Leader Of The Pack

September 4th, 1995

Liam woke up from the sound of his alarm, making him groan and swing his arm to shut it off on his bedside table.

He stretched and yawned before he walked over to the bathroom, wearing nothing but a tank top and black pyjama bottoms.

He looked in the mirror and saw that he was growing stubble around his jaw and chin. He'll need to shave that, as he preferred a clean face. And his blonde hair remained the same as he maintained cutting it to remain that way.

After washing himself and brushing his teeth, he changed into trousers, boots, a grey henley shirt and a black hoodie.

Liam then walked to the kitchen and looked out the window to see that the sun was near the horizon. This gave him plenty of time for himself before going to meet up with the gargoyles and cooked himself some bacon sandwiches.

The last seven months have been relatively peaceful for Liam, Elisa and the gargoyles, which did concern them slightly because it made them wonder what Xanatos and Demona were doing during that time.

Among helping and protecting Manhattan, things have been good for everyone.

Liam and Griff especially had a great time. They went on more dates, each of them memorable, especially with the activities in bed. And eventually, they were accepted into what Goliath calls the Manhattan Clan, which they accepted gracefully.

Once Liam was done cooking the bacon, he made the sandwiches and poured himself a glass of apple juice.

He walked into the living room and sat on his sofa to enjoy his breakfast and watch some television.

After finishing his breakfast, he was about to turn the TV off and go meet up with the gargoyles when the news suddenly played.

"We interrupt this programme for breaking news: The Pack has escaped Rikers Island, except for Fox by assistance from Dingo and a mysterious figure dressed in a mechanical suit."

"WHAT?" Liam shouted in absolute shock.

He turned the TV off and grabbed his gun before he ran out of the penthouse.

Taking a taxi, he made it to the police station in time before sunset and met with Elisa.

"I see you've just learned what happened." She said, looking at his concerned expression.

"Yep. If The Pack's escaped, excluding Fox, this is not good. And I'm also worried that Lexington will blindly try to take them down." Liam replied as they made their way up to the clocktower.

"But why didn't Fox escape with them?" Elisa questioned.

"I think it's obvious: because she can get out of jail on parole and be with Xanatos, since she clearly loves him." Liam replied as they climbed up the ladder into the clocktower, hearing the gargoyles yawning outside.

"Then she's a perfect match for Xanatos with her fooling people." She said as the gargoyles entered and saw Liam and Elisa, both with concerned expressions on their faces.

"What's wrong?" Griff asked them.

"The Pack has escaped Rikers Island." Liam went straight to the point.

"WHAT?" Lexington shouted in shock, which proved to be too loud for Brooklyn's left ear.

"Oh, nice wake up call." He muttered, rubbing his ear.

"We got to track them down now, before the trail gets cold." Lexington then insisted.

"How did it happen?" Goliath asked the pair.

"Dingo and somebody in gold and black armour took them out quick and clean." Elisa replied while Lexington was stomping, getting impatient to find The Pack.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get moving." Lexington said, expressing his impatience before he ran up the stairs.

"Where do we start?" Broadway questioned him. "Manhattan's a lot bigger castle than the one we're used to protecting."

"The PackMedia Studios. They'll go back to it like snakes to a nest, and I'll be waiting for them." Lexington said as he reached the door to outside and was about to take off when Goliath, Liam and Elisa stepped out.

"Lexington, wait!" He called to him.

"The studio is the first place we're checking." Elisa told Lexington, which was evident by the police sirens that can be heard.

"And even if they are there, it'll be a trap." Liam pointed out.

Brooklyn then leapt past them and ran up to a perch next to Lexington.

"Okay, Lex, you and me, we'll check it out." He said right as Bronx joined up, wanting to go with them.

"You want to come, too, Bronx?" Brooklyn asked, the gargoyle beast replying by panting eagerly.

Both Brooklyn and Lexington grabbed hold of Bronx and took off.

"I think we have to trace this problem back to its source." Hudson said.

"Xanatos." Griff said, as he was the one who created The Pack.

And so Griff, Liam, Goliath, Hudson and Broadway took off and glided their way to the Eyrie Building and stormed into the Great Hall, where Goliath forced the doors open.

