*SLASH*
*WHAM*
*CRASH* *BOOM* *WHAM*
Brooklyn swung an open claw at Goliath only for it to be blocked at the wrist by the enormity of his forearm. The red flash swung his momentum upwards in a flurry of round-kicks, the first two were blocked; the third was evaded entirely with a dash backwards.
"Stop conveying your attacks before you make them." Goliath rumbled coolly "You're faster than me, use your speed to your advantage."
The smaller of the two roared in response. A red fist shot forward like a shotgun slug, barely dodged by the stoic leader's tilting head. A flurry of combos and attacks continued to be blocked and dodged.
"Don't let me get around you; control my central line- Yes, like that, YES, push me back."
Brooklyn's white mane of hair swept back and forth as his strikes only made contact to air, the massive form of Goliath surprisingly nimble for such a heavyweight.
"Don't swing wildly, conserve your energy and wear me down. Then find an opening and go for a grapple; pull me into your workspace."
*YEAH, I'M TRYING!*
Brooklyn threw a hook that would've socked a human's head clean from their shoulders – but Goliath's blink-and-miss-it foot sweep against the outside of Brooklyn's ankle made him lose balance; his center of gravity dropped, and his punch swung at nothing again.
Ever the nimble one, Brooklyn used his spinning fall to roundhouse kick his mentor's face, or at least he would've, had a purple claw not grasped his foot right before contact. Brooklyn sent a backfist with one hand, then an elbow strike with his other arm, then managed to use his wings to push enough momentum to send another kick towards Goliath in the span of 2 seconds; all were blocked.
"You're in a lower body hold; use pain compliance to break free, never waste time on strikes."
Brooklyn cursed inwardly when Goliath casually let him go – well that was a blow to the ego – He flipped into an axe kick, his air mobility all the more crucial when he finally managed a hit on Goliath's jaw. With a terrible snarl, Brooklyn pounced onto the purple one as he fell to the ground. FINALLY! He'd actually knocked him down!
His wrists dove behind the downed combatant's neck, making an 'X' with his wrists and putting him into a front blood choke. He had him!
Yeah, no he didn't.
Goliath snorted, his voice straining through Brooklyn's choke "I keep telling you-" Brooklyn's blood chilled when he felt a tail coil around his ankle as quick as lightning "-watch your footing."
"CRAP!" His entire body was yanked down in a flash, landing face first on Goliath's stomach before the larger of the two did an alligator roll with him in tow. The flexing musculature of Goliath's forearm slithered beneath his chin in a flash and the hand of his other arm clamped onto his ivory hair; Goliath now had him in a textbook Rear Naked Choke.
He thrashed and squirmed in a final bid for freedom, but what good was it? Goliath totally had him.
*Crud...*
*SLAP!* *SLAP!* *SLAP!*
Brooklyn slapped Goliath's arm three times, tapping out. Immediately, Goliath broke the hold, letting sweet air rush back into his lungs and allowing frustration to flow in right behind it. The red one hacked and sputtered on all fours, his chest and shoulders heaving up and down from exhaustion.
Great... So, the score was now: Goliath – 8 Brooklyn – 0.
Okay. Brooklyn knew he had been begging Goliath for training for over a month now, but now he was smart enough to regret it. This STUNK! If he knew 'training' was just going to be hours of him getting his butt thumped in sparring matches every night, he woulda just stayed at home playing SNES with Lex!
The Patriarch of the Manhattan Clan had only returned from Avalon just a few weeks ago. And in that time: Brooklyn got beat by Oberon during the whole Gathering Debacle, got his butt kicked by his own clone (Yeah, he still had to come to terms with that) at the fairgrounds, got called 'A Scrawny Gargoyle' by that creep Coldsteel, and allowed himself to get subdued by Demona at gunpoint.
Uh huh, his track record wasn't all that great right now.
A purple hand extended itself into his line of sight, one Brooklyn really had no other choice but to grasp as Goliath helped him up to his feet, his eyes still burrowing into the ground.
"Tell me what you did wrong." Goliath immediately rumbled.
"My footing. My footing." Brooklyn concurred dryly "Yeah, I know. Still working on it."
"What more than that?"
Brooklyn rubbed his neck sorely "Uhhhhh…"
Honestly, Brooklyn really didn't have the moxie to be in a 'self-improvement' headspace anymore; he was out of gas (physically AND mentally) and getting his butt kicked without Goliath breaking a sweat REALLY sapped him of all morale. He just tried to think of the answer the purple alpha was looking for, not because he wanted the lesson, but because he just wanted to be done with this and go home "…My form was sloppy when I went for the grapple?"
"Look at me, Brooklyn."
Brooklyn took a few shaky seconds to comply with that order.
"You got frustrated. The first few rounds you nearly had me. You were calm and controlled, and because of it, you were able to fight with a clear mind." A sagely Goliath elucidated "But now you're throwing your punches wildly and rushing in without thinking, because you're fighting with your emotions."
Brooklyn tried to suppress a grimace, but that was a losing battle. Dragon Almighty did he hate a lecture on one of his insecurities – Especially when said lecture was an accurate one.
But his portrayed distain did nothing to yield Goliath's raising index finger "Think back to earlier, my Clan Leader. Let us focus on what you did RIGHT tonight."
OOOoooOOOoooOOO
"Acting Clan Leader"
A few years ago, Brooklyn would have strut through the castle walls like he was king of the world with a title like that. Over the past few months, he had burdened said title with reluctant dignity. But tonight? Jalapeña, could there be a more dreadful title?
