Gargoyles: Vilomah

by Embracethehavoc

After a terrible falling out between father and son, Brooklyn flees the clan. Now a guilt-ridden Goliath desperately tries to salvage his parental bond with Lexington and Broadway, all while scouring for his lost second. Meanwhile, Lexington begins to realize his feelings for Brooklyn in his absence; But the Brooklyn that returns, isn't the one that left.

5. Genesis Undone

-One Week Later-

-November 20th, 1996-

Stone mixed with flesh "This isn't good…"

Goliath had prayed for a distraction, but not like this. For seven agonizing nights he had barely spent a handful of waking moments at the castle, all his time was spent in the air scouring every inch of Manhattan. Every non-waking moment, he was trapped in stone sleep to lament the million different ways he had wished his last moments with Brookyln to have gone.

Lexington had barely been able to dismissively say a combined nine words to him in the past week, Broadway's meek attempts at bridging the rift were mired with the red-beaked elephant in the room, and even Anglea, as far as he could tell, had put up a filter around him. He had been neglecting to take time for meals so much that Elisa and Hudson had to practically tie him down to his perch for five minutes and force him to at least eat something.

But he wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop. His son was out there scared, alone, and hurt. He had to find him and put all this right; he had to reforge the bond that had been lost. Not just with Brooklyn, but with all his sons. Broadway's worry, same as his own, had devoured any space in his heart that was ready for a rekindling of familial love. And Lexington? Lexington had made it a point to not even look at him for more than seconds at a time.

Goliath had been praying for a distraction, something to knock them out of the hollow rut they had been forced in. But he hadn't prayed for this.

Because now Hudson was inspecting the arm of his clone, Burbank. Whose arm was now patched with an ever-growing rot of stone "This isn't good…" he repeated.

Talon's clenched knuckles left his pursed lips, wary eyes now in alarm "You've seen this before?"

"Nay, that's the rub. I've never seen this before.".

"Have you at least heard of something like this?"

"Not on someone this young."

To put it plainly, the clones were dying. Talon had called upon the Manhattan Clan at their home of record less than an hour ago to help them. If they weren't facing death, they were flirting with something similar. Something permanent.

Goliath's nostrils exhaled grimly "How long ago? When did this start?"

"Two nights ago." Talon said with extended thumb and index finger "First time we saw anything was right before sunrise; Hollywood and Brentwood started growing these green masses before they turned to stone" he pressed his extended digits together to make a ring "-nothing bigger than the size of a nickel. But when they woke up last night, ALL of them were like this."

*COUGH* *COUGH* "Aye… we went to-" Burbank struggled in a wheeze of air "-we went to Sevarius for a cure. But he said he couldn't be bothered."

"Steady Burbank," Talon urged him delicately, the panther's yellow eyes darted back up to the patriarchs "Look Goliath, I gotta be blunt; they don't have much time, not with how fast its spreading. If we don't fix them and fast…Well, I don't think they're going to wake up from their stone sleep tomorrow."

Burbank went into a coughing fit, the Panther's ears flattening in barely hidden distress, his large black hand stroking the repplica's hair as soothingly as he could manage "Maggie and I have tried to keep the younger ones calm, but we can't fool them when it's growing on their goddamn skin. I… Look, I've got no more love for Sevarius than you do; given the opportunity, I'd nail him to a wall… but… I can't think of any other option. I swear we'll take every preca-"

"Yes." Goliath stated abruptly

An off put blink from the Panther asked for confirmation.

"The DNA samples. We'll do it."

"...I didn't say anything 'bout DNA samples."

Goliath didn't dignify a back and forth conversation just so Talon could act humble "The cause of their state is obvious, as is the cure. If their bodies are breaking down genetically, enough of our replacement blood samples will reverse the effects."

A furrowed brow and partly slack jaw from Hudson was sent his way, seeming to wonder if he had heard his younger correctly "Lad?"

"Well - great." A balking Talon interrupted "Just one problem though, that epinephrine-snorting bastard, Sevarius, still is the only one who can cure them. I doubt he's gonna just fork over a cure… or not poison them when givin' them a sugar pill."

A flicker of white showed itself in Goliath's eyes as he stood to his full height, folding his wings upon his shoulders "He will." he assured - an ominous certainty in his tone.

Talon glanced at Hudson while gesturing at Goliath who was currently turning away from them, asking silently if this was typical behavior for the leader of the Manhattan Clan. Hudson mutely shook his head.

The Labyrinth's unofficially titled leader soothed Burbank's resurgence of hacking "Well… that leaves us with one final big issue: Delilah's hasn't got a blood donor." he said grimly "Even if we got the others covered, I doubt Demona's gonna be all too willing to pop in for an impromptu blood drive." his hands ceasing their rubbing of the bearded one's back "Speaking of which, we're still gonna need the blood donations for Malibu-"

Goliath's and Hudson's shoulders tensed.

"Where's Brooklyn?"

Talon looked back at the door they had come through "-I didn't see him when you guys flew in. Is he out on patrol? PLEASE tell me you bunch decided to start bringin' earpieces on those things! We need to get him here and quick-"

Goliath must have had a slack jaw, because Talon's voice fell silent when he looked back to him "...Goliath? …Where's Brooklyn?"

"..."

"..."

The door swung open and in ran an out of breath Elisa "Derek! Got here as fast as I could!"

OOOoooOOOoooOOO

"Hollywood, why don't you show them the pictures you took at Rockefeller Center?" Maggie urged softly "Remember? That's the place with all the people who skate across ice? With the big gold statue."

"Oh, right!" A half stone/half flesh arm turned the page again.

Okay, this wasn't natural.

Lexington, nor any of the others really, were particularly over the moon about having a clone. Someone else having your face? Your voice? Your FORM? It was just eerie. And watching a mirror of yourself cling to life, while simultaneously oblivious to the direness of the situation, certainly didn't help things either.

But here he was, looking at the photo album collected by a clone - who proudly showed off his haphazard collection of polaroids with barely a few hours left to live. They had only been here for ten minutes and already Lexington could feel the anticipatory grief that polluted this clan as well. When Goliath and Hudson had stepped into the adjoining room with Talon and Burbank, he, Broadway, and Angela were left to occupy the straggling members of the clan.

He and Broadway would have been more than content with just standing in silence until their 'leaders only' meeting was done and over with - but Maggie just HAD to pull them all together.

"And this from Radio City. This plane museum. And this top of Liberty Statue." Hollywood showcased with a dragging orange finger.

"Statue of Liberty, honey." Maggie softly corrected.

"Oh! Other book! It… It here somewhere!" the orange and green stained beast stumbling to his feet from the half-ruined coach to go rummaging through a junk box in the corner.

Broadway, whom had been divided from Lexington on the couch by Hollywood's body, seized the opportunity to whisper through the corner of his mouth "...Lex, any thoughts?"

Hell if he knew. Last time The Manhattan Clan saw these guys, they were actively trying to kill the entire clan - though not once did they try to form words while doing it. They underwent their immaculate conception for one purpose and one purpose only "Serve Thailog". Sure, they came out of the test tubes fully grown and with all the physical attributes to make them effective shock troopers, but there was a new revelation to consider: these guys were barely a few months old.

"I dunno, dude." Lex relayed back to him quietly "Last time they're trying to execute us, now we got my clone wanting to show us his new plant collection and yours trying to show us photos."

"They have names." Angela promptly policed.

"Oh don't even." Lex said coldly "Look, when YOU get someone else wearing your face and using your voice, you can ride that high horse all day long."

"DUDE." Broadway's lips now fully opening for the interjection.

"HERE!" Hollywood cheered, hoisting a different photo binder over head "Oh… wait, no. Not right." rummaging back through the box.

Broadway sped through his words, eyes still fixed on Maggie and Hollywood who remained just barely out of earshot "Come on Lex, not the time. What do ya think? Right-to-live aside, do you think it's a good idea? Like, helping them?"

Lexington couldn't pretend he had some higher reasoning: he simply just didn't like having a clone, none of them did.

Dragon, not even Goliath's 'sagely stoicism' could keep him from having a knee-jerk repulsion at Thailog when he first saw him. Having someone else with your face, your voice, your blood? It felt vile, like your soul had been copied and pasted into a current mental state of Coldstone and his beloved was all the living proof he needed to warn the dangers of souls and bodies not being unique!

But now things were worse. Until a few minutes ago Lexington and Broadway hadn't even been sure if the clones were really living, sentient creatures. The way they spoke, how they moved, and how dead their eyes were? They were more like bio-experiments programmed with just enough stimuli and cognition to function. Well that would have been the EASY way to look at it.

Seeing them again made it way more complicated. A LOT more complicated.

Hanging on the back wall was a chalkboard with basic sentences for an English lesson. Children's books were stacked neatly on cinder blocks and plywood to serve as a bookshelf. Scribbled drawings and rudimentary attempts at origami were taped to the wall and displayed with pride… Maggie and Talon had set up a little school for the clones.

They were biologically programmed to be the same age as the gargoyles, but they were barely three months old. They were by no means 'stupid' or toddlers, but they were an extreme case of the unfamiliarity The Manhattan Clan themselves had experienced in their first months in the 20th century. For everyone except Deliliah, who was designed to be fully developed mentally, every event, other than fighting, was a brand new experience for the genetic copies. Television, musical instruments, hell even a fork and knife was alien. Lex had barely said a few sentences to his clone and everytime he looked back at him with complete confusion; they simply didn't know any better.

