"BROOKLYN, STOP!"
"YOU'RE FUCKIN' DEAD, COLDSTONE! YA HEAR ME!? YER A FUCKIN' DEAD MAN!"
It had taken the combined strength of Hudson, Goliath, and Broadway to pry Brookyln off of Coldstone, though distance did nothing to eb the blistering rage. Brooklyn had nearly elbowed Broadway's teeth in when he had first grabbed him, too lost in the glowing white eyes of the Feral State to distinguish friend from foe.
And 'Friend or Foe' was awfully hazy right now.
Coldstone had sold them out. While the details were too much of a hazy mystery to the clan, it was clear as a moonlight that Coldstone had willingly aided Demona's Symphonic attempt at world domination and had just as willingly helped kidnap Egwardo for her. And the moment Coldstone had openly confessed his treachery was regrettably the exact moment Brooklyn, followed closely by his wife and child, had sprinted his way up from the rookery.
He hadn't taken it well.
Brooklyn had beaten Coldstone to near death in a matter of seconds. Had the cyborg's right arm not been lucky enough to be cybernetic, he would have bled out from it being ripped off - now it only sparked jolts of electricity and Brooklyn's thrashing form was being held back by Hudson and Broadway.
"GET OFF ME!" Brooklyn roared, Thrashing and swinging his weight around to wriggle free.
"Bro, try to calm down!" Broadway grunted, holding him tight in a bearhug "This isn't the time!"
Coldfire, despite her recent disgust in her mate's actions, stood defensively over him with golden claws trying to keep the thrashing Second In Command at bay "Coldstone… how could you do such things?" her address sans the usual 'my love'
Coldstone hung his head solemnly. That, or he was holding his jaw that very well might have been broken. "Demona's plan provided the only true path to safety for our clan – and our species."
"YA THINK YOU'RE GETTING OFF WITH BANISHMENT!?" Brooklyn roared so deafeningly that Lexington and Elisa had to cover their ears "That's too good for you! I'm sentencin' you to Summary Execution! Call it an executive order!"
Katana's blood boiled just as ferociously as her mate's, but right now the more rational one in the marriage was doing all she could to keep Brooklyn from ripping Coldstone's head off. Her hands were clapped firmly onto his broad shoulders "My love, please, there shall be time for this later! For now, we must focus this spirit upon retrieving our child!"
"A-AYE, LAD!" Hudson concurred through straining grunts "Yer temper, j-justified it may be, does not help us right now!"
But Brooklyn was not one for listening. It was only until Goliath had to step in and bark an order of restraint for all parties that Brooklyn barely managed to control his thrashes for freedom. The purple behemoth had positioned himself between the two "Now brother-" words directed to Coldstone, but eyes locked upon his second in command "-If you ever wish to retain a shred of dignity, you must help us. If you worked with Demona, then surely you must have information."
He hung his head "I… I can't."
"Get off me. GET OFF ME!" Brooklyn's voice snapped as he finally wormed his way free of Broadway and Hudson. A stomp forward was quickly halted by the unified front of Goliath, Katana, and Lex stepping in front of him - but that didn't stop him from spitting: "First they try to kill us three times! Then the Coldsteel bullshit, AND NOW THIS!? You two were NOT worth all the trouble!" with venom laced in every word.
Brooklyn moved to the side to make bloodshot eye-contact with the Coldsteel "SPIT IT OUT! Where did she take them? Where is she going?!"
"I don't know." Coldsteel said hollowly, his damaged circuit boards turning his voice to static.
"Oh you better know like your LIFE depends on it!" Brooklyn shoved Goliath aside with a surprise burst of strength "You helped DEMONA! Do you have any idea what you've done!? What it's capable of!?"
"There was only a delivery point." his grainy vocal chords responded, before he slowly confessed "...Warrington Plaza, Hoboken."
Brooklyn immediately snapped his wings away and marched for the castle's parapets, but he was immediately intercepted by Goliath stepping in front of him and his brothers grabbing his wrists "NO." was the unanimous response from all present
"Brook, you're not thinkin' clearly! You're gonna get yourself killed! You're gonna get EGWARDO killed!" Lexington urged desperately.
"LetGoOfMe." Brooklyn's tone was less of an order and more of a warning.
"Bro, look! Demona's gonna be expectin' you or Katana to show!" Broadway added "If you go, you're just gonna be playin' right into her hands! We'll get Egwardo back for you, you count on us for this!"
