Disclaimer: I don't own anything save for characters/species not already owned by someone else. I like Gargoyles, Animorphs, and Pokemon. This crossover story line contains all three. Enjoy! ~Grimwood ~grimwood83@yahoo.com
Oh, a couple of notes: * = telepathy/thought-speak " = regular speech/quote ~Commercial Break~ = generally, a shift in characters and/or location that lets you take a break for getting a snack or whatever and can be ignored ~~ = automatic translation of the Pokemon spoken language # = translated Yeerk speech {} = a translation of anything else that needs translating. If you need to see what an Andalite looks like, go to http://www.scholastic.com/animorphs and click on the link that goes directly to the books. It shows Ax on some of the book covers, his brother on the cover to Andalite Chronicles, an Andalite female on Hork-Bajir Chronicles, and Visser Three/One, who has an Andalite host body, on Visser. IF a person wishes to "borrow" a character that I have invented, they must ASK FIRST! I will then consider letting them use it.
Brooklyn's Tour
Mirror, Mirror, at the Mall, Where will you Send them all?
~Marvel Universe, pocket Universe of X-men: Evolution~
The various teenage mutants of Bayville High plus Amanda, Risty, and Forge were at the mall. Quick Silver, Toad, and Boom Boom were in the arcade. The others were in the food court. Across from the food court was a new antique shop. "That mirror is strange," Night Crawler stated.
The mirror happened to be on a special display. It had a paper that read, "This mirror is said to have belonged to Queen Titania of Avalon. Although it is obviously an antique, the truth to it being Titania's is not easily proved. Price: $100,000.00."
"That mirror is way too expensive, man," Spike commented.
"Chya," Rogue retorted in her usual fashion.
"So? Can you imagine having something like it in your room?" Risty shot back enthusiastically.
Lance, Kitty, Amanda, and Kurt walked over to the display for a closer look. Blob came up behind them. "Heh, I'll bet if I made you break it, you'd have to buy it," the heavyweight mutant stated, shoving Kitty into the mirror!
"Whoa!" Shadowcat shouted. She began to fall, so Kitty grabbed Kurt's shirt. The momentum wasn't even slowed. Kurt yanked on Amanda, who had to grasp at Lance. They still didn't stop falling, and the four of them rather literally fell into the mirror as Shadowcat tried to phase them through it.
Forge glanced up at the commotion just in time to notice all this. He also saw that none of the others were coming out the other side of the mirror. Before Lance finished falling, Forge jumped in shouting, "Wait for me!"
(If this was the actual series, the music from X-Men: Evolution would meld with that of Gargoyles)
~Commercial Break~
~Gargoyle Universe, Eyrie Building, arboretum~
The mists cleared. As they did, the skiff of Avalon appeared. "Jalapeno! Their back!" Broadway exclaimed.
"We are?" Brooklyn asked.
"Aye, lad! We be home!" Hudson exclaimed. His dignity kept him from leaping directly out of the skiff.
~~That was it? One adventure?~~ Soda wondered aloud, looking at Brooklyn accusingly.
Goliath walked over. "Never underestimate the will of Avalon. I had thought our quest had ended, yet Avalon needed us to protect the Xanatoses," the clan leader stated.
Suddenly, Puck, Alex, Xanatos, and Fox appeared with Titania's mirror, which had recently been repaired. Puck, in his peculiar manner, inquired, "Anyone wanna see how well we repaired Titania's mirror?"
Abruptly, five teenagers fell through the mirror. Marco, who had been in the room the whole time, wondered aloud, "What dimension did you come from?"
Kurt's holo-watch chose that minute to glitch. "Uh-oh! Vwhere are vwe?!" he asked in his thick German accent.
"You are in Manhattan. More specifically, you are in the Eyrie Building," Goliath clarified.
"No vway! Vwe can't be in Manhattan if vwe're in the building you say vwe are. Can vwe, Kitty?" Kurt asked.
Forge was grinning from ear to ear. He replied boldly, "Sure we can. Remember that dimensional stuff we learned about your teleportation, Kurt? And how this guy," the mutant pointed to Marco, "said 'what dimension'? We must've traveled through a transdimensional vortex when -"
Lance, Kitty, Kurt, and Amanda stared at Forge in Bafflement. Amanda and Kurt exchanged glances, looked at what they saw to be two red monsters, and then looked back at Forge. Shadowcat and Avalanche merely continued to stare at the "techno- geek," who had broken off abruptly to further study his surroundings when he noticed that the discussion made Kurt look ill.
Marco calmly walked up to the newcomers, considering morphing to polar bear to see the reactions. He didn't. Instead, the Animorph said, "Transdimensional teleportation? I thought only hybrids like Callahan could pull those off. Name's Marco. Going counter clockwise and starting with the business man are: David Xanatos, his wife Fox, their son Alex, several Pokemon, a few Gargoyles, another few Pokemon, another Gargoyle or so, and you guys. Oh, and the pointy-eared, floating dude is the infamous Faerie trixter Puck and he's teaching Alex magic." Marco thought to himself that this sort of adventure was far better than what happened in the stories of Alice and her trip to Wonderland.
