Gargoyles
"The Path Unfolding" – Part Four
By Aaron
"Okay, mission accomplished," Broadway reported as he landed in the castle courtyard with Angela to join the rest of the clan. "We dropped Jackal and Hyena at the nearest precinct and kept an eye on them until Matt came by with a couple of units to pick them up."
"Thankfully, they were still unconscious when he arrived," Angela added with a hint of relief. "All of our enemies should be so accommodating after a battle."
"Well, it sure sounds like you had better luck than we did." Lexington noted with a dejected voice.
"He's not here?" Broadway exclaimed, instantly deducing that the clan's search for Adam had been unsuccessful.
"Aye…it's as if the very shadows themselves reached out and swallowed him whole," Hudson answered in bewilderment. "There's not a trace of him to be found anywhere."
"Oooooooh no…I am NOT going to accept that this guy just danced away right under our noses," Brooklyn declared angrily as Angela looked around the courtyard with worry. "We are FINDING him."
"Uh…where is Goliath?" Angela asked meekly, making it clear where her attention was focused on as her father's massive frame was much conspicuous by its absence.
"Where do you think?" Lexington answered.
It was only moments before Angela and the rest of the clan made their way through one of the castle's many interior corridors, where a chamber on the end had been fashioned into a modest guest bedroom. Xanatos and Fox had chosen to remain outside, but their presence made it all-too clear who could be found within.
"How is she?" Angela asked with concern.
"The pain seems to have eased a bit. She's hanging in there," Fox answered plainly. "My doctor is on his way, he should be here any minute."
The clan needed no further encouragement to do what came naturally to them as they crowded into the room. Even though they knew what to expect, it still wasn't easy for any of them to see Elisa lying in bed, struck down by her mysterious affliction. It was even harder for them to look at Goliath. Kneeling at her side with his hands folded over one of hers and a look of anguish spread across his face, he seemed virtually catatonic, moving not a muscle and speaking not a word.
"Elisa?" Broadway asked modestly, peering over Goliath's shoulder with the others as Fox and Xanatos lingered in the doorway. "Are you okay?"
"Huh…a little better…but I'd settle for great. Nnn!" Elisa joked weakly, trying to put on a tough front until another groan of pain escaped her lips, causing Goliath's dread to worsen.
Just then, a soft, beeping sound could be heard coming from a nearby panel in the room. Instantly recognizing the noise, Xanatos walked over and pulled out what appeared to be a telephone receiver.
"Yes…? Yes, that's good…send him right up immediately," he ordered before hanging up the receiver and turning back to the others. "That was the main Security Desk downstairs. Fox's doctor has arrived. They're letting him up now."
"You guys better make yourselves scarce," Fox suggested.
"It's just as well. We need to find that fruitcake, Adam, before he gets too far," Brooklyn pointed out.
"Owen has the entire building on lockdown and Security is conducting a room-by-room search," Xanatos declared. "There's no way he got out of here."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but he got away from us and we were standing right next to him," Angela noted, sounding far less confident. "I can only imagine how easy it would be for him to evade security patrols in a massive fortress like this."
"Even if he did get out, he couldn't have gotten THAT far," Lexington added, trying to sound more upbeat.
"Either way, we'd best stop talking about it. Every second we spend here is a second he gets further from our reach," Hudson remarked before turning his attention to the one in the room who had remained completely silent. "Goliath?"
"Elisa…," Goliath uttered, fearful to leave her side.
"Ssshhhhh…no buts, Big Guy," Elisa groaned, pulling herself up to a sitting position. "My body may be down, but my brain's working fine. Whatever's going on with these attempts on my life, it's pretty obvious that this guy is somehow involved. And whether he's on our side or not, we've got to track him down. He's the only one who can give us any kind of answers."
"Hey…don't worry. I promise…I'll still be here when you get back," Elisa coaxed on, looking into Goliath's eyes with a weak smile before turning her attention to Bronx who peered over the bed and nestled his head into her lap. "Besides…I've got the best watchdog in the business looking out for me."
Grudgingly accepting Elisa's argument, Goliath simply replied with the slightest of nods before Elisa reached up with her free hand and pulled his head down, pressing her forehead to his. And while Goliath was truly appreciative of the gesture, Elisa's heavy, ragged breathing through her nose made it clear that she was merely putting up a tough front, desperately fighting her way through her pain. But as much as it made Goliath desire that much more to stay, he had to remember Fox's earlier words. Now was the time to focus and get his priorities straight.
"Let's go," he ordered solemnly, racing out the door with the rest of the clan behind him.
"I don't understand," Angela whispered as the clan charged outside. "Why is Elisa asking him to leave? Wouldn't she want him to stay close?"
"Goliath can't help her win THIS battle, Lass," Hudson explained quietly. "To stay would only make him feel helpless. By sending him away for this, she can at least make him feel like he's doing SOMETHING for her."
"No sense wasting time and energy," Brooklyn suggested as they made it to the outer wall. "I say we split up to cover more ground. Say, about 10 blocks in every direction. I doubt he's gotten much farther than that."
"Agreed," Goliath replied, turning to the others. "Each of you, head your own way and begin the search. Return here once you've covered your area."
