"Bitter Sweet Occurance" Chapter 2 Normal Admin 1 2001-11-08T15:22:00Z 2001-11-08T15:27:00Z 3 4420 25197 JTB 209 50 30943 9.2511 800x600 0 0

"Bitter Sweet Occurance" Chapter 2

By Ryley Breen AKA Shadow Master (rybreen@theberries.ns.ca)

"Ohhh, halapania" moaned Elisa as she opened her eyes.

She felt a bit better but still felt as though she went ten rounds fighting Oberon. As she brought her hand up to rub her face she was partially relieved and partially scared when she found out where she was. Elisa was happy that she was in a hospital instead of a jail cell but the fact that she had been captured by the police didn't exactly make her feel comfortable. The door then opened to reveal a doctor who was accompanied by the officer who had been chasing her and CAPTAIN CHAVEZ.

"Uh oh, if she recognizes me I'll have a lot of questions to answer!!" thought Elisa in panic.

The officer obviously saw her panic and said "Easy we're not going to hurt you, we just want to ask you a few questions".

Elisa knew that she would be spotted immediately by Chavez if she spoke normally so she decided to give her imitation Scottish accent a try.

"Well o.k, if ye must" said the Scottish Elisa.

They seemed fooled enough but she would have to wait a bit to make sure.

"First of all what were you doing at the Museum of Natural history?"asked Chavez.

"I was nae trying to steal anything if that's what ye mean", replied Elisa, "I had spotted a rogue member of my clan breaking into the museum and had glided down to investigate" .

"What were you doing in the area?" asked Sampson.

"It was a part of my nightly patrol schedule, my clan and I go out almost ev'ry night on patrol" , replied Elisa, "Though quite frankly I was amazed that Goliath had allowed me to go out at all considering all the hoopla over our old home being blown up"

"The clock tower was your home?" asked Chavez with one eyebrow raised in surprised.

"Aye, we had made a home of it a little over a year ago" , said Elisa, "We had lived at Castle Wyvern before that but its owner made it too dangerous for us to live there so we had to move" .

"Hmmm, that would explain a few of the disturbances around there" , said Chavez, "Do you have any idea who was responsible for the attack on your home?"

Elisa knew she had to seem angry at this question or they might become suspicious.

"Aye, I know those butchers. They have hunted down and killed my kind for a thousand years!", Elisa said as her eyes glowed a crimson red, "they nearly killed my daughter and nearly destroyed my clan!"

At the sight of her glowing eyes both of them backed up a bit before regaining composure.

"How did this feud start, I mean there must have been a reason?" asked Sampson.

"It began with the rogue member a thousand years ago" , said Elisa as she allowed her eyes to return to there normal shade, "she had apparently maimed a young lad who thereafter vowed to hunt down and kill every last gargoyle".

"A thousand years ago?! That's impossible" , said Chavez, "nothing lives that long".

"By natural means no, but Demona is far from natural" , said Elisa with a angry grin, "It was she who betrayed my rookery brothers and sisters to the Vikings in 994 A.D" .

"How could she have lived back then and still be here now?" asked Sampson.

"A group of magical beings called the Weird sisters formed a magical bond between Demona and the human Macbeth" said Elisa as she looked at the clock,"thanks to that, she cannae die unless Macbeth kills her or vice versa" .

"Magic!? You must be joking, there is no such thing as magic" said Sampson with a smile.

"I'm sure that up until a few years ago you thought that gargoyles were only stone statues" said Elisa with a snide smile.

There was a brief pause and after looking at the near-dawn indicating clock she decided to take advantage of it.

"If ye don't mind, ye'll have to wait 'till sunset before ye can ask anymore questions" said Elisa as she turned her head to look out the window.

"Why!?" they both asked.

"Just wait until the sun rises above the horizon and you'll see" said Elisa as she sat herself up.

Almost as if on cue the sun peeked up and the once flesh and blood gargoyle turned to stone.

"What the..." said Sampson.

Both the officers and the doctor stood there, amazed at what they had just witnessed.

"This is definitely a peculiar turn of events" , said Chavez, "I'm going to get a few S.W.A.T people guarding her, in case any disgruntled citizens try anything" .

"Captain you don't honestly believe what she said" , asked Sampson, "she could be lying about what she was doing at the museum to avoid arrest" .

