The Next Morning, at 9:42 am.

That morning Rita found two statues in her living room.

Egor had been telling her the truth. Gargoyles DID turn to stone during the day! "Madre de Dios!" Rita muttered to herself, briefly crossing herself.

Rita looked down at them, her eyes wide and her mind racing. The events of last night were a blur, her mind reeling with the effort of understanding it all. By far it had been the WIERDEST night she ever had, and Rita was a veteran to wild nights!

Rita Sanchez had gone to bed around 3:56 am that night, leaving the two young gargoyles, Ebony and Egor, to their own devices. They had talked for hours together all that night, trying to understand each other. Bumping into two gargoyles stopping a robbery was not Rita's idea of a fun night out on the town! Especially if one of them was shot in the shoulder!

While Egor tended to Ebony's shoulder, giving Ebony a shot of morphine to keep her quiet and calm, Egor told Rita more of his life, such as how he came to NYC, how he and Ebony lived with Demona, and his new life in Castle Wyvern. Overall, Rita felt she was close to a mental breakdown. Although she was able to somehow seem calm and under control, under her mask Rita's brain was racing and her nerves were ready to collapse.

Gargoyles existed!!!

Rita had always scoffed whenever she read those stupid news articles in the Globe or the Enquirer about Gargoyles roaming the streets of New York, always thinking that is was just bull, like those stories of UFO's and aliens... but now...

Rita was still amazed at how things could so drastically change in just one night. Before she had bumped into the two young gargoyles Rita was just coming back from a party at her older brother's house, risking a quick walk through the streets of NYC to get to her parked car, the sounds of a struggle in the nearby park drawing Rita to investigate...

There she had found the two hatchlings on the floor in the park, one a green-skinned male who was monstrously huge and buff, the other a dark dusky gray female who was hissing and spitting like an enraged cat, red blood oozing out of a bullet hole on her shoulder...

Talking to Egor and Ebony was like talking to aliens! They seemed so human and yet they were not! Rita had gone to bed at last, Egor telling her that she needed some sleep, he himself eagerly waiting the day. Egor's exhausted bright green eyes would often go to the windows, his eyes always on the slowly lightening sky. He had told Rita to expect to find two statues on her balcony...

And now Rita was staring at them, encased in stone on her tiny balcony, once very alive beings that had been up and about just four hours ago... Rita shook her head, forcing herself to calm down, studying them freely now.

Yesterday Rita had wanted to just stare at them for hours but forced herself not to, seeing that both, Egor especially, were rather shy about that. But now Rita could ogle all she wanted and did so, her eyes going over one after the other, taking it all in.

Egor was in a nice pose. He was kneeling down, his wings slightly open, one of his hands resting on his knee, the other on the floor. Rita stared at Egor, marveling at just how enormous he was. Rita had always been a short woman. Being Hispanic sort of doomed her to this fate, the tallest member of her family, Uncle Ozzy, only reached up to 6.2 ft. Rita guessed Egor to be round 8.5 ft tall, give or take a few inches. His wings were enormous, both toped with a small, three-clawed hand-like things. His tail was long a serpentine, wrapped around him. Egor had the back of a quarterback and arms that made a body builder's look like those of a two year old boy... Egor had told her that he had always been big.

But despite his great size Egor had moved with liquid grace and had a smooth, boyishly innocent face. Rita gazed at it now, running her fingers across her stone brow. His two horns seemed to smooth out his jaw line, both sticking out horizontally from his face and tilting a bit upward, like those of a cow. Rita actually found herself admitting that Egor was quite a looker, her mind reeling afterwards at the implications of this.

Still feeling wierded out, Rita turned to look at Ebony. Ebony still was on the sofa, her now stone blank eyes gazing upwards. While Rita had been chatting with Egor, Rita had been given the chance to study Ebony, who had been mostly out of it due to the morphine, and Rita guessed that Ebony was not an ordinary gargoyle. Rita knew she was nowhere close to an expert when it came to gargoyles but Rita just had the feeling that Ebony was... different. She had a finely boned face and huge, luminous, sky-blue eyes. Her skin was a very deep ash gray and her hair was cut in a short stylish bob and was a deep black. She was a pretty thing too, three small blue spots just under eyes on the cheek bones and her horns giving her a look of cute enthusiasm and maliciousness. There were three small horns above each eye, the first pointing towards the other while the other four pointed the opposite way. Her tail was nearly as long as Egor's and ended in an arrow-head tip.

A loud rumble from Rita's stomach interrupted Rita's inventory and Rita got to her feet and headed into the kitchen. Garbed in her leopard-print nighty and a black robe and slippers, Rita went on with making her breakfast (which consisted of a strong black coffee and Fruit Loops), pausing every once in a while to glance at the statues, making sure that they were still there, making sure that Rita was not dreaming...

When she had finally climbed into her bed earlier that night, Rita had not been able to get to sleep, restless and nervous, listening to the two gargoyles as they quietly talked to each other. Due to this (and the rather large number of drinks she had at her brother's party) Rita woke up groggy and with a wicked headache. Mumbling curses to herself, Rita sipped her coffee and chewed on her cereal.

