A Knight to Remember
Destiny's Flame - Story 1

by: Kitty Cat Demon

Disclaimer: I don't own Gargoyles, I don't make a profit from Gargoyles. Any original characters are property of me, and if you wish to use them, please ask first. Batman and friends are characters of Warner Brothers and DC, based on the Cartoon series, and used without permission.

Note: This story won't make much sense unless you read the Change of Face Saga, and Destiny's Flame – Prologue first. By the way, when I change perspective, it'll be marked by the person's name, and POV (point of view). You have been warned, now, on with the story.

Rating: PG-13 for violence

Chapter 4

Where Dreams Reside

Cat stood on a cliff, overlooking a field. It was filled with gargoyles, and humans, and many other strange and wondrous beings. All were happy, they were friends, working in peace. All were dead. Souls who had been devastated in life, in death found peace and harmony. Cat wanted to join them.

She went to step off the cliff, to join those on the field below. Something stopped her. Some sort of invisible shield prevented her from going forward.

"It is not yet your time." A man with the head of a jackal, or was it a jackal with the body of a man? He had spoken. "Your friends still need you. Go now."

Cat looked longingly at the field below, but she was already returning to the waking world. Her form was slowly dissolving from the ground up. "But...When?" She was gone.

Cat's POV

I gave a deep, shuddering breath. It felt good, like I'd been holding my breath for ages. I heard the sound of Brooklyn turning to stone, and knew two things: it was sunrise; and wherever I was, it was safe.

I took another deep breath, and knew something else, I hurt. Every single part of me hurt, I felt like someone had dropped a car on me. Oh damn, now I remember. No one had dropped a car on me, I'd dropped on a car.

"Ungh..." Okay, so I wasn't quite ready to make conversation yet, and I definitely wasn't ready to go dancing, but I was alive, which was probably more than I should have been.

A dark shape appeared at my side. "Computer, report."

An emotionless, electronic female voice replied. "Subject is alive. Injuries: bruised ribs, left ankle - sprained, right wrist - broken, jaw - bruised. Status: non-critical. Comparison with last scan: Error! Subject should be deceased. Conclusion: Error!" The computer stopped, apparently stumped for answers.

I tried to lift my head off the table. Bright light flashed before my eyes and it felt like someone had hit me with a sledge hammer. I let my head drop back down. "Oh, ouch. That hurt."

The dark figure...Batman, Batman, Batman, where do I know that from? leaned over me, probably to get a better look, or fiddle with some computer control.

"You know," I started, "You could just ask me how I feel, instead of your computer."

He gave me a strange look from underneath his mask, as if he wasn't sure whether he should smile or frown. Or maybe he wasn't sure how to smile. Then again, he could just be thinking he was going nuts and talking to a corpse.

"I've got the damndest feeling I should know you from somewhere." I pointed an accusing finger at him, and caused a jolt of pain to run up my arm. "Oh," I hissed "right, broken wrist, ouch."

This time, he definitely smiled, just the barest flicker of a smile, only there for a second, but definitely a smile. "Here," he handed me a cup, and helped me sit up. "Drink this."

I sniffed the cup cautiously. "Chicken soup?"

He nodded, "Made fresh, it'll help you get your strength back."

I sniffed it again, and smelled something else, besides the chicken and noodles, but I couldn't place it, so I drank it up. I figured it was just some spice or some secret ingredient. He took the cup away and laid me back down. I yawned, felling drowsy.

I gave Batman an evil look. "You drugged..." That was all I got out before I fell asleep.

"Yes, I did." Batman gave the strange creature, no, Cat. He gave Cat one last look before heading out to change for his day job, secure in the knowledge that the sedative should keep her unconscious until he returned later that evening.

I awoke sometime later to a silent cave, and a computer flashing the time. 8:30 a.m.. I guessed I'd been asleep for about two hours or so. Guess it wasn't a very strong sedative. I sat up and looked around. Brooklyn was a few feet away, still a statue. I yawned, there seemed to be no one at all around.

I decided if Batman could do it, so could I, I'd try to access his computer.

"Computer?"

I heard an odd noise, like air pressure being released, then, "One moment, processing." The voice was wrong, it wasn't the emotionless electronic voice I'd been expecting. Heck, it wasn't even female. Instead of the voice I'd heard before, I got a voice full of warmth, feeling, and...it was male.

"Hello, I am D.A.C.S. (pronounced Dax). That's Digiotronic, Artificial Intelligence, Complex computer, System." The voice was familiar somehow, like the voice you expect your dream man would have, the voice from some far off dream. "How can I help you today, Cat?"

This definitely wasn't Batman's computer. "Um..." I wasn't quite sure what to say. "What...where are you?" This was most confusing.

"This unit is located in your left gauntlet." I think the computer was laughing at me. I lifted my left arm into my lap, sure enough, my gauntlet now resembled a small laptop computer. A small screen, no more than three inches high and five wide, had popped up, revealing a strange keypad set into my gauntlet. The screen was black, having nothing to display, while the keypad was lit up with a green glow, presumably so I could type commands.

"Well, lets try the basics." I addressed the small computer. "D.A.C.S., status report." Basic commands and functions seemed to pop into my mind the longer I thought about it.

"Unit fully charged, holo-projector status: offline; weapons status: stand-by mode; force shield: offline; dimensional archive information: stand-by mode. All systems operational." The humor had disappeared from the voice, it was all business now.

"Holo-projector? Archive?" I wasn't sure what half these things meant. "Dacs, full explanation on holo-projector."

The computer started spouting technical jargon. I interrupted, for sanity's sake. "Whoa, wait, stop. Just...just tell me what it does."

"Confirmed. The holo-projector was created to be used in an infiltration capacity." An image appeared on the small screen, a wire model, obviously of me, complete with wings and tail. It was surrounded by a line of red light. "The holo-projector, when engaged, projects a series of force-fields and light patterns, displaying a false image to those not contained within the shielded area. All images are designed to fool most recording devices, as well as projecting false health readings to medical equipment." The computer trailed off, waiting for further instructions.

"This has definite possibilities." I paused, trying to remember the other things which Dacs had listed. "Dacs, what does the archive contain?" I queried the computer, wondering how this could help me.

"The archive is a complete reference manual on all known dimensions with in the multiverse, complied from different sources-"

"Computer," I interrupted "Where does the information come from?"

"I was coming to that," it actually managed to sound peevish. "Each dimension has its own collection of fiction and fantasy, most of these writings are simply the writers' ability to glimpse into another plane of reality. With each new dimension we travel to, new information is added."

"Really?" This was definitely helpful. "So, then you could tell me why it is that Batman seems so familiar?"

"Affirmative." Now Dacs was being all computer, he was going to make me ask.

I've know this computer for all of five minutes, and I'm already thinking of it like it's a person. "Well? Tell me about Batman."

"Based on previous data, and data I've collected since we arrived here, I have discovered that Batman is a crime fighter, a vigilante bent on stopping crime in Gotham City. He - "

I cut Dacs off. "He started fighting crime when his parents were killed. They were coming out of a theater, someone tried to mug them, his parents were shot, right in front of him. It changed his life, caused him to vow to stop the suffering of innocents." I paused, looking up at the Batcave, all the equipment, the Batmobile. "Bruce Wayne is Batman."

"Correct." After that, the silence was deafening.

©2000