Awakening Part 2
Elisa didn't like this. Not more than half an hour ago, the weapons fire that sounded above the tower seemed to cease, but she couldn't shake the unease of what might have of occurred up there. She also received a call from her captain stating that Xanatos notified the mayor, saying that it was a damaged generator that caused it.
Elisa was, understandably, skeptical about that. Any good detective would be.
So here she was, in the lobby of the tower having a talk with Xanatos' assistant Owen, trying to get to the bottom of what was going on.
"A most unfortunate accident. One of the newly installed generators in the castle exploded." Owen explained. "Mr. Xanatos is willing to pay for any damages that might have-"
"Mr. Burnette." Elisa interrupted as she wasn't in the mood any misdirection. "I heard automatic weapons firing up there. Now you can let me look the place over, or I can come back with a warrant, and a lot more cops. It's your call."
Owen had to smirk at her tenacity, but knew that she wasn't kidding around. It would become problematic if she waould bring a whole squad of police into the castle. One of them might go snooping into places that could be problematic.
Especially at night.
So Owen let her on the elevator and rode it up to the castle level. When the door opened and they stepped out, a Elisa gave the place a brief glance. She had to admit, Xanatos spared no expense into the reconstruction of this place all the way from Scotland.
"Must have one heck of heating bill." Elisa muttered.
"Detective Maza." Xanatos greeted as he came in with a kind smile. "I've just called the mayor to offer my profound apologies here."
"What exactly did happen here, Xanatos?" Elisa said, not wasting any time. "And please, don't try to tell me that it was an exploding generator."
"Owen was a little confused." Xanatos said as he walked off whew turning Elisa to follow him. "That's for the press. The truth is that my men repelled an invasion from a rival corporation trying to steal some of our new technology."
That statement was not something Elisa expected to hear. "'Repelled and invasion?' You're a private citizen, Xanatos, not a country."
"Detective, I am the owner of a multinational corporation, which is bigger than many countries you can name." Xanatos said with a smirk.
Xanatos pressed a button on a panel and the large door opened automatically. They exited the main room and made there way outside, where Elisa was able to see the aftermath of the attack. Piles of rubble, smoke from the blaster fire, it looked like a complete war zone.
"I remember seeing Blue Beetle flying up here, as well. I was hoping to talk to him and get his statement." Elisa noted as she looked around.
"Yes, Blue Beetle was here, but sadly he had to take off." Xanatos said. "He aided my men in repelling the invading forces. I tried to offer him a reward as gratitude, but he refused, saying he was just doing the right thing. Truly a noble hero for this city."
"You say gratitude, but I think you were looking for a chance to extort him." Elisa said with a skeptical look.
"You wound me, detective." Xanatos said with a mocked hurt expression.
"And I assume you have permits for those weapons?" Elisa asked.
"Of course." Xanatos responded as he continued giving her the tour of the castle.
What neither of them noticed was Goliath watching them high up on one of the castle towers. This was a new human in his castle, so why was Xanatos allowing her passage? He would need to keep an eye on her until she leaves, in case she attempts to cause trouble.
/
Meanwhile...
Danny had to admit, he kind of liked the three young gargoyles. As they were riding one of the elevators, with him still in his armor, he asked them about their lives back when they lived in this castle a thousand years ago. They even took the opportunity to ask some things about him as well.
"So, all of those weapons you made is because of your armor?" The red one asked.
"Yeah, it can make any weapon for any situation." Beetle said as he changed his arm into a blade and his sonic cannon.
"I'd sure love to meet the blacksmith that made that." The green one asked.
"You and me both, um..." Beetle paused as he looked at each of them. "Actually, I'm sorry for not asking, but what are your names?"
"We don't have names." The teal gargoyle replied.
"What, but why?" Beetle asked in surprise.
The teal one thought about for a moment, but he couldn't think of an answer. "You know, I never thought of asking."
"I think our mentor said that a gargoyle's identity shouldn't be to oneself, but rather to the whole clan." The red one said in thought.
"Yeah, that's well and good, but it doesn't hurt to have your own identity. I mean, what's the harm of you guys having your own name?" Beetle asked.
"He does have a point. We are in a new era and all." The green one before the elevator door opened. They each stepped out to see that they were in a nice large kitchen. "Whoa, look at all this stuff."
"This is a nice kitchen." Beetle said in appreciation.
