All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to 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 SN.
Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place two weeks after "The Spoils of War".
Surrounded
By SN/TVfan
Email: Sam_Nary
Warehouse, Long Island
"Come on," Fang complained, "The clan sure has to have gotten over your return by now."
"I would prefer to wait until we are ready," the new Thailog answered, "A direct return to Manhattan might get us caught."
"There's the Pack," Fang offered, "They escaped Nightstone too! I'm sure I could get them to help."
"There is a flaw in your thinking," Thailog retorted, "The Pack are mercenaries, and greedy at that. Great people, but I do not have the funds to pay them. As far as they are concerned, they can fight the clan all they want."
"The clan is looking for us!" Fang argued, "We should meet them head on."
"If we are found, our priority is to escape," Thailog corrected, "We are outnumbered by both the clan and the Pack. For now we must bide our time and build up our strength. There is much we can do without coming to direct blows with Goliath."
With that, Thailog strolled around the abandoned warehouse, leaving Fang to snarl at his new 'ally'. Since Thailog's planned attention grabber two weeks ago, the two had descended to what was quite essentially petty crime. Fang thought some of this was fairly effective. It was far easier to get someone's money when they'd been knocked out before they realized what happened to them. The warehouse they had found was also quite a find. It was completely abandoned and other than a few pieces of completely broken machinery was also empty.
Fang watched Thailog for a few minutes until the black skinned gargoyle clone stopped beside a makeshift safe that they had made. Inside the safe was well over one hundred dollars now. Of course to Thailog this was chump change and more was required. Fang, meanwhile, was quite content with it.
"So when will we take on the gargoyles?" Fang demanded.
Thailog looked up from the safe and answered, "Once I have secured the funds and power I need to dominate this city and therefore destroy Xanatos."
"What do you got against him?" Fang asked, "I don't want to end up in any situation like Nightstone."
"Don't worry," Thailog smiled, "My business with Xanatos is really more of a 'father-son' rivalry. Nothing along the lines of megalomania."
Castle Wyvern
Matt sat quietly on one of the castle's benches as Goliath and Elisa paced before him. He finally found himself with a night off, but again found himself helping the clan with their various problems. Fortunately, their problems were caused by others and Matt did not have to play the part of a mediator between two or more gargoyles.
"You're certain you haven't found him?" Goliath asked.
Matt slowly nodded, "There has been nothing to indicate that Thailog has been active for the past two weeks. Petty crimes and muggings have gone up in the past two weeks, but as you know..."
"That isn't Thailog's style," Elisa finished, "It is not entirely sinister enough for him or entirely very profitable."
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but the Quarrymen have gone into overdrive with political protests," Matt sighed.
Goliath and Elisa traded looks for a second before Goliath stepped forward.
"You have been of great help to us, Matt," Goliath answered, "Elisa and I would not be able to even make an attempt to track him without you."
Elsewhere on the battlements, Brooklyn and Amy landed after finishing a short patrol. Hudson was the first to greet them.
"Did ye find anything?" Hudson asked.
"Nothing but the usual muggers and so forth," Brooklyn sighed, "No sign of Thailog."
"I got to bring one of the muggers in," Amy said proudly.
Hudson smiled to himself at the yellow female's enthusiasm. Candy and Amy had seemed to accept what Demona had done to them fairly easily, and Amy even more so of the two.
"I wouldn't boast too much when ye make yer report to Goliath," Hudson answered, "He and Elisa want Thailog off the streets before he causes problems."
The two beaked gargoyles silently nodded.
Action inside the castle was no less nervous. Sitting at a computer consul, Owen Burnett was furiously typing away, as the winged form of Xanatos paced behind him.
"Are you sure this is necessary, Mr. Xanatos?" Owen asked, "We didn't even do this to deal with Sevarius."
"True, but Sevarius never tricked me out of twenty million before," Xanatos grunted.
"This Thailog is probably only Thailog in name," Owen argued, "Sevarius has no knowledge of magic and how to summon members of the Third Race and Demona is not in New York. And even if Demona was here, or if Sevarius did know magic, why would they want to bring the original Thailog back? He'd betray Sevarius, and he's already betrayed Demona. The doctor will be a tad nervous and Demona hates him."
"It never hurts to be cautious," Xanatos sighed, "And in my current situation, there isn't much I can do. Thailog will eventually make a move against the clan or at least against Wyvern. I can not lose. I must not lose."
Owen merely nodded, "Yes, Mr. Xanatos."
Xanatos watched as his assistant returned to typing on the computer. He was changing Xanatos Enterprises account codes and the codes to Xanatos's own personal fortune. Thailog was a cunning and devious opponent. Even if this new clone was merely a lookalike gargoyle with the same name, Xanatos couldn't risk losing everything. The castle. The business. His family. The gargoyles.
Xanatos then turned to leave, and said, "I'm going to make my own sweep."
"As you wish, Mr. Xanatos," Owen replied.
Warehouse
Jackal slipped in through one of the warehouse's roof windows and landed roughly on the cement floor. Wolf stood quietly in the center of the room, barely containing himself from chuckling.
"Using the 'hidden entrance' again?" Wolf asked.
"Shut up, fur ball," Jackal growled, "Damn muggers on Long Island are attracting cops from everywhere. They don't want any of that activity spreading here. Hyena should be right behind me."
Wolf raised his head to hear the sounds of Hyena's feet tapping on the roof.
"How did your mission with Canis and Vulpine go?" Jackal asked.
"Boring," Wolf snarled, "We didn't even catch of whiff of the gargoyles. If they do regular patrols they don't come where we were watching and waiting."
Hyena then entered the warehouse through the same window that Jackal had, and her landing was far more smooth.
"We caught sight of the red beaked one and a yellow beaked one," Hyena chuckled.
