Journey to the East
Disclaimer: I don't own Gargoyles, or its spinoff Gargoyles: Bad Guys. That honor belongs to Disney. Characters created by Greg Weisman and distributed by SLG.
March 6, 1997, Shandong province, China
Griff groaned and rubbed his head, slowly sitting up. "Bloody hell," he groaned. He glanced around, realizing that he was trapped within what appeared to be a bamboo cage. Yama was unconscious, in a second bamboo cage next to him. The cage was large enough that Griff could stand up, and spread his wings.
The cages were in what appeared to be an ancient Chinese Imperial Throne room. A large jade throne sat on the opposite side of the room, resting directly in front of the throne was a fountain, with a golden monkey statue resting in the center of the fountain.
There was a marble pedestal not far from the bamboo cages. Five perfectly smooth, round glass spheres, roughly the size of baseballs rested in nooks atop the pedestal. Each was different color: blue, red, green, black, and brown.
Griff placed his talons on the bamboo and attempted to break the bars. He was surprised to find that he could not; furthermore, his sharp talons would not even pierce the bars.
Griff's tail reached through the bars and nudged Yama. The Japanese gargoyle groaned and stirred slightly.
"Yama, mate," Griff said looking around the room and nudging his friend again with his tail. "Yama, wake up."
Yama's eyes suddenly snapped open and he was on his feet in a heartbeat.
"Where are we?" Yama asked taking in the scene.
"Not sure," Griff said. "Looks something like a throne room…or something of that sort."
"They appear to be dormant now," Yama said, pointing to two terracotta soldiers that rested on either side of the exit to the throne room.
Griff nodded. "Don't think they'll stay that way."
"I have been disarmed," Yama said examining his person. "They have taken my katanas, my shuriken…all of my weapons."
"They didn't take mine," Griff said grinning and holding up his lightning gun.
"Which means they probably didn't realize what it was," Yama said as Griff leveled his weapon at the bars. Yama held up his hand. "Wait, Griff."
"What?" Griff said looking annoyed.
"Once you use the gun, they will know it is a weapon," Yama replied. "This may be our only chance to gather information. I would be very surprised if our captor did not arrive to see us soon."
"Fair enough," Griff said sliding his gun into his leather shirt. He smirked and leaned against the back of his cage.
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"I have assimilated a number of earthmoving technologies," Matrix said. "Though, I am uncertain if any will be effective."
Dingo, Matrix, Robyn, King Arthur, and Fang all stood outside the Redemption II, standing in a loose semicircle.
"You don't think you can get us down there?" Dingo asked.
"I can get us to the barrier easily," Matrix said. "But I cannot penetrate it. No technology I currently possess will."
"Perhaps…," Arthur wondered, his hands rested on Excalibur. "Excalibur was able to disrupt some of the sorcery within the tower…maybe my blade can upset this barrier as well."
Matrix's 'head' shifted and turned towards Arthur. "Perhaps," it said. "But, based on the fluctuation within the cave, I calculate that the blade will only be able to disrupt the barrier for 2.8 seconds."
"It'll have to be enough," Robyn said coolly. "Just get us down there Matrix."
"Yes, Hunter," Matrix said. The silver blob of nanobots expanded and reformed, morphing into an enormous cylindrical tank. A large drill marked the front of the tank. Matrix began drilling into the ground. When the tank was halfway submerged in earth, a 'door' formed and opened.
"All aboard!!!" Fang said as he, Dingo, Arthur, and Hunter piled into Matrix's 'cab'.
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"Do you hear someone chanting?" Griff asked suddenly.
Yama had crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and cloaked his wings. He had remained silent up till this point.
"Yes," Yama said. "I believe it is Chinese…an ancient form of the dialect. I cannot translate."
"I think our captor is here," Griff said. Yama opened his eyes and climbed to his feet.
"Greetings gargoyles," a small Chinese man said stepping into the room. He had oily black hair and was clean shaven. He wore blue and golden robes embossed with dragons. The large gargoyle beast that had attacked them earlier entered behind him.
"You speak Japanese?" Yama said looking surprised.
"What?" Griff said frowning. "He's speaking English."
"I am speaking neither," he said grinning. "I just cast a spell so that you would hear me in your native tongues. It worked."
Griff and Yama exchanged a glance.
