"Bitter Sweet Occurance" Chapter Three – By Ryley Breen AKA Shadow Master Normal Admin 1 2001-11-10T19:01:00Z 2001-11-10T19:03:00Z 3 4973 28351 JTB 236 56 34817 9.2511 800x600 0 0

"Bitter Sweet Occurance" Chapter Three – By Ryley Breen AKA Shadow Master

"Good, now that Goliath and Maza are out of the way the crowd is beginning to calm down" , thought Xanatos, "still, the crowd may refocus their anger on me so I had best follow Goliath's lead and go".

With that Xanatos shot into the air in his battle suit, leaving the local police to deal with the 'upset citizens'. As he reached cruising altitude he began to wonder just how the dear detective came about this amazing transformation. He had already come up with several possibilities but all of them had one thing or another to do with Puck or Owen as he was more commonly known. On that thought he felt a bit uneasy. Here he was, one of the most powerful businessmen in the world and one of his employees has the power to take it all away with a fluttering of an eyelid. As if on cue there was a flash of green light beside him and the comical changeling appeared flying next to him.

"Oh you needn't worry about your empire Xanatos, I have no desire for corporate power" , said Puck as he did the backstroke, "besides it's much more fun to see what you do with it".

"How long have you been eavesdropping on my thoughts?" asked Xanatos.

"Oh just since you left the hospital, nice job by the way" , said Puck with a grin, "I think your popularity just dropped another ten percent".

With a sigh Xanatos decided to make the best of a 'unusual' situation.

"Since you were listening in would you mind supplying an explanation as to Detective Maza's condition?" asked Xanatos.

"If you mean to ask did I have anything to do with it the answer is no" said Puck as a piece of paper and scissors appeared in his hands.

"Then if not you then perhaps the weird sisters, they have been known to meddle in human affairs?" asked Xanatos with a shiver.

He had only met the Weird Sisters once but once was enough.

"No it isn't them they're stuck on Avalon clean-up duty due to that fiasco with the Arch-mage" , said Puck as he unfolded the paper to reveal paper dolls of Goliath and the now gargoyle Elisa holding hands, "truth be known the entire thing happened by accident" .

"By accident?" said Xanatos in a quizzical manner.

"Is there an echo up here!? Yes an accident" , said Puck with a frown, "Maza was just at the wrong place at the right time".

"Don't you mean 'at the wrong place at the wrong time' Puck?" asked Xanatos.

"No I'm pretty sure I had it right the first time" , said Puck, who judging from the cartwheels he was doing was back to his old self, "If Maza hadn't been there we wouldn't have known about the sphere's disappearance until it was too late".

"What sphere?!" asked Xanatos, who was beginning to lose patience.

"Why the sphere of Titania of course" ,said Puck in a matter-of-fact tone, "Its one of Mothers more powerful trinkets".

This statement intrigued Xanatos, if only due to the fact that it was within reach. With such a magical bauble in his possession he and his family could finally achieve immortality.

"Don't even think about it Xanatos, it won't happen" , said Puck floating just a few feet from his face, "as soon as the sphere is in my possession I'm going to return it to Titania in hopes of gaining more freedom with my powers" .

"Ah well, no sense arguing the point with him around" , thought Xanatos, "besides, there will be plenty of time to ponder it later".

"Don't count on it Xanatos, tonight is going to be a busy, busy night" said Puck and with a loud laugh the fey disappeared.

As the castle loomed into view Xanatos could already see the silhouetted forms of Elisa and Goliath landing on the tower.

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

Elisa loved gliding and didn't ever want it to end. Unfortunately even a gargoyle needs rest and her wings were already a bit sore. For some of the trip back to the castle Elisa had pondered how she had learned to fly so quickly. Suddenly she remembered how Goliath had corrected her when they first met. A small smirk came to her face as she landed gracefully next to Goliath.

"Well that question can wait" thought Elisa as she stepped off the edge of the castle wall.

