Vengeance
When Elisa returned to the Erie Building mere minutes before sunset she was feeling worse than ever, the aches and pains from the beating she'd received from the Quarrymen the previous night making itself loudly known throughout her entire body. Of course it didn't help matters that she only managed to get a couple hours of sleep before the alarm she'd set woke her up.
It seemed that her apartment wasn't nearly as comfortable or relaxing ever since her life changed completely nearly three years ago. Now it seemed that she slept better in their presence than she did in her own bed, or at least she did back when they resided back at the clock tower. Now, however, with them living back at Castle Wyvern atop the Erie Building, Elisa has had to wait to come back whenever she needed to see Goliath and the others. Of course Xanatos and Fox have made it no secret that she was welcome to come up there anytime that she wished, but somehow she could never relax around them no matter how often they claim to have changed, and she would never forget what he'd done to her brother.
When the elevator arrived at the top floor and the doors opened, the sounds of an argument immediately put her on her guard.
"This is all you fault, Xanatos!" Kristoff bellowed at him, "You should have let me go with them!"
"I didn't think that you'd want to wait around while the ladies shopped for clothes in a store that only sold stuff for them, and it's not like we expected anything like this to happen," Xanatos said defensively, "Besides, my people are trained to handle themselves in situations like this, and if they were unable to prevent it…"
"What's going on?" Elisa said as she approached the two men.
"Ah, Detective," Xanatos greeted her, "Perfect timing, as always. It would seem that our mutual friends the Quarrymen have struck again. This time they used a large delivery truck to disable the car Anna and Elsa were traveling in, after which they took them prisoner."
"What?" Elisa said with shock and surprise, then her anger flared up again as she asked, "When?"
"Around a couple of hours ago, and I found out a little more than an hour ago when the hospital contacted me to tell me that my people were there being treated, but no one else that matched the girls' descriptions," Xanatos explained, then with a glance at the darkening sky he continued, "But it looks as though our friends will be waking up soon, so might I suggest that we move our conversation outside? Saves time in the re-telling."
Elisa, who had nearly forgotten the reason she'd came here in the first place, nodded in agreement, then they all stepped outside just as the sun finished dipping below the horizon. First was the sound of cracking stone, then the gargoyles exploded out of their stone sleep with a chorus of roars.
"Goliath!" Elisa called up to him.
"Elisa!" Goliath said as he hopped down into the ward to join her, hearing the tension in her voice, "What's wrong?"
"The Quarrymen have captured Anna and Elsa!" Elisa said quickly.
"What?" Goliath roared, his eyes lighting up with his rage.
"But how?" Angela asked, "Elsa is so powerful, I doubt that she'd go down without a fight."
"To put it simply, they hit them with a big truck," Xanatos said simply.
"Then it's time I returned the favor," Goliath said with a growl as he turned back towards the outer wall.
"Wait," Xanatos called out, "Don't you think it would help if you knew where they are?"
All eyes narrowed in Xanatos' direction as Goliath said evenly, "Something from your tone tells me that you do."
"Of course," Xanatos said matter-of-factly as he showed them the card that he'd given Kristoff, "The cards I'd given Kristoff and the girls each have a GPS tracking chip in the place where some other cards would have a NFC chip. The moment I realized that the girls might be in trouble I had Owen prepare a device to follow the signal."
"You never miss a trick, do you Xanatos?" Elisa said as she crossed her arms smartly.
"When it comes to ensuring the safety and well being of those under my care, you bet I don't," Xanatos retorted.
"I'm sure it makes your guests feel all warm and fuzzy to know you lo-jacked them for their own 'protection'," Lexington said sarcastically.
"Enough," Goliath said in a tone that brooked no argument, "We can discuss the morality of Xanatos' actions later. Right now, rescuing Anna and Elsa is more important. Agreed?"
Everyone nods at Goliath's statement, then Elisa takes the offered handheld tracker from Xanatos before climbing up into Goliath's arms.
"Hey, what about me? I want to go too!" Kristoff said, concern coloring his voice.
The other Gargoyles look at him uncertainly, judging their own ability to carry someone of his size over a great distance. "Well…" Broadway began.
"Here," Xanatos said as he touched a button on his watch, causing a hidden trap door to iris open in the ward and Xanatos' battle suit to emerge from it, "You look about my size, so I think I can let you borrow this for tonight. Just try to bring it back in one piece."
"Uh, thanks," Kristoff said as he headed over there. Then, once Kristoff was fully attired in the offered suit, they all took off into the night sky.
Meanwhile…
Elsa awoke slowly, her entire body aching as if she had been used as a volleyball in a game between Marshmallow and the trolls. As other sensations came back to her, she became aware of a greater pain around her wrists and a feeling that she was somehow hanging in the air.
