It had been several weeks since Xanatos was arrested, and the gargoyles continued living at Castle Wyvern. As much as she can, Elisa visited them often to check on them, and also wanted to tell Goliath something that she didn't know where to start.
Elisa was walking up the stairs with Owen to greet her friends. To the detective, she was surprised that she is allowed up here, but Owen insisted that Xanatos does not hold grudges so easily, and she is allowed to see her newly found friends anytime. It was strange that Xanatos isn't at least upset with her, but she's not complaining.
Just as she stopped behind the statues, the sun began to set, and their stone shells began to crack under the night sky. One by one, each of the gargoyle woke up with loud roar-like yawns, their wings out like giant fans, and their arms above their heads. Ever since their first meet, Elisa was still amazed at how they wake up every night. Owen silently disappeared back in the castle as Goliath was the first to greet the detective.
"Elisa, what a pleasant sight to greet us as we awaken." Goliath said with a smile.
Elisa shrugged. "Well it's a slow night and I was in the neighborhood."
Hudson jumped down from his perch with Bronx following behind before the old gargoyle turned to Elisa. "Good to see you again lass." He then turned away with Bronx already ahead of him.
"Catch ya later," Brooklyn added as he Broadway and Lexington jumped off the tower and took off. Probably to the TV room with Hudson and Bronx. Chelsea sighed on her perch, then turned to Elisa with a smile.
"It was nice seeing you Elisa." With that, Chelsea jumped off and followed the trio.
In the TV room by the window, Chelsea was reading a copy Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth while Hudson was flipping through the channels and Bronx was laying on the loveseat napping. Ever since they woke up from stone slumber, Chelsea was in awe at the many types of short stories or novels that were in the castle. Just like the trio, she does watch tv from time to time, but her favorite past time in the castle is to just curl up and read a good book.
"Anything good to watch Hudson?" Chelsea asked not looking up from her book.
The old gargoyle grunted. "Not really lass," he grumbled. "Just The Pack as usual."
That made Chelsea look up from her book with a groan. "Oh no…"
Just as she said that the trio came in just as Hudson stopped flipping the channels. "Hey! It's the Pack!" Lexington exclaimed.
"Cool!" Brooklyn added with a grin. Pretty soon the trio were around the Tv as the show played.
On the TV, a group of ninjas were attacking the main characters, which are three men and two women. No matter how many times Hudson changed the channel, the Pack was always on.
"Something's wrong, it's on all the channels again." Hudson grumbled dropping the remote on the floor.
"I thought you liked this show Hudson." Broadway assumed as he turned to the old gargoyle.
"Aye, I do, but not every night."
He then turned to Chelsea who was still in her book. "What about you Chelsea?"
"Same as Hudson." She answered with an annoyed look not turning away from her book.
Just then, there was a scene on the tv screen and the announcer's voice came on, "See The Pack in person tonight at Madison Square Garden! Fox, Wolf, Dingo, Hyena, and Jackal!"
Lexington beamed. "Wow these guys are great!" he then whispered. "They're warriors just like us."
The announcer continued. "Your favorite heroes in a rare public appearance at Madison Square Garden!"
The trio exchanged excited looks, then Lexington jumped in the air. "We've got to see them!"
When the trio stood up they looked over at Chelsea who was still reading.
"Hey Chels, want to come?" Brooklyn asked.
With a crossed face, Chelsea clamped her book hard, then turned to Brooklyn with a annoyed look.
"How many times do I have to tell you…Stop calling me Chels!" she fumed, then turned back to her book…Only to find her missing the page she was reading. "Oh come on." She whined leaning her head back, then turned to Brooklyn who gave a smirk. She gave a frown as she narrowed her eyes
"That was cold…" she mumbled in a low voice as she placed her book down. She groaned. "Okay, I'll come since I don't have anything better to do."
As expected, the four gargoyles arrived at Madison Square Garden's auditorium and were perched in the rafters. Up there, they got a bird's eye view of the whole stage below. Everyone in the audience were chanting 'Pack' as they were waiting for their favorite action heroes.
"Isn't it time for the show to start?" Lexington asked the sixth time between Broadway and Chelsea.
"Relax," Brooklyn assured him on Chelsea's other side. "It'll start soon."
As he finished saying it, the lights dimmed, and the audience was complete silence.
"Hope there as good as they say." Chelsea muttered in a somewhat bored expression. She slightly jumped when she felt Brooklyn's wing on her shoulder and turned to him.
