Gold Demona
Chapter XX
A Night For Friends
(Gold Demona)
(The next night...)(October 27, 2110 A.D.)
I took a nice long sip of my margarita. It was good stuff. After a long day at work, it felt nice to sit back with an icy cold drink.
"Now I remember why I like these so much," I said as I put my glass down.
"Yeah, but don't forget what happened last time," Vaala pointed out.
"Don't worry," I replied, "I won't drink myself senseless this time."
"Yeah, she's got Jigen with her now," Red said with a mocking tone, "She doesn't have any of that stupid depression to drink away."
"Oh shut up," I said and sipped again.
We sat at one of the larger tables in the club. Jigen and I sat next to each other, him with a large frosty mug of beer and me with my margarita. Red sat to my left, and Vaala sat to my right. We somehow managed to get Mac to come along with us as well, and she sat at the other side of the table closer to Vaala, drinking from a rather large glass of scotch with ice in it. She said she wanted to get her mind off things for a little bit. Silverbolt decided to stay with Markl and Krypto in the lab to make sure nothing blew up while we were gone. Boober was nowhere to be found.
"If there's anyone here we should worry about overdrinking, it's Mac," I said and pointed to her glass of scotch, "That's her second glass right there."
"Ah ken hahndle a few drenks, lass," she replied and took another drink, "Ah've been drenken scotch even bifoor Jigen wos hahtched, so ye bist beh warryin aboot yersilf."
"At least the drinks here don't suck," Jigen pointed out and lifted his mug. "This beer's pretty good."
"Aye, thes scotch esn't so bahd, eithar. Althoo mine es far bettar."
"Where do you get yours anyway?" Vaala asked.
"Ah brew eht m'silf," she answered, "Right ehn ma lahb."
"You brew your own scotch?" Jigen chuckled.
"Aye, lad," she answered with a nod and took another drink. "Tha cahbinet Ah kep eht ehn es also whot brews eht."
"So that's why it's never empty," I said. "I always wondered about that."
"Hey, where the hell is Boober?" Red asked, "He said he'd meet us here, but I don't see 'im anywhere. And he left the apartment BEFORE us."
"Relax, Red," Vaala said, "He'll be here. Maybe he went to get something."
"Yeah right," she replied, "He's up to something. I just know it."
"Well, since he has all of us coming here," I said, "Maybe it's something good."
"It better be," she said, "Cuz I'm getting really sick of trying to guess what he's doing."
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(Boober)
"I'm not so sure I can do this now," I said as I tried to adjust my tie. "I feel like I'm going to pass out."
I was in the dressing room with Belldandy, mostly ready for the stage. I had my cloaker off to save on energy. She was helping me look my best for when I would go up to perform in front of everyone, especially Red.
"Boober, you'll be fine," Belldandy reassured me for the fifth time as she came over to me and fixed my tie. "It's only one song. You'll be fine."
"But, Belldandy, my whole clan's out there tonight," I said, "I don't know if I'm ready for this."
"You're the one who arranged this," she reminded me, "I don't think you would have done so if you weren't ready."
"I suppose you're right," I said and sat down on the nearest chair.
"You've got the song down that you're singing tonight, right?" she asked.
"Yes," I answered.
"And you know we're all right here in case anything happens, right?"
"Yes."
Then a glass of water appeared in front of my face. I looked up at Belldandy, who was holding the glass with a big smile on her face.
"Then don't worry," she said as she handed me the glass, "They are your family. You should not be ashamed to sing in front of them. If anything, this should be the time when your performance is at its absolute best. When you show the ones you love just what you can do."
I smiled when she said that.
"You always know exactly what to say," I said and drank the water she handed me, "Thank you, Belldandy."
"That's why I'm here, Boober," she said, "Your turn's coming up. You'd better get up to the stage."
"Right," I replied as I turned my cloaker back on and walked out of the dressing room.
"Good luck, Freddie," I heard Belldandy call to me as the door slowly closed behind me.
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(Silverbolt)
"Tell me, Markl," I said as I moved my rook into place, "Why do you spend so much of your time here in the lab?"
"What do you mean?" he replied.
"This lab is a place of science, not sorcery," I said, "It just seems odd to me that you would want to spend so much time in a place so far from your realm of study."
"It's not just the place," he said as he moved his bishop across the board. "I like being around Mac. Master Howl always said that I have a tendency to gravitate to people I can learn things from. I know science is Mac's specialty, but I think I can learn a lot from her. Things that can help me with my magic."
