Death, and a loss
of Trust
Author: Darkness. Address: darknessdescending2000@yahoo.co.uk
Author's Note: Once again, I don't own the Malus Codicium, it was created by sci-fi author Dan Abnett (who rocks!), now that that's cleared up, don't sue me!
The Macbeth Estate
Demona stirred wearily, her eyes flickering open slowly. She couldn't see anything; she was surrounded by total darkness. She in a considerable amount of pain wherever she was, she tried to sit up, but found she couldn't, experimentally, she tried to move all her limbs, one at a time, gritting her teeth and ignoring the burning pain, as expected, she couldn't move. She had been restrained quite heavily.
She heard the creaking of a door opening somewhere but couldn't turn her head in the direction of the sound. Suddenly a very powerful light above her flared, blinding her. She shut her eyes quickly, over the hum of the light, she could hear soft footsteps approaching where she lay, she felt a shadow come over her head. She opened her eyes to regard the new comer, her eyes widening as she recognise his upside down face.
"Brooklyn?"
"Nice to see you finally pulled yourself together," replied the red gargoyle, grinning, "It wasn't very pleasant picking you up with some shovels."
"Why the Hell are you helping Thailog?"
Brooklyn gave her an odd look, before something appeared to click at the back of his head.
"Oh that's right, I forgot! I was Thailog back there."
"What are you talking about?"
"I used a spell to make myself look like Thailog to freak you out. It worked too."
"When did you start using spells?"
"I have been using them since I helped break Fang out of the Labyrinth."
Demona looked stunned. "That was you?"
"Yep."
"Why? I thought you hated Fang?"
Brooklyn shrugged. "Necessity makes for some very strange bed fellows."
"And Malibu, he's involved in this as well I presume?"
"He's the one who suggested we save him."
Demona stayed still, taking all this new information in. She looked from side to side. She was securely clamped to a steel-operating table in what appeared to be a dungeon of some sort. She looked back up at Brooklyn. Despite being upside down to her, she could make out that he was wearing some sort of black outfit.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
The grin on Brooklyn's face vanished in an instant, his eyes flared white as he slapped her, hard across the face.
"Do you really have to ask you bitch!" he roared, slapping her violently again. "You used me! You fucking used me! It's because of you we're on the verge of extinction! You killed countless people! And you've gotten off scot-free with it as well!"
Tears of rage were forming in his eyes, he moved to the side of the table, grabbed her by her red hair with his left hand, while raining blow after blow to her face with his right, all the while spitting venom at her. After five minutes of unrelenting violence, he stopped.
Demona had never experienced such terrible physical pain before tonight her entire life. Brooklyn had busted both her lips, her nose; he had broken her jaw, and had bruised every part of her face.
Panting in exhaustion, he staggered away from the table and put his arms against a wall for support, he stayed there for a long time. Demona stared at him through bloodied eyes.
She didn't hate him for what he had just done to her, in fact, because of this; she thought she understood him better.
He had been consumed, as she had been with thoughts of hatred and revenge. He was going down the same path she had once gone down and it was all her fault. She had done this to him. She had used him for her own purposes and then caste him aside. Tears began to form in her eyes. Tears of pity and sadness for this soul that she had had a hand in corrupting. At that moment, Brooklyn turned around. He saw her tears and smiled cruelly at her.
"Crying won't save you," he said, advancing towards the table again, "I am going to ensure that you suffer for every single person whose life you've fucked up or ended over all these years."
Demona ignored the mind numbing pain in her jaw, she didn't care how much it hurt, she had to reach out to him before it was too late for him to ever go back that happy, care-free gargoyle she had once known at Wyvern.
"I'm.not crying for.me."
"Oh, really? Then just whom are you crying for?"
"For you."
Brooklyn's eyes bulged, "What did you say?"
"I said.I'm crying for you."
His eyes flared, "Bull-shit."
"No.it's not.you're becoming like me."
"NO!" screamed the red gargoyle, now so angry he had gone beyond all reason. "I WILL NEVER BE LIKE YOU!" he howled, as he began pounding her face again and again and again. Demona had blacked out soon after he had started, but that didn't stop him, he continued his assault on her. He only stopped because Malibu and Fang came in to find out what all the noise was about, took one look at him beating the life out of their prisoner and made a grab for him. They literally had to drag him kicking and screaming out of the dungeon; all the while he roared obscenities at Demona.
Fang and Mal kicked the door to the nearest room, which happened to be guest room, wide open, and dragged the still struggling Brooklyn in and threw him on the bed.
"What the fuck is the matter with you?" yelled Fang, as he placed himself between Brooklyn and the door. "Have you fucking lost it or something?"
"It's none of your concern," snarled Brooklyn, sitting up on the bed.
All that he'd seen the past day, all the damage that Brooklyn had done to Demona, visibly shook Mal; he knew Brooklyn never acted anything remotely close to this towards anyone else. He was determined to find out just what Demona had done to deserve such horrible treatment.
Putting the sudden fear that he had of his friend aside, Mal sat beside Brooklyn and put his hand on the red gargoyle's shoulder. Brooklyn snarled at him, but Mal smiled back. Brooklyn tried to maintain his snarl, but failed when he looked into Mal's kind grey eyes.
"It's time you told us just what she did you Brooklyn."
Brooklyn looked to Fang, amazingly, he didn't look angry, he was looking just as concerned as Malibu. He sighed woefully, before telling them everything, how Demona had betrayed the clan in 994A.D, which led to the Wyvern massacre, how she created the Hunter and betrayed Macbeth, how she had used him to betray Goliath and how she sought to wipe out all humanity with a virus. Fang and Malibu listened patiently to him, encouraging him to go on and tell them everything.
After he had finished, the trio remained silent for some time before any of them spoke. Eventually, it was Fang who broke the silence.
"Gee, and to think I wanted to screw her once." It earned a small chuckle from the two gargoyles.
"Don't worry Brook, by the end of the week, Macbeth will be back, and this will finally all be over," smiled Mal, giving the red gargoyle's shoulder an encouraging squeeze.
"I.I.your right," sighed Brooklyn, "By the end of the week Demona will be dead and I can go home to my clan again and put her behind me once and for all."
On Sunday morning, Macbeth and Jezebel Tibbs arrived back at the estate. They received a warm welcome from the trio who were in human form and who were especially pleased with themselves, having taken Demona in their first attempt. Macbeth congratulated the three of them, promising to summon his lawyers at once, so that he could make a will, leaving the three of them his entire estate and resources.
This came as a major shock for the three, Brooklyn especially; all he was looking for was revenge, now he was about to become the joint owner of one of the largest fortunes on the planet. It had taken a full day for the lawyers to arrive and assist in the drafting of a complete will for the estate. Jezebel wasn't left out of the will; she was to be given ten million dollars on the event of Macbeth's death.
After the legal staff had left, Macbeth wearily sat down to dinner with his four friends.
"Macbeth?" said Malibu, a hint of sadness in his voice; he knew that Macbeth and Demona's fates were intertwined with each other's. Brooklyn had explained it to both Fang and himself before Jezebel and Macbeth had returned.
"Yes Malibu?"
"When are you.I mean.when."
"Am I going to kill Demona?" finished Macbeth.
"Yes."
"Tomorrow night. I am going to lie in bed one last time to dream before I die. I want to spend one last day with the four of you before I finally end it all."
The four of them looked genuinely touched by this. Even though they had differences and the occasional clash of personalities, they had all grown quite close in the short period of time that they had spent together.
They all raised their glasses and toasted to Macbeth, their employer, their ally and their friend.
Outside the estate, the Wyrd Sisters frowned.
"This is most irritating," said Luna.
"Indeed, our children are about to destroy each other," said Phoebe.
"We must act quickly," said Selene.
"But you know our Lord's law," said Luna.
"We cannot use our magic to directly interfere with mortals," said Phoebe.
"Who said anything about magic?" replied Selene, smiling. Luna and Phoebe regarded her curiously.
"You have a plan sister?" inquired Luna.