Kurt blinked in surprise. "I am Kurt Wagner, sometimes called Night Crawler. Wolverine calls me 'Elf' or 'Blue Elf.'"
Amanda introduced herself and the remaining mutants. Then she stated, "By the way, you sort of lost me when you said 'Gargoyles' and 'Pokemon.'" More thorough introductions ensued.
Completing the introductions had soothed everyone's feelings quite a bit. ~~But these four can't understand us yet,~~ Charger the Ponyta stated. The Pokemon liked staying in the arboretum for the most part, so most of the Pokemon caught and befriended by the Gargoyles and Animorphs were there when not with their trainer or in the Pokeworld.
"You're right, and that's a problem that MUST be dealt with," Xanatos countered before any of the mirror's travelers could get a translation. "Puck? Alex? Could you get us to Oberon's Gate, please? Wait, on second thought, place us in Dreesh's classroom. Her classes will be ending any minute now. Hmm. Better just send Brooklyn, Hudson, Thermal, and our guests so Dreesh doesn't get overwhelmed." Marco snapped his fingers in disappointment.
Brooklyn smacked his forehead. Looking at Mr. Xanatos, the Gargoyle briefed those that were within earshot of his elopement. He concluded, "I guess it WAS rather a brash thing to do, Goliath, but . . . Well, we . . ."
"It is all right, Brooklyn," the Eyrie's clan leader reassured his second in command. "Just keep well in mind the vows you made, and I shall be pleased." Goliath clapped Brooklyn's sagging shoulder and left. Jeoffery and Gillie, wagging her tail, followed.
~Commercial Break~
~Dreesh's "Classroom" ~
Ax's mother was debating with his cousin about allowing Gargoyles and Pokemon, whom the elder Andalite female considered "inferior species," to be participants in the class on the morphing technology. *Andreecia-Ellanora-Isthyria! It's demeaning enough to have HUMANS taught about our technology. The Gargoyles and Pokemon are inferior species! How you can possibly think -* Ax's mother continued debating with and/or scolding Dreesh when the growl of two Gargoyles and Thermal interrupted her.
Ax, who had walked in after the Gargoyles, humans, and Pokemon, stated, *Mother, you should watch your open thoughtspeech more carefully. That, or when you are having a debate with Andreecia, keep your eye stalks moving.* His mother delicately yet angrily left the room, Ax following closely behind to defend his friends in the ongoing debate using private thought-speech.
Dreesh, meanwhile, was introduced to the mutants, Amanda, and Thermal. The female Andalite found the whole thing of falling through a mirror in that way rather interesting. *And the mirror did not break?*
"No, not that I could tell," Forge replied. "It didn't tip over, so I guess Kitty's timing for phasing was the key."
"And I don't think it would work for the return trip anyway," Kitty added, seeing the question in everybody's eyes. "I mean, like, we didn't know we'd fall into a different dimension in the first place, ya know? So, it'd be like, you know, not easy to say if it would work properly on the way home, right?"
"That's a good point, Kitty," Lance stated. Then another Gargoyle entered: a small, green, web-winged Gargoyle to be exact.
"Brooklyn! Hudson! What're you doing in Dreesh's classroom? Aren't Avalon adventures s'posed to take longer than that? And who're these humans?" Brooklyn chuckled at his rookery brother and introduced everyone again. "Oh, okay. But why're you home so soon?"
Before a conventional answer could be given, Hudson pulled the pendant from around his neck and gave it to Lexington. "Lad, I think ye'll be needing this more than I. Fun though it was, I prefer sleeping during the day to running around."
"HUH?!" came a chorus of inquires.
Kurt asked, "Vwhat d'you mean?"
*Gargoyles sleep during the day as solid stone statues,* Andreecia informed the mutants. To Hudson she asked, *But what is the use of the pendants, and why would Lexington get more use out of yours?*
Brooklyn summarized with, "Our first adventure took us to a school of sorts for people with magical talents. One of the students made a pendant for me and one for Hudson. The pendants are to keep us from turning to stone each dawn. It's kinda fun. Different, but fun. Of course, like the Guatemalan Gargoyles, without the pendant on or about us, we'll still turn to stone. Unlike their pendants, ours don't rely on other talismans to operate." Brooklyn looked at Hudson with the expression "your loss for not keeping it" across his beaked face.
Kitty and Amanda were distracted from most of the summary by what they thought was an oddly glowing, blue box-shaped paper weight. "Why's that paper weight glowing?" Shadowcat asked, pointing to the box.