"Things like what?" I asked out of curiosity as I moved one of my pawns.
"Like this," he said as he pointed his talons to the chessboard between us, reminding me of the illusion that he had placed on it. And then he moved one of his pawns.
"I see," I said as I move my queen into place. "I believe this is check, my friend."
"Yup," he replied and took my queen with his bishop, "And this is checkmate."
I pulled out my glasses to make sure it was correct, and thus it was. He had me in checkmate for the fourth consecutive time.
"Simply amazing," I said and then put my glasses away. "Either my game is rustier than I thought it was, or you simply have one surpassing your years."
"Well, you're not a bad player, either," he said, "I actually had to think about it that last time. Mac's a lot better at this, though. She gets me thinking a lot. And she actually beats me sometimes."
"It's good that your regular partner is that much closer to your level," I said with a smile and crossed my talons together, placing my elbows on the table, "Because it is apparent that I will provide no real challenge for you."
"Silverbolt," he said and then paused, "Were you ever married?"
"What?" I replied, taken aback by the sudden change of topic.
"Mac said she used to be married," he said, "But then her husband died of some disease. Did you ever have a wife or kids?"
"Heh," I chuckled, "I can honestly say, Markl, that I have not. It was my duty to care for the clan. I hadn't time to think about such things."
"But leaders can have wives, too," he said, "Master Howl had a wife. Her name was Sofie."
"Well, to each his own, I suppose," I said. "How is it you can so openly speak of your previous clan?"
"I already took my time to be sad when they died," he said, "But I know that they all watch over me from Heaven. I don't think they'd want me to always be sad for them if they went to Heaven. And besides, my magic won't get any better if I'm sad all the time."
I smiled at that.
"You are wise beyond your years, my boy," I said to him and began to put the chess set away. "Perhaps someday you could lead a clan of your own."
"You think so?" he replied and then reached for my talons, "Woah, wait!"
"What is it?" I asked and stopped what I was doing.
"Mac likes these in a particular order," he said and took the pieces from my talons, "And I'm the only one that knows how they go."
"Well, you know best," I said and let him finish the cleanup.
It was then that the computer began to make a beeping noise. My ears perked up as I rolled the chair over to it.
"Is it the scanner?" Markl asked.
"Yes, it appears so," I answered, recognizing a map of Paradigm City, "Otherwise, I don't think I would understand what was on the screen."
"There's a blip at the edge of the city," Markl pointed out.
"And it's moving," I added, "Quickly. Very quickly. If I had to guess, I'd say they were being transported... or chased."
"We have to save them," he said.
"You and Krypto stay here," I said as I rose from the chair and grabbed a cloaker from Mac's box, "I will go."
"But what about Mac and the others?" he replied.
"Leave them be," I said as I walked towards the door, "They needn't be bothered. I can handle this myself. You'll be safe here, so just stay here until I return."
"Well, be careful!" He called as I left, turning my cloaker on and bolting for the door.
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(Red)
"I swear if he's not here in the next ten minutes..." I mumbled to myself.
"You okay, Red?" Vaala asked.
"I'm fine," I growled. "I'm just getting really sick of all this waiting."
"He'll be here," Gold said, "He's the one who arranged all this, right? I don't think he'd get us all to come here just to leave us hanging."
"Yeah yeah yeah," I said as I leaned back on my chair and looked over to the stage.
There was a girl with blue hair up on the stage singing. I'm pretty sure it was the same girl that was up there when we were here the last time, when Gold tried to drink her depression away. If I remembered correctly, her name was Luna. She'd just finished a song and was getting applause for it. She was good. I gave her that. She bowed and then took the mike.
"Good evening, everyone," she greeted.
The crowd all greeted back.
"We have a special treat for you tonight," she said, "Tonight we have a special one-song performance by Freddie."
"Freddie?" I repeated to myself in thought as the crowd started to applaud.
"I know this isn't one of his regular nights," she continued, "But tonight he wanted to do a special performance for someone very close to him."
"This Freddie guy's a total sap," I said.
"I think it's sweet," Vaala said.
"So without any further delay," she said as she started stepping backwards to the piano at the back of the stage, "I give you Freddie."
The stage went completely dark as a figure made his way to the microphone. I turned my gaze away from it and back to my drink.
"This is ridiculous," I said and took a drink. "Where the hell is Boober?"
