"Crossroads of Life" – Chapter 2
They had gotten out of there by the skin of their teeth, but not without being seen by two of the movie goers. Elisa could already see the headlines, "Gargoyle attacks innocent movie goer" or "Gargoyle Robbery Foiled" or some other such piece of gutter trash. As she flew higher and began to gain altitude a peculiar feeling came over her, a feeling of an intrusion. She could tell that Luna could feel it to, something weird was going on and she didn't like it one little bit. When she had been at full power, when Oberon had first filled her mind with all those thoughts she could sense the thoughts of the people around her. What they were thinking at the moment, what they had been thinking during the day and even what thoughts were beginning to take shape. "Is someone trying to read my mind?" she asked herself as she tried to identify what the unknown presence was trying to do. The alien presence seemed to have no real purpose, it seemed just to be probing her thoughts, her memories and perhaps just a little more. In the past week Luna had taught her many things, everything from the simplest of spells to how to absorb the magic present when agargoyle is turned from a solid stone statue to a living breathing creature. There wasn't a whole lot of magic involved in the transformation and even if there was she knew she couldn't take advantage of it. That was one of the problems with sleeping as stone, you have little or no control over your thoughts until you are just about to wake up. "Well, this mental peeping tom is going to get the shock of her life" , thought Elisa as she began to build the minuscule magic to its fullest potential, "you who trespass into my mind, whether or not you are the villainous kind, fly from my thoughts and read the sign, my thoughts are secret my thoughts are mine!" As the last words formed in her mind a bright green aura began to form around her head. Slowly a contrasting blue aura seemed to be forced from within Elisa's mind to a point outside the aura and far away. "That should keep that phsycic voyeur out of my head for a while" Elisa thought as she looked to see if Luna was alright. Apparently she had been able to fight off the alien intruder as well but with considerably more effort involved. She had never felt such a powerful presence since she had been chastised by Oberon for involving herself with the Arch-Mage. Of course it was significantly harder to fight off now that her magical abilities were denied to her. Elisa had apparently learned how to absorb the energy from her stone transformation quickly. The former NYPD detective had been able to call on her small reserve of magic to ward off the attack by the telepathic warrior but the strain had apparently weakened her a notch or two. "We must get back to the castle, if there is some sort of telepath in town Goliath must be informed" said Elisa trying to mask her fatigue. Luna had observed this trait many a time over the centuries of walking the earth. It was apparently a primal reflex to try and hide weakness, to maintain an aura of respect. Over the ages it had been confused with pride and dignity but in the end it was all basic instinct. Nodding in agreement with Elisa they climbed another few feet and glided in the general direction of Xanatos tower. Over the years of watching mankind itsurprised her how much man had become obsessed with greed, with amassing power. Upon further investigation she had found it to be a simple wish to be superior to others, to have a sense of being special. Perhaps that is why Elisa had decided not to reveal to the others that if given enough magical energy that she could transform herself back to her normal human form. True that was probably part of the reason but Luna knew that the main reason was because of Goliath. The fact that as a gargoyle she would now be able to have a romantic relationship with him without any fear of their differences. "I doubt that even if the sphere hadn't turned her into a gargoyle, that they would have never eventually showed their boundless love to one another" , thought Luna as she made a slight turn so that she brought herself right next to Elisa, "The love between them is so strong it is almost tangible, I hope they never stop loving each other." It was such a delightful sight to see them together, sharing their love with one another. Of all the possible matches that may have occurred between them this one seemed to be almost predestined to become permanent. In reality it was, according to the book of time, it had already been foretold. That and a great many other things to come that would settle any doubts she may have.