"We're here to see Xanatos." He said to Owen, who stood in the middle of the hall.

"Alas, Mr. Xanatos is not here." Owen replied.

"How convenient." Liam frowned as he crossed his arms.

"Besides, it isn't him you want, anyway. Your business, I believe, is with The Pack." Owen then said, which made everyone look concerned.

"As it happens, their social calendar shows them arriving at PackMedia Studios any time now. They're expecting you. Shouldn't you be there?" Owen then grinned.

"So it is a trap!" Liam shouted.

"I'll speak to Xanatos later." Goliath warned Owen before everyone turned to leave.

"Sooner than you think, perhaps." Owen hinted.

They all made their way to the studio as fast as they could.

Once they reached their destination, Goliath opened the door to see that there was nothing there.

Hudson noticed something and walked over to see that part of the wall was wrecked and examined the area.

"There was a struggle here." He informed everyone.

"No doubt The Pack took down Lexington, Brooklyn and Bronx." Griff growled.

A nearby phone then rang. Liam, being the closest, looked over to Goliath, who nodded for him to answer.

"Yes?" Liam said as he answered the phone.

"Good evening, Mr. Gardner. I've been instructed to invite you to an intimate soiree The Pack is having tonight. If you and your friends are free around midnight, please consider attending - on the oil tanker Otoshiana Maru in the middle of the bay. I believe some of your party are already in attendance." Owen explained before hanging up.

"The Pack has them, alright." Liam informed everyone. "And on an oil tanker in the bay. Owen said we have to get there around midnight."

Out in the bay, the Otoshiana Maru was situated among a thick fog and The Pack were all getting ready.

Jackal put his clawed gauntlets on, Hyena grabbed a rifle, as did Wolf and Dingo was making sure his aim was steady with his pistol.

"Do you think they'll come?" Dingo asked their new leader, the man he helped get most of The Pack out, Coyote. "They gotta know it's a trap."

"They'll come." Coyote replied, so sure of himself with his modulated voice to hide who he was.

The Pack all kept their eyes and ears open for the gargoyles and Liam.

Then howling can be heard and Coyote turned and saw two outlines of gargoyles heading right for them.

"They're coming in from the side." He said before firing his retractable laser cannon at them, though the two gargoyles dodged his blast.

With The Pack all focused on where Coyote shot, they were unaware that Broadway, Griff and Liam were coming in from behind them until Broadway and Griff rammed into Dingo, Wolf and Jackal while Liam jumped off Griff and disarmed Hyena before spin kicking her in the face.

During the last seven months, Liam took more lessons in martial arts so that he could stand toe to toe more with The Pack.

Coyote then ran and leapt high up to a walkway above them and saw Goliath in the air before running around a corner.

Goliath flew after him.

The three heard banging on metal and turned to where it came from: a chained hatch.

Griff and Broadway tried ripping the chains off as Wolf got up.

"Look out!" Liam warned them and they moved out of Wolf's attack, making him land on the hatch.

Hudson landed and he was face to face with Hyena, who growled at him. Hudson then noticed that her brother, Jackal, decided to join. And then Dingo.

He made sure to keep his eyes on them as he pulled his sword out..

"Come on, then." He challenged as his eyes flashed white. "We're none of us getting any younger."

Dingo made the first move and Hudson jumped out of the way, which made Dingo fall and slide off. Jackal then tried to strike the elder gargoyle with his gauntlet, but Hudson cut the claws off, grabbed Jackal and threw him aside.

Hyena then leapt at him and he used one of his wings to block her and threw her, hitting both Griff and Broadway, who were still trying to open the hatch, actually helping out in that case, though they got thrown into barrels full of oil, some of which were rolling all over the place.

"Thanks for the help." Broadway groaned as Liam pulled Hyena off him and Griff and helped them up.

One of the oil barrels was leaking oil as Lexington, Brooklyn and Bronx crawled out.

Lexington roared as he launched himself onto Dingo.

Coyote was still being chased by Goliath until he hid in the shadows, making Goliath land as he couldn't see him.

Then Coyote pulled out a contraption in his right arm, which drew Goliath's attention, finally spotting him.

He charged at Coyote, who fired the contraption, which sent out red sonic waves at the lavender gargoyle, incapacitating him for a moment until he pushed through.

