"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
B-Deck Foyer, Corridor
Steeling herself, Elisa gripped Goliath's hand tightly in her own and moved beside him as they left the foyer and entered the corridor that would lead to his suite. Right away, both of their eyes met the cold blue eyes of MacBeth.
"We've been looking for you, Goliath," MacBeth said, his tone icy as he followed closely behind the couple as they entered the room. Stepping even closer, he brushed past Elisa and dropped an object unseen into her coat pocket and then stepped into the room.
Sighing, Goliath squeezed Elisa's hand gently and stepped fully into the room, she always at his side. Before them stood a jumble of people, their voices loud and raised. Instantly, though, the room fell silent as all eyes turned to them. Clearing his throat, Goliath looked across the room and met the eyes of Hudson, Demona, Glasses, and Coldstone in turn. "Something serious has happened," he said quietly, his voice smooth, all the while wondering why the Master at Arms had been summoned.
"That's right," Demona said, her voice cool as she slowly crossed the room to stand before Goliath and Elisa. Turning, she stared into the onyx eyes of her love. "Two things dear to me have disappeared this evening. Now that one is back, I have a pretty good idea where to find the other," she hissed as she turned and glared darkly at the shorter human. "Search her," she commanded as she stepped back.
As confusion covered her face, Elisa watched as the large, cybernetically enhanced gargoyle stepped forward and gently pushed Goliath away from her. Alone and feeling vulnerable, she glared at Coldstone as he pulled off her red bomber jacket and tossed it to MacBeth. "This is ridiculous!" she cried as the larger gargoyle started patting her down.
"Demona, you cannot be serious!" Goliath growled, his eyes burning white as he turned away from Elisa's pleading stare and looked into his fiancée's eyes. "We are in the middle of an emergency and you-"
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice interrupted his tirade. "Is this it?"
Turning, Goliath watched in horror as the porter, a tall black man with glasses, pulled the Phoenix Gate out of a pocket of the jacket that Elisa had been wearing. Shocked, Goliath stared at the artifact before turning a confused glance to Elisa.
"Yes, that is it," Demona said, her voice cool as she stepped forward and took the Phoenix Gate from the man.
"Right then," Coldstone said quietly as he turned his one good eye and one cybernetic enhancement to the woman before him. "Now, don't make a fuss," he ordered as he hauled out a pair of familiar handcuffs and clasped them tightly around her wrists, making her wince in pain.
"What?" she asked, confused at the sudden turn of events. How could the Phoenix Gate have gotten into her pocket? "Goliath, you don't believe it, do you?" she asked, her voice holding a note of pleading as she stared into his dark eyes. All she saw within was a well of confusion.
"She couldn't have," Goliath murmured quietly, his voice uncertain as he glanced into Elisa's dark eyes.
"Of course she could have," Demona purred into Goliath's ear. "Easy enough for a professional. She probably memorized the combination when you opened the safe."
"But.. but I was with her the whole time," Goliath murmured, his uncertainty increasing with each of Demona's words.
"Maybe she did it while you were writing your note," Demona purred, her lips right beside Goliath's ear.
Shaking her head, Elisa struggled in Coldstone's grip. She had no idea what Demona was saying to Goliath, but by the way he was now looking at her, Elisa knew that it couldn't be good for her side. "They put it in my pocket!" she argued, her eyes pleading with Goliath's to see logic.
Clearing his throat, MacBeth once more entered the scene. "It's not even your pocket, is it?" he asked coldly as he pulled back the collar of the red bomber jacket, revealing a small white label. "Property of Annie Thompson," he said, reading the tag aloud.
Sighing, Coldstone accepted the red coat from the manservant and inspected the label for himself. "That was reported stolen today," he said, nodding his head at the people in the room.
Upon hearing MacBeth's words, Elisa felt as though the floor was going to drop out from beneath her. That little bit of news did not help her case any. "I.. I was going to return it! Goliath..." Elisa called out, her voice desperate now as she stared into Goliath's dark eyes. Now, his eyes showed a different emotion: hurt and betrayal. "No," Elisa whispered, tears in her eyes as Coldstone began dragging her from the room. For some reason, seeing that Goliath didn't believe in her was worse than what was actually happening. "Goliath, don't listen to them!" she yelled, her voice cracking. "I didn't do this! You know I didn't! You know it!" Elisa yelled as she slowly disappeared from sight.