But here he was, 'Acting Clan Leader'.
A few hours ago, Brooklyn and Goliath overlooked a warehouse used as a cache for one of the many gunrunner gangs in South Bronx. Busting up rings like this was certainly nothing new to the crimson gargoyle; he'd led Hudson, Broadway, and Lexington on at LEAST two dozen similar raids. Heck! He could've done it with his eyes closed! But he never thought he'd be LEADING Goliath on one.
The Clan Leader's private decree to him still echoed in his mind "Experience is the best teacher, my friend. From now on, when It's just you and myself, you shall assume responsibilities of Acting Clan Leader. I shall guide you when needed, but all decisions shall be yours to make. Whenever we're having a training session, Hence forth, you shall be my Commander."
Okay. Yeah. No pressure there.
Brooklyn was an expert tactician, but somehow giving orders to GOLIATH made his knees shake more than the idea of Thailog wielding a bazooka. He'd rather go back to leading a charge against The Labyrinth Mutiny or fighting an animated stone dragon a thousand more times before he'd tell Goliath to so much as blink!
"Alright, only two entry and exit points." Brooklyn briefed out loud to his 'subordinate' who towered over him "I'm estimating somewhere between 10 and 15 guys, all of them are definitely armed."
He pressed his index fingers together and pushed them to the point of his beak "Okay, we'll hit them with a standard Close and Corral assault; we're going in a buddy pair." His red finger, doing everything it could to hide the fact it was shaking like a leaf, pointed at loose rebar that laid scattered upon the tarmac of the abandoned construction site "Tie the two doors shut while I cut the power. We'll slip in through the skylight and pick off the guys on the catwalk before they can get their bearings. After that, we'll form a buddy pair and take out the rest."
"Our egress options?" Goliath questioned stoically.
*Aw crap* Brooklyn kicked himself mentally "The windows are only boarded with plywood, easy to break through. Should we get a casualty, egress to the south and regroup on that rooftop." He gestured to his left.
He just about collapsed from relief when Goliath gave an approving nod. At least there was one thing he was good at…
Brooklyn barely managed to remember to fumble for his earpiece "Oh, right. I'll radio Elisa and tell her to standby for a SITREP. Chances are we can get all these guys off the street in one night!"
OOOoooOOOoooOOO
"-And you executed your attack plan perfectly, Brooklyn." Goliath praised in his monotone stoicism "Now reflect on it, WHY did you execute it well?"
Brooklyn, just desperate to find Goliath's clearly pre-chosen answer and just go home already, played along "Because I was calm and kept my head screwed on straight?"
Goliath's grunt and nod of approval gave Brooklyn some relief "Precisely. And you were calm because?"
Brooklyn was drawing a blank "Uhhhhhhhh…." *CRUD, STAY SOMETHING, STUPID* "…Cause I… had a plan going in?" he said with a pathetic shrug.
That wasn't the answer Goliath was looking for, cause his furrowed brow returned "Hm, perhaps. But you were hesitant with formulating it in the first place. Your strategy was sound, but your confidence in ordering the tasks was wavering." He rumbled, waving off the topic while taking a step back into what was his 'corner' of their sparring ring.
Goliath folded his colossal arms over one another, staring into the distant skyline in contemplation.
Oh come on, not ANOTHER stoic silence! This was the exact opposite of what he had been hoping for. Brooklyn hadn't asked for training sessions from Goliath just because he needed the tutoring, he did it... because... well-
Dammit, he missed him! None of the Trio had been without their Clan Leader for more than a few days at a time in their 1,038 years of life, and out of the blue he poofed into thin air for months. And now that he was finally back, Goliath had been using up what little chit-chat he likely with Angela and Elisa! Brook had to ask him at least a dozen times to train him, hopefully get him to at least start TALKING with him again; but that plan was already backfiring.
Goliath was training him and nothing else. Brooklyn's rehearsed retellings of all the adventures him and the clan had in his absence were barely acknowledged with a few sentences. He could barely even have a three-minute conversation with the dude before he was already hurrying into the next step of Brooklyn's training regime...
And no matter what he did, somehow, it never earned the one look he craved from Goliath: the smile he gave exclusively to Angela.
"Golia-?"
Brooklyn was silenced immediately by his elder raising a hand at him "Hmmmm... Perhaps..." mulling something over in his head "Perhaps... Yes..." his eyes now locking onto his second in command.
Those onyx eyes now glared at him "Brooklyn."
The 'Acting Clan Leader' immediately snapped to attention like clockwork.
Goliath's intense glare narrowed "I've been watching you lead as second in command... Your tactics and strategies are adequate, Brooklyn. But as your training has shown me, your strength as a warrior is severely lacking."
Brooklyn flinched slightly *….Did you really have to say it so bluntly?*
Goliath speared one of his foot's talons into the roof they had perched themselves on, circling his younger with a wide berth "-And as second in command, you must lead by example in ALL aspects." Goliath paraded back into the center of the circle "It's time I officially tested your worth as my second." his talon mark now having carved a circle into the floor. "-A rite of passage."
*A-A WHAT now?*
"You have until the hands strike 6." A single finger extended in the direction he had been staring at just a moment ago; it was the clocktower "The Rite is simple: You merely force me out of this ring before the bells chime. Prove yourself to be worthy of your role." He rumbled ominously "Prove yourself WORHTY of leadership."
