Hello everyone!

So I was planning on posting this last Friday [and I did], but decided to take it down and make some rewrites before re-posting it. Fortunately, not many people had read it by the time I took it down, and for those that had read it and for those that could not find the new chapter after I deleted it, I apologize for the confusion.

Here is Chapter 17, officially, in which many surprising and somewhat startling things are revealed.

Enjoy.

January 10th, 1997

Elijah POV

"So what was that song called," Goliath asked after the teen finished playing.

"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters," Elijah replied, getting up from the piano bench. The Xanatos' rarely used their grand piano, but had given the teen permission to play it whenever he came to visit. "Not one of Elton John's well known songs, but I like it."

"You're like a reverse Stevie Wonder," Brooklyn joked. "Play your cards right, and you could be famous someday."

"We should get going; Hudson and Lex come back tonight, and you still have patrol before the party," Goliath said. "Broadway and Angela are waiting at the tower."

"Fine," the younger gargoyle said. "But I'm still wearing this." He indicated to the custom shirt he had received for Christmas. "Gotta let NYC know I'm deaf friendly!"

"I'm sure whoever you meet will be thrilled to know the flying creature stopping crimes knows ASL," the teen joked. "And try not to die; you're supposed to be my wingman."

"Scaring girls into your waiting arms," Brooklyn signed back, grinning and heading towards the roof. "See you in a couple hours!"

"Bye! What about you, Goliath? You're not going with them?"

"I will be patrolling elsewhere," the gargoyle said, following him towards the main hall. "Will your uncle be joining us?"

"I don't think so. He's been working on some new book for a while, so he's started going to bed earlier," Elijah replied. "It must be an important one; he won't even tell me what it's about."

"Then I should be going. See you later, Elijah."

"See you, Goliath." The gargoyle went in another direction as the teen made his way to one of the living rooms.

Hudson and Lex had spent the last two months in the British Isles helping Macbeth, getting to know the London clan and seeing their old home in Scotland. Finally, they were coming home, and Elijah and the other Manhattan gargoyles had decided to throw them a return party, and they had decided to throw them a welcome home party. Brooklyn, Broadway and Angela had a patrol from sunset until eleven, but afterwards, it was party time.

Mason [who had returned a few days before New Years with the news that his relative had recovered from whatever illness they had] had dropped him off in front of the Eyrie building half a hour after the sun set, and Elijah took the elevator up to the top floor. He had visited the castle a couple of times since Christmas [including New Years], but it was still exciting, watching the dial slowly tick towards the top floor.

Elijah was not usually the kind of person who threw surprise parties for friends, but it had been a while since he had seen Hudson and Lex, and he figured they might appreciate the gesture. It did not take long to set up the streamers and homemade 'Welcome Back' sign, and before he knew it, the teen was watching Full House, occasionally looking at the clock on the nearby wall, counting down the time until the gargoyles were due to arrive. Bronx, who had been sleeping in the corner when he walked in, got bored after a while and wandered off, presumably to find a soccer ball to chew.

"Elijah?"

The teen started, not realizing he had dozed off. He turned around, blinking the sleep from his eyes and seeing Eliza Maza standing in the doorway.

"Oh… hi Ms. Maza," he said, yawning a little. "You here for the party?"

"Yes," she said. "Though it'll probably be postponed; members of the Pack were spotted in Times Square, and everyone left to go after them a while ago. Goliath mentioned you were here, so I thought I'd look for you."

"What?" Elijah looked over at the clock, seeing it was around 11:45. "Shoot! Don't tell me I missed Hudson and Lex coming home!"

"Don't worry," she assured him. "They had only just gotten back with Coldstone and Coldfire when they got the call."

"Coldstone and Coldfire? Who're they?"

"Didn't Brooklyn tell you about -" Eliza broke off, as if remembering something she wasn't supposed to say. Her face took on a serious expression. "Actually, I think we need to have a talk."

"About what," the teen asked, noting her change in demeanor. "If it's about that Gargoyle Task Force I overheard Goliath talking about, I'll sign whatever confidentiality form you need me to sign. My uncle will too; I think he and Mr. Xanatos were talking about it during the Christmas party."

"It's not that," she said, sitting down on the couch next to him. "It's about Brooklyn…"

"What? Did he get hurt during his patrol or something?"

"No! He's fine, I saw him earlier... It's just that -"

"There you two are," a new voice said, and the two looked up to find Owen standing in the doorway. "I just wanted to inform you both that the gargoyles have returned from Times Square."

"All of them," Elijah asked.