Enrique, her older brother, would have a heart attack if he heard about this. Rita always knew that her older brother would always be protective of her and her younger sister, Sophia. Smiling at happy memories of her childhood in Puerto Rico made Rita glance at a small photo of them on her microwave. It was taken in the old Spanish fort El Moro in Old San Juan. Rita was twelve, Enrique was thirteen and Sophie was nine. Chuckling at the memory, Rita got to her feet, downing her coffee in hurried swallows and headed to her bathroom to take a shower. Stripping down, Rita took a good look at herself and groaned. Her eyeliner was all over her face and she had bags under her eyes big enough to hold a house.

Twenty one years old, Rita was a student at the New York City University of Art, going for her Masters in Acting and Theater. She already had been in several plays, including a remake of the West Side Story, where she played the lead. She enjoyed acting although the pay sucked. Luckily she worked as a Radio Station DJ during the weekends and was able to make some extra bucks, which mostly went to rent, food and gas money. Her Dad was paying for her studies and the car, and Enrique helped out every once in a while...

Rita paused then, getting out of the bathroom to get a quick glance at the two stone gargoyles, making sure that they were still there and still in stone, not caring if they saw her in the nude if they had suddenly come to life... But no, they were still there, and they were still encased in stone. Rita sighed and got into the shower, looking forward to that evening were she would see her new friends awaken.

THE NEXT DAY...

Castle Wyvern, Saterday, 3:26 pm

"Ms. Maza, I told you over a thousand times, I promise to call you the minute I hear anything..." Xanatos said into his cell phone, rolling his eyes in aggravation at his wife, Fox, who was seated nearby, pretending to read a magazine.

Fox smiled back at him, her face mocking as she winked at him. David scowled. WOMEN!

David Xanatos has been having a rough morning. Last night Elisa and the clan had been doing nothing but pester him about the two runaways, Ebony and Egor, harassing him into sending patrols of robots and drones to search for the two gargoyles the night before, finding nothing and wasting a lot of his precious money and time. Now that the clan was in there stone sleep Elisa was back at the police station, dieing to get some news and calling Xanatos every five minutes, hoping for word.

"Ms. Maza as I have told you over a million times, IT IS DAYTIME, THE SUN IS OUT! That can only mean that the two are stone right now, sleeping... I doubt VERY much that we will hear anything... You should know that since you and Goliath are now together..." David paused and moved his head away from the phone, loud obscure words now coming from the cell, David wincing and glancing at his wife again, a stunned look on his face. "Never thought she'd ever call me that!" he muttered and hastily put his ear on the phone again. "Now that was not necessary! ... Of course I am worried about them! I am spending hundreds of dollars on electricity alone for those damn drones Ms. Maza! You should be thankful! I should think that would show that I am very concerned about... Ms. Maza? Hello? Elisa? Hello?" Xanatos glared at the cell phone and angrily hung up, glancing at his wife who waited patiently. "She hung up on me!"

Fox snorted. "Figures. She is pretty worked up about those two, isn't she? Who wouldn't be?"

Xanatos humphed and crossed his arms. "She acts like if they were her kids..." Still rather cross Xanatos looked away, a scowl on his devilishly handsome face.

Never had Xanatos thought he'd never see Elisa Maza be this jumpy.

Or that rude!

Having no word about the missing gargoyles Elisa had become something reminiscent to a mother hen who could not find her chicks. She called every five minutes, dieing for word on the runaways. Although Fox found it cute in a rather disgusting way, Xanatos found it at first hilarious, then aggravating. Who would have thought the cool, calm and collected Elisa Maza would worry so much? Especially about those two! Although Ebony and Egor had not rude or distant to the detective, Xanatos knew they would never be close. Ebony's tendency to break the rules and Egor's fear of humans in general saw to that!

Xanatos shook his head and grabbed the newspaper, aimlessly flipping through the pages, his eyes not even reading the headlines. The last few months have been rather unusual. Xanatos had always known something would happen between Elisa and Goliath. He had seen that little kiss one the mouth that Elisa had given Goliath three months ago, thanks to his little hidden cameras all over the castle. Of course Xanatos knew that Goliath would NEVER make the first move. Even if he was over eight feet in height Goliath could be such a sissy when it came to such mundane things like romance and sex...

Xanatos sighed and took a sip from his cappuccino, his face set in an annoyed frown. To have the gargoyles back was rather welcoming now. Although he would never tell anyone, David had to admit that he had missed their presence. When he was not plotting their demise or searching for some way to become immortal, David's eyes would often roam to the castle parapets, where they used to stand in wait for the night, encased in stone. It had taken him a long time to change to the path of 'good' as Goliath had called it. Now a father and husband, family life had humbled him in ways he still did not understand. The drive for evil villainy paled in comparison to the drive of wanting to be a good father figure to his young son. Fatherhood had made David realize that there was much more to gain in life when you were not always looking over your shoulder or plotting to kill someone. Life had become easier, less worrisome and far more profitable.