"What do you suppose this does?" The red one asked as he fumbled with the knob on an oven. When he finally turned it on, he had to jump back when a small fire erupted from it. "Whoa!"
He accidentally bumped into the green one, which caused him to crash into the metal shelf, spilling all of the pots and pans on top of him. Beetle had to wince at that before walking over to them.
"You alright?" Beetle asked in concern as he helped the green one up.
"I'm alright...all things considered." The green one said as he glared at the red one.
"Sorry, but that thing spooked me." The red one said sheepishly, never noticing the tael one entering the freezer.
"It's called an oven. We use it to heat up our food." Beetle explained as he turned the oven off.
The green gargoyle saw the open freezer door and decided to close it while Beetle showed the red gargoyle how the stove worked.
"Hey! Open up! It's cold in here!" The teal gargoyle exclaimed as he banged the freezer door from the inside.
"Hang on, big guy!" Beetle shouted as he and the other two gargoyles came up to the door.
"You push, we pull!" The red one said as he, the green gargoyle, and Beetle pulled on the handle.
The they gave it a few good tugs, before the doer finally started to pull open. It was at that moment when the teal gargoyle burst out of the freezer, crashing into them.
Beetle and the others got up with groan as they looked at the mess they made, with sprawled out appliances and fruits along the floor.
"How is it that my host can fall to such idiotic predicaments?"
'Oh, shut up!' Danny thought in his head.
"I think we better get out of here." Beetle said sheepishly.
"Right behind you." The red gargoyle said in agreement as they all ran out of the kitchen.
"Think we'll get blamed for that." The tael gargoyle asked sheepishly.
"Most likely." Beetle said as they stopped running and stood in a hallway.
The red gargoyle looked at Blue Beetle for a second before asking a question that's been on his mind. "Hey, doesn't it get hot in that armor."
"Not really. Why do you ask?" Beetle asked curiously.
"It's just that you don't wear it constantly." The red one said.
"Yeah, you're amongst friends here." The green one said reassuringly.
"It's not that it's uncomfortable, and to be honest, I would take my armor off for you guys, but..." Beetle said as he looked around and noticed some cameras along the hallways. "I would like to do it where no eyes are watching us constantly."
"I could hack into security system and shut down the surveillance device."
"Wait, you can do that?" Beetle asked in surprise.
Uh...can we do what?" The teal gargoyle asked in confusion as he and the others looked at Beetle funny.
Beetle forgot in that moment that his new friends can't hear the Scarab, so he just chuckled sheepishly. "Oh, it's nothing. Just talking to myself."
/
Owen came outside where Xanatos and Elisa were still talking. "Excuse me, Mr. Xanatos. There seems to be a problem in the kitchen with our new guests."
I hope I've answered all your questions satisfactorily, detective." Xanatos said, indicating he had to cut off their talk short. "Owen will show you out." With that said, Xanatos took his leave.
"If you'll come with me." Owen said as he gestured her to follow him.
Elisa was about to follow him, but paused when she thought she heard something up on one of the higher levels of the castle. She looked up and gasped as she eyes what she thought was one of the stone gargoyles...
...except it looked like it moved.
Owen saw where she was looking and could definitely see the old gargoyle up on that level, though he tried to remain still. Not wanting to give anything away, Owen tried to think of a way to play it off.
"Is there a problem, detective?" Owen asked.
"That stone gargoyle...I could've sworn I saw it moved." Elisa said as she was trying to contemplate what she saw.
Owen chuckled as he tried to make up a lie. "Yes, this place can be rather spooky at night. I thought the same thing more than once." Owen said as he led her back inside where he pressed a button summoning the elevator, which she entered. "Goodnight, detective."
"Goodnight." Elisa said as the elevator closed as she was taken down. She then instantly pressed a button on a different floor, halting the elevator as it opened. "Sorry, pal, but this investigation isn't over yet."
Elisa left the elevator made her way down one of the old hallways of the castle. The guy wasn't kidding when he said that this place looked a little spooky, especially during the night. In her mind, it looked like something you'd see in a Dracula movie. She made her way through various hallways until walking up a couple of stairs and made her way to the upper levels of the castle.
She looked around with her flashlight on when she came outside and still couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. She wasn't going to give up though. Her instincts were telling her that something was going on here, and Xanatos knew more than what he's letting on.
She paused when she heard some kind of growling behind her, coming from the tower she just exited from. She turned off her flashlight and grabbed her pistol, then pointed it down the shadowed staircase.
