Chapter 5: It's Alive, Alive!
Jean's powerup music: Sobek God of the Nile by David Chas
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Dragon Emperor0: Thanks for the feedback.
ThermalsniperN7: What he said.
-New York sewers-
Jean groaned as he hauled the last load of copper and steel pieces that he managed to get from a nearby scrap yard, a red scarf wrapped around his neck.
"Ah, finally!" The gator man sighed as he grabbed his tool box. "Now Ah got everything I need to make a st-ill…?" He added before he noticed that where he buried the gargoyle pieces was disturbed.
Frowning in confusion as well as caution, he set his toolbox back down before he went to investigate the disturbance. Once he was closer, he saw that all of the pieces were gone!
'Okay, I know for a fact that either Xanatos or Demona did this. Question is, how'd they know where I buried them?' Jean wondered.
Deciding that he'd wait until the snow stopped before going to the others, the reptile then started working on his new still. He tightened a few knuts, bolts and welded a few things. About an hour or two later, a freshly made Pot Still was ready for use.
"Ah, now Ah can start makin' my grandpappy's alcohol recipes." The gator man said in content.
Rummaging through his card books, he found the one he was looking for: Banana's Foster Moonshine.
"Now all Ah need is bananas, sugar cane, vanilla bean, nuts, spiced rum, banana liquor, cinnamon and plenty of butter." The reptile stated as he wrote down the items on a pen pad. He suddenly heard something land behind him, prompting him to turn and see Broadway standing there. "Oh, hey Broadway." He said in greeting.
"Hey, Jean, whatcha doin'?" Broadway asked as his friend started moving boxes of botanicals and herbs and his boiling pot outside.
"Ah'mma 'bout to use my new still here to make my grandaddy's white absinthe." Jean explained. "And then Ah'm gonna make my own rye whiskey, that way Ah can make myself a Sazerac without having to go to a bar." He added.
"Absinthe, rye whiskey? What's all that?" Broadway asked.
"Modern day alcohol, think of ale, but stronger." Jean explained as he brought out his radio. Turning it on, a song came on, White Lightning by George Jones.
"Sounds high quality." The turquoise gargoyle remarked.
"Ha! My granpappy made many different recipes. All very famous down the Bayou." The gator man stated as he looked at the recipes. "Especially his special Banana's Foster Moonshine." He continued. "He came up with the idea during his bootlegging days during Prohibition." He added before chuckling. "The popo kept tryin' to book him, never could. Tried his Moonshine once–nearly knocked me out for a whole day."
"Might wanna make a weaker version for first timers, then. I still need to get back to the clock tower." Broadway suggested nervously, not wanting to be knocked out for a night.
"Fair enough." The gator man shrugged. "But for now, his white absinthe…" He added as he started getting things ready.
(Elsewhere)
In Xanatos' castle, the man in question was working in conjunction with Demona in one of his labs. Their mutual project?
Bringing a gargoyle cyborg to life. The red haired gargoyle had decided that Xanatos' means of destroying Goliath had been ineffective, as proven with the Pack and the Steel Clan. So, she'd devised this new scheme in hopes of succeeding this time.
"Are you sure this will work? Remember, Goliath isn't the only one we're dealing with here." Xanatos stayed, his arms folded.
"I remember. Jean LeBeau will not be able to survive this, either." Demona nodded, not forgetting the gator man in question as she cast some powder onto a cloth covered body. "Magic wasn't effective against Goliath, nor science. And their reptilian companion is smart enough to combat the latter and has blessings from divine beings to combat the former." She continued. "So, our best bet is a combination of the two." She added.
"How do you know Jean has blessings from divine beings?" The billionaire asked with a confused frown, which Demona expected.
"I'm not surprised you failed to notice, but the signs are there. One of the blessings he has comes from the Egyptian God of Fertility, Sobek." She stated as she continued completing her part of the project, the revelation causing Xanatos to blink. "The other from a being of death and life, Baron Samedi."
"That would play a role in explaining his appearance and cultural upbringing, I think." He mused.
"That is why we need more than mere trinkets." Demona responded, finishing her cantrips. "Now it is your turn." She told him. The man then proceeded to activate his lab equipment, causing energy to start conducting on the coils mounted on the ceiling, the power flow growing steadily. After a while, he flipped two switches, causing the energy to start going into the body on the table.
Seconds later, the body started to move, causing both to gasp.