Fox was still smiling, her fiery green eyes filled with amusement. Like David, she also had gone through a remarkable change of heart. Thanks to motherhood, Fox had changed in ways she had not thought imaginable. She was softer now, more kind-hearted. She had become good friends with Angela and Ebony, and was now one speaking terms with Lexington and Goliath. They were all starting to become friends, a concept still rather alien to Fox. Friends with her former enemies? Motherhood was the culprit and Fox had to admit that she enjoyed this new route in life.

"What did Elisa call you?" Fox asked, teasing.

David glared at Fox, his face dour. "She called me a self-righteous cock-sucker with a dick the size of a peanut." he muttered.

Before Fox could stop herself a loud laugh escaped her lips, making David's face sour even more. "Well, I have to agree with you David; that IS something I would never expect the detective to say! She is wrong about the peanut sized penis but no one is perfect."

David was about to comment when the ring of the cell phone interrupted him. David glared at the cell phone, knowing who the caller was instantly. "I am really beginning to hate that woman." David said and hastily grabbed the cell phone, trying hard to ignore Fox's teasing smile.

Back At Rita's Apartment, 8:37 pm

When Rita's doorbell rang Rita thought her heart would stop.

She had been studying in her bedroom, scribbling down notes about one of Shakespeare's plays, "The Tempest", for a report, highlighting any important info when the doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts and making her mind freeze in panic.

RIIIIINNNNGGG!

BA-RIIIIINNNGGGG!

Rita's head snapped up, making the adverse number of earrings and jewelry on her person jingle and shake. "Ohhh god..." Rita moaned and she sprang to her feet and thundered down the hall. Who could be visiting her now, at this time?! Glancing at the sky through the window Rita saw that the sun had begun to set, the sky was a dark yellowish orange... It wouldn't be long until the two gargoyles in her living room would wake...

RIIIIINNNNGGG!

BA-RIIIIINNNGGGG!

"Shit!" Rita rasped and began to search for a t-shirt, rapidly trying out excuses in her mind that she could use for the presence of two statues in her apartment, one laid down on her sofa, the other kneeling down next to her coffee table. Pulling her black, "I Love NYC" shirt over her head to cover her black Nike bra and smoothing her ravenous curls of bright violet red, Rita glanced around at her apartment is dismay and hastily stepped toward the door. "Who's there?" Rita asked, her voice cracking and her hands trembling as they clutched a old high school baseball bat her brother had given her years ago as a joke.

"It's me Rita, Enrique. Open up niña!" rang out the familiar voice of her older brother, "I got a ton of Chinese here with your name on it!"

For a long minute Rita stood there in front of the door, her whole body shaking as she stared at her door in shock. "Enrique?!" Rita squeaked. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Ummm... doing my part as the kind, responsible older brother?" Enrique replied, now sounding concerned and annoyed. "What's wrong? Open the freaking door Rita! This shit is heavy! I got enough Pepper steak and Fried Rice to feed a freakin army!"

Rita groaned and put the bat down, her eyes going back and forth from the door to the statues. What to do?! What to do?! "You really choose a bad time Enrique!" Rita stammered. "The place is a mess!"

"Oh come on Rita, I ain't fallin for that one! Quit the horse shit and open the door!" Enrique yelled back.

Rita gave the statues a final glance and then with trembling hands began to unlock the door, mentally screaming a prayer. Maybe Enrique would leave before they woke up... "Alright... alright, get in..." Rita muttered, biting her lips, something in her gut telling her that this was about to get ugly. The sun was about to set!

"Thanks Rita!" Smiling a huge jolly smile, his arms full with boxes of Chinese food, Enrique walked through the door, ardorned in a sweaty sweatshirt, jacket and pants, his shaved head glistening with sweat, giving Rita a quick peck on the cheek before turning to stare at the two statues. "Whoa! What the hell are those things?"

"Uhhh..." Rita stammered, gasping and mumbling, unable to find herself to tell her brother the truth.

And that was when the sun disappeared into the horizon and the two statues began to come to life.

First thing to happen was that small fine cracks suddenly began to form on both of the faces of the statues, quickly spreading across the body, reminding Rita of broken glass. Then the eyes suddenly began to glow, Ebony's a fine, bright sky-blue and Egor's a frightening blaring white. Then the two suddenly heaved and jerked upward as air suddenly entered their now flesh lungs and the two gargoyles got to their feet, both roaring as they came to life, sending shards of stone and rubble everywhere, Rita yelping out, throwing up her arms to protect her face and Enrique dropping the boxes, gasping out in horror and shock.

And there stood the two gargoyles, both suddenly alive and breathing, their eyes gleaming and their huge wings spread out.

For a long minute the four just stood there, staring at each other, all of them wearing the same face of shock. Then with a simple moan Enrique tumbled to the floor in a dead faint. Enrique, Rita's big, strong, older brother had passed out, the sight of the two suddenly live, breathing gargoyles was obviously too much for him.

Another moment of stunned silence filled the apartment as Egor and Ebony stared down at Enrique's still form, looking from one to another then at Rita, their faces filled with understandable shock and confusion. Rita also stared down at Enrique and then at the two gargoyle, at first unsure on what to say. Then with a weak smile she threw her hands up helplessly and shrugged. "Ebony, Egor, meet Enrique."