"Thought you might be cold." Was all the hot head said to her.
Chelsea raised an eyeridge at him but didn't say anything as she skootched over to him as an acceptance.
Suddenly, the announcer was heard in the intercom system. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Please welcome…The PACK!"
The crowd exploded into cheers as the lights flashed on the stage to reveal The Pack themselves. Up in the rafters, the trio whistled and shouted so loud that Chelsea was relieved no one could see them up where they are. The crowd below chanted some more as the Pack did some dramatic poses for them. As they finished, there was movement at the edges of the stage. The Pack turned to see groups of ninjas closing in on both sides.
"Oh no! It's the Evil Ninjas!"
The crowd gave 'boos' as the ninjas closed in on the four, then they began to fight.
"Wow!" Lexington beamed with a twinkle in his eye.
Chelsea slightly turned to the small gargoyle and gave a small smile.
"The ninjas don't fight with honor like the Pack does." The announcer said as Dingo, Wolf, and Jackal fought together to take down a few ninjas. "Teamwork is the key!"
Brooklyn had a thought. "These guys are alright." He turned to Chelsea. "What do you think?"
Chelsea shrugged, not having a clue.
"Wouldn't it be great to meet 'em?" Lexington asked still in awe.
As the show progressed, the ninjas were defeated, and the show was over. Brooklyn, Chelsea, and Broadway all went to stand up and stretch their stiff limbs and wings.
"Well, show's over and I'm starved." Broadway started placing his hand over his stomach.
Chelsea rolled her eyes with a smile. "Why am I not surprised?"
All three of them turned to Lexington who hadn't moved from his spot.
"You coming Lex?" Brooklyn asked.
"Uh, maybe later," he answered. "I'll meet up with you guys at the castle."
"Okay, but don't stay here too long." Chelsea told him acting like a big sister.
"Uh okay." Lexington answered sounding like he half listened.
The female gargoyle shook her head, then she followed the other two males out of the stadium and into the open air.
When the three of them returned to the castle, they went to get something to eat in the kitchens, which Broadway was excited about, and went to do their own thing.
As time went on, Lexington still hadn't returned from the show, and everyone was getting worried. By the time dawn was almost upon them, Lexington still hasn't come back.
"Where is he?" Chelsea muttered under her breath with everyone at the tower. "He should be back by now."
"He always cuts it too close." Hudson stated with a frown.
Goliath gave a growl-like sigh, he was just as frustrated as the other two.
"There you are!" Broadway yelled.
Everyone turned where Broadway was looking and saw Lexington coming in for a landing.
"Where were you?" Goliath demanded, acting like a worried, but stern parent.
"I made us some new allies!" Lexington answered with excitement.
Brooklyn and Chelsea stepped forward in surprise. "You don't mean the Pack?!" the red gargoyle asked.
"You showed yourself to them?!" Chelsea asked with a stunned expression.
"I sure did!" Lexington answered, his smile not faltering. "They're just like us. They defend the innocent and they do it on television."
"You let them see you?!" Goliath demanded in an enraged demeanor.
That made Lexington's smile falter as well as his confidence. "Y-yes I did." He then looked at his leader angrily. "And why not? You made friends with Elisa!"
"That was different." Goliath scolded with his arms crossed.
Hudson looked over at the rapidly rising sun. "This argument will have to wait for nightfall lads." He said pointing at the bright light appearing on the horizon.
Goliath leaned over and jabbed a finger at Lex. "This isn't over." He growled as both of them were glaring harshly at one another.
As the two of them were glaring at one another, Chelsea leaned over to Brooklyn with a troubled expression. "Something tells me this will not go so well."
"Yeah, me too." Brooklyn nodded.
Soon, the sun rays froze everyone in place with Goliath and Lexington still glaring at one another, and a few gargoyles looking over with concern faces.
The next night, everyone broke out of their stone sleep, and Lexington started a heated argument with his leader.
"Why is Elisa different? These guys are defenders of the realm just like she is." He argued.
"He may be right Goliath," Hudson reassured in Lexington's defense. "I've seen them on the picture box, they are constantly attacked by these evil ninjas."
"Sometimes I wonder if they get tired of it." Chelsea added with her arms crossed. "I mean, that's all they do on there."
"Maybe they could use their help." Broadway spoke up.
