The night was calm, a cool breeze blew over the coast, soft waves ebbed and flowed over the rocks of the island housing the Rapture Industries research tower. Seen from the outside, it would appear to be a normal New York night. However, if you're name was Brooklyn, Broadway, or Lexington, you would be staring down one of twenty semi-automatic machine gun barrels. They thought it would be an easy mission; recover a piece of stolen property. How hard could it be to return something to its rightful owner? Apparently, it was very hard, as more soldiers appeared, changing the number of guns from twenty to nearly forty. But, they were warriors of medieval Scotland, and were trained by fellow warriors since the day they were born. Not to mention that they were gargoyles: human-like monsters that have wings and turn into stone statues during the day. Were they scared as they looked at the near forty guns pointing in their direction ready to unload their entire supply of lead bullets into their body? In a word: yes.
"Uh, sorry. Wrong floor?" Brooklyn joked, before quickly jumping back into the elevator shaft as the soldiers opened fire. The other two were quick to follow his example, jumping to the sides of the elevator and climbing after him. Once Brooklyn reached the floor above the soldiers, he hurriedly pried the doors open. The three slipped into the open doorway just as soldiers began to fire up the shaft after them. They escaped with their lives, but not without complications. Alarms sounded throughout the building, with a voice constantly shouting 'Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert!' "Now what" Lexington asked, hoping desperately that their impromptu leader had some sort of plan. "Simple" Brooklyn stated, albeit doubtfully, "we get in the lab." "How" both Broadway and Lex asked.
All work stopped as the alarms sounded. The best minds in the world that were working at Rapture were filled with anxiety. Nobody has ever tried to break into the tower before, so to say they were shocked was an understatement. They all stood stock still, whatever they were working on going completely ignored, eyes glued to the door to their laboratory. Each one of them had their breath held, the seconds ticking by, feeling like hours. For a moment, nothing happened, only an eerie quiet that was broken by the alarms. Suddenly, a great crashing was heard, and large pieces of plaster scattered across the ground. The power temporarily went out, and darkness fell. In the darkness, the scientist heard the sound of three large bodies fall and land to their level. When the power came on, fear shot through all of them. Standing before them, were three giant monsters: one of them had skin the color of bricks, shocking moonlight colored hair, and a beak. The second was a small creature, green in color, almost reptilian in body structure, had it not been for its bald, human-like face. And the last was a large monster, larger than the other two combine. Its skin was a light shade of blue, with a bald head, wings like the red skinned monster's, and a tail, just like the other two. The main difference about this one, besides its skin color, was its vast stomach, almost comical in compared to the rest of the beast.
Broadway let out a warning growl, letting the scientist know that they were not to be trifled with. From the looks of the humans around him, he and his brothers didn't have much to worry about. Slowly, Brooklyn approached one of the scientists grabbing him as he came into arm's reach. Picking up the scientist by the collar of his lab coat, Brooklyn's eyes began to glow as he growled out one question: "where's the disc?" The scientist trembled, pointing in the direction of one of the many terminals that lined the walls. Being the closest to them, Lex investigated the terminals. As his eyes scanned over the countless switches, buttons, levers, and slots on the machine, his eyes came upon one button in particular. It looked like a regular button, but had a strange symbol made of a full arrow with a small line under it. Lex saw this symbol before; Xanatos pressed a button with this symbol on it back at the castle. After it was pressed, the brick-like object, or tape cassette as it was called, shot out of a slot under the monitor. Pressing it, their objective shot out before them. In plain sight of the gargoyle, was the disc they seek. "Got it" he said proudly, holding the disc above his head.
Their objective complete, Brooklyn dropped the poor whimpering scientist, and moved to the door. As soon as he opened it, he slammed it back shut, a look of worry on his face. He pressed his back against the door, trying to keep the soldiers on the other side from barging in. "Think it's time to go" he stated, the other quickly agreeing. Broadway quickly acted, ripping a terminal out of the wall, and throwing it out a window. As the window shattered, the gargoyles took off into the night sky, soldiers firing at them. Fortunately, none of them sustained any injuries of any sort, and before long, they were long gone. "All right" Lex cheered, "We did it." "Yeah, and we didn't even break a sweat" Broadway added, rubbing his growling stomach, "but I am kind of hungry." "You can eat when we get back to the castle" Brooklyn said, leading his three brothers in arms back to their home.