"Yellow beaked one?" Wolf asked.
"One of the recent 'additions' the gargoyles made to their clan while we were working for Sevarius," Jackal noted.
"I wanted to get her name, but bro wouldn't let me cut her tail off," Hyena chuckled.
"You could have got them?" Wolf roared, "Why didn't you kill them?"
"Because we need information," Jackal argued, "Or are you too dumb to realize that they've always beaten us when we simply try attacking them? I've told you before, we need to know the exact extent of their patrols and what their average patrol strength is. When they attacked Nightstone they pretty much brought their entire clan with them. Even with all our strength, we can't beat the entire clan easily and we can't risk serious damage. I can set broken bones, and Hyena and I can fix the most basic damage to our cybernetic parts, but none of us have the knowledge or expertise in medicine or cyber-biotics to risk one all out battle. A battle we might not even win."
"You take too long to plan your battles, 'general'," Wolf snarled.
"A good Pack is always prepared," Jackal answered.
"That's the Boy Scouts," Hyena teased.
Wolf only growled again, and stalked off.
Over Manhattan
"I don't think he's here," Broadway muttered as he and Angela glided over the city, swerving around buildings as they went.
Angela gazed out over the horizon of buildings, and like her mate, saw nothing.
"I wonder what he's doing," Angela said, "Father, Elisa, Bronx, and I ran into him once on our World Tour, and of course we ran up against him when he made the clones. He seems to be one to favor direct action."
Broadway growled slightly, silently remembering the other times the clan had run into the clone of Goliath.
"At least this Thailog is a clone," Broadway sighed, "Maybe he will be easier to beat than the old one."
Suddenly a figure came out of the darkness, and Broadway and Angela didn't recognize her until she had got right in front of them.
"Sorry to scare you," Caroline said.
"Did you see anything?" Angela asked.
Caroline shook her head, "No. I haven't seen anything except a few Quarrymen handing out pamphlets to somebody."
Broadway and Angela growled at the mention of the hate group.
"You'd think they'd just die off," Broadway muttered.
Angela nodded, "Yeah. Caroline, Broadway and I are going to make another sweep, you can head back to the castle."
Caroline slowly nodded and began gliding off in the direction of the Eyrie Building.
Quarrymen Headquarters
Castaway's contact sat quietly behind a makeshift desk in the Quarrymen's new headquarters. A lone aide stood in front of him.
"Recruitment is up, sir," the aide reported, "But the mayor is refusing to listen to our concerns or arrest the clan living in the Eyrie Building."
"They don't understand what we do," the contact muttered, "We need to keep the demonstrations up! Those demons should pay for their crimes. I want an armed team ready in an hour. We've finally identified our traitor who won't come to meetings anymore."
"Traitor?" the aide asked.
"Abigail Wexmand," Castaway's contact snarled, "She's been spotted at the Eyrie Building repeatedly after dark. Now she doesn't work there, so why would she be there after dark?"
"To meet with the gargoyles," the aide answered.
Castaway's contact smiled, "Bingo, and Castaway's rule is to kill any race traitor that exists!"
Castle Wyvern
Goliath and Elisa leaped from the castle's walls to begin their own patrol in silence. Each was rather nervous.
"Don't worry Goliath," Elisa encouraged, "He can only hide for so long. Eventually we'll find him."
"I am more worried that he will strike us when we are unprepared," Goliath sighed, as they made their way south.
Elisa looked a the street several stories below her. She silently chuckled to herself that there was a time when this would have scared her silly, but then things had changed. And yet, little had changed. She was still guarding the city and some of the same problems were still coming back.
"We have other problems besides Thailog," Elisa offered, "If he's really getting to you, you could release your frustrations on some street thugs or something. They are still causing problems too. There are all those muggings on Long Island."
"Thailog may be in the area," Goliath sighed in response.
Elisa returned a weak smile, and angled herself toward Long Island as Goliath himself moved into a position above her.
Meanwhile at Thailog's hideout on Long Island, Fang paced across the floors of the empty warehouse. Thailog had gone off on another of his 'money missions' and Fang was left to guard the warehouse. Fang only stopped to look at the makeshift safe that Thailog had constructed.
"Damn gargoyle's going after pocket money and not after anything big or after the gargoyles," Fang growled, "Why am I even here?"
Elsewhere on Long Island, Thailog contented himself to stalking a young woman as she walked down a dark street. His red eyes focused on her from the roof he was hiding on. She didn't see, hear, or sense him. He smiled as he watched her continue her stroll. Once he was certain that she was in a location where no one would see him, Thailog leapt from the roof to rob his next 'victim'.
The woman turned just as Thailog hit her, his eyes glowing a bright red. One of Thailog's great fists struck the woman in the face and she was knocked flat on her back before she could scream.
Thailog landed and placed one foot on the woman's stomach.
"What do you want?" the woman screamed, while crying at the same time.
Thailog looked down at the woman and smiled, "Your money, madam. And you are to forget this ever happened. If I learn that you told the police about me in the future, I will kill you."
"How do you?" the woman asked out of fear, while handing a few bills into Thailog's hands.
"I know," Thailog answered, "Now, please, just hand over your money
Thailog just got his talons onto the woman's money when he heard the sounds of approaching wings. He turned his head to see both Goliath and a female gargoyle he didn't quite recognize diving on him.
Before the two Wyvern gargoyles could reach the clone, Thailog muttered to himself, "Well THIS is interesting."
Elisa was first to reach the black gargoyle, and she swiped her talons across his face, tearing the head piece off as she went. Goliath was close behind her, and delivered a punch directly to the top of Thailog's head. The blow brought the black skinned clone to the ground. Goliath then flipped in midair to land next Elisa.
While Goliath moved immediately into a position to block Thailog's approach, Elisa moved to help the woman.