"Look," Lexington spoke, catching Goliath's attention. "It's not like I revealed all our secrets, I'm not stupid. They don't know we turn to stone during the day, and they don't know where we live. Look will you please meet them before you judge them?"
Brooklyn stepped up next to Lexington. "I think if anyone would understand they would."
"I know this is entirely different," Chelsea said as everyone turned to her. "But we only know them through tv, and that's all. Don't you think there's more to them than that?"
Goliath thought about this, then turned to Lexington. "Goliath, we can't hide from the whole world up here. There are kindred spirits out there, but we have to find them and give them a chance, or else…we'll be alone."
Goliath sighed as he thought of this. He uncrossed his arms. "Alright. Take me to meet them." Lexington jumped with excitement. Goliath turned to the others. "If it's safe. We'll arrange introductions for the rest of you."
With that, Lexington and Goliath took to the air as the rest of them looked from the tower at their disappearing forms.
After they left, the rest of the clan decided to do their own thing as they waited. Broadway and Brooklyn decided to play cards in the dining hall, Hudson and Bronx were watching TV as usual, and Chelsea was in the library reading.
At the library, Chelsea was curled up on the couch by the fireplace reading her book from last night. As she read each line of text, she was still thinking about Lexington and The Pack. She still couldn't believe that he went up to them and showed himself. It was strange that The Pack didn't sound so provoked by Lexington as a gargoyle, and now they wanted to meet the entire clan? Something is not right. She feels there is something missing about The Pack. Like she said a moment ago, they only know them through TV, but not in real life. She needs to figure this out.
Looking up from her reading, behind her she found a white desktop on a desk a few feet away. She groaned; she's not going to like this…
Placing her book next to the computer, she took a seat and moved the mouse a bit to turn it on.
"Lexington is better at this than me." She mumbled as the screen turned on to the search engine. Looking down at the keys, she remembered from Lex that all she has to do is press a key to spell out what she wants and the word comes up on screen. Even though Lex said its easy, it's really not…
After a few fails and few mental breaks, Chelsea finally typed "The Pack" on the search engine and found a lot of things that could be promising.
"Okay Chelsea," she whispered to herself as she skimmed the screen. "Lets see what you can find."
Clicking a few links, she found a few things that helped her. After finding the Pack's "profiles", she skimmed the words on the screen. Finishing the last of the lines, she gave a look of horror at the unwanted information.
"Oh no…" she whispered.
"Come on, I won that game fair and square." Broadway boasted as he and Brooklyn walked in the hallway toward the library.
"Really?" Brooklyn argued. "That last game you won with luck…" He trailed the last part with an annoyed look.
Broadway laughed as he shuffled the cards they were playing. "Admit it Brook, you're just bad at card games. You lost at all three rounds."
The red gargoyle rolled his eyes, then they stopped at the library doors. He turned to his brother. "We'll see, if Chelsea plays a round with us, and either you or she beats me, we'll know."
Broadway raised an eyebone. "How come you always have to use Chelsea to prove a point? You know she's just as good at cards as all four of us. She even beat you a few times."
Brooklyn gave Broadway an annoyed look. "Do you have to remind me?" he asked as he went to the door.
Just as the hot head went to the door handle, the door flung open, and hit Brooklyn square in the face with a grunt. Coming out of the room with a quick manner was Chelsea in a worried expression.
"Woah Chels, where's the fire?" Brooklyn called as he rubbed his sore head.
"Can't talk, be right back!" Chelsea answered, not even mad at her nickname as she exited the hallway in a hurry.
Broadway and Brooklyn gave each other weird looks, then turned to where Chelsea left.
"What's gotten her tail between her legs?" Broadway asked.
Brooklyn opened the door a bit more and saw the desktop Chelsea was looking through was still on with the chair left a few feet away from the desk.
"Whatever it is," Brooklyn said coming over to the desktop in a curious manner. "It can't be good by how Chelsea left in a hurry." He took a seat on the chair and Broadway was looking along with him at the screen.
Up in the sky with a worried expression on her face, Chelsea scanned the area for her leader and friend, praying she wasn't too late. Reading from the information about the backstories from the Pack, they were not who they seem on television.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of an inhuman screech from a studio complex below her. She flew closer to the complex, only to find Goliath and Lexington escaping through a skylight on the roof.
"Goliath!" Chelsea called, which Goliath and Lexington looked up at her, jumped off the building and joining her in the skies.