The piano started to play, and I could see some light slowly come on. I didn't even bother looking up from my drink to see what this Freddie guy looked like, but I did see some weird looks coming from everyone else at the table.
"What's the matter with all of you?" I asked.
"Uh, Red?" Vaala said and pointed to the stage.
"Ugh, what?!" I groaned and looked back up to the stage, and my jaw dropped when I saw who it was on the stage.
"Oh yes," Boober sang from his place on stage, "I'm the great pretender. Pretending I'm doing well. My need is such, I pretend too much. I'm lonely, but no one can tell."
"I don't believe this," I said, slowly standing up from my chair. "Is that who I think it is?"
"Is that Boober?" Vaala asked.
"It looks like him," Gold said. "But with a suit and tie."
"Thaht's an amazin' sit ohf pipes ohn thaht lad," Mac said.
"Yeah, he's really awesome," Gold agreed.
"So he finally got back his will to sing," Jigen said with a grin. "I'll bet you're real happy to see that, Red."
"He's..." I started, but then paused, "He's singing. I haven't heard him sing like that since... Since he..."
"Since he left the band?" Jigen finished for me.
"Yeah," I said.
I watched him as he sang. He looked so happy. I could tell he was singing his heart out. Every once in a while, he would turn his gaze at me, and each time his smile would grow bigger.
"Boober," I said.
"Pretending," he sang, slowing down to finish the song, "That you're still around."
With that, the piano played its last notes, and the spotlight faded away. The crowd went crazy as he stepped off the stage and out of sight. The girl from before came back to the microphone.
"Let's hear it for another beautiful performance by Freddie," she said and the crowd responded with some loud applause.
I turned back around and looked around at everyone at the table, whose eyes were all fixated on me.
"What?" I asked.
"He did that for you, Red," Gold said.
"What are you talking about?" I replied.
"He only works Tuesdays and Fridays," Vaala said, "Tonight's a Monday. He went out of his way to put a performance on, and I don't think he would've done it if you weren't here."
"And the girl before said he wanted to do a special performance for someONE," Jigen added, "It only takes one person to make a someone, and that someone is you."
"Well yeah, but..." I started, "Wait, how do you know what nights he works?"
"Er, well, um..." Vaala stuttered.
"You knew the whole time!" I yelled and got up from my chair.
"Well, not that he was singing," Gold added.
"What?! You too?!" I yelled at Gold.
"Weh ohl knew heh wos warkin here, lass," Mac said.
"Just not that he was singing," Jigen added.
"All of you knew?!" I asked, turning to each of them. "And nobody ever told me about it?!"
"He asked us not to," Vaala said.
"But why would he do that?!" I yelled, "Why?!"
"That's something you should ask Boober," Gold said, "Not us."
I sat back down after that, having run out of things to say. I was pissed. I didn't like Boober keeping secrets from me.
"Oh, he is so dead when he finally gets his ass over here," I grumbled to myself.
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(Silverbolt)
The sounds of hovercrafts and blaster rifles rang through the air. The closer I ran to the edge of the city, the louder these sounds grew. I continued to run, keeping my gaze to the skies above me, searching for the source of the sounds. I had just arrived at an intersection when a dark blue blur flew past above me, followed closely by two Hunters on hovercraft. The blur flew into a nearby alleyway with the Hunters in hot pursuit.
"That's them," I thought as I ran after them into the alleyway.
When I got there, the Hunters were rising to the rooftops. I took advantage of the fact that their attention was not on me as I readied my claws and latched to one of the walls. I tensed my muscles and leapt to the wall behind me. I repeated this, making my way upward. Up and up and up until I reached the rooftop. They were quickly getting away from me. I turned off my cloak as I ran behind them. They dipped over the edge of the roof, and I followed. I spread my large feathered wings and glided behind them.
I landed on the hovercraft furthest back and yanked the Hunter off of it. The other Hunter quickly noticed his missing comrade and turned his attention to me. He fired his blaster at me. I released the hovercraft just as the shot blasted into it, causing it to explode in front of me and sending me reeling backwards. When I managed to stabilize myself, more shots were fired at me. I swerved around, swooping down and up and all around to avoid the shots. After a few moments of that, I could feel my wings begin to wear out.
"I need to end this quickly," I thought.
