Hudson entered the laboratory quietly. The place seemed deserted. The lab was very organized, almost meticulous. Glass tubes on oak tables were arranged by contents. A bookshelf crammed with college textbooks was in one corner. There wasn't a dust bunny in sight.
"Looking for something?" called a voice. Dr. Thal was standing in the doorway. His hazel eyes widened when he saw the elderly gargoyle's sword in its sheath. "Wait! I come in peace!"
"Would you be Lee Thal?"
"I answer to that name." Another gargoyle? This one was apparently older and wiser. It was almost as if one could take everybody's favorite grandfather, a dusty old chair in a library, and a veteran soldier, then magically transform them into a stout creature with a scarred eye. The geneticist had wondered if the gargoyle-creation project was a dream. Yet, there had been his notes and pieces of broken shell, not to mention the mess created when he had been shoved into the lab table. "Who are you?"
"Call me Hudson."
"OK...Hudson. What can I do for you?"
"Does the name Malevola ring a bell?"
It was real. Thal smiled. "So you've met her. What an awful name, though. It makes her sound villainous. Why, if I had named her, I'd have called her Abigail."
"She seems like a lovely lass."
"She is exquisite," Thal corrected.
"Is she a clone or something?"
The hazel eyes flashed. "Sir, you insult me by saying the very word. Copies cannot live up to the originals. My little Malevola is no clone. I didn't even have gargoyle DNA to clone until Dominique Destine threw these samples at me and told me to make a zygote."
"Demona. Should have guessed."
The scientist held out the red and black hairs. "My creation process is similar to in-vitro fertilization, only I extract DNA from regular cells and combine it instead of combining gametes."
"Goliath," breathed Hudson, looking at the black hair.
Thal arched an eyebrow. "You're from Scotland, right? I can tell that accent a mile off."
"Aye. So?"
"Why the Hebrew name?"
"I beg your pardon."
"Goliath, as I'm sure you're aware, is Hebrew. Means 'exiled.'"
Hudson shrugged. "Connotation versus denotation, I guess." He took the ebony hair. "The average gargoyle sheds about forty hairs a night. I suppose Demona could have picked it up after an encounter with Goliath. So Malevola is not programmed?"
"Like a robot?"
"Subliminal education."
"Of course not! I did subliminally ingrain my name in her memory, but I had no control over her personality."
Hudson's good eye turned to an oak-framed photograph on the wall. Two small boys, between six or seven years of age, beamed happily. Between them was a model of a DNA double helix made completely out of candy. The boy on the left had pale skin and auburn hair. Something about him struck Hudson as eerily familiar. The child on the right had chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes. "That one on the right is you."
"It is." The scientist smiled nostalgically. "That was our first grade science project. Had fun making it. Of course, we had more fun eating it after the science fair."
The elderly gargoyle glanced at the picture again. "That's Anton Sevarius!"
Thal's eyes clouded over sadly. "He was my best friend growing up." He held up his wrist. A platinum watch with tiny emeralds marking the hours gleamed. "Our freshman year in high school, we took all our Christmas money and bought matching watches. Engraved our initials on the backs of the cases."
"What happened?"
"We had a...falling out." Thal indulged briefly in a daydream of Anton Sevarius falling out of an upper-story laboratory window. "We both enrolled at NYU. Anton...changed. He became more eccentric. He had always been a little weird, but he started performing weird experiments. We stopped talking. By sophomore year, we ran in separate cliques. Our friendship didn't end suddenly...it just slowly died. I read about his disreputable projects. What kind of monster has he become? Hudson--"
"Yes, Doctor?"
"Could you let me see Malevola."
"Aye, very well. Just be careful. Demona raised her."
"So that's her mother's name."
"Yes. Human by day, gargoyle by night. There's something I don't understand, Dr. Thal. You had no knowledge of gargoyles before. Why make one for some mysterious woman?"
"I don't ask questions, Hudson. I just do what I'm put here to do."
"You trusted Demona?"
"I just assumed she lost a pet or child--"
"You didn't even ask..."
"I believe in the power of trust!" snapped Dr. Thal. "I don't even lock my door at night. I took Demona's orders, and look what I've ended up with. An intelligent creature. I know we're different species...but Malevola's the daughter I never had."
Hudson sighed. "Follow me."
A few minutes later, the elderly gargoyle stopped at the edge of Central Park. "Wait here." He crawled through the brush to find Goliath, who was pacing. Malevola was sitting on a tree stump, chin in one hand -- obviously deep in thought. Bronx sat at the base of the stump.