She had only had this form for a little over a day now and she felt as if she had been born this way. It felt so right,so natural but she knew that this would end once Goliath and the rest helped her find Demona and the Sphere. Elisa would then be changed back to a human and things would go back to normal.

"All the more reason to cherish the few moments I have with Goliath as a gargoyle" though Elisa as she grabbed Goliath's arm and held onto it as a daughter would grasp her fathers arm.

This provoked a momentary look of surprise on Goliath's face but soon faded into a smile. She knew that he was enjoying every moment of this and so was she. For him he was once again feeling emotions that he had thought were lost forever. For her a bridge had finally formed between them and she was free to reveal everything to him, especially her love for him. Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted as she heard the sounds of several winged forms come down in front of them. The entire clan was there and at first they didn't say anything, not surprising seeing as how they didn't ever expect to see Elisa in this form again. Surprisingly Angela was the first person to say anything.

"What happened to you?" asked Angela as she slowly looked Elisa over.

"Well I tried to stop Demona from stealing a magical artifact from the museum but in the course of doing so the sphere turned me into a gargoyle" answered Elisa, who was a bit uncomfortable at how Angela was looking at her.

Angela had some knowledge of how Goliath felt about her and after Angela's previous encounters with Demona this little scene must be a bit unnerving. After that Angela didn't say anything, she simply stood there and stared at Elisa.

"Is it permanent Elisa?" asked Lexington, trying to break the silence.

"I don't know but I hope not" replied Elisa.

An almost inaudible sigh came from Goliath.Elisa knew that this wasn't easy for him, she meant a lot to him. That was pretty much borne out by how he reacted when he thought she was dead.Elisa knew that Goliath had feelings for her that went much deeper and were much stronger than friendship. She felt the same way about him and that made it seem a bit unusual. Before all this she never had to think about it because the difference of species was usually enough to discourage any in depth discussion. Now that she was a gargoyle it must have seemed like heaven to Goliath when they were gliding. Sadly they both knew that she would have to somehow be changed back to human form.

"All the more reason to cherish the moments you have together now" said a cheerful voice behind her.

She whipped around to see Puck floating upside down behind her. She let out a small growl to show her detestment for the changeling. The last time she had seen the trickster he had changed her into to a gargoyle as a joke for Demona. It wasn't completely terrible but he could have at least asked her first. Frowning at Elisa's behavior he turned right side up and floated over to Goliath.

"Surely you Goliath can appreciate the opportunity you are being given" , said Puck floating around Goliath, "Now you can get a taste of what might have been" .

"What might have been doesn't matter" , said Goliath with a frown, "but you are right to say that we should make the best of an unexpected situation" .

"Atta boy Goliath, I knew I could count on you" , said Puck as he flew over to the others, "Come on people, support your gallant leader" .

The others only stood there and gave him 'just leave' looks.

"Sheesh, rough crowd" said Puck as he sat himself cross-legged on the castle wall.

"Puck what could Demona do with this 'sphere'?" asked Goliath taking a step toward the bored midget.

"Oh nothing much, just eradicate half the humans on this world along with most of the plants" said Puck as a pack of cards appeared in his hands and began playing solitaire.

"What!?" exclaimed everybody.

"Oh don't get so upset, it will at least take her another three or four hours to set anything decent up" , said Puck as he finished his game, "you have plenty of time to prepare" .

"Still it won't matter at all if we don't know where to find her" , said Brooklyn, "you wouldn't know where she would need to be to use the sphere" .

"Unfortunately no. The sphere can be used just about anywhere" said Puck as he started playing cracker jacks.

"I believe I can help with that little detail" said a digitized Xanatos as he landed his battle armor next to Puck.