Brooklyn blinked. What did Goliath imply with that choice of words? He glanced at the clocktower in the distance "5:55?!" he unknowingly shouted. Five minutes to overpower the guy he could barely even land a hit on? Brooklyn spread his hands out "Force you out?!" sizing up his opponent hopelessly "But you're three times my size!"
The behemoth crossed his equally behemoth arms "And because of it, you can't afford to waste time."
"Goliath, come on!" Brooklyn resisted.
"..." Stern silence was the only thing that dignified a response to him "...The clock is ticking, commander."
"Son of a-" Brooklyn sneered in frustration; no point in arguing.
Brooklyn charged his mentor, with a leap into the air, he swung a sweeping kick to the purple skull. But instead of just blocking it, Goliath snatched Brooklyn's ankle in midair and flung him aside like a rag doll! "GROOOAR!" The red gargoyle flailed his arms uselessly before snapping his wings open.
*CRAP...* he nursed his foot joint *...That stung. * Brooklyn wanted to yell "What the heck was that?" at Goliath but catching the expression of his steely eyes chilled him to the bone.
"Prove yourself worthy of leadership."
Brooklyn swallowed hard. That phrase suddenly echoed with a lot more weight.
"Alright!" he barked "Let's dance!" snapping his claws into the roof tiles below to yank one free from the brickwork. He flung it like a discus to break his master's guard, following up with a hook punch right as the stone exploded against Goliath's bracing forearms.
Brooklyn only barely managed to nick the elder's square jaw with his knuckles before Goliath had sunk his fist into his red gut *PUHHH!* All wind knocked out of him in a single strike! He hadn't even managed to hug his own, throbbing stomach before he felt that same purple tail from before snap around his ankle and toss him outside the ring yet again!
Brooklyn struggled to his feet, 5:57 already?
The red baron dove back to face his dragon, but every time Goliath was effortlessly tossing him away! Kicks, punches, and strikes were all brushed off like they were the blows of a hatchling. Every grapple was broken out of with absolute ease.
And every time, Goliath was silent. He wasn't coaching Brooklyn in his techniques like before, nor was he even holding back to give him a decent fighting chance. Goliath was fighting to win... and he sure was getting it!
"Grrrrrrrr, come on! FIGHT ME!" Brooklyn bellowed as he swung a metal pipe he had ripped from the wall.
Goliath slapped the pipe away in a flash and sunk a kick into Brooklyn's stomach "Two minutes left, commander." he rumbled with a voice like sandpaper.
The smaller of the two tumbled onto the floor, coughing and wobbling to his feet. *COME ON! THINK, STUPID!* Brooklyn's mind raced. This had to be a test! Goliath was probably trying to bait him into something! Was this a test of humility!? Was he supposed to recognize a pointless battle? Or maybe a test of resolve? Maybe he just had to keep fighting until midnight and Goliath would reveal he never expected him to win?
With teeth clenched and beak curled back into a snarl, he charged Goliath, tackling him in his sternum; he didn't budge an inch "T-This is impossible!" Brookyln roared in fury to the warrior he'd never seen lose in a fair 1 on 1 fight "No one can get you out of this ring!"
Goliath snorted with folded arms "If that's what my clan leader says, then it must be true." grabbing Brooklyn by the nape and flipping him over his body like a "weight for height" from the highland games.
Brooklyn clattered to the ground. Damn it all!
He knew he was a mediocre fighter, but did Goliath really have to rub it in!? It had always been that way! He didn't have the lightning-fast speed of Lexington, nor did he have the incredible strength of Broadway. Brooklyn was just Brookyln. Even when they were kids back in Scotland, he'd lost almost every sparring match against his dozens of brothers. When the Manhattan Clan fought The Pack the night Goliath got wounded, Brooklyn was the FIRST to go down. When that Macbeth Robot tried to keep them away from the fake Hudson statue, Brooklyn was the FIRST to go down. When he fought Demona, the best he could ever hope for was a Draw.
"Scrawny Gargoyle"
Those words from Coldsteel had seared themselves into his psyche... Come on! He didn't deserve to feel this pathetic in combat!
Brookyln got back up, shoulders heaving and chest huffing; he was at his limit and Goliath hadn't budged an inch. His fiery eyes looked through the sweat-soaked hair that had fallen in front of his face just in time to see said warrior jab his thumb towards the clock tower.
"Better hurry, clan leader." he sighed
Brooklyn's sight snapped to follow Goliath's gesture, he could barely even see the minute hand anymore. He grit his teeth for a final desperate charge, but then:
Brooklyn blinked "Wait a second..."
The gears finally started to turn in his thick skull.
Clan Leader
He stood up straight and swiped the hair from his face. His chest puffed out and his shoulders rolled themselves back "I AM Clan Leader." he stated firmly "And you're my subordinate, Goliath."
Goliath's stern glare softened for the first time all night.
Brooklyn shot a finger at Goliath and then jerked it out of the ring "I ORDER you to get out of this circle."
The grin that spread over Goliath's lips was priceless, Brooklyn wished he could freeze and preserve it.
With a folding of his wings, Goliath swooped one arm beneath his chest and bowed "As you command, my Clan Leader."
Relief washed over the crimson gargoyle, because the man he couldn't even make flinch now obediently turned around and marched out of the circle without hesitation. Thank goodness too, because:
*GOONNGGGGGG!* *GOOOONNNNNGGGGG!*
The tower chimed midnight a mere second after Goliath's tail left the circumference.