"Indeed I do sister," replied Selene. Using awesome power granted to her by Lord Oberon, she transported herself and her sisters to outside a strange building with a neon sign above it.
"You have taken us to a "Cyber Café?" said Luna as she read the sign suspiciously.
"Yes sister."
"How exactly will coffee assist us in stopping Macbeth's plan to kill Demona sister?" asked Phoebe, losing her patience.
Selene rolled her eyes before telling her sisters her plan.
Inside the Cyber Café
It was an especially slow night for Carl Jameson, sole proprietor of the "Dark City Cyber Café," he hadn't had a customer all night. Frankly, he didn't know why his business was failing, his computers were extremely reliable, his place was clean and he hadn't had a single case of food poisoning in almost a week.
Suddenly, the door to his establishment flew open as three remarkably beautifully women, all clad in matching black leather jackets, vests, black pants and hooker boots stormed in. They were obviously sisters, as all looked identical other than the colour of their hair. One's was platinum white, another's was golden blonde, while the last's was the blackest he had ever seen. The three regarded him as if he was the lowest form of life imaginable before the black haired one spoke to him in an imperious manner.
"You, mortal!" she spat.
"Yes?"
"You shall grant us access to one of your computers!"
"Sure."
"You shall also show us how to perform the e-mail ritual," snapped the blonde.
"Okay."
"You will also produce an extra large café latte with Hazelnut syrup," stated the white haired one. Her two sisters gave her an odd look when she was finished.
"I have desired to try one for some years now," she explained.
Her two sisters rolled their eyes at this, before demanding an extra large cappuccino, an extra large café mocha deluxe and three triple chocolate muffins.
After Carl had shown them how to send an e-mail, they told him to leave them in a less than polite manner. After he had gone back to the counter, Luna and Phoebe turned to Selene.
"Now that we know how to e-mail sister," said Luna, he mouth full of muffin, "Who shall we e-mail?"
"Don't speak with your mouth full," snapped Phoebe, sipping her Mocha.
"We shall contact Goliath's clan," said Selene, pleased with herself, "They will undoubtedly be concerned with Demona's safety, now that they are convinced she will be reformed soon."
"Excellent idea sister."
"Thank you."
Selene cast a quick spell, giving her Xanatos's e-mail address. Once she had done this, she gave the location of Demona, explaining Macbeth's plans, as well as the fact he was being aided by Fang and Malibu, and that they were holding Brooklyn captive. This done, she sent the e-mail.
"If I may sister?" asked Luna, remembering to swallow before talking this time, "Why did you say Brooklyn was being held captive?"
"If Goliath will not rush to save Demona, then will most certainly go to save his second-in-command," explained Selene, "Besides, it will be most entertaining to see the look on his face when he finds out his second was an accomplice in an attempted murder."
They smiled cruelly at each other, as they pictured Goliath ripping Brooklyn to shreds for going behind his back.
"A most fitting punishment for the interfering scum," said Phoebe, downing her mocha, her eyes widened suddenly as she seemed to stare out into space.
"Sister, are you all right?" asked Luna.
"I.I think I am going to be sick!" said Phoebe. She stood suddenly, knocking her chair back, before running to where she hoped the washroom was. Her two sisters stared after her, before turning to the proprietor.
"Have you poisoned our sister?" asked Selene.
The man visibly squirmed under her gaze, he was sweating profusely.
"I.no.it's just I always seem to screw up mochas," he stammered.
The two sisters rose together from their computer and approached him in a menacing stride.
"In that case," said Luna.
"You will not charge us for the mocha," snapped Selene.
"Understood."
The Macbeth Estate early in the morning
Brooklyn, now in human form, followed Macbeth through a secret passage that had been behind a sliding wall, together they went down a set of stairs followed by a well-lit corridor. Upon reaching the end of the corridor, they came upon a large, heavily reinforced titanium door.
"So this is where the last Malus Codicium is kept," said Brooklyn.
"It is my friend," replied Macbeth, "For almost two hundred years, I have kept it from human hands. Now that responsibility shall fall to you."
"Why me?"
"You are the most trustworthy of you and your friends, and after Demona is dead, there will be nothing left for you to hate, which means you might be able to approach the blasted thing and destroy it."
"It can sense hate?"
"And manipulate it."
Brooklyn looked at the door while Macbeth produced a sheet of paper and handed it to the gargoyle turned human.
"These are the codes to the thirteen titanium doors, as well as the other security emplacements."
"It's a bit overkill if you ask me Macbeth."
"It's necessary. Do you accept the task."
Brooklyn thought for a moment, trying to look past all those security emplacements to the book that was kept inside.
"I accept."
The Eyrie Building
Owen Burnett watched the sun descend from the sky atop the parapets of castle Wyvern. As soon as it set, a rescue mission would begin. Xanatos had received an e-mail from an anonymous source, saying Demona and Brooklyn were being held against their will at Macbeth's estate, and that Macbeth was going to kill Demona sometime tonight.
The clan had been informed moments before sunrise. Goliath had asked Owen to contact Talon's clan, as they may want to help in apprehending Malibu and Fang. Consequently, they had, Talon, Maggie and Claw were hear, awaiting the gargoyles to awake from their stone sleep. The clones were hear as well, they were in stone sleep, but Puck had gotten the idea that he should teach Alexander how to teleport objects from one place to another for the child's daily lesson.
The sun set and as one, ten gargoyles awoke from their stone sleep, roaring and spraying bits of masonry everywhere.
"Lets go!" roared Goliath, jumping from the battlements, one by one the others followed, Broadway stopping to pick up Bronx.
"Good luck to you," said Owen in usual monotone self as the twelve shapes headed inland as quickly as possible.
The Macbeth Estate
Macbeth sighed as he regarded his four friends. This was it, he was finally ready to die. He had eaten his last meal (A huge seven course dinner which Jezebel had prepared), he had smoked his last smoke (A twelve inch long Cuban cigar) and had finally danced his last dance (Several hours ago when Fang had suggested they all go to a club while in human form and go on the floor and dance like there was no tomorrow. By the end of it Jezebel was exhausted, Fang was slightly tipsy, while Brooklyn and Malibu had between them almost two-dozen women's' phone numbers).
They were all currently sitting in the living room of the castle, they all looked sullen, Malibu was smoking, Fang was looking at his feet, Brooklyn was staring into a glass of brandy that he had been holding for the past ten minutes while Jezebel was staring off into space.
Macbeth considered trying to brighten the mood, but how do you do that when your friends know you are planning to die tonight?
Fortunately, he didn't have to do anything to take his friends' minds off their depressing line of thought. An enormous inhuman roar from the open courtyard in the centre of the castle did that for him.
Brooklyn shot up out of his seat, he looked panicked.
"I know that roar," stuttered the red gargoyle.
"It's Goliath!" yelled Fang, on his feet now and rushing to the castle armoury. Macbeth got up and sprinted to a coffee table that his Tome of Lesser Magic lay upon. He flicked through the pages quickly while turning back towards Brooklyn.
"What the Hell are you doing?" yelled the gargoyle, desperately looking for someplace, anyplace to hide.
"They must never know you were here!" replied Macbeth, casting the spell much quicker than Brooklyn could ever hope to. Within a matter of seconds, Brooklyn no longer stood before them. In his place, stood a gargoyle with light grey skin, wings similar to Brooklyn's, long flowing blonde hair, bony ridges above his eyes, elfish ears and a short pair of horns.
"Cool," said Mal, "So how does this help us in any way?"
"I am just making sure that Goliath doesn't kill Brooklyn for helping us."
"Great idea!" said Brooklyn, his voice dripping sarcasm, "Instead he'll be killing this gargoyle! I feel so much better now!"
Fang returned at that moment, two electric stun guns and a pair of wooden staffs in hand.
"Here ya go boys!" he said, throwing both the gargoyles a staff and gun each.
Brooklyn looked down at the gun he had just caught.
"I'm not using this against my clan!"