The three of them landed on an apartment building. Goliath looked at his surroundings with a look of tension, then turned to Chelsea.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to tell you that the Pack are not who they seem." Chelsea answered, then turned to Lexington who was beyond enraged. "But I guess you two already found out."
Lexington gave an inhumane screech. "I can't believe it! They attacked us!" he screeched in anger.
"Yes," Goliath nodded with a frown. "I think they planned to do so from the moment they met you."
"But why?" the green gargoyle asked agitated. "We're not their enemies. They're no more than animals."
"Worse," Goliath continued. "An animal hunts because it's hungry. These hunters do it for sport."
Lexington looked away with a snarl. "I'm never trusting anyone again…"
"Lex don't thi-" before Chelsea could finish, a bladed boomerang explodes in front of them, causing Lexington to be nearly thrown off the roof. Goliath goes to help Lexington, but one of the Pack members, Dingo, ropes Goliath with a thick rope. Before Dingo could do anything else, Chelsea slashed the rope with her claws as Goliath grabs Lexington, and they ran to the edge of the building.
"I'm alright." Lexington snarled, breaking out of Goliath's grasp. The three gargoyles jumped off the roof and flew off. As they flew, Jackal tosses a knife at a nearby powerline, which breaks and collides with the gargoyles, electrocuting them. Goliath reached out and grabbed Lexington while Chelsea held onto the side of the building. They all ascended toward the top of the building. Once they reached the top, Hyena stood their with a maniacal grin. She cackled with a twist before tossing a grenade at them, which exploded sending them off the building and onto the pavement.
The Pack soon came together and were closing in on the gargoyles. As they were about to end them, they were spotted by two young fans.
"Hey look! It's The Pack!"
Two children who were walking home with their parents, were running over to their heroes asking a lot of questions.
"Can I have your autograph?"
"How do you do those stunts?"
"Can we get tickets?"
"Wonderful," Fox groaned with a fake smile. "Our adoring public."
"Perfect timing." Hyena mumbled.
The distraction gave the gargoyles enough time to recover as they began to rise from the rubble.
One of the children gasped and pointed a finger at them. "What are those things?"
"Susan, Billy, come away from them," the mother called.
"Yeah, they're shooting a movie or something. You'll get in the way." The father added.
"Get back." Wolf acted while picking up the children and carrying them to their parents. "These are dangerous monsters sent by the evil ninjas, we'll protect you." After Wolf placed the children down, he ran back and body slams into Goliath before putting him to a hold. "Take that, beast."
Lexington confronts Dingo, who threw a weapon at him that exploded in a flash of bright light. Chelsea was being body slammed by Fox, and the two were doing a wrestling match.
"They're monsters!" Billy exclaimed.
"They're attacking the Pack. We got to help them," Susan said to her brother. The two children try to help the Pack by tossing discarded cans and rocks at Lexington. Before they could do anything else, Lexington gave a screech as his eyes glowed white.
"Stop it!" Lexington growled, and the children recoiled away into their parents' arms.
"Its amazing how realistic their costume designer made those monsters…" the father muttered.
"They look almost too realistic…" the mother replied as both parents turned and leave with their children in their arms.
Once the family left, the dramatic fighting ended, and the real fight began.
"Now! While the streets are empty!" Fox ordered. "Finish them off!"
That made Wolf smirk as he punched Goliath sending him flying.
"Goliath!" Chelsea ran to help Goliath but was confronted by Fox again as Jackal and Hyena ran to the lead gargoyle. Before any of them could reach him, Goliath pulls the plug off a nearby fire hydrant and both Pack members were forced back by the spray.
Chelsea screeched as she swiped Fox away with her tail as she ran beside her leader along with Lexington.
The green gargoyle looked over at the fire escape then pointed at it. "This way."
All three gargoyles began to climb the escape as Dingo got ready with another boomerang. When he tossed another exploding boomerang, it missed, and the Pack used grappling hooks to scale the building.
When the Pack reached the top, Dingo immediately was immediately startled by a stone gargoyle and blasted its head off.
Fox growled. "A needle in a haystack." She stated as she and the rest of the Pack realized the entire rooftop is completely covered in stone gargoyles, making their hunt very difficult.
"Split up," Fox ordered, in which they all spread out in the maze of gargoyles, not far where Chelsea was hidden. As Hyena made her way past, Chelsea's silhouette whizzed through the darkness, then snatched Hyena up before she ever had a chance to react. Her disappearance didn't go unnoticed for long.