Without getting a reply from anyone about the blue box, a different voice said, "C'mon, Malibu! I know he's around here somewhere. They just got back today, and Xanatos told 'em to go to Dreesh's classroom." Coming through the door on the last few words were Marco and yet another Gargoyle. This Gargoyle had Brooklyn's build but different coloring. "We'll also still have ta track down Jake, Tobias, and Rachel."
"Why track down so many people, Marco?" Hudson asked, fists on his hips.
Marco replied, "Need 'em all to prove to the visiting Andalite council that cloning Gargoyles, no matter the method, follows the Gargoyle genetic rule that no two Gargoyles ever look exactly alike. Goliath agreed to have a truce with Thailog, and your leader's also agreed to let Tobias morph him. Rachel was given permission to morph Delilah, and boy are those morphs strange to stare at. Picture Goliath colored like a red-tail hawk and with a mutated hawk's head for Tobias's morph. Give Delilah's wings Demona's wing color and have Delilah's hide turn brown. Add green hair and Hork-Bajir blades in all the appropriate places, and you've got Rachel's Gargmorph."
"WHAT?!" Hudson and Brooklyn exclaimed, wings springing open in shock.
Lexington flinched because Hudson's hand had also gone for his sword! Lex quickly recovered and stated, "Goliath doesn't want Gargoyles both being hunted by Quarry Men AND thought to be inferior to Andalites. He said, 'Humans may not have always liked Gargoyles. They have, however, been able to accept our intellect.' Then he had Tobias acquire his DNA. Rachel was in a different room, talking to Delilah and acquiring her DNA."
"Wow! I had no idea Goliath would do that. He was weirded out enough with Jake morphing ME!" exclaimed the red Gargoyle with a touch of pride.
~~Who's Jake?~~ Thermal asked her mate. ~~What's a clone? What's a morph?~~ She looked at him in the eyes with her curiosity showing quite clearly in her own.
Brooklyn patted the Charizard's shoulder and explained with help from Lexington and Dreesh.
Forge raised his hand and said, "Question: What," he put his hand down, "did Thermal even say?" Amanda absent-mindedly placed her hand on the glowing "paper weight" as she waited for a reply to Forge's question.
She jumped and shouted, "YOW!"
Everyone turned to face her. Marco grinned mischievously. He stated, "Hello wierdness, goodbye normal life! Dreesh? D'ya have one more open spot in your class for Amanda? Oh, and congrats on the new stats."
~Commercial Break~
~One week later~
"Not bad, Amanda. I'm glad Delilah, Angela, and I were able to help," said one of Angela's rookery sisters. She was visiting Angela, and the Gargess had gotten to Manhattan by Titania offering a free trip to Manhattan for any of Avalon's clan wishing to go.
"I'm glad Thermal wasn't watching! She's nice, but I get intimated by her," Amanda stated after demorphing for the tenth time that day. She had been experimenting with what Dreesh and Ax called the "Escafyl maneuver." The Gargoyles' DNA Amanda had acquired came from Goliath, Broadway, E-5's host, Angela, one of Angela's rookery sisters - the one visiting, obviously, and the hybrid clone of Demona and Elisa called Delilah.
"I'm glad Goliath and I helped, too," Broadway added, one arm wrapped around Angela's shoulder. "Besides, I'm sure you'll get the best Gargoyle form you could possibly want if you practice enough."
"Yeah, but that last one was a MALE!" Amanda exclaimed with disgust. Everyone was laughing at the way she had said that and not at the actual words.
Prior to this incident, the mutants and Amanda had crossed through Oberon's Gate to gain the ability to understand Pokemon. Oberon also had adjusted his spell so that it now added the benefit of being able to understand any creature that didn't already speak either a human language or telepathically. Now, Amanda, the mutants, and various Pokemon trainers could understand a lot more creatures, from a flea to a Gyarados.
Amanda was trying to morph a Gargoyle form she liked, but so far it wasn't working. Counting her most recent attempt, twice she had morphed a male Gargoyle. Dreesh walked up to Amanda and said, *Do not worry. Even Andalites struggle in learning the Escafyl maneuver.*
E-5 spoke up calmly, "You could have it be even worse. You could end up being a Gargbeast rather than a bipedal, winged Gargoyle."
"Yeah, and still be male," Brooklyn added. Everyone laughed again, including E-5 and Amanda.
Ax stepped forward. *I use the Escafyl maneuver every time that I morph a human. Take my advice and do not give up.* Taking a deep breath, Amanda tried once more to get the desired effect. This time, she managed to stay female. Her wings were styled like Angela's, Delilah's, and Demona's. Her coloring was similar to Broadway's. Amanda's hair remained raven black. Surprisingly, her ears were finned like the ears of Broadway and Angela's rookery sister. Amanda had medium length horns that resembled Goliath's larger ones. She also had the knee and elbow spurs, plus a spade at the end of her tail - the spade coming from Angela's rookery sister.
Looking into the full-length mirror in front of her, Amanda decided she liked this combination. "Cool!" exclaimed Kurt.