"Hudson," greeted the clan leader. "Did you find anything?"
"She's no clone. She's a unique individual made from you and Demona."
"Mine? That's impossible!" Goliath protested.
"Who else could it be, then?"
"Thailog, maybe?" suggested the clan leader. "He had an accelerated growth rate--"
"Don't be ridiculous. Thailog's..." Dead didn't sound right. "Gone. And he and Demona broke up a long time ago."
"Why would she do that?" Malevola said loudly. "I've only seen a small part of this world, but it's so big and beautiful. I'm sure humans and gargoyles could share it. If one tried to claim it all to themselves, it'd be such a terrible waste of a planet."
Hudson chuckled. "Now I'm convinced she's yours, laddie." He looked around. "Where are the others?"
"Angela went to visit Elisa. I sent Brooklyn, Lexington, and Broadway on patrol."
Dr. Thal ran in. "Malevola!" Goliath grabbed the geneticist's shirt sleeve to hold him back, but it ripped in his claws. Thal threw his arms around the redhead. "My little angel!"
Malevola shoved him off. "Who are you? How do you know my name?"
"I created you!"
"What?" she asked, confused. She shot a glance at Goliath and Hudson, then turned and ran.
The geneticist waved sadly, but didn't give chase. "If you love something, set it free. If it flies away, it never was yours."
Hudson looked at the piece of cloth in Goliath's hand. "He thinks of her as his daughter. Did you really think your strength could keep him from her?"
**************************************************
"Slow night," commented Lexington. The threesome were gliding through the air.
"I'm bored," whined Brooklyn. He looked disdainfully at the half-eaten piece of bread Broadway offered. "No thanks. I'm not hungry. So...what do you guys think of Malevola?"
"I just hope she's not another Thailog," Lexington said. He shuddered. "That guy was psychotic."
"That guy was more than psychotic," Broadway corrected through a mouthful of French bread.
"She's got a mouth," Brooklyn added. "Remind you of anyone?"
"Yeah," replied Lexington. "You!"
"Lex, think we'll ever get mates? We haven't seen a female of our species since Angela," Brooklyn asked.
"If Xanatos can find a wife, you guys can!" quipped Broadway as they glided toward Castle Wyvern.
************************************************
Elisa Maza reached for a tome on her bookshelf. "I think I've got just the advice for you." She pulled out a well-worn hardcover book of about four hundred pages. "Sibling Rivalry: How to Spot It and How to Stop It. It worked wonders when I was growing up with Derek and Beth."
Angela stroked Cagney with one hand as she took the book with the other. Cagney purred. "Well, if I can't use the inside, I'll definitely use the outside."
Elisa smiled. "Rest assured, the parents always save a spot in their hearts for the first-born."
Angela glanced at the sky. "It's almost dawn."
"You can stay here for the day. Your father will know you'll be safe with me."
*********************************************
The next evening, Demona crawled into a cave.
Malevola was waiting for her. "Took you long enough." She took a deep breath. "Why didn't you tell me there were other gargoyles so close?"
Demona smiled. "So you have met the Manhattan Clan."
"Did I. The one with the long snout -- Brooklyn -- said you were using me."
"Did you believe him?"
"Well, no. But Mother, I can't help feeling you're keeping me in the dark--"
"Malevola, I was going to tell you about Goliath and his clan. When the time was right."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You see, Goliath and I used to be in love. Angela came as a result of that union."
"Angela...I don't know her and I already hate her."
Demona's eyes flashed red and she leapt forward and pinned Malevola to the cave wall. "Hurt Angela and I will hunt you down and kill you!"
"Mother...you've never acted this way toward me!" Malevola was more surprised than hurt. "You love Angela more than me! The clan said you want to destroy all humans. Why? An entire race can't be bad."
"So you have been hanging around Goliath. He's poisoning your mind." This fits perfectly into my plan.
"He said you were poisoning me."
"Who are you to believe?"
Malevola sighed. "You, Mother."
"Good girl."
"What about this Elisa Goliath mentioned?"
Demona's face turned into a mask of pure hatred. "A human. Goliath's new little chippie. Any other questions?"
"This human called me 'his little angel' and claimed to have created me."
"Brown hair?"
"Yeah."
"Lee Thal. Should have guessed."
"How could I have been created?"
Demona burst out laughing. "Oh, Malevola! You're good for a laugh. You weren't born. You were made. Thal grew you from a piece of me and a piece of Goliath, like a cutting from a plant."