"It's Alive! Alive!" Xanatos exclaimed with an excited grin. "I always wanted to say that." He added.
After a few moments, the body sat up. It was covered in shadows, but it had a glowing red eye and the silhouette of a male gargoyle. He took a moment to gain his bearings and get a grip on what was happening as his two creators stood by.
"As you said, Xanatos, it is alive." The female gargoyle agreed as they looked at their creation.
"Urg… what..happened? What am I?" The creature groaned, its metallic claw on its head.
"You were betrayed." Demona told him.
"Betrayed…? What? W-Who am I?" The being asked, his voice being laced with confusion.
"You are Coldstone. Do you not remember anything?" Demona replied before asking a question.
"I… I remember Goliath going out to find the Vikings, then dawn came, and then… oblivion." The gargoyle replied, recounting what he remembered. "Who are you?" He asked.
"I am Demona, and this is Xanatos, my servant." The red haired female gargoyle replied, much to the millionaire's indignation.
"Where are the others? Goliath, our rookery brothers and sisters?" Coldstone questioned.
"Gone. Goliath left us at the mercy of the humans while we slept. And turned you into what you are now." Demona stated, causing Coldstone to look in the mirror.
Upon seeing the mechanical Frankenstein's monster he'd become, the gargoyle cyborg let out an unholy howl as he shattered the glass in a fit of despair.
(Meanwhile)
Back with Jean and Broadway, the former had just shown the latter where he'd buried the gargoyle fragments. When he explained what had happened, Broadway frowned.
"There's no way just anyone could've figured out those were buried here, so that leaves just Demona and Xanatos." He mused thoughtfully.
"But how would they even know they were buried here?" Jean wondered.
"I dunno, maybe Demona slipped in without you knowing? I mean, it's possible." The turquoise gargoyle remarked.
"If she did, then she's slipperier than an eel dunked in peanut oil." The gator man mused, before a nagging thought kept gnawing on the back of his crocodilian skull like a dog on a bone. "But there's one thing that just don't smell right, cap." He remarked.
"... You mean the sewers?" Broadway asked, sniffing the air, causing Jean to facepalm.
"No, not the sewers." The reptile growled.
(Meanwhile)
Elisa was with her partner Matt as they stopped by a local grocery store that didn't get much commercial traffic. The one running it had been robbed three times over the course of the month, but that wasn't enough to drive the old man out.
Goliath followed, landing on a nearby rooftop.
"Why does that man not leave? If he stays, he's likely to be robbed another time." Goliath questioned through his communicator, not understanding the man's persistence.
"Because there's no other store in this area. If he leaves, then people won't have anywhere close by to get their food." The policewoman explained.
"They need him." The purple gargoyle surmised, seeing what that meant.
"And that's more important than him getting robbed." The blunette nodded.
It was then that a code three was called in, causing the two to go towards the area of said call. As the humans and gargoyle quickly tried to figure out what was causing the commotion–especially when there were several vehicles were turned over and a fire hydrant was blown off, water turning it into a geyser.
"What's going on?" Elisa asked another on site officer.
"No idea what it is, but it's big and mad." He replied.
As the two tried to get a better look, Coldstone dug his claws into a nearby car and hurled it across the street, nearly taking out Matt in the process.
However, before he could keep rampaging, a long, muscular tail swept under him and tripped him–and both Goliath and Elisa heard a familiar bellow.
'Looks like Jean heard the commotion.' The woman thought with a small and unnoticeable smirk on her lips.
The gator man then grabbed Coldstone by the waist and jumped backwards, turning himself over, and suplexing the cyborg into the concrete–shattering the ground and sending fragments everywhere.
"Rgh! You dare stand in my way?!" Coldstone growled as he got up.
"It's your own fault for stirrin' up a ruckus!" Jean growled back, cracking his knuckles. "Laissez le bon temps rouler." He grinned as he delivered a jab to the beast's face, following with a duo of body shots, a roundhouse to the head, and then a tail slam to the side to finish–sending the cyborg crashing into a lamp post–bending it.
"Impressive work." Goliath remarked as he landed next to him.
"Don't get too comfortable, the big guy ain't done yet." The Cajun warned as Coldstone got back up, shaking his head.
"... Rookerie brother?" The cyborg questioned in confusion.
"So Ah was right, this is one of the gargoyles that Ah buried." Jean said, drawing his Grandaddy's knife out.