The man gave him an expressionless look. "If you are inferring to Brooklyn, Hudson and Lexington, then yes. Everyone made it back safely, and have convened in the great hall."

"Screw waiting for them in here," the teen said, standing up and heading for the door, stopping to grab his late Christmas gift for Hudson; it was one a jar of multi-colored sand he had bought in Galveston [he had gotten a computer game for Lex]. "I'm gonna say hi to them now! I can't let them have a reunion without me!"

"Elijah," Eliza called after him. "I really need to talk to you about -"

But the deaf teen was already out of earshot, walking briskly towards the great hall. Now things were going to get radical; Lex and Hudson were back, probably with a hundred stories to tell about their time abroad, and there were two new gargoyles as well. Brooklyn could tell him about these Coldstone and Coldfire individuals, and they could all have a party. Xanatos had even offered to order pizza and other food for them once everyone was back at the castle; it looked like that time was now.

"Hudson! Lex!" Elijah walked into the great hall, seeing the group of gargoyles standing near the doorway that led to the outdoor courtyard. "You're finally back! How was-"

The question faltered as he noticed the group, his brisk walk slowing down before he eventually came to a stop.

Besides the original clan he had met months ago, there were several new individuals standing with them. The two most notable were about Goliath's height, made of gold and silver metal respectively, and looked like the steel clan robots, except these looked like unique gargoyles, not copies of Goliath. The silver one was male, and parts of him were actually flesh, as if he were a cyborg, but the other one, which was female, was made completely out of metal. Instantly, Elijah could tell these must be Coldstone and Coldfire, and was about to say hello when he noticed the sub-group of four gargoyles standing next to them.

The main gargoyle looked like Brooklyn, but it could not be him; he could not have changed that much since he last see him earlier that evening. This gargoyle was a few inches taller, standing up straighter, and looked rugged with the scars that crisscrossed his arms, face and legs. However, it was really the eye patch over his left eye that was unsettling; it made him look… meaner, in a way, and his current expression matched the one that Goliath often wore. The crimson gargoyle also wore some light armor now, and carried several weapons with him; two swords, a futuristic-looking gun, and something else the teen could not identify. Yeah, it definitely was not Brooklyn, but the resemblance was kind of freaky.

Another one of the gargoyles was female, and was slightly shorter than Brooklyn. She had pale blue skin, black hair, a small beak, and a pair of horns that were slightly curved. She wore some sort of yellow dress, and had two swords… no, katanas, hanging on her side. In her arms was some sort of rock the size of a football, and she held it as if it were precious cargo. He also noticed that she had three fingers instead of four, and two toes instead of three. Her eyes scanned the room, surveying everyone and everything with a fierce intensity.

There was also another gargoyle-dog that stood in front of the Brooklyn look-alike. The dog-like gargoyle was about the same size as Bronx, but it had jade green skin with a brown lion-like mane and a long tufted tail. A gold collar was on his neck, and he looked around the room as well, growling a little as he observed its inhabitants.

The final gargoyle was shorter than the two of them, maybe closer to Lex's height [if Lex was not always hunched over], and wore a t-shirt with the letters "USN" on it, shorts, and a small sword that hung from his belt. At first glance, Elijah thought that he was a small adult, like Lex, but he looked... younger, in a way. He had the same light blue skin and black hair as the female gargoyle [maybe they were related], but physically looked more like-

"Elijah," the Brooklyn look-alike yelled, a grin crossing his face as he ran forward and gave the surprised teen a hug. "Oh my gosh, it's really you! I never thought I'd see my best friend again!"

"Wh-What," the deaf teen asked, taking a step back and looking at the gargoyle, confused. "Who are you?"

The red gargoyle's smile faded, looking a little hurt. "Elijah… it's me… Brooklyn. I've been gone for-" His face darkened, and he looked towards the others. "Oh no… did somebody tell..."

"Elijah," Eliza called, running into the room behind him. "I need to- Oh no."

"What's going on," the teen demanded, still holding the jar in his hand. "If you're Brooklyn, why're you dressed up like it's Halloween? Who are they? Did they come here with Hudson and Lex?"

The clan of gargoyles never looked so awkward before then, all looking everywhere but at him; even Elisa was not making eye contact. For some reason, their silence only made him angrier, and he snapped, "What's the big secret? Just because my hearing's lousy doesn't mean I can't be told anything important!"

"Elijah," Eliza started to say, before the Brooklyn-like gargoyle interrupted.

"Elijah… I've been gone for 40 years. I just came back, apparently 40 seconds after I left."

Elijah stared at him in shock, searching for some sort of sign that he was possibly joking. Because he had to be joking; it wasn't possible for him to suddenly age 40 years in 40 seconds.