Sadly for them, there was one concept ALL living creatures regardless of age and experience were familiar with, though: death. With the slowing encasing of infection of the gargoyles, Burbank (having his genetic code personally altered to reduce his age) and Delilah (Being hand-crafted by Thailog) had a morbid, hopeless grimness to them. Hollywood and Brentwood were on the complete opposite end of the spectrum.

There was not a shred of sadness in them. As Hollywood spun around with his desired book in hand and raced back to the couch with his progressively deteriorating legs; there was no mourning, no confusion, only hope. Beautiful, nonsensical hope. Irrational hope. Delusional hope.

Denial.

This thing was smart enough to realize the sheer direness of his situation, but was too unpolluted to accept the reality of it. Every moment for a cure counted, and he was using it to instead share his photo album of blurry, shoddily taken polaroids.

Maggie was on Hollywood like a hawk, attentive hands soothing his shoulders, her slow words doing what they could to mask the grief in her tone "Don't rush Hollywood, I'm sure they're very excited to see your photos." she said calmingly "You don't need to push yourself so hard."

"B-But I wanna show all! Show all we seen! We liked new things now!" he stammered with an unhinged smile.

Hollywood's attempt at a showcase became more of a rambling monologue, rapidly flipping through pages of blurry images faster than the Manhattan clan could follow. His lack of practice with English diction devolved as he went through the first thirty pages in a flash "-And this flower garden in Park Central! Pick flowers and not fights! And here's boxing stadium!"

He flipped to a pair of pages he seemed content enough to slow down on; no idea why though. It was sixteen pictures of the same alleyway at different angles "And THIS is where I stopped mugging!"

Lex and Broadway's ears perked up slightly.

"I saw a lady in trouble. We were all out together! Talon saw a person in trouble, said stopping trouble is what we do!" his pudgy finger tapping at separate pictures that pretty much showed the exact same angle over and over again "When knocked out bad guy, WE helped tie him up! Served GOOD people!" his eyes flashing a little more frantically "We HELP people now! Not like before! Good now! Don't want to cause harm!"

Before the three visiting gargoyles had a chance to clench up and sink back into the ruined sofa, Maggie's gentle hands pressed calmly yet firmly into Hollywood's chest and pulling his back to their side of the table "They know Hollywood… They know…" she coaxed softly "You and your brothers are heroes. They know you think for yourself. They know you're kind."

Hollywood's massive orange head snapped to look at the unofficial matriarch of the clan "I know! But I want them to MORE know! We only do things good! We're smart and can think for ourselves" his eyes suddenly going wild and wings flaring wide "We not serve anymore… We not like Thail-!"

"Shhhhhh…. Shhhhh…" Maggie hushed to the brute over twice her size, a practiced hand stroking his head and cheeks "Hollywood… Look at me."

Angela, Lexington, and Broadway all blinked as Maggie lead Hollywood in three deep breaths to calm his breathing.

"You are unique. You are gentle. You are important."

Hollywood exhaled and nodded his head with shut eyes, his tensing shoulders now relaxing "I… I am unique… I am gentle… I am important."

"Good…" Maggie assured him tenderly "The gargoyles are not angry at you. The gargoyles are very nice and very kind… they're not going to get angry at you… okay?"

Lex's mouth moved before his brain "Hey uh….yeah, Hollywood. We're not angry…. We're happy to be here." *This is so weird*

Hollywood seemed to only respond when Maggie spoke again "Why don't you go get Malibu and Brentwood, okay?"

"...Get Malibu and Brentwood…" he repeated, mutely sliding the picture album off his lap and instantly marching away.

There was a solid ten seconds of silence once Hollywood left the semi-collapsed room, making sure he was out of earshot. Almost immediately, Maddie's hands went to her brow; she exhaled as if she'd been holding her breath for hours.

Angela extended a hand "Maggie?"

"I'm sorry… just…. Give me a moment." she inhaled a haggard breath to steady herself, collapsing into the backrest of the sofa "The boys don't respond well to being given orders. Well-" she circled her hands "-they respond TOO well to being given orders. Try as we might to deprogram all the obedience Thailog built into them, they still turn into drones anytime Derek or I tell them to do anything."

Nonverbal agreements were made between the three guests while their hostess's eyes were still closed. Lexington cleared his voice "Well I mean… trying to think of the best way to say this… all things considered, they're nothing like the guys we met last time."

"In what ways?" feline hands flopped into her lap and cat eyes locked onto the ceiling "The disease I waited too long to do something about? The mental damage I haven't been able to undo? Or the fact that they're hours away from turning to stone and there's nothing I can do?"

Angela crossed the distance in a flash to sit by her "You're doing everything you can - and we will do everything that we can, as well. I promise."

Maggie choked slightly "Don't let me cry." she commanded "I can't let them see me crying when they get back, but… God… God Dammit. I was finally getting through to them…"

Lexington and Broadway moved without thinking, joining Angela at Maggie's side, now gripped her mane "...They're just children. They look older, but they're just kids… Only alive for a few months…"

The squeak of the door made all four snap their attention up, Maggie rubbing her eyes dry as quick as a flash. Goliath stood in the frame "Lexington, Angela, Broadway. To me."

0000oooo0000oooo0000oooo0000

"-AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO TELL ME?" Derek hissed, fangs bared, and voice strained to stay a whisper.

"You don't tell me a LOT of things, Derek." Elisa hissed quietly back "I didn't think you'd want to know!"

"Would want t-" he gestured fiercely to the wall as if they could see through it "Maybe the police force has changed since I left, but I remember anyone gone for 24 hours was a missing person's case!"

They were lucky the underground concrete walls were thick enough to be soundproof; Talon hadn't taken the news that Malibu was sans a donor all too well. Without the template there to fill in the genetic gaps, a clone was doomed.

"That's not what I mea- We only just found out that the clones needed the originals' blood. I would have never known to tell you!"

"That's not what I mean, sis! Clones or not, if Brooklyn's missin', I wanted to know!"

Elisa had too delayed a response before Talon hit another sentence

He threw his hands up "Look! He's a good kid! I know we didn't get off right with each other… for some reason, he still seems to not like me all that much, neither…" he muttered "But he's still the guy who got me and the rest of the labyrinth outta hot water when you n' Goliath went missing yourselves. I owe him!"

Hindsight was a bitch to look at when it was always 20/20 "Okay, I'm sorry, I should have told you. But we've been scouring the city for a full week and have found nothing, we can't rely on Brooklyn being Malibu's blood donor-" she paused and he eyes seemed to glance in a dozen directions "-So we'll have to hope blood from the other gargoyles will be enough to stabilize Malibu until we finally find him."

Talon trudged after her as they made their way to the door "-And THIS time, I'm bein' included on the searches!" he bent down to just rumble in her ear "...Hey… by the way, the hell was Brooklyn and Goliath's argument about?."

0000oooo0000oooo0000oooo0000

It wasn't as bad as having Goliath… but Lex REALLY wished Broadway had been the extra pair of hands instead of Angela! He didn't care if Broadway was a slower flier, HE could have been the one to help him carry the gear while Angela was the one who stayed back in the Labyrinth and helped prepare for an assault on Sevarius's estate.

The awkward silence was unbearably deafening.

Lexington had apologized to Angela for lashing out at her back when he was chewing out Goliath, but things were still weird. Once the truth genie was out of the bottle, you couldn't really stuff him back in. Forgiving as she was, it still was just - well, uncomfortable - to be around her. Sure, he didn't REALLY mean what he said, but he was still jealous beyond belief.

"...You were great with Hollywood, back there." Angela broke the silence as they glided back to the Labyrinth, laptop and gear in hand "Hearing it from you really helped calm him down."

"...Mhmm."

Another long silence.

"...What do you think we should do for Malibu? Even if my mother won't be there, Elisa might be enough to stable out Delilah, but Malibu-"

"He's not gonna make it." Lexington said bluntly.

Angela had to blink "There's still time, Lex. We don-"

"I doubt even OUR clones are gonna make it, Malibu's got no chance in hell."

"But we shouldn't just give up on them!"

"Uh, I'm not, does it look like I am?" he muttered back, jostling the two duffel bags that hung below him "But it's wrong to build someone up on a lie."

"I know you guys on Avalon didn't have any real plagues to worry about… but it was different in Scotland. Every few years there'd be some sorta illness that'd rip through the kingdom. They didn't have the magic of Avalon or the medicine of today - if you caught a severe sickness, you were a deadman."

He held up two fingers "Two ways you went about dealing with it: one way for adults, one way for children. If it was an adult, you'd tell them the truth and give them time to make peace with themselves; it was cruel to give them false hope when they knew better deep down. If it was a child, then you'd lie your tail off about them making a recovery. They were naive enough to be fooled into thinking they'd be alright… might as well let them think they'd be okay, rather than be in fear their last few days."

Lex lowered his hand and looked back ahead "We can keep letting the clones think they're going to pull through…. But Maggie and Talon? Stop getting their hopes up. Just stop."