"LetGoOfMe." he repeated in rushed verbiage.
Goliath took the center of the sightline, looming over his second "Brooklyn." his voice reserved but booming "...WE will handle this. WE will get our egg back to our home. Broadway, Angela, Coldfire, and KATANA… we are going to Warrington Plaza. Lexington, stay here and repair the damage to Coldsteel. He has a stay of banishment until he is autonomous enough to leave."
Katana's response was sharp "Goliath, with all do respect, I'm not letting Gnash out of my sight now."
"Ain't a problem, mom!" the youngest snarled with tightened fists "I'm coming too!"
"NO." his father commanded "Demona isn't getting within five miles of you. You and your mother are staying here!"
The burning argument threatened to detonate into an all out fight; no task force could be agreed upon. Goliath refused to let Brooklyn chase after Demona, both parents of the clan's youngest refused to let him out of their sight, Lexington and Broadway refused to have the entire clan go in one force in the off-chance this was all a ploy to lure them away from the castle.
"Here's an idea!" Elisa's voice suddenly cut through the discord "How about we stay up here discussing it all night? That way she's SURE to escape!"
That observation shut everyone up immediately. But Brooklyn snapped back two seconds later "Of course! Like you got away with Egwardo in the first place!?"
The silence was replaced with a collective gasp, Brooklyn's singular glowing white eye widened with immediate guilt. He barely managed to open his jaws just as the lights started to dull "E-Elisa, I didn't mean-"
Elisa looked to Goliath, her voice steadying "That gargess has done some terrible things in the past, but this crosses a new line - she made me do… THIS. If you're going after Demona, I HAVE to come with you. I did this… so I have to fix this. It has to be me."
"E-Elisa I…" Brooklyn grit his teeth and exhaled with a snort, nodding a sharp bow to Goliath "...Fine… go. Take the others, I'll stay here… just hurry… PLEASE!"
The force was halfway to the wall before Brooklyn could finish his sentence, now with Angela in tow. Goliath placed his hand on her shoulder "Stay here." he gruffed simply.
"Father, you can't just expect ME to stay here while my mother is-"
"That's precisely why you must stay." Goliath rumbled quietly "Stay here. Keep Brooklyn calm… keep him HERE."
And like that, they were off. All hell broke loose the second they were out of earshot.
"YOU!"
Brooklyn's visceral shout made Angela leap out of her skin; she snapped around.
"You better pray to god you can fly faster than me!" he spat at Coldstone "Cause if there's even a SCRATCH on that egg, I'll show you why every empire in history thought demons were red!"
Lex looked back as he and Coldfire took an arm of Coldstone to bring him inside. The imp had a million words of comfort to try and offer, but he knew his brother, or at least him forty years ago. Sometimes he just needed to scream his pain out.
"I forgave you! I helped you! I trusted you! AND YOU GAVE MY CHILD AWAY TO THE DEVIL!"
Angela let Brooklyn exhaust himself on screams until the trio disappeared into the castle and swung the heavy oak door closed behind them. She barely had taken a step forward to offer comfort before-
Brooklyn whirled around "Where is she?"
"I don't kn- …what?"
"You know where she is." Brooklyn accused "We're not stupid Angela, you know her hideouts - she's got 'em scattered all over the city. I KNOW she's got a spot west of the island! She's taken you to all of 'em before!"
"Brooklyn!" she wasn't one for cowering. She had faced death and worse more times than she could count - but something about Brooklyn was the spitting image of when her father had succumbed to the Eye of Odin. This wasn't the Brooklyn she knew…
The young gargoyle she had met a year ago was so rowdy, smug, playful, cocky, and stubborn; but always so gentle and shy when around her. Not anymore. That young peer was dead - this grizzled war veteran was what remained. Now more than ever, she could make out the battle scars on his scowling beak and face. His hardened, tough flesh contorted his lips into a sneer. His hulking form looked down upon her - that only remaining eye of his seeing right through her.
"I.. I don't know where…"
"Don't you lie to me. Don't you DARE lie to me. Not now. Not tonight!"
She could make out the frantic desperation in his voice that he tried to hide behind aggression, but she couldn't allow him "Brooklyn, you can't." she stated firmly and straightened her back to try and reach his height "You know this is the right thing to do! Trust my father, trust US. We will bring Egwardo home!"