"Are you okay miss?" Elisa asked.
"Get away! I don't have anymore money," the woman screamed at Elisa.
Elisa shuffled back a few steps and quickly cloaked her wings.
"Miss, we have no intention of harming or robbing you," Elisa said politely, "We want to help you."
The woman stared at Elisa and then at Goliath before struggling to her feet.
"Why aren't you helping him?" the woman asked pointing at Thailog.
"Because he is corrupt, and not worthy of being a gargoyle," Goliath growled, his eyes beginning to glow white.
"Aww," Thailog chuckled, "Still jealous that I'm more successful?"
Goliath lunged at Thailog and punched the clone at the stomach. This time, however, Thailog was ready for him and was only forced to shuffle back a few feet. The clone then turned and slapped Goliath across the face with his tail.
"Elisa, get her to safety," Goliath yelled.
Elisa quickly turned to the woman behind her, "Quick down that alley. I'll make sure no one else can jump you."
The woman weakly nodded and ran down the alley, while Elisa moved cautiously behind her.
Abigail Wexmand's Apartment
"Should we really be here?" Lexington asked, "Goliath wants us... well, at least me and the rest of the clan that has experience in patrolling, patrolling. He also wants..."
"I know," Candy answered, "He wants you guys to trail Amy, Caroline, and I in 'the gargoyle way'. But there's more to life than flying around and beating up bad guys. Besides, if we're going to go steady, you need to meet my mom."
"I've met your mother," Lex answered, "She comes to visit us at the castle. She was once a member of the Quarrymen, but she quit because she decided you were more important to her than those racists."
Candy landed on the fire escape outside her mother's window as Lex followed.
"Yes, but she doesn't know that we're going out," Candy explained, "Now I will warn you, if you thought that the Quarrymen hate gargoyles, you have no idea how much my mom hates boyfriends."
"What?" Lex asked as Candy tapped on the window.
"You'll see," Candy answered.
The two web-winged gargoyles sat on the fire escape until Abigail Wexmand appeared at the window.
"Candy, how are you? What are you doing here?" Abigail asked quickly.
"I'm fine," Candy answered with a smile as she entered her mother's home through the window, "Lex and I were just going for a glide around the city and we decided to stop by."
"Glad to see you still think of your mother," Abigail answered, "I was just preparing diner, are you two interested?"
Candy looked back to Lex. Lex only answered with a shrug.
"Sure Mom, but it has to be a quick one," Candy said.
Diner wasn't much more than a couple of microwave pizzas. Both Candy and Lex had eaten before they left, but decided to eat anyway. They made their decision to be polite.
"So, what's new with you two?" Abigail asked, "Are the others okay?"
"The clan is fine Ms. Wexmand," Lexington answered.
"Call me Abigail," Abigail interjected, "Ms. Wexmand is far to formal. Candy is my daughter and you're a friend of hers. Now what's new with you?"
"Well..." Candy began with a nervous look to Lexington, "I kinda found myself a boyfriend."
"You're dating?" Abigail asked, dropping her slice of microwave pizza.
"Yes," Candy answered weakly, looking down, then adding defensively, "And why not, I'm almost nineteen."
"You've never dated anyone before," Abigail replied.
"No one ever asked or said 'yes' when I asked," Candy retorted, "Besides I'm old enough to make my on decisions."
"I don't want you to get hurt," Abigail answered, "There are many men out there that are very rude and inconsiderate and leave their wives for no apparent reason."
"Lex isn't like dad, mom," Candy blurted.
Abigail turned her head to Lex, "YOU are dating my daughter?"
Lexington gulped, "Yes."
"How old are you?" Abigail asked.
"In terms of how long I've been alive or how mature I am physically?" Lexington asked back.
"Is there a difference?" Abigail demanded.
Lexington looked to Candy for a second, and sighed, "Actually yes. I've been alive for roughly thirty-nine years, but a gargoyle doesn't age during the during the day it doesn't age during half the course of a year. So physically, one year equals one-half year for gargoyles. So physically I'm only a little older than a nineteen year old human. There is no real age gap between us."
Abigail then sighed, "Well I guess this is going to be something I guess I'll have to get used to." Abigail then glared at Lex, "But if you ever harm my daughter emotionally or physically, so help me, I will beat the living tar out of you, do you hear me?"
Lexington gulped, "Yes."
"Good," Abigail replied.
Candy's mother was about to say more when the door to her apartment exploded in a hail of splinters. As the dust settled, several armed Quarrymen burst through with laser rifles.
Long Island
Thailog and Goliath's battle had taken to the roof tops. It appeared that neither Goliath nor his clone could really gain an advantage.
"Come now Goliath," Thailog said, "You know you can't win. At best you'll forge a tie and we'll both have to leave, unless you trust Fang not to smash you during the day. In fact he's probably killing your little girlfriend as we speak. Shame really. I rather liked that human you were palling around with."
Goliath roared with anger and glared at his clone. Three deep gashes marked his face where Elisa's talons had cut him. As usual, the thumb had failed to either make contact or break the skin. It was something that always puzzled Goliath, but it was also something he couldn't dwell on at the moment.
"Do not refer to Elisa as 'that woman'," Goliath growled, deciding to keep the fact that the 'woman' that Thailog remembered was the gargoyle that had clawed his face.
"Struck a nerve, didn't I?" Thailog teased.
Thailog threw a strong punch at Goliath's face, but the lavender gargoyle ducked under it. Goliath the grabbed Thailog's extended arm and threw the clone across the roof. Thailog landed roughly, but quickly recovered.
"You're getting better, Goliath," Thailog smirked, "Or should I call you 'dad'?"
Goliath was about to advance on the clone again when he saw a second pair of glowing red eyes appear behind Thailog. Thailog stared at Goliath's pause and silently chuckled.