The meeting with Doctor Essex had been among the more curious events to happen in the past two years. From what Xanatos could make of him he was definitely a manipulator and a very skilled one. Already he had manipulated himself into the swaray tomorrow night and even managed to be allowed to show off some of his own merchandise. Of course he realized this completely and it was only through his good graces that he was allowed to proceed with his scheme. The Doctor had left a little more than a quarter of an hour ago and already he was making plans to turn the tables on Essex if anything went wrong. "What do you think of him Mr.Xanatos?" asked Owen as he looked at the illuminated lights indicating the floor that the good Doctor was on. "He is definitely a man of mystery and he obviously has something planned for the party tomorrow night" he said as he remembered the conversation they had just had. The good Doctor Essex had just made a major breakthrough in robotics and wished to display them to the cultural elite. When he had asked why he didn't simply make his own separate presentation on his own all he got was a look of false modesty andthe familiar "I don't know how" excuse. It hadn't fooled him in the least but why not see where the tide took him with this unexpected change in plans. "Obviously but the main question is what does he really want?" asked Owen with the signs of a concerned look beginning to form. "The only two feasible goal is that he means to either do exactly what he said hewill or.." he said as he purposefully left the sentence hanging for Owen to prod and poke at. "And?" he said in a rather puzzled tone. "Or he plans on ransacking the place and he needs to get something inside the building to accomplish it." The butler seemed to be a bit relieved when the last bit of information reached his ear. As Puck the trickster of the gods he no doubt was the one to usually keep people hanging on his every word. The opportunity to turn the tables on one so powerful was simply to tempting to pass up. "Shall I increase the security at the party sir?" he asked as he reached for his cellular phone in his blazer pocket. "No I think that we have enough security to handle whatever the mysterious scientist has in mind" he replied as he began walking towards the elevator himself. He just hoped that his smug comment rang true, for if it didn't it could meananother large loan from the Illuminati. "The human fool fell for it as I knew he would" thought the dear Doctor Essex as he left the base of the large skyscraper and into a waiting black limo. Once inside he put his long cane beside him and rolled up the dark tinted window. He had heard of this scientific achievement of Xanatos Enterprises quite a while ago but decided to wait for just the right moment to 'remove' it from that dunderhead's private inventory. As the limo pulled away from the curb and began it's swift journey down the concrete road an amazing transformation began inside the sleek interior of the limo. The man who was known as Doctor Essex looked as though his entire body was shifting in place, like the scales of a reptile move when it slithers alongthe ground. His trench coat seemed to shift as well as though it was a piece of his skin as well. If his true identity were truly known this occurrence would be considered common place. For as the skin turns a pale white and his clothes tighten around him and become an alien metal like skin this beings identity is revealed. In past years he has committed many crimes which most people would consider cruel but for him nothing matters except for his pursuit of the ultimate in genetic evolution. He, who has followed the lives of two who will produce the strongest and most powerful mutant of them all. He who has allied himself with everyone from the untamable Sabretooth to the Master of Magnetism himself. To his comrades and servants he is simply called "Master" but to all the rest he is simply known as Sinister, Mr. Sinister. "Ev'ryting goin' 'ccordin' to plan boss?" asked the slightly furry chauffeur from the front of the limo. "Yes Hairbag, Xanatos fell for it like the fool he is" , he said as he began to interface on his computer at HQ, "In forty-eight hours we will have a working time portal to use and millions in riches with which to spend." He was pleased with how things had gone but he was still a bit disappointed with David Xanatos. He had the reputation for being an underhanded manipulator but he hadn't caught any of the most common ploys that he had used. As he looked through the sun-roof of the limo to look back and smile he noticed something very odd. Two winged shapes were approaching the Xanatos building and they didn't exactly look like a pair of pigeons who had lost their way. This definitely peaked his curiosity and made his smile stretch even farther. "Maybe Xanatos is not the fool I had taken him for" , he thought as he continued his observation of the strange silhouettes as they apparently landed, "What has that boisterous billionaire have in his possession? What were those things?" A second later the mysterious shapes were gone and all he was left with to remember them by was the single question"what were those things?" dancing in his head.
