Disclaim(h)er: Gargoyles and the gargoyles universe is property
of Disney and Buena Vista. All Simpsons references are purely done on purpose.
The Simpsons are owned by Matt Groening <sp>. All Gargoyles universe
and Simpsons' names are used without the owners' permision. All other names
not of the Gargoyles or Simpsons universes are of my own creation, and
may not be used without my permission.
This story is made purely for entertainment, and not made for profit.
Thanks to Lady Mystic for giving me editing pointers. She would
have helped more, but due to conflicting schedules and illness, she was
largely unable to help. :( <Get well soon, my love>
Future revisions may be made at a later date, and will be posted
on my website.
Written and largely edited by Night Flame.
A rather attractive looking man about 25 stands on his back porch,
coffee cup in one hand, his other hand on the railing. As he watches the
sun rise in awe, a child of 4 walks out onto the porch.
“Daddy, watcha doin’?” the curious 4 year old asks.
The man turns and brushes some of his long white hair from his
face. He smiles as he recognizes that his son has a sharp nose like his
father.
“David,” he starts, “I am watching the sun come up. Would you like
to join me?”
“SURE!” David yells with much joy. He never joined his father for
this weird thing he did every morning. After watching the black fade to
purple, then to the more familiar blue, David follows his curious heart.
“Daddy, why do you watch the sun?”
The older man takes a long sip of his coffee. How could he tell
his son? He turns towards the toddler and thinks, “I cannot tell him the
truth.” He kneels to meet his son at eye level.
“Well David, some say that a sunrise is magical, and if you watch
it every day, only good will happen.”
“OK!” The simple answer satisfies the child’s curiosity for now.
“Oh! Mom told me to come out here to tell you breakfast is ready.”
A wicked grin appears on the father’s face. “Why didn’t you tell
me?”
“I dunno. Why?” David asks with a cute “I-need-a-tickle” face.
“I am gonna get you! Growl!” The father acts like a monster and
starts to chase the child.
David squeals in delight and runs into the house.
As the father scoops up his son to give him a belly blow, his wife,
a beautiful brunette with a slightly dark complexion and a noticeable bulge
in her belly, speaks.
“Brook, honey, put him down or I will never get him calmed down!”
She says jokingly.
Reluctantly, Brook turns towards his child. “You heard your mother.”
“Aww…” David complains as he is set down.
“But…” Brook looks around suspiciously before continuing, whispering
in his sons ear. “After I get home from work, I am gonna get you.”
David breaks into giggles, then hopps into his chair for breakfast.
Brook walks over behind his wife and wrapps his arms around her,
placing his hands on her belly.
“Angie, you don’t have to cook. And besides, in your condition,
you shouldn’t do too much around the house.”
She holds his arms close to her. “I have to do SOMETHING around
here other than take care of David or I will go crazy.” She then gently
elbows him in the ribs, then turns around and wraps her arms around his
neck. “And I told you not to call me Angie!” she says in a slightly sultry
voice before giving him a long kiss on the lips.
“Ewwwww!” David complains in disgust.
Brook breaks off the kiss and turns towards his son. “Hey, in about
13 years you will be doing the same thing! OW!” he yelps as Angela nudges
him again. “Can you go get your brother Alex out of bed?”
The child leaps out of his chair and runs to his older brother’s
room.
The two happy parents watch their son run off with joy in their
eyes.
Brook is the first to break the silence.
“So, your appointment is today at 1pm?”
A slight frown appears on her face. “Yeah. 1pm. You are going to
be there, right?” she asks with a sad puppy dog look on her face.
“Well, only if your mother will give me a long lunch.” Brook grins.
The couple are about to kiss again when David runs into the room
screaming with joy, followed by Alex, their oldest “son” who was about
7, but his eyes were of someone much, much older.
Brook is about to say something else when he hears a knock at the
front door of the house. He looks at his watch and silently swears.
“That must be your mother’s limo to pick me up.” He gives Angela
a quick kiss. “See you at one, ok?” She nods. He gives David and Alex a
quick hug, then bolts out the door as the driver is about to knock a second
time.
“Hold yer horses, will ya?” Brook mutters under his breath.
He enters the limousine to find it empty of anyone else, save the
driver, as usual.
“The usual way to work, Mr. Robbins?”
“Yeah, the usual.”
The hour drive into work was uneventful, as usual, until they got
within sight of Manhattan… or at least the ruins of the city formerly known
as Manhattan.