"Switch it a low setting," instructed Mal, checking the setting on his own gun before shoving it in his belt. Reluctantly Brooklyn followed suit.
Armed, the five ran into the main hall just as they heard the doors attached to the courtyard splinter.
"How many?" said Jezebel calmly as she began sliding solid core shells into her shotgun. She stopped however when she saw the look Brooklyn was giving her.
"No guns Jezebel! These are my family!"
Reluctantly, she shoved the shotgun back into her woollen coat.
"What's the plan boss?" asked Fang, wearily eyeing down the corridor that led to the entrance to the courtyard while his hands began to glow and crackle with electricity.
"Macbeth! You and Jezebel go and kill Demona! The three of us will hold them off as long as we can," ordered Brooklyn. Everyone turned and stared at him.
"What? You wanted a plan? Well you got one!"
"Thank you Brooklyn," said Macbeth as he took the young gargoyle's hand in a warrior's grip. With that, he and Jezebel headed down the corridor leading to the dungeon.
"Okay fearless leader," said Fang, " Just how the Hell do we hold them off?"
"Um.ah.ah.Bugger."
Just then, Goliath came charging around the corner of the courtyard corridor, a deafening roar thundering from his throat. Behind him came his entire clan, Angela, Broadway, Lexington, Hudson and Bronx, as well as the mutates Talon, Claw and Maggie, not to mention the clones, Delilah, Burbank, Brentwood and Hollywood.
They all stopped when they saw Malibu, Fang and some unknown gargoyle stand before them, a little shocked that they were outnumbered more than four-to- one and would probably be severely hammered before several minutes had passed.
"Where are Brooklyn and Demona being held?" boomed the enormous lavender brute.
Malibu, Fang and the other gargoyle gave each other questioning looks before the grey gargoyle eventually spoke up.
"I'm very sorry but we have no idea what you are talking about."
"LIARS!"
The trio actually jumped back in terror.
"Goliath! Listen to me," started the grey.
"Wait a second!" yelled Broadway, "Just who the Hell are you anyway?"
The grey's eyes appeared to dart around the room for a brief second before coming to rest on a shield that had a painting of a pair of crossed.
"Lances!"
"What?"
"I mean Lance! My name's Lance!"
Goliath turned the rotund aquamarine gargoyle.
"Broadway! Take Bronx, Angela, Claw and Hollywood and search the castle for Demona and Brooklyn!"
The said gargoyles and mutate nodded, Angela kneeled down and took a small white glove, belonging to Dominique Destine, and held it to Bronx's nose. The gargdog sniffed the glove and bolted down the same corridor Jezebel and Macbeth had gone down minutes before, Broadway and the others racing after on all fours.
"Goliath please you don't understand!" yelled Lance.
Goliath turned to him and began to advance menacingly, "What don't I understand Lance?"
The grey gargoyle shoulders drooped, "Aw forget it, you aren't going to listen anyway." He sighed deeply, as if he had come to a difficult decision, and then without another word, he pulled a stun gun from his belt and shot Goliath right in the chest. The lavender gargoyle was sent flying through the air crashing into a suit of armour, smashing it, and hitting the back of his head against the wall and crumpling to the ground unconscious. Fang and Mal stared at the grey gargoyle in total disbelief.
"You shot him!"
"Lance" smiled sheepishly, "It was him or me."
Jezebel and Macbeth had reached the door leading to the dungeon when they heard an inhuman roar coming from behind them. They turned quickly to see Bronx hurtling down the corridor towards them, followed by Broadway, Angela, Claw, and two of the clones.
A determined expression crossed Jezebel's usually kind face. She took a step towards the on coming party and raised her hands, open palmed, towards them.
"Glacies Vinite!"
The ground along the corridor before Jezebel became covered with ice in an instant, causing Broadway and the others to lose their balance, in turn causing them to slide along and hit the walls or crash into antique furniture.
Grinning to herself, Jezebel ushered Macbeth into the dungeon, slamming and locking the steel door behind her.
The pair quickly began to descend a small flight of stairs, reaching the secondary door just as the gargoyles reached the primary and began to tear it apart. Macbeth hurled it open, while Jezebel cast her ice spell again on the corridor and the stairs. That done, they entered, making sure the door was securely locked.
"Who's there?"
Both Macbeth and Jezebel spun around, Jezebel whipping out her shotgun while Macbeth pulled a revolver from his coat. They scanned the area quickly before realising it was Demona, still strapped to the operating table. They relaxed. Then came the sound of the primary door being torn asunder, followed by the pounding of many feet, which was quickly turned to surprised screams and vicious swearing.
Jezebel smiled.
"It is I Demona."
"Macbeth!" screamed the gargess.
Macbeth marched past the table and stopped at a steel table protruding from the wall and selected a syringe full of poison, which he had prepared before heading out to destroy the third Malus Codicium. It contained a powerful poison, which would kill its victim with no pain whatsoever. Even though Demona probably deserved a more painful death for all the damage she had done, Macbeth wasn't about to experience that with her when he had other options available to him.
The sound of heavy pounding came from the secondary door. They could hear the roars of their pursuers just outside. Macbeth quickly paced over to his ancient enemy while Jezebel watched the door as the steel began to buckle.
"Macbeth, why are you doing this?" pleaded Demona.
"This must end, tonight, before it's too late," came the reply, as Macbeth squirted a little of the poison from the syringe to test if the needle still worked.
"What are you babbling about?"
Before Macbeth could answer, the secondary door was wrenched from its hinges. Before the gargoyles could storm the room, Macbeth brought the syringe into Demona's arm and shot the poison into her. The azure gargess winced in pain as the needle plunged into her flesh, depositing its deadly contents into her bloodstream.
"You're going to lose control again Demona," explained Macbeth, "I know you are looking the Codicium."
Demona's eyes widened at the last part.
"The Malus Codicium. You mean you didn't destroy it?"
"It was too powerful for me."
"YOU FOOL!" screamed the gargess, "I never wanted that damn thing back, I thought, I hoped, that you destroyed it!"
Macbeth's eyes widened, "What do you mean."
He never finished the sentence; he was suddenly enveloped by a wave of dizziness. He fell backwards onto his rear, his vision was becoming blurred, he felt very light headed, he was tired, so very tired. He could make out a lavender blur rush towards the table, screaming something.
A billion miles away, someone called his name. He felt a sensation of movement and became aware that he was staring at the ceiling. He could just make out a figure lean over him; he couldn't identify whom it was, although he could see red and white in the blur.
Red and White?
Jezebel.
He hoped they wouldn't hurt her; she was a good woman at heart. She and the lads were all good people.
The lads.
The three of them had been very brave tonight. Malibu and Fang especially, he hoped they would be all right, they didn't have the same protection Brooklyn had, they didn't have the spell.
The Spell. That's not right, he had used the spell last.
Which meant.
-Oh my God!-
The spell would only work as long as the caster was alive!
Using every once of dwindling strength in his body, he forced himself to speak. Jezebel had to know, she had to warn Brooklyn.
"Jezebel."
He could see the figure lean much closer to his face, her features became clear.
Jezebel for sure.
"Spell.only good when caster alive."
He could make out his old friend's eye ridges raise curiously, before her eyes widened, as she understood what he was trying to tell her.
A second thought occurred to him. If Demona didn't want the Codicium, then why did he have that prophetic dream?
Just then, something in the back of his mind clicked.
He suddenly remembered what he had told Brooklyn about the book.
"It's alive. It manipulates."
He had to warn them, had to protect them.
"Jezebel.you.you.must protect them.protect them from.from."
The very last of his strength exhausted, Macbeth, the High King of Scotland, breathed his last and died.
Jezebel shut her eyes, fighting the tears that threatened to come. She wouldn't break down; not yet, she still had a job to do. She looked over at the table, a rather fat aquamarine gargoyle, Broadway, she believed, was comforting a young, lavender female who was sobbing on his shoulder.
-Angela obviously.-
The others, the dog-like creature, the tiger mutate, and the two clones, all looked very sullen aswell.