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

This whole thing was getting a bit confusing and a bit uncomfortable for Angela. She knew that Goliath had feelings for Elisa and she knew that he would just about anything for her. The real question was how did Elisa really feel for Goliath, how far would she go to help him? She didn't really have the time to ponder these thought as the entire clan glided down to the courtyard after Xanatos. As they entered the great hall Angela couldn't help but stand in awe of the beauty of the place. True it was different from how it had been a thousand years ago but it was still breathtaking. The others seemed to take all this a bit for granted, though she understood why. They had lived here most of their lives while she had only heard certain details about it from Princess Catherine and the Magus.They went down a long corridor to Xanatos' office which seemed drastically different from the castle decor. As she began to listen she couldn't help but look over in the direction of Goliath and Elisa. Goliath's eyes could barely stay away from looking at the new gargoyle, it was as if he had gotten the greatest gift in the world and didn't want to let it go. Elisa seemed to be a bit more restrained concerning her emotions and only looked at Goliath a few times. Angela guessed that this was because she didn't want to mess Goliath's feelings. Elisa had already stated that she wished to return to her human form. This brought up another curious question, how far would Elisa go to reclaim her humanity.

"Oh your just being silly,Elisa cares for Goliath" , thought Angela, "she wouldn't put him at risk just for her own convenience" .

Still the thought continued to roll around in her head and it seemed to show no indication of leaving Angela's thoughts. Little did Angela know that in a few short hours that question would receive an answer.

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

"Ever since I found out that 'Nightstone Enterprises' was owned by Demona and Thailog I have tried to keep tabs on their activities" , said Xanatos with a smile frown combination, "and discover as many of their secrets as possible" .

As Xanatos took off the last of the armor he couldn't help but notice the two lovebirds in the corner.

"Don't they make just a lovely couple!" thought Xanatos said sarcastically.

"They have four main buildings in the city that would suit her purposes" , he said as he clicked on the view screen on the wall, "Nightstone tower, Demona's private residence, a warehouse by the docks and a new electronics firm downtown".

"What makes you think she would use the sphere in any of these places?" ,asked Brooklyn, "one building in New York is just as good as another".

"True but only these would provide the view that would allow her to see and hear the sounds of every human in the city dying" said Xanatos in a hateful tone.

Goliath only nodded in agreement, while the others seemed to just plain angry.

"We cannot hope to cover every one of them in time so we'll have to split into teams" , said Goliath, "Elisa and I will take the tower,Angela you and Brooklyn go to Demona's home, Lexington you and Broadway go to the electronics firm" .

"Aye, and Bronx and I will take the warehouse"said Hudson as he looked at Bronx and grinned.

Bronx simply moaned about this, apparently he wanted to keep an eye on either Angela or Elisa.

"Agreed, Owen and I will co-ordinate efforts here and send you reinforcements should any of you need them" , said Xanatos, "we will also provide you with flare guns so one team can alert the others if Demona's spotted".

Broadway didn't seem to be very happy when Xanatos had said the word 'gun'. Not surprising given his experiences with guns. With that they left the room and began to walk back outside.

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

Elisa was worried about this plan of Xanatos' and not because he was a major part of it but because it also provided him with a great opportunity.With the power of the sphere in his control he would be unstoppable. He could do whatever he wanted and given the depths she had seen him sink it made her shudder to think of the sphere in his hands. They would have to try and destroy the sphere the minute she was back to normal. That brought to the surface a rather disturbing thought, would Goliath try and sabotage this so she would remain a gargoyle? Elisa didn't think so, he had had the opportunity once before to keep her from becoming human again but allowed her to return to normal. This pretty much dismissed the doubts she had about Goliath. As they reached the courtyard she noticed that Goliath had been staring at her the entire time. He immediately blushed and turned away once he saw that she had caught him in the act. It was kinda nice seeing Goliath act this way, most of the time he seemed so serious. As they began walking up the steps to the outer wall she noticed that everyone was giving her quick glances of concern. They cared for her as if she were one of their own(which at the moment she was) and they were all probably wondering if she should be going with them. Elisa knew they were concerned about her whenever she accompanied them on certain missions and she was also concerned about them as well. Unfortunately concern like this could cost them the victory against Demona which they could not afford.

"I have to do something to snap them out of this" thought Elisa.

