5

The Meeting of the Warriors

"Father? Father! Father, are you all right?"
Goliath groaned and finally opened his eyes. He looked up at Angela, who was kneeling next to him, her face wracked with concern. He slowly sat up, placing one taloned hand against his forehead.
"Jalapeno, what was that?" Goliath groaned as he slowly rose to his feet.
"I don't know…" Angela whispered. They both moved over to Broadway, who was also lying on the ground, blacked out. After some shaking and prodding, he too awoke. The three gargoyles surveyed their surroundings.
"How did we get up here?" Broadway asked as he flicked his head around, searching for something he wasn't sure of. "Last thing I remember was…"
"Being in an alley…" Goliath finished absently.
"Father…" Angela whispered, placing a hand on Goliath's shoulder. The elder gargoyle turned and found himself gazing up, and up, and up even further at a massive orange dome, made of a material he could not discern. It rose high above the tops of the buildings, surrounding a huge area. The three gargoyle's all felt their jaws drop as they looked around, and saw even more of these man-mad environments dotting the landscape.
"I don't think we're in New York anymore…" Goliath whispered through his awe.
"But then…where are we?" Broadway asked. The answer came not in words, but in piercing screaming sound, followed shortly by an explosion that tore into the street alongside the building they stood on. The shockwaves threw the three warriors to the ground. All three of them looked in the direction the attack had come from, and where met by yet another incredible sight.

"Action!" Roger barked as his hands wrapped around the controls. Elisa stood alongside the pilot's seat, gripping at the back of the seat as she struggled not to fall to her knees in pure shock and awe. She found herself completely speechless as she watched the city become smaller as they rose above it. She felt the hum of the machinery all around her, the sounds of the metal giant rising to its feet. Roger was completely calm, years of experience having made it all routine for him.
"All right…" Elisa found her voice, "NOW I'm impressed!"
"If you think Big O is something, wait till you see what comes next." Roger smirked ass he pressed his feet onto the pedals on the floor, commanding Big O forward. The incredible machine moved with Roger, worked with him as one entity. Elisa watched each movement, utterly fascinated and incredulous. But soon enough, the object of this action came into sight.
"What…what on earth is that?" Elisa gasped when the megadeus cropped up in their line of sight.
"Probably another tool of The Union." Roger snorted. "Just a pawn in the hand of those Paradigm's Chief Executive Officer betrayed." Elisa did not understand what he meant, but she watched as Roger carefully manipulated the controls of Big O. The other megadeus turned, saw them, and charged forward. Elisa found herself cringing, terrified of what would happen when the steel titans collided.
The foreign megadeus slammed into Big O, full force, and the two robots grappled roughly. The asphalt of the streets peeled under their monstrous feet as they both struggled for footing. Their enormous metal hands both squeezed with the force of a thousand vices, trying to overpower each other. The force of the attack threw Elisa down onto the floor, and she struggled to climb to her feet as Big O fought with its enemy. "You might want to hang on tight, Miss Maza," Roger instructed, "It's only going to get rougher!" Roger pressed down onto a button on top of one of the controls, and Big O's belly-plates slid back to reveal a series of rocket launchers. They delivered their payload into the foreign megadeus, throwing it back. Big O charged forward, but was leveled by a shattering uppercut from its enemy. Roger and Elisa both grunted with the impact, as if feeling it for Big O. The massive hands of Roger's mechanical partner slapped onto the shoulder's of the foreign megadeus and threw it aside, smashing it into a building, sending debris falling everywhere.

"Would everyone please step back!" Dastun shouted, holding his hands up and moving them back and forth, as if by some magical force it would cause the crowd to move for him. "This is a dangerous area!" Dastun groaned and slapped a hand against his forehead as the mob continued to mill about, all wanting to see some of the action. With all of this, it was becoming more annoyance than relief when the black megadeus showed up.
A loud scream shook Dastun from his thoughts. He looked up to see the hundreds of people all running down the street, as if in a panic for their lives. He stood up straight, both thankful and confused. Then he heard the breathing behind him. He turned slowly, and found his own scream of fright matching those of the fleeing people. But rather than run, he stumbled back and fell right onto his butt.
Goliath sighed, and shook his head. He was used to reactions like this. The strange police officer quickly pulled out his weapon and tried to level it, poorly considering how much his hands were shaking. "W-w-w-whatever you are…j-just freeze!" he stuttered, his mouth hardly matching his words as he struggled to digest what he saw before him.
A large, green hand grabbed the pistol right out of Dastun's hand and crushed it into a small metal ball. Dastun looked up at Broadway, emitted another shout of fright and scrambled backward. "What the hell are you?" he finally managed.
"Why do people always have to be afraid?" Broadway said sadly, ignoring the cowering police officer. Goliath offered no answer.
"Help! My baby!" a loud scream tore into all three of them. Their attention swung down the street to see a woman running toward them, and then up the street to the battle zone, where they indeed saw a young child staring up at the metal giants, frozen in fear. One of them threw the other into a building, causing an explosion of debris to fly, a large chunk of what was previously wall hurling down toward the child.
"No!" Goliath shouted and started to move, but knew already he'd never make it in time. He closed his eyes and tried to force himself to move faster…
"Don't worry father!" Angela shouted as she landed next to the boy, picking him up gently and quickly dashing toward her companions. Goliath opened his eyes, and saw the black metal giant, its hand hovering above them. Once Angela and her human cargo where clear, it dropped the debris it had caught. Angela handed the woman her child.
"T-thank…" but she could not finish, and turned and fled in fear, both of the battle ensuing, and of her strange saviors. Angela came back alongside Goliath and Broadway.
"It would seem that even this city has its own protector." Goliath said as they looked up at the steel titans. The black one was grappling again with its enemy. "Shall we help it then?" Broadway and Angela both smirked, and with that all three began scaling a nearby brick wall, searching for a good height to gain some wind. Dastun stood up as he watched them go.
"How much more can this city take?" he said to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.