She knew how they felt. She knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. She would never wish it on anyone she knew. She had killed in her time. But they were all evil people who richly deserved it.
Perhaps Demona was going to go straight, perhaps not. This had been a necessity. She was looking for the Codicium. She could never be allowed to wield it again, never.
She gave her king a kiss on the forehead, before finally rising. Macbeth had ordered her to protect their three helpers, and that was exactly what she intended to do.
She heard someone approaching her; she turned to see the tiger mutate, Claw, staring angrily at her. She sent him flying across the room without a second thought.
"I shall protect them!" she screamed, her eyes turning a burning shade of amber.
"Deflagrate muri intervallia!"
To the amazement of the grieving group of gargoyles, the old lady, whom had been helping Macbeth, disappeared in a ball of amber flames.
***********************************************************
Brooklyn slid to the ground, clutching his chest and gritting his teeth. Goliath had woken up. He had gone straight after "Lance" and snapped the staff he had been using to keep Hudson and Burbank at bay like a twig. He would have shot him again but Hudson had knocked the stun gun out of his hand. He had made a run for the courtyard, in the hopes of evading Hudson, Burbank and the severely pissed Goliath by taking to the air.
That had been a big mistake. Goliath was a lot faster on the ground than Brooklyn had given him credit for. No sooner had he actually reached the courtyard, Goliath had caught him, and proceeded to beat the living daylights out of him.
Goliath had busted his nose, dislodged several teeth, and broken at least five of his ribs. He looked up weakly at the huge lavender gargoyle.
-I wonder if he'll stop if I tell him who I really am?-
He decided against it. Chances are, Goliath would pummel him even harder if he knew the truth. Goliath tended to only see red when he learned a clan member was going behind his back and doing something he knew the leader would definitely not approve of. Chances are, being an accomplice in a murder would probably be against Goliath's principals.
Brooklyn dug his talons into the wall while trying to force his legs into getting into a standing position, halfway up his legs gave out and he fell forward onto his knees. It hurt to breathe, every time he inhaled, he felt like his chest would cave in on itself, it felt like his lungs were on fire. He could taste his own blood in his mouth. He bent over himself, clutching his ribs. He closed his eyes to fight back tears. It hurt so much it was unbearable. He wished and prayed Goliath would just stop.
Suddenly, he felt very light headed. His stomach began to churn uncomfortably. A very odd feeling came over him. It was hard to describe. It was almost as if someone had taken a wet paintbrush and began to slap warm paint on him. His mouth felt really odd, he could feel it growing bigger, his lips began to retreat away from his face, heading out into the air, his bleeding nose following closely behind.
He could hear gasps from his three assailants.
His eyes flickered open to see what all the horrified gasping was about. He could see the end of his beak. Trembling, he brought his right hand in front of his face. It wasn't grey anymore. It was blood red.
-Oh shit.-
"Brooklyn?" rumbled Goliath; he appeared very shocked at this sudden revelation. His second-in-command looked up at him, he was more than a little afraid at this point of what Goliath would do to him.
"Goliath," he said, pain and fear in his voice, "I.I can explain everything."
Goliath however, didn't appear to be in the mood for any explanations. His face was contorted into a terrifying mask of rage, his eyes were glowing at an intensity Brooklyn had never seen before, or had even thought possible. He couldn't bring himself to look at Goliath. He was too afraid.
"You.you did this!" thundered the lavender gargoyle. "You went behind my back to kill Demona!"
"Goliath.I."
"SILENCE!"
Brooklyn cowered away from his leader. He could see Hudson several feet away. The old gargoyle was shaking his head. He looked very disappointed.
Goliath grabbed him by the throat and held him up as if he weighed nothing.
"You treacherous little BASTARD!" he howled, hurling Brooklyn across the courtyard.
The crimson gargoyle landed hard on his back on the cobblestones. The back of his head connecting hard with a loose, and vertically pointing cobblestone, exploding Brooklyn into a white-hot eruption of electrified suffering.
The pain, Brooklyn realised dismally, wasn't your average run of the mill collision injuries that would eventually disappear and leave no trace behind. This particular injury would probably result in intermittently crippling shooting pain that would periodically plague him for the rest of his natural life.
-Look on the bright side,- he told himself. -The way Goliath's going, that won't be much longer.-
A huge ball Amber flames suddenly appeared between Brooklyn and Goliath. When it dissipated, three figures stood in its place.
Jezebel stood there, her body tensed, her pump-action shotgun pointed at Goliath, her back was to Brooklyn, so he couldn't see her glowing amber eyes, or the tears that were forming there. Along side her stood Malibu and Fang. They were facing him; they didn't look too good at all.
Fang had his right arm drooped over Mal's shoulders; he was leaning heavily on him. His nose and mouth were bleeding and he appeared to be half conscious. Mal had cuts across his face and chest, his stun gun hung limply in his right hand while his left arm was wrapped around Fang's waist, helping him stand. Brooklyn could only guess what he looked like.
Mal gently helped Fang on to his knees before kneeling beside Brooklyn.
"Brooklyn! Can you hear me?"
"He looks pretty bad Mal," mumbled Fang.
"Ye.yes, I can hear you," whispered the red gargoyle.
"Thank God," said the clone, relieved, he put his hand on his friend's forehead, "I was afraid we'd lost you there."
There was the sound of more people charging into the courtyard. In an instant, Malibu was on his feet, pointing the stun gun at them.
"Another step and I shoot!" he yelled, shooting the ground just in front of the mutates and gargoyles who had pursued them from the main hall to emphasise his point.
"Where is Demona?" roared Goliath.
"I've got her!" said Broadway sadly, stepping through the crowd. Demona lay in his arms, limp, and not breathing. "We were too late Goliath."
The lavender gargoyle's hard expression softened for a moment as he took in the news of his former mate's demise. He threw his head back and howled at the night sky, a long, mourning howl. Tears forming in his eyes, he faced Brooklyn and the others who had had a hand in Demona's death. He snarled threateningly, his eyes glowing an intense white; he took a step towards the group.
Jezebel aimed low and fired. The ground before Goliath exploded from the solid-core shell. Goliath jumped back and roared at the old lady.
"You have what you came for," she said coldly. "Now get out!"
"Brooklyn!" roared Goliath. "I banish now and forever from our clan! If you ever, ever show your face at the castle again I shall kill you myself! Do you understand?"
"Yes Goliath."
"The same goes for you two!" roared Talon, "Show up at the Labyrinth again and I'll skin you alive!"
"Fuck you Derek!" screamed Malibu.
Talon growled and stepped forward, but was forced back when Mal fired at the ground.
Cautiously, all the gargoyles and mutates scaled the inner wall of the courtyard and flew away, bearing with them Goliath's fallen "Angel of the Night."
Fang, Brooklyn, Malibu and Jezebel remained silent for quite some time before Jezebel sheathed her shotgun and walked over to Brooklyn to help him inside. She wasn't crying yet, but she knew she would eventually. Her tears could wait for a little while longer though, first, she would tend her new masters' wounds, only then, would she allow herself the time to weep for Macbeth.
As the party stumbled back inside, all lost in their own thoughts, none noticed the three figures standing on the roof, watching them.
"Your plan has failed sister," said Phoebe.
"So it would appear," replied Selene.
"What do we do now?" asked Luna.
Phoebe considered this for a moment before answering, "We shall have to make an appeal to Lord Oberon to intervene."
"Do you think he will allow us to bring back Demona and Macbeth sister?" asked Selene.
"Not both of them sister," replied Phoebe, "However, we no longer need Macbeth, so we shall only appeal to return Demona to the mortal plain."
"What of Anubis sister?" asked Luna.
"If Oberon sides with us then he can do nothing but comply," said Selene.
"Quite true sister," stated Phoebe.
"Then let us go to Avalon and make our appeal," said Luna.
That said the Wyrd Sisters vanished into thin air.
To be continued.
Bloody Hell but that took long to do! Anywho, the next part "Repercussions" should be out in a few days time. Again, comments, ideas etc welcome.