Every time he drove into Manhattan, he always hoped he would see
the Eyrie building with the castle on it. But all he saw was the dark crater
where the city once stood.
Every time, he thought of what led to its destruction.
***
Five Years Earlier…
Edwards Airforce Base, Virginia
Unseen, a pair of men dressed in what could be best described as
power armor and wearing black masks rolled out from under the military
truck as it stopped at a stop sign. The pair cautiously and stealthily
made their way to a large hanger with half a dozen guards surrounding it.
They activated their night vision binoculars and searched for one of the
guards that was on their side. Seeing one of them, the smaller of the two
tapped a button on top of the binoculars, sending a dim red laser beam
into the guard’s eye.
The guard got the silent signals, nodded and exposed all four fingers
and his thumb over his gun.
Both of the intruders grinned. The other five guards were allies.
Quickly, they ran towards the hanger, being VERY careful not to
be caught by one of the searchlights.
They ran to a door, and entered the large hanger. The guards didn’t
doing anything to stop the intruders, but just simply smiled.
Before them was a large wing-shaped plane. A B-2 bomber, which
had landed here for regular yearly maintenance and rearming with state-of-the-art
25kg anti-matter warheads was scheduled to take off in 5 hours. Its mission:
To maintain the airborne nuclear readiness of the United States of America.
But the pair had different plans.
Quickly, they boarded the plane and quickly readied the plane for
takeoff, complete with its payload of eight of the new high-yield nuclear
missiles.
After the 35-minute system check and prep, they were ready to go.
The smaller of the men climbed into the pilot’s seat of the craft while
the larger of the two climbed into the co-pilot’s seat.
The larger man pulled out a walkie-talkie from his pocket, and
gave a single command through the device.
“Now.”
The massive doors of the hanger opened and the smaller man throttled
the craft to take off speed as fast as he could. Before the stealth aircraft
could be stopped, it was in the air, undetectable by normal means.
Nightfall, the next day
As the sun fell over the horizon, the sound of shattering stone
could be heard throughout the castle as four of the castles gargoyles woke
from their stone sleep.
A female detective, know as Elisa Maza, stood at the top of the
tallest tower, waiting for her love Goliath.
Goliath roared from his stone sleep, showering the courtyard bellow
with shards of his stone skin. He turned to greet his love Elisa as he
did every night, by wrapping his wings around her.
“I love you too, Goliath,” Elisa purred as she rested her head
on his chest.
As Hudson, Broadway, and Bronx roared from their stone sleep, Broadway
looked over to see his mate Angela, but she was not there. He frowned as
he remembered that she went with Brooklyn and Lexington to Buffalo, NY
to see if the gargoyle rumors there were true.
They had called the night before to say that they were not.
Broadway did perk up, however, as he remembered that they would
be back later tonight.
“Dinna worry, Lad. She will be back before sunrise.” The eldest
gargoyle, Hudson, reassured the younger gargoyle with a hearty hand on
the shoulder.
Broadway smiled. Bronx, the clan’s garg-beast ran up to the two
gargoyles and barked.
“Don’t worry, Bronx. I’ll feed you.” Broadway said as he rubbed
the beast on the head. He then looked at Hudson with a smile. “Don’t worry,
I’ll feed you too.”
The two gargoyles smiled as they glided down into the courtyard
and walked into the castle.
A few hours later…
Cruising at about 5,000 feet, one of the doors on the belly of the
craft open and a missile is locked into launch position.
“Range: 25 miles,” the display in the cockpit read, underneath
a green image of the castle Wyvern.
The larger man pressed a switch on the control panel, releasing
a missile towards its target. The other man banked the plane sharply. Both
men were smiling.
As Owen was changing Alex’s diaper, he suddenly turned into Puck
and felt a large power coming towards them.
“Uh oh…” he muttered.
Goliath was gliding high above the city with Elisa in his arms when a cylinder with a flame roared past them. Neither Goliath nor Elisa was able to comprehend what was happening as the flame drew nearer to the castle.
Several miles in the air and roughly 40 miles from home, Lexington,
Brooklyn and Angela watched in amazement as the city of Manhattan sparkled
in the distance.
Suddenly, a large bright light, brighter than they imagined the
sun to be, came from the direction of Manhattan. The three gargoyles covered
their eyes from the bright light. After a few seconds, the light dimmed
and saw the entire city’s lights blink out and a large tower of cloud shoot
into the sky. A few seconds later still, and they heard a deep rumbling.