Nodding in agreement, the clan spread out, climbing to the battlements and each taking off to begin an aerial search for their quarry. However, what they didn't count on was that Adam was much closer than they could have ever anticipated. After all, they were expecting to search for someone who was trying to get away from the Eyrie building. It could never have occurred to any of them that Adam had halted his flight to an alley across the street and was keeping himself concealed in the shadows behind a dumpster. If they had, however, they surely would have found it most curious that he was holding his fingers to the side of his neck, timing his pulse with his watch.
"Okay…better. I was pushing it there, for a minute, though," he thought out loud, taking a few more deep breaths before peering over the dumpster to regard the Eyrie building with a worried look. "Can't afford to start losing it now, Champ. The night's not over yet."
"Doctor Rayburn, so glad you could make it," Fox regarded as she and Xanatos both greeted him outside the elevator. "I sincerely hope we didn't interrupt anything deeply important."
"Fox, David, always a pleasure," Rayburn replied, shaking her and Xanatos' hands before following them down the hall. "I must say though, I'm a little surprised to see you up and around, after your assistant called and said it was an emergency. And then, with all the security…What exactly is wrong?"
"Well, I'd be lying if I said you were here to see me," Fox explained, opening the door and leading Rayburn into the guest room where Elisa remained groaning squirming uncomfortably. "Meet your patient, Elisa Maza."
"What happened to her?" Rayburn asked quickly and professionally as he made his way to Elisa's side.
"That's what we're hoping you could tell us," Fox answered. "She doesn't appear to be hurt, but she suddenly just collapsed from pain. I'm afraid we're a bit out of our depth here."
"I'll…do what I can," Rayburn stated with a shrug before preparing to examine Elisa. "Does she have any family in the city?"
"We've already informed them, they're on their way now," Xanatos answered as he and Fox backed out of the room. "If you'll excuse us, Doctor, you seem to have things under control here. We need to see to a situation in the building."
"Understood. Now Elisa, can you understand me?" Rayburn inquired, with a moaning Elisa nodding in response while Xanatos and Fox closed the door. "Okay…Elisa, I'm going to ask you a few standard questions. The more honest you are the better chance I have to help you. Now…"
"The boy walks head-first into an unknown clan of Gargoyles and doesn't even bat an eye," Xanatos noted with suspicion as he, Fox and Owen regarded the castle security footage from his office. "Our mysterious friend seems to be growing more interesting by the second."
"Whoever he is, he's VERY good," Fox observed, drawing their attention in particular to the recording of Adam's fight with Hyena. "Like right here. He read each one of Hyena's moves, knew exactly how she was going to attack him, and countered her every step of the way. You don't just DO that. It's something that has to be practiced, learned."
"Hmmm…," Xanatos muttered as he looked at the screen thoughtfully, finding only questions but no answers.
"Oh no…David, look!" Fox suddenly blurted out, pointing at the smaller monitor recording the nursery.
On the screen, little Alexander remained babbling happily, reaching up out of his playpen. But inside the room with him were two other figures…one, a tall, well-built young man with fiery red hair and a black suit with gold-plated armor. The other was a young female Gargoyle with blue skin, violet eyes, a small beak, long horns that curved behind her head and flowing, jet-black hair, wearing a short, yellow kimono with black trim and a pair of samurai swords strapped to her back.
"Who is THAT?" Xanatos exclaimed.
"Whoever they are, they're in the room with OUR son!" Fox shouted as she dashed out of the office. "And that is NOT where they're staying!"
Xanatos needed no encouragement to follow his wife's lead and go running out the door to confront these new intruders. However, Owen, curiously enough, stayed behind. Instead of following Xanatos and Fox to Little Alexander's side, he chose instead to seat himself behind Xanatos' desk and begin a search of computer records.
"How could they possibly have gotten into the nursery?" Xanatos wondered as he and Fox dashed through the corridors, both having armed themselves with laser weapons. "The doors require key code access."
"You can ask them that AFTER we drag them out by their fingernails!" Fox snarled angrily.
Seconds later, they'd reached the sealed nursery, taking their positions on each side of the heavy twin doors. Quickly, Fox made a series of hand signals, indicating to burst into the room on the count of three. But just as she was about to start counting down…
"Mr. Xanatos, I believe I have some information that you may find of particular interest," Owen's voice suddenly chimed in as his image appeared in a split-screen view from a nearby terminal, alongside the image inside the nursery.
"Not now, Owen," Xanatos replied sternly as he turned back to Fox, both of them focused on only one thing at that moment.
"With all due respect, sir, you ARE going to want to see this," Owen debated, replacing his own image with a listed readout of all the recent security activity, highlighting the topmost line. "It's the pass code they used to gain access to the castle and enter the nursery."
Curious, Xanatos and Fox made their way to the screen to see which of their codes could possibly have been used to gain access. But as the line of code met their gaze, an intense look of shock instantly flashed across their faces.
"…That's impossible…," Fox uttered, her jaw hanging open in astonishment. "There's only one person in the WORLD authorized to use that code."
Xanatos could offer no reply, looking every bit as bewildered. But just then, his eyes shifted over to the inner view of the nursery. And as he took a closer look at the young man, standing motionless by the playpen, his back still to the camera, as Little Alexander giggled and reached up for him, his brain suddenly began racing. Just then, a stunning revelation crossed his mind, causing him to open his eyes even wider. His reaction instantly got Fox's attention, but she was even more perplexed by the reaction that followed as a lighthearted chuckle suddenly escaped his lips.