~Commercial Break~
~Following evening/night, Central Park, in front of the assembled Andalite Council~
A great semicircle of sleeping Gargoyles was arranged in front of the Andalite Council. Jake in Gargmorph and Malibu were to either side of Brooklyn, who seemed to be the at the center of the semicircular line. Amanda in Gargmorph was just beyond Jake with Goliath on her other side. Tobias in Gargmorph was between Malibu and Rachel in Gargmorph. The remaining Gargoyles in the semicircle were the other members of the Manhattan and Clone clans plus Angela's visiting rookery sister. One human stood at the far left end of the semicircle: Dominique Destine. Of course, she was standing just far enough away that when the sun finished setting, the shards of stone skin would not hit her.
The council itself was on a platform that raised a mere ten inches from the ground. There was a total of six individuals on the council. Each council member had their main eyes facing the cluster of Gargoyles while their eye stalks continued to swivel.
Several humans gathered around to see what was going on. Unfortunately, some of those humans were Quarry Men spies. They did not, however, know how many humans were Gargmorph or Andalites in human morph. They didn't even know that some Gargoyles possessed the ability TO morph! (Heh, heh, remember? Some of them have acquired Pokemon DNA.)
Ax in human morph approached the council. He demorphed and began, *Greetings Andalite Council Delegates. We,* Ax indicated the Gargoyles and humans behind him with one hand, *appreciate your ability to come to Earth to see the Gargoyles and those that have morphed them.
*We have three humans and my brother Elfangor's son in what has been dubbed "Gargmorphs." For those who do not understand the meaning of a Gargmorph, it is simply a Gargoyle morph.* The sun finished setting. *Honored Council Delegates, the Gargoyles will awake shortly.* Striations began to show on the various Gargoyles, and E-5 was struggling to control the pain sensors as the magical metamorphosis of human turning Gargoyle also began. *As the humans would say,* he continued after all the Gargoyles were awake and E-5 had finished shape-shifting, *I now turn the time to Prince Jake.* Ax returned to the depths of the audience, where a section had suddenly been marked off for Andalites. (Andalite interest had sprung up at the mention of Elfangor.)
~Commercial Break~
~Several hours, demorphs, remorphs, and in some cases first morph of the night later~
Jake had done his part to his best ability. They all had. The Andalite Council was privately thought-speaking about what to make of all this to one another. Finally, they Andalites made a decision.
*The Andalite Council has made its verdict. The two species Homo sapien and Gargoyle are hereby no longer to be considered inferior as a whole. Their two species will be allowed to learn what we Andalites know. This does not break or bend Seerow's Law, for there will be screening tests done to make sure each individual going into the study of Andalite technology is trustworthy. Our decision is final!* the spokes-Andalite declared. *Further,* he continued as the crowd quieted, *the species Gargoyle is placed under the Intergalactic Endangered Species List. Should we gain proof of anyone killing a Gargoyle without a good reason, they shall be arrested and properly sentenced.*
Quarry Men spies vacated the area rapidly while members of the P.I.T. Crew (People for Interspecies Tolerance) and many others cheered loudly.
Abruptly, Callahan the Canis flamus appeared on the Andalites' platform! It was difficult to say whether the audience or Andalite Council was more surprised. ~~I've great news!~~ Callahan called out to anyone that could understand her, tail wagging. Those that could understand her looked puzzled, doubly so for those that had never even met her.
"What is it, Callahan?" Brooklyn asked while the crowd was still in a stunned silence.
~~I've jumped through the barrier of this dimension and the one called "Marvel Universe!"~~ The fiery hybrid leaped off the stage. She explained that after discussing matters with a spokesperson of Avalon, the skiffs would be able to take the teenagers back to the Marvel Universe along with anyone else aboard the skiff!
"You mean vwe can go home?" Night Crawler wanted clarified.
"Goliath, permission for Thermal, Dreesh, Lex, an' I to go with 'em? If I let Professor Oak care for my other Pokemon friends in the meantime? Or better yet, Rachel and Macbeth?" Brooklyn inquired.
Goliath looked at them all and inquired, "And what do your friends say?"
Soda had the Pokemon (Brooklyn's and Lexington's) go into a huddle. After a short discussion, Wind Song stated, ~~If its all right with the gym leaders, we'll stay there. Otherwise, put us with Oak. We simply prefer Rach and Macbeth and Tobias.~~
Soon, matters were discussed with Rachel, Tobias, and Macbeth. Save for Thermal, the Pokemon were "okay"ed to stay at the gym. The mutants, a demorphed Amanda, two Gargoyles, an Andalite, and a Charizard loaded themselves onto a skiff. As they began to sail off, Mew and Mewtwo reminded Callahan that Dr. Sevarius had found his own way to transdimensionally travel.
The skiff vanished into mists just when Mewtwo told Callahan, *Keep an eye on any dimension you visit. The other Hybrids are being warned. Dr. Sevarius is NOT going to get away with any plans he may be devising!*
Temporarily The End . . . Unless you'd rather it be marked "To be continued."