I tried to make my way closer to him, but his shots were quick and constant. I kept having to swerve out of the way before I could get the slightest edge, and his shots were getting quicker by the minute. Just when I thought I would never make any progress, a dark blue gargoyle swooped in and knocked the Hunter off his craft, the one they had been chasing. She grabbed hold of the hovercraft and began to steer it.
"Are you alright?" she yelled to me.
"I think so," I yelled back.
"Then let's land somewhere," she yelled and brought the craft down on a nearby rooftop.
I landed a few feet away on the same rooftop. She shut down the machine and stepped off of it.
She was a tall and slender female, almost as tall as I was. The first thing I thought when I saw her was that she must have been some kind of warrior, because she wore a suit of armor that accented her female features, and helmet that covered much of her face.
She was very strange-looking. I always considered myself to be a strange-looking gargoyle for my animal-like features, and Gold always complained about how strange she looked, but this one topped the both of us. She had dark blue skin and matching dark blue hair. In addition to her regular set of claws, each talon had two very large claws protruding from ontop, and her tail ended in a set of pincer claws.
Her wings resembled a set of spider's legs. It would have looked like she had four sets of wings if they were not all connected together with wing membrane. And each of the wing structures ended in a sharp barb.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
"Of course I am," she said as she walked up to me, "I could've handled it by myself, you know."
"Two Hunters to one gargoyle," I said, "Hardly seems like a fair fight."
"So you figured you'd come and rescue the damsel in distress," she replied as she placed her talon to my face.
I raised my talon to hers and lowered it from my face. It felt too strange.
"My name is Silverbolt," I said. "Might I ask yours?"
"Blackarachnia," she said and stepped back. "We have to get somewhere safe before those Hunters come back with reinforcements."
"I know a place," I said and then pulled out the cloaker I took with me. "As a matter of fact, I can get you out of the country."
"Really?" she replied and turned back to be, "Alright, Bowser, you caught my interest."
"Bowser?" I thought.
"Take me to this..." she said as she ran her talons across the chest plate of my armor. "Safe place."
I responded by handing her the extra cloaker. She looked down at it in puzzlement and then again up to me.
"And what's this for?" she asked.
"It's to keep us hidden while we make our way home," I explained as I turned my cloaker on.
She stared at me for a long moment, narrowing her eyes at me. She circled me once, examining me, as if looking for something.
"But how does it keep you from being seen by the scanners?" she asked.
"There's a charm on it that blocks the scanners," I answered.
"I see," she said and grinned.
She placed the cloaker around her wrist and turned it on.
"Well this is interesting," she said as she looked herself over.
"You can admire the handiwork when we get home," I said as I stepped over to the edge of the roof above the alley. "Follow me."
I jumped down to the alley below, landing next to one of the dumpsters. Blackarachnia landed beside me.
"Now what?" she asked.
"Now we walk," I said.
We walked out of the alley and down the street, slowly making our way home.
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(Boober)
Luna was already singing another song when I walked out from the back room. I was walking over to the table everyone was sitting at when Red came up and met me halfway there. As I expected, the look on her face was not a happy one.
"If you want to hit me," I said, "I don't blame you."
"Why did you keep this from me?" she asked. "Me, of all people."
"Because this was something I had to go through on my own," I said, "I had to find my own footing."
"But why leave me out?" she asked, "Everybody else knew you were working here. I didn't even know that much."
"I can't explain it, Red," I said, "I needed some space, and I got it. That's all I can say. What matters now is that it's out in the open, and I don't have to hide anymore."
"So that's it, then?" she asked, "You're just gonna leave it at that?"
I looked over to the dance floor. There were several couples dancing to the song Luna was singing, including Gold and Jigen.
"Do you want to dance, Red?" I asked.
"What?" she blurted, "Don't change the subject on me! I asked you a question!"
"Dance with me, Red," I said and looked down to her, holding my talon up for her, "Please."
She glared at me for a moment. Then she lifted her talon and put it in mine.
"You haven't heard the end of this," she said.
"I know," I replied as we made our way to the dance floor.
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(Gold Demona)
"You do know that I can't dance, right?" I said as we got to the dance floor.
"No, I didn't know that," Jigen replied, "But that's okay. Neither can I."
I chuckled as we positioned ourselves and started stepping to the slow beat of the music.
"Seems easy enough," I said.
"Sure," he replied, not quite agreeing with me.
We stepped for a while, not saying anything. I looked up at him, and he looked down at me.
"Gold," he said finally.
"What?" I replied.
"Don't die on me, okay?" he said.