Deep beneath the streets of New York, in an abandoned collection of subway tunnels, another laboratory of Rapture Industries was hard at work. Looking over their monitors and observing the data that streamed by, they were all oblivious to the effects that took place earlier tonight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~G~A~R~G~O~Y~L~E~S~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Coronel" a soldier called out, approaching a high ranking soldier standing in the middle of the entire laboratory. After a quick salute to the high ranking officer, he stated "central intelligence reports a breach in station one, sir". "Do we have confirmation on who breached it, soldier" the commander asked. "Well," he began to say, unsure of how to explain it to his commanding officer. "The men sounded pretty hysterical sir, and mentioned something about monsters." "I see" was all the commander said, going over what he heard. So far, it sounded absolutely ridiculous, but still, somebody broke into a heavily secured Rapture Industries research center, actually stole something, and escaped. He decided to take no chances, ordering to double the defenses around the lab.
The darkness seemed to go on forever. The musty smell of the Earth perforated the air. Cold water droplets fell on their brows, sending shivers down her spine. The occasional city rat scurried across her feet, sending her screaming into the elder's arms. In other words, Madison was starting to hate being down in the old subway tunnels. "Hudson, I hate being down here! It's dark, icky, creepy, yucky, and gross! Can't we just, I don't know, just say we couldn't get it and leave it at that? I won't tell we abandoned our mission if you don't." The elder gargoyle dropped the young hatchling unceremoniously, groaning afterwards. "How in the blazin' Hell did I get talked into doing this" he asked himself as he trotted on. As soon as her bottom hit the ground, Madison scooted over to Bronx, feeling a wave of safety beside the mighty gargoyle beast. After another minute of walking, and occasionally trying to get Bronx's attention away from a rat he was chasing, they finally reached the lab, the giant metal door being their only obstacle inside. "Here's a problem" the elder remarked, seeing no other way inside. The metal appeared to be far too thick for all three of them to tear open, and digging around it would take too much time. Fortunately, an opportunity presented itself, in the form of one of the security cameras around the door. Looking at the cameras, then looking at each other, both of the gargoyles smiled wickedly, having the same idea.
The commander's mouth fell agape. He couldn't believe what was on the monitor. For a moment, he figured that he was going crazy, or that maybe the stress of his job was getting to him. But no, before his eyes, right there on the monitor, stood two winged humanoid monsters: one a man, apparently elderly, and the other a young girl. Both of them were at the wall, apparently looking for a way to open it. Suddenly, it all made sense: these were the monsters that attacked the tower earlier tonight. He wouldn't take any chances, ordering all soldiers to surround the beast, weapons at the ready in case they attack.
Hudson and Madison continued to scrape blindly at the wall. The pair weren't looking for anything; they just wanted it to look like they were trying to find the way in. Hopefully, their plan would work, and they'd be allowed inside. It had to work, because it was all they could think of as a plan, and neither of them had a plan B. When they heard the sound of something clicking, they knew their plan worked. Quickly, the pair whipped around, staring down at around fifty soldiers, each one with their guns poised to strike. Suddenly, a blinding light was shot into their faces, and the world around them went white. "I don't know what the hell you things are" said one of the soldiers, "but I'll bet neither of you are bullet-proof." "Aye" Hudson said, raising his hand above his head, "that's a wager you'll win." Madison followed suit, and as the light turned off, the metal door behind them began to open.
The pair of gargoyles was lead inside by the soldiers, waiting for a chance to pump the two full of bullets. "You know" Madison said, "We monsters are a lot smarter than you think." The soldiers only chuckled, looking down at the young girl monster. "No, I'm serious. We have resourcefulness, we have strategies, we even have our own special hideout. In fact," she added, a mischievous gleam shimmering in her eyes. "We have one more thing you humans obviously don't." "And what would that be, monster" one of the soldiers asked. By the time they heard Bronx barking at them, it was too late. The mighty beast lunged through most of the men, running them down as if they were bowling pins. "The element of surprise" she added nonchalantly. The pair acted quickly, disarming the soldiers before throwing them into their comrades. A few soldiers fought back, throwing a punch or kick. Unfortunately for them, none of their attacks seemed effective, as they were quickly countered by a kick or punch of their own. In no time at all, each one of the soldiers was unarmed, and unconscious.
As Bronx charged about the facility, scaring away all the researchers and scientist, the Coronel pulled out his hand gun, aiming it at the beast. Unfortunately, he should have kept his eyes on more than just Bronx, for as soon as the gun came out Madison tackled him with enough force to knock the wind out of him. As he fell to the floor, his finger slipped, pulling on the trigger and sending the small bullet flying. The bullet lodged itself inside one of the many terminals in the lab, short circuiting the machine along with causing great damage. As the machine short circuited, smoke began to billow out of the sides of it, escaping through any crevice it could. Sparks of electricity flew through the air as the machine sputtered and spat, catching fire to some of the clothes of some of the scientist. In their panic, none of the scientist watched where they were going, pulling cords and wires out from under their feet, causing even more chaos.