"My recovery must have really frightened him," Thailog thought to himself as he felt a talon tap him on the shoulder.
Thailog turned to see the tan-skinned female that had clawed him earlier. Before Thailog could say anything, the female punched him in the face. The blow was strong, but not enough to do serious damage. Thailog tentatively raised a hand to his face and felt that one eye had swollen shut. The repeated blows of both Goliath and now this female had given him a black eye, not that his black flesh would let the bruise show through.
Goliath leaped at his clone, only to be back-handed against the chin by Thailog. Goliath landed on the ground a few feet away. Elisa had leaped from the roof ledge and had her arms wrapped around Thailog's neck in an attempt to choke him.
"Well, it appears you've got me beat," Thailog admitted, and then reached back and lifted Elisa over his head, releasing himself from her choke hold.
Thailog then threw Elisa at Goliath. Goliath managed to catch his mate without trouble, but the distraction had given Thailog the time to get to the ledge of the building.
As Thailog leaped from the building, "Until we meet again."
Goliath sighed, but it sounded more like he was growling at Thailog's escape.
"Well at least we beat him," Elisa chuckled, "I doubt he'll try the same thing again, now that he knows that we know that he's behind these Long Island muggings."
"I guess we'll have to take our victories as they come," Goliath replied, "Evil, apparently, will never be defeated easily."
"You'll be the gargoyle to do it, my love," Elisa encouraged.
Goliath smiled, "Come, we'll need to return to the castle."
Warehouse
"Where Wolf go?" Vulpine asked as Wolf made his way to the exit to the Pack's new 'headquarters'.
"I'm going to find and attack and kill some gargoyles or at least find some sort of action," Wolf snarled, "Jackal isn't going to be happy until he knows what they eat for breakfast every evening."
"We come," Canis announced, "We help Wolf."
"Pack," Vulpine added.
Wolf added a quiet snarl to himself, "It appears that I have a following. Jackal won't be top dog for long."
Wolf then smiled, "Sure, the more the merrier! Shoot, with you we might be able to bag two gargoyles!"
The two mutate clones then followed Wolf out the door. Jackal and Hyena watched them leave.
"You going to let him get away with that?" Hyena demanded.
"Only until whatever resemblance of a plan that his 'brain' could come up with blows up in his face," Jackal chuckled, "Then I'll give him a healthy dose of 'I told you so'!"
Hyena laughed.
"Come on now," Jackal encouraged, "We'd best get our own action. Most of the stores are closed, but I feel like doing a little shopping."
"I could use a new diner set," Hyena laughed, "Lets all the rich people know that they're being robbed with class!"
Castle Wyvern
Caroline noticed Xanatos and Fox standing out on the castle's battlements when she landed. Hudson and Bronx weren't standing too far away.
"What's going on?" Caroline asked, looking around the castle's walls for anyone else.
"I'm getting ready to make my own sweep and to make sure Thailog isn't infiltrating any Xanatos Enterprises warehouses," Xanatos answered, "Hudson's waiting to take the reports of every gargoyle that returns from its patrol, and Fox is hopefully going to wish me luck."
Fox smiled lightly at Xanatos and then joked, "I thought you didn't believe in luck?"
"First time for everything," Xanatos replied as he launched himself from the battlements.
Fox watched her husband glide off for a few moments and then turned back toward the castle. Caroline watched both for a while and then moved toward Hudson.
"Hi, Hudson," Caroline greeted politely, "I'm back."
"Did ye find anything, lass," Hudson asked.
"No, not anything that you guys are looking for," Caroline answered, "I ran into Angela and Broadway. They told me to tell you that their going to make another sweep before returning."
Hudson turned and looked to the east for a moment.
"It will be dawn in a few hours," Hudson commented, "Did ye run into anyone else?"
Caroline looked to the east as well and slowly shook her head.
Abigail Wexmand's Apartment
Candy, Lexington, and Ms. Wexmand ducked behind the overturned diner table as the Quarrymen that had just busted through the front door began firing at them.
"I knew it!" one Quarryman shouted.
"You're a traitor!" another added.
"Why are you shooting at me?" Ms. Wexmand demanded in a desperate and terrified voice.
"You quit coming to meetings," another Quarryman snarled.
"You're associating with two of those demons right there," a Quarrywoman added.
"You don't understand," Abigail began.
"TRAITOR!" the Quarrymen shouted in unison.
"I don't think they're willing to listen," Candy whispered as a laser shot went through the table and exploded against the fridge behind them, splattering Lex, Candy and Ms. Wexmand with pieces of plastic and destroyed food.
"We gotta get out of here," Lexington said, taking a brief glance at the table, "This table isn't going to be much of a shield for much longer."
"How?" Candy asked trying to keep both her mother and herself as low as possible.
Lex looked around hesitantly and noticed two chairs sitting behind them.
"Those chairs," Lex said, "If we grab them and then throw them at the Quarrymen, that will either give us the time to get close to them or knock them out, allowing us to escape."
"But there's eight of them and only two of you," Abigail protested, "And I don't want my daughter hurt."
Candy followed Lex's lead and pulled one chair up next to her.
"I don't think I'll fare much better if we just sit here, mom," Candy sighed, "Besides, I can't just sit here and let you get killed."
Abigail looked like she was about to protest but said nothing. Candy and Lex then launched the two chairs in unison over the table. Instantly the Quarrymen turned their fire to the chairs. They successfully hit one chair, which exploded, but they mostly hit the ceiling, sending various pieces of tile crashing onto the floor. The other chair landed among the eight Quarrymen knocking two to the ground, and the rest dove out of the way.
Lex gave as loud a roar as he could as he vaulted the table and charged towards the distracted Quarrymen. Candy leaped after him in nervous silence. Candy quickly tackled on Quarryman from behind and lifted him into the air. Before the man could struggle free, she threw him at the remaining Quarryman near the door.