"So Angela's my...sister?" And I'm the selfish one.
"Biologically, yes."
"No further questions, Mother." I know what I must do.
TBC
"Looking for something?" called a voice. Dr. Thal was standing in the doorway. His hazel eyes widened when he saw the elderly gargoyle's sword in its sheath. "Wait! I come in peace!"
"Would you be Lee Thal?"
"I answer to that name." Another gargoyle? This one was apparently older and wiser. It was almost as if one could take everybody's favorite grandfather, a dusty old chair in a library, and a veteran soldier, then magically transform them into a stout creature with a scarred eye. The geneticist had wondered if the gargoyle-creation project was a dream. Yet, there had been his notes and pieces of broken shell, not to mention the mess created when he had been shoved into the lab table. "Who are you?"
"Call me Hudson."
"OK...Hudson. What can I do for you?"
"Does the name Malevola ring a bell?"
It was real. Thal smiled. "So you've met her. What an awful name, though. It makes her sound villainous. Why, if I had named her, I'd have called her Abigail."
"She seems like a lovely lass."
"She is exquisite," Thal corrected.
"Is she a clone or something?"
The hazel eyes flashed. "Sir, you insult me by saying the very word. Copies cannot live up to the originals. My little Malevola is no clone. I didn't even have gargoyle DNA to clone until Dominique Destine threw these samples at me and told me to make a zygote."
"Demona. Should have guessed."
The scientist held out the red and black hairs. "My creation process is similar to in-vitro fertilization, only I extract DNA from regular cells and combine it instead of combining gametes."
"Goliath," breathed Hudson, looking at the black hair.
Thal arched an eyebrow. "You're from Scotland, right? I can tell that accent a mile off."
"Aye. So?"
"Why the Hebrew name?"
"I beg your pardon."
"Goliath, as I'm sure you're aware, is Hebrew. Means 'exiled.'"
Hudson shrugged. "Connotation versus denotation, I guess." He took the ebony hair. "The average gargoyle sheds about forty hairs a night. I suppose Demona could have picked it up after an encounter with Goliath. So Malevola is not programmed?"
"Like a robot?"
"Subliminal education."
"Of course not! I did subliminally ingrain my name in her memory, but I had no control over her personality."
Hudson's good eye turned to an oak-framed photograph on the wall. Two small boys, between six or seven years of age, beamed happily. Between them was a model of a DNA double helix made completely out of candy. The boy on the left had pale skin and auburn hair. Something about him struck Hudson as eerily familiar. The child on the right had chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes. "That one on the right is you."
"It is." The scientist smiled nostalgically. "That was our first grade science project. Had fun making it. Of course, we had more fun eating it after the science fair."
The elderly gargoyle glanced at the picture again. "That's Anton Sevarius!"
Thal's eyes clouded over sadly. "He was my best friend growing up." He held up his wrist. A platinum watch with tiny emeralds marking the hours gleamed. "Our freshman year in high school, we took all our Christmas money and bought matching watches. Engraved our initials on the backs of the cases."
"What happened?"
"We had a...falling out." Thal indulged briefly in a daydream of Anton Sevarius falling out of an upper-story laboratory window. "We both enrolled at NYU. Anton...changed. He became more eccentric. He had always been a little weird, but he started performing weird experiments. We stopped talking. By sophomore year, we ran in separate cliques. Our friendship didn't end suddenly...it just slowly died. I read about his disreputable projects. What kind of monster has he become? Hudson--"
"Yes, Doctor?"
"Could you let me see Malevola."
"Aye, very well. Just be careful. Demona raised her."
"So that's her mother's name."
"Yes. Human by day, gargoyle by night. There's something I don't understand, Dr. Thal. You had no knowledge of gargoyles before. Why make one for some mysterious woman?"
"I don't ask questions, Hudson. I just do what I'm put here to do."
"You trusted Demona?"
"I just assumed she lost a pet or child--"
"You didn't even ask..."
"I believe in the power of trust!" snapped Dr. Thal. "I don't even lock my door at night. I took Demona's orders, and look what I've ended up with. An intelligent creature. I know we're different species...but Malevola's the daughter I never had."
Hudson sighed. "Follow me."
A few minutes later, the elderly gargoyle stopped at the edge of Central Park. "Wait here." He crawled through the brush to find Goliath, who was pacing. Malevola was sitting on a tree stump, chin in one hand -- obviously deep in thought. Bronx sat at the base of the stump.
"Hudson," greeted the clan leader. "Did you find anything?"