"Okay pal, let me see 'em. Nice and easy." Elisa warned.
What came up the stairs was something that spooked her to her core. It was the gargoyle beast as it rose up from the stairs and growled at her for intruding on its home. Elisa gasped as she took a few steps back on fear, but the surprises didn't stop there.
Someone, or something, grabbed Elisa's weapon from her hands. She turned and gasped in fright as it turned out to be Goliath, who gave her a glare, and followed it up by crushing her weapon with his bare claws. Elisa stepped back a few steps, trying to make sense of what she was seeing, and never noticed her coming closer to the edge of the castle.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Elisa screamed as she fell off the edge of the castle and started to plummet towards the ground.
Goliath gasped in alarm as something compelled him to dive down and try to save her.
/
"Did you guys hear something?" Beetle asked his three gargoyle friends as they walked down a hallway in the castle.
"Now that you mention it, it sounded like screaming, but I'm not sure." The teal gargoyle said.
"I'm going to to check it out." Beetle said as he ran off, leaving his confused friends behind.
/
Elisa continued to plummet towards the ground, but Goliath was able to dive down and catch up to her descent quickly. He grabbed on to her and spread out his wings, gliding upward towards the building. He landed safely on a lower ledge of Xanatos' tower, luckily avoiding anyone from street level seeing them.
Goliath placed Elisa down onto the ledge, allowing the detective to finally have a clear view of her savior. She had never seen anything so...inhuman before in her life. His strong physique looked intimidating enough, but to top it all he had large wings on his back and those claws looked like they could rip her to shreds.
Not wanting the situation to escalate any further, Elisa took a couple calming breaths and tried to speak rationally. "Okay...okay, just take it easy." Elisa said in a placating tone.
"What were you doing in my castle?" Goliath demanded to know.
"You can talk?" Elisa asked in surprise. "Who-what are you?"
"My kind have no names, but you humans all me Goliath." Goliath answered.
"Your kind? You mean there's more than one of you?" Elisa asked in shock.
Goliath had to take a deep breath, being reminded about his clan being the last gargoyles. "Barely." Goliath said as he was about to climb up the building.
"Wait, don't go." Elisa said, halting Goliath's movements. "Look, we either need to get down to the street, or back up to the castle. Since you can fly-"
"I can't fly." Goliath interrupted. "I can only glide on currents of wind and there are none strong enough here to lift us back up."
"So we're stuck here?" Elisa asked in disappointment.
Goliath contemplated on what to do. On the one hand she intruded upon his castle, and he wasn't so trusting of humans since what had happened to his clan. On the other hand it was a gargoyle's duty to protect not just their home, but life as well. Besides, he still wanted to know why she was in his castle to begin with.
Taking a deep breath, Goliath grabbed Elisa and placed her on his back, causing her to instinctively wrap her arms around his neck. "Hold on."
Goliath then dug his claws into the stone wall of the building, and then started to climb up. Elisa gasped in shock, now finally realizing what made those claw marks from the falling debris earlier.
"Trust me." Goliath said, noticing her frightened state.
"I don't believe this." Elisa whispered as she held on tightly. It didn't take long until they finally made it back up to the castle where Elisa finally let go of Goliath. She took a few calming breaths before she gasped in fright as the gargoyle beast walked up and growled at her. "Right, forgot about him."
"He won't hurt you." Goliath said as he petted the beasts head, slightly calming him down.
"Is everyone alright?"
They looked up and Elisa gasped in surprise to see Blue Beetle flying above them, before landing down in front of them.
"I thought I heard some screaming and-" Beetle paused as he finally got a look at the new face here, and was shocked for it to be Elisa of all people. "Elisa?!"
"Blue Beetle? So I did see you fly up here when that fire fight occurred here." Elisa said.
"Yeah, I-" Beetle was about to speak before he coughed and intentionally tried to deepen his voice. "I mean, what are you doing here, Detective Maza?"
Elisa just stared at him, while raising her eyebrow, for moment before speaking. "Are you intentionally deepening your voice?"
"...No." Blue Beetle said with a hint of nervousness.
"I've heard you speak before during that car chase you helped us out on, and you did not sound like that." Elisa noted with her arms crossed.
Beetle sighed as he couldn't fault her for that. "Alright, fine, I was deepening my voice. So what exactly is going on here?"