"I was a fool to trust them!" he cried "I knew I never shoulda put Egwardo in the Rookery! This is why Katana and I always carried them around everywhere! We knew somethin' like this was going to happen!"
"I know, I know-" she tried to soothe "But w-"
"Just tell me where she is!" he looked ready to beg
"Brooklyn, I can't - I don't - even if I did know her hideouts, I have no clue which one she'd go to!"
Brooklyn's eye twitched "Angela." he muttered blankly "If you don't tell me where she took my kid, I will tear apart this entire city piece by piece until I find her."
Her heart froze with the look he gave her.
"...I've killed for far less."
No response came from Angela, the castle was dead quiet except for the sound of the blowing wind. Brooklyn emptily moved past her like a reaper, stepping onto the parapet.
"WAIT." Angela ordered with an outstretched hand. Brooklyn did as asked, ears alert. "...I know one place she might have gone, MIGHT have…. But if I take you… you have to promise me something ."
0000oooo0000oooo0000
The flap of wings were as distinct and familiar to a family member's stride.
"Angela?" Demona's gasp came out - whether it be from shock, guard, or pleasant surprise was foggy.
"Mother…."
Angela's talons clicked across the stonework and then onto the polished tile of one of her mothers many Forward Operating Bases. Any other evening, she would have welcomed her blood with open arms - but after the events of tonight?
"...I hope you are here for a courtesy call." Demona murmured hopelessly.
"Mother… Please… tell me it is not true." Angela pleaded "Tell me you did not steal our clan's only egg."
"I stole nothing." Demona firmly stated, not even the slightest attempt at aversion "I rescued something. I rescued that hatchling, brought them out of the doomed rut Goliath has carved out for our kind!"
"Mother, you can't possibly believe that!" Angela's dwindling hope dashed "You stole a child from its parents! Its loving parents! Please, I know you know in your heart that this is not right!"
"That child is our only future!" Demona's voice dropped direly "Goliath's foolishness will sentence it to death before it can even take flight! I refuse to let our next generation be sent to its premature death on account of his cowardice! We shall raise this hatchling the way a true gargoyle should be raised! To hate humans and vie to destroy them!"
"But that's not YOUR child!" Angela quickly redirected "I however AM!"
Demona's clenched posture faltered.
"How did it feel when you watched my egg be carted away by strangers the night after the Wyvern Massacre? Not knowing if you were ever to see me again? What did that put you through?"
Demona's brow furrowed, then looked away.
"...Does it not occur to you that you have done the exact same thing to Brooklyn and Katana? You are not just hurting my father, you are hurting both of them. You are hurting Nashville! You know you cannot deny them the joy of their second child… Mother, I told you that I would still embrace you glady, should you seek a better course." Angela appealed "Please… You can still do the right thing… Give the egg back to us…"
"No." Her answer was blunt and immediate: "Goliath has confused you, but I do not blame you, my daughter. His words and empty lies are so tempting to believe. But I cannot let you interfere."
"Mother no! I-"
Angela's advance was halted by a growl from the matriarch and a raising of her hand "HALT." Angela locked immediately into place by a pale orange aura that instantly materialized around her!
Demona snarled in disappointment "You shall come to know what's right, daughter. But until then, I cannot allow you, nor ANY of the cowards and traitors of that clan to stand in my way! For when our newest member hatches! It shall be the vanguard of our-!"
*SMASSSSSSHHHHHH!*
Brooklyn burst through the wall "GROOOAAAAAARRRRR!" His fiendish shriek shattered the glass on every monitor and window in the room. His fist cracked like a gunshot into Demona's jaw, sending her catapulting through a row of computers. Sparks exploded in a blinding flash of light as she cratered the servers along the back wall!
"DEMONA!" he screamed bloody murder. He cleared the distance between them fast than Angela's eyes could track! His fist slammed into her slouched form, causing flames to spark at the top of the ceiling-high machinery. A flurry of swinging hooks made more igniting fires belch forth, Brooklyn pulling Demona up by the hair and kneeing her in the face with a sickening smash.
Demona's eyes ignited red, her ankles snapped around his left ankle in a flash, sweeping him down to the ground. Both of them were blindingly fast - each locking the other up to keep the other from gaining the advantage. Demona snapped a looping arm in the crook of Brooklyn's elbow and yanked him down; she headbutt her forehead into the fragile underside of his beak. Brooklyn howled in furious pain, giving Demona the chance to kick him in his exposed stomach and send her off of her.