"What?" I replied, my brow scrunching.
"Lupin probably told you that all my relationships ended in betrayal," he said, "He was only mostly right."
"What do you mean?"
"There were a couple of times," he said, "Where the girl actually did care about me. Lupin doesn't know about them. He wasn't around for 'em."
"What happened?"
"They did something stupid and died," he said. "I don't want that to happen to you. So I don't want you going off doing anything reckless. I can only do so much to protect you, especially now that I don't have my gun anymore."
I smiled at him.
"Don't worry about me," I said, "There are lots of other people out there in a lot more danger than I am."
"I know," he said, "But they don't mean as much to me as you do."
"Jigen," I replied, having run out of things to say.
He bent down and pressed his beak to my lips. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment.
"He still tastes awful," I thought, "But I love it so much."
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(Mac)
"They look so happy together," Vaala said, obviously referring to Gold and Jigen out on the dance floor.
"Aye, they do," I agreed. "Ah, to be in love is such a grand thing. What I wouldn't give to be young and in love again."
"Heh, what do you mean 'young'?" Vaala replied, "Jigen's in his sixties."
"He's a good few decades younger than I am, lass," I said and took a drink from my scotch. "And Gold is that much younger than he is."
"Yeah, that's some age difference," she said. "She's in her twenties. But I guess it would be normal between a human and a gargoyle, since Gold ages like a human."
"Aye," I replied.
"So what made you decide to come with us, Mac?" she asked.
"I already told you," I replied, "I have things on my mind that I wanted not to think about right now."
"You wanna talk about it?" she asked.
I just shook my head and drank my scotch.
"Mac," she said, "If something's bothering you, you shouldn't have to keep it to yourself. We're a family now, right?"
"Hmph," I chuckled, "You consider me part of the family, do you?"
"Well, yeah," she said, "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't HAVE the family we got now. Gold and I would probably still be totally clueless on what we should be doing."
"That ya would," I agreed, "I won't argue that."
"Gee thanks," she replied in sarcasm, "My point is you're really important to us. I don't want you to think we don't appreciate what you've been doing."
I couldn't help but smile.
"Alexander, you clever old fool," I thought. "Now I understand why you placed me here and not at the capital."
"So what's bothering you?" She insisted.
I let out a long sigh.
"Bender's gone," I said.
"He's gone?" she repeated.
"Aye, he's gone" I replied and took another drink, "That's what I said."
"But how?"
"He did something careless and got himself caught," I explained.
"What?!" she replied, practically leaping from her chair.
"Relax," I said, "I activated his emergency security protocol before they found anything. His memory was wiped of everything involving our operation, so there was nothing for them to find."
She slowly sank back to her seat.
"The only problem is that now I'm fairly certain that the Prime Ruler knows my involvement in this," I said. "And he may send someone searching for me."
"He doesn't have our location, does he?"
"No," I answered, "Only some of my personal information, and that I'm living in this city, but not my exact location. I only left in enough information so Bender would be able to come back to me. However, I'm afraid that may have done more harm than good to us. Not long after his memory wipe, his signal disappeared completely, and the only way that could happen is if he was completely dismantled."
"Oh, Mac," she said and scooted her chair closer to mine. "It's alright."
"No, it's not," I replied and drank some more scotch, "I should have just made the program wipe his memory clean. If I was to lose him anyway, there was not a point in me leaving any information in him. Ah well. It's too late to do anything about it now. What's done is done."
"Well, we should be fairly safe if he doesn't have our exact location," she said, "He'd have to count on the scanners to find you, right? And you're not gonna show up on 'em."
"Aye," I replied, "But I can't help but worry. If we're discovered, then the entire operation goes under. Everyone involved will be killed. I, for one, do not wish to die with such a thing on my conscience."
"I see," she replied, "But you know you're not in this alone, right?"
"Aye," I replied and looked up at her, "I know that. That's why I'm worried. If it were only I, I would not mind so much. But my life is not the only one at stake. I've grown attached to the lot of you, and I'd like not to lose what I've got."
She threw a smile at me when I said that and then placed her arm on my shoulder.
"We love you too, Mac," she said and rubbed my shoulder, "We'll get through this. Just like everything else. You'll see."
I nodded and a chuckled as I looked over to the dancing couples on the floor.
"I only hope we don't end up paying too hefty a price for my mistake," I thought to myself and took another drink.