"She's finally waking up," Elsa heard one voice say.
"Good. She's of no use to us if she cannot talk," Another voice said in response.
When her eyes flutter open, she sees that she is hanging by a chain around her wrists in a mostly empty building, one that is most likely used for storing things, and standing before her is a man dressed similar to one of those men who attacked Goliath and Elisa.
"You!" Elsa growled, her fury rising even as frost began climbing up the chain.
"Nuh-uh-uh missy! I wouldn't do that if I were you!" The Quarryman chided her. Then, with a yank on the excess chain, he spun her around and what Elsa saw doused her fury and stopped her heart cold. There were easily three times as many Quarrymen than what attacked Elisa and Goliath, some armed with those hammers and others with some sort of weapon that looked like a more powerful version of Elisa's "pistol". And in the middle of the gathering was her sister Anna, chained into a kneeling position over an anvil, and one of the Quarrymen had his hammer poised over her head.
"Anna!" Elsa cried out in panic, "No! Stop, don't hurt my sister!"
"Sister, eh?" The first Quarryman said as he stepped back into view, then he called out to one of the others, "Keep a sharp eye on that one. If she tries anything funny…"
The Quarryman nodded his acknowledgement, cocking his projectile weapon as he said, "You got it."
Anna lifted her head weakly and said, "Elsa?"
"Why are you people doing this?" Elsa asked in dismay, her eyes threatening to tear, "What do you want?"
"What do we want? That's the question of the day, now isn't it?" the Quarryman responded, and though she couldn't see it she could hear his smirk in his voice, "And now that we've got your attention, Elsa, we're going to play a little game called Three Strikes. If you answer them all completely and truthfully, then we'll let you and your sister go, no worse for the wear. If you lie to any of the questions, play dumb, or try to evade it, then that'll count as a strike. Get three strikes, and we'll smash little Anna's head like a melon." At this announcement, Elsa's blood ran cold, and the Quarryman chuckled at the look of fear on her face as he continued, "Of course it should go without saying, but if you try escaping before we're done, if we see any hint of your freaky powers, then that'll be an instant three strikes, then….let's just say that we'll see if blondes truly are as brainless as all the jokes say."
Elsa quickly assessed the situation. She figured that if she used a sudden burst of her powers that she could flash freeze all of the Quarrymen in this room before they could blink, but as Anna was right in the middle of them then she'd likely be frozen as well, and as weak as she looked Elsa didn't think that she'd survive long enough for Elsa to free herself and thaw her. Also, anything more gradual would surely be noticed and would also sign Anna's death warrant. Seeing no alternative, Elsa swallowed and said, "I'm listening."
"Good," the Quarryman said, "Here's the first question. We know that you and your sister came from Xanatos' Erie Building, and that he's providing sanctuary for those monsters in the castle at the top. What we want to know is what kind of security measures does he have in place there? What are the access codes?"
"I don't know," Elsa admitted, "We only got here last night. We don't know anything about any 'security measures' or 'access codes'!"
"Yeah, sure!" the Quarryman said sarcastically, "Because David Xanatos is so open hearted and generous, he'll give anyone off the street an unlimited credit card, chauffeured limousines and armed bodyguards. You'll have to come up with something better than that. And just so you know, that was strike one."
Elsewhere, flying through the skies over Manhattan,
"Okay. Thanks, Captain, I owe you one!" Elisa said on the phone before disconnecting the call, then she looked at the hand-held tracker, whose beeping was growing higher pitched as the dot traveled closer to the center of the screen, as she said to Goliath, "Captain Chavez is sending a task squad over to the location right now. I figure that they'll arrive a little after we do, so we just have to keep them busy until they get there."
"I just pray that we'll get there in time," Goliath replied in a worried tone.
"Your stories are getting more outlandish all the time!" the Quarryman said angrily to Elsa, "You expect us to believe that you and your sister are royalty that arrived here from around 200 years ago, and that you got here on a sleigh pulled by a flying reindeer?! What kind of rubes do you take us for?"
"It's the truth!" Elsa said desperately, her tears now flowing freely down her face.
"Bullshit!" The Quarryman bellowed at her, then he took her chin in her hand and made her look at Anna as he said, "This is your last chance! Stop jerking us around and give us some real answers, or else…"
The Quarryman is interrupted by the sound of a bellowing roar, and Elsa couldn't help chuckling as her face broke out in an amazed grin. Had she heard this sound a mere six months ago, before her coronation, the sound would have caused a thrill of terror through her and given her nightmares for at least a week. Now, however, it was the most beautiful sound in the world to her, right up there with the tinkling of glass as the gargoyles smashed through the upper windows along with Elisa and….was that Kristoff? As he landed somewhat ungainly but quickly righted himself she realized it was true: Kristoff had arrived in some sort of gargoyle-themed battle armor then, as soon as he spotted Anna, began tearing through Quarrymen to get to her.
