"Bitter Sweet Occurrence" Chapter 5

By Ryley Breen AKA Shadow Master

Elisa was furious at Xanatos and if it wasn't for the fact that she needed his help if she was going to free Goliath and get back to normal she'd kill him right now. She caught up to him just as he arrived at the third last floor from the top.

"Xanatos!" she yelled with eyes blazing red.

"Yes Maza?" replied Xanatos in his normal suave tone.

"Oh don't give me that!", she said, "Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you may have just caused me and Goliath?!"

"Oh don't get your tail in an uproar Maza" ,said Xanatos, "I'm sure he didn't even catch a word I said and even if he did I'm sure that you'll think of something to tell him later" .

As much as she hated to admit it Xanatos did have a bit of a point. In all the excitement, the attacks and action there was a chance that he didn't catch it. Elisa turned to Puck who at the moment was playing some sort of portable video game.

"So Puck, care to tell us where the sphere is?" asked Elisa as she began circling him.

"It's on this floor, where exactly I haven't got a clue" he said briefly looking up from his game.

Elisa gave out sigh and said " well lets get a move on!" .

With that she glided toward and crashed through an offices window, her wings covering her face.

"She sure knows how to make an entrance, doesn't she?" said Xanatos with a short laugh as he followed the gargoyles example and flew into the building.

Puck merely shrugged and followed Xanatos, all the while playing his game.

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"Damn her!" cursed Demona as she saw the last of her steel clan fall to pieces.

She had counted on Xanatos interfering but Puck was definitely another story. True the sphere of Titania had the power to vanquish them all, but who knew what effect that would have on her goal to obliterate humanity. Still this did mean she would have to step up her plans a bit.As she strolled back into the chamber, Goliath and his clan were futily trying to rip through their ropes.

"I don't know why you bother" , she said sarcastically as she knelt next to Goliath's side, "Even you must know that it's impossible for you to break out of those restraints."

With a slight groan of frustration Goliath stopped struggling and said" You won't get away with this Demona, Elisa will stop you and if not her perhaps Xanatos!"

"Hmph, spare me the hopeless bravado Goliath" , snorted Demona as she went over to her main prize, "Maza never has been and never will be a threat and as for Xanatos he won't be able to do anything soon."

As if holding an egg, Demona took the sphere and held it in her arms and began to chant in a language so ancient it didn't have any real meaning anymore.Slowly, the smell of brimstone and death filled the air as the floor vanished beneath a blanket of fog. As Demona chanted the magical green light within the sphere began to glow brighter with every word.

"Uh-oh!" ,said Brooklyn as he gazed in horror at the glowing orb, "If anybody has any suggestions as to how to stop this, they had better spit it out now or forever hold their peace."

The room remained silent for nobody in the group, not even Goliath had a sliver of an idea about what could be done.Slowly Demona's chanting came to a halt and she placed the sphere back on its place on the pedestal.

"I've decided to change my plans a bit, I've decided to kill you all first then destroy humanity" said Demona as began to walk towards the door.

Suddenly the doors of the room exploded and wooden shrapnel flew every where. When the smoke and debris cleared two gargoyle and one floating figure stood in the doorway.

"Destroy every human in the world just to satisfy your thirst for vengeance and kill Goliath and his clan in the process!" said the large red and gray steel form.

"I don't think so!" said the smaller feminine gargoyle.

For a moment all that they did was stand there, looking at each other as if trying to interpret the meaning of the words. Then it happened, with the suddenness of a crack of thunder, the crack of a gun or a flash of light all hell broke loose. Elisa's anger at Xanatos soon subsided as she pondered what would happen when they arrived at where ever Demona was planning to cast the spell.Demona probably had Goliath tied and bound there, there was no way that she would want him to miss her ultimate triumph. When they arrived it would be Puck's job to get the sphere and and get out of there. She and Xanatos would be the ones to deal with whatever offensive plans Demona may have in store for them.