Bridge Chartroom
Moving with a speed that belied his age, the Magus quickly rolled out a diagram of the ship across the chartroom table. On the other hand, the shaking evident in his hands as he pointed out various points on the diagram to Captain Chavez, First Officer Broadway, and Mr. Canmore had nothing to do with age.
"When can we get underway?" Canmore demanded, his voice shrill as he tried to get the attention of the people gathered.
Hissing under her breath, Chavez glared at the man, hoping to silence him for a little while before turning her attention back to the Magus's drawing.
"Water fourteen feet above the keel in ten minutes," the Magus explained as he quickly pointed to the spot on the diagram. "In the forepeak... in all three holds.. and in boiler room six."
"That's right," Chavez quickly confirmed, her worried eyes resting on the blasted drawing.
"Five compartments," the Magus breathed, his worst nightmare coming to life. "She can stay afloat with the first four compartments breached, but not five. Not five," he repeated, his voice grim. "As she goes down by the head the water will spill over the tops of the bulkheads.... at E Deck," he said, indicating the spot on the diagram, "from one to the next.... back and back. There's no stopping it."
Not believing what she was hearing, Captain Chavez quickly shook her head. "The pumps..."
Knowing what his captain was about to say, the Magus quickly interrupted. "The pumps buy you time... but minutes only. From this moment on," he continued, his voice grim, "no matter what we do, Titanic will founder."
"But.. but this ship can't sink!" Jon Canmore said quickly, fear making his eyes grow wide.
Shaking his head, the Magus decided that he had quite enough of this pompous little man. "She is made of iron, sir," he said quickly, as though speaking to a two year old. "I assure you, she can. And she will. It is a mathematical certainty."
Gasping softly, Captain Chavez reached out and gripped the table firmly, her eyes vacant as she thought over all of the souls that were on her ship. "How much time?" she asked, her voice soft.
Sighing, the Magus closed his eyes away from his beloved diagrams. Aye, a mathematical certainty... right now, he hated math. "An hour.. two at most."
"And.. how many aboard, Broadway?" she asked, her voice growing tight as fear clamped its clammy hands on her heart.
"Two thousand two hundred souls aboard, ma'am," Broadway said quietly, knowing in that instant that not all of those souls would survive the night.
Fighting back tears of desperation, Chavez forced her weak knees to strengthen and her gaze to turn steely as she glanced at the owner of the line. "I believe you may get your headlines, Mr. Canmore," she said softly, her voice hard and her eyes accusing.
Goliath and Demona's Suite
Sighing, Hudson looked sadly down upon his student. From the stricken expression that covered Goliath's mighty features, he knew that his heart had been broken. "I 'ad better go git me sword," Hudson muttered quietly, excusing himself from the room.
As soon as Hudson was gone, Demona finally threw off her cloak of nonchalance as she stormed across the room to stand before her 'love.' "That steerage trash is quite the little slut, isn't she?" she hissed, her eyes burning red with anger. Instantly, her anger doubled as she noticed that Goliath wasn't even giving her the time of day, so lost in his thoughts as he was. Growling, Demona slapped her love across the face and then grabbed his shoulders roughly, her talons digging into his lavender skin. "Look at me, you little..."
Suddenly, a loud knock at the door interrupted her tirade. Annoyed, she turned and watched as the same steward with the thick glasses opened the door and stepped inside. "Ma'am, I've been told to ask you to please put on your lifebelt and come up to the boat deck," he said, his voice filled with that annoying cheerfulness that Demona hated so much.
"Get out!" she roared, her eyes blazing red as she stared down at the puny mortal. "We're busy," she finished in a more subdued tone of voice.
But, to her shock the steward persisted as he went in to get the lifebelts down from the top of a dresser. It was as if he were unafraid of her, perfectly illogical as it was. "I'm sorry about the inconvenience, Demona," Glasses continued, sounding as un-sorry as you can get, "but it's Captain's orders. Please dress warmly, it's quite cold tonight." Turning, he then turned a practice eye on Goliath. All at once he took in Goliath's vacant stare, the look of heartache so evident on his face, the deep red color that covered one lavender cheek, and the small puncture wounds on his shoulders. All in all, he knew instantly what was happening.
Clearing his throat, he moved beside the large gargoyle and put a hand gently on the gargoyle's shoulders, finally making the gargoyle look up and take heed of his surroundings. "Not to worry, sir, I'm sure it's just a precaution," he said. While on the outside he sounded contrite, on the inside, he was glad that he had the opportunity to interrupt and stop whatever had been going on before he entered the room.