"You betrayed us!" Coldstone snarled, ignoring Jean as he pointed a finger at his old brother, prompting a wrist laser to pop out and blast them, forcing them to dodge. "What sorcery is this?!" He gasped as he looked down at his weapon.
"Not sorcery, boy. That's pure technology." The gator man pointed out as he stomped on a manhole cover, causing it to go into the air, and started shoving it on the geyser created by the destroyed fire hydrant. That sent the water blasting at the cyborg and soaking it–causing his mechanical parts to start malfunctioning.
"RAGH!" Coldstone growled in displeasure as he felt the problems his new body was experiencing.
"Now cap! Hit him!" The reptile prompted, which Goliath took and slammed himself into Coldstone, crashing against a wall.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, at Xanatos tower, both Xanatos and Demona seemed unenthusiastic about the results that their creation was presenting.
"This is not the outcome I was hoping for." The female gargoyle drawled in displeasure.
"Yes. This is far from ideal." Xanatos nodded in agreement, bearing his Steel Clan suit. "Seems we were correct, this Jean fellow is quite intelligent. For a reptile." He added.
(Elsewhere)
Back in the city, Coldstone began to fly through the air while Jean had his crocodilian claws, dug deep into his mechanical back, pinching him in the face repeatedly–while hanging on for dear life.
"Let go of me, you overgrown iguana!" The gargoyle growled as Jean grabbed his face.
"Wanna keep twistin' on this knife, you?" The Cajun retorted as he punched Coldstone in the face and used his tail to grab his knife and slash at the jetpack, causing the two to start crashing into the east river near the Golden Gate Bridge.
The gator man then started to bash the cyborg around for a while under the water, before grabbing Coldstone's leg in his jaws and started diving further down, causing his systems to go offline. The gator man then followed this up with a death roll, which hurled the cybernetic nightmare into the air where he was caught by the steel Clan, and set on the bridge.
"Rgh… He's… very strong." The gargoyle cyborg groaned as he tried to pull himself together.
"That much we can agree on." Xanatos nodded as Jean joined the party.
"Who's idea was it to have a fais do-do outside in the cold, anyway?" The leather headed mutant grumbled as he let out a cold sneeze.
"I grow tired of you!" Coldstone growled before he lunged at Jean, tackling him to the ground. The two threw punches at one another, and the reanimated gargoyle gained the upper hand after a few minutes of brawling, much to the dismay of the gator man's allies.
"We gotta help him!" Broadway said as they tried to avoid the Steel Clan and being shot by Demona.
"That's easier said than–done, Broadway." Brooklyn pointed out, swooping to avoid another laser shot.
"I can't come up with anything to deal with them from here!" Lex exclaimed, peeking around the corner of his cover only to retreat when a laser shot went by.
Meanwhile, Jean managed to regroup with Goliath and now the latter was taking on Coldstone while the former was dealing with Xanatos–and they were not doing so hot.
"I'll be honest, I expected better from you, Jean." The billionaire admitted, blocking a knife swing.
"Ah blow it out yo exhaust pipe!" The Cajun snapped as he ducked under an arm cannon blast and shot up with an uppercut, but was left wide open to a shaolin double punch to the torso, sending him skidding to the ground.
Jean growled as he got back to his feet, clutching his knife tightly as he did. This whole fight was really starting to grate on his nerves, and he hated it. Right now, all he wanted was a means to shut both Xanatos and Coldstone up. Hard!
And as if someone from on high heard him, his amulet of Sobek started to glow, as did his knife and forehead. Seconds later, the blade started changing shape into a large obsidian colored Khopesh sword with a bronze handle, and his forehead suddenly gained a HemHem crown, complete with a sun disc flanked by two horns and ostrich feathers.
His face also began to more closely resemble a crocodile's with all features. He even seemed to gain an aura around him as well.
"What?" Xanatos gasped as he took a few steps back.
With a low growl, the gator man pointed his sword at the two who had been causing him and his allies so much grief.
"Let your guard down, and I'll snap you from the bank like a naive gazelle." Jean warned the two, his voice now having a more Egyptian accent to it.
'What the-? It's like he's suddenly a different person.' Alisa noted mentally.
Xanatos said nothing, but still flew at Jean, hoping to tackle him to the ground and subdue him. This proved to be a mistake since not only was his opponent ready for him, he was prepared to tear him apart as he tail smacked him away before he was on him again, sword ready to swing.