From the top of the tower of cloud, they could now see a glowing cloud
that was roughly mushroom shaped.
Mouths agape, the gargoyles did not know what to do.
“Lets move it.” Brooklyn, still shocked, ordered the trio.
They did not argue.
Roughly two hours later, the trio glided over where they knew the
castle should be. All they saw was a nothing but fallen buildings and a
VERY large hole in the ground. Below, they saw no movement at all.
“Nothing could have survived that blast,” Brooklyn said, amazed
at the destruction below them.
Suddenly, Lex saw a flash of faint blue light at the bottom of
the crater.
Lex pointed towards the light. “Hey! Did you see that down there?”
The two other gargoyles looked down, and a moment later, they saw
the flash.
Not knowing what else to do, they dove down to the light.
As they reached the light, they saw the fae know as Puck lying
on the ground near a small infant. As the gargoyles approached the light,
it winked out.
Brooklyn was the first to land, and ran over to Puck.
“Puck! What happened?”
Unable to move his head, the fae tried to speak, but his skin was
pealing and looked like it had been burned. The child appeared unharmed.
“Nuclear…device…” the fae coughed, then wheezed.
“Did…did anyone else survive?” Angela asked, a worried look on
her face.
Puck wheezed before continuing. “No… Xanatos, Fox…” he coughed
up a little blue blood before continuing. “Hudson… Broadway…Burned in front
of me…” He stopped breathing for a second, then after a tense moment gasped
for air. “Used… ward to… protect Alex…”
“Goliath and Elisa?” Lexington asked, with more worry in his voice.
“Can’t… feel… presence…must be… dead…” the fae continued, the burnt
skin on his chest peeling away, opening a bright blue wound.
“Is… Is there anything we can do for you?” Angela kneeled to the
fallen fae and cradled his head.
“Too… late… for…” the fae coughed again, “Me…Protect… Alex…ugggh…”
The Fae’s head dropped, and then Robin Goodfellow was no more.
After standing at the bottom of the crater staring at the body of
the dead fae for several minutes, Angela stood, then walked over and scooped
up the remaining member of the Xanatos Empire.
The toddler gurgled, then looked at Puck.
“Unka Puck?”
No response from the fallen fae.
“Unka Puck?” The boy’s voice was jittery, tears starting to form
as the lad realized that his favorite teacher was no more.
Angela held the child closer before speaking.
“What do we do now?”
Brooklyn looked up and saw the rim of the crater a few miles away
and a half-mile up. At the edge near the river, he could see water entering
the crater. He looked down and saw that a fairly large amount of water
was at the bottom of the crater and growing as the river water flowed in.
He took a deep breath before speaking.
“Well, I know we can’t stay here. If we turn to stone in this pit,
we will wake up a half-mile under water.”
“Plus, who knows how much radiation is here right now.” Lex chimed
in.
Angela just stood holding the weeping child billionaire.
“Angela? Angela? Are you all right?” Brooklyn, who was now standing
right next to her, was talking. Angela started to cry. Brooklyn took Alexander
from her arms and handed him to Lexington before pulling her into his arms.
“NO! I am NOT all right! You heard Puck! My father is DEAD! Elisa
is DEAD. My mate…” she chokes and buries her head into his chest. “...is
DEAD.” She stands and looks him straight in the eyes. “And you ask me if
I am ALL RIGHT?!?”
Brooklyn looks into her crying eyes and feels a heavy weight on
his chest and shoulders.
“Angela, I know what you are going through. Don’t you think I remember
that my clan leader, the clan elder, one of my rookery brothers and everyone
I met since we woke from our stone sleep is DEAD? We are all taking this
hard, but we have to be strong.” He grabs her shoulders. “If not for me…”
he looks down and frowns, “Then do it for Alex.”
Angela looks at the weeping child with a look of sadness in her
eyes and mutters “Ok”.
“Good…” Brooklyn says, looking around. “Now... where do we go?”
“Let’s try Demona’s house.” Lexington answers after a few moments.
“Her house may be destroyed, but she can’t die unless she kills MacBeth.
Maybe she survived the blast.”
“Well, unless anyone has a better idea…” Brooklyn pauses, and seeing
no one else giving an idea, continues. “Ok then… if only there were any
buildings left to climb… Guess we will have to walk up the wall of this
crater before be are high enough up it to glide.”