Oh, a couple of notes: * = telepathy/thought-speak " = regular speech/quote ~Commercial Break~ = generally, a shift in characters and/or location that lets you take a break for getting a snack or whatever and can be ignored ~~ = automatic translation of the Pokemon spoken language # = translated Yeerk speech {} = a translation of anything else that needs translating. If you need to see what an Andalite looks like, go to http://www.scholastic.com/animorphs and click on the link that goes directly to the books. It shows Ax on some of the book covers, his brother on the cover to Andalite Chronicles, an Andalite female on Hork-Bajir Chronicles, and Visser Three/One, who has an Andalite host body, on Visser. IF a person wishes to "borrow" a character that I have invented, they must ASK FIRST! I will then consider letting them use it.
Brooklyn's Tour
Mirror, Mirror, at the Mall, Where will you Send them all?
~Marvel Universe, pocket Universe of X-men: Evolution~
The various teenage mutants of Bayville High plus Amanda, Risty, and Forge were at the mall. Quick Silver, Toad, and Boom Boom were in the arcade. The others were in the food court. Across from the food court was a new antique shop. "That mirror is strange," Night Crawler stated.
The mirror happened to be on a special display. It had a paper that read, "This mirror is said to have belonged to Queen Titania of Avalon. Although it is obviously an antique, the truth to it being Titania's is not easily proved. Price: $100,000.00."
"That mirror is way too expensive, man," Spike commented.
"Chya," Rogue retorted in her usual fashion.
"So? Can you imagine having something like it in your room?" Risty shot back enthusiastically.
Lance, Kitty, Amanda, and Kurt walked over to the display for a closer look. Blob came up behind them. "Heh, I'll bet if I made you break it, you'd have to buy it," the heavyweight mutant stated, shoving Kitty into the mirror!
"Whoa!" Shadowcat shouted. She began to fall, so Kitty grabbed Kurt's shirt. The momentum wasn't even slowed. Kurt yanked on Amanda, who had to grasp at Lance. They still didn't stop falling, and the four of them rather literally fell into the mirror as Shadowcat tried to phase them through it.
Forge glanced up at the commotion just in time to notice all this. He also saw that none of the others were coming out the other side of the mirror. Before Lance finished falling, Forge jumped in shouting, "Wait for me!"
(If this was the actual series, the music from X-Men: Evolution would meld with that of Gargoyles)
~Commercial Break~
~Gargoyle Universe, Eyrie Building, arboretum~
The mists cleared. As they did, the skiff of Avalon appeared. "Jalapeno! Their back!" Broadway exclaimed.
"We are?" Brooklyn asked.
"Aye, lad! We be home!" Hudson exclaimed. His dignity kept him from leaping directly out of the skiff.
~~That was it? One adventure?~~ Soda wondered aloud, looking at Brooklyn accusingly.
Goliath walked over. "Never underestimate the will of Avalon. I had thought our quest had ended, yet Avalon needed us to protect the Xanatoses," the clan leader stated.
Suddenly, Puck, Alex, Xanatos, and Fox appeared with Titania's mirror, which had recently been repaired. Puck, in his peculiar manner, inquired, "Anyone wanna see how well we repaired Titania's mirror?"
Abruptly, five teenagers fell through the mirror. Marco, who had been in the room the whole time, wondered aloud, "What dimension did you come from?"
Kurt's holo-watch chose that minute to glitch. "Uh-oh! Vwhere are vwe?!" he asked in his thick German accent.
"You are in Manhattan. More specifically, you are in the Eyrie Building," Goliath clarified.
"No vway! Vwe can't be in Manhattan if vwe're in the building you say vwe are. Can vwe, Kitty?" Kurt asked.
Forge was grinning from ear to ear. He replied boldly, "Sure we can. Remember that dimensional stuff we learned about your teleportation, Kurt? And how this guy," the mutant pointed to Marco, "said 'what dimension'? We must've traveled through a transdimensional vortex when -"
Lance, Kitty, Kurt, and Amanda stared at Forge in Bafflement. Amanda and Kurt exchanged glances, looked at what they saw to be two red monsters, and then looked back at Forge. Shadowcat and Avalanche merely continued to stare at the "techno- geek," who had broken off abruptly to further study his surroundings when he noticed that the discussion made Kurt look ill.
Marco calmly walked up to the newcomers, considering morphing to polar bear to see the reactions. He didn't. Instead, the Animorph said, "Transdimensional teleportation? I thought only hybrids like Callahan could pull those off. Name's Marco. Going counter clockwise and starting with the business man are: David Xanatos, his wife Fox, their son Alex, several Pokemon, a few Gargoyles, another few Pokemon, another Gargoyle or so, and you guys. Oh, and the pointy-eared, floating dude is the infamous Faerie trixter Puck and he's teaching Alex magic." Marco thought to himself that this sort of adventure was far better than what happened in the stories of Alice and her trip to Wonderland.