"First Elisa, now Goliath." Xanatos sighed with frustration. Brooklyn, Lexington, Hudson, and Bronx did not take it as casually as he did. "You're sure it was the same energy, Owen?" He asked once again.
"Yes, Mr. Xanatos. I'm quite positive I detected the same energy that took Detective Maza from us. It would seem that whatever doorway is snatching up citizens of our world can be opened more than once."
"And if it opens again?" Hudson grumbled, crossing his arms.
"If it opens again, we'll deal with it when it happens." Brooklyn broke in. "But until then, we have to do what Goliath said before he vanished; this city won't protect itself."
"How can you be so cold?" Fox demanded, shaking a finger at him. "You're best friends have just been taken off the face of the earth!"
"The lad is right." Hudson said, placing a hand on Brooklyn's shoulder. "Until we know what it is that's happening, we can't leap before we look"
"But how will we get Goliath and Elisa back?" Lexington asked.
"If the door opened twice already, it will probably open again." Owen said.
"I'll set up monitoring stations, all over the city" Xanatos suggested, "We'll keep a watch out to see if those energy patterns flair up again. When they do, we'll be ready."

"What the hell was that?" Roger shouted, for a moment losing control of Big O, causing the megadeus to falter, leaving it completely vulnerable for its enemies attack. The foreign megadeus clobbered Big O with a massive punch, sending it reeling.
"What was it?" Elisa said as she pulled herself up alongside the pilot's seat.
"I don't know." Roger said as he wrestled with the controls, forcing Big O back into the fight. It tackled its enemy, forcing it back. Elisa kept her gaze locked on the monitor, waiting to see if whatever alarmed Roger would appear again.
"There it is again!" Roger said, leaning forward in his seat, gesturing with his head at the shape that darted out of the corner of the monitor. Elisa's eyes narrowed with focus, then widened with recognition.
"Goliath!" she said, shouting with half surprise, half happiness.