Lex meanwhile, found himself battling three Quarrymen at once. None were overly strong, and he was just fast enough to avoid hitting punched or kicked in a place where he would be seriously hurt. He managed to wrap his tail around the neck of one of them, and he squeezed until he thought the man was unconscious. He threw the man against a nearby wall. This however gave the other two Quarrymen time to recover. One kicked one of his knees while the other dove out with one arm extended and brought him to the ground. The Quarryman that kicked him then retrieved his laser rifle and pointed it directly at Lex's head.
Abigail watched in horror as the battle progressed. Candy had knocked out one and had the rest scattered or trying to recover. She watched as her daughter pushed a couch toward the front door in an effort to block their entrance into the apartment. The green gargoyle, which her daughter referred to as Lexington and had announced as her 'boyfriend', was not doing so well. One Quarryman held him down while another stood over him with a laser rifle. Candy didn't see them. Her mouth gaped as she watched the armed Quarryman inch his finger toward the trigger.
Lex fought as hard as he could, but the Quarryman that was holding him down had a firm grip on his shoulders and the Quarryman standing above him had one foot on one of his shoulders as well. He couldn't shove both of them off at once. All of a sudden, a desperate scream filled his ears.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Abigail yelled out as she made a running tackle on the armed Quarryman.
Both fell to the ground and the Quarryman, by reflex, pulled the trigger on his weapon and fired a blast at a space heater near the far wall. There was a great flash of electrical energy that combined with the laser's own explosion to blow a sizeable hole in the wall. It was just big enough that someone could slide through it if they were lying down.
With the other Quarryman's boot off him, Lexington managed to wrestle the other off of him as well, and then managed to knock that Quarryman out with a quick punch to the temple. Lexington's mood was not good, however, when he saw what he saw when he got to his feet.
"You'll die, traitor," the Quarryman snarled to Ms. Wexmand as he held her in the air.
The Quarryman's gun was discarded, lying a few feet away from the hole in the wall. The Quarryman settled for backhanding Ms. Wexmand and knocking her to the ground, leaving what surely become a very nasty bruise. The Quarrymen then dove for his weapon when he heard an angry roar and turned to see the pink female diving at him, her eyes glowing bright red.
Candy had just got the couch through the space where the front door used to be and flipped it over on top of the five remaining Quarrymen, when the other Quarryman struck her mother. Upon seeing this, for the first time in her life as a gargoyle, Candy became angry and leaped the Quarryman, roaring as she went.
One of her fists hit Quarryman across the face and knocked him to the ground, she then glared at the Quarryman.
"No one strikes my mother!" Candy growled before kicking him in the face.
The Quarryman fell unconscious. The sounds of police sirens could be heard in the distance and getting closer. The voices of Ms. Wexmand's neighbors filled the hallway.
"We gotta get out of here," Lexington said turning his ears to both the neighbors and the approaching police sirens.
Candy nodded and turned to her mother, who was sitting up on the floor.
"Mom, you should come with us," Candy said nervously, "If they wanted to kill you earlier, they will really want to kill you now."
"I don't know..." Abigail began.
"I can carry you," Lexington offered, "Granted I will have to grip you with my feet and I can only hold on to your arms you should be safe."
"I..." Abigail began again before groans outside interrupted her, "Fine, Candy you go and get out of here first."
The maneuver to get Ms. Wexmand airborne was rather tricky. Candy climbed out the window and glided out a little way and then hovered in place for a few minutes. Lex then climbed and out climbed up to the roof. Candy watched as her mother crawled out onto the narrow ledge that protruded from under the apartment's windowsill. Once her mother was out, Lex dove from the roof and grabbed her wrists and fore arms with his feet. It reminded Candy of an eagle diving on something.
"Mom!" Candy exclaimed, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Abigail gulped as she looked down.
The extra weight of Ms. Wexmand weighed Lex down. He could only get her to the roof of the apartment across the street before he needed to take a break.
"At this rate we won't reach your castle until a week from now," Abigail sighed.
"We wouldn't make it there at all," Lexington answered weakly, "This is one of those times when I really envy Goliath and the others. I can't carry anything unless it easily fits in one hand and isn't heavy or I can safely grip it with my feet. They can carry just about anything because their wings are separate limbs of their own, instead of these dumb membranes between my arms and legs."
"We're faster though," Candy piped in trying to cheer him up, "In terms of all out speed, the rest of the clan has nothing on us."
"Speed isn't what we need," Lex replied.
"Don't worry, Lex," Candy encouraged, "I'm sure you can think of something."
Xanatos Enterprises Warehouse
Xanatos landed on the rooftop of one of Xanatos Enterprises's warehouses in the region where news reporters said that Thailog had robbed the homeless shelter. He took a few deep sniffs. There were a few gargoyle scents in the region, but they were airborne and that meant that the scent could have been blown from anywhere in the city. It was also Broadway and Angela's scent. The black furred winged wolf mutate that also ran a business that was bigger than most third world countries then looked down and sighed heavily.
Xanatos then made his way inside the warehouse. In all likely hood, Thailog wouldn't let himself be caught out in the open during the night. He would be out during the day when most people would only suspect him to be a stone statue.
Meanwhile, Broadway and Angela were on their way back to the castle from their patrol when they noticed the open roof hatch to the warehouse.
"Do you think that is who I think it is?" Broadway asked, pointing to the open roof hatch.
"I don't know," Angela sighed, "We should check it out to be sure."
Broadway nodded as the two gargoyles moved to land on the roof. Meanwhile, inside the roof, Xanatos heard them land, but he had wandered far from the his 'roof entrance' and had no idea who was really there.