"Why have you brought us here?" Griff asked.
He smiled but did not answer their question. "Yes…excellent. Such prime specimens. Wouldn't you agree Fu-Lion?"
The gargoyle beast licked its lips. Its eyes had a soft red glow, almost invisible on its imperial red skin. Its mane was a golden, and there were tufts of gold fur on all four legs, as well as the end of its tail.
"He agrees," the man said grinning.
Griff and Yama exchange another glance, this time one of utter surprise.
"Allow me to introduce myself," he continued. "I am Quong Po, and I was once a royal sorcerer in the court of the Jade Emperor."
"Really?" Griff said. "Interesting. He was the first ruler of China, according to legend, and the son of a dragon. Una believes that he was a member of the Third Race."
"I am surprised that I foreigner would know so much about Chinese history," Quong said, genuinely surprised and impressed.
"My clan owns a magic shop," Griff said. "There's not much about magic we don't know. We've even got some of the Jade Emperor's things…if the stories behind them are true."
"A clan of sorcerers," Quong replied.
"Well, no," Griff admitted. "Only a few of them are actual practitioners. But two of my rookery mums, Cam and Unette…well they wanted to make sure we were prepared for anything."
"Wise," Quong said. "As I was saying. I was a sorcerer in the court of the Jade Emperor, but I was banished for using dark chi magic. So I vowed to make a kingdom that rivaled that of the Jade Emperor's."
He smiled. "Many years before I was banished, the Jade lord created a giant map of his kingdom beneath the surface of the Middle Kingdom. It was smaller scale…but it was a perfect replica. When I was banished, I fled here…to the underground replica…and began building my own kingdom. It has taken me millennia, but I am almost done."
"I have farmers, and various other peasants," Quong said waving his hand dismissively. "I have an army."
With this he walked to the pedestal and picked up the brown sphere. It began glowing softly. The two terracotta warriors at the doorway sprung to life, and then exited the room.
"There is only one thing that the Jade Emperor's China has that mine does not," Quong said leering at the pair.
"Gargoyles," Griff guessed.
"Indeed," Quong said. "The Xanadu Clan's home was long ago placed under a magical protection. I doubt even they remember…but they are protected from my magic, and I cannot set foot on their territory, so for countless millennia my kingdom has done without…"
"What about the beast?" Yama asked looking at Fu-Lion.
"Occasionally Fu-dogs wander beyond the borders," Quong said. "As did Fu-Lion here. When that happens I snatch them up. I gave him his name because he's so large. He was more than a Fu-dog…he was a Fu-Lion."
"You know little of our kind, don't you?" Yama said.
Quong looked annoyed. "What do you mean?"
"That's a female," Griff said pointing at Fu-Lion. "She may look like a male lion, but the resemblance is, I assure you, purely superficial. You can tell because her eyes have a red glow to them, as opposed to the white glow found in males."
Quong scowled at the two gargoyles, but did not say anything else.
At that moment the terracotta warriors returned, carrying between them another bamboo cage. Within the cage was a statue of a Japanese female gargoyle.
"Sixty years ago," Quong said. "The opportunity came to me, to finally add some gargoyles to my kingdom. Three gargoyles flew into my territory. It was my intention to collect them one at a time, but the opportunity to acquire the other two slipped from my grasp. I was only able to get the one."
Griff and Yama glanced at one another again, and then looked at Quong, their expressions hard but curious, uncertain of where he was going with this.
"Then tonight, you two fell into my lap. At last, male gargoyles to my female, I can finally start breeding my own clan."
"What do you mean?" Yama said.
The soldiers set the cage down. Quong placed the brown orb back in its nook. As soon as he broke contact, the soldiers froze, becoming statues once more. He then picked up the blue orb. It glowed softly in his hand and the fountain began to bubble.
"I used a sleeping powder to keep her in stone sleep," Quong said. "Since I didn't know how long it would take me to find her a mate. You gargoyles do not age in your stone sleep you know."
"No," Yama whispered and glanced at the statue. "It cannot be!"
Water from the fountain suddenly burst forth and rushed over the room, splashing all over the stone gargoyle and washing her off. Cracks began forming over her body, and with a panther-like screech, Sakura burst free from her stone prison.
Griff and Yama could only stare as the Ishimuran gargess calmly brushed shards of stone skin from her body.
To be continued…