"Well, well, well," he remarked, grinning at the screen in bizarre amusement. "Just when you think nothing can surprise you anymore…"
"It's hard to believe," the female Gargoyle noted with a smile as she reached down for giggly Little Alexander to grab onto her finger. "He's just so small, isn't he?"
"Oh…he's not that small," Xanatos' voice sounded from behind, causing her to whirl around and see him walking into the room, his weapon lowered, while Fox closed the doors behind them.
"But he IS pretty unbelievable," Fox added, leaning on Xanatos' shoulder as they both focused their attention to the young man, who had yet to turn and face them. "Isn't he?"
Again, the young man said nothing, merely turning his head just enough to peer over his shoulder. But as his eyes caught a glimpse of Xanatos and Fox both smirking at him, he did manage to respond with a cryptic half-smile.
On another skyscraper just across from the Eyrie Building, a shadowy figure slowly made its way across the rooftop, clutching a small remote transmitter in its hand. With a simple button press, the transmitter sent a signal to a small, dust-covered device down in the Eyrie Building's generator room, causing its digital timer to begin a 30-second countdown.
At the same time, another shadowy figure dropped from the skies, into the courtyard of Castle Wyvern. Walking into the light, it was revealed to be none other than Elisa's brother Derek, more commonly known as Talon. He had been quickly informed of Elisa being struck down with her strange affliction, approximately the same time Elisa's parents had been notified. Fortunately, having bat wings as part of being a Mutate granted him the luxury of not being caught up in the typical Manhattan traffic, allowing him to be the first of the family to arrive. Nevertheless, as he looked around the castle, Elisa's well-being hardly became the first thing that entered his mind, when all he could think about was how Xanatos had been the one responsible for orchestrating his mutation in the first place.
"Oh Sis, I know you guys are trying to have some kind of 'truce' thing going on," Talon muttered to himself, still shifting his gaze uncomfortably. "But why did this have to be the place for you to get laid up? Being here now just gives me the creeps."
Unbeknownst to Talon, or anyone in the Eyrie Building, the strange mechanism in the generator room completed its ill-fated countdown to zero. A second later, an eerie hum escaped from it, causing all the generators to mysteriously grind to a stop. At that moment, all the rest of the Eyrie Building's electronics slowly began to flicker and die, eventually bathing the entire structure in darkness.
"Oh good," Talon remarked, now having to find his way around in total blackness. "This is MUCH more comfortable."
Naturally, Talon was hardly the only one to notice the blackout. Xanatos, Fox and the female Gargoyle in the nursery, along with Elisa who was still in the middle of being examined by Doctor Rayburn, could only respond to the sudden power loss with surprise and confusion. The only one who didn't seem surprised by the blackout was the young man in the nursery, whose eyes took on a stern expression.
The other one who wasn't surprised was the mysterious figure on the roof. Upon seeing the Eyrie Building go dark, a pair of eyes glowed blood red as the shadowy form loomed forward.
"Oh…NOW what?" an exasperated Fox sighed.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Xanatos observed. "Even the emergency lights aren't kicking in. If it wasn't for the city lights outside we wouldn't be able to see anything."
"So what do we do?" Fox wondered, pushing against the nursery doors. "Never mind the fact that it shouldn't even be POSSIBLE to kill the power to this building. But with the power out, these doors are shut tight. How can we even get out to see what's going on?"
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," the young man's confident voice sounded, getting Fox and Xanatos' attention. "Trust me. Everything's under control."
His mutated panther eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness, Talon was slowly making his way across the courtyard, hoping to find an adjoining hall and get inside before he had any more surprises to worry about. But a surprise was exactly what he was about to get as a shadowy figure swooped in from the skies to land just a few yards behind him. Fortunately, Talon's panther sense of smell, another trait that had slowly developed as a result of his mutation, kicked in. And his nose perked up as he took a set of quick sniffs, noting a change in the air.
"Goliath? Is that you?" he asked pensively, recognizing the smell as being that of a Gargoyle.
The darkened form spoke not a word, merely inching its way toward Talon, with its glowing, blood-red eyes. But just as it was almost upon him, Talon took another pair of quick sniffs. His initial analysis was that the smell was that of a Gargoyle, but over time, he began to notice that each one had a subtly different scent than the others. And he knew exactly which Gargoyle THIS scent belonged to.
"No, it's not…" Talon hissed as he whirled around, firing a pair of bolts from his electrically charged fists.
Moving quickly, the figure leaped out of the way, causing Talon's attack to slam harmlessly into the far wall. But the curtain had already been pulled back on its shroud of darkness, as the flash from Talon's blasts revealed that it was, in fact, Demona herself who was laying siege to the castle. Reacting quickly, Demona grabbed the laser rifle she had brought with her and fired back.
The energy from Demona's blast exploded into the ground, sending Talon flying off his feet. Rolling back to a standing position, Talon managed to recover swiftly. But it wasn't quick enough to counter Demona, who had already charged in, slamming the butt of her gun across the side of Talon's head and quickly knocking him unconscious.
"Consider yourself lucky that I don't have time to deal with some counterfeit patchwork Gargoyle," Demona muttered as she walked away from Talon's prone body. "But that Electromagnetic Pulse device I secretly planted in Xanatos' Generator room was a one-shot deal, only strong enough to knock out the power to this building for a few minutes. And I have a more serious matter to attend to."