'Wait a minute...' Elisa thought as her eyes slowly widened. 'That voice...and the fact that he knew my first and last name...' Finally she put the pieces together. "Danny?"
Beetle's eyes widened so much they could almost be mistaken for owl eyes. "Uh..." He tried to come up with a response.
"DANNY?!" Elisa exclaimed even louder.
"You know this human?" Goliath asked Blue Beetle.
"He knows you? You know him? And you're Blue Beetle?!" Elisa exclaimed as she glared at the armored hero. "Is there any other secrets you're keeping from me?!"
"To be fair, I only just found out about them a few hours ago." Beetle said sheepishly.
"So you are Danny!" Elisa said as she glared harder.
Beetle resisted the urge to facepalm at his slip up, but knew that he couldn't hide anything from her for long. Seeing as how he didn't see any cameras around, he retracted his armor. The process surprised Elisa as well as Goliath, as he never seen armor do that before.
"Yeah...it's me." Danny said with a sigh.
Elisa shocked looked lasted for a second before she went back to lightly glaring at him. "You've got some explaining to do, young man."
"He is not the only one." Goliath said, seeing as how they were getting off topic from what he wanted to ask them. "Now I'll ask you again, what were you doing in my castle?" He demanded as the beast growled in agreement. "And please, don't fall off the building this time."
So the next hour was spent with Elisa explaining how she heard the battle from down the streets and wanted to investigate what happened here. Goliath wanted to know why she would investigate something that wasn't a part of her business, and she said how it was her job as a detective, which she explained was a form of law enforcement.
Seeing as how she explained herself, she wanted to know more about Goliath and his kind. Goliath was hesitant at first, but she was enclosed to explain herself to him, so he might as well return the favor, just to be fair.
"So a thousand years ago you were betrayed by the one human you trusted." Elisa recounted the tale the gargoyle leader told her. "Does anyone else know about you?"
"Only the man known as Xanatos, as well as this human known as Blue Beetle." Goliath explained. "But it was Xanatos that brought us here." It was at that moment where the rest of the gargoyle clan approached them.
"This cannot be happening..." Elisa whispered as she looked at each gargoyle cautiously. The red one stepped closer and gave a couple of sniffs.
"Are these humans new friends, Goliath?" The red gargoyle asked.
"It's me, you guys." Danny said as his armor covered himself before retracting it again.
"Whoa, so that's what you look like." The green one said in surprise.
"The one we came to know as Blue Beetle, his real name, is Daniel Kord." Goliath said as he formerly introduced Danny.
"But please, call me Danny." Danny said as he shook hands with the three younger gargoyles.
"And this is Elisa Maza, a...detective?" Goliath said as he recalled what she said her job was.
"Second-class NYPD." Elisa said as she showed them her badge.
"What exactly does a detective do, lass?" The old gargoyle asked.
"Well, when someone does something wrong, I find out who and arrest them." Elisa said, trying to explain it.
"Who says what's wrong?" Goliath asked.
"Well, there's a justice system and those who break it's rules are considered bad guys." Danny explained.
"Yeah, and we have laws, penalties, rules that the people decide." Elisa said.
"You mean the humans decide." Goliath said before noticing how long they have been awake for. The sun should be out soon and it'll be time for them to sleep. "You two have to go, now."
"Wait, will I see you again? I'd like to know more about you." Elisa asked as Danny tried to sneakily walk away, but Elisa grabbed him by the shoulder and gave him a stern look. "And don't think for a second that we're not done taking about this."
"I kind of figured." Danny said with a sigh.
"Look, Goliath, you saved my life so I owe you. Let me help you understand this city, you need to know how it works." Elisa explained to Goliath.
"If we're to defend the castle...I suppose we need to prepare for whatever is out there." Goliath said, as Elisa did have a point. "Very well."
"Good." Elisa said with a smile. "Tomorrow's my day off. I'll meet you in the afternoon at-"
"After dark." Goliath interrupted.
"Why am I not surprised." Elisa said with a chuckle. "Okay. Here after dark."
"No, not here, over there on that rooftop." Goliath said as he pointed to a building in the distance.
"Why meet there?" Elisa asked.
"Why were you sneaking into the castle?" Goliath retorted.
"A good detective trust no one." Elisa answered.
"That's one thing we have in common." Goliath said with a glare.