"LEXINGTON!" Angela barked out a little too forcefully.

"I'm not saying abandon them! I mean comfort them and support them so they're ready when the clones go stone! But don't go lying to them and building them up, it'll just make the fall that much harder."

"IF it comes to that, I'll definitely be there to support them! But I'm not ready to give up on them so soon! …..and I don't think you are either."

There was another long pause, Lexington looking away as Angela swooped in closer to him "...are you?"

Lexington let out a strained exhale through his nose, neck turned so far away from her that it looked painful "...It sucks getting your hopes up, then realizing you never had a chance…" he muttered "...Don't put them through that."

0000oooo0000oooo0000oooo0000

Angela tensed up. Something about this seemed incredibly familiar…

Even after Lexington had apologized to her and she immediately forgave him, Lexington still was so coldly distant from her. He was still as warm and cordial with Hudson and Broadway as ever. He had promised his anger towards Goliath didn't extend to her in the slightest, yet he still avoided her like the plague! The anger and repulsion he had when he spoke of her the night Brooklyn went missing was FAR too genuine to be just him lashing out in anger. He truly despised her.

When she first arrived, Lexington had been the most open and friendly with her! But now his words were so cold. His scowls and sneers had so much venom. His physical and emotional distance from her was just too deliberate.

What could she have done to make him so furious at her?

Lex kept his jaw from tightening but couldn't prevent his eyes from narrowing at Angela and Broadway "...What is this?" he asked almost rhetorically to Broadway and Angela.

"Then you know Brooklyn even less than I thought" Lexington grumbled

"Clever deduction, detective," Lexington said tartly as he crossed his arms. "What was your first clue?"

Broadway sighed again and rubbed the crown of his forehead "...that maybe we shoulda told Brooklyn ASAP; better to hear it from us rather than him find out on his own and..." he made a sweeping gesture with his hands "Something like this happen."

Angela's neck bristled in realization: Brooklyn wasn't the only one hurt by her choosing Broadway.

Lex's head was still forcibly looking away from her, almost seeming to talk to himself "You let someone build you up, you let them lead you on… then you realize you never had a chance."

The wind that howled by them went deadly quiet. Angela knew Lexington had competed with Brooklyn and Broadway for her attention when she first arrived, but he seemed to be the first person to ease off it. She may have not had any romantic feelings for him, but to be bluntly honest, she preferred his company over his brothers.

Having men fight for your approval was flattering at first, but it was far too degrading after a while. Lexington was different. He was the first to actually give her space and just talk to her casually, no hidden agenda to win her affection. For the longest time she thought he'd gotten over his crush and just wanted to be a trusted, close friend… but with how cold and distant he had been since the night her and Broadway got together? He must have had his feelings crushed.

"Lexington… You're an incredible gargoyle, and one day you're going to find that incredible girl you deserve." Angela said with cautious sincerity "I know plenty of my sisters would be pulling each other's HAIR out fighting each other if they got a look at how much of a genius you are!"

Lexington clenched up, eyes trained at the skyscrapers they were passing "You're going to meet someone, I know you are. And… I'm sorry I didn't communicate with you." she said with a look of downcast, "I love Broadway, but I love you and Brooklyn as clanmates… and I'm sorry that I hurt you by not making that clear."

Lexington's head snapped back to her. She had feared he'd look at her with rage or pain… Instead, he looked at her with disgusted disbelief. Somehow that was worse.

"...Is that what you think this is about!? That I didn't get YOUR attention?! Your approval? Heh, why the hell would I give a rat's ass what YOU think about me?" his voice almost laughing at the sheer absurdity of the idea.

Angela opened her mouth to respond, but the first dozen responses she thought of just felt far too demeaning to say.

"I…." Lex shot his head forward "...Nevermind."

"Lex, please!" she flew up beside him, hand on his forearm "You've been ignoring me for days! If there's something I did, just please tell me!"

Lex huffed, and yanked his arm away "I said drop it!"

"It won't get any better by just burying it. For whatever it is I did, we can fix it together! If it wasn't about love, then what was it?"

She could see the muscles tensing from his nape all the way down to his toes "I… I know you all have been denied love for so many years! A heart is not meant to bear that void alone!"

Angela recoiled away. Lexington's eyes had snapped open a primal, glowing white. His little body was straining every muscle in a tense fury. His fangs barred themselves as if they had every intention to kill.

"I'm in love with Brooklyn!"

0000oooo0000oooo0000oooo0000

Brooklyn's voice rasped out behind him "...Thailog?"

A shiver rocketed down Goliath's spine. It was so sharp that the look Elisa gave him made him fear how gaunt his expression was. He snapped around as soon as he felt the blood start pumping in his veins again.

Malibu hobbled in, seemingly untainted by the disease, while providing a shoulder for Brentwood to support himself on as he hopped in. Instinct and regret made Goliath lurch forward slightly; he wanted to grab the beaked gargoyle by the shoulders and beg for his forgiveness. He wanted to scoop him into a hug and never let him go. But this thing wasn't Brooklyn; it was the spawn of a test-tube that had his face and voice. Even still…Goliath found himself lowering slightly to be more approachable.

"Thank you for coming, Goliath…" Malibu said weakly, a disappointed sulk on his face as if he was expecting someone else "...we have little time left."

Goliath gave a solemn nod "Of course." somehow being the only thing he could manage out. He knew this thing had none of Brooklyn's memory, nor soul… but maybe it would have SOME semblance of his mind. Some idea where he would have ran off to.

Talon was at Malibu's side as soon as Malibu could call his name out, kneeling down to take Brentwood from him "His stone skin… getting worse… spreading too quickly." the long-haired gargoyle droned out.

"I know Malibu, I know…" the panther said softly, able to cradle a wheezing Brentwood in his arms "It's going to be alright. We're leaving for Sevarius soon, we'll have a cure in no time. Hollywood is off sharing his photo album with Maggie and Delilah, they'd love to see you." he tucked Brentwood against his chest while passing by Elisa and Goliath, quickly muttering "I'm gonna check on Burbank and Hudson, keep the boys' minds occupied."

Goliath had only looked away for a second, but Malibu's attention was now fixed squarely on him "...Thailog… come from Goliath… If Goliath came to help…. Means that Thailog would want help us too?"

*Thailog* DAMN. Goliath didn't account for him! Still, he extended a hand onto Malibu's shoulder, slightly hopeful as he looked the boy up and down. Unlike the others, he showed zero sign of infection. His turquoise skin was flawless, his joints all seemed to work without issue… maybe he'd be fine without Brooklyn "I don't think Thailog is going to help, Malibu… but you have something better. You have a clan. We'll see to it that we do everything we can for you."

"Thailog… not… coming?"

Elisa stepped in immediately "Hey, I heard Hollywood took a lot of pictures of you for his photo album! From what I hear, you guys are natural heroes now" guiding him towards the next room and not giving him the opportunity to interject "Would it be okay if you show us some of them? I bet they look really cool!"

Goliath's heart nearly stopped. Malibu's backside was pure stone.

As Elisa led him away, Goliath was finally able to see the beaked gargoyle from behind. everything from Malibu's nape, all the way down to his tailbone was solid rock. His wings were partially retracted, yet totally frozen flat against his body. His tail was half petrified… and it looks like his hamstrings were next in line. He wouldn't see the next sunset.

Broadway looked relieved to see Elisa and Goliath walk in, a half-baked smile pleading for help. Delilah sat silently on the couch, chin on her hands and eyes locked a thousand yards away: she was the only clone with enough mental capacity to realize what the stone on her skin meant. Hollywood snapped a picture with a polaroid camera, waving the photo as soon as it was dispensed to dry it.

"Malibu! Just in time! About to showing pictures of clan at concert!" he beamed. Malibu instantly snapped out of his Thailog musings and scampered over, eyes suddenly as blissful and oblivious as his amber brother's "Oh! Rock concert one? Elisa, Goliath! Come look at it!"

The couch groaned in protest as it shouldered Goliath's added weight, Broadway clearly relieved at the fact he had someone else to help him. Goliath even found himself melt slightly when Broadway slid over to him and closed the gap between them… the extra warmth he felt was something he desperately needed.

What reminiscing he could do was interrupted by Hollywood fiddling with his camera "Hey! Malibu, Goliath! Can I get pictures? Finally can show we are team now!"

Goliath found his body moving on its own, a hand raising to place a hand on Malibu's shoulder the second he bounced over and sat behind him without a word. His stoic look twitching slightly when he felt the base of his palm rub against the coarse grit of his stoned backside. Still, he managed to curl his lips up just in time to smile, or what his level of smiling was, before a flash of light blinded the lot of them. Malibu was instantly on his feet, scurrying over to see how it looked and give his critique - and already Goliath found himself feeling a bit colder.

Broadway's warmth next to him. Malibu's familiar shape. He hadn't realized just how much he truly yearned for his sons, to feel them finally let the filter's drop around him. But his joy was not to be enjoyed, no sooner had Hollywood started drying the latest photograph, Delilah collapsed to one knee. A sharp wheeze, a gritting of teeth, and convulsing of the joints announced the stone rot's continuing conquest down her left side.