"That's impossible," he finally said. "If this is some kind of prank -"

"It was the Phoenix Gate," Angela told him, just as somber and serious as everyone else. "It just... appeared in front of us during our patrol earlier this evening. It turned into a fiery bird and… took Brooklyn. He reappeared forty seconds later with..." She simply turned towards the new trio of gargoyles that stood next to Brooklyn, unable to finish her thought.

"Oh, yeah," the crimson gargoyle said, turning towards the new gargoyles. "This is my mate, Katana of the Ishimura clan." He pointed to the green dog-like gargoyle. "This is Fu-Dog, and this," he added, putting a hand on the young gargoyle's shoulder, "is my son Nashville."

"Hello," the short blue gargoyle said; his voice seemed young, meaning he was younger than Elijah had originally thought.

"Is that a-" Goliath asked, pointing at the object in Katana's arms.

"Egwardo," the costumed Brooklyn answered. "He's due to hatch in a few months."

What is going on, the deaf teen wondered, staring at the new group as his mind tried to process what was happening. Brooklyn, his first real friend here in New York… was now the equivalent of a middle-aged adult, married with a kid, and had not seen him or any of the Manhattan Clan in about forty years. He felt sick, for some reason, and wondered why he felt lightheaded all of a sudden. But he remembered Goliath saying once that he had gotten rid of the Phoenix Gate… and he saw Brooklyn only a few hours ago… how was this the real Brooklyn?

"Wait," Elijah said, hands shaking a little, "so… you mean to tell me you've been gone for forty years? I saw you a few hours ago; you were fine and normal and-" He looked towards Goliath. "How do we know this isn't some sort of trick? A spell from Demona? Another clone?"

"It's not a trick," Nashville said angrily. "My father wouldn't lie to you!"

"Then prove it," Elijah challenged, turning towards the imposter. "Prove you're Brooklyn!"

The small gargoyle made to move forward, but his father held him back. The Brooklyn impostor sighed, as if regretting what he was about to do. He stepped forward, taking something from a pouch on his side, slowly holding it out for him to see. The teen looked at it, about to protest that some old rag wouldn't prove anything when he recognized the symbol on the fabric.

A sign language letter, specifically the letter 'N.'

Suddenly, the rag was not a rag. It was a piece of a t-shirt he had given to his best friend a few weeks ago. It was part of the same shirt Brooklyn was wearing it when he went out on patrol earlier that night.

"No," Elijah muttered. "That's…"

"Elijah," the Brooklyn impostor said, bringing his attention back to the one-eyed gargoyle. Then, the creature raised his hands and signed, "It's me, Brooklyn," using the special name sign that Elijah had come up with for him and only him, unique to the gargoyle. "I'm sorry."

The jar of sand fell from Elijah's hands and shattered on the ground, but he paid no attention to it. Now, all previous thoughts about the impostor were gone as he realized…

It's Brooklyn, he thought, looking at the older gargoyle in shock, taking in his strange appearance in a different light. But that means- He looked over at Nashville, and realized how similar he looked to Brooklyn, and that he had called him his...

"I… I know this is a big shock," Brooklyn was saying, looking apologetic. "It is for everyone, I'm sure. But I'm still the same -"

"No," Elijah managed to say, hands still shaking as he felt blood, probably from a glass shard, trickle down his ankle. "This is… You can't be… It's a trick," he finally blurted out. "It's a trick, making me believe that you somehow-"

"It's not a trick," Nashville said angrily.

"Shut up," the teen snapped. "Of course you would say that!"

"Elijah," Hudson spoke up, stepping forward with a somber expression. "I think ye need to calm down so we can -"

"I need to calm down," Elijah asked, his voice slightly louder than it should have been. "How are you all not freaking out?! This is obviously some kind of magical deception or some shit, because the whole idea is too absurd to even consider! He's can't… this isn't… This is-"

He paused, the words he was trying to say somehow unable to be spoken. It all sounded absurd… but not impossible. Sure, Goliath had gotten rid of the Phoenix Gate on his way back from his World Tour, and it might have somehow showed up in front of Brooklyn earlier this evening. But… this could not be Brooklyn; Brooklyn was a wise-cracking slacker who was just learning how to be responsible, trying to figure out how to get a female gargoyle's attention, joking about life and being his friend and-

Elijah turned away from the group, walking briskly down the hall, trying to remember where the nearest restroom was before his dinner ended up on the carpeted floor. He vaguely heard someone calling his name, but he did not look back. He suddenly felt awful, and he hurried down the hall, searching for the right door. Finally, he stumbled into a restroom, ran into one of the stalls, and threw up into the toilet.

