(Sorry for the long delay and false update—noticed a lot of errors last time, went and corrected them)
Title: Trials of Faith: Part 3: Elitism
Author: Majin Gojira
Category: Action/Adventure/Drama/Crossover
Rating: PG-13
Type of Crossover: WNU Based Crossover AU (don't mean I gotta stick to it, but it's a much easier starting point for the amount and type of crossovers involved, plus it has a good formula for including new crossovers.
For those crossovers, I need to explain the altered histories and dynamics of the various other media brought in: Specifically Gargoyles and Harry Potter.
Gargoyles: Timeline has been altered. After the Original Series ended, a period of stagnation occurred among the gargoyles and has lasted for a while. People treat Gargoyles in a similar vein to the Jersey Devil of the Pine Barrens. Many believe them, many don't, but all the locals profit off it. Oberon and his children have been drastically altered: Half of the creatures claimed to be Oberon's children are not (Anubis is a Gua'old/Ancient; Odin is an Asgard; Anansi is Atlach-Nacha; Banshee is a true spirit) Oberon, Titania, Puck, the Weird Sisters and the like are members of the Q Continuum. New Olympians do not exist. Nokkar exists and the Space Spawn he fights/is here to fight are the Star Spawn of Cthulhu.
Harry Potter: By the date this series is set in (around 2002/2003), Harry and the gang all graduated and moved on after Voldermort's second/final fall. But that did not stop tragedy from striking Hogwarts when the King of Terror leveled the school in the beginning of 2000. All HP Wizards have Magical Ability, but can usually only express it through wands. Their magic is generally weaker and less varied in many aspects to the other forms of magic in the WNU. Thus, in order to protect them from the darker magic of the world, they cloistered themselves off and slowly, strangely, they began to think of themselves as better than the 'muggles' who could not work their brand of magic, which was more 'light', but much more complicated to work. For all conflicting creature definitions, consider WNU primary creatures as the true forms and all others as exaggerations and misinterpretations placed in by the authors of the works. They are not nearly as in control and world spanning as they want 'muggles' to believe through the propaganda of J.K. Rowling. Yes, propaganda. Other series have loads of propaganda in them; it just takes a discerning eye to notice it. Basically, think about what Anne Rice has done for Vampires, J.K. Rowling has done for Wizards.)
Summary: Friends and Enemies anew come to Faith's attention…
Legal: Same as Before
Distribution: Same as Before
***
Six Years Ago…
"Faith, as the Slayer, you're going to have to recognize some of the more common Extra-planar, Extra-dimensional, and non-human species local to the area," Dr. Egon Spengler said in his classic laconic tone, "In order to make our and your life a little easier"
"I'm all for the easy life" Faith smirked, "As long as you don't insult my intelligence with this shit"
"Every time you speak is an affront to mine." Egon intoned.
"Hey!"
"To begin with, let us look at the species known as "Gargoyles". Spawn of the dragon 'Gargoullie', it is said that those who looked into the dragons eyes were transformed into them. Though there is no support to lend credence to this myth, Gargoyles and "Dragons" are linked genetically. They are sentient and extremely territorial, basing their entire society on protecting an area and those who reside in it…."
As Egon droned on, Faith began to dose off…
***
Faith now wished she had paid more attention to Egon's lesson on Gargoyles—for two were standing between her and Bane.
One was a female with lavender skin and dark hair. The other was a portly light blue/green male. The Venom-laden Bane dwarfed both gargoyles—even with their impressive wingspans.
Faith's vision was blurry, her ears were ringing, the sound of her own heart slammed against her eardrums like the bellows of a hellish ironsmith. She couldn't hear much of anything as she stood on quivering legs.
"Angela, get her out of here, NOW" the light blue/green male ordered, unknown
to Faith, he was called 'Broadway'.
Angela, the lavender female, moved swiftly towards Faith.
Bane cursed in anger "NO! You will not rob me of my prize!" as he gave chase to Angela—allowing Broadway to tackle Bane to the ground.
Broadway roared in exertion as he grappled with Bane. To his horror, he soon found that his feet were no longer touching the ground. Bane lifted Broadway over his head and threw the heavyset Gargoyle into an adjacent brick wall. This fazed him slightly, but did not have a lasting effect.
Angela was having even less luck with her charge. Faith was in no condition to think rationally. She was exhausted, beaten, strained and generally stressed. Her mind was in its most primitive of thought processes: fight or flight—currently, flight seemed to be the best option, but fighting off a charging figure was not completely removed from the list.