Hudson and him were at her side, unable to do anything to help as the others gawked…

*Lexington… Angela… HURRY.*

0000oooo0000oooo0000oooo0000

Angela didn't have words. Neither did Lexington. The silence following his confession hung mid-air.

*HRK*

Lexington's hand shot to his mouth as he belched a wet retch into it. His back spasmed and he sharply veered left away from the corridor of the skyscrapers faster than Angela could respond. Even as she barely managed to keep up, she could see his back pulse a second time in a dry heave. He managed to glide just over a rooftop before-

*BLLLAAAAAARGHHH*

Lexington's head jerked down mid-flight and out came everything. She expected him to slow down and come in for a knee-slide landing, but he didn't. He shivered in disgust, dried his hand by swiping it in the wind, and kept on gliding. His body needed only a split second to recover from vomiting before:

"I'm in love with Brooklyn!" Lexington spat "There! That's the big secret! HAPPY?"

Angela gave no reply.

Voice trembling, Lex's head shook grimly at the lights below "I think I've known for a while… I just - didn't want to. I've had plenty of gargoyle male friends who I didn't get … 'confused' around. Not even around Broadway, even with how close we always were."

"But… Brooklyn…" Lex's voice fell away when it tried to say his name "...He was always the one stepping up. All my life he was always the first to charge into battle. So brave, so compassionate, so resilient… At first I thought it was just me being proud of a friend… but when he became leader and took charge of everything; he showed he had matured even further than I thought he was… I… WANTED to be by his side up on his perch at night."

Lex's whimsy faded. Disgust riddled his mug and locked in on her "But then YOU had to come along…"

The imp thrashed his head as if trying to shake a thought out of his skull "I thought I was just 'confused' and my feelings for Brooklyn were just a phase once I saw you. When I saw Brooklyn and Broadway start fighting over you, I had a knee-jerk reaction to do the same; I wanted to prove to myself that those feelings were really meant for a FEMALE, not another male gargoyle! But… I couldn't…" Lex's eyes began to streak white with moonlit tears "-I-I couldn't get myself to want you!"

Angela managed to get her body to finally respond, she flew up to the gargoyle imp that looked fit to fall apart mid-air. She didn't say one of the thousand things she wanted to say, she could only listen

"I-I even tried to PROGRAM myself to do it! Anytime I found myself getting those feelings for Brooklyn, I'd bite my arm or scratch my neck! And anytime I did something I liked, I'd try to think of you! But nothing worked! I… I…" his chin cratered "...I was in love with my own goddamn rookery brother."

Her mind tried to pin the discordant orchestra in her mind, managing to pull out one thing to vocalize "And… I made it… harder for you to tell him?"

"Harder? You made it IMPOSSIBLE." his eyes slamming shut and his teeth clenched "How COULD I even tell him? Tell my best friend I had the hots for him? I at least THOUGHT I might be able to get his attention while I came up with a way to confess… but you took all his attention away, ALL of it."

Jealousy dripped like poison in his words "I didn't just lose a crush to you, I lost my best FRIEND to you! Ever since you showed up, I've only gotten to spend time with Brooklyn for minutes at a time! All he does anymore is do shit to impress you! All he does is workout, practice his flying routines, and read Shakespeare!"

"Wait, Brooklyn hates Shakespeare. I thought you did too-"

"But YOU love it." He shot back "And that's all Brooklyn needed! Damn stonehead read 7 plays by that guy in a single week; even read some Christopher Marlowe to try and impress you! I only even GOT him to finally sit down with me for a few hours because I said Hudson and I were going to be watching Shakespeare movies! Maybe bait him into playing some video games with me like old times!"

"I was finally getting excited when I thought you and Broadway were drifting together. It would mean that MAYBE Brooklyn would finally give up on wooing you and finally be open again. But…" he grit his teeth "...That didn't happen. Brooklyn wouldn't stop loving you! And with every night, I was starting to realize he'd never look at me the way he looks at you!"

"So I-I had to watch! I had to HELP!" Lexington choked out, voice now breaking "I-I wanted to sabotage his attempts SO. BAD. But I couldn't do that to him, not with all his heart has been through! So I-I was the one he asked for help when he started practicing his flying routines again! I was the one who encou-ouraged him to go after what he wanted… no matter what it meant for me. If it made him happy, I wouldn't stop him!"

Tears streaked freely now "A-And every night I'd see him mope because the gargoyle he loved, loved someone else… while he never realized HE was doing the same thing to me! The dumb bastard couldn't just open his eyes when all they saw was you!"

Lex pushed his palm into his face, disgusted with his own tears as he swiped them away "It was stupid - thinking we'd ever be together." he snorted damply "I mean, why the hell WOULD he even notice me? It's not like Gargoyles… like…" he gestured to himself "...Like ME ever get to have the one they really want."

Silence hung in the air. How was Angela even supposed to respond to this? Lexington dropping his sexuality clear as day, confessing his love for Brooklyn, revealing how far Brooklyn had gone for her, telling her how much it tore HIM up inside to watch it happen?

The impish gargoyle snorted dryly "Anyways, that's your cue to let me have it now." he waved a challenging talon "-Go on. You're from Avalon where everyone is still stuck in the 10th century, go on, tell me how unnatural I am. I can take it just as much as I can dish it."

0000oooo0000oooo0000oooo0000

"Lexington…" her voice soft and understanding "...There's nothing unnatural about love. Man or woman."

"I'm so sorry… I didn't know. I didn't know…" her mind seemed to need a second" EVERYTHING. You had so much you were going through, and you felt you had to hide it!"

If Lexington had hair, it would be bristling right now. His eyes dared to snap open, quickly shooting their attention back at her. Was his mind playing tricks on him? There was no judgment or ridicule in her eyes, but there was only… remorse?

Lexington's perpetual scowl of the past week threatened to lift for the first time since he put it on "You mean, you're- are you okay with this?"

"Lexington, you aren't the first gay gargoyle friend I've had."

Lexington nearly collapsed in mid-air.

"I know, I know. I was raised by very traditional humans… but we gargoyles on Avalon were also raised to be practical." she explained gently "I told you before, I have 15 sisters. When you include myself, that makes 16 females from a clutch of 36. That leaves 20 males and 16 females… and when I left, that dropped the gender imbalance even further."

Lexington's hope turned to bewilderment. Whatever reasoning she was trying to make wasn't making any sense to him. Gargoyles never looked down on the concept of homosexuality for moral or religious reasons, if anything, Gargoyle Clans were about as openly polyamorous as possible. Romance between the same gender was discouraged for sheer survival.

With clans being so small and breeding seasons happening only once every 2 decades, EVERY male and female had to be on full breeding duty in order to keep the numbers up and the gene pool properly balanced. If two gargoyles of the same gender became mates, it would take FOUR adults out of the breeding game; the two gay partners, and the two possible gargoyles of the opposite sex who now no longer had someone to mate with. Such partnering wasn't outright FORBIDDEN or anything… but it was by no means looked upon favorably.

"W-Well yeah. I guess I never did the math in that. But wouldn't that mean there was even MORE reason for the females to find mates?"

"At first, yes. But the opposite became a serious problem… a DEADLY problem."

Angela took a deep breath to gather her thoughts, fingertips pressed together and pursed to her lips "Remember when you three were fighting over me? And I snapped at you a little too sharply? Well… that's because you weren't the first ones to do so. Our Rookery Brothers realized the simple fact that there were four more males than there were females… meaning, even in a best case scenario, four of them would have to live their lives without mates… It was…" she exhaled shakily and shook her head "...savage."

"Romance or not, we were all clan. At first, the attempts to win our praise and affection wasn't all that concerning, if at least somewhat annoying. But as time went and more and more females chose lovers… and the available number of women began to shrink?" she paused "Lexington, it was awful."

The impish gargoyle actually tensed up from the direness in her tone.

"The fights, Lexington. Sweet ancestors, they were monsters… They weren't fist fights, it was savage brawls to the death. When the spring season came around, I watched my rookery brother's desperation become hijacked by instinct. Two of my brothers, men I had seen nearly DIE for each other multiple times, nearly killed each other. Their eyes went white and they lost all knowledge of who they were and what was going on. There was only one goal: kill the competition."

She clenched her eyes shut "...I can still remember the blood…" she shivered "Once they snapped out of their feral state and realized they had maimed each other, a moratorium was placed on courting, PERIOD."

"And they went along with it?" Lexington asked

"Went along with it? The males are the ones who came up with it." Angela replied "They were so terrified of their instincts making them hurt their lifelong friends that they wanted to remove all temptation. And so they exiled themselves to the other side of the island until they could think of some solution…"

Lexington shivered at the thought. He, Brooklyn, and Broadway were inseparable friends. Romance or not, their bond was invincible… Yet a SINGLE day was all it took for them to turn against each other in a vicious fight for Angela. Had she not stopped them immediately after the first time it happened - could it have escalated to bloodshed?

Lexington wouldn't have fought for Angela, but Brooklyn and Broadway? Lexington quickly asked "Did you FIND a solution?" frantically.

"Yes, and it was beautiful." a nostalgic smile drawing over her lips "Two of the unbetrothed males came forward and announced they had fallen for one another months ago. They had kept their love secret out of fear of judgment, but it was met with a resounding approval."