Jubilee was still waiting for a response from Jean when suddenly the red haired X-Man swooned and staggered back to the brick wall of the theatre. All she had been able to deduce from watching Jean was that she had been trying to probe the minds of the flying creatures which they had just seen. Though from her point of view she wasn't so sure that she wanted to find them. So far they had just given five big creeps a ticket to the hospital with ease and made finger sized holes in solid stone. "Whatever they were they are definitely not the kind of creatures you wanted to get angry" she thought as she rushed to the side of her mutant comrade. Apparently they had been able to shake Jean's mental probe eventually which added a powerful mind to the powerful body. "Jean are you alright, what happened?" she asked as she helped her gal pal to stand up straight. It took a few minutes for her to regain her thoughts but she seemed none the worse for wear. "I-I'm fine Jubilee, I just wasn't prepared for such a counter attack" replied Jean as the strength in her legs returned. "What were those things?" she asked as she remembered the look on the gargoyle's face a few minutes before. "I'm not sure, I wasn't able to get much from either of their minds" , replied Jean as they walked to the Xavier mini-van, "It was as if they had some sort of protection from telepaths." This worried her some, the professor had said on so many occasions that Jean's telepathic power was almost as strong as his own. To know that there were a people that could stop her from dipping into their minds definitely made her feel uncomfortable. "Were you able to get anything from them?" she asked as they got into the van. "Only a place, a place very important to them" , said Jean with a look of supreme concentration on her face, "A castle high above the clouds and I was able to get a name from the dark haired one." Eager in anticipation Jubilee awaited Jean's stating of the name, anxious to learn what was inside the head of one of those one lady SWAT team. "The name was Maza, Elisa Maza" , Jean said as she started the car, "we'll ask Hank to search for any reference to the name when we get back to the Mansion." As the final bit of information sunk in Jubilee was startled to remember that nobody knew they had gone in the first place and that she would be in deep trouble no matter what valuable piece of information they had recovered.
They had made it back to the castle with little trouble, apparently the magical shock she had sent to the telepath had discouraged him from attempting again. Still that wouldn't last forever, now that he had a look inside their heads there would probably be no end to it. She had been able to shake it off before anything valuable came to light or at least she hoped she had. Last thing she needed was some creep to be giving her friends and family trouble. She knew that that wasn't the only problem that was facing her and the rest of the gargoyle clan. If the telepath found out where they slept during the day or even what happened when they slept it could mean big trouble. The second she landed in the courtyard she strode quickly inside to find Goliath and the others. Surprisingly they were in the same spot they had been before, even the trio were still playing the video game. "Elisa, what are you doing back so soon, I thought the movie was two hours?" asked Goliath as he noticed her approach. "We have bigger things to worry about than whether or not I saw the movie" she said as she gave him her "We're in deep trouble" look. "What happened?" he asked as an all to common look of concern came over his face. "We had just stopped a robbery outside the movie theatre when Luna noticed that the crowd had heard all the noise" , she explained as calmly as she could, "as we glided away someone was trying to peek into our minds, trying telepathically to get info from us." Goliath frowned in response to this, she knew then that he didn't like where this was going. The word 'robbery' had drawn the trio from the game and Brooklyn was the first person to talk. "What happened then?" he asked with a look of concern forming on his brow. "Both Luna and I were able to shake loose of the mind probe but neither of us know how much this person may have gotten." she replied as she saw Goliath's frown grow worse. This was definitely a problem but they had to remain calm and look at this rationally. They all looked at him for an answer, a course of action which they should take. Obviously since they didn't know who the telepath was they would have to restrict the amount of time they spent away from the castle. Also Xanatos would have to be informed of this development, if the person had uncovered where they slept he would have to deal with it as well. "From now on no one is to leave the castle except for an emergency" , he said as he looked at their reactions, "we can't afford to give this mind reader any more opportunities to pry into our minds." "What if this telepath has already learned of our home and how we turn to stone during the day?" asked Angela as she walked up to her father. The look on her face showed her concern but most of all her fear. She had only once faced such a dire situation, that time being with the Hunters. "That is why I must go and speak to Xanatos, if some one comes looking for us it will be up to him to deal with it" he replied as he made his way to the door. He could feel all their eyes focused on his back, their eyes begging for reassurance that everything would be alright and that they would be safe. Even when he was half-way down the hall he could feeling their hopeful gazes. He hoped that when he returned from speaking with Xanatos that he would have something reassuring to tell them. As he approached the door to Xanatos' office he could hear the multi-billionaire busy at work preparing for the party tomorrow night. Opening the doors and stepping inimmediately