Brooklyn wanted to double over and finally catch his breath, but Goliath proudly parading towards him forced him to straighten his posture "I thought you said this was going to be a test of strength?" he said, swallowing back a pant.
"It was." Goliath said with a firm nod, the smile having not left his face "But not in strength of body." he said, tapping Brooklyn's arm before raising his finger to tap his chest "But in strength of spirit."
Brooklyn's smile did its best to match Goliath's, trying to ignore the accidental jab he made at his combat skills, but it still faltered.
"I chose you as my second in command for a reason, my friend." he assured with a proud fist raised before his chest "Your strength lies in your leadership, remember it."
Brooklyn huffed slightly. Gargoyles always had a funny way of building the confidence of others with reverse psychology. When one of Brooklyn's rookery sisters had been too scared to go gliding for the first time, Hudson had made a playful jab that he knew she was too small and weak to fly like the others – Her furious responding dive off the highest tower in the castle, just to prove him wrong, was so poetic that Hudson couldn't keep his triumphant and proud cheers from echoing off the castle walls.
"So why couldn't you – Nffff, Man, that smarts – Just TELL me that without kicking my butt?"
"Hmhm, even the closest of clans have moments where a clan leader and clan member find themselves at odds. Your family's care must always come first... yet you must be able to still COMMAND with presence even when facing down a stronger family member. Never forget, a leader is leader for more than just his physical might."
Brooklyn didn't respond.
"...besides, I wanted to make you think as a commander, not as a warrior."
The second in command's furrowed brow must have been more obvious than he thought, because his leader's smile had softened into an inquisitive gaze. Goliath placed his raised hand upon his shoulder "Come..." he said, the massive palm now pressing upon his back as it guided them to the ledge of the roof "...sit with me."
Brookyln complied, bewilderment meshing with the mix of pride and humiliation from his 'victory' against the guy who had didn't break a sweat against him "...And was the sock in the gut, REALLY necessary?" he muttered, plopping his butt onto the rooftop's wall.
"Forgive me, I HAD been aiming at your chest." he tried to chuckle in amusement.
Brooklyn was still sore, 9 rounds with Goliath and he hadn't so much as held him down for 2 seconds. A heavyweight like Broadway didn't suck so bad, even with his gentle demeanor. He'd beaten Goliath MORE than once in a sparring match (though Goliath still was up by a few dozen points), that was more than Brooklyn could say. Lexington wouldn't have needed to worry about fighting someone stronger than him because he probably would have whipped up some super powered taser using only paperclips and yarn.
His downturn gaze to the amber streetlights below didn't change their direction when Goliath sat next to him "...Now, I did not just challenge you to that sparring match for the fun of it." he rumbled deeply "Brooklyn, you-"
"I didn't stand a chance." Brooklyn interrupted dryly.
"That was not the point-"
"That IS the point." Brooklyn rebutted, sliding his face into his hands. "Seven months and still nothing's changed..."
Brooklyn had been leading the clan entirely on his own for over half a year now; a baptism by fire. His clan relied on him, his BROTHERS relied on him; Goliath had disappeared without a trace, and it still took Hudson to kick his butt into gear before he even started acting like a leader. And for a while, he felt like he almost capable. Things were going smoothly for him, after all he had handled the situation with Arthur and Griff adequately.
But then Goliath came back... and suddenly everything was undone. Brookyln didn't feel like a developing leader. He was a scared kid again who wanted, no, NEEDED Goliath to take the reins.
He had been helpless to defeat Oberon, Goliath was the one who stopped him. He couldn't beat Malibu, Broadway had to save him. He failed to stop Demona from executing her spell the night of the Hunter's Moon... Goliath's quick thinking is what stopped her.
Brooklyn repeated "Nothing's changed..." He dragged his hands down his face, pulling his lips and eyelids down with them "I thought I had grown into someone better... thought I was at least catching up to you. But I couldn't pin you once in 9 rounds. I only even 'won' that last one via a pity forfeit" he muttered grimly "And don't say it was some 'test of leadership, not combat' again. In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been doin' the most bang-up job as leader, either."
Goliath looked like he was about to order Brooklyn to scrub his mouth with soap "Brooklyn!"
He wasn't planning on pouring his guts out like this, but getting schooled like he was a hatchling again just devastated the years' worth of confidence building. He was NOTHING like Goliath! Just a medium sized fish in a massive pond!
Brookyln dropped his frail pride and threw his hands up "Oh come on! You missed it! You think what you've seen since you got back is bad? Tsk, You shoulda seen me while you were gone! When you disappeared, I was too busy dragging my feet and denying that you were missing! I wasn't leadin' or comin' up with some ideas on what we shoulda done, everyone else had to carry my dead weight!" he confessed.
"Lex was the one who went to Elisa's parent's place for clues. Broadway was the one who went to talk to Matt. Hudson was the one who thought to even go to the Labryinth in the first place." he mumbled, eyes still burrowing to the street below "...And I stood by and did nothing when Talon went crazy and dragged the others into busting down Xanatos's door. It was just pure luck Xanatos decided not to come and round us all up like cattle when you were gone! What was I supposed to do if he did? We wouldn't have been a match for him without you!"