Kurt blinked in surprise. "I am Kurt Wagner, sometimes called Night Crawler. Wolverine calls me 'Elf' or 'Blue Elf.'"
Amanda introduced herself and the remaining mutants. Then she stated, "By the way, you sort of lost me when you said 'Gargoyles' and 'Pokemon.'" More thorough introductions ensued.
Completing the introductions had soothed everyone's feelings quite a bit. ~~But these four can't understand us yet,~~ Charger the Ponyta stated. The Pokemon liked staying in the arboretum for the most part, so most of the Pokemon caught and befriended by the Gargoyles and Animorphs were there when not with their trainer or in the Pokeworld.
"You're right, and that's a problem that MUST be dealt with," Xanatos countered before any of the mirror's travelers could get a translation. "Puck? Alex? Could you get us to Oberon's Gate, please? Wait, on second thought, place us in Dreesh's classroom. Her classes will be ending any minute now. Hmm. Better just send Brooklyn, Hudson, Thermal, and our guests so Dreesh doesn't get overwhelmed." Marco snapped his fingers in disappointment.
Brooklyn smacked his forehead. Looking at Mr. Xanatos, the Gargoyle briefed those that were within earshot of his elopement. He concluded, "I guess it WAS rather a brash thing to do, Goliath, but . . . Well, we . . ."
"It is all right, Brooklyn," the Eyrie's clan leader reassured his second in command. "Just keep well in mind the vows you made, and I shall be pleased." Goliath clapped Brooklyn's sagging shoulder and left. Jeoffery and Gillie, wagging her tail, followed.
~Commercial Break~
~Dreesh's "Classroom" ~
Ax's mother was debating with his cousin about allowing Gargoyles and Pokemon, whom the elder Andalite female considered "inferior species," to be participants in the class on the morphing technology. *Andreecia-Ellanora-Isthyria! It's demeaning enough to have HUMANS taught about our technology. The Gargoyles and Pokemon are inferior species! How you can possibly think -* Ax's mother continued debating with and/or scolding Dreesh when the growl of two Gargoyles and Thermal interrupted her.
Ax, who had walked in after the Gargoyles, humans, and Pokemon, stated, *Mother, you should watch your open thoughtspeech more carefully. That, or when you are having a debate with Andreecia, keep your eye stalks moving.* His mother delicately yet angrily left the room, Ax following closely behind to defend his friends in the ongoing debate using private thought-speech.
Dreesh, meanwhile, was introduced to the mutants, Amanda, and Thermal. The female Andalite found the whole thing of falling through a mirror in that way rather interesting. *And the mirror did not break?*
"No, not that I could tell," Forge replied. "It didn't tip over, so I guess Kitty's timing for phasing was the key."
"And I don't think it would work for the return trip anyway," Kitty added, seeing the question in everybody's eyes. "I mean, like, we didn't know we'd fall into a different dimension in the first place, ya know? So, it'd be like, you know, not easy to say if it would work properly on the way home, right?"
"That's a good point, Kitty," Lance stated. Then another Gargoyle entered: a small, green, web-winged Gargoyle to be exact.
"Brooklyn! Hudson! What're you doing in Dreesh's classroom? Aren't Avalon adventures s'posed to take longer than that? And who're these humans?" Brooklyn chuckled at his rookery brother and introduced everyone again. "Oh, okay. But why're you home so soon?"
Before a conventional answer could be given, Hudson pulled the pendant from around his neck and gave it to Lexington. "Lad, I think ye'll be needing this more than I. Fun though it was, I prefer sleeping during the day to running around."
"HUH?!" came a chorus of inquires.
Kurt asked, "Vwhat d'you mean?"
*Gargoyles sleep during the day as solid stone statues,* Andreecia informed the mutants. To Hudson she asked, *But what is the use of the pendants, and why would Lexington get more use out of yours?*
Brooklyn summarized with, "Our first adventure took us to a school of sorts for people with magical talents. One of the students made a pendant for me and one for Hudson. The pendants are to keep us from turning to stone each dawn. It's kinda fun. Different, but fun. Of course, like the Guatemalan Gargoyles, without the pendant on or about us, we'll still turn to stone. Unlike their pendants, ours don't rely on other talismans to operate." Brooklyn looked at Hudson with the expression "your loss for not keeping it" across his beaked face.
Kitty and Amanda were distracted from most of the summary by what they thought was an oddly glowing, blue box-shaped paper weight. "Why's that paper weight glowing?" Shadowcat asked, pointing to the box.
Without getting a reply from anyone about the blue box, a different voice said, "C'mon, Malibu! I know he's around here somewhere. They just got back today, and Xanatos told 'em to go to Dreesh's classroom." Coming through the door on the last few words were Marco and yet another Gargoyle. This Gargoyle had Brooklyn's build but different coloring. "We'll also still have ta track down Jake, Tobias, and Rachel."