"Funny, I try since the day I discovered what he was really like to put him behind bars" , thought Elisa, "and here I am trusting him to watch my back against a former ally, weird" .

"Believe me detective when I say that he feels the same way about this as you do" whispered Puck as he glided alongside her.

She found it even more peculiar that she actually trusted Puck on this mission. The dark elf wasn't really known for his ability to focus on one thing at a time. Back when he had turned her into a gargoyle as a joke on Demona he must have been thinking about a half dozen things at one time. More recently he had used his powers of subterfuge to make it harder then necessary to help Coldstone.This disturbed Elisa a bit but her thoughts on the subject were swept aside when she heard Demona's sick voice in the room at the end of the hall.

She turned to Xanatos and said" I hope your not entertaining any thoughts of letting Demona kill Goliath and the rest of us just so you can get the sphere".

"Who, me!?" , he replied in a tone of innocence, "don't worry Maza, tonight I'm putting all personal scores aside".

Maza wasn't sure she actually trusted him right now but she couldn't really afford to reject his help now.

Once they reached the doors Xanatos stepped back and in a gentlemanly tone said " Ladies first".

Making a slight sarcastic grin Elisa took a few steps back then charged at the door throwing all one hundred and seventy pounds into the door. The door shattered into pieces and flew in all directions. She took a quick look at Xanatos and could have sworn that she saw his brown right eyebrow rise in surprise.

Taking his normal position ahead of Elisa said "Destroy every human in the world just to satisfy your thirst for vengeance and destroy Goliath and his clan in the process!"

Taking her cue Elisa took out the pistol and said" I don't think so!".

Suddenly tentacles of energy erupted from the orb and wrapped around the seven captured gargoyles. Hesitating for less than a second dove across the room and after opening a secret panel and took out one of the laser rifles that she had stolen from Xanatos.

"Oh but I do!"she said with a sinister grin and fired a shot at her and Xanatos.

"Its times like these that make my immortal life worth living!" said Puck as he flew quickly across the room toward Goliath.

As he approached the gargoyle leader he couldn't help but laugh a bit, this was hardly one of Goliath's better moments.

"Puck, help me get free" screamed Goliath with with pain and his eyes glowing a particularly bright white.

"Are you sure you want me to help you?" , said Puck with a phony look of concern, "It might make you look bad in front of your clan!"

The only reply that the trickster got was a rather loud but undoubtably angry gargoyle growl.

"O.k, o.k! Don't get your tail in a knot, sheesh ask a gargoyle a simple question!" exclaimed Puck as a pair of cable cutters appeared in his hands and he began cutting away the steel cables. Just then a laser shot whisked past Puck's side burns singing it a dark black.

"Hey! I just had those done a century ago!" , exclaimed Puck in annoyance, "I guess I'll just have to do something about those laser things".

With a sly grin on his face Puck floated a few feet away from the writhing Goliath and cracked each of his knuckles (assuming he has any to begin with).

"Modern weapons cause afire, making this fight dire, and even though I love you tons, I divest you now of your laser guns" chanted Puck and instantly green energy shot out of Pucks eyes and vaporized both Demona's and Xanatos' lasers.

"Ooops, sorry Xanatos" said Puck in a modest tone of voice.

Given the growl that came from the deranged gargoyle it was obvious that Demona's dislike of Puck just went up a notch.

"So glad you liked it Demona!" , said Puck with a smirk, "Now back to Goliath, hope I didn't keep you waiting long" .

Goliath only screamed in agony as the energy of the orb coursed though his body as the changeling approached him. He only gave Puck one of the iciest stares he'd been given in a long while.

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"Yes!" exclaimed Elisa as she saw Demona's rifle disappear into thin air.

That would certainly make things a lot easier.

"Fools, you think me easy prey just because I no longer have my laser rifle" , snarled Demona, "Is till have the most powerful weapon in all existence".

At that moment Elisa knew exactly what she meant and the only thought that came to her was"Halapania".