"I must be honest, Lexington. At first, we were just relieved that we had found a way to help balance out the difference in available females and males. We didn't see their union as two gargoyles finding joy in each others' arms, just an answer for a problem the OTHER romantic couples were having. But as time went on… the sheer love they had for each other was so genuine and inspiring that it truly made us regret putting such a taboo on same-sex matings."

She locked her attention squarely on him now, her words deliberate and honest "Lexington, your love for Brooklyn is beautiful and there is NOTHING wrong with you."

Lexington recoiled, his body rippling in goosebumps… eyes beginning to mist.

"I want you to hear me, Lexington." she said sternly "You are NOT confused or unnatural for loving another man… Love is love."

That broke him.

Lexington's barely maintained barriers shattered as did he. Tears of freedom rushed from his face. There was no pain, anger, sorrow, or longing in them, just pure relief. Even when he felt Angela's comforting hand come to his back to rub it, he still babbled his penance through his heaves "I-I'm so sorry, Angela! I-I'm so sorry! All this time. All this time. I… I…"

He tried to find the words "I was just so jealous! Seeing him faun over you! Watching you not even acknowledge them! T-Thinking I'd never be able to tell anyone!"

"...And having to bear that burden all on your own…" she said softly.

His rambling apologies were immediately accepted by Angela as they glided, though she profusely told him they weren't necessary. Lexington sniffed, rubbing his nostrils against his wing "Can we keep it between us, though? If the others found out-"

"If the others found out," Angela said "You'd have just that many people there to back you up."

"I know… Just…" the afterglow of their bonding was starting to wane, the reality of their situation unfortunately returning "...Brooklyn isn't here. Not anymore."

"Oh… I see…" Angela's warm tone ebbing into emptiness again.

"And besides, even if he was-" he adjusted the strap of the bag he carried beneath him "-We're too busy to talk about it now. Once this is all over and we find him… maybe then we can talk about it. But until then… can we just keep this between us?"

Angela sadly nodded in a sympathetic understanding "I won't say a word, I promise… But when you're ready to tell the others, I'll be right there with you. I promise."

The subway station they used to get into the Labyrinth was only four blocks away now, already he could make the outlines of the abandoned construction site. He looked down beneath them, eyes locked onto the street down below to watch their shadows race across; for the first time in a long time, he finally felt a tiny flicker of warmth dare to grow inside him. With all the things that had happened the past few days, at least he was finally free of the secrecy.

*FLAP*

Lex's squinted slightly. There weren't two shadows of gargoyles below. Off to the side, ever so slightly and barely dark enough to be visible, there was a third.

He snapped his head back, quick as a flash. There was no one. His eyes shot around them, overhead, underneath, they did a full 360 in every possible direction, but there was nothing. His eyes snapped down to the ground again, the third shadow was gone.

Angela must have noticed his sudden scanning "What's up?"

"Nothing." he quickly dismissed "Just seein' things."

The duo leaned forward to glide to the ground, coming in for a soft landing. Lexington gave another glance over his shoulder as they descended the stairs. The sky was vacant.

0000oooo0000oooo0000oooo0000

*THUUUUUM!*

The sound of twin Italian maple doors being snapped off their hinges cracked louder than the lightning outside. The flash of lightning illuminated Goliath's prowling frame to make him mimic the reaper coming to collect a soul.

"Enjoying your rest?"

"THAILO-" a pavlovian fear taking command of Sevarius's voice before his brain could correct it to "GOLIATH?"

"No." the original snarled with a chilling composure "You are not so lucky." striding to his bedside "Get up. Now. You have work to do and little time to do it."

A half-hearted yawn was all Sevarius responded with, snapping his sleeping mask back over his eyes *yaaaaaawn* "Oh, wake me in the morning, Goliath. I shan't be bothered to work on shelved projects after normal work hours-"

The covers were snapped off him, a hand thrice the size of a baseball mitt snatched around his ankle, a free purple claw snatched up the nightstand and threw it through the wall-high windows. All in the span of 2 seconds.

The human could only scream helplessly as he found himself dangled upside down by a single one of Goliath's clutching hands. The icy sleet from the storm sprayed his body like frozen needles. Above his line of sight, the 40 foot drop to the concrete walkway below beckoned his skull.

"DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION NOW?"

"YES!" he bleated "YES! GOOD GOD, PULL ME BACK IN!"

A clench to the human's ankle nearly crushed it like a pack of dried matches "The clones- YOUR clones are dying." Goliath snarled in the spray of the midnight storm "So I'll make this as simple as can be. You will cure them; no strings attached. No hidden poisons. No HINT of sabotage."

"Alright! ALRIGHT! Your wish is my command!" he surrendered, his sickly pale skin beginning to redden with the rushing blood to his head "Now will you kindly pull me back in!?"

The harsh yanking back to the canopy of the roof wasn't followed by a release of Golaith's grip, Sevarius still hung upside down in his grasp "If you wish for me to cure your little dopplegangers, then I MUST ask that you stop handling me like a brute!" his severe lack of physical strength was so pitiful that he couldn't even tighten his core enough to pull his chest up to eb the rushing of blood in his ears "Their chances of survival are feeble at best! Why on earth would I hea-"

A white hot pain shot through Sevarius's foot

*SNAP*

The human shrieked. Goliath's thumb had pressed against the pad of his pinky toe and forced it backwards until it snapped clean in two.

"The ankle's next, Anton….." Goliath promised, dropping him to the floor.

His taloned foot immediately followed, pinning the prone scientist to the bedroom floor "I've snapped men thrice your better like twigs." he stated factually "You WILL cure the clones. All of them. For each one you don't?" he pressed the balls of his foot into Anton's sternum, the still sniveling man now curling fetally around the lavender claws "...I will take a rib."

Sevarius would have gagged out in accordance had the full weight of Goliath not crushed the air out of his lungs. He was spared death-by-trampling when Goliath finally removed his clawed appendage from his torso. A purple hand snatched around the collar of his evening wear, dragging him without ceremony out of the room.

"Swine…." Goliath sneered as if the man was a sickness "...You truly squeal like a pig…."

0000oooo0000oooo0000oooo0000

Lexington had half a dozen hard drives plugged into Sevarius's computers. Broadway loomed beside him.

"Jalapena, this creep's got all sorts of stuff."

"Anything useful?"

"Money laundering. Stocks. Security systems. Fired staff and assistants. Nothing that we can really use." Lexington's talon swiped the mouse's scroll wheel "I wouldn't even know what to look for… Bioengineering isn't really my specialty."

"..."

"...Hey." Lexington quickly continued "Hudson and Angela are tearing this place apart looking for anything physical. And Bronx's nose never misses a thing. If Sevarius has Brooklyn here, they'll find him."

"That is if Goliath doesn't beat it out of him." the portly gargoyle half muttered, half snarled with folded arms "...The jerk had it coming. If anything,' I'm joining in next time." punching a fist into his open palm "I'll BEAT it outta him if I gotta."

Lex wanted to say something. That wasn't Broadway talking, that was 'Tough Guy' Broadway talking. Get him upset or scared for too long, he'd barricade himself behind a ruthless thug act. Broadway did it. Brooklyn did it. Hell, even HE did it when something involved The Pack. But considering how they'd overheard Sevarius 'promptly' respond to Goliath whipping out the 'Scotland Sentinel' act… some more intimidation wouldn't hurt.

"Well either way, it wouldn't hurt to have." Lex mumbled, dragging another batch of highlighted folders. Laundered charges with far too many zeroes at the end of them flickered on screen as they were copied. A list of fired scientists followed: 'Anderson, Baldwin, Bertrum, Brannigan, Calvert-" and a dozen others flashed after.

"The less this creep has, the better." Broadway snorted "I'm just glad you thought to run back to the castle and grab all this stuff." he said, tapping one of the whirring hard drives "Plus, packing those jet boosters you've been workin' on was smart. The clones wouldn't have been able to get halfway here without 'em."

"Yeah… still a work in progress. There was barely enough juice in them to get 'em here…"

Silence hung in the air.

"...One way trip."

Broadway's bouncing knee wouldn't stop

"...Can you check the cameras again?"

"...Yeah…"

0000oooo0000oooo0000oooo0000

Malibu convulsed on his operating table, clutching his sides, a thick sweat having matted his mane to his scalp. Brentwood's lips were dabbed with a cloth by Maggie after he hurled a stomach's worth of vomit into a bucket. Talon helplessly held Hollywood's hand as the infection consumed the last of his right leg. Angela's attempt to soothe the clone of her mother could serve nothing but sympathy and useless pity. Even Hudson couldn't stomach the sight of seeing his younger, photo-negative self clawing into his own operating table and had resigned himself to cooling his head with a damp rag. Elisa knelt beside her brother, keeping the gargoyle thrice her size as calm as she could.

The clones were dying. And painfully.

If Sevarius slowed for even a second, a growl from Goliath put him back in line. He didn't know the slightest thing about what sorcery he weaved with these vials and computer screen; but agliophobia was a universal language. Keeping his bones intact was all the motivation a man needed to well and faithfully carry out his duties.

"WELL?"

"I'm moving as fast as I can! I assure you!" Anton snapped, hobbling from one workbench to the next "If you would stop breaking my toes every 10 minutes, I'd be done faster, you brute!"

