little out of sorts from his encounter with Elisa. She was unlike any human that he has encountered back in the old days, many of whom had run from him because of his features. She was so different and it wasn't just by appearance either. He felt a little guilty for being a little cold towards her but then again he really didn't know her that well. Maybe the coming meeting would give him a better chance to do that.
Gliding up the wall and over the castle he saw his two rookery brothers along with mentor and the gargoyle beast talking to Goliath.
His brother with the great appetite was first to look up and see him descending towards them. "Ho, Brother," he called out to him. "You're finally back."
"Aye," He answered. "Sorry to keep you all waiting."
"So, how was it talking to the human?" asked his other brother as they walked up to him.
"Uh well, she explained to me what she was doing here in the castle..." He began telling the others of his conversation with the detective and they all gathered around, unaware that the entire time they were being seen and heard through a nearby spy camera. In Xanatos's office, Owen stood in front of the huge screen looking on while his boss was sitting comfortably back in his chair.
"Wow, impressive" The biggest of the three young warrriors was amazed at his brother's story. Just by the sound of it, this Manhattan might be interesting to explore after all.
"Truly, but I'm more impressed that he was able to talk to a human without scaring it away." the chuckled comment only got the webwinged male a hard slap in the head.
"First off, she's not an it; her name is Elisa."
Goliath couldn't help but arch a browridge at his defensive attitude. "And anything else?" He inquired.
"She said she owes me for saving her life so she…" He looked at him for a quick minute. "She wants to take me about the city tonight so I can see more of it."
"And what did you say?" asked Goliath, stepping towards the young warrior. The red male looked at him and could see from the look on his face that he was probably not going to be happy with the decision.
Letting out a sigh, "I said, yes."
"What!" shouted the two brothers in unison.
"You made a decision to go somewhere with an _unknown_ human without consulting me about it?" Goliath asked in a low voice. "One who has already once snuck into the castle?"
"I'm sorry Goliath, I didn't know I had to run my own decisions by you first." He countered-back at him.
The large male took another step closer toward his warrior only to have his mentor hold out an arm to halt him. "Now wait Goliath, I think we should hear the lad out some more."
"Goliath, it's not like I told her everything about us, but sooner or later we are going to have to go out there and explore the city. We can't spend the rest of our lives up here in the castle."
Goliath crossed his arms; considering it more as he rubbed his chin. "Does she seem to pose a threat to us?"
"After talking to her, no I don't think so. I know I don't know much about her yet and don't have a good reason to fully trust her, but still... If you allow me to go on this jaunt with her I promise not to let my guard down; I know that we still have to be careful in this strange new world."
Goliath looked at his mentor who gave him a slow nod to share his own opinion in this matter.
On that final note he let out a deep sigh. "Even though I don't trust her and feel that we shouldn't be letting her into our lives, you do raise some valid points in what you say.. Despite my concerns, I will allow you to go tonight with this human…"
"Elisa." He corrected him.
He gradually rolled his eyes. "With Elisa, than I will hold off on making my final judgment. If all goes well, we will set up introductions for the rest of us to meet her."
The red male really couldn't help but show a huge smile, he was seriously looking forward to this.
"But under this one condition; and that is that you are to be back here before sunrise."
The warrior smiled at his Clan leader. "I will and thank you Goliath."
"Very well. You can go with her later tonight, just don't let your guard down around her until we know what her true intentions are. We still have very little reason to trust her."
Goliath just gave his red warrior a genuine smile as they all walked to the high tower and their roosting spots. The white maned male felt a sudden slight brush from behind and he turned to see Xanatos's assistant standing behind him.
"My apologies gargoyle." Excusing himself and patted him on the back.
The red warrior let out a growl and flashed his white burning eyes at him. Owen took a calm minor step back to give him some space and turned his attention to Goliath. "If you don't mind Goliath, Mr. Xanatos would like to have a word with you before you and your comrades have to sleep."
Broadway looked at his brothers and lipped back that strange word 'comrade' while Brooklyn just shrugged.