Brooklyn shook his head and dismissively waved his hand "Look, I'm not tryin' to pawn off my problems or go whining for pity. You chose me as your second, and I'm glad you did. I mean, I WANTED this job like crazy!" his head finally picked itself up, only for him to lace both hands into his white hair "But sometimes I got no CLUE what I'm doing! Every night when you were gone, I'd wake up and the first thing I'd think of was: 'I can't do what Goliath does!'!"
Brooklyn huffed out and cleared his throat from his quick ramble "I don't want to give up my Second in Command billet... but sometimes I wonder what would have happened if you chose someone else." he said distantly "...I'm not smart and quick like Lexington... and I'm not strong and easy like Broadway is... I'm just..."
Brooklyn's long silence prompted the patiently listening Goliath to speak up.
"So, you constantly second guess every decision you make? You make yourself sick with worry over if you're going to make a fatal mistake? And to top it all off, you're constantly doubting you're good enough to be a leader?" the powerful beast murmured softly "And you know what that makes you?" a wing as black as night wrapped around Brookly "A fine leader."
Brooklyn's eyes glanced aside, locking his sight onto the brick wall beside them "Caring if you're a good leader isn't enough to BE a good leader."
Another long silence wedged itself into the conversation so Brooklyn could take another breather.
"...Do you remember the first thing I said to you when I announced you as Second in Command?" he questioned rhetorically "Brooklyn my friend, leadership is a heavy burden."
Goliath brought a knee up to rest his forearm on, eyes locked to the distant skyline.
"... My decision wasn't made lightly, my friend. I did not hesitate to announce my choice only because I feared driving a wedge between you three; it was because I saw three capable warriors in all of you."
"Broadway was a gentle and honest gargoyle, perhaps one of the purest hearts I had ever seen in all my years. What more so, that kindness did not stem from weakness; He was a strong and mighty warrior. Many times, I have had only him alongside me to take on bands of enemies and never once have I worried if he could handle himself. He would make a fine leader; A strong and moral anchor for his clan, an anchor that would temper the cynical anger of certain clan mates."
Brooklyn couldn't help but feel that last bit might have been directed at him... his temper was the worst in the clan and he knew it. Great – and now all he could think about was how Broadway was the one who lifted the tree off of him when the helicopter crashed in the forest, or how he's the one who saved him from Malibu, or how he was the one who always came with the assist... Broadway WAS a better warrior than himself – and a moral one too. (Wonderful...)
"And Lexington, a brilliant warrior wielding intelligence and adaptability that I had never seen before." he exalted with hushed pride "Not one of us adapted to New York as well as he. He immersed himself in his new surroundings; he learned of their technology, studied their local customs, and – though misguided – attempted to boldly make allies of the humans before any of us. A mind as sharp and diligent as his would be able to lead a new clan in a new world."
Heh, uh, Okay... Goliath just made about 4 or 5 points there that Brooklyn couldn't refute. But still, now it was his turn! He puffed his chest out slightly, ready for Goliath to now start listing off all HIS great leadership qualities and why he deserved to be Second in Command!
"-And it's why he was originally my first choice for second in command."
Brooklyn's mind made the sound of shattering glass.
He must've jerked his head to lock eyes with Goliath too quickly, because his patriarch's attentive gaze had been locked onto him already "Because I had a third option: you." he said, lacking all the swelling pride he just used to praise Brooklyn's siblings "An ill-tempered warrior who fought before thinking. Someone who had regularly let his rage and emotions take the lead before his better judgement. And, like my first second in command... someone who was bent upon revenge..." he said grimly
Brooklyn felt ill. His maw opened to stutter out a horrified reply in his defense, he was NOTHING like Demona! But before he could spew out his first rebuttal, Goliath's soft smile had returned.
"At least... that was the behavior of a child." he murmured sagely "Not the fine, young man in his place."
"I watched that reckless, short tempered, cynical boy turn himself into patient, attentive, even-tempered tactician. I witnessed someone who did what he thought what was right; not what he wanted, nor what I wanted." Goliath nodded, no, BOWED graciously "When I had been too stubborn to leave our home, you were the first gargoyle who pushed to leave the castle and keep our family safe. The night Elisa had been shot and I ordered us to seek vengeance for her, you instead asked to search for Broadway. You did not obediently do what I wanted; you had the courage to push for what the clan NEEDED."
Cautious pride flowed back into Brooklyn's breast but was dammed by a pang of guilt. He joggled his head "But... Demona. What I helped her do to you. I'm always attacking her-"
"Enough-" Goliath solemnly but firmly "-of that night, Brooklyn. I have told you: do not let guilt consume you. Learn from your mistakes, but do not let them hold you down, lest you be paralyzed by doubt when you need to make a hard decision."
Brooklyn clenched up slightly as the most intimidating yet most comforting hand in the world laid itself upon his shoulder "...this is why you were chosen."
"You HAVE learned and grown. You were once consumed by vengeance." Goliath's thumb rubbed his lateral "When Lexington rushed in to attack the pack on the night of their prison escape, I worried you went with him because you craved revenge as he did. Instead, you went with him to keep an eye on him and talk him out of seeking revenge."
A set of bewildered eyes looked Goliath up and down "I never said that's why I went!"
"I know you didn't-" he gestured a hand back to the clocktower "-he did."
Brooklyn felt a pang of guilt.
"You also went to the theatre to watch that movie you hated, 'Bambi', was it? To help Broadway's trauma with the movie he watched that led to him using Elisa's gun."