"Why track down so many people, Marco?" Hudson asked, fists on his hips.
Marco replied, "Need 'em all to prove to the visiting Andalite council that cloning Gargoyles, no matter the method, follows the Gargoyle genetic rule that no two Gargoyles ever look exactly alike. Goliath agreed to have a truce with Thailog, and your leader's also agreed to let Tobias morph him. Rachel was given permission to morph Delilah, and boy are those morphs strange to stare at. Picture Goliath colored like a red-tail hawk and with a mutated hawk's head for Tobias's morph. Give Delilah's wings Demona's wing color and have Delilah's hide turn brown. Add green hair and Hork-Bajir blades in all the appropriate places, and you've got Rachel's Gargmorph."
"WHAT?!" Hudson and Brooklyn exclaimed, wings springing open in shock.
Lexington flinched because Hudson's hand had also gone for his sword! Lex quickly recovered and stated, "Goliath doesn't want Gargoyles both being hunted by Quarry Men AND thought to be inferior to Andalites. He said, 'Humans may not have always liked Gargoyles. They have, however, been able to accept our intellect.' Then he had Tobias acquire his DNA. Rachel was in a different room, talking to Delilah and acquiring her DNA."
"Wow! I had no idea Goliath would do that. He was weirded out enough with Jake morphing ME!" exclaimed the red Gargoyle with a touch of pride.
~~Who's Jake?~~ Thermal asked her mate. ~~What's a clone? What's a morph?~~ She looked at him in the eyes with her curiosity showing quite clearly in her own.
Brooklyn patted the Charizard's shoulder and explained with help from Lexington and Dreesh.
Forge raised his hand and said, "Question: What," he put his hand down, "did Thermal even say?" Amanda absent-mindedly placed her hand on the glowing "paper weight" as she waited for a reply to Forge's question.
She jumped and shouted, "YOW!"
Everyone turned to face her. Marco grinned mischievously. He stated, "Hello wierdness, goodbye normal life! Dreesh? D'ya have one more open spot in your class for Amanda? Oh, and congrats on the new stats."
~Commercial Break~
~One week later~
"Not bad, Amanda. I'm glad Delilah, Angela, and I were able to help," said one of Angela's rookery sisters. She was visiting Angela, and the Gargess had gotten to Manhattan by Titania offering a free trip to Manhattan for any of Avalon's clan wishing to go.
"I'm glad Thermal wasn't watching! She's nice, but I get intimated by her," Amanda stated after demorphing for the tenth time that day. She had been experimenting with what Dreesh and Ax called the "Escafyl maneuver." The Gargoyles' DNA Amanda had acquired came from Goliath, Broadway, E-5's host, Angela, one of Angela's rookery sisters - the one visiting, obviously, and the hybrid clone of Demona and Elisa called Delilah.
"I'm glad Goliath and I helped, too," Broadway added, one arm wrapped around Angela's shoulder. "Besides, I'm sure you'll get the best Gargoyle form you could possibly want if you practice enough."
"Yeah, but that last one was a MALE!" Amanda exclaimed with disgust. Everyone was laughing at the way she had said that and not at the actual words.
Prior to this incident, the mutants and Amanda had crossed through Oberon's Gate to gain the ability to understand Pokemon. Oberon also had adjusted his spell so that it now added the benefit of being able to understand any creature that didn't already speak either a human language or telepathically. Now, Amanda, the mutants, and various Pokemon trainers could understand a lot more creatures, from a flea to a Gyarados.
Amanda was trying to morph a Gargoyle form she liked, but so far it wasn't working. Counting her most recent attempt, twice she had morphed a male Gargoyle. Dreesh walked up to Amanda and said, *Do not worry. Even Andalites struggle in learning the Escafyl maneuver.*
E-5 spoke up calmly, "You could have it be even worse. You could end up being a Gargbeast rather than a bipedal, winged Gargoyle."
"Yeah, and still be male," Brooklyn added. Everyone laughed again, including E-5 and Amanda.
Ax stepped forward. *I use the Escafyl maneuver every time that I morph a human. Take my advice and do not give up.* Taking a deep breath, Amanda tried once more to get the desired effect. This time, she managed to stay female. Her wings were styled like Angela's, Delilah's, and Demona's. Her coloring was similar to Broadway's. Amanda's hair remained raven black. Surprisingly, her ears were finned like the ears of Broadway and Angela's rookery sister. Amanda had medium length horns that resembled Goliath's larger ones. She also had the knee and elbow spurs, plus a spade at the end of her tail - the spade coming from Angela's rookery sister.
Looking into the full-length mirror in front of her, Amanda decided she liked this combination. "Cool!" exclaimed Kurt.