Angela was taken off guard as Faith nailed her jaw with a spin kick, sending the female gargoyle spinning off her feet and onto the concrete. Faith landed with very little grace and a grunt of pain before limping away as fast as her broken and battered body could carry her.
The lavender gargoyle did not let that faze her for long, however. She was back on her feet and quickly bounded after Faith on all fours. With feline grace she leapt onto a car, and then onto a lamppost. From there she opened her wings and glided down and snatched Faith in her talons.
"Got ya!" Angela exclaimed as she and Faith rose into the air.
Faith, for her part, began to struggle in the Gargoyle's grasp.
"PUT ME THE HELL DOWN!" Faith yelled as she wriggled and thrashed about like a salmon in the claws of an eagle.
"You need to get to a hospital, I'm taking you there." Angela informed her passenger.
With the word 'Hospital', Faith began to experience a new kind of fear. Fear of being discovered: by the cops, by the Watchers, by Angel…by Buffy.
Faith brough her legs up and wrapped them around Angela's head, then flipped her over and brought the Gargoyle to the hard streets below. Angela landed on her back and Faith bounced off the Gargoyle's body like a tightly wound spring—landing unceremoniously on her side. Both were rather slow to rise, Angela getting to her feet long before Faith had made it to her knees—but their delay in escape did not matter, they had put enough distance between themselves and Bane for him to lose track of where they went. That and Broadway was keeping his hands full while they escaped.
`
Angela limped over to the broken and bleeding form that the Slayer had become, who, for her part, looked up at the slender Lavender form and smirked.
"I don't do hospitals", Faith spat.
"I'm not just going to leave you here to die!" Angela growled.
Faith looked up at the determined form before her. She realized that Angela would not let her alone to let the Slayer healing take over. Faith would have to knock her out in order to escape the helping claws of the gargoyle. Something her body was physically incapable of doing right now. With a sigh of defeat Faith rose shakily on bruised legs and waved her hands, letting Angela know that she wouldn't struggle anymore.
"Is there some place you want me to take you?" Angela asked, her demeanor much calmer.
Faith was about to answer, but suddenly felt dizzy. Her vision blurred a bit and her legs felt like uncooked bacon strips. She collapsed in Angela's arms and passed out.
*
Gotham City MuseumGwen Raiden was good at what she did and she knew it. Few thieves could match the quality of her work. This job would be no different from a hundred jobs she'd pulled before. She liked her work. It paid well and the excitement and challenge of each new job was always welcomed
As she repelled down to the museum floor, she heard something—something not very pleasant: the sound of webbing.
"Fancy meeting you here" Spider-girl asked as she repelled down next to Gwen.
"What? Run out of electricity puns in our first meeting?" Gwen snarled.
"Well, I thought…why waste 'em? Save 'em for someone who has a sense of humor." Spider-girl answered.
Gwen did not respond; she simply clanged the metal bracers on her forearms together—activating the weapons. The metal bracers were similar to her ancestor's gloves when he was known as "The Shocker". They were built to amplify and project her electrical production into solid beams. Based on the basic design of her forbearer, and improved upon with many modern modifications.
Gwen reached forward and fired a twin blast at Spider-girl, who only barely dodged the bolts. Gwen flipped down to the Museum floor and began to try and electrocute the blue and red-clad hero. Gwen cursed inwardly at having to face Spider-girl again in New York. According to the plan, she was now relegated to 'distraction for the superhero'—a position she loathed.
Two floors below them, the other thieves hired by the Kingpin were continuing with the heist.
"It was certainly brilliant of them to do this—putting a glass fake on display and keeping the real "Heart of the Dragon" in a safe in the sub-basement; pretty smart…but not smart enough." Arisen Lupin III, the infamous Gentleman Thief, chuckled as he and his crew made their way to the safe, walking safely through after Gwen disabled the electronic surveillance a few minutes before she began her descent through the roof. Lupin was a tall man with a long face and brown hair. He wore a red coat, yellow tie, white shirt and brown pants—all very dressy attire, as the master thief liked it. "Look at that! I didn't think they made this model of safe anymore! This'll be a cake walk." Lupin smiled confidently as they approached the safe.
"Sometimes, I think you just use your ego to crack the safes, Lupin." Gigen commented as the master thief went to work. Gigen was much more down to earth, a Japanese man with a well developed beard. He wore a blue suit and hat that seemed to conceal his face very well.