"Your six remaining ones are more than sufficient." Goliath stated without a hint of remorse "...And you'd have all ten had you cured them when they first sought your healing."

"Preach hindsight as you wish! Even a miracle worker such as myself cannot do the physically impossible!" he commented, one vial pouring into the other "And, in case you've forgotten, your red-tailed little friend was not here to donate! I cannot fully heal your beaked friend, so if you still plan to break a rib as thanks for me doing all I can do, then I suggest we renegotiate our terms of contract!"

Goliath's hair stood on end "You mean to say you CAN'T cure Malibu?"

Sevarius muttered with raised hands "Well no need to shout it, I already have those five in there screaming my eardrums out. And no, that's NOT what I said. I can easily stabilize his condition to keep the disease from spreading further… but reversing it, as I have masterfully prepared the others to undergo, will require DNA from the original."

Goliath snapped his head back to the glass wall that separated him and the five clones writhing on their deathbeds. The thrashes and cries of the perishing quintet was haunting enough… but the expressions on Talon and Maggie's face was mortifying.

He could count on a single hand how many times he'd had to witness that look: the face of a parent watching a child die. The clones had only been welcomed into the Labyrinth clan a few months ago, but it was clear as moonlight that the clones, namely the trio, had imprinted onto Talon and Maggie.

How they immediately went to their foster parents all night, how the two mutates were able to calm their nerves from the trust forged by care. Clones or original, mutated or synthetic - they were the closest thing they had to parents.

They had even situated themselves to be within arms reach of any of the three at a moment's notice. Talon tenderly slid his fingers through Malibu's soaked hair, the feeble beaked gargoyle reaching out a half-encased arm for help. Maggie pressed her forehead against Brentwood's as his chest heaved for air. Hollywood's shoulders were gripped by the mutate's free hands. All the while… the poorly hidden dread and frantic terror chipped through their masks with every moment.

"VOILA!"

The sheer triumph in Sevarius's voice made Goliath snap around with a hint of desperate hope. An all too proud Sevarius rubbed his chin "You know, sometimes even I astound myself with my genius." five individual syringes now filled with a glowing orange liquid. He must have seen Goliath's bewildered face, because a cocksure grin slithered back over his pale lips "Yes yes, Goliath. You needn't worry that pretty little head of yours, anymore. All five serums are prepared and ready."

"GOOD!" he barked out a little too quickly "Quickly! You must-" taking a step forward.

"AH! Atatata!" Sevarius tutted with a step back, wagging a finger "Not so fast, my fine winged friend. Now that I have gone through all the trouble preparing such a feat on such short notice, I believe I'm needed a bit more… well… ASSURANCE that you're grateful for all I've done."

Had Goliath been another man, his chops would have twitched "If you plan to bargain-"

"Oh, no bargaining, I am a man of my word." he said, bowing while holding all five tubes in hand "I just want to be sure that YOU will leave me in peace once I deliver my end of the deal."

Goliath glanced down. He could easily take all five by force. Three strides and he could snatch any vials Sevarius dropped, if he ransomed them… but which vial antidote went to which gargoyle?

"...There's no standoff needed here, Anton. If what you say is true and you can stabilize Malibu AND cure the other four, we'll leave you unharmed… but you WILL save Brooklyn!" Goliath blinked and hastened a save "When we find Brooklyn and bring him here - you'll… you'll make a cure with his help and you WILL save Malibu!"

The speakers to the lab cracked on. Lexington's delayed voice yelled "-TRANCE!"

Goliath's brows shot up to the speaker overhead "Say again, Lexington?"

The imp's panicked screams echoed over the static "IT'S THAILOG!" a steel door illuminated a burning hot orange "-HE'S COMING IN THROUGH THE SOUTH ENTRANCE!"

*BLAAAST!*

A blast of plasma ripped through the hatchway, sending Goliath diving over Sevarius to shield the serums. The four healthy gargoyles inside the makeshift infirmary were on their feet and into the lab in a split second. Debris and dust cleared; an all too despised visitor made himself known

"You're looking good, Goliath." A thoroughly infected Thailog purred out "A pity I can't say the same."

Goliath was on his feet in an instant, of all the times for this parasite to show himself! "You are not here for sympathy. You thrive off malice and deceit. As hungrily as the rest of us breathe air!"

Elisa's gun was drawn from the hip and lined up behind the cover of a desk "How did you know we were here?" she shot a glare at the only other human in the room "Sevarius tip you off?"

"I followed you here, and I have been listening with great interest." he hummed, shouldering the butt of his rifle into his chest "I'm not leaving without the good doctor's serum, ALL of it."

Angela was already in an overlapping field of fire position "That serum is to be divided among ALL the clones!

"Dear child, the more one takes, the better his chances. Do I LOOK in the mood to share?" he snickered. A snicker devoid of all cocky malice, it was blindingly obvious: Thailog was just as scared.

"Well congratulations!" Lexington and Broadway cleared the staircase in a single bound "Whatever's leftover, you're welcome to lick off the floor!"

"You're outnumbered 9 to 1, Thailog." Goliath observed coldly "And I'm well to assume you've angered two of us in particular by daring to be a thief."

Thailog's polluted face cracked a knowing grin "All too true, Goliath I am outnumbered. You WERE right to believe there was strength in clan - but a fool to teach me such a lesson. So why not even up the teams?"

The clone cleared his rasping voice into a fist and bellowed out "SERVANTS!"

"You exist for one reason! ONE reason only! I created you! I own you! I am your purpose in life! Now serve it well!" he enunciated his reaffirmation of his prime order "SERVE THAILOG."

Maggie shot forward, no regard for the gun brandished in his hands "YOU BASTARD!"

"Maggie, no!" Talon barked.

*CRASSSSSHHH!*

Four gargoyles leapt through the glass divider without hesitation. Maggie and Talon were tackled to the ground by Burbank and Hollywood. Brentwood pinned Elisa to the deck, her gun spinning away from her on the hard tile.

"ELISA!" Goliath roared. He dove for her, but felt a hard impact on his left side and forced him away. His assailant made him sick to his stomach. Malibu, eyes white, and chops rabid, opened his jaws to try and bite out his jugular. Goliath's hesitation made the largest set of jaws clamp down on his hand when he tried to shove Brooklyn's clone away.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw half the gargoyles bullrush Thailog, the other half rushed to the clones. "MALIBU!" Goliath roared "IT'S ME! Stand down!" he commanded.

"S-Serve…. T-Thailog…" Malibu droned out emptily.

"Hollywood! Honey! Snap out of it!" Maggie screamed. Sickly or not, the order had seemingly shut off the clone's nervous system. Talon barely managed to get Burbank off him with Hudson's help. Angela tackled Brentwood in a chokehold from behind to free Elisa "W-We're not your enemies, Brentwood!" Angela pleaded through gritting teeth, the wild animal thrashing and clawing in her grasp "Try to think!"

A burst fire blast of explosive rounds from Thailog's rifle sent Broadway and Lexington diving for cover, Lex crying out in sharp pain as a chunk of mid-air concrete came down on him.

"BOYS!" Goliath cried. Instinct overtook him in an instant, he forced Malibu's gnashing maw up with a single hand, grabbing his throat and slamming his head down against his knee.

He dropped Malibu to the ground. Thailog was already past him. Sevarius was stomped to the ground, Thailog snatched the serums from his grasp. All of them.

"NO!"

"Oh father, how I DO enjoy causing you grief!" he laughed "But I know when to call the game!" his stumbled gate took a gap as he spun around mid stride to pull the trigger. Electric currents shot through Goliath, igniting his nerve endings and arching his back as he illuminated a shaking blue.

"FATHER!" Angela cried, only for Brentwood to take her distraction as an opportunity to headbutt her chin to break free. Broadway screamed his beloved's name, socking the impish clone in the jaw to beat him away. Brentwood scurried back up in an instant and latched his jaws around Broadway's forearm.

Thailog burst out from whence he came and into the night. Goliath fell to his knees with a heave of his chest, his hair and fingertips simmering with a crackle. Rage blistered in his heart, His mouth tasted of blood and metal. "THAILOOOOG!"

His eyes adjusted to the low lighting in an instant, the darkness of the trees surrounding Sevarius Manor doing nothing to conceal the fleeing Thailog. Powerful or not, the fever took it's toll on his clone just as it did the others. His movements were slow, his stride was short, and the distance between the two was rapidly closing. He had him!

"I guess I got my stubbornness from you, father!" Thailog snarled out, far less humor in his tone than before "That bolt should have left you convulsing!" pulling the trigger yet again. Goliath dodged the shaky blast with ease.

"I AM NOT YOUR FATHER! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF THE TITLE!" he spat.

Thailog's limping sprint brought them to the edge of the cliff, zero hesitation in throwing himself off it.

"The cures do not belong to you! Waste even ONE of them and I'll make you wish you had died tonight!"

"Oh Father!" he jeered "You wound me so! Do yo *COUGH* you not care if you see your spitting image of a son turn to stone~? Do you- OMPHF!"

Even in the air he was slow, Goliath speared him in the small of his back, the rifle was sent tumbling down into the darkness of the treeline "I have three sons! And YOU are not one of them!" A black elbow collided with his jawline, Goliath lost his grip.