But Brooklyn was seeing red. No sooner did his back hit the drawers of a desk, he snapped forward with a vengeful bellow. His taloned foot kicked her in the face before she could fully stand. The stronger male grabbed her by the throat and returned the favor with a headbutt to her chin. She went limp for a split second. He flung his ex-mother over his shoulder and sent her rebounding off the desktops..
"Brooklyn Stop!" Angela screamed as the aura around her immediately dissipated. He rose to his full height with his white hair hanging over his shoulders, blood dribbling from his beak. She dove between the two just as Brooklyn ripped a bolted down table that stood in between him and the downed female.
"Brooklyn Stop!" Angela pleaded "You promised me we'd try it my way first!"
Brooklyn shoved her aside "Yeah. I lied."
His crimson foot snapped back before sinking into Demona's side, kicking her into the air and landing her throat into his awaiting talons. He raised her overhead and spiked her into the floor, sending splinters of wood and fragments of tile exploding into the air as they burst through the floor and down to the level below
"WHERE ARE THEY!? WHERE'S MY KID!?" Brooklyn demanded, blood mixing with the bile that spewed from his mouth "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THEM!?"
The fight was far from over, they tumbled, slashed, and traded blows until the sheer depravity of battle devolved to bites, clawings, and chokes. The battle between The Millenia Old Gargess and The Demon Of The Phoenix Gate demanded blood and destruction.
That was until.
A sickening snap cracked out, followed by the ear splitting screech of Demona. Brooklyn had locked her in an armbar and personally saw to the separation of her arm and shoulder joint. Her broken arm hung limply, then went the other one.
Brooklyn's shoulders heaved in exhaustion, pinning her defenseless form to the floor "Where… Is… my child?"
Demona's face contorted in enraged defiance, two broken arms were nothing to her "I'd rather die than see it fall into your frail hands!" she snarled before smugly grinning "And unfortunately for you, that dying part is not really a possibility, is it~?"
His katana and claymore both came out faster than lighting, both pressing to her throat "YOU WANNA BET!?"
"O-Oh please. I wouldn't be me if I couldn't take a little pain, you fool." she sneered through her endangered windpipe "So go ahead, let out that childish anger. Carve me up from wing to talon if you wish. It will be pointless."
Brooklyn snarled with feral sounds, unadulterated hatred in his eyes "Yeah? YEAH!?" He spat "Ya think so!? I've killed more men in a week than you've killed in a thousand years! I've done things that would make yours and Thailog's skin crawl! Ya think I don't know how to pull you, and every bit of information I want, apart?!"
"Then DO IT." she commanded.
There was silence. Aside from their still slowing breaths and the sound of blood pumping in their ears, no sound was made. There was nothing Brooklyn could do to her, nothing he could threaten her with.
Well… him forty years ago couldn't have. But now?
Brooklyn snorted, a disgusted smirk came over his lips "Yer right. I can't kill ya… but you're gonna wish I had."
He threw his swords aside and then smashed his hands together "Hrrrkkkk!" suddenly, a blinding yellow flame burst from them. The immediate, knowing horror that befell Demona's face was delicious.
"Forty years." Brooklyn snickered "Forty years I was stuck being the slave of that damn Phoenix. You think I didn't figure out all there was to know about it? Like being able to siphon off a fraction of its power and store it for an emergency?"
Demona, fueled by terrified adrenaline, tried to break free, but was crippled by a sudden, brutal backfist to her temple. Brooklyn growled "I spent years storing away energy just for this, no phoenix gate required! A one way trip to the year zero zero zero zero! Right to the dawn of the universe!" he barked "Ya wanna mess with my family!? Fine! Enjoy nine billion years in the oblivion of space!"
He raised his ignited hands overhead "Ya know? I asked myself for years: 'How do you kill a demon'? The answer is: you don't, you just send it back to hell."
He slammed his hands down onto her face "Deflagrate muri tempi-"
"BROOKLYN, NO!"
A voice suddenly snapped him out of everything, he suddenly blinked back to his senses. There was only one voice across time and space that could do that. The only thing that controlled him more than his rage. His eyes dragged to the left. "K-Katana?"
The entire clan was there, all of them heaving for air and sweating as if they had flown for their lives to get there. Alongside them was Angela clutching her communicator, now he knew why she stopped interfering in their fight.