~Commercial Break~
~Following evening/night, Central Park, in front of the assembled Andalite Council~
A great semicircle of sleeping Gargoyles was arranged in front of the Andalite Council. Jake in Gargmorph and Malibu were to either side of Brooklyn, who seemed to be the at the center of the semicircular line. Amanda in Gargmorph was just beyond Jake with Goliath on her other side. Tobias in Gargmorph was between Malibu and Rachel in Gargmorph. The remaining Gargoyles in the semicircle were the other members of the Manhattan and Clone clans plus Angela's visiting rookery sister. One human stood at the far left end of the semicircle: Dominique Destine. Of course, she was standing just far enough away that when the sun finished setting, the shards of stone skin would not hit her.
The council itself was on a platform that raised a mere ten inches from the ground. There was a total of six individuals on the council. Each council member had their main eyes facing the cluster of Gargoyles while their eye stalks continued to swivel.
Several humans gathered around to see what was going on. Unfortunately, some of those humans were Quarry Men spies. They did not, however, know how many humans were Gargmorph or Andalites in human morph. They didn't even know that some Gargoyles possessed the ability TO morph! (Heh, heh, remember? Some of them have acquired Pokemon DNA.)
Ax in human morph approached the council. He demorphed and began, *Greetings Andalite Council Delegates. We,* Ax indicated the Gargoyles and humans behind him with one hand, *appreciate your ability to come to Earth to see the Gargoyles and those that have morphed them.
*We have three humans and my brother Elfangor's son in what has been dubbed "Gargmorphs." For those who do not understand the meaning of a Gargmorph, it is simply a Gargoyle morph.* The sun finished setting. *Honored Council Delegates, the Gargoyles will awake shortly.* Striations began to show on the various Gargoyles, and E-5 was struggling to control the pain sensors as the magical metamorphosis of human turning Gargoyle also began. *As the humans would say,* he continued after all the Gargoyles were awake and E-5 had finished shape-shifting, *I now turn the time to Prince Jake.* Ax returned to the depths of the audience, where a section had suddenly been marked off for Andalites. (Andalite interest had sprung up at the mention of Elfangor.)
~Commercial Break~
~Several hours, demorphs, remorphs, and in some cases first morph of the night later~
Jake had done his part to his best ability. They all had. The Andalite Council was privately thought-speaking about what to make of all this to one another. Finally, they Andalites made a decision.
*The Andalite Council has made its verdict. The two species Homo sapien and Gargoyle are hereby no longer to be considered inferior as a whole. Their two species will be allowed to learn what we Andalites know. This does not break or bend Seerow's Law, for there will be screening tests done to make sure each individual going into the study of Andalite technology is trustworthy. Our decision is final!* the spokes-Andalite declared. *Further,* he continued as the crowd quieted, *the species Gargoyle is placed under the Intergalactic Endangered Species List. Should we gain proof of anyone killing a Gargoyle without a good reason, they shall be arrested and properly sentenced.*
Quarry Men spies vacated the area rapidly while members of the P.I.T. Crew (People for Interspecies Tolerance) and many others cheered loudly.
Abruptly, Callahan the Canis flamus appeared on the Andalites' platform! It was difficult to say whether the audience or Andalite Council was more surprised. ~~I've great news!~~ Callahan called out to anyone that could understand her, tail wagging. Those that could understand her looked puzzled, doubly so for those that had never even met her.
"What is it, Callahan?" Brooklyn asked while the crowd was still in a stunned silence.
~~I've jumped through the barrier of this dimension and the one called "Marvel Universe!"~~ The fiery hybrid leaped off the stage. She explained that after discussing matters with a spokesperson of Avalon, the skiffs would be able to take the teenagers back to the Marvel Universe along with anyone else aboard the skiff!
"You mean vwe can go home?" Night Crawler wanted clarified.
"Goliath, permission for Thermal, Dreesh, Lex, an' I to go with 'em? If I let Professor Oak care for my other Pokemon friends in the meantime? Or better yet, Rachel and Macbeth?" Brooklyn inquired.
Goliath looked at them all and inquired, "And what do your friends say?"
Soda had the Pokemon (Brooklyn's and Lexington's) go into a huddle. After a short discussion, Wind Song stated, ~~If its all right with the gym leaders, we'll stay there. Otherwise, put us with Oak. We simply prefer Rach and Macbeth and Tobias.~~
Soon, matters were discussed with Rachel, Tobias, and Macbeth. Save for Thermal, the Pokemon were "okay"ed to stay at the gym. The mutants, a demorphed Amanda, two Gargoyles, an Andalite, and a Charizard loaded themselves onto a skiff. As they began to sail off, Mew and Mewtwo reminded Callahan that Dr. Sevarius had found his own way to transdimensionally travel.
The skiff vanished into mists just when Mewtwo told Callahan, *Keep an eye on any dimension you visit. The other Hybrids are being warned. Dr. Sevarius is NOT going to get away with any plans he may be devising!*
Temporarily The End . . . Unless you'd rather it be marked "To be continued."