Darkness
Author: Darkness. Address: darknessdescending2000@yahoo.co.uk
Author's Note: Once again, I don't own the Malus Codicium, it was created by sci-fi author Dan Abnett (who rocks!), now that that's cleared up, don't sue me!
The Macbeth Estate
Demona stirred wearily, her eyes flickering open slowly. She couldn't see anything; she was surrounded by total darkness. She in a considerable amount of pain wherever she was, she tried to sit up, but found she couldn't, experimentally, she tried to move all her limbs, one at a time, gritting her teeth and ignoring the burning pain, as expected, she couldn't move. She had been restrained quite heavily.
She heard the creaking of a door opening somewhere but couldn't turn her head in the direction of the sound. Suddenly a very powerful light above her flared, blinding her. She shut her eyes quickly, over the hum of the light, she could hear soft footsteps approaching where she lay, she felt a shadow come over her head. She opened her eyes to regard the new comer, her eyes widening as she recognise his upside down face.
"Brooklyn?"
"Nice to see you finally pulled yourself together," replied the red gargoyle, grinning, "It wasn't very pleasant picking you up with some shovels."
"Why the Hell are you helping Thailog?"
Brooklyn gave her an odd look, before something appeared to click at the back of his head.
"Oh that's right, I forgot! I was Thailog back there."
"What are you talking about?"
"I used a spell to make myself look like Thailog to freak you out. It worked too."
"When did you start using spells?"
"I have been using them since I helped break Fang out of the Labyrinth."
Demona looked stunned. "That was you?"
"Yep."
"Why? I thought you hated Fang?"
Brooklyn shrugged. "Necessity makes for some very strange bed fellows."
"And Malibu, he's involved in this as well I presume?"
"He's the one who suggested we save him."
Demona stayed still, taking all this new information in. She looked from side to side. She was securely clamped to a steel-operating table in what appeared to be a dungeon of some sort. She looked back up at Brooklyn. Despite being upside down to her, she could make out that he was wearing some sort of black outfit.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
The grin on Brooklyn's face vanished in an instant, his eyes flared white as he slapped her, hard across the face.
"Do you really have to ask you bitch!" he roared, slapping her violently again. "You used me! You fucking used me! It's because of you we're on the verge of extinction! You killed countless people! And you've gotten off scot-free with it as well!"
Tears of rage were forming in his eyes, he moved to the side of the table, grabbed her by her red hair with his left hand, while raining blow after blow to her face with his right, all the while spitting venom at her. After five minutes of unrelenting violence, he stopped.
Demona had never experienced such terrible physical pain before tonight her entire life. Brooklyn had busted both her lips, her nose; he had broken her jaw, and had bruised every part of her face.
Panting in exhaustion, he staggered away from the table and put his arms against a wall for support, he stayed there for a long time. Demona stared at him through bloodied eyes.
She didn't hate him for what he had just done to her, in fact, because of this; she thought she understood him better.
He had been consumed, as she had been with thoughts of hatred and revenge. He was going down the same path she had once gone down and it was all her fault. She had done this to him. She had used him for her own purposes and then caste him aside. Tears began to form in her eyes. Tears of pity and sadness for this soul that she had had a hand in corrupting. At that moment, Brooklyn turned around. He saw her tears and smiled cruelly at her.
"Crying won't save you," he said, advancing towards the table again, "I am going to ensure that you suffer for every single person whose life you've fucked up or ended over all these years."
Demona ignored the mind numbing pain in her jaw, she didn't care how much it hurt, she had to reach out to him before it was too late for him to ever go back that happy, care-free gargoyle she had once known at Wyvern.
"I'm.not crying for.me."
"Oh, really? Then just whom are you crying for?"
"For you."
Brooklyn's eyes bulged, "What did you say?"
"I said.I'm crying for you."
His eyes flared, "Bull-shit."
"No.it's not.you're becoming like me."
"NO!" screamed the red gargoyle, now so angry he had gone beyond all reason. "I WILL NEVER BE LIKE YOU!" he howled, as he began pounding her face again and again and again. Demona had blacked out soon after he had started, but that didn't stop him, he continued his assault on her. He only stopped because Malibu and Fang came in to find out what all the noise was about, took one look at him beating the life out of their prisoner and made a grab for him. They literally had to drag him kicking and screaming out of the dungeon; all the while he roared obscenities at Demona.
Fang and Mal kicked the door to the nearest room, which happened to be guest room, wide open, and dragged the still struggling Brooklyn in and threw him on the bed.
"What the fuck is the matter with you?" yelled Fang, as he placed himself between Brooklyn and the door. "Have you fucking lost it or something?"
"It's none of your concern," snarled Brooklyn, sitting up on the bed.
All that he'd seen the past day, all the damage that Brooklyn had done to Demona, visibly shook Mal; he knew Brooklyn never acted anything remotely close to this towards anyone else. He was determined to find out just what Demona had done to deserve such horrible treatment.
Putting the sudden fear that he had of his friend aside, Mal sat beside Brooklyn and put his hand on the red gargoyle's shoulder. Brooklyn snarled at him, but Mal smiled back. Brooklyn tried to maintain his snarl, but failed when he looked into Mal's kind grey eyes.
"It's time you told us just what she did you Brooklyn."
Brooklyn looked to Fang, amazingly, he didn't look angry, he was looking just as concerned as Malibu. He sighed woefully, before telling them everything, how Demona had betrayed the clan in 994A.D, which led to the Wyvern massacre, how she created the Hunter and betrayed Macbeth, how she had used him to betray Goliath and how she sought to wipe out all humanity with a virus. Fang and Malibu listened patiently to him, encouraging him to go on and tell them everything.
After he had finished, the trio remained silent for some time before any of them spoke. Eventually, it was Fang who broke the silence.
"Gee, and to think I wanted to screw her once." It earned a small chuckle from the two gargoyles.
"Don't worry Brook, by the end of the week, Macbeth will be back, and this will finally all be over," smiled Mal, giving the red gargoyle's shoulder an encouraging squeeze.
"I.I.your right," sighed Brooklyn, "By the end of the week Demona will be dead and I can go home to my clan again and put her behind me once and for all."
On Sunday morning, Macbeth and Jezebel Tibbs arrived back at the estate. They received a warm welcome from the trio who were in human form and who were especially pleased with themselves, having taken Demona in their first attempt. Macbeth congratulated the three of them, promising to summon his lawyers at once, so that he could make a will, leaving the three of them his entire estate and resources.
This came as a major shock for the three, Brooklyn especially; all he was looking for was revenge, now he was about to become the joint owner of one of the largest fortunes on the planet. It had taken a full day for the lawyers to arrive and assist in the drafting of a complete will for the estate. Jezebel wasn't left out of the will; she was to be given ten million dollars on the event of Macbeth's death.
After the legal staff had left, Macbeth wearily sat down to dinner with his four friends.
"Macbeth?" said Malibu, a hint of sadness in his voice; he knew that Macbeth and Demona's fates were intertwined with each other's. Brooklyn had explained it to both Fang and himself before Jezebel and Macbeth had returned.
"Yes Malibu?"
"When are you.I mean.when."
"Am I going to kill Demona?" finished Macbeth.
"Yes."
"Tomorrow night. I am going to lie in bed one last time to dream before I die. I want to spend one last day with the four of you before I finally end it all."
The four of them looked genuinely touched by this. Even though they had differences and the occasional clash of personalities, they had all grown quite close in the short period of time that they had spent together.
They all raised their glasses and toasted to Macbeth, their employer, their ally and their friend.
Outside the estate, the Wyrd Sisters frowned.
"This is most irritating," said Luna.
"Indeed, our children are about to destroy each other," said Phoebe.
"We must act quickly," said Selene.
"But you know our Lord's law," said Luna.
"We cannot use our magic to directly interfere with mortals," said Phoebe.
"Who said anything about magic?" replied Selene, smiling. Luna and Phoebe regarded her curiously.
"You have a plan sister?" inquired Luna.