"Well, that's going to complicate things," Dr. Rayburn noted, pulling a small flashlight out of his bag.
"Thanks. I'm gonna need that," Elisa replied, snapping the flashlight out of Rayburn's hand.
"What do you think you're doing?" Rayburn argued as Elisa groaned uncomfortably, forcing herself out of bed. "I'm not about to let you go anywhere. You're not well."
"Trust a cop's instincts, Doc," Elisa answered, pulling her pistol from her shoulder holster that was slung over a nearby chair, underneath her jacket. "If this is what I think it is, NONE of us are going to be well for long."
True to Elisa's word, Demona was carefully making her way along the corridor, looking for any signs of Elisa, while readying herself for any other surprises. And sure enough, one big surprise was fast approaching as a growling Bronx came bounding towards her, with the momentum of a runaway train.
Unfortunately for Bronx, Demona had no more difficulty dodging his assault than she did, Talon's. As Bronx streaked past, his claws shearing through the stone wall, Demona whirled around and fired her rifle, clipping Bronx's front left leg and taking out his mobility.
"Stay…down," Demona menaced, her gun trained on the head of a snarling Bronx as he tried desperately to get back to his feet. "Don't think I'll have any qualms about putting you down like the dog that you are."
"Funny. I was about to say the same thing to you," Elisa's voice sounded from behind as she peered from around the corner, with Dr. Rayburn right behind her, both her gun and flashlight pointed straight at Demona.
Her eyes flashing red, Demona whirled around with a hissing growl of rage. But for all her ferocity and anger, the only sound she ended up making next was a piercing shriek of pain as Elisa immediately fired. The bullet grazed Demona's right shoulder and shredded through her wing, causing her to drop her rifle.
"Wha…what IS that thing?" Rayburn gasped in shock, his mind unable to process what he was seeing.
But Elisa had no time to answer him. Dashing down the hall, she managed to kick Demona's rifle away before she could collect it. And before Demona had time to react, she found herself staring right down the barrel of Elisa's pistol, pointed squarely between her eyes.
"Listen, I've got news for you. I have had a REALLY bad couple of nights," Elisa declared, her voice growing angrier and more threatening by the second. "So I am BEGGING you, okay? Just this once…"
"…GIVE…ME…AN EXCUSE."
What to do? Demona's eyes could only glow red with fury at the situation she suddenly found herself in. Granted, she knew full-well that the sorcery that had allowed her to stay alive through the millennium meant that a gunshot to the head wouldn't kill her. Not permanently, anyway. But it would certainly be enough to incapacitate her until Goliath and the rest of the clan returned and then she would be at their mercy. And there was no way she could possibly move fast enough to attack before Elisa fired. If she gave even the slightest twitch, she knew she'd be waking up in chains. What to do, indeed? But as Demona was trying her best to figure out how to get out of this mess, another staggering wave of pain shot through Elisa's belly, bringing the standoff to an abrupt halt.
"Oh no…not now…," Elisa shuddered as she crumpled to the ground, clutching her sides in agony.
Demona couldn't have cared less to wonder what was going on. Pressing the sudden advantage, she snapped to her feet, punting Elisa hard in the chest. Fortunately, Elisa had enough presence of mind to roll with the impact, but the force of Demona's kick was still enough to send her into the air and rolling back down the corridor.
Instinctively, Rayburn scrambled to Elisa's side, wanting to see to the well-being of his patient. But as he looked up to see Demona's form looming over them, her eyes glowing red and smirking in triumph, he suddenly found himself paralyzed with fright. Of course, his reaction was well beyond Demona's notice as her attention remained fixed on Elisa's writhing, groaning form.
"Hmph, and to think…I was told that YOU were the one who was supposed to bring about the end of Gargoyle kind as we know it," Demona boasted, unable to resist savoring the moment. "And just how do you plan to do that, when you can't even handle ME?"
"A bit early to be taking a victory lap, don't you think?" a new voice came from behind as Demona whirled around to see Adam standing strong behind her, wearing his sunglasses and holding Demona's rifle in his hand.
"You looking for this?" he added.
Reaching down to pat a whimpering Bronx on the head before turning his attention back to Demona, Adam defiantly tossed the rifle over his shoulder, making it clear that there was only one way she was going to be able to get it. Of course his bravado seemed to do little to impress Demona, who merely shook her head and chuckled in amusement.
"Oh please," she remarked sarcastically, "As if I need that toy to do away with a scraggly little pup like you."
"Tall words," Adam answered with a confident smirk, "Taller order."
Her eyes glowing angrily once again, Demona turned her attention away from Elisa as she charged towards Adam, who remained unmoving. She had no idea who this mysterious newcomer was, that had suddenly made his presence known. And she didn't care. All she knew was that she was not about to let such impudence from a mere human go unpunished. With a snarling hiss, Demona bore down on Adam, sending a crushing fist hurtling straight for his head…!
…only to have her attack come to a dead stop as Adam reached up and caught her punch with seemingly no effort at all. Momentarily stunned at the outcome, Demona suddenly found herself frozen in her tracks.
"Surprised, aren't you?" Adam asked plainly with a toothy grin.
