"Titanic:
Gargoyles Style"
by Lisette: Lisette_1@lycos.com
Legalese: Nothing here is of my own creation. The characters from Gargoyles belong to Buena Vista and Disney. The characters from Titanic, the script of the movie, including a lot of the lines and descriptions, belong to James Cameron. In no way will a profit be made from this.
Rating: PG-13 due to language and content
Southampton Dock, Southampton, England, 4/10/1912 -- almost noon
The sun shone brightly down on the sea of people that crowded the sturdy wooden dock. Everywhere one looked, they saw movement as passengers scrambled with their last minute check-ups before boarding, checked their luggage, waved goodbye to loved ones, and as the crew loaded down the ship... the Titanic.
Suddenly, the bustling crowds parted as two old fashioned cars pushed their way through the people, honking their horns to make passage. As they pulled to a stop, the people, horses, and buggies once more filled around, quickly closing the wake. Suddenly, one of the doors clicked open as Goliath stepped from the car. Stopping, he quickly brought his hand up to his eyes and scanned the sight before him. Up above him rose a towering wonder of steel. Begrudgingly, he had to admit that the black ship looked every bit as regal as all he had heard about it. Then, as a female voice called from within the car, the tall lavender gargoyle hid his wonder.
"Goliath?"
Sighing silently, Goliath quickly turned back and stuck his hand inside the car. Elegantly and slowly, a slim blue hand slipped into his and without the slightest hesitation, Goliath helped the gargess from the car. Shaking his head, he saw that his fiancée was annoyed with him -- probably for taking so long to escort her from the car. Even with her annoyance though, she was still a beauty. With her wild mane of red hair that contrasted so sharply with the gold tiara and jewelry that she wore, she looked every bit the wealthy CEO that she so proudly was. Clearing his throat, Goliath turned once more and scanned the massive ship, his expression neutral. "I do not see what the fuss is all about. It does not look any bigger than the Mauretania," Goliath muttered, his voice cool.
Sighing, Demona shook her head quickly. "You can be naive about some things, Goliath, but not about Titanic!" she cried out, the exasperation evident in her voice. After all, it seemed that she and Goliath had this conversation way too many times already. His naiveté seemed to be her love's one downfall. "It's over a hundred feet longer than Mauretania, and far more elegant!" she cried as she turned and watched as one more stepped from the car.
The older brown gargoyle moved slower than both Demona and Goliath, but he held himself with the same honorable poise as always. And, per usual, his sword lay ready at his side.
"Your student is much too hard to impress, Hudson," Demona muttered quietly as she touched the old warrior's hand gently, her eyes flashing red.
"Ah, he is a stubborn one, that lad," Hudson said, nodding his head in agreement as he too turned to stare up at the massive ship. "Fer what it be worth, I think that she is a fine ship, lass," Hudson said, his voice sharp as he shot a pointed look to Goliath.
Ignoring the conversation that was going on around behind him, Goliath stepped away from the car and gazed coolly once more at the massive ship. "So this is the ship they say is unsinkable," Goliath muttered, his low bass voice filled with skepticism.
"It is unsinkable," Demona said as she came up behind Goliath and wrapped her arms possessively around him. "Oberon himself couldn't sink this ship."
Sighing in boredom, Goliath shrugged out of Demona's hug and walked a little further into the crowd. Frowning at his behavior, Demona was about to follow when a small human stepped forward from the crowd and bowed before her. Narrowing her eyes, she noticed that he wore a uniform for the White Star Line. The nametag read, 'Tony Dracon.'
"Sugar, you'll have to check your baggage through the main terminal, round that way..." he said, his smile lazy and conceited.
Growling, Demona focused her eyes on the man and allowed her eyes to burn a bright red. "I put my faith in you, puny mortal," she hissed as the man's face drained of color and his knees began to shake in fright. Satisfied, she quickly jerked her head around and nodded at an older man with a head of white hair, a white beard, and dressed all in black as he emerged from the other car. "See my man."
Nodding his head quickly in a frantic manner, Tony Dracon quickly turned away and hurried to the indicated man. "Yes, Ma'am," he called out over his shoulder. "My.. my pleasure!"