"Indeed I do sister," replied Selene. Using awesome power granted to her by Lord Oberon, she transported herself and her sisters to outside a strange building with a neon sign above it.
"You have taken us to a "Cyber Café?" said Luna as she read the sign suspiciously.
"Yes sister."
"How exactly will coffee assist us in stopping Macbeth's plan to kill Demona sister?" asked Phoebe, losing her patience.
Selene rolled her eyes before telling her sisters her plan.
Inside the Cyber Café
It was an especially slow night for Carl Jameson, sole proprietor of the "Dark City Cyber Café," he hadn't had a customer all night. Frankly, he didn't know why his business was failing, his computers were extremely reliable, his place was clean and he hadn't had a single case of food poisoning in almost a week.
Suddenly, the door to his establishment flew open as three remarkably beautifully women, all clad in matching black leather jackets, vests, black pants and hooker boots stormed in. They were obviously sisters, as all looked identical other than the colour of their hair. One's was platinum white, another's was golden blonde, while the last's was the blackest he had ever seen. The three regarded him as if he was the lowest form of life imaginable before the black haired one spoke to him in an imperious manner.
"You, mortal!" she spat.
"Yes?"
"You shall grant us access to one of your computers!"
"Sure."
"You shall also show us how to perform the e-mail ritual," snapped the blonde.
"Okay."
"You will also produce an extra large café latte with Hazelnut syrup," stated the white haired one. Her two sisters gave her an odd look when she was finished.
"I have desired to try one for some years now," she explained.
Her two sisters rolled their eyes at this, before demanding an extra large cappuccino, an extra large café mocha deluxe and three triple chocolate muffins.
After Carl had shown them how to send an e-mail, they told him to leave them in a less than polite manner. After he had gone back to the counter, Luna and Phoebe turned to Selene.
"Now that we know how to e-mail sister," said Luna, he mouth full of muffin, "Who shall we e-mail?"
"Don't speak with your mouth full," snapped Phoebe, sipping her Mocha.
"We shall contact Goliath's clan," said Selene, pleased with herself, "They will undoubtedly be concerned with Demona's safety, now that they are convinced she will be reformed soon."
"Excellent idea sister."
"Thank you."
Selene cast a quick spell, giving her Xanatos's e-mail address. Once she had done this, she gave the location of Demona, explaining Macbeth's plans, as well as the fact he was being aided by Fang and Malibu, and that they were holding Brooklyn captive. This done, she sent the e-mail.
"If I may sister?" asked Luna, remembering to swallow before talking this time, "Why did you say Brooklyn was being held captive?"
"If Goliath will not rush to save Demona, then will most certainly go to save his second-in-command," explained Selene, "Besides, it will be most entertaining to see the look on his face when he finds out his second was an accomplice in an attempted murder."
They smiled cruelly at each other, as they pictured Goliath ripping Brooklyn to shreds for going behind his back.
"A most fitting punishment for the interfering scum," said Phoebe, downing her mocha, her eyes widened suddenly as she seemed to stare out into space.
"Sister, are you all right?" asked Luna.
"I.I think I am going to be sick!" said Phoebe. She stood suddenly, knocking her chair back, before running to where she hoped the washroom was. Her two sisters stared after her, before turning to the proprietor.
"Have you poisoned our sister?" asked Selene.
The man visibly squirmed under her gaze, he was sweating profusely.
"I.no.it's just I always seem to screw up mochas," he stammered.
The two sisters rose together from their computer and approached him in a menacing stride.
"In that case," said Luna.
"You will not charge us for the mocha," snapped Selene.
"Understood."
The Macbeth Estate early in the morning
Brooklyn, now in human form, followed Macbeth through a secret passage that had been behind a sliding wall, together they went down a set of stairs followed by a well-lit corridor. Upon reaching the end of the corridor, they came upon a large, heavily reinforced titanium door.
"So this is where the last Malus Codicium is kept," said Brooklyn.
"It is my friend," replied Macbeth, "For almost two hundred years, I have kept it from human hands. Now that responsibility shall fall to you."
"Why me?"
"You are the most trustworthy of you and your friends, and after Demona is dead, there will be nothing left for you to hate, which means you might be able to approach the blasted thing and destroy it."
"It can sense hate?"
"And manipulate it."
Brooklyn looked at the door while Macbeth produced a sheet of paper and handed it to the gargoyle turned human.
"These are the codes to the thirteen titanium doors, as well as the other security emplacements."
"It's a bit overkill if you ask me Macbeth."
"It's necessary. Do you accept the task."
Brooklyn thought for a moment, trying to look past all those security emplacements to the book that was kept inside.
"I accept."
The Eyrie Building
Owen Burnett watched the sun descend from the sky atop the parapets of castle Wyvern. As soon as it set, a rescue mission would begin. Xanatos had received an e-mail from an anonymous source, saying Demona and Brooklyn were being held against their will at Macbeth's estate, and that Macbeth was going to kill Demona sometime tonight.
The clan had been informed moments before sunrise. Goliath had asked Owen to contact Talon's clan, as they may want to help in apprehending Malibu and Fang. Consequently, they had, Talon, Maggie and Claw were hear, awaiting the gargoyles to awake from their stone sleep. The clones were hear as well, they were in stone sleep, but Puck had gotten the idea that he should teach Alexander how to teleport objects from one place to another for the child's daily lesson.
The sun set and as one, ten gargoyles awoke from their stone sleep, roaring and spraying bits of masonry everywhere.
"Lets go!" roared Goliath, jumping from the battlements, one by one the others followed, Broadway stopping to pick up Bronx.
"Good luck to you," said Owen in usual monotone self as the twelve shapes headed inland as quickly as possible.
The Macbeth Estate
Macbeth sighed as he regarded his four friends. This was it, he was finally ready to die. He had eaten his last meal (A huge seven course dinner which Jezebel had prepared), he had smoked his last smoke (A twelve inch long Cuban cigar) and had finally danced his last dance (Several hours ago when Fang had suggested they all go to a club while in human form and go on the floor and dance like there was no tomorrow. By the end of it Jezebel was exhausted, Fang was slightly tipsy, while Brooklyn and Malibu had between them almost two-dozen women's' phone numbers).
They were all currently sitting in the living room of the castle, they all looked sullen, Malibu was smoking, Fang was looking at his feet, Brooklyn was staring into a glass of brandy that he had been holding for the past ten minutes while Jezebel was staring off into space.
Macbeth considered trying to brighten the mood, but how do you do that when your friends know you are planning to die tonight?
Fortunately, he didn't have to do anything to take his friends' minds off their depressing line of thought. An enormous inhuman roar from the open courtyard in the centre of the castle did that for him.
Brooklyn shot up out of his seat, he looked panicked.
"I know that roar," stuttered the red gargoyle.
"It's Goliath!" yelled Fang, on his feet now and rushing to the castle armoury. Macbeth got up and sprinted to a coffee table that his Tome of Lesser Magic lay upon. He flicked through the pages quickly while turning back towards Brooklyn.
"What the Hell are you doing?" yelled the gargoyle, desperately looking for someplace, anyplace to hide.
"They must never know you were here!" replied Macbeth, casting the spell much quicker than Brooklyn could ever hope to. Within a matter of seconds, Brooklyn no longer stood before them. In his place, stood a gargoyle with light grey skin, wings similar to Brooklyn's, long flowing blonde hair, bony ridges above his eyes, elfish ears and a short pair of horns.
"Cool," said Mal, "So how does this help us in any way?"
"I am just making sure that Goliath doesn't kill Brooklyn for helping us."
"Great idea!" said Brooklyn, his voice dripping sarcasm, "Instead he'll be killing this gargoyle! I feel so much better now!"
Fang returned at that moment, two electric stun guns and a pair of wooden staffs in hand.
"Here ya go boys!" he said, throwing both the gargoyles a staff and gun each.
Brooklyn looked down at the gun he had just caught.
"I'm not using this against my clan!"
"Switch it a low setting," instructed Mal, checking the setting on his own gun before shoving it in his belt. Reluctantly Brooklyn followed suit.