drew the attention of Xanatos away from the layers of paper that covered his desk. "Goliath to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" he asked happily as he got up from his desk to offer his hand. "We have a problem Xanatos" , he said at first but then decided to remove Xanatos from the picture, "that is my clan and I have a problem." This raised an eyebrow of interest on Xanatos' bearded face and Goliath hoped that was a good thing. Though the pony-tailed businessman had been acting rather honourable of late that didn't mean that he was no longer the opportunistic, scheming person he had been once before. This was certainly a surprise and an opportunity he couldn't afford to pass up. Xanatos had been asked for more favours by just about everyone around him at one time or another but one from Goliath was certainly a rare treat. There had been a few times that he had helped Goliath and his clan without being asked but having him say those words definitely sweetened things. "How can I be of service?" he asked in faux gentleman fashion. Goliath obviously noticed this which would make him even more reluctant to ask for help. "Earlier tonight Elisa and Luna had stopped a robbery at the theatre they had gone to" , he said in his usual thunderous tone, "As they left the area they felt as though their minds were being probed telepathically..." Rather then listen to Goliath's drawn out explanation he decided to just cut to the chase. "...And you want help to prevent the location of your home from becoming public knowledge." , he finished as a look of detestement fell over the forehead of the lavender gargoyle, "It would be my pleasure to aide a good friend such as yourself." He walked over to the intercom unit on the wall and called for Owen to join them. Soon the door opened and the stalwart form of Owen Burnett entered the room. "You wished to see me Mr. Xanatos?" he asked in his normal dial tone fashion. "Yes Owen, it seems we have a mental peeping tom on the loose who just recently scanned Detective Maza and Luna" , he explained as he returned to his desk, "Goliath has asked for aide in the damage control department and I have agreed to aide him." "I fail to see how I can be of service, I am not exactly a telepath" retorted the glass wearing executive. "I realise that but you are able to become one" he said with a minute grin. From the moment that he had discovered Owen's alter-ego he had felt a sense of freedom, he felt as though another weight had been lifted off the large stack mounted on his back. "Sir, you know that I am forbidden from using my powers except in the teaching or protecting of Alexander" said the navy-blue wearing stuffed shirt. "True but it shouldn't be hard for a master of subterfuge such as Puck to bend and twist things to accomadate the problem" said Xanatos as he noticed a slight grin form on the face of Owen. With no more than a slight adjustment of his glasses the form of Owen Burnett vanished in a puff of smoke and the maniacal Puck took his place. Puck had always liked the way Xanatos thought, it was so much looser than Oberon's strict way. It was in these rare moments that he actually felt some freedom return to his being. Oh sure he had been allowed to use his powers to their full extent once or twice before but even then he hadn't really been free. "Alright Xanatos I'll lend my expertise for the job" , he said is his usual nonsense fashion, "but if either Oberon or Titania punish me for this be prepared to receive an unpleasant surprise within the hour." The billionaire simply raised an eyebrow at this open threat, that at least meant that he was concerned a bit and concerned he should be. Though none of his brothers or sisters had been able to prove it he had pulled of some of the most humiliating pranks of all time on them all. "Let's go down and see just how much knowledge was pilfered from the two bachalorettes" said Puck as he began to float toward the door. As he left the room he could hear the heavy footfalls of Goliath and the softer footfalls of Xanatos behind him. When he entered the living room the resounding groans and muttered curses erupted almost immediately. "Thank you, thank you and thank YOU!" said the miniature Vulcan as he proceeded towards Maza and Luna. It was obvious by the former weird sister's expression that she would have rathered an agonising death to being in his presence. Maza's wasn't exactly the same but the show of bitterness did not lessen any. "Alright, let's get this over with." , he said as he proceeded to do a bit of detective work on the detective, "I still have papers up to wazoo to look over before the party!" Luna didn't relish the thought of having her no-good brother poking around anybody's head, especially not hers. Unfortunately it was necessary if they were to discern how much the telepath had uncovered in their minds. He went over to Elisa first which came as no surprise considering he felt the same way about her as she did about him. "Now Maza, if I am to find out what was discovered by the peeping tom I can't have your powers getting in the way" , said the floating prankster named Puck, "So I'd appreciate it if you practised controlling your absorption ability during the process." With a slight nod Elisa closed her eyes and began to concentrate, trying to control the power within her. Taking notice of her entranced state Puck began the process of telepathy. "Your mind has been invaded, and another mind pervaded, reveal now what has been seen, and sent down a telepath's beam" chanted Puck and with a small puff of air a purple mist danced through the air towards Maza. Soon it touched her and began to surround her entire head, drifting around her like fog does in London. Luna looked closely on the taunt skin of Elisa Maza and watched to see if the spell had taken effect. With the opening of her mouth came the signal that Luna had been looking for, the spell