Demona dove towards the sphere and had almost reached it when Xanatos' steel clad fist intercepted her face.

"Ooops, pardon my fist!" said Xanatos with a laugh.

He was obviously enjoying himself and Elisa had to admit that she was as well. When she gazed down at Demona she actually looked as if she would surrender, but she should have known better. With surprising speed Demona whipped out the same type of electro-disk Elisa had seen used by Thailog. Xanatos screamed as his exo-frame was shot with thousands of volts of electricity. Not wasting anytime Demona leaped up to the pedestal in the center of the room and picked up the sphere, which was now glowing a bright green. Not wanting Demona to get a chance to use that orb of destruction Elisa launched herself at Demona, teeth bared and eyes glowing blood red. Suddenly a bolt of green energy shot out of the sphere and stuck Elisa on the chest and sent her flying across the room.

"Fool, you think that just because you're a gargoyle that you're a match for me" ranted Demona looking down at Elisa.

"No, she is a match for you because she has friends she knows she can count on" said a voice behind Demona.

The sick gargoyle whirled around to see Goliath charging like a mad bull directly for her.

"Good, if Goliath can move than Demona's spell must have stopped and the others will be o.k" thought Elisa as she shook the cob webs out of her head.

Unfortunately,Goliath may be a match for Demona under normal circumstances but these were far from normal. Just as Elisa thought Goliath would connect with Demona,a bolt of green energy rammed him in the stomach and sent him flying back against the wall.

"Hahaha, finally, the mighty Goliath falls before the one true gargoyle" raved Demona as she laughed the laugh of the mad.

Suddenly there came a roar from behind Demona turned to see Elisa Maza sprinting like a bat out of hell towards her. Without so much as a word a bolt of green lightning streaked out of the sphere and sent Maza flying across the room not stopping until she hit the wall, and she hit it hard.Falling to the ground in a heap, Demona smiled as she observed no movement from the fallen gargoyle.

"Hahaha, finally revenge shall be mine" , raved Demona, "the human filth will perish and I shall rule the world, a world of gargoyles!"

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Puck didn't like the way this was turning out, not one little bit. He had assumed that Goliath would be able to handle Demona, mostly because he had never failed to stop her before.

"Well I guess its true what they say, if you want a job done right you have to do yourself" thought Puck as he moved into position for an attack.

"Well Demona I must say that you've shown me that you're quite good at handling mortals" , said Puck as he hovered up to the ceiling with his patented trickster grin, "Let's see how you do against a son of Oberon".

"Yes Puck, lets!" said Demona in a sinister tone.

No surprise that Demona attacked first, she was always the aggressor in any confrontation, fortunately her aim was rather pitiful.

"Tsk, Tsk. You know Demona you really should have killed Maza when you had the chance" , said Puck as he stealthy dodged her blows, "If it hadn't been for her we might never have labeled you as the perpetrator".

Suddenly a devilish grin came over Demona's face and that made Puck's smile slipped a little and began worry a bit. Suddenly he knew what Demona was going to do and at that instant a bolt of green energy shot out towards the fallen detective.

"Tis' she you wish to slay, to complete your devilish play, but her you can forget, for tis her my powers protect!" chanted Puck and at a speed faster than light his magical energy darted across the room and deflected away from Maza.

Unfortunately that gambit had cost Puck dearly as it took nearly half his energy to prevent the powerful magical attack. He didn't have time to spare if he was going to take out Demona it would have to be now.

"Godly power do you possess, to cause all mortals great distress, but before Oberon I call and beseech, my full magical force on you I unleash!" exclaimed Puck and with surprising strength he unleash a funnel of unmeasurable power on the twisted gargoyle.

For the longest while it was impossible to see Demona for the entire room was filled with green light. Puck stained to direct as much of his power as he could but even his power reserves were had limits. Slowly, the light that filled the room began to fade and things began to return to the norm. With all his energy drained Puck dropped to the floor like a rock, he had barely enough energy to give himself a soft landing.