During their quick meeting Goliath agreed to take into consideration helping Xanatos retreive the disks stolen from him. Xantos watched Goliath walk out of his office before moving back over to his chair and turning around to his large picture window and looking out at the small strip of orange rising over the horizon.
"It's a pity. I thought for sure that Goliath would want to go on the tour tonight. But still," Xanatos leaned back into his chair. "I have to admit that red one might have some impressive abilities. He dealt with Detective Maza rather readily."
"Brute force can't always compare with the speed and agility of a younger warrior, Sir." remarked Owen.
The tycoon put his hand to his chin and thought about it. "You're right Owen. I was hoping to use Goliath for the test run but not knowing when he will actually leave the castle scuttles that idea. Hmm, I guess; the younger, the better."
A slide door opens where a winged figure stands in the shadows. "Don't worry," Xanatos says to the shadow, "everything will proceed according to plan."
The gargoyles awoke to their second night in this strange-new world and some members of the clan were eager to go out and explore their new city too. Lexington jumps on his perch and prepares to leave. "Where do you think you're going?" Goliath asked him.
"To explore the city too." Lexington replied. "You don't expect us to be cooped up in the castle our whole lives. We need to learn all we can if were going to live here; about the city, all it's machines…"
"It's food." Broadway added.
"Very well. You two can explore as well, but stay close to the buildings and stay out of sight."
Both giving a nod and they jumped off, flying into the night. The red male watched his brothers leave before jumping onto his own perch, he felt a bit disappointed that they didn't want to come with him but each to their own. Glancing over at Goliath and without saying a word leaps off and heads to his place of destination.
Goliath and his mentor just stood there and looked at each other.
A few moments later, Elisa slowly opened the door leading out to the rooftop she agreed to meet her savior on. "Hello?" she called and cautiously walks out. "Anyone there?" Almost on que he stepped out from around the corner.
She let out a small startled gasp. "There you are. Why were you hiding back there?"
"I just wanted to make sure you were alone." He said walking over.
She chuckled and walked over to him, "Not to worry it looks like you could handle a whole motorcycle gang."
"I have to admit that I wasn't expecting you to wear something different." He looked her over quickly. She was sporting a blue-jean vest with matching boot-cut jeans and a shirt that had a unique styled B on it.
"Well with it being my night off I wanted to wear something a bit more 'civilized'."
He was about to comment when another glided in and landed behind them.
"Mentor, what are you doing here?" Brooklyn asked.
"Goliath wanted me to make certain that you weren't being ambushed." He explained.
This was really causing Elisa to laugh now. "Man, you guys are paranoid even for New York."
"Are you coming on the tour?" The detective stumbled for a moment remembering that neither of them have names. "Uh, what do I call you guys anyway?"
The older male turned a slight frown to her. "Must you humans name everything? Nothing is real to you until you've named it; given it limits."
"It's not like that, it's just - well," She fidgets for a moment trying to think of a good explanation and only comes up with a simple reply. "Things need names."
"Does the sky need a name?" He counterd, then pointed over at the river. "Does the river?"
"The river's called the 'Hudson'." She replied.
A tad baffled, he looked over at the younger male who was smiling back with a bemused expression and one eye brow raised, both arms crossed over his chest.
He sighed and turned back to the Detective. "Fine lass, than I'll be the 'Hudson' as well."
She smiles. "Great, Hudson it is. But now," She wondered as she walked over to her savior. "What should we call you?
He once again became intrigued with the vintage-style letter on her shirt. When she saw where his eyes were gazing she grabbed the bottom of his beak with her hand and lifted his head up. "Hey buddy, I'm up here." She said testily.
But quickly put his hands up in defense. "No, sorry it wasn't that at all, I swear." The earnest look in his eyes made her expression soften up. "I was looking at that interestingly scripted 'B' on your tunic." He said pointing to it.
"Oh this," She said pulling at the shirt. "This was given to me as a present from a gift shop in Brooklyn."
"Brooklyn?" he asked strangely.
"Yeah, it's another city that's not too far from Manhattan; it's the name of one of those Burroughs I told you about last night."
He thought about it for a moment. "Brooklyn...that's it! I'm Brooklyn."