"Well, I can't just walk down the stairs with, unless I want Xanatos to get suspicious." Danny said as his armor came back on and addressed Elisa. "I'll meet you down on ground level." He flew up into the air and disappeared into the distance, with Elisa walking down the tower stairs.
"It seems that much has changed from what we knew." The old gargoyle said.
"Yes, and if we are to survive on this new world, we need to learn about it and the humans who rule here." Goliath said.
"Goliath!" Owen called out from below. Goliath wondered what he wants so he glided down to meet him. Turns out that Xanatos wanted to meet with him.
Goliath entered Xanatos' office to address why he wanted to speak with him. "It is almost dawn, Xanatos. My friends and I must sleep soon."
"This won't take long." Xanatos said with a smile before pulling out a disc from his desk. "I'm asking for your help, Goliath. The team who attacked us earlier stole something very important to me. The box they took contained three of these discs."
"Discs?" Goliath repeated in confusion as he inspected the strange looking object.
"Think of them as magic talismans, each one containing hundreds of spells." Xanatos said, trying to give a simplified explanation he can understand. "It is vitally important that you and your friends get them back for me, and I would appreciate it if Blue Beetle could aid us as well. Where is he?"
"He had to leave." Goliath answered. "And as for these discs, perhaps you should use a 'detective.'"
"You're learning fast." Xanatos commented as he got up from his chair. "I can't go to the police; I've already had to forestall an investigation of the fight. Think of the trouble it would cause of they learned of you and your friends. You could be locked up for study or even worse. Remember, you are the only gargoyles left. Humans would fear you."
"And betray us." Goliath said in a low tone. "What would you have us do?"
"My sources have discovered that those thieves were hired by a multinational company called Cyber Biotics." Xanatos explained as he pressed a button on a remote, turning on a screen to show an image of a tall tower near the Statue of Liberty. Goliath looked at the screen in wonder.
"Amazing." Goliath said in awe. "It's like a living tapestry."
"Your naïveté is refreshing, Goliath." Xanatos joked. "The stolen data are being held at three different locations. The first is a research center on a small island in the bay, the second is deep beneath the city in a fortified base, and the third is being kept in a huge air fortress that flies in a holding pattern over the city." Xanatos explained as the images of the locations appeared on screen. "All three places must be hit simultaneously so none will be able to notify the others. It seems an absurd amount of protection, I know, but rest assured the information is that important."
"Why do you want us to help you?" Goliath asked suspiciously.
"This must be done before their scientists break the encryption codes, before they translate the spells." Xanatos said.
"This is much different then protecting the castle." Goliath said in thought. "It will endanger the lives of my charges, and I cannot risk that." Xanatos may have released them, but Goliath's duty is not only to his castle, but to what's left of his entire clan, and he will not risk their lives foolishly.
"Think about my request." Xanatos said, placing a hand on Goliath's shoulder. "I'm sure our enemies mean to use this information for some terrible purpose. It would also increase our chances of victory if we could get Blue Beetle to join us on this mission, should you choose to accept it."
Goliath didn't say anything as he just walked out of the office, to return to his post and wait for the sun. Xanatos watched him leave and close the door, and that was the moment the wall in his office opened up, revealing a hidden door way. Standing in the shadows was a lone figure that watched the whole exchange.
"He's just as stubborn as I remember." The figure said and it was a woman's voice.
"Don't worry, everything is going according to plan." Xanatos said with a victorious smile.
"Then why must we include this 'Blue Beetle' into our plans? What interest do you have in him?"
"It's not really me that has an interest in him, it's my competitors." Xanatos said as he sat down at his desk, with a contemplating frown. "In order to foil whatever plans they have, I need to get my hands on Blue Beetle first."
/
Danny waited outside of the Xanatos building as dawn came and he waited for Elisa to come out. He had to admit, he knew that he couldn't keep this secret from her forever, but he didn't expect it to be this soon.
"The Elisa Maza has an inquisitive nature that is slightly above the average of humans. Her discovering your identity was only a matter of time."
It wasn't long until Elisa came out of the building and spotted him. They just stood there for a moment, neither of them not really knowing what to say, before Elisa just gestured her head to the side for him to follow her, which he did. They eventually made their way to a small café where they both had a cup of coffee in front of them.
"So..." Danny said slowly.
"So...you're Blue Beetle." Elisa stated rather than asked.
"Yeah." Danny said with a sigh.
"So how did that happen?" Elisa asked.