As she saw them climb up onto the edge of the wall to take off an idea snapped into her head. If she showed them that she could fly just as well as they could that would at the very least calm them down enough to concentrate. Taking a deep breath Elisa jumped over the castle walls and opened her wings in mid-air.

"Well that's a start" , thought Elisa as she looked back at the dumbfounded clan, "a bit of aerial gymnastics should finish the job" .

With that she did two corkscrew dives followed by two loop-da-loops and then casually glided in the general direction of the Nightstone building.

"Whoa" , said Brooklyn as he saw Elisa glide away, "She's good!"

Goliath was equally amazed as he saw the jeans wearing gargoyle glide off into the night.

All he could say was "halapania".

As he gazed around he saw that everyone but Hudson had their mouth open. Shaking himself out of the lovesick stupor he said" lets go".

With that he dove into the air and glided off after Elisa, who had by then gained considerable distance.Trying to focus on the task at hand he briefly glanced back at the castle and saw that the others were slowly coming out of their shocked states and followed his lead. Their shock was understandable, Elisa had been a gargoyle for less than twelve hours and already she glided as if she were born to it. This definitely dismissed any doubts he had about her safety,he was sure that there would be nothing they couldn't handle.

"Oh I wouldn't go that far" , said a voice above him, "I admit that she is impressive but then so is Demona".

As Goliath looked up he saw Puck floating above him with his patented grin on. The appearance of Puck brought an interesting as well as disturbing question to mind.

"Puck, what would happen if the sphere was destroyed?" , asked Goliath, "Would it explode or just shatter like a normal crystal ball?".

"Both of those things could happen but I think its best not to try and find out" , said Puck as began doing the breaststroke, "otherwise you may envy what happened to the Arch-mage".

With that the child of Oberon disappeared and Goliath was left with even more questions. Puck was right about one thing, the crystal must not be destroyed or even damaged unless there was no other option. Returning his gaze to Elisa he saw that she had been circling over an apartment building waiting for him to catch up. Flapping his wings Goliath swooped off towards Elisa, still asking himself what should be downbeat the sphere. If only Goliath knew that in the end it wouldn't be him that decided this, but someone who would have an even harder choice to make when the time came.

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

Demona gave a loud laugh as she finished making the appropriate preparations for the momentous night. She was simply overflowing with ecstasy as she contemplated the results her scheme would produce. The deranged gargoyle could virtually see Xanatos is his office after the spell had been cast. Calm and content then suddenly feeling his body scream out with pain. The thought of seeing him flail around in a vain attempt to fight the pain was only overshadowed by the thought of every human in existence doing the same thing. All of humanity screaming out for mercy,mercy which did not exist in her.

"The Vikings and the Hunters didn't show my kind any mercy" said Demona as she gazed at the circular vessel of power, "so I will show their kind no mercy either" .

At the mention of her kind her thoughts shifted to Goliath and his clan of traitors. By now they would be trying to locate her so that they could put an end to her plans.Fortunately she had anticipated this from the beginning and had made some adjustments to remove them from the game. She had a virtual army at everyone of her major buildings in New York. Demona had ordered that they capture all the gargoyles and bring them to her. She also said to leave Goliath alone as well as the now gargoyle Elisa Maza. She wanted to deal with those two personally, they had to pay for thwarting her plans in the past. Goliath was the main focus of her anger because he was responsible for the destruction of her clan. At the thought of her former love a glimmer of love came across her face but quickly changed into one of bitter hatred.

"If he had only led the clan away that night, if only..." she said bitterly.