Brooklyn never told Goliath that either... and felt another pang of guilt broadside him once he guessed who did.
"And the night you fended off the upgraded Pack to rescue Hudson, Bronx, and Myself... you finally became the voice of reason. YOU calmed your brethren and ensured a superior foe was bested." he said proudly "You showed that you were growing as a leader, one who would continue to grow and lead even after I was gone."
The Clan Leader paused "... That is why Broadway and Lexington voted for you to be Second in Command."
"WHAT?" Brooklyn's voice felt a thousand miles away.
"I had already made my decision to name you my second, but that still did not stop your brothers from whispering to me their thoughts on the return to the clocktower. Both urged me to name you my second, regardless of what they wanted." he gripped the youngling's shoulder "Your peers chose YOU."
That truth didn't make Brooklyn want to cheer. He didn't want to gloat. He didn't even want to thank Broadway or Lexington. He just wanted to vomit.
Brooklyn buried his face into his hands "They wanted me to have it?" he gurgled. They had competed like children to earn the most coveted title in a clan. The thing all three of them had yearned for since birth: the right to one day lead the clan... and they just... sacrificed that dream? FOR HIM?
Brooklyn's heart raced in anxious guilt.
They willingly gave it up. And how had he repaid them? How had he repaid BROADWAY?
*Angela...*
Brooklyn wanted her. He wanted her so badly. He wanted to have at least ONE time where he didn't have his heart broken by yet another girl he liked rejecting him. Instead, Broadway had stolen her from him; ever since, he had resented his younger brother. He would never wish for harm to come to his lifelong friend... but Brooklyn couldn't even look at him anymore, not without forcing every smile and rehearsing every congenial phrase.
He couldn't just be happy for his friend finding love? Instead, he had let jealousy and envy consume him... But when Brooklyn took something BROADWAY wanted? Broadway SUPPORTED and even fought for it? He willingly sacrificed his own happiness for Brooklyn's? All this time?
Brooklyn's stomach churned in culpable shame. What kind of friend did that make him?
He knew he shouldn't let some girl he had known for a few weeks come between him and his closest friend of the past 38 years... but Brooklyn couldn't help that he just yearned for someone to love him! Someone to hold and cherish him as much as he loved and cherished them! Yes, he had the friendship of his two rookery brothers, but that alone wasn't enough to sustain a man! He didn't have love from a mate! He didn't have love from a paren-!
Brooklyn cursed his brain *Put a sock in it, will ya? ... We agreed to never to use that word again*
But it was too late. His mind had already drifted into those dangerous waters. Sure, Goliath chose him today, with limited options, but what if there were MORE choices to choose from?
Silence hung in the air; Brooklyn had tensed up so tightly that Goliath's hand had parted slightly.
"... Goliath?"
"Yes, Brooklyn." the purple one's tone teetering on the edge between attentiveness and alertness.
"You chose me to be your Second in Command, I know-" Brooklyn droned out grimly "-but was that because you had no other options?
His face removed itself from the shelter of his hands "If the entire clan was still around... would I have ever been chosen by you? ...would you have even noticed me?"
Goliath looked like he had been slapped in the face. Brook didn't know if it was him being rendered speechless by a crazy suggestion, or him silent because he couldn't stomach to admit the truth.
"I have noticed you always, my friend." he assured with delicate tact "You, Broadway, and Lexington. You three are everything to Hudson and me."
*Liar...*
Crimson hands crumpled into half-clenched fists upon Brooklyn's knees, his shoulders and arms became rigid. His white hair hung low with his downturned beak – he shook his head "No we're not..."
"Brookl-"
"No we're not..." he repeated "...None of us are Angela."
The night air chilled Brooklyn's shoulder when a recoiling Goliath's hand took its warmth with it.
Immediately Brooklyn wanted to stuff the word's back into his mouth. *WHY DID YOU SAY IT OUT LOUD?* he screamed mentally to himself. He hadn't meant to tell Goliath now (Or ever, really) but the words had just slipped out! In the micro-second it took for him to see Goliath's tongue lift inside his maw to formulate a response, Brooklyn's mind was already tugging him in two different directions: Either dismiss it and move on or dive into the one conversation he swore to never have.
Brooklyn's tongue moved before either his mind or his mentor's mouth could "Don't." he unconsciously ordered "Look. I'm going to be honest." he said, shrugging his hands as coolly as he could fake with rushed words tumbling out "I'll say what I have to say and then I'll drop it."
He tried to say it as casually as an uncaring gargoyle could, like it didn't bother him... but one sentence already told him that was a losing battle "Ever since you've came back, you've barely talked to ANY of us. And I don't mean addressing us a clan, I'm talkin' like." he made a back-and-forth gesture with his ruby talons "Spending time with us one on one! Heck, have you realized this is the FIRST time you and I have spent time alone together? And that's cause I had to practically BEG you for it? I had to frame it as training!"
"Meanwhile, all that attention's been going to... ANGELA!" his voice sliding over her name with envy "I mean, I get it! She's new to the clan and she deserves extra attention to help fit in! But..." Brooklyn had rehearsed this speech in his mind to himself a million times, never intending to actually give it... and he wish he hadn't; he was far less articulate in real life than he was to imaginary Goliath.
"But what about all of US!? We haven't seen you in seven months!" he rasped, clammy palms finally parting from his knees and shaking before him "And what do you say the FIRST night you get back home? You tell Xanatos that you finally now 'Personally knew the redeeming power of a child's love'!"