Thailog spun around and socked Goliath in the gut with a fist, pushing away with a kick of both his legs "Persistent pest!" Thailog spat out.

"You are too weak with the disease AND out of weapons, Thailog! END THIS!"

Thailog thrashed stiffly in his healthy doppelganger's grasp "It would appear so…" he hissed angrily "So if you won't leave me in peace, then-" Thailog slipped one vial into the palm of his hand, tightening his grip "-FETCH!" casting the four others to the ground below.

"NO!" Goliath screamed in religious horror. He shot to the ground after the plummeting cures. One. Two. THREE! His hand glanced off the fourth. He tightened his wings to his body, sacrificing all lift left to race for the final hope any of the five clones had. Come on. Come on. FOUR!

A snap of his wings to take back to the air made him barely miss the treeline below, picking back altitude… of the now vastly higher and further away Thailog. Dragon damn it all!

"GOLIATH!" a familiar voice called after him. His head spun around to see Lexington rapidly gaining on him; for the first time in a week, there was zero hatred or disgust on his face… only concern?

"HERE!" he shoved his hands out "Take the cures back to the clones and inject them, quickly! Thailog has the fifth, I'll be back with it!"

"I! But!"

"The clones won't last another hour! Subdue them and get the cure in them! Hurry!"

"You can't fight Thailog alone!"

"As he is now, I can! NOW GO!"

Lexington's rebuke caught in the wind. He clenched his jaw and flared his wings "...Don't get yourself killed!" he banked hard right and back to the manor.

Goliath turned his attention ahead. Thailog was dropping fast. Was he losing strength? Had his wings turned to stone? He disappeared a couple hundred feet away into the treeline. What was happening?

Goliath's lack of altitude forced him to land too early, but he didn't slow in the slightest. He barreled through the brush of the forest with enough force and tenacity to send a rhino running for his life. He caught sight of the abomination he so severely hated in a clearing, he burst through the treeline, claws out and fully prepared to put this animal down for good. It didn't matter that Thailog had his back turned to him, this was no longer a chivalrous fight!

Thailog rose to his feet, his wings extended freely. Goliath's blistering charge fretted to a halt. The clone turned around, his pearly whites glinting a satisfied grin in the moonlight. The green splotches retreated. The sickly wheeze in his exhales ceased.

In his hand now laid an freshly empty vial.

"Well… that's surprising~"

Goliath's heart throbbed in his ears. His eyes shot white. His "YOU BASTARD!"

Thailog's claws caught Goliath's, their enormous torsos quaking in a battle of strength "To be quite honest, I fully expected the 'cure' to be a fake." Thailog struggled out through his reacquired cocksure grin "But I suppose I have you to thank for that, don't I, Goliath?"

Thailog stopped pushing against Goliath, yanking his arms back and pulling the original in to knee him in the gut "I mean, I've always threatened that sniveling little cockroach of a man-" his clenched fist took a dirty shot against the dazed Goliath's cheek "-But hanging him outside the window and breaking bones until he gave you what you want? Since when did YOU get so creative!?" he laughed.

"I mean, had I been the one to threaten him, he would have just stalled until I was dead, but YOU? This was a blessing I couldn't have even prayed for!" hands now on his hips in satisfaction "You really care about me that much~? You s- CUUUH!"

Goliath bounced back way too quickly, socking Thailog in the gut; no - SINKING it. Goliath's entire fist disappeared into stomach! He lifted his clone from the earth, a devastating cross of his free hand knocking him back! Goliath's first hand was back for another cross, knocking Thailog's jaw and clicking his teeth together.

His worldly swinging hooks sped up. Four! Five! Six! Seven! He grabbed Thailog's hair and yanked him back in when he stumbled backwards, smashing his knee into his face. EIGHT! NINE!

*SLASH*

A feral bellow erupted from Goliath, Thailog had slashed him with open claws in desperation.

"So you have love for my failed clan now!? Where was this ferocity before!?" Thailog snarled, yanking his template's feet from under him and leaping into a mount to choke him with his own two hands.

Goliath bucked his hips, sending the 600 lbs monster's center of gravity shooting forward. He snaked a hand around his off balance forearm and flipped into a gator roll. Thailog's attempt to push Goliath's face away was met with a set of biting fangs and a vicious hook to his black chin

"YOU SICK. VINDICTIVE." Spit flying from Goliath's chops. The English language lacked a word vile enough as he hooked fist after fist into his face "-PARASITE!"

"Those boys relied on you!" *SLAM* "THEY TRUSTED YOU!" *SLAM* "And you sentenced them to death to save yourself!?" *SLAM*

Thailog flipped Goliath off of him "They served their purpose!" spearing Goliath in the chest, slamming him away with a swing of his forearm, crude laughter shaking his chest "What use do they have if not for me? Lead those inferior, meaningless lives?"

Goliath's open clawed hands were caught when he tried to dive for his copy's throat "Demona named them, not me." he snickered, arms quaking as he held his assailant at bay "But I'm more than happy to reclaim my property, now that you've gone through all the trouble of making them useful again. That is until I can harvest their genes for a fresh batch."

Goliath's wrists thrusted and swiped inches from Thailog's ever smug face "I was wrong, father… You AREN'T looking well!" he chortled "You usually put up a far more even fight than this - but you seem to look rather sickly, ghoulish even. Skipping meals, are you~?"

A yank down of the arms and a shooting up of the knee clocked Goliath in the chin. Thailog's claws ripped open the hide of his chest. He slammed a taloned foot onto his skull, twisting it into the dirt "I'd be disappointed for you not putting up more of a fight, but you've put me in far too good a mood tonight to let it ruin the evening!"

He kicked Goliath away, arms proudly opened wide "So stand! Pick yourself up, Mighty Hero! Don't let me down on such a triumphant night!"

Goliath's shoulders quaked as he pushed himself up, ebony hair falling over his heaving maw while he struggled for air. His eyes caught the glint of moonlight on the deep green grass below. The vail this accursed thief had stolen. The full moon illuminated the printed off label on the side.

SUBJECT GC001205 - "MALIBU"

Goliath's quivering lip twitched. His claws dug through earth and tightened into fists that drew blood.

Thailog's poisoned voice sung behind him "We still have so much to enj-"

**CRACK!**

Goliath's fist sent blood spraying from Thailog's mouth, a tooth spinning into the air. The scream from his own mouth wasn't a feral roar, it wasn't an accursing voice, it was rage. Primal rage.

"MURDER!"

He saw nothing but red. Red in his eyes. Red in his hands. Red spewing from a stumbling Thailog with every hit - red in his memories.

Thailog's back collided with a tree. Goliath did not stop. Curled fists exploded forth like shotgun shells. He sunk every ounce of hate into them. His rage. His hatred. His sorrow. His regret. His pain. Thailog would know all of it!

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO YOUR OWN!?"

His crossing fists followed the limp Thailog as he sank to the ground. Bark splintered into the air.

"He trusted you! He relied on you! He NEEDED you!" he screamed "AND YOU ABANDONED HIM!"

His hate was venom in every knuckle, his blood boiling to the mirror image of himself.

"He gave you EVERYTHING! And you STILL demanded more! You're a Monster! A Demon! A Savage! You - You - TRAITOR!"

Goliath's final hook sent Thailog through the trunk, toppling the mighty tree with a groaning roar and blast that sent bark shattering upon impact. Thailog spat blood, but his attempt to prop himself up on a shaky elbow was thwarted with a kick to the jaw. Goliath mounted his waist in an instant; Thailog tried to shove his face away, Goliath responded with a cruel backfist to his temple - His purple hands snatched around his clone's throat.

"You raised a hand against your own son… betrayed his trust…" Goliath droned, gaunt and pitiless "Do you know what Malibu wanted? Do you? He didn't ask for a cure when he first saw me… all he wanted was you. All he wanted was his father to acknowledge him - Well when he draws his last breath tonight - You'll draw it with him!"

Had Thailog not already had scarlet eyes, they'd be bloodshot with popping veins. His hands scratched and clawed at Goliath's in a suffocating terror. Goliath's grip had zero reservations, this was what he wanted.

"You cast out and abandoned your children…" Goliath hissed without remorse, head lowering so close that his black hair now touched the deep green grass. The cloud that blocked out the moonlight muted all features and colors of Thailog's face - Goliath's shadow was in a perfect outline with his thrashing form. His chops curled back in hatred "...It's unforgivable!"

A single voice snapped him out of it "G-Goliath?"

10 feet behind him, Broadway stared at him in abject horror; Lexington held his larger brother back with both hands on one wrist.

Goliath's eyes instantly dimmed and only now could he feel the blood that soaked his hands and arms - good lord he could even feel it drip from face.

*SHINK!*

He roared in agony as he felt a white hot pain slice through his forearm. Thailog had shot out a hidden blade from the vambrace from his armor while he was distracted. Thailog kicked free, bashing the back of his fist against the reeling original's face.

"DAMMIT!" Thailog snapped, cupping his jaw as he rolled it "If only that cure could restore all the energy I've lost over the past few days, I'd disembowel all three of you." he cursed with a stumble backwards, claws sinking into the bark of a tree.