A few hours later, the three gargoyles and the child reach the ruins
of the Destine Manor.
The house, only a few blocks from the edge of the crater, is completely
destroyed. As they circle the manor, they see some movement below. Landing,
they see it is the blue arm of Demona. Brooklyn grasps the hand and tries
to pull Demona up, only to pull the arm from the ground. The rest of Demona
is not there.
“Ewwwww!” Brooklyn yells as he tries to shake the arm off, but
it holds his arm firmly.
Lex and Angela give a little giggle.
<Groan> “Will you stop that? Your making my arm hurt more!”
Came a raspy voice from under Angela’s feet. She jumped up with a shriek.
“Mother! You’re alive! You nearly scared the life out of me!” Angela
said as she handed Alex to Lexington and started digging. “You don’t know
how happy I am to see you…” Angela pulls back a large piece of concrete
and finds Demona under it… most of her, anyway. Everything below her ribcage
was missing, along with her right arm that Brooklyn was now holding. Her
normally blue skin had burned off, leaving only a few charred patches to
cover her exposed muscle tissue. Her face was much worse off, though, with
her skin-less skull staring back at Angela, with only part of her left
eye and none of her right remaining.
Startled, Angela looses her grip on the concrete, causing it to
fall back onto Demona. The arms holding Brooklyn goes rigid, then limp
and falls off.
“OOOH, that’s GOTTA hurt!” Brooklyn muttered, while Angela remained
quiet with only a look of ‘sorry’ on her face.
15 minutes later, the trio have dug Demona out and were relieved
to see her coming to.
“What… what hit me?”
“A building.” Brooklyn quipped. Angela gave him a stern look.
“Mother, are you ok?” Angela said as she looked at Demona’s nearly
destroyed body with a feeling of queasy-ness in her stomach.
“I will be… What happened? I haven’t see this much damage since
Hiroshima…” then, under her breath, “or felt this bad.”
Lex was the first to answer. “Well, from what we saw and what Puck
told us, someone nuked the castle.”
“Let me see.” Demona demanded.
The three standing gargoyles all looked at each other with a look
that said, “I am not touching her.”
Finally, Lex gave in. “I’ll do it.” Lex walked closer to her and
was relieved to see that the skin on her face was starting to re-appear.
He scooped up as much of her as he could and pointed her head towards the
crater.
Demona tried to make a wicked smile appeared on her face, but found
it almost impossible without muscles in her face. “At least that retched
fae is gone.”
Alex, who had calmed down, started to cry again.
“Nice one.” Brooklyn muttered.
“Oh, just shut up and give me my arm.”
Brooklyn picked up the arm and handed it to Demona. “What about
the rest of you? Should we try to find them or are you not going to have
any legs, wings or a tail for the rest of your life?”
Demona gave a sharp hiss as she popped and held her arm back into
place. “The rest of my body is too far gone to find. It will grow back…
It always does.”
The three gargoyles looked at her curiously.
Demona sighed. “The magic that keeps me alive also heals ALL damage,
including missing limbs. Do you think I was able to survive all these centuries
without loosing a single body part.” The trio nodded no. “Only problem
is that they hurt like hell growing back and usually take a few weeks.”
She mumbled as best as she could.
Lexington looked up and saw the sky brightening. “Um… I hate to
interrupt, but the sun is going to be up soon. Shouldn’t we try to find
some place to stay for the day?”
Before anyone could answer, little Alexander rose from Brooklyn’s
arms and floated into the air. Pointing his chubby little arms at the three
whole gargoyles, he thought a spell in his mind.
“Guard you must, both day and night,
Protect this child with all your might,
Gargoyle since you were born,
Be now this new, HUMAN form”
The three whole gargoyles felt their skin stretch and tingle as
their wings and tail retracted into their bodies. Startled by the changes
taking place, Lexington dropped the blue gargoyle with a thud. The three
gargoyles bones re-shaped and organs shifted, but they felt little pain.
Demona looked at them with envy.
“At least your transformation doesn’t hurt.” She said to the three
adult humans standing before her. The glow around Alex winked out and he
fell right into Brooklyn’s arms.
Demona looked at the new humans with a little smile. At least her
daughter survived. But her pleasant thoughts were quickly interrupted as
the sun rose over the horizon, starting her own daily transformation. She
experienced MUCH more pain as she usually did as the missing parts of her
body stretched from what little body she had left. After a few minutes
of agony, a nude woman with flaming red hair stood slowly, then examined
her rebuilt body.