Brooklyn couldn't stomach to look at him "From HER?! SHE was who you saw as your child!?" he cried, his hands waved wildly in the air "AND N-NOT-?" before they shakily started gesturing to himself.
"When The Hunters Blew up our home and Demona was five seconds away from exterminating us all, you tried to stop her by saying she should spare your daughter! You called HER and ONLY her as your kid! And that's AFTER you went ballistic when Angela got hurt the night before!" Brooklyn made a sweeping motion with his arm "You sure didn't seem to have the same rage when Lex and I got hurt ON the Hunter's Ship that YOU dragged us along with to get revenge!'
"Or EVER with us, really! When Macbeth captured Lex and Me, you weren't even the one who rescued us! BRONX was the one who broke us out! I guarantee you if it was ANGELA who was trapped, you would have rallied an entire FORCE to break her out and personally carried her to safety!"
The rasp of his voice cracked, rambling out of his pre-practiced lines in a blurb "I know she's your biological kid, but you always taught us that adults didn't care WHO'S kid was whose! You said parents loved the youngers ones all the same! Y-You've known her for a few months... but you've known US for decades! I-It just seems..." Brooklyn choked "... You've barely spent time with us. And when I see you just holding her... caring for her... giving her ALL of your attention- I... I..."
Brooklyn clutched his ears and hid behind a cocoon of his own wings "I'm right, aren't I? You never would have chosen me as your second if the others were still alive; you would have chosen Angela in a flash. W-We're just..."
The tears finally started to stream
"We're just the bottom of the barrel, aren't we?"
Brooklyn's teeth clenched together, a sucking in of air choked back his sob "The only reason we're even ALIVE was because you sent us into the rookery the night of the massacre! You ordered us out of your sight! A-And you only w-wanted us because we were your only option left!" For years, Brooklyn had tried to bury that ugly thought 6 feet under and leave it to rot. He had tried to dismiss it as paranoia... but all that 'work' unraveled the second Angela came into the picture.
Goliath was always hugging her, always making time for her, always doting over her with a level of affection Lex, Broadway, and himself NEVER saw. He didn't hide away in the library anymore to read all night, nor spend almost all his free time with Elisa; instead, Goliath was ALWAYS visible and never far from his daughter. Brooklyn hadn't even noticed the neglect he'd been getting from Goliath because it wasn't all that different from how he usually treated them! Goliath had never been so attentive with any of the Trio!
"I-It's just... All this time, when we were looking for you every night, I thought you were trying just as hard to get back home to us!" his quaking, lower lip struggled to articulate his words "B-But I don't even know anymore! I don't know if you would have been just fine having your ONLY CHILD w-with you!"
Brooklyn dared to finally lift his gaze to the father he was denied of, but the water in his eyes made the sight all too blurry "Y-You don't love us like you love her! I thought... I thought you maybe were seeing us like sons, but I only just n-now got it through my head that you never saw us as anything other than warriors." he heaved, his palms dug into his eyes to try and scrape away the tears that poured forth "A-And I know you'll never see us as something else."
His whole body shivered helplessly "A-And you're acting like you HAVEN'T been gone for so long!" he choked "I... How could you just leave us, G-G'liath? I mean, I know you made me Leader and I had to be strong for the others... B-But I was just so lost without you!"
Brooklyn's shoulders heaved in weary exhaustion, his maw finally hanging loose as he ran out of things to say. He snorted and dragged his forearm over his eyelids to wipe the constant river of tears, finally making his bleary vision able to see Goliath's face.
It must've been a trick of the moonlight... because Goliath's eyes glistened just as his did. Before he had a chance to even check though, a massive purple talon shot at him.
Brooklyn was grabbed by the shoulder and yanked forward, his face crashed into Goliath's chest, and an almost forgotten pair of arms crushed him in a shaking embrace.
"Oh Brooklyn..." Goliath's voice broke "Oh my boy..."
The junior was tugged into the elder's lap. Goliath's arms felt like squeezing pythons that had every intention of crushing him, Brooklyn didn't care at all.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
The massive hand of his father clung to a fistful of his white hair, the titanic wings of Goliath wrapped him in a canopy of remorse. Goliath's throat swallowed against Brooklyn's ear, his square jaw tightened... and Brooklyn could feel something dripping onto his horns "My boy..."
Brooklyn collapsed into those arms. Every muscle in his body went limp, Goliath had never actually HELD him before. His red beak contorted, and tears rushed freely now. All attempts at trying to preserve himself shattered, he screamed into Goliath's chest an agonized wail. Words just weren't enough anymore.
"I..." Goliath's haggard voice trudged past his own set of repressed sobs "I'm a fool, Brooklyn... This... Oh, this is all my fault." he lamented, tightening his grip around him as if he'd disappear should he let go.
"You are beyond precious to me... Every night I was trapped in Avalon, I would miss you and your brothers to the point I would be sick." he struggled out through shaky breaths of his own, his massive hand now so gentle as he stroked the boy's ivory mane "On the final night in Avalon, I had a horrible vision that showed me... showed me..."
Goliath choked, his own voice now hiccupping in such a way Brooklyn didn't think Goliath could possibly do "...Oh dragon, what have I done?" he pressed his cheek against Brooklyn's, his gritting teeth making the jaw against his Second's shoulder quake "Angela is not my only child. No... I have four children."