"What?" Roger said, turning his head to face her, but was quickly rattled by another massive blow from his opponent.
"There!" Elisa said, pointing at the screen. Roger looked, and felt all the rules of reality leave him at once. There, right in his own sight, was a strange looking winged creature. It glided between the two megadeus', landing on Big O's enemy. It dug its talons into the metal skin, and tore a large chunk away, causing the titan to smack at its own body like a man swatting at insects, but by then it had already leapt back into the air and safety.
"What is that?" Roger said, his mind groping for an answer.
"And Angela and Broadway!" Elisa said, her elation growing. And indeed, two more of the creatures landed on the megadeus and repeated the others action, leaping away just before the massive hand reached them. All three of them then glided about in the air, dodging as the megadeus swatted at them, as if they were bees attacking an intruder. Roger snapped back to reality, and quickly took his advantage.
With a shout of determination, Roger grabbed the controls. Big O followed his direction, drawing its massive arm back, the enormous piston in it's forearm slamming back, and then ramming forward, releasing an unspeakable blast of kinetic energy, ripping a hole the size of a baseball field into its enemies gut.
"What was that?" Angela shouted above the roar of flames and the whine or police sirens.
"I don't know, but it sure was…big!" Broadway shouted back, his mind failing to conjure a better description.
"It's been defeated, that's what matters." Goliath called to them. "Now, if we can find out this one's intentions." As if it had heard him, the other robot gave a shudder and then slowly began to sink down into another hole in the streets, vanishing down into the darkness below. The three gargoyles watched it go, unsure of what came next.
They were answered by the sound of shots and the wiz of bullets. Angela gave a scream as a bullet winged her arm. Broadway glided over to stop her from falling. All three gazed down at the streets, where the police officers were now focusing they're shots up at them.
"Even here we must be feared." Goliath sighed. He hurried off in another direction, his daughter and her lover following closely.
"Where are we going?" Broadway asked.
"I'm not sure." Goliath replied. "But we have to find shelter before sunrise."
"Goliath! Hey, big guy, over here!" A pleasantly familiar voice shouted from not far away. Goliath's grim mood instantly brightened and his head swung around to see none other than his lost Elisa, now found. She stood on the roof of a building several blocks away, waving at them.
"Elisa!" Goliath shouted. He swept toward her like a shot, a streak of purple daring through the sky. Angela and Broadway both hurried to catch up, but still landed a good beat behind him. He rushed across the roof and swept Elisa up in his arms in a crushing embrace.
"Whoa, easy Big Guy." Elisa laughed as she returned the hug. Goliath set her down and gazed into her eyes, savoring each familiar inch of her.
"Elisa" he purred as he held her against his chest. "I was starting to fear we would never see you again." Elisa just smiled in response and placed a hand on his cheek. The warm reunion was interrupted when Roger burst through from a stairwell leading to the roof.
"Elisa" he scolded, "What's the big idea running o-oh…" he said when his eyes fell on the purple giant holding the delicate young woman in his arms. Roger fell silent for a moment before he charged forward and grabbed Elisa's wrist. "Elisa, run!" He shouted.
"Roger, no, its not…" she tried to explain, but too late. Broadway leapt from the roof above the stairwell, landed flat in front of them, and clutched Roger's collar with a clawed hand. He yanked the Negotiator up off the ground with a snarl. He contemplated what to do with this man when Elisa gave him a light kick above his tail. "Broadway!"
she scolded, "Don't you dare hurt Roger! He's the only one who's been trying to help me."
Broadway looked at Elisa, confusedly, and let Roger go. He scrambled back against a wall, his eyes darting over Elisa's strange companions.
"Elisa…" he stuttered, struggling for words to express his shock, "What the hell are those things?"
"Um, Roger…" she said, running a hand through her dark hair "These are Goliath and Broadway. They're my friends."
"You're friends?" Roger said, exasperated.
"Is this a friend too, Elisa?" Angela said, stepping forward. Roger stiffened back up against the wall at the sight of the third Gargoyle.
"Roger, take it easy!" Elisa said, holding up her hands. Goliath, Angela, and Broadway all hung back as she approached the near panicked man, watching with a mix of disappointment and amusement at this reaction they had become so accustomed to. "They're not going to hurt you." Roger gawked at her, and she sighed, deciding to start from the top. "Roger, this is Goliath…" she said, stepping aside to give the Negotiator a full view of her companion. Goliath stepped forward and held a hand out to Roger.
"Whoever you are" he said as softy as he could, not wanting his naturally growly voice to further frighten the poor man, "If you are a friend of Elisa, then you are a friend to us as well." Roger looked at the purple hand, more than twice the size of his own, and stepped forward cautiously. He slowly extended his own trembling hand and finally clutched Goliath's. They shook, and Roger eased up considerably. He looked over at Elisa and smirked.
"When you told me you had unique friends, I didn't know you meant this unique."
"Coming from someone who lives with an android, that's kind of like the kettle calling the pot black." Elisa smiled back.
"Its nice to meet you, mister…" Angela said as she too offered out her hand.
"Smith, Roger Smith." Roger replied as he accepted her hand, but instead of shaking he bowed his head down low, as if to kiss her hand. Angela giggled lightly, and Elisa rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
"Hi Roger, put her there." Broadway said, stepping forward and offering his hand, clapping Roger on the shoulder, nearly sending him flat on his face. When he recovered, he joined in the chorus of chuckles from Elisa, Goliath, and Angela. The jovial mood was interrupted however, by the tolling of a distant clocktower. The three gargoyles all snapped to attention. Elisa also reacted, and turned to Roger.
"Roger, quick, what time is it?" She asked hurriedly. Roger jumped at her urgency, and then glanced at his watch, the same device that had earlier summoned Big O.
"Its about six o' clock. Why?"
"We must go." Goliath said, turning for the ledge.
"Huh?" Roger said, confused by the sudden change of mood.
"Roger" Elisa said, grabbing his arm, "they need someplace to stay before the sun rises. We need to take them back to you're place."
"What happens at sunrise?" Roger asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I'll tell you when we get there." Elisa said, tugging at his arm as she lead him toward the stairwell. The three Gargoyles followed Roger's car as he rode toward home. As they drove, Roger reached down and once again activated the small screen on the dashboard of his car.
"Something I can do for you, master Roger?" Norman asked when the kindly old butler's face appeared.
"Norman, could you cancel all my appointments for tomorrow? And lock all the doors, I don't want any unexpected company."
"Consider it done, sir." Norman said. But before he could turn to do as instructed, Roger broke in with another request.
"And Norman…" he glanced up for a moment, and then smirked, "Better go grocery shopping. We're going to be having some guests."