It was because of his stupidity and weakness that her rookery brothers and sisters were gone. She had made several attempts over the years to forget about it and try and start a new life with the few gargoyles she had stumbled upon over during the past millennia. Demona had tried to forget about her lost love but people like the Hunter refused to grant her that peace. Since then she had dedicated her life to ending all threats to her kind but found that it was simply to much for her alone.When she had discovered that Xanatos was moving castle Wyvern and the remains of her clan to New York she at first wanted to kill him. That changed when they met and he explained the terms of the spell. At that moment she was filled with joy, joy at the fact that her loneliness was going to come to an end. After she and Goliath had been reunited she actually felt as though she might actually be able to feel love again.Demona's hopes were shattered when she discovered that Goliath was still the fool he had been a thousand years ago. From then on she knew that he would oppose her in her quest. From there on in her desire for love was twisted into an all consuming hatred. When she finally succeeded tonight she wanted him to be there, for him to see her ultimate triumph. Then she would use the power of the sphere to destroy the feeble coward that he was and rebuild him into what he should be, a gargoyle who would do anything she wanted. With that final thought Demona let out a loud laugh and left the room, still contemplating what she would do.

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

Brooklyn and Angela landed on the roof of Demona's house with a slight thapping sound. They knew that if Demona was here that she was probably expecting them. He gazed along the edge of the glass window for signs of alarm systems. He saw one sensor at every corner with wires going into the wall.

"Hmmm, Demona doesn't seem to concerned with home security" , said Brooklyn, "Still we had best not take any chances".

Motioning her to the other side of the window he said" When I give the word you rip through the roof and cut as many wires as possible" .

Angela nodded an took her place.

"One...two...three...now" said Brooklyn and with all his might he tore into the roof.

Suddenly he felt a stinging sensation in his back followed by his entire body going numb.

"Tranquilizer Darts" moaned Brooklyn as he collapsed.

Brooklyn tried to yell to Angela but she was already on her back unconscious. In a final act of desperation he reach for the flare gun and tried to fire it off, but it was knocked out of his hand. Gazing blindly around Brooklyn could only see the silhouettes of three men standing around him and then everything went black.

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

Lexington loved the fact that they were given the job of staking out the electronics firm. Though he knew he had to keep his mind on the mission it didn't mean that he couldn't look at all the neat hardware and software and gadgets. Once they were inside Lexington's mouth dropped as he gazed upon the isles of electronic wonders. It was like walking a technological wonderland, though Broadway didn't seem to be too impressed.

"Hmmm, his idea of heaven is probably a supermarket all to himself" thought Lexington with a grin as he began to search the store.

The firm was pretty much deserted, the only thing that seemed to be alive was him and Broadway.Suddenly a bone chilling laugh rang throughout the building, a laugh that both Lexington and Broadway knew was Demona's. Both of them immediately began to look for the source of the sound and were able to track it to a locked office in the back. Motioning Broadway to knock the door down Lex readied himself for battle. With a resounding crash Broadway burst through the door and let out a loud growl.

"Funny nobodies here" said Broadway.Lex shared his brothers puzzlement, the room was completely empty except for a pedestal in the center.

"What's that on the pedestal?" asked Broadway.

As if on cue a spotlight came on and shone down on the pedestal and a glittering crystal ball was revealed.

"Hey, there's the sphere" said Broadway as he started to walk toward it.

"Wait it could be a trap" , said Lex, "there's no way that Demona would leave it unprotected".

Lex looked around and found a stray piece of metal on the ground. He picked it up and with a slight toss he threw it at the crystal. It didn't get within two feet of the crystal before it got shot down by lasers mounted on the walls.

"There's no way we can get past that without getting turned into swiss cheese" said Broadway with a frown.

"And there's no way you monsters are getting out of here either" said a voice from above.

Suddenly the ground was filled with thousands of volts of electricity. Broadway and Lexington screamed in pain as their bodies flailed around in uncontrollable spasms.A second later the electric torture stopped and both Lex and Broadway fell to the ground. It was at this point that Lex just about wished that he had never woken up tonight.

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

Bronx let out an audible moan as he lumbered into the warehouse. "Aye boy I know how ye feel" said Hudson with his sword drawn.