"Perhaps but even if half she says is true it is in our best interests to keep her alive" said Chavez.

With that they both left the room, leaving the stone beauty to sleep. Little did Chavez know that keeping the gargoyle safe was not going to be as easy as she had hoped.

***********************************

"That puny Elisa Maza is finally dead" , laughed Demona as she looked at the sphere in her hands, "torn from existence by you, my lovely little orb of power" .

She was overjoyed at this turn of events. Things would definitely be easier with her gone, not that she was afraid of the human.Only because now Goliath and his puny clan won't discover what she is up to until it was too late.

"By the time I'm done with you the human race will be no more and gargoyles will be given their rightful place as rulers of the world" said Demona as she placed the sphere into her wall safe.

She then walked into her living room , with a wide smile on her face, to watch the television news to see if the humans had grasped the dire trouble their lives were put in. When she turned to the news there was mention of a break in at the museum but there was also something else that she hadn't expected. According to the reporter, police had captured a gargoyle and were holding "it" for questioning.

"What?! There were no other gargoyles there when I robbed the museum" , thought Demona, "the only other person who was there was....".

Suddenly a look of pure anger fell onto her face and she let out a yell.

"Maza isn't dead, that annoying human survived !" yelled Demona.

Without warning a sly smile came to her face and she let out a loud laugh.

"This could could actually be to my advantage" , thought Demona, "not only will Maza keep the humans out of my way but she should also take care of Goliath" .

With that she sauntered out of the room still giggling at the thought of how much trouble Maza would be in and at how easy her plan had become.

******************************

"So Mr. Xanatos what do you think?" asked Owen in his usual neutral tone.

For a while David Xanatos said nothing, he simply gazed at the closed door across the room.

"This may be a problem, especially if a riot starts" ,said Xanatos with his hands steepled in front of his face, "we should try to get Maza out of there as soon as possible" .

"Sir, doing so could risk losing even more favor with our investors" , said Owen, "15% alone have filed complaints and have threatened to 'wash their hands of Xanatos Enterprises' all together" .

"They couldn't leave even if they wanted to Owen, they all owe me considerably large 'personal' debts" , said Xanatos as he looked up to Owen, "Still I suppose I we should retrieve Detective Maza in a more 'formal' way" .

"Might I suggest asking the police to place her in your custody for 'scientific' research" asked Owen.

"Excellent idea Owen though we'll have to do it after sunset so that there will be less risk to Maza" said Xanatos as he reached for the phone.

"As you wish sir. Should I inform Goliath of the situation when he wakes up?" asked Owen.

"No, if he discovers what has happened to Maza and what a predicament she is in now he would undoubtably want to forcibly rescue her. People might get a bit jumpy if seven aggressive gargoyles land in front of the Hospital" said Xanatos putting his feet on his black desk.

*******************************

"Things are getting nasty out there Captain" said Sampson as he took a worried look out the front doors.

A fairly large crowd had gathered outside the hospital and was yelling for the gargoyle to be handed over to them.

"I know, they aren't to happy with us given how we handled the gargoyles the last time" said Chavez.

"If that crowd gets any more violent they might storm the hospital to get to her" said Sampson.

"I know, lets just hope that that gargoyle is strong enough to run when she wakes up"said Chavez.

"Run!? Captain you can't be serious, the Mayor would have our hides if we let the gargoyle go" exclaimed Sampson.

"We have no evidence to connect her to the break-in that would hold up in court" , said Chavez as she looked at her watch, "and if the Mayor can't accept that I would be glad to explain it in detail to him" .

Before any more could be said her cellular phone rang.

"Chavez here" said the worried Captain.

"Ah, the esteemed Captain Chavez" , rang Xanatos' joyful voice, "I hear that you have a gargoyle in custody" .

Chavez quickly swore under her breath and said" It was supposed to be kept a secret but yes we do have a gargoyle in custody!" .

"Oh don't worry Captain, we're on a secured line", said Xanatos, "I just called to offer my companies assistance in disposing of it".

"If by 'disposing' you mean killing it, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you" said Chavez with a hint of bitterness.