Armed, the five ran into the main hall just as they heard the doors attached to the courtyard splinter.
"How many?" said Jezebel calmly as she began sliding solid core shells into her shotgun. She stopped however when she saw the look Brooklyn was giving her.
"No guns Jezebel! These are my family!"
Reluctantly, she shoved the shotgun back into her woollen coat.
"What's the plan boss?" asked Fang, wearily eyeing down the corridor that led to the entrance to the courtyard while his hands began to glow and crackle with electricity.
"Macbeth! You and Jezebel go and kill Demona! The three of us will hold them off as long as we can," ordered Brooklyn. Everyone turned and stared at him.
"What? You wanted a plan? Well you got one!"
"Thank you Brooklyn," said Macbeth as he took the young gargoyle's hand in a warrior's grip. With that, he and Jezebel headed down the corridor leading to the dungeon.
"Okay fearless leader," said Fang, " Just how the Hell do we hold them off?"
"Um.ah.ah.Bugger."
Just then, Goliath came charging around the corner of the courtyard corridor, a deafening roar thundering from his throat. Behind him came his entire clan, Angela, Broadway, Lexington, Hudson and Bronx, as well as the mutates Talon, Claw and Maggie, not to mention the clones, Delilah, Burbank, Brentwood and Hollywood.
They all stopped when they saw Malibu, Fang and some unknown gargoyle stand before them, a little shocked that they were outnumbered more than four-to- one and would probably be severely hammered before several minutes had passed.
"Where are Brooklyn and Demona being held?" boomed the enormous lavender brute.
Malibu, Fang and the other gargoyle gave each other questioning looks before the grey gargoyle eventually spoke up.
"I'm very sorry but we have no idea what you are talking about."
"LIARS!"
The trio actually jumped back in terror.
"Goliath! Listen to me," started the grey.
"Wait a second!" yelled Broadway, "Just who the Hell are you anyway?"
The grey's eyes appeared to dart around the room for a brief second before coming to rest on a shield that had a painting of a pair of crossed.
"Lances!"
"What?"
"I mean Lance! My name's Lance!"
Goliath turned the rotund aquamarine gargoyle.
"Broadway! Take Bronx, Angela, Claw and Hollywood and search the castle for Demona and Brooklyn!"
The said gargoyles and mutate nodded, Angela kneeled down and took a small white glove, belonging to Dominique Destine, and held it to Bronx's nose. The gargdog sniffed the glove and bolted down the same corridor Jezebel and Macbeth had gone down minutes before, Broadway and the others racing after on all fours.
"Goliath please you don't understand!" yelled Lance.
Goliath turned to him and began to advance menacingly, "What don't I understand Lance?"
The grey gargoyle shoulders drooped, "Aw forget it, you aren't going to listen anyway." He sighed deeply, as if he had come to a difficult decision, and then without another word, he pulled a stun gun from his belt and shot Goliath right in the chest. The lavender gargoyle was sent flying through the air crashing into a suit of armour, smashing it, and hitting the back of his head against the wall and crumpling to the ground unconscious. Fang and Mal stared at the grey gargoyle in total disbelief.
"You shot him!"
"Lance" smiled sheepishly, "It was him or me."
Jezebel and Macbeth had reached the door leading to the dungeon when they heard an inhuman roar coming from behind them. They turned quickly to see Bronx hurtling down the corridor towards them, followed by Broadway, Angela, Claw, and two of the clones.
A determined expression crossed Jezebel's usually kind face. She took a step towards the on coming party and raised her hands, open palmed, towards them.
"Glacies Vinite!"
The ground along the corridor before Jezebel became covered with ice in an instant, causing Broadway and the others to lose their balance, in turn causing them to slide along and hit the walls or crash into antique furniture.
Grinning to herself, Jezebel ushered Macbeth into the dungeon, slamming and locking the steel door behind her.
The pair quickly began to descend a small flight of stairs, reaching the secondary door just as the gargoyles reached the primary and began to tear it apart. Macbeth hurled it open, while Jezebel cast her ice spell again on the corridor and the stairs. That done, they entered, making sure the door was securely locked.
"Who's there?"
Both Macbeth and Jezebel spun around, Jezebel whipping out her shotgun while Macbeth pulled a revolver from his coat. They scanned the area quickly before realising it was Demona, still strapped to the operating table. They relaxed. Then came the sound of the primary door being torn asunder, followed by the pounding of many feet, which was quickly turned to surprised screams and vicious swearing.
Jezebel smiled.
"It is I Demona."
"Macbeth!" screamed the gargess.
Macbeth marched past the table and stopped at a steel table protruding from the wall and selected a syringe full of poison, which he had prepared before heading out to destroy the third Malus Codicium. It contained a powerful poison, which would kill its victim with no pain whatsoever. Even though Demona probably deserved a more painful death for all the damage she had done, Macbeth wasn't about to experience that with her when he had other options available to him.
The sound of heavy pounding came from the secondary door. They could hear the roars of their pursuers just outside. Macbeth quickly paced over to his ancient enemy while Jezebel watched the door as the steel began to buckle.
"Macbeth, why are you doing this?" pleaded Demona.
"This must end, tonight, before it's too late," came the reply, as Macbeth squirted a little of the poison from the syringe to test if the needle still worked.
"What are you babbling about?"
Before Macbeth could answer, the secondary door was wrenched from its hinges. Before the gargoyles could storm the room, Macbeth brought the syringe into Demona's arm and shot the poison into her. The azure gargess winced in pain as the needle plunged into her flesh, depositing its deadly contents into her bloodstream.
"You're going to lose control again Demona," explained Macbeth, "I know you are looking the Codicium."
Demona's eyes widened at the last part.
"The Malus Codicium. You mean you didn't destroy it?"
"It was too powerful for me."
"YOU FOOL!" screamed the gargess, "I never wanted that damn thing back, I thought, I hoped, that you destroyed it!"
Macbeth's eyes widened, "What do you mean."
He never finished the sentence; he was suddenly enveloped by a wave of dizziness. He fell backwards onto his rear, his vision was becoming blurred, he felt very light headed, he was tired, so very tired. He could make out a lavender blur rush towards the table, screaming something.
A billion miles away, someone called his name. He felt a sensation of movement and became aware that he was staring at the ceiling. He could just make out a figure lean over him; he couldn't identify whom it was, although he could see red and white in the blur.
Red and White?
Jezebel.
He hoped they wouldn't hurt her; she was a good woman at heart. She and the lads were all good people.
The lads.
The three of them had been very brave tonight. Malibu and Fang especially, he hoped they would be all right, they didn't have the same protection Brooklyn had, they didn't have the spell.
The Spell. That's not right, he had used the spell last.
Which meant.
-Oh my God!-
The spell would only work as long as the caster was alive!
Using every once of dwindling strength in his body, he forced himself to speak. Jezebel had to know, she had to warn Brooklyn.
"Jezebel."
He could see the figure lean much closer to his face, her features became clear.
Jezebel for sure.
"Spell.only good when caster alive."
He could make out his old friend's eye ridges raise curiously, before her eyes widened, as she understood what he was trying to tell her.
A second thought occurred to him. If Demona didn't want the Codicium, then why did he have that prophetic dream?
Just then, something in the back of his mind clicked.
He suddenly remembered what he had told Brooklyn about the book.
"It's alive. It manipulates."
He had to warn them, had to protect them.
"Jezebel.you.you.must protect them.protect them from.from."
The very last of his strength exhausted, Macbeth, the High King of Scotland, breathed his last and died.
Jezebel shut her eyes, fighting the tears that threatened to come. She wouldn't break down; not yet, she still had a job to do. She looked over at the table, a rather fat aquamarine gargoyle, Broadway, she believed, was comforting a young, lavender female who was sobbing on his shoulder.
-Angela obviously.-
The others, the dog-like creature, the tiger mutate, and the two clones, all looked very sullen aswell.