"We must hurry. Gwen will not be able to hold Spider-girl off forever." Goemon added. Goemon was more traditional; he looked as if he was a samurai. And for the modern world, he technically was.
"What? Afraid we can't handle teenaged girl in spandex?" Lupin teased before he got to work with cracking the safe. "Hmm…teenaged girl in spandex…"
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Lupin" Gigen said as he watched for any approaching dangers with his trusty Magnum revolver drawn and at the ready.
"There was a very good reason we avoided New York for much of our lives. Spider-girl is one of them. We can probably handle Spider-girl, or even Batman. But if Superman shows up…"
"Relax and let me work my magic..." Lupin assured.
*
Angela flew back to the castle on uneasy wings. Many thoughts tumbled through her head. Was leaving Broadway with Bane the right thing to do? Should the girl in her arms be taken to a hospital despite her pleases not to be? Why was she being attacked by Bane? Why was she so strong?
She soon reached the Erye building and glided toward the castle on top of it. Thankfully, Owen was still at the castle, Alex having fallen asleep many hours earlier.
"Owen!" Angela shouted as she landed next to him.
Owen, a tall, well dressed, broad shouldered blond man, went up to the gargoyle with the same calm, focused demeanor he handled everything else. "Is there a good reason why you have brought this woman here and not to the paramedics?"
"She refused to—and provided too much of a struggle to not ignore her request. I did not know where else to take her." Angela answered.
Owen noticed that when Angela mentioned the struggle the now sleeping girl put up, she moved her neck to the side and displayed to rather large, ugly bruises around it.
"She did that to you?" Owen asked, his voice not displaying any of the surprise he was feeling.
"Yes, I don't know how though. Could be part of the reason Bane was attacking her—Owen, she needs some medical attention. We can talk about her after she begins to heal. The sun should be up in another hour or two."
*
Precinct Building
Detective Elisa Maza did not like what was happening in her city. Neither did anyone else down at the station. Elisa Maza, despite the aura of negativity she was exuding at the moment, was always an eye catcher. Hair so dark it seemed to be blue contrasting her mocha-olive skin, all accenting her well defined figure. She was dressed in her usual attire while on the job: Read leather jacked, black shirt and jeans.
"More reports of this 'Slayer' Character." Detective Matt Bluestone told her partner. He was a little older than Elisa and showing the first signs of graying in his red hair. The tall detective's attire was more fitting of an old detective movie: Tan trench coat and Olive tie on his suit. More authoritarian than Elisa's 'free spirited' nature, he still kept at his conspiracies—because he knew already that there was more to the world than meets the eye. The Slayer was one of those things. "This time at a club in Gotham, it appears that she and two of our more colorful residents saved the club from some unknown creature. Whatever it was exploded and covered the place with…liquefied ham."
"Liquefied…Ham?" Elisa chuckled, completely unnerved and surprised by the notion.
Matt nodded.
"This town just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Elisa sighed.
"I did a little deep research" Matt began, "it appears the title of 'Slayer' isn't all that new. Turns out there have been reports of women known as "The Slayer" going back sporadically since there've been records kept. Most of the write-ups are for violent incidents and breaking and entering. Usually, several months or years later, they turn up dead, either torn up, neck snapped or—get this, drained of their blood. Nothing quite like what we're dealing with here. They've never tangled with normal street punks or vigilantes."
"Any matches on the fingerprints we found?"
"One, but no one can access the file—someone's got it locked up tighter than Fort Knox—" Elisa smiled.
"Looks like Lex will get to flex his muscles online again…"
"Probably"
"Anyway, her pattern doesn't make much sense. First she beats up a small time gang; then, later, several muggers. Next she's spotted fighting the Batman on two separate occasions. Next day, she's spotted taking on some of the Scorpions with Ben Grimm in his neighborhood. Later that same night: she, Spider-girl and Batgirl all show up at a club to deal with…some big animal. We think it was a pig, because the place just smells like, and is covered in: ham."
"Ham?"
"Ham. How a wild boar got in the club is still a big question, we need to find out what's going on… Wait, what was the locked file called?" Matt asked.
"It was labeled 'Jamie Lloyd'." Elisa Answered.
*
"Got it!" Lupin shouted as the safe slowly opened. "Told you, there isn't a safe in the world I can't crack!"
He looked inside, and there, sitting on a pedestal, glowing in an unnatural hue, was the ruby known as the 'Heart of the Dragon'.