"Good," Demona said in satisfaction, never tiring of the effect of power on the puny humans. "MacBeth!" she cried out, calling out to her manservant. "Take care of the bags!"
Nodding his head, MacBeth shouldered his large laser weapon and turned to the porter. "These trunks here and twelve more in the other car," he instructed without pause, indicating the vehicles. "Have it all brought to our rooms."
Paying strict attention to his orders, Dracon nodded quickly and then frantically called out for some others to assist him.
Sighing, Demona glanced at the activity all about and looked disdainfully at the grubby humans that surrounded her. "We'd better hurry, gentlemen," she hissed quietly as she flared out her wings, scaring away a group of little boys that had been watching curiously.
Noticing this, Goliath bit back his sharp retort and instead meekly joined arms with his fiancée, noticing the warning look that Hudson sent in his direction. Biting back his sigh, Goliath slowly escorted Demona up the steep plank and into the massive ship. While looking back and forth between the difference of the bright sunshine and the darkness of the ship, Goliath couldn't help but reflect that although the Titanic was the ship of dreams to everyone else, to him, it was a slave ship. It was a slave ship that was taking him back to America in chains. Outwardly, he was everything that a strong gargoyle leader and warrior should be... but on the inside, he was screaming.
Neighborhood Pub, Southampton, England
Maintaining her poker face, Elisa slowly regarded the grimy cards that she held in her hand. Glancing up, she looked around the small table that she occupied. Her companion, Matt Bluestone, stared glumly at his cards, the worry evident on his pale face that offset his bright red hair, his trench coat spread open around him. Hiding her smile, she then looked at the other two players that had joined them in this high stakes game -- both of whom were arguing fiercely back and forth.
On the table lay all that the four players had in the world. The winnings ranged from small things like a few scattered coins and crumpled bills, to two service revolvers that gleamed dully in the light, to the thing that was most on everyone's mind -- the two 3rd class tickets for the Titanic.
Grinning, Elisa hid a smile once again as the tall man with brown hair dressed in a preppy sweater and chinos turned to glare fiercely at his companion. "Margot," he hissed angrily, his eyes flashing worriedly, "are you stupid? I can't believe that you bet our tickets!"
Returning his worried glance for her angry glare, Margot stared at her husband. "You lost our money. I'm just trying to get it back!" she cried out, her face red -- a sharp contrast to her short blond hair. "Now just shut up and take a card!" she ordered quickly.
Smirking, Elisa turned to the small woman and looked at her seriously. "Hit me again, Margot," she said. Nodding her head, Margot quickly passed a card over to Elisa. Sighing, Elisa picked the card up and slid it into her hand, all the while keeping her face neutral -- betraying nothing.
Suddenly, a sharp whistle broke the tense silence at the table. Nodding, Elisa looked up and met the worried and anxious eyes at the table. "The moment of truth," she said quietly, her voice serious. "Somebody's life is about to change... Matt?" she asked, turning to her partner and long time friend.
Sighing in disgust, Matt threw down his cards, scattering them on the table. Groaning inwardly, Elisa saw that his hand contained nothing of value. "Zip," Elisa muttered, her voice heavy.
"Zip," Matt agreed, his voice filled with disgust.
"Brendan?" Elisa asked, her voice showing a little worry -- intentionally.
Just as disgusted, Brendan threw down his cards to show that he had the same results that Matt had. "Nothing as well," Elisa noted. Turning, she then met the stony eyes of Margot. "And you?" she asked, her voice quiet.
"Two pair," Margot said, her voice clear and calm, a large smile breaking out on her stony face.
Sighing, Elisa looked back and forth between her cards and the cards of Margot that she was so prominently displaying. Shaking her head, Elisa turned to Matt and looked at him, her eyes full of sympathy. "I'm sorry Matt," Elisa murmured.
"Sorry?" Matt asked quickly, his temper flaring as he jumped from his seat. "What do you mean, sorry? You lost my gun? What am I going to do without my gun?" Matt asked quickly, his face turning the color of his hair.