Demona's next shock came a split-second later, as Adam's spare fist shot straight into her gut with a thunderous blow, driving all the air out of her lungs and dropping her to one knee. And while Demona could do nothing but let out a few ragged, broken gasps as her body trembled, Adam's voice suddenly lowered to a long wicked hiss.
"I KNEW you would be."
"Brooklyn!" Angela's voice called out from the sky as Brooklyn looked over his shoulder to see her, Lexington and Broadway gliding in his direction.
"Let me guess. You guys didn't find anything either," Brooklyn responded unhappily as they landed on a nearby rooftop.
"Man, I don't get it. I've eaten sardines that weren't as slippery as this guy," Broadway griped, forcing Brooklyn to flash an uncomfortable look his way.
"Hey guys, look," Lexington piped up pointing back to the Eyrie building, causing everyone to see that it had gone dark. "Everything's blacked out. What's going on over there?"
"Nothing that SHOULD be," Brooklyn remarked, leaping off the rooftop with the others close behind. "Everyone, back to the castle now, double time!"
Back at Castle Wyvern, Demona had managed to recover and was continuing her battle against the newly arrived Adam…or at least trying. But no matter how ferociously she lashed out, Adam seemed to tirelessly counter her attacks. In fact, after toying with her for a few moments longer, Adam quickly blocked one of Demona's strikes, only to snap his arm forward and drive the back of his fist into her face. And as Demona staggered back, Adam leaped into a horizontal flip, bringing one leg up and around to crack his foot into the back of Demona's head, slamming her into the hard stone floor, face-first.
It was at that moment that the effect of Electromagnetic Pulse device Demona had secretly planted in the Eyrie Building began to wane and the generators were soon spinning again, bringing power back to all the facilities. Naturally, this quickly came to everyone's notice, especially Xanatos and Fox, who found themselves quite relieved.
Elisa, however, was far more confused than relieved. She couldn't read most of what was happening from Demona's fight with Adam, with the flashlight rolling and spinning on the floor, only casting the occasional image. But the last thing Elisa expected to see when the lights came on was Demona lying face-down at his feet. Demona was, far and away, one of the most dangerous beings Elisa had ever had the displeasure of encountering, since her friendship with the Gargoyles began. And yet, to this Adam, she seemed to be little more than an inconvenience. But then, Elisa turned to see Dr. Rayburn shuddering beside her, unable to make sense of ANYTHING he was seeing.
"Uh-hhh, typical. It never fails…always trying to power your way through," Adam remarked, walking around Demona's trembling form as she struggled to get back to her feet. "I have NEVER understood why you keep thinking brute force is going to carry you in a fight. I mean, seriously. You've been walking around for a thousand years…there are almost as many martial arts out there. You're going to tell me you couldn't find the time to pick up ONE half-decent fighting style? Come on!"
"Unnh…who are you?" Demona groaned, inwardly cursing the sorry state she suddenly found herself in. "You're certainly no human…"
"Oh, I'd tell you. But…you wouldn't want to hear it," Adam replied with a smirk, his voice briefly dropping to a malevolent whisper. "It would make you craaaaaaazyyyyyyy…"
"…well…Crazy-ER."
Just then, Demona sprang to life, leaping away from Adam and rolling along the ground to collect her laser rifle, which was lying just a few short yards away. And before Adam could react, Demona whirled around, firing a full-power blast which struck Adam hard in the chest, sending him flying through the air and smashing through a wooden door into a room at the end of the hall.
"Adam!" Elisa shouted, fighting her way through her own pain to scramble into the room, dragging Rayburn along with her. "Adam, come on, stay with us! Talk to me!"
"O-o-o-o-h-h-h…what was that REALLY stupid thing I was just saying about not taking a victory lap?" Adam shuddered, his body twitching as Rayburn examined the smoldering wound on his chest.
"This…this isn't good…," Rayburn noted as best he could, still in a state of panic. "He's…going into shock."
"Yeah…yeah I am," Adam's trembling voice groaned, "And that's…REALLY not good for anybody…"
"Adam, forget about Demona," Elisa tried coaxing, even though Demona, herself, was still stalking towards the room to finish them all off. "You're not saving anyone from her like this."
"Yeah…?" Adam responded, his breath coming in broken gasps. "…Who's gonna save anyone from ME…?"
"From you? What are you talking about?" Elisa asked, drawing a moment of ragged, almost hysterical laughter from Adam as he looked up into her eyes with a bizarre grin.
"…Don't blink…you'll miss it…"
No sooner did the words escape Adam's lips than his eyes suddenly burst wide, taking on an intense glow. And within seconds, his writhing body began to grow and warp. Over the sounds of tearing clothing and Adam's own cries of pain being replaced by bestial growls, Rayburn's face became twisted in fright as he scrambled to the far side of the room. Elisa, meanwhile, remained at Adam's side, but even she couldn't disguise her astonishment, her eyes going wide and her lips uttering the only thing she could think of at that moment…
"…oh…my…God…"
Even Demona found herself slowing her pace to the room, taken aback by the sounds coming from within. What exactly was going on in there? In all her centuries walking the earth, she'd never heard anything like it. Unfortunately for Demona, she was about to get her answer as a tall, shadowy form slowly rose up inside the room.
"Lady…you just made me very…VERY…angry," Adam's voice could be heard coming from inside. At least, it sounded like Adam's voice. But somehow, it had taken a deeper, more graveled tone.