"Where's Hyena?" Jackal asked. A second later, his sisters gauntlet hit the ground at his feet.
By instinct, the Pack members stood back to back of one another in their fighting poses. Dingo turned as he saw movement and went to investigate. Before he could react, Lexington swooped in and grabbed the large man, tossing him into a wall.
"That's it!" Jackal exclaimed, looking frightened. "I'm out of here."
"No," Wolf urged. "We can take them."
"Forget it. This wasn't in my contract."
"Jackal no!" Fox yelled.
Jackal rounded a corner. Before anyone could save him, Goliath grabs the man and knocks him out.
Fox and Wolf, who were the last members of the hunt, tried to escape, but Chelsea landed in front of them with her eyes glowing.
"Whose being hunted now?" Chelsea taunted, then snarled like a feline.
Suddenly, Goliath jumps in to pin Fox and Wolf to a wall, which gave way and all three of them fell into the building, where a model photoshoot was taking place.
The models exclaimed in fear and ran to the nearest exit to get away from Goliath, Fox, and Wolf. When Fox got on her feet, she grabbed one of the female models who exclaimed in fear at a gun pointed to her head.
Goliath rose to his feet and growled at both Pack members who were holding a hostage. Unbeknownst to them, a photographer was taking pictures of the two Pack members holding a hostage gun-pointed. Goliath approached the three with caution as he stepped out on the streets.
Suddenly, two roars were heard above as Lexington tackled Wolf and Chelsea crushing Fox's gun in the process. The model screamed as she ran away from the danger as Chelsea knocked Fox out. As for Wolf, he threw Lexington off of him and punched Chelsea away from unconscious Fox, then turned to Goliath.
"Finally," Wolf declared with a smirk. "Some real action."
Wolf tackled the lavender gargoyle, who quickly tossed the man off of him in a growl. Not giving up, Wolf went for another go as he went to punch Goliath. However, the gargoyle leader caught his fist, then tossed the man over one more time. This time, Wolf didn't get back up.
The three gargoyles stood together as the sound of police sirens were heard in the distance.
"The police are coming." Lexington announced.
"Good riddance." Chelsea huffed, then glared down at Fox. "They deserve to be put to justice."
"Then we will leave our foes to them," Goliath declared, then turned to a building. "Come we don't have much time."
With that being said, Goliath Chelsea and Lexington climbed the building and were off gliding back to the castle letting the police do their job.
After arriving at the castle, all three gargoyles were alone at the tower before the others could arrive.
"I feel like a fool letting the Pack talk me into luring you there," Lexington moped on his ledge looking away from Goliath and Chelsea.
"Because of who we are," Goliath explained. "We have to be cautious of trusting strangers."
"I was so totally wrong," Lexington let out in frustration.
"No Lex, you were right." Chelsea spoke as she came behind him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Lexington turned to her. "You were in the right about that we shouldn't hide from the world, or that we'll be alone for the rest of our lives."
"We must live in this world." Goliath added. "We must search for allies. Kindred spirits. Sometimes we must take chances like we did tonight. To do otherwise is to remain forever alone."
"Its nice to know that there are still some heroes left." Lexington said as he smiled at his leader.
"Yeah, but I think maybe next time," Chelsea said as she jumped on her perch next to Lexington. "Is that to never trust everything we see on TV. Nor talk to strangers we don't even know."
When Chelsea finished, the rest of the clan arrived getting ready for sunrise.
"We just watched the news," Broadway said as he jumped on his perch next to Lexington.
"The Pack's just been arrested," Brooklyn explained, jumping next to Chelsea. "They have photographs of Fox holding a woman hostage."
"The joys of modern technology," Chelsea shook her head. "How do they do it?"
"Speaking of modern technology," Brooklyn said turning to her. "Me and Broadway saw some information about the Pack on the computer. Since when are you an expert of that stuff?"
Chelsea groaned at the experienced she had to go through on the computer. "Believe me, you do not want to know, nor do I want to explain it."
Before she could say anything else, the sun rose and the gargoyles were stone statues once again on a brand new day.
My gosh guys, I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I just didn't have the guts to get this one done, nor wanted to keep typing. But don't worry. The next few chapters will be better. I promise. Hope you enjoyed this, and comments are great.