Shaking her head, Elisa quickly cut off Matt's angry tirade as she held up a hand to stall him. "I'm sorry Matt, but you're not going to see The X-Files again for a long time," she said as she quickly slapped her cards down on the wooden table. "'Cause you're going to America! Full house!" Elisa called out happily, her poker face breaking into a large grin.
"America!?!" Matt cried out triumphantly as he jumped up and enveloped Elisa in a huge bear hug. "I'm going to America!" he yelled as he quickly dropped Elisa back to her feet.
Unable to keep the smile off of her face, Elisa quickly turned back to the wooden table and grabbed her gun, holstering it quickly. Hooting about her luck, she quickly started scooping up change and bills, dropping them into the tight pockets of her jeans. Suddenly, Brendan jumped up from his chair opposite of her and raised back his hand, his eyes glaring into Elisa's. Startled, she stopped what she was doing and prepared herself for the hard slap that she knew was coming when Brendan's eyes suddenly darted to the right of her. Before anyone knew what was happening, he quickly let his hand fly, slapping Margot hard across her face and sending her tumbling to the hard wooden floor below. Laughing, Elisa watched as he cradled his hand gently.
"I've been waiting a long time to do that," Brendan confided as he pushed the rest of the change in Elisa's direction before turning to berate his wife some more.
Laughing, Elisa finished stuffing her pockets as Matt turned around and started doing some sort of jig around the crowded pub. "I'm going to America, I'm going to America, I'm going to..." Matt sang out, his loud voice filling the room.
"No, lad," the pubkeeper's voice broke in suddenly, a strange grin on his face. "The Titanic go to America... in five minutes!"
Gasping, Elisa quickly ran over and grabbed Matt's hand. "Shoot! Come on, Matt!" she yelled as she dragged him from the room, a large grin on his face the whole way.
Laughing at his luck, Matt trailed behind his partner as she expertly dodged the thongs of people that milled about on the crowded docks, reading the tickets as she went.
When they reached their deck, Elisa and Matt quickly scrambled up the wooden plank. As they reached the top, they saw that the plank was unattached and was beginning to swing away from the gangway doors.
"Wait!" Elisa called out frantically as she neared the edge. "We're passengers!" she cried out to the officer that stood guard at the door.
Growling in annoyance, the young gargoyle pushed her long braid back over her shoulder and quickly looked at the tickets that Elisa held out. "Have you been through the inspection queue?" Angela asked quickly, knowing that the ship was about to depart.
"Of course!" Elisa cried out indignantly, lying through her teeth. "Anyway, we don't have conspiracy hang-ups... we're detectives!" she cried out. Suddenly, she glanced knowingly over at Matt. "Both of us."
Testy that passengers had to try and load at the last minute, Angela shook her head once more in annoyance. "Right.. get on then," she said as she stood aside and allowed for the two detectives to jump by her.
Laughing at their ability to get by and their apparent unending luck, Elisa and Matt raced through the crowded passageways of the Titanic, bouncing around like school children. Soon, they followed enough stairs up so that they finally reached the top deck of the massive ship. Pushing by people, Elisa raced right up to the railing and leaned over as far as she dare, staring at the masses of people below. Grinning like a lunatic and filled with adrenaline, Elisa began to quickly wave and yell.
Surprised at seeing his normally calm and stoic partner so enthused, Matt quickly joined Elisa at the railing. "Do you know someone down there?" he asked, not really believing that she did.
"Of course not, but that's not the point!" Elisa yelled out, trying to be heard over the noise as she flashed her trademark grin at her partner. Turning back, she quickly resumed her waving and began yelling out, "Goodbye! Goodbye!! I'll miss you!!" while laughing like a child.
Shaking his head, Matt found that her enthusiasm was catching. Unable to hold back any longer, Matt pushed open his trench coat and stepped onto the railing beside Elisa, his polished shoes clicking on the steel. "Goodbye!" he yelled, feeling the exhilaration of the moment. "I'll never forget you!" he promised to no one.. yet to all that he was leaving behind in Europe as well. Throughout his travels with Elisa, he had met and discovered many new things.. and now, he was about to embark on the adventure of his life -- he was going to America.