“I guess Puck DID have some use after all.” Demona thought to herself.
“So,” Dominique Destine spoke with more than a little pain in her
voice, “What do we do now?”
The two adult male humans simply stood, staring at the nude woman
with a strange hunger on their faces, then after realizing how awkward
it was to feel that way in this situation, blushed then turned away together.
Angela muttered something about boys, then answered her mother.
“Guess the first thing is to find you some clothes.
Brook Robbins smiles as he remembered seeing Demona nude that morning.
It wasn’t long after that, he remembered that Demona recovered “Nightstone
Unlimited” from one of the company’s California divisions. With the help
of young Alexander’s inheritance, Nightstone was able to flourish from
the ruins that was Manhattan. All of the former Xanatos Enterprises divisions
held their former name, and were now run by Alexander Xanatos’s legal guardian
Brook Robbins.
Brooklyn’s reminiscing is cut short as the limo lurches to a stop
at the newly built Nightstone Unlimited/Xanatos Enterprises building.
The driver opens the rear door for Mr. Robbins, allowing him to
exit.
“Watch it with the sudden stops next time, will ya?” Brooklyn quips
at the driver.
“Yes Sir.” The driver responds curtly, not even trying to hide
his feelings.
Inwardly, Brooklyn shakes his head in disgust. He knew Owen, and
this guy was no Owen. No matter. He had a meeting in 20 minutes with the
R&D division of Xanatos Enterprises. He sighs as he enters the private
elevator leading up to the floor that he and ‘Dominique Destine’ share.
Even though she was technically his mother-in-law, he still did not like
her. He grins as he thought about how simple it was to create a new life
for him and Angela. A few forged documents, a quick exchange of vows, and
they were all set.
He quickly remembers that day.
A few months after the explosion…
“Mother, tell me again WHY I have to do this?” Angela asked her
mother, who was in her human form.
“Because in society it is just easier to explain that a couple
with a kid is married rather than just living together.” She saw Angela
frown. “Plus, if he is going to be the head of Xanatos Enterprises and
my partner, I want to have as few questions raised about his personal life.”
“I just don’t see why…” It was Demona’s turn to look frustrated.
“…but I will do it anyway. For you. NOT him.”
Demona simply smiled. “Ready?” Angela nodded. Dominique opened
the door from her private bathroom of her new LA office, and allowing her
daughter to enter first.
In the massive office stood ‘Brook Robbins’ and a priest. Angela
felt a little queasy.
“Mother, must I now? I am barely over…” she pulled closer to Dominique
so the priest wouldn’t hear. “Broadway. I still love him.”
Dominique gave a frustrated sigh. “Always remember this, my daughter.
Marry for power, not love because with love, you can only control one person
but with power you can control anyone and anything you want. That’s the
way it was with your FATHER and I.”
Angela looked shocked at how coldly her mother had said that. She
sighed. “Ok…” she sighed as she approached Brook and the priest.
“Don’t worry, I’ll grow on you.” Brook whispered to Angela, half-jokingly.
“Yeah, like mold.” Dominique whispered to Angela.
Angela grinned and rolled her eyes.
“May I continue with the ceremony?” The priest asked, slightly
showing frustration.
It was a simple ceremony. Definitely not like he remembered Prince
Kenneth and his wife’s wedding back at the castle. For what seemed like
an eternity, they just lived in their new house together, in separate bedrooms.
After a while, they would actually have fun after work. Laughing, talking,
watching TV… that was how they grew on each other.
One night, she fell asleep on his chest while watching a movie.
He carried her to her bed and set her down. He was about to leave when
she asked him to stay.
It was soon after that they consummated their marriage.
Brook is still smiling as the doors open on the elevator. He steps off and heads to his office, getting his messages from his secretary on the way in. Almost as soon as he sets his briefcase down on his desk, he checks the clock and realizes that the meeting will start soon. Cursing, he heads off to the boardroom.
Three hours later, Brook sits at the head of the table, bored out
of his mind, trying his best not to show it. The only thing of interest
was from the ‘Special’ division, who had perfected a method of detecting
the Quarrymen’s B-2 bomber. Inwardly, he sighed a breath of relief. No
more ‘incidents’ like Manhattan, Guatemala, or Detroit. He felt sorry for
the countless humans and gargoyles killed in those blasts. We are now one
step closer to stopping the Quarrymen.