All throughout the chaos of the situation, Hudson went to work on finding their target. He searched high and low throughout the lab, looking for anything that could be the disc. Unfortunately, with all the buttons, knobs, slots, and whatnot about, it was nearly impossible to actually find what he was looking for. He didn't have the patience of his younger charges, or the full intellect of the 20th century that the young seemed to absorb so quickly. To put it bluntly, he was lost. With a frustrated growl, he slammed his fist into the control console. Miraculously, a nearby slant opened up, revealing the disc he was seeking. After a triumphant chuckle, he grabbed the disc, and made his way towards the exit. "Lass, we're done here" he cried out to Madison, receiving a nod of confirmation. Giving a shrill whistle, Bronx's full attention turned towards the gargoyle girl. "Come on boy, we're going home now" she called out, running after Hudson.
Gaining back his breathing, the Coronel rose just in time to see the elder beast grab a nearby disc. A rage boiled in his blood: he worked for nigh twenty years to reach the rank of Coronel, and he would rather die than lose that title to a bunch of monsters. Climbing up a nearby console, the Coronel slammed his fist on a large red button. An alarm sounded, and the sound of metal scraping concrete was heard. The doors to the lab were closing, and they were closing fast. Turning their quick run into a full out sprint, Hudson and Madison ran as fast as their feet could carry them. Seeing Bronx begin to lag behind, Hudson grabbed the large beast and carried him the rest of the way. With only inches to spare for an exit, the two gargoyles jumped through the closing passage, the door barely sealing on their tails. Panting for breath and groaning in pain, Madison remarked snidely "I'm getting too old for this". "Aye, you an' me both, lass" Hudson groaned, rubbing his sore spine.
Suddenly, from the darkness of the tunnel ahead of them, the sound of machine gun fire and whizzing bullets began to sound. All three gargoyles ducked, nearly dodging the deadly hail of lead heading their way. The trio wasted no time, quickly picking themselves up and running to a nearby tunnel. With a quick climb up the ladder and wall, they were in, but with soldiers quickly gaining on their tails. They had no idea where they were going, or what to expect up ahead, but all three gargoyles knew that fighting all those soldiers off was not an option. They were too numerous, and their weapons would make short work of them in such confined spaces. Their escape was bad enough, but as they reached the end of the tunnel, it turned worse.
They were trapped: a cage like barrier blocked their passage. The cage stretched for what appeared to be forever. They could easily tear the cage apart, but the impossibly wide tunnel beyond the cage held no hiding spots. "We'll be sitting ducks here, right enough" Hudson stated. Suddenly, gunfire was heard, and nearly missed them. Quickly the trio departed down the tunnel, stalling their pursuers and thinking of a way to escape. As they ran ahead, they heard what they thought was a sort of horn. This horn, as it turned out, was coming from what looked like a giant metal worm, and it was heading their way. At that moment, an idea came to Madison. She quickly grabbed onto the cage, easily tearing it open. "Lass, what in the name of Heaven are ye doin'!" Hudson asked. "I think I know how to escape those guys, but you have to trust me!" she shot back, tearing away more of the cage.
The soldiers quickly gained ground; they knew the subway tunnels inside and out. There was nowhere for those things to hide. The safety trail was too narrow for them to make any actual escape, and even if they did, they'd run head first into one of the passing subway trams. In a word: they had them. Or so they though. As they ran on, not seeing those monsters for nearly an hour, it became all too apparent that they were gone. For the moment, they had no idea what happened. However, when they came upon the sizeable hole in the safety grate, it all came into place. They tried to escape into the tunnel just as one of the trams was passing bye. After tearing the hole in the safety grate, they then jumped onto the roof of the tram and rode it out into the city. There was no possible way for them to catch up: the monsters had escaped.
As the 11:37 subway to Central Park passed through the Metropolitan tunnel and into the cool night air of New York, three gargoyles clung onto its roof for dear life. After a good distance away from the tunnel, Hudson grabbed hold of Bronx, opened his wings, and glided off into the night sky. Madison followed close behind, spreading her arms wide and catching the drift made by the train. Unfortunately, when they took off, they took off backwards, and had no time to correct themselves so they could steer. In only a few short minutes, the trio ran into the roof of an apartment complex, tumbled down rolling head over heel onto a flat space on the roof, and crashed.