"My precious son..."
The word rippled through Brooklyn's veins like a shock of lightning, he clenched up to the point his fingers gripped themselves white. He had been robbed of the title one thousand years ago... but for the first time ever, it had been forged in the lips of the man who had never presented it to him.
"I-I lied to you Brooklyn: I would not have chosen you as my second in command, nor would I have chosen Angela." he confessed "You are too young to be shouldered with such burdens... N-Not even I took on such responsibility until a decade after your age. Y-You boys should be enjoying your youth, not being made into child warriors." those purple talons didn't stop gently combing his silver hair "If only I had let you be my sons instead of trying to make you soldiers..."
Brooklyn's frantic gulps tried to get his sobbing under control "...And you have made me so proud, my son..." that voice murmured to him "...So proud."
Goliath's combing hand ceased its movement, his crushing bearhug loosened. His baseball mitt sized hand, that could rip a car in two, now placed itself so delicately against Brooklyn's face "...You don't need to be strong for me, little one... Let it out."
Brooklyn's heart throbbed in his ears.
The infernal shriek of a feral gargoyle screeched from his maw. Brookyln sunk his fingers into the musculature of his father, his back arched as if struck by lightning, and his vocal cords let loose the anguish of one thousand years.
The liquid suffering of a forgotten child cascaded down his face and glistened in the moonlight. Fists whaled weakly onto the shoulders of his reconciling father. The silken white of his long mane bristled and stuck on edge. And the deafening sobs of the Manhattan Clan's second did what they were meant to do.
Brooklyn let it all out. He poured every drop of pain he was feeling into those screams to pierce the night. He screamed until his head hurt. He screamed until his throat ran dry. He screamed until he became too weak to even make a sound. But when every ounce of blackness that squeezed his soul was jettisoned from his lips, the warmth of the arms around him rushed in to take their place.
Even when Brooklyn had clawed and hit him in his frenzy, not once did Goliath let him go. He clung onto him, all of him, accepting him for who he was; faults and all. He let out his weakening primal screams until they fizzled out into coughs; and finally, Goliath was right there to hold him together.
He sniffled and whimpered in his father's arms. The gentle stroking of his white hair resumed. They remained there, shaky and weary from the damaged bond they had just had to face together. Brooklyn tucked himself into his guardian's arms with every intention of living there; no words were said... but forgiveness was offered and accepted both ways.
In the afterglow of their absolution, Brooklyn shakily realized what he had done "O-Oh my God! G-Goliath!" he cried out in remorse, hands diving to tend to the scratches and bruises he had given him upon his arms.
"Shhhhhhh-" Goliath shushed him, finally letting the boy breathe with his loosened grip. Those mighty arms adjusted the younger to sit more comfortably upon his lap "Shhhhhh... The sunrise will fix it."
The sunrise? Brooklyn had been too caught up in everything that he had forgotten their final duel ended at just 6 am. Already, the dawn had turned the comfortable safety of the starry sky into the light blue of dawn. He squirmed to sit himself up and prepare for the sun's arrival – but his spent body disobeyed all commands for locomotion or to take a fierce pose upon the ledge, he was simply too exhausted.
Goliath, however, was not. Powerful arms flexed securely beneath his legs and back, cradling his lanky body whilst Goliath stood to his towering full height. He moved away from the ledge without hesitation, sauntering to the center of the rooftop and sitting down upon a concrete wall; Brooklyn didn't protest in the slightest.
He thawed at Goliath's touch, that massive thumb drying his tear ducts with a gentle wipe. It had been so long... over one thousand years since he felt this. But the feeling of what he had right here and now was slowly coming back to him.
"...The others?"
Goliath's soft smile looked down upon him "This is far from the first time someone has roosted away from the castle." though the smile slowly faded into something more deliberate: a promise "And when we DO return to the castle tomorrow at sunset... I'll tell Lexington and Broadway the truth that I should've told them so long ago."
Brooklyn's lips finally pulled back into a smile of his own, he was whole again. His head rested itself against the barrel chest of his Clan Leader. No. He wasn't his clan leader...
"Hmhm. I'll be with the three of you so much, you'll have to beg Hudson to pull me away from you to get a moment's peace." Goliath chuckled with the first 'joke' he had given in a month "Poor Lexington isn't going to get ANY work on his new computer... and Broadway's going to be sick of books, I'll tutor him so much."
The golden rays of sunlight began to bathe the horizon.
"And you, Brooklyn... Never again shall I let you forget the sheer pride you give me every day."
Brooklyn and Goliath's flesh began to harden into cold stone, yet Brooklyn had not felt so full of warmth in years. He had wished the stone sleep would have been permanent, to just be perfectly preserved in this exact moment for all time. He listened to Goliath's strong, steady heartbeat... squeezing in a single word just in time to see the look it put on his face.
"...Dad..."
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, if there's one story element I always hated in Gargoyles: it's how Goliath's and The Trio's father-son relationship was absolutely shafted the moment Angela came onto screen, ALL Goliath's parenting went to her. Goliath knew her for 6 months, he RAISED the Trio for nearly 40 years! You can love them both, but don't forget about your sons! Anyways, I felt like this needed to be addressed. Goliath needed to call them his sons at least once T_T
I wrote this as a much happier story version to my "Gargoyles: Vilomah" Got more than a few DM's of people saying it was too sad XD. Let me know what you think! Comments mean the world to me!