Coyote then prepared to fire his laser cannon at Goliath, but the latter struck his fist into the floor, denting it so much that Coyote's shot was thrown off, hitting the barrels of oil, causing a massive explosion, setting the ship on fire.

Goliath pinned Coyote to the wall and ripped the helmet off, surprised to see who he was.

"Xanatos." He growled.

"It's nice to see you, too, Goliath." Xanatos grinned as he pushed off Goliath onto the main deck of the ship.

Goliath snarled as he jumped after him and continued to fight him, both neck and neck until Xanatos threw Goliath over his shoulder and at a pole, which he dented upon impact.

Everyone else was busy fighting with Broadway pinning Hyena, Lexington facing Jackal, Hudson wrestling with Dingo and both Liam and Griff confronting Wolf.

Hudson was able to grab Dingo and lift him off his feet and threw him at Wolf, who was kicked back by both Liam and Griff.

Wolf then launched himself at Hudson, who caught him easily and threw him aside.

"Stay down, blast ya!" Hudson warned Wolf.

Lexington continued fighting Jackal till he lifted him off his feet, roaring right into his face.

He then threw him aside, unaware that Dingo came up behind him and aimed a rifle at him. But Broadway grabbed the rifle and bent it so much that it couldn't be used anymore and threw it into Dingo, throwing him at Griff, who spin kicked him in the back, throwing him to the floor.

Liam looked over and saw that Coyote was in fact Xanatos and that he had Goliath down, aiming his laser cannon in his face.

Liam ran at him with Bronx as he aimed his gun and shot the cannon, destroying it before Bronx threw himself into Xanatos, knocking him on his back. Bronx even bit into his face before Xanatos kicked him off.

He got to his feet and turned to reveal that he wasn't really Xanatos. He was actually a robot as a metal skull was underneath the artificial skin.

"He's a robot." Dingo said, expressing his and The Pack's shock at this revelation.

"A robot? Even better." Hyena grinned, making Liam cringe.

Liam shot who would be called Coyote in the face, leaving a hole through his forehead as Lexington shot a gaping hole in his chest with a rifle.

"I will have my revenge." Coyote said as he started to malfunction.

Goliath leapt in the air and licked Coyote's head clean off, which landed and rolled by The Pack's feet.

"Who's next?" Lexington said, holding the rifle up.

Jackal looked and saw how the whole ship was on fire and didn't want to remain here.

"Things are about to become complicated. Let's book, sis." He said to Hyena before they all ran away.

"NO!" Lexington raged as they ran and got onboard their vehicle and took off in the air.

Lexington was about to fire at them when an explosion knocked him to the floor.

Another explosion went off, which threw Brooklyn into a metal pole, knocking him out by the railing, where he was in danger of falling over.

"Brooklyn!" Liam shouted as he grabbed him and tried to pull him up as oil spilled into the water and caught on fire.

He saw that the other gargoyles were struggling while Lexington was able to help, though he was more focused on The Pack.

"LEX! HELP!" Liam shouted desperately as Brooklyn was still sliding off the edge, despite his best effort.

Brooklyn fully fell over with Liam clinging onto his leg.

He was slipping until Lexington helped by grabbing Brooklyn's leg as well and the two pulled him up.

Everyone else gathered around Coyote's head, which took off.

"Blast! They got away. All of them." Hudson groaned.

A bigger explosion caused a massive hole to form in the side of the ship, making it start to sink.

"We gotta get off this ship!" Liam shouted as he got onto Griff's back and they all took off before they could get sucked into the water.

Goliath was able to glide back around and grab Bronx in time before he could sink with the ship.

"Thanks for saving my bacon before it got fried." Brooklyn told Lexington.

"Hey, I'm used to it. Besides, it helped me get my priorities straight." Lexington replied as they all made their way back to the clocktower.

"Do you think Xanatos orchestrated The Pack's escape with Coyote?" Griff asked Liam.

"No doubt about it. And perhaps to also let Fox have an early parole, which is just the cherry on top for him, since she is in love with him." Liam replied with a frown.

"Great. The match made in hell." Griff muttered.

Next is an episode that will be an emotional rollercoaster for Liam, Griff, Elisa and Brooklyn.