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(Boober)
Red calmed down a bit since we started dancing. She refused to look at me, though. I didn't blame her. She just kept her gaze below my face, somewhere around my collarbone if I had to guess. Her face was blank, no emotion at all. I guess it was a lot to take in, especially after the experience we'd just had.
"You were really good tonight," she said, finally breaking the silence. Although, I noticed a slight tinge of annoyance.
"I could've been better," I replied.
"I didn't say you were fantastic," she replied back, sounding even more annoyed.
"Are you still mad at me?" I asked.
"What do you think?" she answered.
"How long are you going to stay mad?"
"Until I feel like forgiving you," she said.
"And when will that be?" I asked.
"Look, just don't talk to me," she said. "I don't feel like talking to you right now. I'm only dancing with you because you insisted. It doesn't mean I have to talk to you."
"Fair enough," I replied.
A long and uneasy pause. I really didn't like this tension. I felt that if I didn't say something to break the ice, she would stay mad at me for the rest of the night, maybe longer. I had to say something, anything.
"I love you, Red," I said. It was the only thing I could think to say.
Finally she looked up at me, at first with a look of pure anger on her face. It slowly softened into a crooked smile. She shook her head and laughed at me.
"I know that, you dork," she said as she shoved me away.
She turned and started walking back to the table. I smiled and followed her back. Our dance was over, and so was the uneasy tension.
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(Silverbolt)
"So you go around rescuing stranded gargoyles and herding them out of the country?" she asked as we walked.
We still had another hour's worth of walking before arriving back at home, so we spent much of the time talking.
"I would not use the term 'herding'," I replied, "But yes."
"So, why haven't you yourself left the country?" she asked.
"I am needed here," I said. "After my clan was killed, I myself was rescued, and since then I've felt the need to do my part to help the very people who rescued me."
"Why is it so important?" she asked. "I'd just save my own skin and leave."
"There is an old gargoyle proverb that my father once said to me," I answered, "'A gargoyle can no more stop protecting the castle than breathing the air.' This place is my home, my castle if you will. These people have grown to become my new clan. It seems by chance that we all ended up together, and yet somehow we also seemed fated to be together. My family and my home, both things I cherish and wish to protect. That is the reason I stay with them."
She stayed silent after that. She certainly was a strange character, and not simply because of her bizarre arachnid-like features. She had a strange air about her. Her very nature seemed to stray from what a gargoyle would normally be. This of course struck my curiosity, and thus I found myself with the desire to learn more about her.
"Tell me about yourself, Blackarachnia," I said, "Tell me about your clan."
"I don't have a clan," she said, "I live alone."
"Did you grow up alone?" I asked.
"Mostly," she said. "I grew up around humans."
"And how did you end up here in New Liberty?"
"Easy," she said. "I was hatched here in New Liberty."
"What?" I replied, her answer not making much sense to me, "But if you were hatched here, then how did you grow up around humans? Especially with the deep hatred they have for us here."
"I have my ways," she said. "You're pretty nosey. You know that?"
"I like to get to know the people who will be staying in my home," I answered. "A habit I'm afraid I can't grow out of."
"To make sure I'm trustworthy?" she asked.
"To make sure I can do my best to make you comfortable," I corrected. "It is easier to make accommodations for someone when you know a little bit about them."
"Heh," she chuckled and looked at me, "You know, you're not what I expected."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I haven't decided yet," she said.
I grinned at her when she said that. She grinned a crooked grin at me and then looked away.
"Nice try, Bonebreath," she said, "But I'm not your type."
I tilted my head in confusion.
"Try with what?" I asked.
She looked back to me, and then chuckled and shook her head.
"What?" I asked, "What's so funny?"
"It's weird," she said. "You really are very different. Maybe I'll stick around and see what it is you do."
"Well, any addition to the cause is welcome," I replied, "And I'm sure we can make room for one more in the clan."
"Well, I'm not so sure about all that," she said, "I've never considered myself as belonging to any clan."
"I don't see why not," I said, "You are, after all, a gargoyle. All of us have suffered some misfortune under the unjust rule of the Prime Ruler. We must stand together if we are to succeed."
"And if you fail?" she asked.
"Then all will be lost for the gargoyles of New Liberty," I said. "But I do not believe that will happen."
"What makes you so sure?" she asked.
"I know this," I said, "Because I have faith in my clan and in our friends throughout the country. I believe we will succeed in leading every gargoyle out to the safety that lies outside the border, free from the clutches of the Prime Ruler and the Hunters who seek to kill us all."