"Captain,Captain, Captain, I was merely was suggesting that we put on a bit of a show for the rather dangerous crowd in front of the hospital" , said Xanatos, "Make them think that we are not showing any favoritism toward these gargoyles" .

"Assuming I allow this, what to you have in mind?"asked Chavez.

"I thought that I would have a few of my robot security guards show up, put some high-tech manacles on the gargoyle and fly away with it", explained Xanatos, "after which you will state your position on the gargoyles, that way the gargoyle doesn't get harmed and you regain some public support" .

Chavez knew that Xanatos was a tricky and clever man, he knew that much from what Elisa had told her. He never did anything unless there was something to gain. Why would he help a lone gargoyle? To make an army of them or to experiment with them. Either way she looked at it she had no other choice but to play along. The crowd outside was getting meaner by the minute and there was no way that they could get the gargoyle to safety by car.

"All right Xanatos we'll play it your way" , said Chavez with a defeated sigh.

"Thank you Captain, have the gargoyle ready by seven-thirty and my robots will pick her up then" , said Xanatos in a happy tone, "oh and Captain I suggest you keep a close eye on the gargoyle, the locale citizenry is out for blood" .

***********************

"A pinch of this and a dash of this and I make a cake you cannot miss"said Puck in a melodious tone.

He loved the fact that he had been given more freedom concerning his powers. It had been so boring since daddy Oberon had restrained his powers. Sure he had a few minutes fun with Coldstone and those three souls but that was nothing compared to what he could have done with all his powers. Already he was dreaming up schemes of subterfuge to put into motion once Alexander's teaching was done. Most of them were inspired by the current situation, that being Maza and the sphere.

"I wonder how she and Goliath would react if Maza stayed a gargoyle" thought Puck.

Suddenly a voice from behind him said" I hope this isn't the extent of your efforts Puck".

He whirled around to see the fair lady Titania standing (or floating) in the doorway.

"Actually yes, for the time being" said Puck as a piece of cake floated up to him on a plate.

"What do you mean?" asked Titania as she raised an eyebrow.

"Xanatos is about to free Maza from the hospital" , said Puck as he floated upside down, "Once that is done its only a matter of time until they deliver your sphere right into my hands".

"What does Maza have to do with this?" asked Titania.

"Why don't you know? Your sphere changed her into a gargoyle again" , said Puck with a light chuckle, "and from what I hear Maza is not too pleased".

To this Titania said nothing, she only stared at him with a questioning look on her face.

"You know that look is really starting to annoy me" , said Puck with a frown, "You and the Weird Sisters should try something a bit more original".

Without another word Titania disappeared.

"I'm glad she's gone" , Puck with a groan, "Now back to the cake!".

Suddenly without warning he fell to the floor and changed back to Owen.

"What the.." said Owen with a hint of Puck in his voice.

Suddenly the cake flew off the table and right onto Owen's face. Then the air filled with the laughter of Titania as Owen sat up and wiped the cake from his face.To this type of joke you would expect him to laugh but a trick isn't fun at all if your the one who usually does the tricking. With a pronounced frown Owen pushed up his glass' and left the kitchen.

*****************************

Slowly the sun sank beneath the horizon and night once more emerged. Inside the room the officers simply stared at the stone statue in the bed.They had been ordered to guard the gargoyle in custody but when they entered the room they were a bit mystified when they found a statue instead. Little did they know what beneath that gray exterior lied a warrior that would make Superman run for cover. As the darkness caressed the feminine form the stone gargoyle cocoon began to crack and with one eruption outwards the female gargoyle roared into the land of flesh and blood.

"Ahhh, nothing like a full days hibernation" said Elisa as she stretched.

The officers hadn't moved an inch since just before sunset,they just stood there with their mouths open. It only took Elisa a moment to notice their dumbfounded looks and it made her laugh.

"Come on guys surely ye have seen stranger things than this" she said as she took the tubes out of her arms and got out of the bed.

The awakened gargoyle streched her rested muscles, all the while letting out noises associated with a cougar. In an effort to seem less intimidating to them she folded her wings over her shoulders and smiled at them. This did loosen them a bit as they began to close their mouths and move again but they never took their eyes off her.

"Well that's a start" , thought Elisa with a smirk. Elisa then thought, " this would be a great opportunity to secure some friends in the NYPD for the gargoyles".