He reached inside and snatched the mystical gem and placed it in his favorite hiding place—under his collar.
"Signal the lightning rod! We're outa here!" Lupin shouted as he and his accomplices began to run towards their exits. Lupin depressed one of his cufflinks and slid out the way he entered.
The trigger signaled an audio signal device in Gwen's gloves. The device beeped three times.
"Well, it's been fun, but I gotta run" Gwen smiled.
"And how do you expect to do escape this time?" Spider girl asked as she tried again to web-up Gwen, who deftly avoided the adhesive.
"Little something I've been working on recently." Gwen smiled and placed her hands on the ground. She had studied the structure very carefully and knew where to place her hands in order for the maximum effective radius for the trick she was about to pull. "I call it a Bug Zapper"
With that, she sent incredibly large electrical charge through all of the metal components of the museum's structure—which happened to be quite a lot.
Spider-girl attempted to leap away from the large electrical discharge, just managing to get outside as a blinding flash shone from the building. When the flash subsided, Gwen was gone—much to Spider-Girl's frustration.
*
Faith awoke in a strange environment—a stone structure, with modern medical equipment around her and hooked into her. Something she really didn't like. As she rose, she saw a well built, blond man who appeared to be as ridged as wood. He was reading The Wall Street Journal, as she rose; he turned to her with a start. She could sense something unnatural around him, but could not quite place it as of her just waking up.
"This is rather surprising." Owen said as Faith turned to look at him, in almost equal confusion. Owen was surprised at how quickly the girl had recovered.
"I'm full of those." Faith sneered as she turned to get up out of the bed.
"You shouldn't—"
"—be able to move? Get up so soon? Be all healed up? Take your pick, I'm not gonna answer how. It just happens." Faith said as she pulled the various wires and tubes from her body, thankful that her cloths from the night before remained intact next to the bed—cleaned and pressed even.
"Hey, thanks for cleaning these things—and the medical care I kinda didn't really need. Nice thought though"
"No problem at all, madam" Owen responded.
"Mind telling me where I am?"
"Not at all, the Eyrie building, headquarters of Xanatos Enterprises"
'From one billionaire's grasp into another' Faith thought, but did not mention her concerns aloud, though they were partially evident on her face.
In the Pucks mind, he knew what who was standing before him: the Slayer. Even he respected the mantel the girl carried. He did not wish to reveal his knowledge of her identity any time before the time he would deem appropriate, Xanatos, on the other hand…
"I guess that you wish to see your benefactors, or are you simply planning on leaving us immediately after your miraculous recovery?" Owen asked.
Faith gave him a blank stare. "…Let's… do that thing you said" Faith said, as she tied her shoes. "What time is it anyway?"
"Just after sunset, your benefactors are just waking up."
"Right, they turn to stone during the day." Off Owen's look, she added "I worked with the Ghostbusters for several months; they had a file on those guys."
"Interesting" Owen noted.
With that, the left the small recovery room and entered the halls of the castle. As Faith and Owen traveled towards up one of the towers, Faith's sharp ears picked up on the noise of shuffling claws—assuming them to be the Gargoyles, she heard one say "Let us see how our 'guest' is doing". It was a deep, gravely voice which was clearly not pleased by the situation the owner found it in. It was a voice that put Faith a little on edge.
As they came into her line of sight she spoke up: "I'm doin' rather well, actually, haven't slept that well in long while."
"What the-?"
"How?"
"It's not possible, not with all the wounds you had!"
Faith looked over the troop of Gargoyles before her. The most prominent of them was the 'big one': Lavender in color, square topped head, black hair, and HUGE. Nearest to him was the female purple one from the night before, 'Angela' if she heard right—amidst all the ringing in her own head. The fat one was with her. Next to them was a red gargoyle with a prominent beak, twin horns atop his skull and white hair. In front of the beaked one was a small, slime-green gargoyle with webbings between his limbs—no wings, and a rounded head. To the big ones other side was a grizzled old gargoyle with twin like skull ridges that reminded Faith of that weirdo Trekkie whom she saved—unknown to her, he was dressed as a Klingon. The old gargoyle also had white hair and a small sword at his side. The older one wore the most clothing next to the female; the old warrior had leather armor on him. Then, there was the Gargoyle-beast. A canine creature with a ridged back, webbed ears and a slightly pug face. Faith could tell that these creatures could detain her against her will if they wanted to—not easily, but they could. That fact innerved the Slayer.