"It's the gargoyles!" One of the Quarrymen said in a panicked voice, "How did they find us here?"
"Who cares?" The Quarryman who had been questioning her said as he hefted his hammer, "Slag them!"
Then the battle began in earnest as the Quarrymen began firing their strange weapons and swinging their blazing hammers in an effort to bring the gargoyles down. However, even though they were outnumbered and outgunned, it became quickly apparent that the gargoyles and Elisa were the true warriors here, as most of the Quarrymen's shots and swings went wide, but Elisa and the others made each of their blows count.
Meanwhile, Kristoff had made it to where Anna was chained up at and, gripping it with one hand, shattered the lock binding it together in one squeeze.
"Wow! This armor is something else!" Kristoff said in an amazed tone, looking dumbfounded at the broken remnants of the lock in his hand.
"Yeah, it is!" Anna agreed, equally amazed as she shrugged off the chain and stood up. Then her eyes widened and she pointed behind him and yelled, "Look out!"
Kristoff spun around in surprise, inadvertently knocking out the Quarryman behind him with a backhand. "Wow," Kristoff said again. Then Anna came around and, spotting what she was looking for, reached down and retrieved her confiscated frying pan from around the man's shoulder as she said, "I'll take that back, thank you!" Then Anna and Kristoff nodded to each other before the waded into the fray with Anna swinging the skillet with more vigor than Elsa had seen before, many of the blows causing teeth to fly out of the Quarrymen's unseen mouths.
Good, Anna's free now and out of danger, Elsa thought with relief, then as the fury rose up in her again she thought, which means the kid gloves come off now!
The temperature inside the building then fell twenty degrees in a matter of seconds and her tear tracks instantly froze and turned blue, creating a gruesome mask on her face. Then the chain binding Elsa's wrists became brittle and shattered as her ice armor began forming around her even before her feet touched the ground.
"Jalapeña! What in the seven shades is that?" Hudson asked in shock, entranced by the spectacle like everyone else there.
Anna, who was nearby at the time, said wide eyed in a small voice, "That would be my sister."
As the armor finished forming even larger than it had ever been, a hammer formed in each of its hands as she bellowed, her voice amplified by the ice, "You cowards dare to threaten my sister!?" Then she tore into them.
The Quarrymen, having decided that Elsa was now the larger threat all converged on her, but it was no use. Their guns could not penetrate deep enough into the thick ice and their hammers had zero effect, while Elsa's hammers tore through the Quarrymen's ranks like a farmer's sickles though a wheat field.
As she fought, Elsa heard the most terrible roar yet, like an enraged beast looking for blood. She could not see which gargoyle had uttered it, nor did she care, but if she could have stepped outside herself she would have seen the one who made that sound was Elsa herself. As her rage grew, a miniature blizzard formed within the building and her armor changed and distorted, becoming less human-like and resembling more one of the frost giants of legend, who were said to have terrorized the Earth in ages past and battled against the gods of Asgard.
"Goliath!" Elisa hollered as she shielded her face from the storm, "She's out of control!"
Goliath nodded and took off running in Elsa's direction, Anna following right behind.
The remaining Quarrymen had abandoned their weapons and huddled near one of the corners of the warehouse. One of them, from whose voice was the one who had been questioning Elsa, pleaded in a tone that was shaky from both cold and fear, "Stop! Please, we're sorry! We surrender!"
But Elsa was not looking for apologies, not interested in surrender: she wanted punishment! As she raised both hammers high, they fused and changed into a single giant spiked mace. As she reared back to swing, Goliath appeared between them, raising both hands high as he said, "Queen Elsa, stop! You can not do this!"
Elsa, torn between her respect for the noble protector and her fierce desire to punish the men responsible for threatening her family, snarled back at him, "Goliath, move!"
"I cannot! As a gargoyle, it is our mandate to preserve the lives of all sentient beings, even those who seem to not deserve it," Goliath replied.
"They don't deserve it!" Elsa bellowed back at him.
"That may be so, but before you swing I ask you to think about your people," Goliath said, "What kind of leader do you think they'd want: one who takes vengeance as she sees fit, or one who's gracious and shows mercy?"
As Goliath's words ring in her ears, Elsa catches movement to her left and glares down only to have her face go slack as she sees Anna timidly touching the leg of her armor, her voice meekly pleading, "Elsa, please?"
The fear in her sister's eyes, the fear of her, shocks Elsa back to her senses as her grip slackens on the mace, allowing it to crash to the ground behind her. Then she stares at the clawed hands of her armor as she says in shocked horror, "What have….what have I become?" And with that the storm abruptly stops, the snow and her armor evaporating without a trace, the only evidence of her rampage being the strewn and groaning Quarrymen.