Hudson hadn't relished the thought of having to go up against Demona again, especially alone. Oh he had Bronx but against the kind of technology and sorcery she had he didn't think they would be enough. He had once before gone against Demona after she had poisoned Elisa. He found out that night that Demona was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Hudson had fought his hardest against her that night and at best he was able to keep her busy. Suddenly he heard sounds of movement coming from the back of the warehouse and he immediately took a look in that direction. All he saw was a cape like shadow dart away. That was all Bronx needed as the large gargoyle dog charged off in that direction.

"Wait boy!" said Hudson as he took off after the beast.

He didn't like what was happening, not one little bit.He knew that it was probably a trap but he also knew that he couldn't allow Bronx to get caught.

"Two against ten is better then one against ten" muttered Hudson.

When he turned the corner he found Bronx sniffing a solid steel door which the cloaked figure had apparently gone in. Sizing up the door himself he estimated it to be at least half a foot thick and solid as a rock.

Hudson looked down at Bronx and said" O.k boy, give it your best shot".

With that Bronx took a few steps back and with a loud bark ran and dove paws first at the door. With a loud clang the door fell down to the ground with a muffled thunk. When Hudson looked in all he could see was dusty old furniture.

"Ach, what a mess" said Hudson with disgust.

The dust was so thick it was even floating in the air with surprising denseness. Bronx took a quick sniff of the dust and immediately jumped back and began to growl.

"What is it boy?" asked Hudson as he himself took a sniff of the dust. It didn't take him a second to find out what had bothered Bronx.

"Gas!" , said Hudson as he covered his mouth, "Quick boy,back outside."

Breaking into a sprint the two gargoyles ran with all their might for the exit but for each step they took the second seemed to be harder to make. The gas was having its affect as Hudson fell to the ground. He hoped that at least Bronx would be able to make it but that thought was kicked aside as Hudson heard the thump of Bronx's body beside him. He tried to stay awake and fight to the door but his old body didn't respond. With one final strain of his limbs Hudson looked up to see men wearing gas masks. That was the last thing that Hudson saw before he succumbed to the blackness.

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

Elisa was having the time of her life up above the city and she never wanted it to end. She had only glided for a few moments back at the castle and already she felt as if she had done it all her life. From what she heard, the others were completely shocked at her aerial prowess. She knew how they felt because she herself was shocked that she had been able to pull those maneuvers off, especially since she just got her wings a day or two ago. The transformation must have done more than just transform her into a gargoyle, it must have given her the instincts as well. Inside her mind she had knowledge that humans could only theorize about. She looked over at Goliath and saw how casually he soared on his four foot long wings.Elisa knew that for him this was probably normal for him, just routine,but for her it was like a ride on a miniature glider. She regretted that she would have to give it all up in a few hours. Part of her didn't really want to but the other part reminded her of the responsibilities she had as a human. Her job as a police officer she could probably do without but her friends and family was something that she could never give up. Elisa knew that she could probably keep a few of her friends as a gargoyle but the fact that they were friends could make things harder for them. They would probably be persecuted as "freak-lovers" among other things and that was something she wouldn't wish on her worst enemy. Her mind snapped back to reality as she saw the Nightstone building just a few blocks away. She would have to put these thoughts on hold for now.

With angel like grace she began her descent to the balcony on the top floor. Goliath strained with his spirit as he saw Elisa glide down to the balcony of the penthouse at the top of the Nightstone building. He pushed away the thoughts of abandoning the mission and letting Demona keep the sphere. If he did that Elisa would remain a gargoyle and he could once more feel love. It wouldn't have mattered if all the humans were gone as long as she was with him. Unfortunately his sense of honor and integrity banished those thoughts from his mind. It would be selfish and dishonorable to try and keep Elisa in a form she didn't want to be in. It would be equally dishonourable to treat human life with such disregard, even if he only thought it. To think that way would make him no better than Demona and he would not allow that. When he landed next to Elisa he could tell that she was engaged in a spiritual battle of her own. They both knew what they wanted but they also knew what had to be done. Without another thought they dismissed all other thoughts and focused only on the mission at hand.