"Geez, you're a sap!" she said, "You sound like one of those cheesy white knights in those bad romance novels with the shining armor and the big white horse out to slay the dragon and rescue the pathetic princess locked at the top of the tower."
"Do you find it offensive?" I asked. "Because if you'd rather I talk about something else, I am open to a change of topic."
"You really are a weird one, you know that?" she replied.
"My lady, I've been thinking the same about you," I replied, ending our conversation as we kept walking onward.
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(Gold Demona)
"We really should go out together more often," I said as we walked into the apartment.
"Yeah, I know," Vaala agreed. "Especially you, Mac. You need to get out of your lab every once in a while."
"Thaht well depind ohn tha nixt time ya ahsk," she replied as she headed straight for the TV, "Speckin' ohf tha lab, ef ye'll excuse meh, Ah'll be gettin' bahck to eht."
And with that she disappeared into the penthouse.
"Well, I think it's time to browse all the nothing that's on TV tonight," Red said as she sat down on the couch and picked up the remote.
"I'm going to get started on some laundry," Boober said as he also went to the penthouse, "It's been piling up for who knows how long."
"I'm going to bed," Vaala said and turned to her room. "Night all."
"Not a bad idea," I said and walked into my room.
I opened the door and walked inside. I was about to close the door when I noticed that Jigen had followed me in.
"Oh," I said as I almost slammed the door into his beak, "Hi."
"You say that as if I'd gone somewhere," he said with a grin.
"I'm about to get ready for bed," I said.
"I know," he replied as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him, "But I wanna stay with you. Everyone else has something to occupy themselves with. What am I gonna do?"
"Smoke?" I answered.
"With the two minutes I have left on my cloaker?" he replied and stepped closer to me, "It would take that long just to get to the roof."
"Look, Jigen," I said as I walked over to my dresser and opened the pajama drawer, "I've been up for more than twenty hours, and right now you'd have better luck talking to a zombie. I'm tired, and I need to sleep. If I wasn't awake during the da---"
I was interrupted when he came up to me, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me. His breath was drenched with the beer he'd been drinking; so much that it almost overpowered his regular tobacco breath. I shoved him back almost immediately.
"Jigen!" I yelled, "Just how much beer did you have after we finished dancing?"
"Too much, apparently," he said as he let me go and stepped back. "I'm sorry."
He reached his talon up and lowered his hat even more than it was.
"I'll let you get to sleep," he said as he turned around to leave.
I sighed and ran up behind him.
"Jigen, wait," I said and grabbed his arm.
"I can't guarantee what I'm gonna do, Gold," he said, "And you're not exactly sober yourself. We might end up doing something we'll regret later. I think it would just be best if you went to sleep."
I stepped up in front of him and wrapped my arms around him just as he was trying to walk away.
"Stay with me," I said and then looked up at him. "Please?"
"Gold," he replied as he reached up and raised his hat back up to where it was.
He looked at me as he returned my embrace, a soft smile slowly growing across his beak. The look in his eyes and the smile on his face made me melt inside. His eyes were so soft and tender. It was like we were looking at each other's souls.
"Jigen," I replied just as he leaned down and kissed me again.
I was filled with a strange tingling feeling that grew stronger with every second we kissed. I reached up and grabbed his necktie to pull him closer. Somewhere in there, I found myself grabbing the knot of his tie with my other talon and pulling it down to loosen it. He took his hat off as I slipped the tie off from around his neck. All the while we continued kissing, even as I slipped his jacket off and he unzipped mine. As I unbuttoned his shirt and he untucked mine.
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(Mac)
I sat back and rocked left and right for a bit. Although the night was certainly enjoyable, it was good to be back in my chair. I looked up at the map on the screen.
"And you say the reading was in this area?" I asked, pointing to the area on the map he indicated earlier. The computer wasn't reading anything at the moment, so I could only assume they were either found or killed.
"Yeah," Markl replied, "And it was moving fast."
"Would about have to be someone on the run," I said, "Because there are no clans living in this area to my awareness. We've already found them all, I think."
"You think Silverbolt might've found whoever it was?" he asked.
"We can only hope so, lad," I replied. "Hope that he got to them in time and didn't get himself killed in the process."
"I don't think he'd do that," he said, "He's a leader. I'm pretty sure he would know how to not get killed."