"She's no clone. She's a unique individual made from you and Demona."
"Mine? That's impossible!" Goliath protested.
"Who else could it be, then?"
"Thailog, maybe?" suggested the clan leader. "He had an accelerated growth rate--"
"Don't be ridiculous. Thailog's..." Dead didn't sound right. "Gone. And he and Demona broke up a long time ago."
"Why would she do that?" Malevola said loudly. "I've only seen a small part of this world, but it's so big and beautiful. I'm sure humans and gargoyles could share it. If one tried to claim it all to themselves, it'd be such a terrible waste of a planet."
Hudson chuckled. "Now I'm convinced she's yours, laddie." He looked around. "Where are the others?"
"Angela went to visit Elisa. I sent Brooklyn, Lexington, and Broadway on patrol."
Dr. Thal ran in. "Malevola!" Goliath grabbed the geneticist's shirt sleeve to hold him back, but it ripped in his claws. Thal threw his arms around the redhead. "My little angel!"
Malevola shoved him off. "Who are you? How do you know my name?"
"I created you!"
"What?" she asked, confused. She shot a glance at Goliath and Hudson, then turned and ran.
The geneticist waved sadly, but didn't give chase. "If you love something, set it free. If it flies away, it never was yours."
Hudson looked at the piece of cloth in Goliath's hand. "He thinks of her as his daughter. Did you really think your strength could keep him from her?"
**************************************************
"Slow night," commented Lexington. The threesome were gliding through the air.
"I'm bored," whined Brooklyn. He looked disdainfully at the half-eaten piece of bread Broadway offered. "No thanks. I'm not hungry. So...what do you guys think of Malevola?"
"I just hope she's not another Thailog," Lexington said. He shuddered. "That guy was psychotic."
"That guy was more than psychotic," Broadway corrected through a mouthful of French bread.
"She's got a mouth," Brooklyn added. "Remind you of anyone?"
"Yeah," replied Lexington. "You!"
"Lex, think we'll ever get mates? We haven't seen a female of our species since Angela," Brooklyn asked.
"If Xanatos can find a wife, you guys can!" quipped Broadway as they glided toward Castle Wyvern.
************************************************
Elisa Maza reached for a tome on her bookshelf. "I think I've got just the advice for you." She pulled out a well-worn hardcover book of about four hundred pages. "Sibling Rivalry: How to Spot It and How to Stop It. It worked wonders when I was growing up with Derek and Beth."
Angela stroked Cagney with one hand as she took the book with the other. Cagney purred. "Well, if I can't use the inside, I'll definitely use the outside."
Elisa smiled. "Rest assured, the parents always save a spot in their hearts for the first-born."
Angela glanced at the sky. "It's almost dawn."
"You can stay here for the day. Your father will know you'll be safe with me."
*********************************************
The next evening, Demona crawled into a cave.
Malevola was waiting for her. "Took you long enough." She took a deep breath. "Why didn't you tell me there were other gargoyles so close?"
Demona smiled. "So you have met the Manhattan Clan."
"Did I. The one with the long snout -- Brooklyn -- said you were using me."
"Did you believe him?"
"Well, no. But Mother, I can't help feeling you're keeping me in the dark--"
"Malevola, I was going to tell you about Goliath and his clan. When the time was right."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You see, Goliath and I used to be in love. Angela came as a result of that union."
"Angela...I don't know her and I already hate her."
Demona's eyes flashed red and she leapt forward and pinned Malevola to the cave wall. "Hurt Angela and I will hunt you down and kill you!"
"Mother...you've never acted this way toward me!" Malevola was more surprised than hurt. "You love Angela more than me! The clan said you want to destroy all humans. Why? An entire race can't be bad."
"So you have been hanging around Goliath. He's poisoning your mind." This fits perfectly into my plan.
"He said you were poisoning me."
"Who are you to believe?"
Malevola sighed. "You, Mother."
"Good girl."
"What about this Elisa Goliath mentioned?"
Demona's face turned into a mask of pure hatred. "A human. Goliath's new little chippie. Any other questions?"
"This human called me 'his little angel' and claimed to have created me."
"Brown hair?"
"Yeah."
"Lee Thal. Should have guessed."
"How could I have been created?"
Demona burst out laughing. "Oh, Malevola! You're good for a laugh. You weren't born. You were made. Thal grew you from a piece of me and a piece of Goliath, like a cutting from a plant."
"So Angela's my...sister?" And I'm the selfish one.
"Biologically, yes."
"No further questions, Mother." I know what I must do.
TBC