Katana dashed forward "My love! Don-"
"Babe, stay back!" Brooklyn shouted "All of you! One wrong move and this spell is gonna drag us all back with her!"
Lexington snapped a hand out "Then turn it off! Y-"
"NO!" Brooklyn barked
Katana's immediate recognition of the flame's little details were not shared by the rest of the clan… but the one gargoyle and human who had used it a dozen times before?
Goliath mulled the situation to himself verbally "I've never seen a spell that initiates as flames or-" his gaze somehow steeled harder "-No! Brooklyn halt!"
"Stay outta this, Goliath!"
"Brooklyn, you can't!" Angela cried, dashing from the pack, but froze at his dagger eyes.
"OH I CAN'T!?" He snapped "After everythin' you're STILL gonna defend this bitch!? This whore steals my unborn child and you think I'm just gonna let her live!? NO. She's dying! Right here, right now!"
Broadway was at Angela's side in an instant, well really, the entire clan was at her side in an instant. Caution was laced with every step as they tenderly tried to close the distance to the unstable commander. The heavy set chef of the clan raised his hands to signal his peace "Bro, I get it. I absolutely get it. After what she pulled, you have every right to be furious! But… C-Come on, Brooklyn… You… You can't mess with power like that!"
"STAY BACK!" Brooklyn's eyes went alight.
Goliath's broad arms snapped up, freezing the entire clan - a backward motion of his forearms ordered them backwards. The Clan Leader stood alone. He slowly squatted down to Brooklyn's eye level, he tactfully folded his wings into a cloak, and he softened his expression the same way he did his voice. He made his body language as relaxed as possible. His deep voice was uncharacteristically gentle "Brooklyn… We have Egwardo."
Brooklyn flinched, his single eye widened and sunk, his shoulders looked like they went limp.
"W-W-What?" he whispered. Demona saw her opening, she used the moment of weakness to buck her hips up to roll away once he lost balance - but her mountee locked his senses back in and smashed his fist into her jaw, forcing her back into docility.
Brooklyn's eyes were alert again; Goliath quickly tried to calm him back down "We have Egwardo." He promised "The egg is safe and sound, there is not even a smudge or speck of dirt on them. They're okay…"
Brooklyn eye's glanced at the back walls rapidly before:
"So what?" his fire relit "And I'm just supposed to let her go on her merry way!? Lock her up so she can break out and come after us again!? Kill a few thousand people while she's at it!?"
"BROOKLYN." The patriarch's voice had to become firmer "I do not condemn, nor do I condone… but I understand what you're feeling. More than you realize, I understand…" he beckoned Angela over with a turn of his chin, a call she instantly answered as she came to his side. He took his offspring's hand "As a father, I too know what it feels like when your child is in dang-"
"SHUT UP! NO YOU DON'T!" Brooklyn's words now had venom, yet the poison was not for Demona this time.
"Don't pretend to understand! You're not a parent!" Brooklyn bellowed, snapping his eyes down at Demona for a split second "NEITHER of you are!"
The entire clan's jaws went slack at that part. Brooklyn bellowed "She's got your skin color-" he glanced at Demona "-And her eye color, THAT'S IT! All you two did was donate your genes to her, NOTHIN' MORE! When you first met her, ya didn't want anything to do with her! Hell, ya flat out refused to accept her as your child the first time you met her!"
"Brooklyn!" The stoic leader's eyes widened in grave offense "You cannot-"
"And even if ya did, the heck's the difference!? She was full grown the moment ya met her! You've known her for what? A few months?" Brooklyn's voice was losing its convicted aggression, the terrified tone beginning to take hold "Katana and I were there for ALL OF Gnash's life! I was there when he was an egg! I was there when he hatched! When he took his first steps, when he said his first words, when he took his first flight - I was there for ALL OF IT!"
Katana was the only one permitted to get close to the crimson gargoyle without being threatened, she inched closer as his eyes started to glisten in the dim light "I love that kid more than life itself! Before he was even laid, I woulda died for him! I woulda died for BOTH of my kids!" he snatched his hand around Demona's throat, chops curling back with hate "And SHE tried to take them from me! Her! It's always HER!" his voice was now shaking.
Goliath's mind raced. He wanted to dispute Brooklyn - you did not need to know your child long, nor at any particular age, to love them; Brooklyn himself had just made the very same point. But he was becoming more and more unstable… and those glowing flames showed no signs of ceasing. He wanted to calm his lieutenant down, but what could he possibly say now?