"Heh, no arguing that," I chuckled.
I'd just switched the screen to something else when Krypto began to growl and bark at the door.
"Now what's gotten into him, now?" I asked.
"Krypto?" Markl called to him, "What's the matter, boy?"
His growling grew louder and his barking more frequent. Then Silverbolt walked in through the door, followed by a tall slender female gargoyle.
"Silver," I greeted and got up from my chair, trying to talk over Krypto's barking.
"Krypto, get down!" Markl yelled as he struggled to keep Krypto from leaping in Silverbolt's direction.
"What in the bloody hell's gotten into him?" I asked.
"I dunno!" Markl yelled and then pointed his claw at Krypto, "Krypto, down!"
Immediately, Krypto stopped his racket and sat down quietly.
"Agh, that's better," I said as I stood up from my chair.
"What in the world was that all about, Markl?" Silverbolt asked.
"I don't know," he answered, still pointing at Krypto, "This is only the second time he's gotten like this."
"When was the first time?" I asked as I approached Silverbolt and his new companion.
"When Jigen first got here," he answered and then began shoving Krypto out the door. "Come on, Krypto. Let's go to the statue room."
"Geez, is this how he treats ALL of your newcomers?" The lass asked. "Way to make a girl feel welcome."
"I'm terribly sorry about that," Silverbolt said. "He's usually quite friendly. He's really a very good dog."
"You call that beast a dog?" she replied, "Don't make me laugh."
"Erm, Mac, this is Blackarachnia," Silverbolt said and motioned his talon to the lass.
"Professor Mac Hen," I said and held my talon out to her. "Again, lass, many pardons for Krypto's behavior. He's normally tame as a kitten. If I had to guess, I'd say he must've smelled something on you he didn't like, because that's the most aggression I've ever seen out of him."
She looked at me for a good long moment as she shook my talon, staring at me with the most baffled look on her face.
"I'm sorry," she said finally, "The only part of that I caught was your name. Professor Mac Hen, right?"
"Aye," I answered, raising a brow in confusion.
I then thought it that for a moment, and then I broke into a fit of laughter.
"Come now! You can't be serious, lass!" I laughed and then pointed to her. "Silver, is she saying she can't understand me?"
"Excuse me?" the lass replied.
"It certainly would appear so," Silver answered to me, "Although you have to admit, Mac, that your accent is rather thick."
"Agh! You've been living with Americans for too long," I retorted as I sat back down in my chair and reached for some supplies. "Let's just get the sample so I can get started on her cloaker."
"What's she doing?" the lass asked.
"She's going to take a sample of your blood so she can make you a cloaker personalized to your genetic code," Silverbolt answered. "So that your cloak will be what you would actually look like as a human."
"She can do that?" she asked.
"Of course I can," I answered as I prepared to take the sample. "Silver, if you please? You know the procedure."
"Give her your talon, Blackarachnia," Silverbolt said to her.
"Sure," she replied and did such.
I pricked her claw, took the sample and set it in the machine to make her cloaker.
"Now it'll only be a minute or two," Silverbolt explain, "And you'll have your own cloaker."
"You do this with everyone?" she asked.
"Everyone who comes here," Silverbolt answered.
"She's a strange one," I thought to myself, "Perhaps it's best that she can't understand me."
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(Later, Just Before Sunrise...)
(Prime Ruler Bethovich)
"Receiving transmission," my computer announced to me.
I pressed the button on my desk to pick up the communication.
"I can assume that you found our elusive Professor?" I asked, already knowing who the transmission was from.
"Yes sir," she answered. "I found her."
"Excellent," I replied, "You will stay with her and learn all you can."
"There's just one problem, sir," she said.
"And what is that?" I asked.
"Her accent's so thick, I can't understand a word she says," she answered. "I barely caught her name."
"Is anyone else living with her?" I asked.
"She's got a whole clan living with her," she said. "But they're from all different clans. I'd say these are some of the missing survivors from some of the clans we already got."
"I see," I replied, "Excellent. Remain there and learn all you can from them. Even if you cannot speak to the Professor directly, the others will surely have valuable information. That will be all, Blackarachnia. I expect to hear more in the following transmissions."
"You will, Your Excellency," she replied, "You can count on it."
"Yes, I know," I said. "Good night."
"Good night, sir."
"Now begins the fun part," I thought as the transmission was switched off. "I will learn all of your secrets, my Scottish friend. Now it is only a matter of time."