Just then, two large, grey-skinned arms, with heavy veins popping out all over, burst from the doorway, slamming their hands into the stone walls on both sides and driving their fingers in deep. And as the rest of the body followed, Demona could only let out a gasp of shock. For the creature she now saw before her may have sounded like Adam. The tatters surrounding his body even looked like the clothes he was wearing. But this thing was at least a foot taller and a hundred pounds more muscular. His skin was grey, his hands and feet still having five fingers and toes, but had somehow, now looked like Gargoyle hands and feet, talons and all. The giant, leathery wings sprouting from his back were so dark, they almost seemed black. Long, dark, matted hair draped around his head, partially obscuring his features. But even Demona could make out the horned brow, the glowing eyes and the twisted, fanged smile as Adam's voice lowered to a demonic hiss, his thick tail slamming hard into the ground.
"…As a great man once said…'you wouldn't LIKE me when I'm angry'."
Instinctively, Demona raised her rifle to fire again. But Adam thundered toward her with astonishing speed, not only dodging her blast, but reaching her before she could fire again, grabbing her shoulders and whirling her around to slam her into the nearby wall. Then, with a growl, Adam heaved Demona against the opposite wall, driving her into it with such force that the stone gave way and Demona's body smashed through, sending her tumbling into the courtyard. Adam would soon follow close behind, leaping through the hole in the wall and landing hard into the ground before rearing back his head and letting out a monstrous roar into the heavens.
So loud was Adam's howl that it even reached the ears of everyone in Little Alexander's nursery, sounding like a muffled bellow. Xanatos and Fox could only react to the noise with curious looks. But for the young man and the female Gargoyle at his side, there was nothing curious about what they were hearing.
"Ooooooohhhhh," the young man uttered, his voice lowering uncomfortably.
"What's 'Ooooooohhhhh'?" Fox immediately asked, raising her eyebrow suspiciously.
"Yeah…that would be a sign that things have gotten a little less under control. You might want to go out there now. But first…," the young man replied, reaching into the bag the female Gargoyle had slung over her shoulder and pulling out a pair of dart guns, tossing them towards Fox and Xanatos. "Trust me…you're gonna need those."
Back in the courtyard, the newly transformed Adam was on the warpath, rampaging towards Demona who was still recovering from getting thrown through the wall. But as dazed as she was, Demona could still feel the pounding impact from each of Adam's footsteps as he surged forward and she knew she had to act fast. Marshaling all her strength as he reached her, Demona whirled around as Adam raised his muscular arms over his head and threw a crushing punch straight into his gut, stopping him dead in his tracks…
…for about a second. Recovering almost instantly, Adam snarled as he brought his arms down across Demona's shoulders, slamming her into the ground again.
"Is that the best you can DO?" he roared, punting Demona hard in the side, which sent her skidding across the cobbled walkway before rolling to a dazed stop.
"Whoa, check it out," Lexington remarked in awe, gliding onto the scene with the others. "That's Demona down there. But who's she fighting?"
"Is that another Gargoyle?" Broadway exclaimed. "What IS that?"
"Maybe HE can tell us," Brooklyn replied, being in no hurry to come to Demona's rescue as he turned everyone's attention to Talon, who was lying on the ground several yards away.
"Uunnh…," Talon groaned, slowly recovering just as the clan landed around him.
"Talon, are you alright?" Angela asked, helping him to his feet.
"Nnn…gettin' there," Talon replied before looking up to see the war that was being waged on the other side of the courtyard. "What's going on?"
"That's what we were hoping you could tell us," Brooklyn replied.
"I'm coming in at the same time you are," Talon explained, groggily pointing a hand in Demona's direction. "First she knocks me out…Next thing I know, you guys are here…and I'm waking up in the middle of a Texas Death Match."
"Hey…check out what he's got on," Lexington noted, paying close attention to the strange new Gargoyle's appearance. "Don't those look like the clothes that Adam guy was wearing?"
"No way," Broadway uttered in surprise. "That's him?"
Meanwhile, the battle between Demona and Adam continued to rage unchecked, although the odds were hardly turning out in Demona's favor. Especially considering that Adam was lifting her off the ground, his hand clamped firmly around her face. Quickly realizing that no matter how much force she brought to bear, she was unable to pull herself free, Demona went for another tactic, digging her talons deep into Adam's wrist. Growling at the sudden jolt of pain, Adam's grip weakened. And Demona made her move, pulling herself free before hooking her legs over Adam's shoulders, hoisting herself up and raising her arms to deliver a clubbing blow to the back of Adam's neck.
But Adam wasn't about to stand for that. Quickly shaking off the pain in his wrist, he reached up and grabbed Demona's shoulders, snapping forward and driving his head hard into her face. Stunned by the collision, Demona tumbled backward. But Adam still wasn't done, grabbing Demona's wrist in mid-air and yanking her forward into a vicious lariat. The force of the impact from Adam's arm was like a steal beam under Demona's chin, her feet snapping forward as she landed flat on her back. Whirling around, Adam then completed his attack by delivering a crushing axe kick straight onto Demona's head.
"Pa-thetic," he hissed, chuckling with demented glee as his foot ground into the side of Demona's skull.
"You…," Demona groaned, both from the pressure of Adam's foot and her anger at herself for being rendered so helpless. "What…ARE you…?"