"I'll let the three of you live - for now. But please." his voice sickened to a purr as he ascended vertically "Send Malibu my regards~ And thank him for his contribution~!" before flinging himself into a glide down the hillside.

Goliath's chops curled back into a snarl the second he heard the triumphant laughter echoing in a copy of his voice. His hand quit applying all pressure to his wound to try and race up a tree and give chase - Broadway's hands clasped a death grip on his wrist "GOLIATH NO!"

"LET GO OF ME!"

There was so much fire in his command that both the younger gargoyles flinched, the immediate guilt that followed doused the flames of his rage for a moment.

"I-It's Malibu…" Broadway swallowed back the dryness in his throat "...Please."

0000oooo0000oooo0000oooo0000

The muffled shouts and cries of the next room provided a hellish white noise.

"Then make another batch!" Elisa demanded.

"With WHAT, pray tell?" Sevarius shot back "Your friends' little 'scuffle' just destroyed half my personal laboratory. And, in case it slipped that simple mind of yours, ALL the gargoyles would have been stone had I not stopped you from so foolishly trying to ration a dose from each gargoyle to subject 1205."

Delilah's clutching talons, now 100% free of all infection, sunk into the collar of Sevarius's labcoat and lifted him into the air "His NAME is Malibu!"

"Well MALIBU happens to be the only creature here without its genetic template!" he said with hands gripping to the one that kept him aloft "All the gargoyles needed a FULL dose each or else none of them would be saved, you're WELCOME for me stopping you, by the way. Would you have liked me to brew a cocktail of different gargoyle blood until he got one that pleased his little pallet? His cure was based almost entirely off of Goliath's DNA! …And thanks to you being so slow, that vile creature, Thailog, no doubt is now healthy as a horse and skipping around freely…" he muttered.

Goliath threw open the doors "Elisa!"

"GOLIATH! Thank God you're alrig-"

Delilah nearly shoved her way past Elisa whilst tossing Sevarius aside, frantic eyes shooting up and down his form "THE CURE. Did…" horror washing her face pale "...Did you?"

"...Thailog used it." he grimly reported "All of it."

The gargoyle hybrid took a step back, her jaw twitched "No…" and her knees went out from under her. Goliath and Elisa were there to catch her, but another sharp cry from the room adjacent broke the speechless silence. She grit her teeth and struggled to her feet "...Hurry, he needs to hear you."

Delilah shoved the door open with her forearm and the muffled chaos became clear.

"HELP HIM!" Hollywood wailed, now being held back by Hudson.

Brentwood covered his own ears while he rocked back and forth, tears streaming from his face and practically hyperventilating "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean- I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Burbank looked around frantically, his jittered steps and agape jaw, seeming to not even know what to do "T-There's… S-Still time, aye? We can still make a cure."

Angela was doing what little she could to control Brentwood's breathing. Haphazard bandages and gauze patches had been tied around every gargoyle's injuries - soaking them in hues between light pink and dark red. Empty vials were scattered on the floor, completely out of serum. An out of breath Lexington and Broadway only just now managed to get into the manor.

In the center of the room, Malibu was on the floor, bordered by a kneeling Talon and Maggie. Their turned backs and flared wings blocked Goliath's line of sight from anything more.

A chest-heaving Broadway finally managed to catch up to his side "Goliath!"

All heads snapped to him, you could hear a pin drop in the silence. Hollywood stopped thrashing, the fetally curled Brentwood managed to look up, Burbank stepped back and out of the way. Talon looked back in hopeless defeat. Maggie's eyes were pleading for a miracle, but Goliath's frozen stance announced he had none to give.

A single sound broke the grim quiet "...Thailog?" Malibu croaked

Delilah slid/shoved her way past the Manhattan clan standing in the doorway "Malibu…" she rasped, running to his side.

Elisa held Goliath's forearm "Goliath...He's out of time."

Goliath didn't even remember his feet moving, nor Talon and Maggie parting ways for him - but he was now looking at the doomed clone. Malibu was on his back. His entire body had been encased in stone, save for his beak and just enough of his right pectoral to give him movement in that arm. His eyes were shut and frozen in a stone mask, his emerald hair was slowly turning solid in a capillary infection.

"...Thailog?" he blindly called out again. Talon's distraught gaze pleaded with Goliath.

Thailog knelt beside him "...I'm here, Malibu... I'm here."

Maggie held her hand against the gargoyle's barely exposed cheek, her hand gently combing through his hair. Talon clutched his only remaining free limb with both hands as if he could hold onto him. Delilah made due for holding onto his chest, but even that was starting to harden into cold stone.

"T-Thailog…" Malibu wheezed, his wheezing lips managing to struggle into a relieved smile "...You… Came back, for Malibu and others… Came… to cure us… came… to help us?"

Goliath's blood boiled at those words, If he could only pull out Thailog's damned intestines out through his ribs! He steeled himself at the last minute, calming his words before they left his lips "Yes Malibu, I came back to cure you. I got it from Sevarius and gave it to you… you'll… you'll wake up just fine at sunset tomorrow."

A triumphant giddiness escaped the clone's maw between the haggard struggles for air "I-I always knew. Others… *WHEEZE* said you wouldn't come back. Others said… you not wanted us. *HUFF* B-But I never gave up. I knew you wouldn't leave us. Knew… we'd be together."

Maggie tried to hold onto the last of his hair, but the final strands turned solid in her hands. For a split second, she frantically searched for anything left that was organic, there was nothing. Hollywood sank to his knees with both hands pressed to his mouth. Brentwood had limped over, speechless and helpless.

"...Thailog?"

"Yes Malibu?"

"Did… Did… *WHEEZE* " Malibu's chest was being suffocated by the stone having completely consumed his torso "...Did Malibu… Serve…. Thailog… Well?"

Goliath grit his teeth, his skin crawling and his head hanging low. He wanted to vomit. He wanted there to be some miracle that could rewind everything - something he could do to just rewind time. It could have been any of the other clones that Thailog stole from… Why did it have to be HIM?

He swallowed hard, his massive hand barely able to find enough green left on his arm to clutch it "Yes…. Yes Malibu, you served me so well… And I'm so proud of you."

Malibu's chin flinched "W…What?"

"I'm so proud of you." Goliath's strained words came paired with his eyes shut tight "I never told you that, and it was wrong of me… You always did right by me, even when I didn't do right by you. You always gave everything you had to give for me AND for your clan… even when I wasn't there. And I was so wrong to neglect you."

Malibu no longer had tear ducts, but the sound that came from his gullet made Goliath cringe and waiver. Maggie had taken Malibu's face in her hands, her thumbs gently soothing the base of his beak.

Goliath clenched his eyes shut and hung his head low "...You're going to go to sleep now, Malibu." he swallowed "...And when you wake up, We're ALL going to be together again, okay?"

Malibu's words were less than a whisper, he couldn't even wheeze anymore "...Promise?"

"...On my life."

Maggie and Talon clutched the final bit of Malibu's hand "W-We love you Malibu. We-" Maggie struggled, sucking in a breath of shaky air before repeating "...You are unique. You are gentle. You are important."

He let out one last exhale. Immediately, the rest of his flesh turned stone altogether. Maggie's tears dripped onto the frozen expression of Malibu The Gargoyle - his final expression tired, yet content.

Talon heaved as he tried to keep it together, holding Hollywood and Brentwood in clutching bearhug, their confused and frantic wails were deafening as they tried to reach for Malibu's body. Delilah was on her hands and knees, her quaking shoulders interrupted by her heartbroken punch to the floor "DAMMIT! G-G-GOD DAMMIT!"

Elisa hugged Talon who now clutched to her like his life depended on it. Maggie pressed a final kiss on Malibu's brow. The others of the Manhattan Clan did what they could with who they could to offer comfort… All except for-

Goliath was so frozen on his knees that he didn't notice Lexington was there until he was right beside him. He stared at Malibu's frozen corpse with a slack jaw, his jostling eyes almost staring through his stone body, his steadily quickening breaths now starting to make his shoulder and chest shudder. Now that there was no color scheme to differentiate Malibu from the original, he looked exactly like-

Goliath raised a hand to his son, wanting to just grab hold of him and pull him into his chest to hug him with all his might. It was not to be. The second Goliath's finger made contact with Lexington's arm, the junior's other arm cracked like a whip - a whip laden with claws. The patriarch recoiled in pain. Lexington's death glare had returned. The hints of concern and care from an hour before had now vanished. Lexington's eyes burrowed into him with those freshly rekindled emotions - disgust, rage, distrust… hate.

Lexington sneered inaudibly before he lurched away. Broadway's bottom lip quivered as he held Angela who in turn held Maggie - Lexington floated over to hug both his siblings. Goliath swallowed, throwing away the title of clan leader just for a night to go and attend to his lover as she held her brother. He wanted to turn his back to Malibu's granite carcass… but he couldn't. He wrapped Elisa in his wings and pressed his lips to her onyx hair.

He just wanted to know one thing. Not why this innocent hatchling's life was now over. Not how his own mirror image could so jubilantly murder his own child. Not how he could inject a cure into a statue when there was no vein to inject it to. He just wanted to know one other thing. One CURSED thing, was that too much? He'd give up his wings for the proper answer. He held the shaking clone trio, now duo-

Where was Brooklyn?