"Yee right, Lad… 'tis always her…" Hudson immediately stepped in with a voice that struggled to stay steady. He knelt next to Goliath, but then sat down with his large legs crossed - his age-old wisdom granting him calmness any leader would pray to have "But you are not her… Yee have always risen above her, always forged yer own flight, untainted by the toxic winds of her temptations… do not fall to them now. Please lad… do not become what yee wish to stop…"
Brooklyn's snarling lips twitched.
"...You have suffered unfathomable losses at her hands before, lad…" he bowed his head grimly "All of us have… Friends, family, brothers and sisters, daughters and sons… but killing more will not bring them back."
"Loss?" Brooklyn's voice quivered in a concoction of rage and fear "You. Have. No. I-I-I-IDEA what loss is. Ya think the Wyvern Massacre is as bad as it gets? Watching your entire family getting massacred? Standing among the bodies of everyone you've ever loved!? You think that's even CLOSE to the worst thing you can endure!?"
His pointed teeth grinded together inside his beak "Losing everyone you know and love!? Losing absolutely everything!? Is that as bad as you think it gets!?"
Brooklyn's single eye flickered white "YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I'VE SEEN!? What my wife has seen me do!? FORTY YEARS! FORTY YEARS OF TORMENT! The genocide! The sickness! The torture! The fighting! The clawing! The death! All the FUCKING death!" his voice quaked with the crescendo of volume "ALL OF IT! Cause vile pieces of shit like HER are allowed to live!"
Dead silence.
Brooklyn's scream had echoed out the shattered windows and across the buildings outside. The Manhattan Clan stood frozen in place. The sound of the crackling fire over his hands were the only sound to be heard.
Brooklyn pressed his lips together, heaving a snort back and then shaking his head sorely "...You think people like her deserve mercy? …that they still have a right to life?" he emptily darted his glances to each member of his estranged family "...We've tried to give people second chances. We let Sevarius go… he made Thailog as a thank you. We let Demona go the night the Hunters showed up, she nearly killed everyone on Earth the same night. We forgave Coldstone for trying to kill us multiple times… and look what he did the second we brought him back into the clan."
…
…
"...Not all of them take that for granted though." A new voice rumbled.
Brooklyn hadn't heard them come in. He snapped his head around; The Labyrinth Clan was standing in the doorway opposite to them.
Talon looked at Brooklyn with his ears flat against his head, his ebony brows dropped in sympathy. Elisa was beside her mutated brother with a communicator in hand. She had called in back up for the rescue mission?
Talon's voice was low "...When Fang took over… there was nothin' I could do." he said solemnly "...I had no options, no chance, no hope of gettin' outta there…"
Maggie cautiously extended a hand "...But I knew we had you. I didn't think there was any way you would help us, not after all the horrible things we had done to you… But all of you came, YOU came." she locked her feline eyes deliberately upon the crimson father.
"I'd be dead without you, Brooklyn…" Talon said with reverence "...Michael never woulda been born had it not been for you, man. You're talkin' about savin' kids… And you gave me the chance to have one of my own. I owe his - hell, I owe MY life to you! YOU'RE the one who gave me a second chance even when I didn't deserve it from you!"
Lexington saw his brother's armor chipping away, this was their opening "Some people don't change, Brooklyn." he gently slid his way in after Talon's words "...But becoming like the ones who don't just…" he quickly shut his eyes and grasped his temples "Look, I once never would've trusted Xanatos in my life. I never thought there'd be a moment where I WOULDN'T hate the Pack! Now look at me! I may not have a biological kid like you, Brook, and I might never have one cause I'm with Amp! But I know how you feel because of Alex! The kid of Xanatos and Fox! And I'd die for that kid just as you would for Gnash!"
Elisa delicately spoke out "Demona's never going to change, Brooklyn… but you don't have to poison yourself to stop her. We know you've killed before, whatever it was, we know you would have had no choice - but this would change you. Don't… don't let her take you down with her."
Brooklyn was silent; everyone was. He grit his teeth and shook his head "I… She'll never stop… She won't… I can't… l-let her keep…"
"Watashi no koibito….."
That voice that he cherished above all sounds on earth; past, present, and future; disarmed him completely.