At 11:30, he excused the meeting for lunch.
He entered his office and saw that the newspaper is sitting on
his desk. Glancing at the front page, one of the headlines catches his
eye. “Village smashes gargoyles to save themselves.”
The article told how the people of the Japanese village of Ishimura
had smashed the city’s gargoyle protectors to prevent the Quarrymen from bombing their village.
“We are grateful that the people of Ishimura have finally seen
the gargoyles as they really are: Demons.” John Castaway, leader of the
Quarrymen, was quoted as saying.
Disgusted and knowing he had some time to kill before Angela’s
appointment, he decides to have lunch on the balcony of his office. He
really never had been on that balcony, or even looked out that window because
of what it faced. He opens his eyes and sees Lake Eyrie, Manhattans newest
lake. Staring around the edge of the lake, he can still see husks of buildings
around the lake. Approaching the edge of the balcony, he looks down and
notices destruction all around him for miles, except for what is around
the new Nightstone/Xanatos building. He smiles. The construction of this
building was just what the island needed to bring life back to it. He’s
standing on top of the worlds tallest building, taller than the Eyrie building
ever was. Looking down, he feels a little ill and a slight fear overcomes
him. He stumbles back into his office, panting, before he knew what had
just happened. He is now afraid of heights.
“Why?” he asks himself out loud, “Why am I afraid?”
“Because you haven’t flown in so long.” Brook jumps as he notices
a woman with flaming red hair and dressed in a finely tailored business
suit standing in a shadow near the balcony door.
“Dominique.” Brook says bitterly. “What are you doing in here?”
Her lip curls cruelly before speaking. “I hadn’t realized how weak
you have become. Once the proud gargoyle, able to fly higher than his fellow
clan mates, now a pathetic HUMAN who can barely stand heights. Pathetic.”
Dominique spat.
Brook tries not to show his anger towards her. “As I said,” He
said with only a hint of anger in his voice, “What are you doing in my
office?” He balls up his fists in an effort to keep him from snapping at
Dominique.
Dominique’s smile quickly fades. “Just came in here to see if you
have decided to hand control of the company over to me so you can stay
home with your wife. I hear she is expecting again.” A slight smile creeps
onto Brook’s face. “I sure hope this one survives.” His smile quickly turnes
into a frown. Dominique smiles as she turns to leave the room. “Personally,
I say the reason is all the FATHER’s fault.” Brook digs his fingers into
his palm, causing his fingers to go numb. “Just remember my offer,” Dominique
calls as she shuts the door of his office.
“I swear, if you weren’t Angela’s mother…” Brooklyn mumbles under
his breath before hitting his desk hard with his hand. After his hand stops
stinging, he walks over to the window that faced in a different direction
than Lake Eyrie.
Angela lay on the table as her doctor spreads the cold jelly over
her growing belly. She squeezes Brook’s hand as he caresses her eyebrows.
The doctor grabs a small instrument, and places it onto Angela’s belly.
As the doctor looks at the screen, she sees images form from the
ultrasound. After a moment she smiles.
“What?” Both Brook and Angela asks.
“Hmm…Ahh… Oh, Ohh….” The doctor continues.
“Dr. Patterson PLEASE tell us!” Brook asks the doctor pleadingly.
Dr. Patterson smiles. She liked teasing expecting parents, especially
when she knew there was good news.
“Well, I don’t know…” She sees the pleading looks on the couples
faces and sighs. “Ok… Were you expecting an egg?”
A look of fear passes over their faces. The last time it was an
egg, and Angela had to abort it because she feared what would happen if
word got out.
“…Because if you were, you are going to be disappointed. It is
a healthy, HUMAN, baby. Congratulations.”
A look of pure joy comes over the expecting parent’s faces as they
hold each other.
“Can we see?” Angela is the first to ask.
Dr. Patterson nods, then turns the screen towards Angela. The doctor
moves the instrument slightly on Angela’s belly, pointing to the monitor
as she speaks.
“See? 10 fingers, 10 toes, no tail, no wings, no gargoyle features.”
She smiles at the happy couple as they point at the screen. “So, have you
two discussed names?”
The two smile at each other, then to the Doctor.
Brook is the first to answer.
“Well, we think we will name her Elisa, if she is a girl, after
a good friend who died in the blast.”