He had not thrown up in years. The last time was when he had the flu, and he had forgotten how unpleasant it was. Right when he thought it was over, it came up again, forcing him to think in-between hurls.

He was gone for forty years, the teen thought to himself. How is that even possible?! He was normal, he was my friend, he was-

HURL!

He's technically 20 years older now… he's forty in gargoyle years! He's old enough to be a dad… he IS a dad! He has a wife and a kid and… that's not a rock in her hand that's an-

HURL!

FORTY! FREAKING! YEARS!

HURL!

When he finally stopped, Elijah was surprised to find himself crying, and he sat back against the stall wall, sobbing into his knees. He had no idea why he was crying, but all he could think about doing at the moment was cry, so he continued to do so. At some point, he got tired of hearing himself cry, and he tore out his hearing aids, the silence surrounding him like a blanket. He could still feel the vibrations of his crying, but he could not hear the noise itself.

Elijah knew one thing: his friend was gone, and whoever that gargoyle was in there, it wasn't the Brooklyn he knew. Brooklyn was gone for forty years; he was now a completely different individual with new priorities, new experiences, and the last thing he probably wanted to do is deal with some deaf kid he hadn't seen in years. He didn't even greet him in ASL like he used to-

Like he used to earlier today and yesterday and all the days before that, he thought.

The teen had no idea how long he sat there crying, not crying, then crying some more. At some point, he felt a hand on his shoulder, a human one. He looked up, his vision blurry as he looked at his Uncle Jeffrey, who knelt on the ground next to him. One look on his face showed that he knew everything. Elijah had no idea how his uncle had gotten here or who told him what happened, but he was glad he was there.

"He... He's gone," the teen whispered, leaning into his uncle's hug, no longer crying and suddenly very tired. "That's not Brooklyn… Brooklyn's gone, he's..."

Elijah could not hear his uncle's reply, if there even was one. He simply sat there, hugging Elijah before the teen eventually drifted off to sleep.

[][][]

Brooklyn POV:

"It's going to take some time," Hudson said.

Time, Brooklyn thought with some annoyance. Time is not something I want to talk about right now.

They stood on one of the castle towers, looking out at the city. It had been years since Brooklyn had seen this particular view of New York; it was almost surreal to look at, like something from a dream, but the cold January air and the lights of the city reminded him of the harsh reality he now faced. Even when they were fighting the Pack earlier that evening, he could not help but stare at the familiar yet also strange city around him. Wolf had managed to escape, but at least they got Jackal and Hyena.

"I… wasn't expecting him to get upset," Brooklyn eventually said.

"How did ye expect him to react," Hudson asked.

"I don't know! I stopped thinking I would ever come home years ago!" He winced at the harshness of his statement. "Sorry. That was... insincere of me."

"A bit, but I forgive ye." The aged gargoyle faced the river that gave him his namesake, a stoic expression on his face as well. "Robbins arrived a while ago. Eliza called him; she figured somethin' like this might happen. He's taken him home, I suppose."

"Katana and Nashville-"

"In the kitchens. Broadway offered to cook for them, and Angela's asking about yer travels."

"At least… we won't be time-dancing anytime soon," Brooklyn said. "I can't explain how I know but… I can feel it. I won't disappear again."

"Lad -"

"I'm not a lad anymore," the red gargoyle snapped, turning to face Hudson. "I stopped being a lad three decades ago, that's the problem! I've changed, but no one else here had changed with me! I-" He broke off, taking the piece of t-shirt from his pocket, staring at it for a few moments, seemingly deep in thought.

"I… I forgot how to sign," he eventually said, his voice hollow and pained. "I know nothing besides a few words here and there… I used most of this gift to tie bandages and kindle fires to survive." His remaining eye was starting to tear up, and he placed the memento back in the pouch. He looked at Hudson. "What do I do now?"

The aged gargoyle looked at the still younger one before him. He had been shocked to see how much Brooklyn had changed since November. However, after being frozen in time for a thousand years, along with a hundred other strange occurrences that had happened to him, Hudson was able to quickly adjust to Brooklyn's new age and family, as had the rest of the clan. Elijah, on the other hand… he had lost his parents seven months ago, and Brooklyn was his best and probably only friend. He could see why the teen had freaked out when he saw Brooklyn; how do you react to your best friend becoming someone different? The old Brooklyn, the one Elijah knew, was gone forever it seemed, so it was no small wonder he had gotten upset.