"My love…." Katana knelt before him, her eyes rife with worry yet compassion "...I'm scared too… I'm scared what will happen if this demon, this monster you've told me about so many countless times, is spared…"
She cupped his chin with both hands, raising his sharp jawline for his eyeline to be with hers - not that he could muster the fortitude to look her in the eyes "But I'm scared of something more. So many years, my love… so many years, without one place to call home, without one family to call a clan. So many years you wanted to give our son a place to finally call his own, a place he could roost at dawn without fear. A place to raise our son where he'd not constantly be looking over his shoulder… a true, free life."
She stroked his cheeks with her fingertips. The once snarling beast melted in her touch, his eyelids drooped, his jaw finally unclenched. She pressed her brow against his, her tender fingers gently laced through his silken, ivory hair "Don't taint your eternal home by staining your eternal soul, my love…"
"K-Katana…."
She clenched her eyes shut, her voice broke when she begged "Please, my darling Brooklyn…. Call off your spell…"
…
The divine flames brandished in his palms fizzled into nothing. Brooklyn slumped over onto her limply, he was done.
Katana's aqua arms enveloped him as she quickly, though not jarringly, moved him off of Demona's near-unconscious body. Half the clan promptly sped to her prone form to secure her, there was no chance they'd risk an escape after tonight. Katana's soothing touch continued to smooth her warrior's hair.
"How… How are we going to protect them, Katana?" Brooklyn rumbled hopelessly.
Katana opened her mouth to respond. But a voice came faster and stronger.
"You won't." Goliath's tremendous form slowly knelt beside them "...Not alone. Not anymore." His colossal hands secured its purple talons upon each of their shoulders "My old friend… My newest family member-" he regarded them both "-You do not need to face the horrors of time and space alone any longer. You have a clan… you have family."
An army of multi-colored hands and arms enveloped them: blue, green, purple, black, orange, brown - scaled, fleshed, furred, synthetic. Support and strength was lovingly donated by all.
"You asked us if we would be rookery parents with you two. Well then let us be parents to them now." Angela urged tenderly "You don't have to worry about always being there for them every waking moment once they're hatched. Egwardo won't have just the two of you caring about them… they'll have MULTIPLE mothers and fathers obsessing over him or her every waking moment!"
"You don't know the half of it! Ever since Alex got swiped, I've been working on all SORTA safety tech to plug into the castle." Lexington quickly added "And after today, you better believe I'm puttin' a rush on installing all the stun turrets I've been cooking up!"
Broadway smiled "And hey, once Egwardo finally hatches and start gettin' a feel for him or her… you… you two are gonna have to fight to get them from ME!" he flashed a hopeful grin full of teeth "The second they got the grip strength to hold a ladle, I'm teachin' them how to cook!"
"Hm." Brooklyn tried to force a smile.
"Bah, and have them match your weight when they're but a hatchling?" Hudson teased in an attempt to lift spirits "I said it before - in my day we didn't hover over the eggs like mother hens!"
"Oh don't even try to act tough, Hudson!" Lexington laughed "Don't think we all don't catch you sneaking into the rookery every night just to love-bomb that egg! You never peeled your butt outta that recliner before it showed up!"
"Hmhm…" Brooklyn was brought to his feet with the help of Katana, a genuine smile cracked at his lips. Demona was bound by Talon and Claw bending rebar around her as improvised bindings. Elisa jogged her way to the hole in the wall and signalled to someone below. Space was finally given… space that Angela used to walk up behind Brooklyn and swat him in the back of the head
"THAT'S for lying to me."
Brooklyn accepted the hit, he bobbed his head to the side to acknowledge he somewhat deserved it - having unfairly ransomed her trust. He turned his attention back to Goliath "...I'm sorry I broke my promise to you too… Insubordination is still a three day confinement to the castle, right?"
Goliath glanced away for a brief moment, before shrugging his titanic shoulders "That won't be necessary… not this time."
His crimson hand interlocked fingers with his wife "...where's Gnash and Egwardo?"
It was revealed who Elisa had been signaling. She took a step back to clear the landing zone, and in flew the auxiliary backup. The entirety of the Labyrinth clones flew in. Claw bearhugged Bronx beneath the belly, Gnash had his unhatched sibling firmly in his arms. Something gave way in Brooklyn. Literally, Katana had to grab hold of his back and steady him when he looked fit to fall down.
"Mom…? …Dad…?"