"I'M YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!" Adam snarled down at her. "EVERY…SINGLE…ONE OF THEM!"
"…Mother…," Angela uttered, her daughterly instincts overriding the logic that Demona was in no lasting danger as she ran forward. "Adam, stop!"
At the sound of Angela's voice, Adam turned his notice away from Demona to shift his gaze upon Talon and the clan. But the glow of his eyes and the sickening grin still splashed across his face made the others quickly wish that they hadn't gotten his attention as Broadway rushed over and grabbed Angela, trying to pull her back.
"…Angela…Run!" Demona cried out in desperation as Adam let out a low, throaty growl, eying the clan like a bloodthirsty predator.
Just then, two sharp pains drilled into Adam's shoulder, causing him to rear his head back with a roar. Whirling around in anger, allowing Demona to roll away to safety, he noticed Xanatos and Fox standing on one of the adjoining steps, both brandishing the dart guns they had been given back in the nursery.
"Well, THAT worked like a charm," Fox remarked sarcastically when it became clear that Adam's attention was now fixed solely on them.
"Get out of there! MOVE!" Brooklyn shouted as Adam swept the darts out of his shoulder and charged towards Xanatos and Fox, bellowing in rage.
"Oh, I can't BELIEVE I'm about to do this…," Talon muttered as he leaped clear of the clan, firing a pair of electric bolts straight in Adam's direction.
Another roar echoed through the courtyard as Talon's attacks hit their mark and the electrical surge ripped through Adam's body. That, combined with the darts Fox and Xanatos shot him with finally seemed to be slowing him down. But he was still managing to stumble forward, trying to continue his attack.
Before anyone else could act, however, a third party inserted himself into the fray as Goliath dropped from the sky with Hudson close behind. Yet, to Adam, this seemed of no consequence, still continuing to mindlessly stagger on. There seemed to be only one way to halt his rampage. And Goliath wasted no time pulling back a tightly clenched fist before surging forward, driving it square into Adam's face.
That finally appeared to have done it. With Goliath's blow, Adam was stopped dead in his tracks. The angry glow fading, Adam looked completely cross-eyed as his head wobbled and his body teetered back and forth. But in his weakened state, his demeanor also appeared to have completely changed as he chanced to look Goliath in the eyes and tossed him a dazed grin.
"Thanks…I needed that…," he murmured before his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the ground.
With Adam appearing to be incapacitated, the clan quickly gathered around him, along with Xanatos, Fox and Talon. But looking at is prone form lying unconscious on the ground, it only brought more questions. And they still hadn't answered the ones they already had.
"Wait a minute. Where's Demona?" Brooklyn suddenly realized, looking around with the others, only to see that Demona had taken advantage of the confusion to already make her escape.
"Of course," he muttered, part of him feeling somewhat cheated.
Taking no chances, Goliath moved an unconscious Adam to one of the lower corridors of Castle Wyvern, which had once been used as the dungeon. He also took the added precaution of making sure that Adam's legs, wrists and ankles were tightly bound in heavy chains before laying him down in one of the old cells, closing the bars behind him.
"Are we sure this is the right thing to do?" Angela wondered, taking note of how peaceful Adam looked in his unconscious state, almost as though he were sleeping. "He DID save Elisa's life after all…twice that we know of. He may even have been the one who saved her from Castaway, too."
"Come on, Angela," Broadway replied. "You saw that look on his face."
"We all did. He was two seconds away from coming after US," Lexington added. "Whoever's side he's on, this guy's dangerous."
"Especially considering that he completely manhandled Demona," Brooklyn noted. "Who have we EVER run into that's been able to do THAT?"
"No one," Hudson answered grimly, while Goliath could only eye their prisoner and grumble uncomfortably.
"Questions without end," he muttered. "None of this makes any sense."
"Perhaps that's because you're only arriving in the middle of the story," an unfamiliar voice caught their attention as they all turned to see a young female Gargoyle walking down the steps towards them.
"Who is THAT?" Broadway uttered as the dumbstruck clan took in the sight of the mysterious new Gargoyle.
"Call me, Katana," the female Gargoyle answered, bowling formally. "I am pleased to see you are all well."
"You're Japanese," Angela commented, taking immediate note of Katana's hairstyle and Kimono. "But…you're not from the Ishimura clan."
"Not the one YOU know," Katana replied simply. "But that's another discussion for another time."
"I take it, then, that you know this…'Adam'?" Hudson asked, feeling that the arrival of two mysterious new entities could hardly be a coincidence.
"At this point, I think it would be best to funnel all your remaining questions through him," Katana replied, stepping to the side to introduce the young armored man with flaming red hair walking down the steps, with Xanatos and Fox close behind.
"And you are…?" Goliath inquired suspiciously.
"Goliath, I'm surprised at you," Xanatos remarked with an amused grin. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed the family resemblance."
"Everyone," Fox announced. "Allow us to introduce…our son…ALEXANDER FOX XANATOS."
At Fox's words, the clan could only react with shock. But none more so than Lexington, who could only inch towards the young man in complete disbelief.
"…Alex…?" he uttered, examining him closely.
"Freaky, ain't it?" Alexander replied with a chuckle, while Lexington remained awestruck.
"If you truly are Alexander," Goliath noted, his gaze switching between Alexander and Katana. "I can only assume this means that you two are from the future."