Growling softly, Demona snatched the lifebelt from the steward and slowly called Hudson to join them in the room. "This is ridiculous," she muttered as she dragged Hudson and Goliath from the room.
Steerage Berthing Aft
In the dark, little Alexander shifted uncomfortably in his little bunk when the darkness was suddenly flooded by light. Instantly scared, the little boy began to whimper quietly as one of the stewards that worked their hallway stuck his head in the room.
"Everybody up. Let's go. Put your lifebelts on," he ordered, his voice rude yet urgent.
Jerked from sleep by the man's voice, Fox quickly jumped out of her bed and gathered Alexander in her arms. Turning, she walked quickly to the door and watched in confusion as the corridor became filled with her fellow passengers, some wearing life belts, but all dressed in their pajamas and rubbing sleep from their eyes.
"Mommy?" Alex asked, his voice tiny and his eyes wide.
"Shh, baby.. it's alright," Fox whispered reassuringly as she quickly stepped back into the room and proceeded to dress her son in his warmest clothing. She had no idea what was going on, but she was going to go and find out.
A-Deck Foyer
Sighing, Diane Maza slowly paced back and forth, pulling her top coat even closer as a door was opened and a gust of frigid air poured in. "This is nonsense," she muttered to no one in particular. "First we were all rudely awakened by the porters, instilled with a sense of urgency, and then rushed out here where nothing is going on." Turning, she saw that some waiters were even passing out drinks while an orchestra started up with a waltz. That was the last straw for her. Turning, she snagged a young man who was nearly running past her. Grabbing the man, she quickly drew her hand away as she saw that his clothing was soaked through and through. "What's going on here?" she asked anyway, her voice cold. "You got us all out of our warm beds and now we're sitting here doing nothing."
After his close call in the hold, the last thing that Jason Canmore expected was abuse from the first class passengers. Surprised, he quickly backed away from the woman and started up the stairs backwards, as if afraid to turn his back to her. "Sorry, ma'am.. let me go find out," he stuttered as he turned and booked it up the stairs.
Shaking her head in annoyance, Diane knew that she wouldn't be seeing that young man again in quite a while.
Seeing this exchange, Demona hissed under her breath as she turned back to Hudson and Goliath. "It's just the God damned humans doing everything by the book," she cursed, her eyes flaring red.
Startled, Hudson eyed the young gargess beside him. "Now, now lass," he said, his voice low. "There be no need fer cussin', Demona." Sighing, he quickly turned away and faced the young green gargoyle that was Goliath's constant companion. "Lexington, go back and turn th' heater on in me room so it won't be too cold when we ge' back," Hudson ordered, to the young gargoyle who merely nodded his head before scampering off, his green tail swishing behind him.
Amazed, Goliath noticed this exchange with tired eyes. They still don't understand, he thought. For some reason though, the news that the ship was sinking was nothing compared to the thought of Elisa's betrayal. He had trusted her.. and then this? Suddenly, a swath of brilliant white hair caught his attention. Jumping forward, he barely realized that Demona was following close on his heels as he approached his friend. "I saw the iceberg, Magus," he said quietly, his voice only intended for the builder standing before him. "And I see it in your eyes," he continued, looking into the clear blue eyes that showed a wealth of wisdom that he'd rather not have. "Please, tell me the truth."
Sighing, the Magus stared up into the tall form before him. This young lad had so much will and power -- yet a good heart beneath it all. It was heartbreaking to think that his ship could spell the end for the lad. "The ship will sink," he said, his voice firm yet sad.
"You're certain?" Goliath asked, knowing the answer even before he asked it.
"Yes. In an hour or so.. all this," he continued, indicating the luxury that surrounded them, "will be at the bottom of the Atlantic."
"My God!" Demona gasped, overhearing their conversation. Stunned, she turned and regarded the beauty and people that surrounded her. All the while, the stories of the unsinkable Titanic ran through her mind. The Titanic? Sinking? But she thought it was impossible.. wasn't it?
Ignoring the gargess, the Magus regarded Goliath with kind and tired eyes. "Please, tell only who you must. I don't want to be responsible for a panic," he said, his voice quiet. "And get to a boat quickly! Don't wait! You remember what I told you about the boats?" he asked, his eyes turning blank.
"Yes... I understand," Goliath said, his mind numb. "Thank you."
Nodding, the Magus quickly left the stunned gargoyles and began making rounds around the room, urging the stubborn passengers to put on their lifebelts and to get to the boats.