"Great," Xanatos thought to himself, "I come here looking for Thailog and instead, Thailog and Fang find me!"
"Hello?" Angela called, "Anyone in here?"
The lavender female leaped through the hole in the roof with Broadway soon after her. When she landed she saw a lone dark figure leaning against one of the crates. However, this creature did not have black skin, but rather black fur.
"You know, you really should knock first," Xanatos joked, "It's not polite to interrupt a man when he's doing business."
"Xanatos?" Broadway exclaimed in a slightly startle voice, "What are you doing here?"
"This is one of MY warehouses, and I'm inspecting it," Xanatos smirked, "And I presume you're here to do the same."
"What?" Angela and Broadway asked in unison.
"You know, the general inspect a possible site where an evil gargoyle clone could be hiding himself to launch attacks on my business and your clan," Xanatos replied with a shrug.
"I don't know about gargoyle clones," came a new voice from above them, "But I'm sure you'll settle for mutate clones."
Soon afterward, Wolf, Canis, and Vulpine dropped from the roof.
"I'm in need of a snack," Wolf snarled as he licked his lips.
Castle Wyvern
Brooklyn was waiting with Hudson on the top of the tower when Goliath and Elisa returned to the castle. Goliath also noticed that Caroline, Amy, Othello, Desdemona, Lexington, Candy, and the Guatemalans were gathered in the far Court Yard below them. Abigail Wexmand was also with them.
"I didn't know tonight was the night that Ms. Wexmand visited," Goliath said as he and his current mate landed.
"It isn't, lad," Hudson sighed, "It appears that yer clone ain't the only one causin' problems."
"What's happened?" Elisa demanded, taking a brief glance at the gathering below them.
"It was the Quarrymen, Goliath," Brooklyn began, "Lex and Candy stopped by her mother's apartment after their patrol. Eight Quarrymen then busted up the place during diner. Lex and Candy got Candy's mother out of there, but it's completely unsafe for Ms. Wexmand there anymore."
"Aye," Hudson added, "According to what Lexington and Candy heard, the Quarrymen feel her to be a traitor to them. They're looking to kill her now."
Goliath sighed audibly and Elisa shook her head.
"Is Matt still here?" Elisa asked.
"No, he went home a few hours ago," Hudson answered, "He said something about catching up on his sleep."
"Speaking of 'sleep'," Goliath rumbled, "It will be dawn soon. There is something I wish to discuss with the clan before we go to sleep."
"Then that'll have to wait awhile," Brooklyn sighed, "Broadway and Angela aren't back yet an it was close getting Lex, Candy, and Ms. Wexmand here. If Othello, Desdemona, and Zafiro's clan hadn't noticed them on their way back, they'd be stuck taking short trips from roof to roof."
Goliath only sighed again.
Xanatos Enterprises Warehouse
Wolf was the first to really make a move as he leaped into the air and then landed on Xanatos's chest. The mutated executive rolled with the blow and after landing on his back, Xanatos used his legs to catch and throw Wolf back into the air and across the warehouse. The Pack member landed with far more grace than his body and size appeared capable of, and soon they began circling each other.
Meanwhile, Angela and Broadway had their own problems.
"Gargoyles," Canis and Vulpine announced as they prepared to fire electric blasts at the two gargoyles in front of them.
"Hit them before they can fully charge," Broadway roared as he lunged forward at Canis.
The mutate clone of Xanatos dodged Broadway's blow easily, but lost the electrical charge it was building up in its fists. Broadway then turned with another punch and knocked Canis to the ground. His victory was short lived as he was hit by a powerful electric blast from behind. Apparently, Vulpine had hit Angela first, before Angela could get close enough to deliver a punch. Then the mutate clone of Fox turned and fired at Broadway's unguarded back.
Xanatos didn't like what he saw. He had managed to get Wolf into a headlock and was preparing to give Wolf the 'shock' of his life when he noticed Vulpine shock both Broadway and Angela. He distraction gave Wolf the time to elbow the billionaire in the gut and then throw him off of him. Xanatos landed amongst a pile of boxes, splintering the wood as he landed. Before Wolf could attack again, he activated a com-link on his own 'uniform'.
"Owen? You there?" Xanatos asked hastily.
There was a pause for a few seconds before he heard Owen's voice.
"Yes, Mr. Xanatos," Owen said.
"Owen we have a problem down on the west side warehouse," Xanatos said, "Broadway, Angela, and I are under attack by Wolf and the two mutate clones that Sevarius made of me and Fox. I want you to send four Steel Clan robots to my position immediately! It will be dawn soon!"
"Yes, Mr. Xanatos," Owen responded.
Xanatos then dodged another attack thrown at him by Wolf.
"Your butler can't help you now," Wolf snarled
"We'll see," Xanatos smirked.
Castle Wyvern
Abigail Wexmand sat quietly on a bench looking out over the sky, which was already begin to get light in the east.
"They tried to kill me," she muttered under her breath.
"You're perfectly welcome to stay here," came a new voice.
Abigail turned to see the female red-furred fox mutate that was now Fox Xanatos.
"I'm sorry?" Abigail began.
"I said you're welcome to stay here," Fox repeated as she sat down next to Ms. Wexmand.
"What?" Abigail asked in surprise.
"The Quarrymen attacked your apartment because you didn't attend their meetings," Fox said, "Because you survived you are still a target. You will be safer here until the Quarrymen are officially brought under control."
"How will I be safer here," Abigail complained, "From what I've heard, this castle has been attacked by everything from Vikings to wizards."
Fox smiled, "True we've seen more action here than most people, but how long would you last in a unguarded apartment during the day? The Quarrymen will be wanting to kill you even more because you survived. If they attack here you will have David, Owen, the Steel Clan, myself, and of course the gargoyles during the night."
"Steel Clan?" Abigail asked.