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

Puck was beginning to wonder if there would be any excitement tonight.There had been no flares the entire night and that bothered him. By now at least one of the teams would have found Demona. If Demona wasn't found before she cast the spell the world would be in jeopardy.

"C'mon Goliath find that sphere" , said Puck dramatically, "don't let your old buddy Puck down".

If he failed in his mission Titania would not be in a good mood.The sphere was one of the few things that she owned with the power to commit genocide. If she didn't get it back he would be lucky to have any access to his magical powers at all. Suddenly he felt a powerful presence behind him and he turned around and saw Titania standing behind him.

"What progress have you made with your assignment Puck?" she asked in a stern tone.

"Quite a bit mother dearest" , said Puck with a bit of panic in his normally playful voice, "the gargoyles have already been sent out after Demona and it won't take long for them to beat her and get the sphere back".

"You seem so confident in their abilities Puck" , said Titania frowning, "what if they fail and Demona succeeds in her attempt to destroy humanity?"

"That won't happen, Goliath would rather die himself than let that happen" , said Puck in a confident tone, "as would the remaining gargoyles".

"What about Elisa Maza, would she sacrifice herself?" asked Titania.

"Of course, she's a police officer for crying out loud" , said Puck as he jumped off the wall to the ground, "she knows all about 'dying in the line of duty' stuff" .

"You had best be right about this Puck or you will envy the Weird Sisters punishment" said Titania as she vanished from sight.

"I hope I'm right as well" said Puck as he resumed his nervous and eager gaze at the night sky.

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

"Man, what a mess!" thought Officer Sampson.

It had taken them forever to get that mob to disperse even with the two gargoyles gone. It had taken what must have been twenty cans of tear gas and two whole precients to quiet things down. He was just glad that he was back to the normal night beat. True he probably wasn't going to see any more action tonight but that was fine by him, he had had his fill of excitement for one shift.

"Car 102, break in at the Nightstone electronics store on fifth and Broadway, please investigate" squawked the radio.

"This is car 102, 10-4"said Sampson as he flipped on the sirens on his car.

This was turning out to be one busy night, first a riot now a robbery.

"Great! What's next, the empire state building going to explode" thought Samson as he speeded off in the direction of the robbery.

When he arrived he saw a large van parked out in front of the store. It didn't look like your run of the mill van,it was more like a battle van of some sort. Armour covered it from stem to stern, it looked like it was strong enough to take on a tank. Suddenly he saw six masked figures coming from the alley next to the store and all seemed to be fully armed. Then Sampson noticed something funny about what these punks were doing. They were apparently carrying two human looking figures except they had tails and wings?!

"They must be gargoyles" ,thought Sampson, "and in that case these punks aren't going anywhere".

Flicking on the squad cars floodlight Sampson got out and trained his pistol on the six figures.

"Freeze punks, dead or alive you're coming with me" said Sampson hoping to intimidate them.

Unfortunately the sound of automatic weapons fire showed that they were not intimidated in the least.

"Shit" cursed Sampson as he ducked behind the door.

There was no way he was going to stop these rambos all by himself. Crawling back into the car Sampson reached for the radio in hopes of summoning back-up. The hoods must have caught on to his tactic because a hail of gunfire went through his windshield, causing glass to rain down on his head. It didn't take a genius to know what would happen if one of those slugs hit the fuel tank.

"Only one chance" muttered Sampson as he cocked his revolver.

Charging away from the car Sampson fired blindly at his enemies in hopes of stalling them until he got to the alley on the other side of the building. With aloud boom the squad car erupted into a ball of flame as metal shrapnel flew everywhere.

"Damn, I lose more cars that way" thought Sampson as he peeked out to see what their next move was going to be.

Surprisingly they didn't pursue him instead they simply threw their live cargo into the van.

"I've got to stay with them" , thought Sampson as he saw them shut the van doors,"there's no way that those autos their packing are legal" .

With all his speed and cunning Sampson rushed up behind the van and made like a rail runner and hitched a ride underneath the van. As the van sped off Sampson began to wonder what those six crooks would want with two gargoyles?