"Ohhh, Halapania! I haven't felt this bad since I went a few rounds with Oberon over control of the civil war" , said Puck as he rubbed his aching head, "at least Demona is gone, now I can get that blasted sphere and get out of here".

"Oh, I don't think so hahaha!" came a voice from across the room.

Puck's jaw literally dropped to the ground as he gazed in the direction of the frightening voice, it was Demona! He didn't even get a chance to reply as the orb sent a powerful torrent of energy sailing at Puck. Racked with pain as the energy hit him, Puck tried with all his might to fight it but it was no use.

"Hahaha, how does it feel to have to go through pain against your wishes" , yelled Demona as she laughed fanatically, "I think that when Goliath wakes up, I'll try it on him except for him and then every other human!"

"NOOO!" came a cry from across the room and almost immediately three gunshots rang out.

Instantly the crystal shattered and fell to the ground and the torrent of energy focused on Puck ceased, though in his case it was hardly a cause to rejoice. Every part of his immortal body screamed for relief and the mind answered as the world around him slowly began to grow dark. Just as the last bit of consciousness faded from Puck's head gazed over to where the shots were fired and felt a hint of shock. There, on her knees and a smoking pistol in her hand was a crying and shocked Elisa Maza. Elisa's body was saturated with agony and her mind begged to be released from this torture.

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"Just let me die, life hurts so much!" , thought Elisa as her mind began to shut down, "all the pain and suffering and I'm helpless to do anything about it!".

"Are you truly helpless Elisa Maza?"came a voice from the void of darkness before her.

"What!? Whose there!?"thought Elisa.

Slowly an image began to form in the darkness, an image that at first she didn't recognize.

"Surely you remember your last visit to Avalon Elisa" said the face with a slight grin.

Then it hit Elisa and at that moment her being was filled with shock and at the same time gratitude.

"Titania!" thought Elisa.

"Your mind is as quick as I had hoped but we cannot talk long" , said Titania as the rest of her body appeared, "Puck is managing to keep Demona busy but he doesn't stand a chance against the power of the sphere."

"Then that's it then, Demona has won" thought Elisa in a sad somber tone.

"Has she?" said Titania in a familier tone of voice much associated with Oberon's kind.

"Of course she has, there's no way to stop her as long as she has the sphere!" thought Elisa.

"Exactly! You have done well Elisa" , said Titania with a grin , "not only have you deduced what must be done but also deep down how to do it" .

"What do you mean?!" asked Elisa.

"You know. Now hurry back to the land of the living for Puck's power is shattered and he is losing" , said Titania as she faded into the dark void, "remember Elisa, the fate of the entire human race hangs in the balance" .

"Wait don't go, what do I do?"thought Elisa in a desperate cry.

Sadly in was too late and once more she was alone with only her thoughts and her pain to comfort her. For what seemed like an hour Elisa pondered Titania's words.

"I don't know exactly what she meant but she was right about one thing" , thought Elisa, "the lives of billions rests on my shoulders, I owe them to at least give it a try, even if it is suicide!"

Not a heartbeat later Elisa began her painful struggle to break out of the black void and back to the real world.At first it seemed to be a futile effort but as the battle between light and dark raged on the light seemed to grow stronger. Slowly but surely the light was winning and Elisa's senses began to return to her. At first it was all a jumble but it quickly came into focus as Elisa heard Demona's dreadful voice. Slowly she regained her bearings and looked around and saw Demona hitting Puck with a massive emerald tube of energy.

"How does it feel to go through pain against your wishes" , raved Demona, "I think that when Goliath wakes up, I'll try it on him and every other human!"

At that exact moment Elisa saw a vision in her minds eye of everyone she ever cared about. Derek, mom, dad, her sister, Captain Chavez, Matt and several others writhing in agony while Demona stood over them. Then came the last one and this one hit with the force of a freight train. Elisa saw with his limbs flailing around in spasms of pain and screaming in agony, Goliath.