Elisa smiled. "Perfect, Brooklyn it is. Well, now that we're all on a 'first name basis' here we should get going. I don't know how I'm going to keep people from noticing you."
"Simple," Brooklyn answered. "We stay close to the rooftops."
"Easy for you with those wings, but what about me?"
Without a word Brooklyn gently and easily takes her into his arms again, looking at her steadily. "Well, okay; that answers that question," murmurred Elisa quietly and gives him a smile that is readily returned before Brooklyn notices Hudson looking them with a hint of disapproval.
Brooklyn cleared his voice. "Um, let's be off. Coming…Hudson?"
The old gargoyle gandered down for a moment at the noisy street. "I think not. This new world is too big, too bright, and too loud. Now that I know you are alright I will report back to Goliath and help him guard the castle." He jumped off the ledge without another word and glided back to the Eyrie Building..
"Well, it looks like it's just you and me." she said breaking the silence between them as they watched Hudson departing. "So, what do you want to see?"
"I'd like to know about the dangers that threaten me and my Clan." He suggested in an off-putting manner.
Elisa smiled at him. "Lighten up will you. You're starting to bring me down and I'm a cop."
With that said, Brooklyn took off from the rooftop to begin his tour with Elisa.
For the next few hours, they flew all over the city. She turned out to be a great guide as she showed him the Financial District, Rockefeller Center, Time Square, even all the way to China Town. Holding on tight to him, she pointed out some of the main attractions and tourist sites that really caught his interest in the bunch.
Gliding around the Chrysler Building he began to feel a slight strain in his winged joint muscles and realized that he had to rest his wings for a moment. He finally decided to set down on the very top of the Empire State Building.
"What do you think so far?" Elisa asked as he set her down.
"Such amazing changes men had made in the world while we slept." He commented looking out at the city. "Stone streets, even finer than those that the Romans built. Towers made of glass and iron."
"Yeah, I'm used to it. But I guess it's pretty impressive to an…out-of-towner."
"I don't see any walls to guard this city. How do you protect it from invaders?" He asked.
"Well, our biggest worries aren't from outside they're from inside."
"That I am all too familiar with." Brooklyn stated.
She looked over at him, She didn't take it into consideration last night that he was a bit taller than her by just a quarter inch or so. A moment later Brooklyn made a comment, "It's just so...different," and lowered his head in sadness.
The look on his face was starting to make her sad, she finally realized that they weren't really dangerous at all; although they were a completely different species they acted similar to humans, maybe even more.
*BACK AT CASTLE WYVERN*
Hudson and the young garg-beast were walking through the hallways, remembering. At one point his four-legged companion looked up at him and whined.
"Aye boy, I know how you feel." Hudson responded. "It's a strange new world."
They continue to walk, coming to an open set of large double doors. Once there the young beast perked up his head and giving just one happy bark, made his way inside.
"What are you doing, ye daft beast?" He asked as he followed the watchdog in and taking a good long look at a large two story library. "I donnae know why ye would want to come in 'ere, ye cannae read."
"Possibly not," he heard a voice speak out, "but I can." Hudson turned around and looked up to see Goliath standing on the second floor balcony with a book in hand.
"Hmm, I see you found something to do w' ye time in this new place, but it doesnae seem to be any different from what ye used t' do in yuir spare time 1000 years ago."
Goliath made no comment to that as he just simply opened up the book to look inside it. Sensing Hudson still staring at him he broke the ice.
"So he decided to go after all?" Goliath asked as he turned the pages.
Hudson just cocked a browridge. "Did ye really think he would change his mind?"
Goliath had no comment to make to that but did look up from the book to regard his old teacher.
"I said I'd follow him that didn't mean I would try to change his mind, unless she seemed to pose some kind of threat. The Lass seems to be nice enow, even if she has some odd ways about her."
"Odd? In what way, old friend?"
"Well, 'tis for certain the lass has more spunk than any two or three of the ladies we knew from Scotland. Ye would nae see the females o' the Princess's court be so bold as to dress in such clothes as Elisa wears. Surely ye noticed yuirself?"
"Not really; I was more focused on her skulking about the castle like a thief."