She knew how they felt. She knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. She would never wish it on anyone she knew. She had killed in her time. But they were all evil people who richly deserved it.
Perhaps Demona was going to go straight, perhaps not. This had been a necessity. She was looking for the Codicium. She could never be allowed to wield it again, never.
She gave her king a kiss on the forehead, before finally rising. Macbeth had ordered her to protect their three helpers, and that was exactly what she intended to do.
She heard someone approaching her; she turned to see the tiger mutate, Claw, staring angrily at her. She sent him flying across the room without a second thought.
"I shall protect them!" she screamed, her eyes turning a burning shade of amber.
"Deflagrate muri intervallia!"
To the amazement of the grieving group of gargoyles, the old lady, whom had been helping Macbeth, disappeared in a ball of amber flames.
***********************************************************
Brooklyn slid to the ground, clutching his chest and gritting his teeth. Goliath had woken up. He had gone straight after "Lance" and snapped the staff he had been using to keep Hudson and Burbank at bay like a twig. He would have shot him again but Hudson had knocked the stun gun out of his hand. He had made a run for the courtyard, in the hopes of evading Hudson, Burbank and the severely pissed Goliath by taking to the air.
That had been a big mistake. Goliath was a lot faster on the ground than Brooklyn had given him credit for. No sooner had he actually reached the courtyard, Goliath had caught him, and proceeded to beat the living daylights out of him.
Goliath had busted his nose, dislodged several teeth, and broken at least five of his ribs. He looked up weakly at the huge lavender gargoyle.
-I wonder if he'll stop if I tell him who I really am?-
He decided against it. Chances are, Goliath would pummel him even harder if he knew the truth. Goliath tended to only see red when he learned a clan member was going behind his back and doing something he knew the leader would definitely not approve of. Chances are, being an accomplice in a murder would probably be against Goliath's principals.
Brooklyn dug his talons into the wall while trying to force his legs into getting into a standing position, halfway up his legs gave out and he fell forward onto his knees. It hurt to breathe, every time he inhaled, he felt like his chest would cave in on itself, it felt like his lungs were on fire. He could taste his own blood in his mouth. He bent over himself, clutching his ribs. He closed his eyes to fight back tears. It hurt so much it was unbearable. He wished and prayed Goliath would just stop.
Suddenly, he felt very light headed. His stomach began to churn uncomfortably. A very odd feeling came over him. It was hard to describe. It was almost as if someone had taken a wet paintbrush and began to slap warm paint on him. His mouth felt really odd, he could feel it growing bigger, his lips began to retreat away from his face, heading out into the air, his bleeding nose following closely behind.
He could hear gasps from his three assailants.
His eyes flickered open to see what all the horrified gasping was about. He could see the end of his beak. Trembling, he brought his right hand in front of his face. It wasn't grey anymore. It was blood red.
-Oh shit.-
"Brooklyn?" rumbled Goliath; he appeared very shocked at this sudden revelation. His second-in-command looked up at him, he was more than a little afraid at this point of what Goliath would do to him.
"Goliath," he said, pain and fear in his voice, "I.I can explain everything."
Goliath however, didn't appear to be in the mood for any explanations. His face was contorted into a terrifying mask of rage, his eyes were glowing at an intensity Brooklyn had never seen before, or had even thought possible. He couldn't bring himself to look at Goliath. He was too afraid.
"You.you did this!" thundered the lavender gargoyle. "You went behind my back to kill Demona!"
"Goliath.I."
"SILENCE!"
Brooklyn cowered away from his leader. He could see Hudson several feet away. The old gargoyle was shaking his head. He looked very disappointed.
Goliath grabbed him by the throat and held him up as if he weighed nothing.
"You treacherous little BASTARD!" he howled, hurling Brooklyn across the courtyard.
The crimson gargoyle landed hard on his back on the cobblestones. The back of his head connecting hard with a loose, and vertically pointing cobblestone, exploding Brooklyn into a white-hot eruption of electrified suffering.
The pain, Brooklyn realised dismally, wasn't your average run of the mill collision injuries that would eventually disappear and leave no trace behind. This particular injury would probably result in intermittently crippling shooting pain that would periodically plague him for the rest of his natural life.
-Look on the bright side,- he told himself. -The way Goliath's going, that won't be much longer.-
A huge ball Amber flames suddenly appeared between Brooklyn and Goliath. When it dissipated, three figures stood in its place.
Jezebel stood there, her body tensed, her pump-action shotgun pointed at Goliath, her back was to Brooklyn, so he couldn't see her glowing amber eyes, or the tears that were forming there. Along side her stood Malibu and Fang. They were facing him; they didn't look too good at all.
Fang had his right arm drooped over Mal's shoulders; he was leaning heavily on him. His nose and mouth were bleeding and he appeared to be half conscious. Mal had cuts across his face and chest, his stun gun hung limply in his right hand while his left arm was wrapped around Fang's waist, helping him stand. Brooklyn could only guess what he looked like.
Mal gently helped Fang on to his knees before kneeling beside Brooklyn.
"Brooklyn! Can you hear me?"
"He looks pretty bad Mal," mumbled Fang.
"Ye.yes, I can hear you," whispered the red gargoyle.
"Thank God," said the clone, relieved, he put his hand on his friend's forehead, "I was afraid we'd lost you there."
There was the sound of more people charging into the courtyard. In an instant, Malibu was on his feet, pointing the stun gun at them.
"Another step and I shoot!" he yelled, shooting the ground just in front of the mutates and gargoyles who had pursued them from the main hall to emphasise his point.
"Where is Demona?" roared Goliath.
"I've got her!" said Broadway sadly, stepping through the crowd. Demona lay in his arms, limp, and not breathing. "We were too late Goliath."
The lavender gargoyle's hard expression softened for a moment as he took in the news of his former mate's demise. He threw his head back and howled at the night sky, a long, mourning howl. Tears forming in his eyes, he faced Brooklyn and the others who had had a hand in Demona's death. He snarled threateningly, his eyes glowing an intense white; he took a step towards the group.
Jezebel aimed low and fired. The ground before Goliath exploded from the solid-core shell. Goliath jumped back and roared at the old lady.
"You have what you came for," she said coldly. "Now get out!"
"Brooklyn!" roared Goliath. "I banish now and forever from our clan! If you ever, ever show your face at the castle again I shall kill you myself! Do you understand?"
"Yes Goliath."
"The same goes for you two!" roared Talon, "Show up at the Labyrinth again and I'll skin you alive!"
"Fuck you Derek!" screamed Malibu.
Talon growled and stepped forward, but was forced back when Mal fired at the ground.
Cautiously, all the gargoyles and mutates scaled the inner wall of the courtyard and flew away, bearing with them Goliath's fallen "Angel of the Night."
Fang, Brooklyn, Malibu and Jezebel remained silent for quite some time before Jezebel sheathed her shotgun and walked over to Brooklyn to help him inside. She wasn't crying yet, but she knew she would eventually. Her tears could wait for a little while longer though, first, she would tend her new masters' wounds, only then, would she allow herself the time to weep for Macbeth.
As the party stumbled back inside, all lost in their own thoughts, none noticed the three figures standing on the roof, watching them.
"Your plan has failed sister," said Phoebe.
"So it would appear," replied Selene.
"What do we do now?" asked Luna.
Phoebe considered this for a moment before answering, "We shall have to make an appeal to Lord Oberon to intervene."
"Do you think he will allow us to bring back Demona and Macbeth sister?" asked Selene.
"Not both of them sister," replied Phoebe, "However, we no longer need Macbeth, so we shall only appeal to return Demona to the mortal plain."
"What of Anubis sister?" asked Luna.
"If Oberon sides with us then he can do nothing but comply," said Selene.
"Quite true sister," stated Phoebe.
"Then let us go to Avalon and make our appeal," said Luna.
That said the Wyrd Sisters vanished into thin air.
To be continued.
Bloody Hell but that took long to do! Anywho, the next part "Repercussions" should be out in a few days time. Again, comments, ideas etc welcome.
Darkness