All she would have to do is try and show them that gargoyles aren't a bunch of savage creatures and that they are almost the same in terms of culture and custom. Just then Chavez came in and was a bit surprised herself at the way that the men were looking at the gargoyle.

"O.k men the show is over, go out and help keep the mob back" said Chavez.

Slowly they began to walk out but not before taking one last look at the former statue.

Elisa was a bit disturbed by the sound of a mob outside.

"What's this I hear about a mob?" asked Elisa.

"Well given what happened to the clock tower a few days ago and your appearance here, the people are a touch afraid and a touch angry" , said Chavez, "and that can make a dangerous combination".

"I know, but as m'love always said' it is human nature to fear what they dinnae understand'" said Elisa.

"Sounds like your love is a very wise gargoyle" remarked Chavez as they left the hospital room.

"Aye he is, but he has a nasty temper. Fortunately he keeps it under control most of the time" said Elisa as she remembered how Goliath had looked at the church a few nights earlier.

She had never seen such raw fury on his face before. With such fury inside of him Elisa thought that she would be hard pressed to find anyone who would even try to stop him. When she looked back at Chavez she saw the Captain staring at her with a puzzled look on her face.

"What is it, is there a wee bit 'o' stone still in my hair" said Elisa with a smile.

"No, it's just that you look remarkably like one of my detectives" said Chavez quickly looking away.

"I guess I just have that kind of face" said Maza with a chuckle.

After hearing this Chavez began to laugh as well, though hers was somewhat more restrained. If only it was this easy for humans and gargoyles to get along.

**********************************

The sun had set just a few minutes ago and Goliath was still perched high upon his stylized rampart. He was worried about Elisa, not because he thought that she couldn't handle herself but because she hadn't come to see him after her shift ended and she hadn't come after sunset that night. He tried to reassure himself with some rational excuse like "she's probably working undercover" or "maybe she decided to spend time with some of her cop friends" . None of this seemed to help, he still felt as though she may be in some trouble.

"Nonsense, she's probably just late getting here", thought Goliath, "probably stuck in rush hour traffic" .

He remembered how he recently he had thought her dead, only to later find out that she was alive and well. Another thing that kept making its way into his thoughts was the way he had felt when he thought Elisa was dead. He felt as though his life had just been shattered, like there was nothing left of him but a brittle shell. He had not felt like that for many years, 1000 to be exact. When he returned to Castle Wyvern to find his clan destroyed and his angel of the night destroyed he felt as though he had died too. His entire purpose for living wiped out. He was a gargoyle and his purpose was to protect, yet he had failed to protect the one thing that he treasured the most : family. From that moment on he vowed to never again allow another life be destroyed as long as he lived. He hoped that another moment like the massacre or Elisa's "Demise" would never happen again. Suddenly the low humming of gears and the clanking of steel on stone brought him back to the present. He turned around to see Xanatos in his steel clan armor and two other steel gargoyles coming out into the courtyard. This obviously peaked his curiosity and he swooped down to the courtyard and landed in front of Xanatos.

"Where are you off to Xanatos?" asked Goliath, trying to keep the slight bit of distrust from showing.

"I'm going to pick up some very important cargo from Manhattan General" said Xanatos as he placed the helmet on.

"For that you need your battle armour and two of your steel plated robots, I find that hard to believe" said Goliath with a 'yeah-right' look.

"There are some rather...'angry citizens' who would very much like to destroy the cargo" said Xanatos in a digitized voice.

"What could be so negative so as to motivate people to attack a hospital?" thought Goliath.

Before he could get an answer from the armored man Xanatos and his steel clan robots took off leaving Goliath with a lot of unanswered questions.

"Hmmm, I had better follow him" thought Goliath as he jumped to the top of the castle walls and off after Xanatos.

***********************************************

"Xanatos?!" exclaimed Elisa.

From what Chavez had told her Xanatos was coming to 'escort' her away from the hospital in his steel clan suit along with two steel clan robots. That was not the kind of news she wanted to hear, especially with the crowd outside. The locals are already suspicious of Xanatos after what happened at the church incident. With the crowd as hyped as they were the presence of those robots might push the people into a riot. She knew that Xanatos would probably try and go a reasonable distance to save her but she was unsure as to just how far that distance was.