So Danny explained to her about how he found that note with the address to that laboratory and how he discovered the Scarab. He said that he couldn't remove it and he figured that he could use it to help people out.
"Danny, what your doing is dangerous." Elisa said.
"So is you going out on patrol arresting criminals." Danny pointed out.
"That's different, It's my job." Elisa said before looking at him softly. "Danny, you're like a little brother to me. I don't want to see you get hurt."
"People are getting hurt every day, now I have the chance to save them." Danny said with conviction. "Look, whatever happened to that lab is connected to my dad, somehow. The Scarab is also connected, though it doesn't know how or why. As Blue Beetle, I can not only find out what happened, but maybe find a clue about what happened to the previous Blue Beetle."
"I don't know about the Blue Beetle part, but we already know what happened to your dad." Elisa said before a sad look crossed her face. "You know that he..."
"Yeah...I know." Danny said as he wiped some tears gathering on his eyes, before regaining his determined look. "But this is just something that I have to do."
Elisa looked at him for a moment and could just see how strongly he felt about this. She gave a sigh of resignation before smiling at him. "Okay." She said.
"Okay?" Danny repeated in confusion.
"I can't stop you from doing this... I mean I can try, but you've never listened to me beforehand so why start now." Elisa said with a smirk, causing both of them to chuckle. "And I've seen how much good you've done, so I can't fault you for that." Elisa placed her hand on his and gave him a supporting smile. "Whatever you decide to do with your life, I've got your back, no matter what."
"Thanks, sis." Danny said as he squeezed her hand back. "By the way, how'd you know it was me beneath the armor anyway?"
"Are you kidding?" Elisa said with a smirk. "I babysat you since you were five. I think I'd know what your voice sounds like, even if I can't see your face."
"Yeah, I guess so." Danny said as they just finished their coffee. Now all they had to do was to wait for dark to see their new 'friends' again.
/
Night soon befallen New York as the sun set. That set the stage for the gargoyles on Castle Wyvern to wake up, which once again meant breaking out of their stoned state.
When all of the gargoyles awakened, the three young members of the clan prepped themselves up to glide off. Goliath noticed this jumped up to their level on the tower.
"Where do you think you're going?" Goliath asked.
"Danny said that he'd take us on a tour to explore the city." The red one answered. "After all, we can't spend the rest of our lives in the castle."
"He's right, if we're going to live here, we've got to know all about this city." The green gargoyle reasoned. "It's people, it's devices..."
"It's food." The teal gargoyle interjected.
Goliath couldn't deny that he too felt curious about this city, and they definitely gave strong arguments about exploring it. "Very well, the three of you may explore, but stay close to the building and stay out of sight." Goliath conditioned.
The three of them nodded as they leapt off the castle tower and glided off, looking forward to seeing what this city had to offer. As the three of the glided, they managed to spot Blue Beetle flying right towards them. He flew in close before turning so he could fly next to them.
"Hey guys, you ready for this?" Danny asked.
"Oh, definitely." The green gargoyle said eagerly.
"Are we gonna get something to eat while we're out?" The teal gargoyle asked.
"Is all you think about food?" The red one asked.
"I've been asleep for a thousand years; I've got a lot of eating to make up for." The teal gargoyle argues as he patted his stomach.
"Don't worry guys, we'll grab some grub along the way, but right now let me show you the best sights Manhattan has to offer." Danny said as they all flew, or in the gargoyle's case, glided off.
/
Meanwhile, Elisa arrived at the rooftop Goliath pointed and looked around to see if he was here, but she couldn't find him anywhere.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Elisa called put, which Goliath came out of the shadows, causing her to gasp before calming down. "There you are. Why were hiding back there?"
"I wanted to make sure you were alone." Goliath answered.
"Not to worry, you look like you can handle a whole S.W.A.T. team." Elisa said with a chuckle. She then gasped in shock when the old gargoyle jumped down behind her.
"What are you doing here?" Goliath asked.
"Just making certain you were not being ambushed." The old gargoyle said.
"You guys are paranoid, even for New York." Elisa said with a chuckle. "Are you coming on the tour, uh...what do I call you, anyway?"
The old gargoyle gave her a raised eyebrow before speaking, not really understanding the concept of names. "Must you humans name everything? Nothing's real to you till you name it, giving it limits."
"It's not like that, it's just..." Elisa paused as she tried to come up with an answer. "Things need names."
"Does the sky need a name?" He old gargoyle argued before pointing to the river. "Does the river?"
