Allies

Set soon after IS2 - 23 Alliances

.

Detective Elisa Maza leaned against the doorframe, her gaze switching between the setting sun and the statues lining the balcony. As the sun began to slide below the skyline, a new presence made itself known.

"Detective."

"Professor." Elisa said, giving the wheelchair-bound new arrival a quick glance. "Here to talk with the big man?"

"Actually, I was hoping to speak to Lexington." Xavier explained. "He offered to help Forge with a project which I hope will prove useful."

Elisa raised an eyebrow at him and Xavier smiled.

"They are planning on working on a way to delay the effects of dawn. Not stop them, just delay them enough so that they can get to a safe place before entering stone sleep."

"That… sounds useful." Elisa admitted. "But why not remove the need for stone sleep?"

"Because it serves a purpose, allowing them to heal." Xavier said, looking out across the city. "We do not wish to risk the health of our new allies in regards to something that we only barely understand even now."

Elisa nodded, then her attention snapped to the largest statue as cracks began to form in its surface. The cracks quickly spread, spider-webbing across the surface, then the outer shell fell away and Goliath stretched as he awoke, his growl echoing across the city, along with the waking growls of the other Gargoyles. Turning, his face lit up as he spotted Elisa and he quickly walked over to her.

"My beloved."

"Hey, big guy." Elisa smiled up at him and Goliath smiled at her before noticing Xavier.

"Professor, I must thank you for this place."

"I'm glad you are settling in." Xavier smiled, then he looked at the smallest of the Gargoyles. "Goliath, may I borrow Lexington? I promise I'll have him back before sunrise."

Elisa snorted with laughter and Goliath nodded.

"Very well. I have a task of my own, I have been asked by Xanatos for a meeting at his tower."

"If you want, I can have Clark drop by as backup." Xavier offered and Goliath nodded slowly.

"It would be appreciated. If I had had more time to think, I would have asked for his aid yesterday. I am still not used to these… communicators."

"The strange psionic events I detected." Xavier realised. "I was about to send a team to find out what what going on when it stopped."

"I shall tell you the tale later, if you wish." Goliath said as he scooped Elisa into his arms and leapt onto the reinforced railing. "For now, I bid thee a good evening."

.

"Good evening, Goliath."

"Superman." Goliath rumbled at his fellow-flier. "Thank you for coming."

"I'm just here to act as a shield for your girlfriend if anything goes wrong." Clark shrugged as they rose towards the stone castle perched atop the skyscraper ahead of them. "I see the belt's working for you."

"That it is." Goliath grinned. "Here we are."

Goliath cupped his wings to pull into a hover, then he touched down lightly before lowering Elisa to the ground. A slight whisper of air marked Superman landing behind him and Xanatos raised one eyebrow.

"Bringing in the big guns already, Goliath? I assure you, you have no need to worry. After all, I owe you for saving my son."

"So why did you call this meeting?"

"Coldstone."

Goliath blinked in shock.

"I managed to find him and have him in stasis. It's a good thing you brought Superman with you as his help will be most appreciated. I intend to build new bodies for Desdemona and Iago."

"I'm already lost." Clark admitted quietly and Elisa leaned towards him.

"Coldstone is a magically-reanimated cyborg with three Gargoyle souls inside him, Othello, Desdemona and Iago. Othello and Desdemona were lifemates, Iago… isn't very nice."

"…and I have designed and built the prototype bodies, but since you are allied with Superman, I was wondering if I could impose upon him to upgrade them?"

"Wait a minute." Clark said slowly. "I need to talk to the Professor."

.

"Nice place you have here." Xanatos said admiringly as he stepped out of the elevator. "I thought my tech was advanced, but this?"

"Ve like it." Nightcrawler shrugged and Xanatos looked at him curiously.

"I have to ask, why where you chosen as my guide?"

"If zomezing goes vrong, I can teleport you to zafety." Kurt replied and Xanatos nodded.

"The more I see, the more impressed I become. I think I need to see about making a business alliance."

"I will consider it." Xavier said from the doorway. "Please, come in. We were just about to begin."

Xanatos stepped into the large room and looked curiously at the unmoving form of Coldstone and the three winged forms on specially-adapted tables arrayed around a high-tech chair. The chair and tables were all surrounded by a domelike cage and Xanatos examined it for a moment before turning his attention to the covered forms. Lifting up one sheet, he stared at it in amazement.