"David will probably tell you all about it later," Fox answered, "My point is you'd be safer here, and you can be with your family. I'm know the clan won't mind and I'm absolutely positive that David won't."
"Well I guess I could do that," Abigail sighed, "But I really liked my old apartment."
"It had to be in a bad neighborhood if eight armed Quarrymen could simply blast through your front door without getting caught first," Fox pointed out.
"It WAS a safe neighborhood," Abigail protested, "I don't know how this all happened! But, I guess for my daughter's sake, I can move in."
"Thank you," Fox smiled.
Just then Owen appeared and the sound of jet engines filled the air. Fox hurried to the wall and Abigail was close behind her. Sounds of commotion also began coming from the gargoyles tower. Fox looked over the edge to see four Steel Clan robots flying out over the city.
"What are those," Abigail asked in surprise and wonder.
"They are four of my husband's new Steel Clan robots," Fox answered, "They are robotic gargoyles made to resemble Goliath and are just strong as any gargoyle and can combine this strength with powerful laser fire as well."
Fox then turned to Owen, and demanded, "What is going on?"
"Mr. Xanatos was attacked by Wolf, Vulpine, and Canis at one of our warehouses," Owen answered calmly, "He had contacted me to call for reinforcements."
Fox was about to leap over the parapets when Owen stopped her.
"The Steel Clan will suffice with this mission," Owen said, "Broadway and Angela are more than holding their own against Canis and Vulpine. Mr. Xanatos is also fairing quite well against Wolf. The Steel Clan is being sent to assure a swift victory before Broadway and Angela turn to stone."
"I should still go," Fox argued.
"You are almost one month along in your pregnancy, Mrs. Xanatos," Owen answered, "Mr. Xanatos gave me complete instructions to make sure you don't put yourself in a dangerous situation for you or the baby. He will return alive, I assure you."
Fox stepped back for a minute and looked down, "I'll kill you if you're wrong."
"I'd commit suicide if I where wrong," Owen answered coldly.
Xanatos Enterprises Warehouse
Broadway ducked behind a large crate as Canis attempted to fire electric blast after electric last at him. The blasts missed, but he knew he had to get this battle over quickly. He could sense the sun rising, and it wouldn't be long before he wold have to go into stone sleep for the day. Broadway began pushing on the crates, and knocking them over. He heard whelp of pain and surprise as one of the boxes landed on Canis. When Broadway peered around he saw that Canis was caught under the boxes and could not move. As the sun rose over the area, the whine of jet engines was heard above everything else.
Vulpine meanwhile had chased Angela to the wall closest to New Jersey and nearly had the female gargoyle trapped. Angela, however was doing fairly well. Fox's mutate clone, while a good fighter, had a hard time improvising with the obstacles that the warehouse threw at it.
"Now we'll see who's got who," Angela growled, her eyes glowing red.
Angela quickly grabbed a hold of the brick wall with her talons and threw the improvised weapon at the approaching clone. The brick hit Vulpine in the head, startling the clone. Angela then leaped at it and grabbed it by the shoulders and kneed it in the gut. She followed that up with a left cross across Vulpine's muzzle. The mutate clone was knocked to the ground, but Angela couldn't do anything else, as the sun rose and the sound of jet engines filled her ears before she turned to stone.
Wolf noticed this as he dodged a punch thrown at him by Xanatos and yelled, "Smasher her! Quickly! She can't fight no more!"
Before Vulpine moved, Xanatos roared and tackled Wolf. The mutate clone paused and looked between Wolf struggling to fight Xanatos, Canis trapped under boxes and the stone gargoyle standing next to her. The clone didn't get a chance to do anything as the first of four Steel Clan robots appeared inside the warehouse.
With careful aim, the first Steel Clan robot fired on Vulpine, striking the surprised mutate clone in the chest and throwing it into a wall, where it slumped unconscious. That robot and following three then zoomed toward Wolf and Xanatos.
Wolf growled angrily as he saw the robots coming toward him. He had just gotten Xanatos's claws of him and suffered to minor electrical blast wounds in the process when they approached.
"You and your damn robots!" Wolf roared, "Can't you comprehend a fair fight?"
"Can you?" Xanatos smirked back as he begin firing a series of electric blasts at Wolf, "You ordered Vulpine to kill that gargoyle while it was in stone. The gargoyle could do no more to harm Vulpine or you. I don't call that a fair fight. You have to possibility of escape or capture or victory."
Wolf took two lasers blasts before he decided to make a run for it. Between Xanatos's electric blasts and the robot's lasers, he wouldn't last long.
Once Wolf was gone, Xanatos reactivated his com-link, "Owen, you'll need to send a helicopter to pick up Broadway and Angela, and bring some restraining devices, we've captured Canis and Vulpine."
Castle Wyvern, The Next Night
Goliath awoke feeling slightly nervous as the new day ended. As usual, as the sun set, he and the rest of the clan broke free of their stone shells and roared into the night. He and Elisa turned to see Xanatos standing on the battlements. Owen had informed him of Wolf's attack on Xanatos, Broadway, and Angela before the clan went to sleep the previous day, and while seeing that his former enemy, now ally, was okay, he was still nervous and concerned for his daughter and a member of his clan.
"Broadway? Angela?" Goliath began slowly.
"Absolutely fine," Xanatos smiled, "Broadway took out Canis before dawn, and if dawn hadn't come so quickly Angela would have finished off Vulpine."
Goliath and Elisa looked at him with a confused look.
"The Steel Clan made sure that Vulpine was dealt with before it could do anything to your daughter," Xanatos added, "Everyone is safe and unharmed."
Goliath sighed with relief, "Thank you Xanatos."
"Don't mention it," Xanatos smirked.