"It's okay," Anna assured her in a shaky voice while Goliath bent a piece of pipe around the Quarrymen still huddled together, "It's over."
"And I think that between the charges of vehicular assault, kidnapping, and assault with deadly intent, that these boys will not see the light of day for a very long time," Elisa said from Elsa's other side.
Elsa nodded her understanding, then she strode up to the Quarrymen and, with the last remaining anger in her heart, said to the one who'd interrogated her, "And for your sake, you best confess to everything that you have done, because if you don't…" Then Elsa gripped the man's throat and let him feel the cold as it creeped up to his face, hissing, "…if I ever see you again, then your heart turning into solid ice inside your chest will be the last thing you feel. Am I clear?"
"Y-y-yes ma'am," the Quarryman said in a shaky voice, "I m-m-mean yes, your-r-r Majesty."
Elsa then released his throat, walking away for a few steps before draping an arm around Anna's shoulders as Elisa said to the Quarrymen still conscious, "I think she means it, boys." Then, as the sounds of sirens became audible and quickly grew louder, Elisa turned to Goliath and said, "You guys probably should get out of here now."
"No, Elisa," Goliath gently countered, "The time had come for us to stop lurking in the shadows and stand with you as the protectors of this city." Then he and Elisa turned together to look on Elsa and Anna and they huddled together, embracing and offering each other comfort, and Kristoff, still clad in his armor, strode over to join them.
Meanwhile, in the darkened maintenance room, a shadowy figure observed the proceedings with blood-red eyes. As her rapt attention remained fixated on Elsa in the three-way embrace, a slight smile tugs on the corner of Demona's mouth, the still unactivated time-bomb all but forgotten in her hand. "Well now, I think that I could like her," Demona mused quietly to herself, "even if she is a human!" Then, as the approaching sirens suddenly stop, Demona tucks the bomb back into a pouch on her waist, then she melts into the shadows and vanishes.
Later, back at the Erie Building…
"Well, you'll be glad to know that the Quarrymen have all been booked with so many charges against them that they'll all need canes and walkers by the time they get released," Elisa said as she stepped off the elevator, "Not only that, but they practically confessed to everything, even the initial assault against Goliath and myself, which they had initially denied at first, so the DA's going to have a cakewalk ahead of him. Of course there may still be other chapters of those cockroaches out there, but at least this particular group is out of our hair."
"Additionally," Elisa said towards Elsa, "you may be glad to hear that none of the Quarrymen you attacked suffered anything worse than some bruised and cracked ribs, as well as some other minor fractures, and that none of them are pressing assault charges against you. Quite frankly, I think they're scared shitless that they may be assigned to the same prison as you if they did."
"To tell the truth, I'm not sure how I feel about that, about any part of that actually," Elsa confessed as she still stared at her hands, Anna patting her back reassuringly.
Elisa nodded her understanding as she said, I'm sure that you have a lot to think about now, but at least that should be one less worry on your mind."
Goliath, who's had experience in reading Elisa's expression, says, "I'm getting the feeling that you have some other news to share."
Elisa nods and says, "And that's where the bad news comes in. Thanks to this incident, Captain Chavez now knows all about our visitors, which means that Immigration and Customs also knows. Unless they can get back on their way home soon, our friends may be facing some uncomfortable questions asked by people who may have a hard time believing the answers." She then turns towards Owen and asks, "How is that coming, by the way?"
"Slowly, but surely," Owen answered her, "By researching both history and legend, including stories by Hans Christian Anderson, I believe I've narrowed it down to the decade and rough geographical location. By the evening after next I think I should have a spell crafted that will allow our friends to travel home."
"Well, hopefully we'll get them home before things get too complicated for them," Elisa said fervently. Then, splitting the air was a strange, high-pitched electronic noise that grated on the nerves and pressed upon the eardrums.
"What is that noise?" Lexington said wincing as Bronx howled and Sven pranced about unhappily.
As the noise wound down, Goliath hopped up to the outer wall for a better view, then he gasped in shock and said, "That, it seems, was the sound of things becoming much more complicated."
As Elisa and Angela joined him, Elisa gasped, "It can't be!"
"Father," Angela asked him, "Is that….can that really be…?"
"Yes, my daughter, I do believe that it is," Goliath confirmed.
As the others joined them on the wall, they all shared in Goliath's shock and wonder, for on the brightening horizon had appeared a new landmark: An island whose fantastic towers outshone those of even New York City itself!
"Lad, you know what that place is?" Hudson asked Goliath.
"That, my friends, is New Olympus, home of the New Olympians," Goliath told them all, "It seems that our friends from the world tour have decided to reveal themselves to the human world at last."
To be continued in "The Rift"