With a surge of emotion that she hadn't felt in a long time, Elisa raised her gun and screamed" NOOO!".

Elisa rapidly pulled the trigger and watched as the muzzle flash, and the little specks of gray shoot toward the target she had picked without thinking, the sphere. With a resounding crash the sphere shattered in Demona's hand and clattered to the ground,the energy previously channeled at Puck surged and with one final flash disappeared. Almost instantly as the last sparkle of magic sputtered away Demona dropped to her knees and holding her now bleeding hands. Completely distraught over having victory ripped from her grasp after coming so close,Demona jumped to her feet and charged past Elisa and ran down the hall screaming with rage.

It had taken her a few moments before she realized what she had just done.Elisa threw the gun away like it was red hot and let out a shrill cry that they say could be heard a mile away. Then she stopped and knelt there,then slowly she got to her feet and walked to the remains of the sphere of Titania. Looking down at the shards of glittering crystal, Elisa began to sob, bent down and picked up one of the shards of crystal. Elisa concentrated on it, as if hoping that by some sheer miracle there might be just enough magic left to restore her to human form. Sadly the power that had once filled the sphere was gone and with it her last chance to regain her humanity. No more drinking cool lemonade during the hot summer days,no more shopping for clothes and no more being treated the same as any other being. Letting the shard fall from her hands and shatter onto the floor Elisa gazed about the room, searching for some clue as to her purpose for living. All she could see was the unconscious bodies of Goliath and his clan and Xanatos beginning to come to. For a moment she felt that she just wanted to curl up and die, but then a thought came to her. She remembered what Goliath had said after his encounter with Coldstone at the bridge. He had said that a gargoyles purpose in life was to protect, to protect their home and the people who lived there. As she slowly looked down at her battered and bruised gargoyle body she discovered the purpose she was longing for. She was now a gargoyle, just like Goliath and the rest and thus their cause was now her own.

Filled with newfound purpose Elisa smiled and all thoughts and feelings of despair were pushed back.Looking at what she had lost and what she had gained Elisa could honestly say that all in all it wasn't so bad. With that thought in her mind Elisa began to go around and try and wake her injured clan.

It had taken a while but Elisa eventually was able to bring the other gargoyles around. She hadn't hurried to wake Xanatos though, Elisa wanted the few moments without his scheming voice to last. The police arrived as soon as could be expected and everyone agreed that it would be best if they didn't stick around to answer any questions. Not because they didn't have any answers but because the cops would never believe them. Once they got back to the castle Elisa helped get the trio down to the infirmary, even though they all protested as to the severity of the injuries. Elisa didn't stay with them long, she had a lot to think about and she felt better if she pondered it in private. By the time she reached the main tower she could see the first glimmers of the new day brighten up the sky. It would still be another hour or so before she turned to stone. Elisa smiled at how casually she had said that, given the fact that she had only done it once.

"This will certainly be a change from my normal routine" , thought Elisa as she gazed down with a grin at the city below her, "but with a little help I think that I can bear it" .

True, tieing up all the loose ends of her previous life wasn't going to be easy but considering what dangers she had faced tonight it didn't worry her at all.

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Goliath groaned as Angela wrapped the last of the bandages around his chest.

"Oh don't be such a wimp father!" she said comically.

He looked at Angela and was surprised that she could joke around after Demona had almost destroyed the human race. After the clan was all bandaged up they proceeded out to the tower to assume their normal positions for the day.It wasn't long after that that Goliath remembered what important event had happened. With the Sphere destroyed Elisa was forever trapped in her gargoyle form. She now had to bear the burdens that up until know were he and his clan alone had to bear. Part of him rejoiced at this development but the other half didn't feel that way at all. The clan seemed to sense his storm of emotions and showed that they too felt them, but no one said anything. Once they reached the courtyard Goliath looked up and saw Elisa's silhouetted form atop the tower. He looked at the shape of his former human friend and knew that the next few weeks would be the hardest for her.