"She talked like she had just reason to be looking about, Goliath. She is a brave and strong willed lass; she didn't hardly flinch when she laid eyes on me before." The old gargoyle half-smiled. "Hell, she insisted on us takin' names; ye and the Lads can call me Hudson now."
The big male mused about it before grunting in acknowledgement, "It sounds like a good strong name, eld-Hudson." and smiled a bit too.
"We need to look for people cut from the same cloth; that are willing to see all that we are, instead of just the wings and claws. I not be sayin' we shouldnae be on our guard now that we be so far away from what happened in Scotland but that shouldnae mean we cut ourselves completely off from the people here. We do seem to be sharing our home with them once again, after all." Just the thought of that made Goliath's blood boil and to bend his book a bit."
"Well, I will leave alone to your books while we explore our newly refurbished home. Come along boy."
They two of them left leaving Goliath alone with his thoughts. He walked over to the large window and looked out at the moon.
*A FEW MINUTES LATER*
Brooklyn and Elisa continued on their city tour as they began gliding overhead on one of the suburbs.
"It is hard to fathom; it's almost like a sea of houses" He commented as he looked below. Elisa couldn't help but laugh this time.
"A lot different than the grassy hillsides of Scotland huh?" She saw his grin quickly fade as a frown replaced it instead causing her to bite down on her tongue.
"Oh, Brooklyn. Look, I didn't mean it like that I just.."
"Hey, what's going on over there?" He asked; looking in his direction they both saw a man who was standing next to his car and was being harassed by three hoodlums.
"Looks like trouble." Elisa stated and Brooklyn turned and made his way over.
"Than let's help him." He replied back, his response made Elisa a bit surprised much moreso thinking that he wouldn't want to get involved.
"I saw a pay phone down the corner I can call for backup." She implied, only to make Brooklyn laugh now.
"You don't need to call for backup." She looked at him and he smiled. "You have me."
They landed in the nearby alleyway and Brooklyn watched as she calmly walked out to confront the three men. Even when she flashed them her police badge they didn't show any signs of backing down, giving them one more warning which they just laughed at she ran back into the alley with them in hot pursuit.
"Stay in the shadows." Brooklyn quickly told her as she ran past him.
The thugs stopped dead in their tracks when they saw what was right in front of them. Being from New York they have seen a great deal of weird shit but none like this.
Brooklyn stood before them at his tall height with hot white blazing eyes. He let out a roar as he expanded his wings to their fullest.
"It's a monster." Shrieked the leader; looking terrified at the creature, taking a few steps back but quickly regained his posture while demonstrating a look of fearlessness.
However, the fat one didn't' seem to be scared like the other two or refused to back down. "Trash it!" He shouted.
On that cue, the bald one charged and swung his pipe at the 'monster', but he was too slow for Brooklyn as he easily grabbed the pipe from him and lifted him up by his shirt, giving another low growl before hurtling him into a nearby dumpster.
Even after witnessing his friend's quick defeat the biggest one still refused to back down and tried to gain the upper hand by lashing his chain out like a whip. Brooklyn easily blocked the attack with his raised arm, letting the links wrap around his forearm. Eyes still burning hot white and with a grin the gargoyle pulled his opponent in and giving a deserved punch in the face.
A sound made Brooklyn look over to see the business man looking into the alley. Almost immediately the human staggered back; telling him to keep away and telling his wife to run. He than heard some screams and saw him run off. Not long after, Elisa steps out of the shadows from behind Brooklyn while looking at all three of them who are out cold from their encounter with him, clearly impressed by what she just witnessed she gives him a big smile.
"Human gratitude?" He scoffed, waving a hand after the fleeing couple.
"I guess. You know Brooklyn? You may be the best thing that happened to this city in a long time." Giving him a much nicer compliment than the yuppie couple she walked out of the alley while Brooklyn just looked at her.
Elsewhere the other two young warriors were perched on a rooftop. "So many wonders," the bigger one commented, looking out at the street side and just gazing in fascination.
"Yes," agreed the other, "I just wish that our brother came with us tonight too." He looked over at his companion who just smiled and laid his head down on his arms. "Well maybe he felt that he needed this to himself."