His father's stiff legs trudged forward, but snapped into a sprint the second the shock lost its control of his senses. Brooklyn skidded to his knees "D-DAD?" two red arms snatched over him, clutching him and Egwardo.
Five seconds of rigid holding later, Brooklyn's ears perked up, his hands immediately moved lightning fast to inspect every square inch of Nashville and Egwardo - his single eye somehow looking in fourteen places at once. "A-Are you both alright?"
"We're fine, dad." Gnash puffed his chest out with a smug grin "Those humans were lucky Goliath and the others got to them before IIIII could clobbered 'em! Buncha wimps who could- MPHF!"
Gnash was silenced with Brooklyn crushing him into his chest - Katana thankfully next to them, having retrieved Egwardo from their son's hands and tucked them against herself. Brooklyn clutched his only son as tight as he could, his hands laced through his black hair, locking his red chin over his small back just to hold him in place "My boy…" tears began to run from his only intact eye "...My son…"
Gnash had no comeback, no weird gag sound to make. Instead, his little blue arms came up to huge his father's bulkier build. His originally wide open eyes of alarm dulled, he tucked his face into his pop's shoulder. Clearly, it wasn't the first time this happened.
Elisa was beside Goliath with hushed tones as Talon shouldered Demona "We can't send her back down to the Labyrinth… We learned that doesn't hold her."
"So… you suggest human custody, then?" Goliath murmured back to her.
"I don't see any other options." she lamented "I'm not crazy about some scientists getting more info on you guys, but if there's a Supermax facility in the world that can hold her, America's gonna have it. Derek and I'll see that the NYPD takes every precaution."
Brooklyn silently came behind them. He carried his son in his arms, one arm beneath his rump to hold him up, the other still holding his torso tightly. One wing had draped (more so CLUTCHED) itself over his wife whom held their rescued egg - Brooklyn wasn't going to let them stray out of arms reach from him in the immediate future "She'll escape… You know that, right?"
"Perhaps." Goliath acknowledged grimly. He placed a hand upon his friend, his expression softening with pride "But with every passing day, she loses allies and options, while we gain friends and support. Come, old friend… lead us home."
0000oooo0000oooo0000
Brooklyn and Katana said they were going to return Egwardo to the safety of the rookery, then be back up for sunrise.
That plan didn't follow through.
The second they placed their unborn child back into the glowing ambience of the castle's core, neither of them could muster the fortitude needed to take more than three steps away. Now they sat next to one another - Katana's head upon her husband's shoulder, Brooklyn's cheek upon her horns. Even if Gnash had tried to toss on the "tough-guy act" he had inherited from his father and marched up the stairs out of the rookery, he quickly came bounding back down to his sibling's side before he could make it up the entire flight.
"Couldn't leave?" came Hudson's voice, his heavy steps thumped down the steps.
"Of course not…" Katana responded.
"Yeah…. Neither could we." Lexington's voice followed.
The three of them snapped their heads around to see the ENTIRE clan was squeezing their way down the steps! Each took their place in a tight, shoulder-to-shoulder in a semi circle and plopped down right beside them.
Elisa giggled "You missed Goliath's show."
"ELISA." Goliath grumbled fiercely, face hot.
"He was sitting on his usual spot twiddling his thumbs and bouncing his knee for the past half hour. I'm surprised you didn't hear his heel jackhammering the castle stone from down here." she said, holding his massive arm lovingly "Nearly leapt and sprinted for the stairs when we asked if he wanted to come check on you guys."
A small army of hands touched the egg lovingly, before returning to the trio of beaked gargoyles "...Hope you don't mind some company for the sunrise." Lexington hummed, crossing his legs on the ground - zero intention of moving from that spot.
Brooklyn's smile finally found its way back to him. His teeth flashed with a beaming grin, eye watery.
Forty years.
Forty years alone. Forty years never having a place to truly call home. Forty years of always worrying where and when he'd be brought next. 30 years worrying if he'd ever be separated from his beloved. 20 years of worrying if he'd be unable to protect his son. Forty years he had learned to deal with everything entirely on his own, forty years he had no one to rely upon other than himself and the cyan angel who had brought light to his life.
But no more. Never again.
Brooklyn swallowed back the lump in his throat "C-Course not, guys… you're always welcome." the rising sun outside froze the grateful, tearful smile onto his now stone face.
Brooklyn was finally home.