Bronx panted happily, licking Hudson's face merrily. "Ack! Away with ye" Hudson groaned, pushing the gar-beast off of him. After a quick wipe off of gar-beast drool, Hudson looked around, trying to find Madison. "Lass! Where are ye?" A sudden muffled shouting caught his attention, as well as a strange kicking sensation under him. "GET OFF ME!" Madison suddenly shouted, prompting the elder to obey. As he rose, Madison rose as well, stretching herself and groaning. "Why me? Why is it always me?" she groaned, popping a few bones in her back. "Hudson, no offense or anything, but you need to shed a few pounds" she stated to the elder, adding a quiet "and I need to work on my landings" to herself. "Do you have the disk?" she asked. "Aye, I have it" he said, holding the disk in question out, "and I hope this wee thing'll be worth the aches I'll be feeling later." "You and me both, Hudson" Madison stated, still trying to stretch out her pains.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~G~A~R~G~O~Y~L~E~S~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
High above the New York skyline, steadily soaring like a great eagle, a metallic creature unlike any other flew. Within this metal behemoth were the countless and tireless men and women of Rapture Corporations: scientist that forged forward into the future of humanity, and the soldiers who protected them. Armed with the latest of weaponry, the soldiers stood vigil, ready to defend their livings and their employers with their lives. Fortunately, they hardly used these weapons, as nobody could ever reach Rapture's main laboratories. However, tonight, they stood tense and ready. Reports of a successful theft from laboratory 1 have reached their ears, so the possible chance of another theft was present.
"Captain!" One of the soldiers approached the captain of the flying lab, anxious and panting for breath. Whatever news the soldier had, it must have been serious, for he looked like he ran a marathon just to reach him. "Reports just came in captain" the soldier stated, not bothering with formalities. "There was a breach in station 2! We've lost two thirds of the data!"
Suddenly, the door fell open. Standing in the passage where the door once stood, were three winged humanoid monsters. "Correction" one of them stated: a demonic appearing monster with skin as red as blood, and hair of onyx. "You've just lost all of it" stated another, this one female with a cool light blue skin tone and fiery red hair. The third one, a burly male with lavender skin and jet black hair slowly approached with a determined glint in his eyes. The soldiers stood before their captain, weapons poised and ready to fire. They however, were quickly disarmed with a swift swipe from the lavender male's tail. The demonic one approached, picking both of the soldiers up, ramming their heads together, and dropping them. "I wouldn't pull that gun out if I were you" he warned the captain.
The female casually, sauntered over to the central terminal, letting a silent hiss escape her lips as a human approached. After a quick once over look at the terminal, she pulled on the switched labeled "eject", and the third and final disk popped out. "Mission accomplished" she said, holding the disk up for Goliath and his brother to see. His brother joined the female, an evil look in his eye. When the two locked eyes, they looked as if they were agreeing on something. They then turned to the terminal, smirking darkly. Before Goliath could register what was happening, the other two gargoyles plunged their clawed hands into the terminal, tore out some wires from within, and shoved them into nearby slots. The sudden sparks of electricity jumped everywhere, overloading more of the terminal, as well as the whole ship. With their jobs done, the two casually walked away, as if nothing happened. "We're done here, best we leave with haste" his brother stated, prying open a nearby panel. In bewilderment of his comrades' sudden violent action, Goliath can only mutter out a silent "what have you done?"
Fire and smoke quickly began to fill the room, escaping through the exit his brother had made. "There's no time to dawdle" his mate said, coughing as the smoke gathered, "we have to get out of here." "Not yet!" Goliath stated, "we can't just leave these humans here to die!" He turned to the humans in the room, seeing as they tried to put out the fires, or run from them. "There's no time" his brother stated, quickly grabbing his arm. "Let's go!" All the while, the flying fort began to tilt and descend. In a last ditch effort, a few of the soldiers tried to reroute the ship to prevent it from crashing into the populated city below. Goliath fought to help the humans, not wanting the blood of innocents on his claws. However, he was overpowered by the other two, quickly dragged through the hole in the wall, and into the night sky. As they glided away, Goliath chanced one last glance at the ship. What he saw froze his heart: the engines of the machine began to explode, one of the wings froze up, and more explosions riddled the outside of the ship. He wanted to desperately go back to the ship, try and rescue some of the trapped humans inside, do something to try and clear his conscious. Alas, it was in vain: if he tried to save the humans inside, he would never be able to escape in time to save himself, and there was no way he could change the course of the ship so few lives would be lost. All he could do, was watch as the ship crashed into the nearby river, and see so many lives drown in the sinking of the behemoth. "What have I done" he asked himself, turning away from the deaths he unwillingly caused. "You'll get over it" his brother said coldly, then adding a bitter "besides, for all we know, this death was too good for them."
Down below, in a cherry red convertible, Detectives Travis Champion and Elisa Maza saw the whole thing. They received a call stating that the Rapture Corporation main laboratories were just attacked by what could best be described as "winged monsters". It was too late to stop the first and second attack, but they were close enough to possibly catch the attackers of the third lab. When they reached the river, and saw the third lab sink, they knew it was too late for them already. As the shock of the third attack began to fade away, another shock hit them, as they saw what, or 'who', attacked the third lab. "Goliath?" was all Elisa could say, as she saw Goliath and another pair of gargoyles glide away from the wreckage. Travis said nothing; he just glared at the three gargoyles, his blood boiling.