With a powerful swing of his Khopesh, the reptile slashed the man's air tubes and sent the helmet of his suit flying off, leaving him open for attack.
Sheathing his sword, Jean then started unleashing a barrage of fisted attacks at blinding speed and with unmatched ferocity–like the savagery of a beast. Demona spotted this and tried to take a shot at him, but Lex capitalized on the distraction and sent a car wheel cap flying at her.
"Not this time, Demona!" He yelled.
Back with Jean and Xanatos, the former grabbed the armor-clad man and raised him over his head.
"Urg! What do you intend to do? Kill me? I thought that wasn't your style." Xanatos jeered as he tried to struggle free.
The gator man let out a snort as he tightened his grip. "No, I won't kill you. Killing you will only end your suffering and silence your shame." He retorted. "So instead, I will break you!" He added as he slammed the man down on his knee near his spine.
The man let out a scream of pain as he felt his spine break, the noise drawing everyone's attention and they were stunned by the brutality that Jean was displaying. Demona in particular was very alarmed by his brutal assault on her perceived servant.
Jean then turned to her as Coldstone and Goliath fought on one of the arches, and drew his sword.
Pointing at the female gargoyle, he dragged his fist across his throat, communicating exactly what he was going to do to her. Despite herself, Demona was actually starting to feel intimidated by him as her instincts told her to fly away as fast as possible. Not only that, they told her that this was not truly Jean Lubeau, and that someone else was standing in front of her.
'Something is truly different about him.' She thought, feeling cold sweat slowly slide down the side of her head.
With a bellow, the reptile charged at her, sword in hand, but she didn't wait for him to reach her, as she quickly got out of there–causing him to crash head first into the Steel siding of the bridge, knocking him out cold as Demona glided away.
Back with Coldstone and Goliath, the two had fallen into the river and were starting to sink into the depths of it. But right as they were about to succumb to it, Coldstone suddenly grabbed his old rookery brother and flew back onto the bridge with him.
"Is he…?" Lex trailed off.
"He lives." Coldstone replied, setting Goliath down.
Broadway, meanwhile, tried to wake up the now back to normal Jean. "Uh, guys? I think Jean may have gone into hibernation." He said, noticing that the gator was out cold. Everyone walked over to him and looked him over before Alisa sighed.
"Yeah, he's definitely out of it. We better get him back to his little home so he can warm up." She said.
"Agreed. This is hardly an ideal setting for someone like him." Goliath nodded in agreement. He then turned to Coldstone. "Will you join us, my brother?" He questioned.
Coldstone was silent for a moment, before nodding. "Yes, I think I shall." He nodded.
"Good." The purple gargoyle nodded in approval. With that, he and Broadway picked up Jean and started making their way to his trailer while the others headed back to the tower.
(Later)
As Jean woke up from his involuntary cold induced slumber, he decided to fix himself a Sazerac with the absinthe that he and Broadway made in his Grandaddy's recipe.
As he did this, the gator man couldn't help but wonder what happened to Helena after she left. She said she'd come back but never did, and he never did find out why.
'Ah'll figure out what happened to ya one day.' He vowed mentally as he worked on his Moonshine, diving into the sewers to find places where he could find ingredients.
Dragon Emperor0: And that's the end of Gargoyles season 1 in this story. Though, to be fair, we did skip over a good chunk of it and picked episodes that Jean better fit in. But I think this certainly did the job we set for it.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah, and we learned of who his divine benefactors are: The Egyptian God of the Nile, Sobek, and Baron Samedi.
Dragon Emperor0: Which makes sense when you consider the amulets he has on his bracelets. Also, it turns out that Jean's family used to be bootleggers.
ThermalsniperN7: Huh. Not sure what to say to that… But it looks like there's more to Jean's blessing from Sobek than we're seeing here.
Dragon Emperor0: That did kind of remind me of when Jackal merged with Anubis, you're definitely right about that. But it's probably nothing right now. Also, it looks like Jean actually pulled a Bane back there.
ThermalsniperN7: Xanatos had better hope that suit protected him from enough of it to not cripple him. If it didn't, then he's gonna be in quite the pickle.
Dragon Emperor0: But with his money and knowledge of magic through Demona, he'd probably find a few work arounds… Regardless, looks like Jean's gonna have competition when Coyote steps onto the scene. I mean, assuming Helena (Hyena) still likes him like in the show. Probably not, though.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah, probably. Anyway, seeyou guys next time.