"I don't know if I'm qualified to answer that," Hudson finally answered. "Though all ye can do now is move forward. Give him a few days; let his uncle take care of him, then go talk to him. Use the time to help your family adjust to their new home and time." He looked at the city. "Be patient; it'll take time for your friendship to return to normal."

Brooklyn sighed, looking out at the city as well.

"It will never be normal again," he said. "Not that it was normal in the first place." He unfurled his wings. "But I'm still gonna try. He's still my best friend, and I'll be damned if the Phoenix Gate takes that away from me."

[][][]

Mason POV:

"Thailog is after the what," Mason asked.

"The Fourth Eye of Mab," the contact explained, the reception on his end of the phone conversation kind of spotty but still understandable. "Legend says its supposed to grant the owner untold powers, but it will corrupt and destroy them after a while."

"Sounds fun."

"If Thailog manages to find a way to harness that power, or if he sells it to someone undesirable-"

"That wouldn't be good," Mason agreed. "And we already have new enemies; I heard about the attack at one of our treasuries."

"Yeah. We'll be monitoring them," the contact replied. "We believe their main base is somewhere in Europe, but they have a secondary location in New York City."

"Whoever they are, we can't let them or anyone else get the Eye of Mab. Any idea where it is?"

"It's last known location was excavated a few months ago by a research team funded by, get this, Xanatos Enterprises."

"Why am I not surprised? Then can't we ask him where it is?"

"We did. He claimed nothing was there."

"And you don't believe him?"

"He's still an Illuminati member, but we can't go around accusing people without proof. Plus, he's a pawn we don't want to give up... not yet, anyway."

"I understand," Mason said. "I dropped off my employer and his nephew at the Xanatos building earlier tonight, at separate times. Not sure why they were there, though; they could have gone there for some other reason unrelated to Xanatos."

"Keep an eye on them," the contact ordered him. "Jeffrey Robins has some influence as an author, so he may be friends with Xanatos. Any info on the nephew?"

"Elijah Robbins. Parents died last Summer, he moved up here to live with his uncle in Weisman. He's deaf, and apparently good at the piano."

"Surely Jeffrey wouldn't be mixed up with Xanatos if he has family around… Still, keep an eye out for anything suspicious, and then report back to me."

"Yes sir."

[][][]

Thailog POV:

"So why are we in France," Shari asked. "I thought we knew that Xanatos had taken the Fourth Eye with him months ago."

"True," Thailog said, eyes scanning the cave floor, "but we only need a piece of rock that was near the eye in order for our sensor to work. Granted, it might take a few months to extract the magical essence from it, but once we do, we can track the stone's location to anywhere in the world. It'll help make things easier when I steal it." Eventually, he came upon a roped-off area, and took a stone from the ground. "This will do."

"So now we wait," Shari asked, a frown on her face as she watched her employer pocket the rock. "What are we supposed to do until spring?"

"Don't worry," the gargoyle clone said, taking a small device from his sleeve. Tapping a few buttons, he showed her the screen. "I think things are about to get more interesting for our Illuminati friends."

She stared at the image, which appeared to have been taken from a flying drone robot. It was a group of five individuals leaping to attack it; one was a gargoyle, one a mutate, two humans, and the last being some sort of unshaped silvery metal. "The attack at one of the Illuminati treasuries. Are they -"

"Indeed," Thailog said. "It appears these bad guys want to play hero." He smiled. "We'll give them some chances to do so... just for fun."

"You always said you liked those stories of gladiators fighting endless and useless battles," Shari agreed, smiling as well. "A few missions here and there to see how skilled they are?"

"Yes. And who knows? If I play my cards right, they'll be working for me!" He laughed at that, leading the woman out of the cave and into the dark Parisian night.

Once again, I apologize for any confusion with this chapter last week. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, given the main subject featuring Elijah and Brooklyn's friendship. When I read about this part of the comic series, I knew that this was going to be a intense and pivotal moment in my story; I hope I did it justice. It is also momentous because this night was the subject of the last comic book in the series, meaning that the events after this are going to be ones I come up with [but I still do not own Gargoyles or any of the characters besides my OCs].

Though WOW! It took me a while to get in the mindset of learning that my best friend is gone forever. They are not dead, but they are radically different from the person we used to know. Naturally, it's gonna take some time for Elijah to come to terms with this new situation, and Brooklyn has to readjust to not fighting for his life all the time was travelling through time. And with the new characters in his family and whatever Thailog has planned, the rest of this story is going to get pretty interesting.

Feel free to follow or favorite this story to be updated on new chapters, and feel free to leave a review on this chapter or others if you want. And, as usual, have a safe and happy week/weekend!

-aggiefrogger

Note: I do NOT own Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air or Elton John at all.