"Yes, I thought he was a friend of yours" , said Chavez, "Given the way he saved your clan from the church a few days ago" .

"I prefer to call him an aquaintince, we haven't always been on the same side" said Elisa as she took a long gaze out the window at the mob behind the barricade.

"How so?" asked Chavez with an eyebrow raised.

"He was the human who awakened my clan a few years back" , said Elisa, "then tricked us into stealing top secret files from Cyberbiotics" .

This perked a reaction from Chavez.

"So it was your clan that broke into the installations" , said Chavez, "were you the one who destroyed fortress one?"

"No, it was the rogue who did it!" , said Elisa in a panicked fashion so as to seem edgy.

"Easy, I was just wondering" , said Chavez as she put a reassuring hand on Elisa's shoulder, "I didn't mean to upset you" .

"Tis okay, the last couple of years have been rough and given me little reason to try to trust many humans" , said Elisa, "I was just afraid that ye would be just another one to check off the list of possible friends" .

Chavez seemed to buy that and that meant that her little project-trust was working. If all went well the only thing that Goliath and the others would have to worry about are citizens taking pot shots at them. Not that it would be easy to avoid being shot at since most of the contact that the gargoyles had with humans was in trying to save their lives. Suddenly she heard the familiar engine whine of the steel clan robots. Looking out the door she saw two gray steel clan robots and Xanatos in his red steel clan exo-frame.

"Hmmm, Xanatos must feel that this is important if he is running the show himself" thought Elisa.

When she saw Xanatos begin to enter she noticed that none of the people outside didn't look too upset. This made Elisa let a sigh of relief, now they had a half decent chance to get out of here without starting a riot. As the red armored figure approached she immediately turned her eyes a bright red, bared her fangs and let out a low but threatening growl.

"Easy my dear, despite my past encounters with you I won't hurt you this time" said Xanatos.

"I'll believe that when I'm safe and sound back home Xanatos!" said Elisa as she ceased her growling and covered her fangs but kept her eyes a scarlet red.

As if he hadn't heard that remark he took a pair of high-tech hand-cuffs out of a compartment in his armor.

"In order to insure that the crowd outside believe what they're seeing, I'll need you to put on these electromagnetic manacles" said Xanatos as he opened them up and held them up to Elisa.

In a reluctant fashion Elisa raised her arms and placed her wrists into the manacles. They clamped down with a electronic beep and Elisa and Xanatos began to walk to the front doors.

*****************************

Goliath had been up on the building across the street trying to figure out the problem that had plagued him since he had left the castle after Xanatos. He could find no real answer other than the possibility that one of his pet projects had gotten loose and eventually fell into the hands of the police department. This disappointed Goliath, he had thought that with the birth of his son that Xanatos would start to value life a bit more. Whatever he had created was obviously very important to him to risk revealing his own personal robotic army. The two steel clanners had taken up strategic places near the front entrance outside the hospital. Just as he was about to ponder the mystery once more he noticed that the steel clan robots were preparing to leave as they moved to a safe distance from the building. Staring at the hospital doors Goliath saw something that he hadn't seen in a long while. It was Elisa, not in her usual human form but rather in the gargoyle form that she had once before been in during the Puck problem. At first he wanted to glide down to talk with her but he knew that it would only upset the group of people behind the police barricade. Upon a closer look Goliath saw that Elisa was wearing some sort of restraints on her arms, obviously they had been provided by Xanatos.Goliath was a bit angry that restraints had been placed on Elisa but he knew that it was just to keep the crowd happy.

Suddenly a voice shouted out from the crowd "There's the freak! Lets kill it, destroy that scum".

That yell was repeated by the majority of the crowd and was immediately followed by gunfire from a number of the onlookers. Immediately looking to see if Elisa had been injured he was relived to find that as soon a the human in the crowd had begun yelling Xanatos had stepped in front of Elisa.She would be safe from behind there but unfortunately the local police weren't faring to well. They had been caught flat footed by the mob and had already taken heavy casualties as the mob tried to charge past them to get at Elisa. Even with help from Xanatos' robots they would not last long. Without another thought he swooped down and grabbed one of the gun-carrying crushing his shotgun and scaring him half to death with aloud gargoyle battle cry. Unfortunately this brave act soon backfired on him as the mob then turned its full force on Goliath.