"So, do I have to answer your questions, or can I just bolt? I'm kinda hungry--"
"That's alright, I was about to make breakfast anyway, you can stay and eat" the tubby one announced.
"And offer us an explanation" the beaked one followed up.
"Hey, I'm not one to turn down free food, I'm wicked hungry."
*
"Do you have the item that I requested?"
"Of course, I always deliver what is requested of me." Kingpin answered.
"Excellent…at last, the Heart of the Dragon…"
"Now, as for the fee for my services..."
"Oh? Yes, here's your gold." The man said as he placed a sizable bag on the Kingpin's desk.
"Thank you Mr. Malfoy, I hope we can do business again"
*
Elisa Maza was greeted with an unusual sight as she entered the main hall of castle. Her friends had a guest. A girl in her early 20s, dark hair, pale complexion, dressed as if she was heading to a club. She was seated at the long table seated with the Gargoyles—apparently in an eating contest with Broadway—or at least eating as much as he usually did.
"I hope I'm not interpreting anything…" Elisa said as she approached the table.
Goliath, the large purple Gargoyle, as Faith was told, immediately rose to great the visitor. Faith could see the attraction between the two. Faith's mind immediately went to a dirty place, imaging what could be done with a Gargoyles tail…
"Elisa, this is Faith. Faith this is Elisa Maza." Goliath introduced.
"She's a Vampire Slayer!" Lexington, the smallest gargoyle blurted out.
'So much for that secret identity thing' Faith thought as she slurped up spaghetti, fearing it her last bite given Elisa's look. Faith sighed and filled in a little. "MTV version: Vampire Slayer. A.K.A. 'the Slayer', Mystical Warrior, one girl chosen to fight the forces of darkness, given the strength and skill and stop me when I'm boring you."
"No…Go on" Elisa answered, her curiosity peeked.
"Basically I got superpowers and a calling to use them all in one convenient, hot little package."
"Does that include beating up street thugs?"
"Only when they get rowdy." Faith said before swallowing another mouthful. "Something tells me you know more than that Ms-"
"Detective"
"…Well, shit." Faith cursed, placing her utensils down and leaning back in her chair, "So, what do you think you know, Sherlock? Cuz you wouldn't be given me that look if you didn't think you knew something."
All of the attention in the room was now focused on the two women as they continued their dialogue.
"About three nights ago reports began trickling in from Gorham about a new vigilante running around. After beating up a few random muggers and a minor gang, she was seen fighting the Batman."
Elisa paused, allowing Faith to intercede.
"Some asshole Politician told me that the guy wasn't human. And like an idiot I believed him."
"Any names?"
"Lex Luthor—kind of out of your league, I'd say. Plus I can't really do jack to him since he's holding all the cards against me."
"All of the cards?" Goliath inquired.
With a deep sigh, Faith said "I'm an ex-con."
A stunned silence filled the room before Elisa continued. "Last night, word has it she took down a bunch of Scorpions with the help of… 'A big stone man'"
"Ben Grimm, You know, 'the Thing'…of the Four?"
"…No" Brooklyn said after a pause.
"You're kidding, right?" Lexington asked, "The 'Fantastic' Four was a group of humans all with special powers and abilities who traveled around the world helping people. They did it during the 60's and 70's, I think. I wondered what happened to them…"
"Anyway, next we here that she's scene fighting--"
"A Ham Demon" Faith Interrupted.
"…You're kidding."
"Slayers fight demons, lass. It's what they do." Hudson answered.
"Even if they are made of ham" Faith added.
"Anyway, she fought this…Ham Demon, along with Batgirl and Spider-Girl. Care to fill anything else in?" Elisa finished
"After the Ham demon, I got in a fight with some Asian chick—Lady Diva or something"
"Shiva?!" Angela exclaimed, "You fought Lady Shiva"
"Yeah, that was it, real nut-job. Wanted to fight to the death or some crazy stunt…Anyway, after knocking her out, that big bruiser Bane blindsides me and really works a number on me. And that's when you two" She motioned to Broadway and Angela "Swooped in."
"I brought her here because she refused to go to a hospital, and the sun would soon rise" Angela explained.
"It was the whole ex-con thing. That and last time I was in a hospital, I was in a coma for 8 months. Not a fun experience."
"I know" Elisa added. "So 'Faith', what are you going to do now?"
"Now, I'm going to pig out as much as I can." She said, turning to Broadway "You're one helluva cook"
The round gargoyle blushed at this statement, to Angela's secreted annoyance.