Hudson came up behind him and said "Don't worry lad, if there's one thing I've learned about Elisa is that no matter what it is, she always manages".

Goliath only nodded, then proceeded up the winding stairs to his perch. He knew that she would get over it in time, but he couldn't help think that she might hold some resentment towards him for not trying harder. Once he reached the top of the stairs Elisa turned and faced him,for some weird reason she was smiling. Goliath didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad so he slowed as he approached her. As he got upon the rampart he felt her taloned hand on his shoulder and he turned with a questioning look on his face.

"Don't worry, I don't blame you for what happened" , she said reassuringly, "what's done is done and we have to move on."

Elisa's words soothed his troubled soul but he knew that he would feel this guilt for the rest of his life. Taking his place on the rampart he contently watched Elisa jump onto the rampart next to him. At seeing this Goliath knew it would be alight and happily took a fierce looking pose. Glancing out of the corner of his eye he saw Elisa take quite a different pose, the pose matching his thinker pose. Before he could comment on this the bright sun peeked over the horizon and stone sleep took over. Had he stayed awake a moment longer he would have seen a solitary tear trickle down Elisa's cheek.

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"Ohhhh" moaned Puck as he dragged himself into Owen's room.

He was so weak he didn't even have enough strength to change back into Owen Burnett.That little gambit against Demona was nearly the death of him. Had he been at full strength he probably could have weathered the cynical gargoyle's attack fairly well. Normally he would have let Maza fend for herself but she was too important to the future of the human-gargoyle situation. True,he wasn't supposed to know about that but if Oberon or Titania asked about it later he was sure that he could think up a half decent excuse. Just then it hit him and he laid down on the bed and remembered his mission.Titania would not be in a good mood when she came to check on him. She had undoubtably felt the destruction of the sphere on Avalon and will want to know how it came about.

"Oh well, I can worry about that when she gets here" , thought Puck, "right now I've got to get some rest if Owen Burnett is going to keep his job" .

"Right now I'd be more worried about Oberon's anger Puck" snapped an angry voice from the doorway.

Almost wishing that Demona had finished him off Puck sat up and saw Titania in the doorway with a look of anger all her own.

"Mother, what a pleasant surprise, I didn't expect to see you so soon!" exclaimed Puck as he got to his feet.

"You can stop trying to talk your way out of this Puck because it's not going to work" said Titania as she rolled her eyes to the back of her head.

Puck knew that when kissing up to the parents didn't work, outright honesty was the next best thing.

"Look I know you're upset at this recent development but it's not as bad as it looks!" , said Puck trying to manage a smile, "Elisa Maza is alright, the human race is alright, Demona is most definitely not alright and I'm alright. What more could you ask for?!"

This seemed to anger Titania more so then before but then she broke into a wide smile.Puck was unsure if this was a good thing or not but he knew that one way or the other he would soon find out.

"Don't worry Puck, you're not in any trouble" , said Titania as she sat down in a nearby chair, "In fact your actions have just insured the security of this mortal world".

Puck had expected Titania to say a lot of things but none of his guesses came even close to this.

"What do you mean 'insured the security of this world'?"asked Puck with a priceless look of surprise on his face.

"Oh you'll find out soon enough, suffice it to say that Elisa Maza is not as weak and insignificant as she believes herself to be" said Titania with the wide smile still streaming across her face.

Puck was about to ask for the details but before he could get even a word out Titania disappeared in a flash of green light. Puck frowned at this impolite exit and thought that he would have to get even with her for keeping him in the dark. Oh, he didn't mind seeing other people not having a clue as to what's going on but he hated it when he was as clueless as they were. With a sigh of frustration Puck laid back on the bed and began to ponder what the "Queen Of The Third Race" meant by her remark about Maza. Whatever it meant he had a feeling that he would find out soon enough.

The End?