"The river's called the Hudson." Elisa said in a joking manner.
That seemed to throw the old gargoyle off, not expecting that answer. He turned towards Goliath who gave a slight shrug and had a smile on his face, finding this conversation amusing. The old gargoyle gave a sigh before addressing Elisa again.
"Fine, lass, then I will the Hudson, as well." The now named Hudson relented.
"Great, Hudson it is." Elisa said with a chuckle. "I don't know how I'm going to keep people from noticing you."
"Simple, we'll stay on the rooftops." Goliath said simply.
"Easy for you with those wings, but what about me?" Elisa asked. The answer she got was Goliath bridal carrying her, which spooked her for a brief second, but she was getting used to it. "Well, guess that answers that question."
Goliath couldn't help but smile at that remark, but stopped when he saw. Hudson looking at them both with a teasing smirk.
"Uh...let's be off." Goliath said wanting to get started on this tour. "Are you coming...Hudson?"
Hudson looked down onto the streets where he could see all the cars driving by. He lightly winced at the sound of all the honking and sirens in the distance.
"I think not. This new world is too big, too bright, and too loud." Hudson said. "Now that I know you're alright, I'll return to guard the castle." Knowing that his task was done, Hudson leapt off the roof and glided his way back home.
"Well then, looks like it's just you and me now." Elisa said with a chuckle. "What do you want to see?"
"The dangers that threaten me and my kind." Goliath said, wanting to asses anything that could harm his clan.
"Lighten up, will you?" Elisa said in amusement. "You're starting to bring me down and I'm a cop."
With nothing left to be said, Goliath took off into the air with Elisa in his arms. Goliath had to admit, throughout all his years he has never seen such a sight. So many humans and so many devices that he wouldn't even dream of. He asked Elisa what those horseless carriages were and she said they cars, something he'll just have to get used to seeing in this world. It wouldn't matter to him though, he would continue to live for his clan, they are the only thing he has left connecting to his past.
He landed on the ledge of a tall tower and placed Elisa down before staring off into the distance, still fascinated by the sheer size of this city.
"What do you think so far?" Elisa asked, enjoying his reactions to everything he sees.
"Such amazing changes men have made in the world while we slept." Goliath said in slight awe. "Stone streets...finer than those the Romans built. Towers of glass and iron. A true metropolis."
"Well, there's already a city called Metroplis, but I guess this city is pretty impressive to an 'out of towner.'" Elisa said as she too was enjoying the view.
"I see no walls to guard this city." Goliath noted. "How do you protect it from invaders?"
"Well, most of the time, our greatest worries aren't from outside, they're from the inside." Elisa answered.
"That I am all too familiar with." Goliath said grimly.
/
The three young gargoyles all sat down on the ledge of an old styled building where they were, ironically enough, sitting next to old gargoyle statues
The red gargoyle looked at one of the statues and tapped it on the nose. "This is...a little freaky."
"Do we really look like that when we sleep?" The green one asked as he to found it a little weird to be looking at the stone gargoyles
"Well, Danny did say that our kind probably inspired these statues. I feel kind of honored." The teal one said as his stomach started to grumble. "Where is he anyway? I'm starting to get hungry."
"Ask and you shall receive, my gargoyle friend." Danny said, donning his armor, as he flew in and landed beside them with a bag in hand. "Feast your eyes and your stomachs on the greatest food in present day..." Danny pulled out three hamburgers from the bag and passed it to each of them. "Big Belly Burger's famous burgers!"
Each of the gargoyles took their burgers and gave it a critical look. The teal one gave it a quick sniff before eating half of it in one bite. The moment it hit his tastebuds, his eyes widened in surprise before being filled with elation. Never before had he tasted anything so good in all his life.
"Whoa, you guys have got to try this!" The teal gargoyle exclaimed happily as he took another bite of his burger. The others decided to give theirs a try and took a bite of it.
"Wow, this really good!" The green one said happily.
"I think I could eat this forever." The red gargoyle said as he took a bite out of his burger.
"I wouldn't try it. These things aren't exactly healthy for you, even if they're really delicious." Danny said as the face part of his armor retracted so he could eat his burger. "So how do you like the sights of Manhattan?"
"It's amazing." The red one said with a smile. "The lights of Times Square, the Statue of Liberty from the distance, I've never seen anything like it."