This made the webwing give him a quite puzzled look. "Huh?"
"With few exceptions, our brother never had much luck when it came to having humans as friends. Maybe this human could try to help him open more and to ease up."
Seeing the insight to his words he gave him a smile of agreement. "Yeah and besides, he did sound happy going on a jaunt with her."
Broadway glanced over at him and finally returns the smile. ."Yeah, and maybe they're having fun."
*CENTRAL PARK*
"We're probably the only couple in the park that doesn't have to worry about muggers." She remarked as she and Brooklyn walked down one of more secluded paths in Central Park.
"Maybe; this new land is near enough as savage as the one I remember." He stated negatively.
"You're judging it the way humans have judged you, "she told him with a bit of an edge to her voice. She really didn't like the way that he spoke so negatively on everything.
"And why not?" He asked her coldly. He had stopped walking and now had his eyes closed and his hands clenched into fists. Realizing that she had once again said the wrong thing to him although she was pointing out the obvious.
He looked at her and from seeing the expression on her face, this time he had feelings of regret. Finally realizing that maybe he was going too far.
"Elisa," hearing her name now being spoken more softly the detective quirked an eyebrow and waited. "Look, I-" he rubbed the back of his head for a moment. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be harsh about everything to you when it seems that you want to try and be friends. It's just that… the way my clan was treated, the way I was treated because of…how I look;" his wings sank low, "a thousand years ago we really couldn't lower our guards." He looked down at his fists. "And even now it just seems…"
She made his way over to him. "I know," she said, speaking gently and putting her hand on his chest. Both the tone of voice and the contact were things rare to Brooklyn; he looked into her eyes and couldn't help but lose his train of thought.
"I know exactly how you feel. You're right; it's not fair for people to have judged you because of how you look or where you come from. I am really sorry for everything you and your clan went through Brooklyn." Her hand dropped to gently rest over his tight fist. After a few seconds she smiled when he loosened both hands up under her touch. "I know that these are going to be difficult times for you guys, just like I know you all need to understand that while the city shows an ugly face sometimes there's a lot more to it than that." He looked at her curiously.
"There's beauty here, too. Moms that sing to their kids; the way my Mom used to..."
He continued to look at her while he took in the depth of her tender words. Her eyes had the same look in them as they did the previous night; illed with much sympathy and sorrow; almost hypnotic.
His expression softened up more, "Elisa, I…" but he paused in mid sentence when a slight rustle caught his attention just enough so that looked at the shrubs nearby. Before Elisa had the chance to do anything but look too something was fired from the bushes and a dart appeared In Brooklyn's shoulder. The red male let out a growl of surprise and pain from the wound to his tough skin and staggered for a moment. Elisa was beside him immediately, gun out and pointed where a small weapon came out of the bushes, followed by a helmeted man in light body armor. She didn't even have the chance to do more before the gun was kicked out of her hands. The detective turned to her attacker only to have another man grab her from behind.
Brooklyn looked up and groaned, "Oh, no, not them again," at the sight of the same warriors the Clan had fought the night before at the castle. His eyes blazed hot white as moved into a fighting stance. From the side of his eye he saw a female commando charge at him. "Get away HAG!" he snarled, snapping open his wing and catching her under the chin with it's small talon, knocking her off her feet.
Brooklyn turned about to check where the others were when a wave of weakness passed over him, slowing him. One of the humans tried to take advantage of the opportunity and jumped onto his back, but he was not about to give up that easily or succumb to this human either. Regaining his footing quickly, Brooklyn grabbed the man by his arm and threw him over his shoulder, hurtling him into a bench. The gargoyle roared, standing to his full height, but was jumped on again from behind while two others grabbed him by his arms, grappling with him and trying to force him down. He made another attempt to shake them off of him but to no avail as weakness came upon him again and he slowly and weakly sank to the ground.
Elisa struggled to get free from the commando's grip but he just restrained her more and could only watch on as the others pinned Brooklyn down. Just then the leader walked forward and pulls out his gun.
"What do you want!" She demanded.
"We're just tying up loose ends." He commented and he slowly pointed his gun towards Brooklyn.
TO BE CONTINUED…