Goliath nodded, "The clan and I will need to meet in the court yard to discuss matters. Is there anything else you wish to discuss with me at the moment?"
Xanatos shook his head, "No, but I'll come with you. Most of the matters that are concerning your clan will also affect me and my family because of our alliance."
Goliath nodded again and then vaulted over the battlements, with Elisa close behind. Xanatos paused for a few moments before following. They all soon gathered in the center of the courtyard.
"First, I will begin by saying that Elisa and I discovered Thailog's general area of activity last night," Goliath began, "He is operating out of and on Long Island right now. It was Thailog who was behind all the muggings in that region. He has been beaten back, but not fully defeated yet."
Goliath then looked down for a moment and continued, "I have also been informed that Thailog is not our only foe who is currently active. The Quarrymen have attacked Candy's family and Wolf, Canis, and Vulpine have attacked the clan's ally and two members of the clan."
Goliath looked around the clan before continuing further, "While I can say with pride that none of these foes have defeated us, I must admit that they have left us with enemies on all sides. We can not simply chase one or the other."
"It would put us on the defensive then, brother," Othello said, "If we have multiple enemies, we should let them come to us, where we have the advantage."
"As much as I'd like to see all of them off the streets as soon as possible," Elisa added, "I'd have to agree with Othello. Our victory over Thailog last night was not total and some might say that we didn't really win. Between Thailog and Fang, the Quarrymen, and the Pack we just don't have the numbers to deal with them all. Talon and the guys in the Labyrinth I'm sure would be willing to help us, but they already have enough to worry about. We can't simply go to them every time we find ourselves outnumbered."
Goliath nodded, and growled slightly under his breath, "I agree with both of you. Chasing Thailog will leave us open to the Quarrymen or the Pack and will leave the castle unguarded."
"If I may cast a ray of light on this storm," Xanatos interrupted, "We've captured Canis and Vulpine. The Pack is back down to three members and won't be as big of a threat. Your real problems are in Thailog and the Quarrymen."
"That doesn't matter," Goliath rumbled, "Hyena, Jackal, and Wolf are still dangerous foes. Ignoring any threat they pose will leave us vulnerable, and Jackal has the intelligence to know when and how to strike his opponents."
"So what do we do, Goliath?" Brooklyn asked.
Goliath looked down, "We will patrol as though nothing were wrong. That way we can catch any activity by the Quarrymen and monitor any activity by the Pack or Thailog."
"What if the 'Pack' or 'Thailog' attack the patrol groups in force?" Desdemona asked.
Goliath sighed, "I don't know. I find it unlikely. Right now, what we need is information on where their hideouts are specifically. We can't figure that out by hunting one group or the other. And there are other concerns. If the Quarrymen came after Candy's mother, they may go after the parents and family of the rest of the new trio."
Goliath then turned to Elisa, "They may go after your family as well."
Elisa didn't say anything. There was a short silence for awhile before Lex broke it.
"So we're caught between a rock and a hard place?" Lex said, "If we go out in force to stop one, we leave ourselves open to an attack by the other two. And, if we simple patrol as normal, while none can easily attack us, we leave ourselves under-strengthed in case they attack our individual patrol groups in force."
Zafiro stepped forward, "If I may offer help, Goliath. My clan can deal with the Pack, as you refer to Jackal, Hyena, and Wolf. We know how Jackal and Hyena operate, and from what you've told us of Wolf, he should not be too difficult to deal with."
Goliath smiled, "I thank you for your clan's help, but we can not risk that. You and your clan are still adjusting to the city. There are things that the Pack knows that you do not yet know. Right now our only hope is time. In time we can hopefully defeat the Pack, Thailog, and the Quarrymen for good."
"My clan will still be there to help you," Zafiro said.
"I thank you for your help," Goliath answered, "I believe we will need it."
"Owen and I will help in any way we can Goliath," Xanatos added, "It's the least we can do."
"Thank you Xanatos," Goliath replied slowly, "I guess now all there is to do is carry on and see how long it takes for the 'shoe' to 'drop'."
"Don't worry, Father," Angela said, "We'll be ready for whatever comes."
Long Island
Thailog roared angrily as he broke free of his stone shell as the sun set. He raised one hand to his face. The scratches that the tan female had inflicted on him had healed in his stone sleep, but he had lost the part of armor that he wore on his head. He growled slightly to himself.
"What happened with you last night?" Fang asked from across the warehouse, "You looked like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar last night when you got back."
"Being caught is essentially what happened," Thailog snarled, "Goliath and some tan female caught me last night. The clan surely knows of our operations here by now."
"Bring it on," Fang growled.
Thailog nodded, "Yes, we need to fight the clan, but we must fight smart. Now I just had an idea on how to deal with our friends at Castle Wyvern. It shouldn't take too much time."
Fang looked at that black skinned clone and said, "It better not."
Warehouse, Manhattan
"See what going out and attacking someone when everyone isn't ready gets you?" Jackal asked in a mocking voice, "It gets your fur sizzled and Canis and Vulpine captured."
"How was I supposed to know that Xanatos would call in his damn robots," Wolf roared back.
"He runs a company and has billions of dollars and those robots in the first place," Jackal retorted, "He knows about us and how dangerous we can be. What makes you think that we wouldn't use all his available options?"
Wolf didn't answer.
"Do you have any common sense?" Jackal demanded.
"I don't think so," Hyena laughed.
"Shut up!" Wolf roared.
"So now what are we going to do now that we're back down to three?" Hyena asked.
"The same as before," Jackal said, "Taking out the gargoyles and Xanatos will be tougher now, but we can do it. That is if Wolf has learned not to bite off more than he can chew."
Wolf only glared at the cyborg.
"Don't worry, fido," Hyena offered, "We'll get those flying lizards yet!"
"That we will," Jackal added with a cruel smile.
The End