"Yeah, I've lived here my entire life and it's always a sight to behold at night." Danny said.
The teal one finished his burger and couldn't help but admire the sights. "I've never seen so many wonders."
"Look." The green gargoyle said pointing in the streets. The gargoyles didn't know what they were seeing, but Danny could tell what it was; it was a nice red motorcycle. "I've got to see how it works." The green gargoyle then took off to glide closer.
"Wait!" The red one exclaimed, trying to reach him.
"That's not such good idea!" Danny exclaimed, but it was too late as he was too far.
The green gargoyle glided in close from behind the motorcycle, so the driver wouldn't see him. "What magnificent device." He said in wonder.
That proved to be a mistake as the driver turned his head and gasped in fright of seeing the green gargoyle. He lost control of his ride and accidentally hit the curb, causing him to fall of his motorcycle and roll to the ground. He wasn't worried about any injuries, he just focused on running away as fast as he could from the monster he was looking at.
"Hey, wait! Come back!" The green gargoyle called out, but it was too late as the guy was gone. Danny and the other two gargoyles landed right by their friend.
"Goliath said not to let anybody see us." The red gargoyle reminded.
"I didn't mean to let him see me, I just wanted to look at his machine." The green gargoyle said.
Danny picked the motorcycle up, set it straight, and gave it a quick once over. "It's still running, and it doesn't look to be broken." Wanting to be brave, the green gargoyle hopped on to the motorcycle seat, much to Danny's shock. "Easy there, this thing can pack a lot of horse power."
"It looks easy enough." The green gargoyle said as he started twisting the handles. It then got bad when he pressed too hard on the pedal and he instantly took off. "Whoa!"
He raced down the street, not really knowing how to steer, so he was just driving wildly. He looked up and could see he was heading right straight for a wall. He jumped off the motorcycle and spread out his wings to slow his descent. Good thing, because the motorcycle crashed into the wall and exploded, leaving behind a flaming pile of metal.
The others watched this with widened eyes, not sure about what to say. Danny, eventually, broke the silence.
"Maybe it's best we never speak of this again." Danny said simply.
"Agreed." All three gargoyles said.
"I never thought it was a possibility, but these three are of the same level of immaturity as you."
'You be quiet.' Danny thought.
/
Deciding to take a break from all the gliding, Elisa chose for them to take a nice walk in Central Park. It was really dark out, so there shouldn't be any people in the area, so it was safe for them to walk in the open. They hit a snag during their trip when they had to save some married couple from some punks, and while Goliath easily took them down and saved the couple, they didn't care about that as they ran away screaming at the sight of Goliath.
"We're probably the only couple in the park who don't have to worry about muggers." Elisa joked.
"This world is just as savage as the one I remember." Goliath said in anger and disappointment.
"You're judging it the way humans have judged you." Elisa said as they paused in their walk. "Sure, the city shows an ugly face sometimes, but there's more to it than that. There's beauty here, moms that sing to their kids, the way my used to." Before she could say anything else, Goliath perked up in high alert when he heard something in the bushes. Elisa saw this and felt alarmed as well. "Goliath, what's wrong?"
All of a sudden, a tranquilizer dart was shot out from the bushes and hit Goliath in the shoulder, causing him to roar in pain. All of a sudden, many armed soldiers, the same ones that attacked the castle the other night, came out and surrounded the two. One of the soldiers came in from behind Elisa and grabbed her, holding her arms back to prevent her from escaping.
Seeing Elisa in trouble, Goliath's eyes glowed white as he roared in fury and punched a soldier away. Before he could help Elisa, another soldier came in from behind and grabbed him by the neck. Another soldier came in and grabbed onto Goliath, who tried to fight them off. Goliath started to lose the fight when the tranquilizer started to kick in and he collapsed on to the ground.
Another soldier stepped forward to the downed Goliath and pulled out a pistol from his leg holster, much to the shock of Elisa.
"What are you doing?!" Elisa exclaimed as she tried to break free.
"Just tying up loose ends." The soldier said simply as he pointed his weapon at Goliath. This night started off great, and now it just took a turn for the worst.
/
Hey everybody, here's the newest chapter of this story!
Not really much to say for this chapter as it's pretty close to the episode. Trust me though, next chapter will have some action in it. I have some big plans for this story that I can't wait to share with all of you that will really make this story stand out.
Well, like I said, not much to say, so stay safe and stay healthy my friends! I'll see you all next time!