"This… did you manage to clone them or something?"

"No." Xavier replied as he wheeled himself into the center of the room. As Forge moved to help him into the chair, he continued speaking. "We used the robots you created as the basis for the design, but we applied Kryptonian technology as well. The minds of the robots are specially-grown crystal matrixes designed to mimic an organic mind in how they work while the bodies have Adamantium skeletons and pseudomusculature linear actuators. The skin itself is artificial, far tougher than tri-weave kevlar but containing sensors that act like the nerves in normal skin, giving far superior tactile capabilities. We essentially rebuilt the bodies using advanced Kryptonian prosthetics."

"Nice." Xanatos finally managed. "I know an elf who will be willing to help if needed."

"I can do this." Xavier said as Forge pulled the wheelchair out of the dome. Placing the headpiece on, he gave Forge a significant look, prompting Forge to scurry over to a control panel. "I took the liberty of scanning Coldstone before you came and I have identified all three minds. Please, do not enter the dome, no matter what."

Xanatos nodded and Xavier closed his eyes even as the dome seemed to project a shimmering blue field. Several moments passed, then the field rippled and three ethereal winged shapes slowly rose out of Coldstone's body. One of them spun round and hurled itself at Xanatos, only to recoil as it hit the inside of the dome, then Xavier's eyes snapped open and the shape was seized by a spectral fist and thrust into one of the waiting bodies. A moment later, the other two forms flowed into the remaining bodies and the dome faded.

"It… is done." Charles said weakly as the three newly-animated Gargoyles slowly sat up, their sheets slipping from them.

"I see you forgot their clothing." Xanatos snarked.

.

The three awakened beings looked round as a huge figure entered the room.

"You asked for me, little brother?"

"I did, Marko, and thank you for coming." Xavier said. "May I introduce Iago, Othello and Desdemona, cybernetically-enhanced Gargoyles . Iago wishes for a new life away from here and I wondered if there could be a place for him on Genosha?"

Iago gulped as he realised just how severely outmassed he was by the newest arrival, then Juggernaut nodded.

"As long as he agrees to abide by the rules, sure thing. From the looks of him, he'd do great in the Guardians."

"Excellent. Then I shall leave him in your hands. Oh, I believe that Martha heard you were coming and baked some of your favourite cookies."

Marko grinned. "Then I'd better not keep her waiting. Come on, Iago. Let's go."

Iago paused, then he met Othello's glare. "It's go with him or face us, brother, and we were granted better bodies than you were."

Iago nodded and scurried out of the door. As soon as the door closed behind him, Othello and Desdemona turned their attention back to Xavier.

"Now that he is gone, hopefully to start a new, law-abiding life, I will be happy to escort you to where Goliath and his clan are." Xavier smiled. "I think he will be overjoyed to see you."

.

Goliath's face was a study of shock and amazement as Othello and Desdemona stepped through the door. After a few moments, he lunged forwards and caught them both in a hug, before holding them at arms length and examining them.

"…how?"

"Xavier and Clark gave us these new bodies, brother." Othello smiled. "They are machines, but machines so advanced that they are as living flesh itself. We can even eat and drink should we choose to."

"We do not need to sleep during the day, so we can guard you when the sun is in the sky." Desdemona added. "And you need not worry about Iago, by now he is at Genosha, many hundreds of miles from here."

Goliath smiled at them, tears welling in his eyes. "It is good to have you back in the clan, my rookery-siblings."

"I think I speak for us both when I say that it is good to be back." Othello replied.

.

"I am surprised that you let Xavier take over your project, sir." Owen Burnett said as he placed a cup of tea in front of his boss. "I believe that you had plans for Iago using the Coldsteel robot."

"True, but the situation has proven even more fortuitous." Xanatos smirked. "Using the connection formed by Iago's… employment, I have arranged to expand Xanatos Enterprises into Genosha, thus giving me access to the advantages of mutants and their powers. In addition, I have taken the first steps to repaying Goliath the debt I owe him by returning two members of his Clan to him and then there is the Xavier Institute. Now that I know at least some of what they are capable of, I can direct further resources into forming an alliance with them and gaining access to the K-tech that has yet to be released into the public domain.

"I ask you, Owen, what is one mechanical operative compared to all of that?"