"Well…I guess it's kinda hard to get anymore obvious than that, isn't it?" Alexander replied.
"And…him?" Goliath asked, turning his attention to Adam, who was still lying unconscious and chained in his cell.
"For the moment, let's just say he's been…temporarily misplaced," Alexander answered, walking up to the cell door before pounding heavily on the bars. "WAKE UP!"
"Concierge Desk! Carlos speaking!" Adam blurted out, surprising everyone as he suddenly snapped up into a sitting position before shaking the cobwebs from his head and looking down at his talons and chains. "What the…? Oh…right. I got shot, didn't I?"
"Yet another fine mess you've gotten yourself into," Katana commented with a disapproving gaze.
"Oh look, another country heard from…finally," Adam responded sarcastically before turning to Alexander with a look of concern. "I'm…hoping nobody got hurt…right?"
"Nobody who didn't deserve it," Alexander replied reassuringly.
"Oh. Good," Adam responded plainly with a shrug as Alexander opened the cell door.
"Hey, wait a minute! What are you doing?" Brooklyn exclaimed.
"Relax. He's fine now," Alexander assured, touching Adam's chains with his finger and creating a brief spark, causing them to fall away. "You…just caught him at a really bad time."
Despite his assertion, the clan wasn't quite so inclined to take Alexander at his word, backing away as Adam walked out of the cell and readying themselves for anything. However, the first thing Adam did after cracking his neck was look himself over and take note of the tatters clinging to his body.
"Eeeuuuuch…well, I'm not going ANYWHERE looking like THIS," he commented.
Before anyone had a chance to wonder what he meant, Adam stood still and closed his eyes. And suddenly, his tattered clothes began to sparkle and glitter. From there, the torn remnants began slowly repairing themselves, as well as altering in size to fit his body. And within seconds, Adam was standing in much the same clothes he was wearing before, with no evidence that they had ever been damaged.
"How did you DO that?" Broadway exclaimed as he Lexington, Brooklyn and Angela gathered around him, their caution giving way to wonder.
"Heh…You won't find THIS stuff on the rack at Macy's," Adam explained, sweeping his long hair back as a twinkling band encircled it in the back to form a quick ponytail. "This material was specially woven on Avalon. Can take on the size, shape and texture of any fabric or design you can think of. Let's just say it's saved me a WHACK on my clothing bills."
"That's incredible," Angela remarked, running her hands along Adam's magically conjured leather jacket.
"Eh…maybe a little," Adam replied with a shrug. "It's dry clean only."
"Alexander, your appearance at this time answers many of our questions," Goliath declared as everyone walked up to the Castle Wyvern's main level. "But there is still so much we do not understand."
"Goliath, you have my word, I would like nothing better than to give you all the answers you need right now. But it's going to be sunrise in about two minutes," Alexander noted, taking a quick peek at his watch before looking back up at Goliath with a serious gaze. "And besides, before that happens, you are going to have something MUCH more pressing to worry about. Believe me."
"Goliath!" a familiar woman's voice caught Goliath's attention before he had a chance to inquire as to Alexander's cryptic warning.
"Diane…Peter," Goliath greeted as Elisa's parents came rushing up to them, being ushered in by Owen.
"Where's Elisa?" Peter asked, the worry in his voice clearly evident. "What happened? Is she alright?"
"We're…not sure," Angela answered soberly. "We all just got back, ourselves, and…well…we had other things to deal with."
"Hi." Adam piped up with a toothy grin, waving at Peter and Diane, who were too worried to pay him any more than a passing glance.
"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Maza?" Dr. Rayburn's voice sounded as he came around the corner, only to stop dead in his tracks as his eyes nervously caught sight of Goliath and the others. "I'm Dr. Rayburn. I've been examining your daughter and…and…now…there are…MORE of you…Great…"
"I'm afraid you don't have time to understand what's going on here, Doctor," Xanatos remarked straightforwardly. "I believe you were examining a patient?"
"Doctor, please," Diane begged, rushing over to him. "Do you know what's happened to Elisa?"
"Yes, well…my…preliminary exam…uh…revealed…," Rayburn tried to answer, only to have his voice faltering as Goliath and the clan moved in closer to hear the news. "I'm sorry, this is too much for me to take in all at once. I…"
"For crying out loud, get it together, man!" Peter demanded, grabbing Rayburn by his jacket. "This is my daughter we're talking about! Speak!"
"ALRIGHT!" Rayburn shouted, pausing to slap his cheeks with both hands and take a deep breath in an attempt to center himself. "My preliminary exam…revealed that she does have a small abdominal tear in her left side…most likely as a result of the altercation she got into last night. However…that is not what concerns me. I've…given her a mild anesthetic which should help to alleviate some of the pain she's feeling. But I'm…reluctant to give her anything stronger, because there IS the safety of the child to consider…"
"W-wait a minute…'child'? Did…did you say 'child'?" Peter stammered, taken aback. But nothing could have prepared either him or Diane as Rayburn paused to look him squarely in the eyes before speaking.
"That's what I'm telling you. Your daughter…is pregnant."
Even Fox and Xanatos couldn't avoid gasping in shock at what they had just heard. Talon and the rest of the clan were no less stunned, all aghast with wide eyes and hanging jaws. But Angela found her gaze instantly turning towards Goliath, whose face became frozen as a white mask of pure horror just as the sun rose.