"Then," Faith continued, "I'd thought I'd get out of your hair and go patrol"
"You're welcome to join us on our patrol, it would be nice to have the Slayer with us" Hudson said with a broad smile.
"Sure" Faith accepted, "Always up to try something new. And patrolling with Gargoyles is pretty new to me" She then hurriedly finished off the remaining spaghetti and cleaned off her mouth. "Just say the word and I'm with you."
"Alright," Goliath began, "Tonight--"
"Hold on, before you give assignments I have to borrow Lex for the night" Elisa interrupted.
"Is it for what I think it is?" Lex's eyes brightened.
"Yep" Elisa smiled.
"Alright!" the webbed gargoyle exclaimed before dashing off to the computer room of the castle. Elisa slowly followed, "I'll catch up with you after patrol."
"In that case…" Goliath began "Faith will come with me to Central Park, Brooklyn and Hudson will take the south side. Angela and Broadway, you take the lower east side."
*
"Alright, what do you want me to hack into tonight?" Lexington asked excitedly as he took a seat in front of his extraordinarily powerful and compact computer. Lex enjoyed using his computer skills, for it was something that truly set him apart from the rest of the clan. Given the inherent general communist leanings of most clans, finding this expression of individuality and using it was something he cherished dearly.
"We found some fingerprints tonight, but the file for the perp is locked tight."
"Give me a second…I'm in. What's the file labeled?"
"Jamie Lloyd"
Lexington typed into the computer at a blistering pace. "There…you're right, this baby is locked up tight, but...not tight…enough…Bingo!"
Lexington had worked his magic well and the file lay before them like an open book. As he looked at the file, the profile picture was frighteningly familiar to him.
"Hey, this is-"
"I know"
"Jamie Lloyd a.k.a. Jamie Strode a.k.a. Elektra Nachios a.k.a. Faith a.k.a. Faith Wilkins a.k.a. Gina Lloyd
Date of Birth: April. 29. 1980
Parents; Mother: Laurie Strode/Laurie Meyers a.k.a. Keri Tate. Father: James Lloyd.
Other known relatives: Michael Meyers (Uncle) (deceased-1998?). John Strode/Tate (Brother). Angelo LaMarca (son)"
"That explains the name changes."
"How so?"
"Michael Meyers is…was…a serial killer. One of the worst psychos the world has ever known"
"Wow, look at this—in 1988 and 1989 Meyers went after her. Thankfully he was stopped by Dr. Samuel Loomis—hey, didn't he handle the Norman Bates case?"
"No, but he did write the book on it"
"After his second appearance by Michael Meyers and someone else, the file doesn't list the name, she runs off to New York for a few years. Wow, look all this…theft, breaking and entering, drug possession…in 1996 she gives birth to a son, fathered by Joseph LaMarca."
"Joseph LaMarca—I know that kid…doing time for murder and drug possession. His Father was my first partner."
"Small World, eh? Anyway," Lex continued, "in 1998, something happens. She straightens up for a while during the summer and works for the Ghostbusters…records are spotty in August and September, but next she shows up in California and then…Wow…wait…Huh? What the—"
"I think the others deserve to see this file. Looks like "Faith" still has a lot of explaining to do…"
*
"I don't get it Lupin? Why are we following that gem around?" Gigen asked as Lupin followed the gem's carrier intently through a pair of binoculars.
"You may not know this, but the Heart of the Dragon is a mystical artifact." Lupin began to explain. "Said to possess restorative abilities for dark creatures"
"So whoever Kingpin sold the gem to is not going to be using it for positive means" Goemon finished for Lupin.
"And judging by the buyer's attire, I'd say he's a wizard"
"A wizard? You're kidding!" Gigen exclaimed.
"No, I'm serious. I have a second cousin, once removed on my father's side, who was a Wizard" Lupin answered. "AHA! He's entering Central Park"
A voice startled the intrepid trio as Gwen Raiden arrived "I hope I'm not to late" She smiled.
"Nope, you're just in time." Lupin said as he looked through the binoculars. He watched the man enter the crypt with impunity, making sure to note the method and position in which he did it. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something very interesting.
"Hello!" Lupin exclaimed, "There's a Gargoyle heading in with some girl in his arms!"
"That'll complicate things" Gwen growled.
"But in a good way, my dear." Lupin smiled.
"Don't call me 'dear' ever again, Lupin"
*