"Goliath!!!" yelled Elisa in fear.

The anti-gargoyle mob had brought him down and surrounded him. There was no way he would survive such an onslaught without help. Gathering up all her newfound gargoyle strength Elisa ripped out from the restraints, letting out an ear piercing battle cry of her own. She jumped up atop a car and did a short length glide over toward where she had last seen Goliath. As she looked impatiently for signs of life her prayers were answered by an eruption of people that flew into the air from the center of the mob. Goliath's show of strength made most of the crowd back up a bit but Elisa knew that it was only momentary.Landing beside Goliath she let out a rather loud growl that made a few of the people stare and blink.

"Need a hand" asked Elisa as she gave Goliath a sly grin.

Goliath only smiled at her and that alone made her think that they may be able to handle this mob themselves. That thought was immediately thrown away as the crowd let out a roar and charged the two courageous gargoyles. A bit surprised by the sudden change, Elisa hesitated a moment and almost got hit in the ribs with a steel bat. Almost, but not quite. With amazing quickness she lashed out with her talons and sliced the bat to pieces from just above the attackers hands all the way to the end. This made the attacker drop the bat and try to escape. Another came at her and this time the person had a crowbar raised high over his head. Almost without thinking Elisa wrapped her tail around the legs of the attacker and brought him down quick. She looked over her shoulder to see how Goliath was doing and was amazed to see that he was taking on four attackers at one time and whipping there butts to boot. As she continued to fight the seemingly endless legion of enemies, she knew that they wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. There was only one thing that she could think of, one person that might be able to save them Xanatos.

**************************************

Xanatos had to admit, Goliath and Maza were definitely a force to be reckoned with. They were even more formidable now that Maza was a gargoyle. So far they were able to keep the crowd at bay and discourage some of the more cowardly among the mob to flee but he knew that it wouldn't stay that way forever. After a few last minute minute calculations Xanatos took aim with his patented wrist laser and fired a red beam just a few inches above the crowds heads.

"That was a warning shot people, next time it will be a foot lower" , said Xanatos in a 'no more mr.Nice Guy ' fashion, "if you don't leave the gargoyles alone and go home".

In order to better show that he meant what he said he signaled his other steel clan robots to aim their lasers to match his. This definitely got the crowds attention, but they still made no attempt to leave.

"This is not going according to plan" muttered Xanatos.

If they renewed the riot there would be no way to prevent significant casualties on the part of both gargoyles and humans.

"A lot to go through for two winged animals, but in for a penny in for a pound" thought Xanatos as he did a brief scan of the crowd to see if there was any weapons that could conceivably damage him battle armor.

A few of the people had some home made fire bombs but otherwise all they had were blunt weapons.

"Still who knows what would happen if they got some heavier weaponry" mused Xanatos.

As he looked over to Goliath and Maza he saw that they were still ready for a fight but he hoped that they were secretly thinking up a plan to get out of here because he was pretty much out of ideas. So far Xanatos' attempt at delaying the crowd was working.

************************************

The crowd just stood there looking back and forth between Elisa and him and Xanatos and his steel clan. Though Goliath was confident that he could probably handle most of these people he didn't want to risk Elisa's safety. Taking a quick glance around Goliath could see that not more than eleven feet away was the S.W.A.T van. If they could make onto the roof of the van they might be able to get enough altitude to glide out of here. Before the noble gargoyle leader could decide the crowd once more charged them and forced Goliath to go for it.

"This way!" yelled as he flung himself in the direction of the van.

He knew that Elisa might not be able to glide but at least from atop the van they would be less vulnerable to attack. Once he landed on the roof he took a quick glance behind him and saw that Elisa was going to make it and jumped of the van to gain enough altitude to glide.Within moments both he and Elisa were airborne and quickly gaining altitude. As he turned to head for the castle Elisa glided up to his side and gave a broad smile and a wink of her eye. Surging with happiness Goliath smiled back at her and the smile refused to leave his face as he returned his gaze to Xanatos' building in the distance. He was so happy at the moment that he didn't even think of the fact that she would have to return to her human self soon or she may return to the prescient house with a great many questions to answer. For now all he could think of was the fact that once again he was soaring through the air without a care in the world.