had taken effect. From the small openingbetween her soft lips came the response to Puck's request, in the from of a slightly greenish mist. Soon the mist had traversed across the open air between Puck and Maza and entered the waiting mouth of the the silver haired fairy. With a look of puzzlement the floating comedian sifted through the information he had received. A minute later his expression returned to it's normally jovial, comical self. "Well I have done all I can and I have to say Maza that you need a real clean-up job in that head of yours" , Puck said as he turned up his nose in disgust, "but the state of your mind is beside the point, the fact is that all that was discovered was your name and whatever you were feeling emotionally at the moment." The look on Maza's face was one of the most unusual she had seen in a long time, it was a cross between angry, afraid and relieved. When you try and put something like that all on one face it is not a very pretty sight. Elisa wasn't pleased with what she heard, not one tiny bit. Although all that had been revealed was her name and emotions that still might be enough for the telepath to find them with. All they would have to do is ask all of her friends at the police station and her family and they might have enough info to deduce that the gargoyles are living in Castle Wyvern. Matt knew where the gargoyles were and his conspiracy developing mind probably had a few ideas as to where she was. If a telepath began to ask him questions thoughts of the castle might crop up and that would all the person or persons would need. "I have to call Matt and warn him about this" , she thought to herself, "he's the only one besides me who knows where the gargoyles live now and that could mean trouble." Slowly she sauntered across the room and picked up the phone. It took about five rings but eventually the phone at Bluestone's apartment was picked up. "Matt here, what's up?" said a fatigued voice at the other end of the line. "Matt, it's Maza. Look I don't have a lot of time to talk" , she said as she saw confused expressions sprout up everywhere, "for the next few days try not to think of the guys at all." Her former partner was obviously as confused as the others were, that much could be heard from the quick gasp on the phone. "Elisa man am I glad to hear from you, your parents and Chavez are pounding me for answers and I'm running out of answers!" , said Bluestones frantic voice, "and what's this 'don't think about the guys' your talking about?" She should have expected that he'd ask for more details but she had hoped that this one time she would stop being a cop for a minute. "Look, there's somebody out there with telepathic abilities looking for gargoyles" she explained impatiently, "she scanned me tonight and was able to get my name, they might come to the prescient asking questions so I need you to give them the run-a-round." With a deep sigh of realisation her partner said"Alright I'll try but you better talk to your parents where you've been for the past two weeks or I could be in major trouble!" She knew that he would say that, she did owe everyone back at the prescient and at home an explanation. The only thing that had stopped her the past few weeks was fear, fear of how they would react and how they would think of her.
By Ryley Breen AKA Shadow Master
"Jean, did you hear that?!" asked Jubilee as the sounds of a pitched battle rang throughout the theatre. The telepathic redhead made no comment as she got out of her seat and began to make her way to the site of the battle. "Well I'm not gonna miss out on a fight this time!" she thought as she followed Jean as she ran down towards the entrance. From what they could hear it was like a zoo out there, the sounds of a cougar growling filled the air. As they approached the doorway they spotted the unconscious form of one of the peculiar individuals that she had spotted earlier. "What tore into him!?" she asked as she examined the limp form. Aside from some small slash marks on the front of his coat he seemed perfectly okay. Then she heard another growl from the front entrance of the theatre and from what she could see some creatures were attacking this guys pals outside. Neither Jean nor herself waited another moment they immediately left the fallen thug and went to investigate what was going outside. At first all she could see was some sort of winged animal ramming the head of one of the creeps into a lamppost. "Ouch, those things have one mean attitude!" thought Jubilee as the limp form of yet another trench coated thug fell to the ground. As soon as they were four feet from the doors the beast whirled around and looked at them. They didn't look all bad, for the most part they looked almost human. Definitely female in appearance with large wings on its back and a long powerful looking tail. With a quick word to another nearby beast like it they both took off across the street. "They can't seriously think they can avoid people just by running through the alleyways" thought Jubilee as she saw the two forms almost reach their destination. She found out she was right but at the moment she wished she wasn't, with a look of surprise and shock on her face she watched the two winged forms begin to climb the brick front of the building across the street with their bare hands. The sound of crumbling stone shocked her even more as she noticed that the two forms were digging into the solid brick wall with their own fingers. Looking at the equally awe struck Jean Grey she watched as the two creatures leaped from the top of the building and flew off into the sky. Fortunately Jean was a might bit quicker to recover from her state of confusion than Jubilee and was apparently trying to read the two flying form's minds.
"This would have been a lot easier if that stinkin' telepath had just minded his own business" thought Elisa as she prepared to say goodbye and hang up.