“And if it is a boy?”
The room falls silent as the parents look at each other.
“Well, I want to name him after my father, but…”
“I know. Your clan leader’s name was Goliath. Remember, Demona…
er… DOMNIQUE told me about your clan YEARS before they woke from their
stone sleep. But I see your problem.”
“I always thought Keith fit him.” Brook shrugs before continuing.
“Or maybe Scott.”
“Well, you have a few more months before you REALLY need a name.”
Brook cut his day short so he could ride with Angela back to their
house. Most of the ride was quiet, with Brook holding Angela on back seat
of the limo.
“Penny for you thoughts, my love?” Angela asks the lost in thought
Brook.
“Huh? Oh, Just thinking… should we really stay human? I mean, would
a gargoyle child really be so bad?”
Angela pulls away from Brook and looked at him, mouth agape.
“Are you SERIOUS? Do you know what scandal’s there would be if
the head of Xanatos Enterprises had a GARGOYLE child?!? It’s bad enough
that the company is known to have gargoyle ties in the past, and to bring
up those stories again would be disastrous!”
Brook thought about what his wife was saying for a few moments
before answering.
“True… but remember one thing. WE were the gargoyle ties in the
past. We were gargoyles…”
“YES. We WERE gargoyles. But not anymore. We don’t protect anything
right now except our family. And to me, our children…” She grabs his hand
and places it on her bulging belly. “…are more important to me that anything
I was in the past.”
Brook nods, agreeing completely with his wife, before pulling her
close to him once again.
On Avalon, a blue green gargoyle stands before Lord Oberon and Queen
Titania, the rightful rulers of Avalon.
“Lord Oberon, Lady Titania.” The gargoyle bows before the king
and queen, “I come to you with a concern.”
“Is this concern so important that it must interrupt our Gathering?”
Lord Oberon asks, not trying to show the boredom in his voice.
Standing straight, the gargoyle continues talking. “My lord, this
matter is of great concern to your gargoyle honor guard. We have not heard
from our rookery sister Angela in over six years of the outsider’s time.
We have been concerned for her safety since Lady Titania felt a great power
overtake her daughter.” Lady Titania bows her head in sadness. “We fear
that something dire may have happened to her.”
Lord Oberon gives a bored sigh. “This concerns us HOW, gargoyle?”
“My lord, if I may?” Lady Titania asks her husband and lord. “Gabriel,
as you know, my grandson Alexander was with my daughter when I felt her
leaving the mortal world. I can still feel that he is alive, but I cannot
tell exactly where. Please, go to the outer world and find my grandson.
If you find him, you will most likely find your rookery sister if she is
still alive.” Lady Titania then turns towards Oberon. “If it pleases you,
my lord.”
Oberon smiles. “If it pleases you my lady, it pleases me.” Oberon
stands and faces the gargoyle Gabriel. “Gabriel, it is Oberon’s command
that you go out in the world and find our queens grandchild.” He waves
his hand and a mirror shimmers, then shows an open area with many large
houses. “You will leave now.”
Gabriel gives Oberon a slight bow, then steps through the mirror.
Inside a two-tone black and dark blue van with a hammer symbol on
its side, two men watch a pair of monitors. After many hours of sitting
and waiting, a blip appears on their RADAR screens.
“SIR! We have radar contact! Altitude, 120 feet, speed of 30 knots.”
“Do we have it on infrared scans yet?”
“They are coming up now, sir.”
An image of a humanoid figure with wings and a tail appear on the
screen. The larger man in charge smiles.
“Gargoyle. Private! Radio headquarters and tell them we have a
confirmed gargoyle sighting.” He pulls a black hood over his head. “Tell
them we are intercepting.”
As Gabriel glides over the suburban area, he strains his eyes and
ears, trying to find any clue to Angela’s whereabouts. As he begins another
circle of the area, he hears a woman talking faintly. He smiles.
“Angela!” he whispers to himself as he dives towards the voice.
“Brook, I know you don’t want to talk about this, but we have to.”
“There was no mistaking it,” Gabriel thinks to himself, “that HAS
to be Angela.”
As he quietly touches down in the house’s back yard, he catches
a glimpse of a beautiful brunette with slightly tanned skin. “Curious,”
he thinks again, “She doesn’t look like Angela, but she sure sounds like
her.”
“Angela, I know it was silly to even THINK that earlier. I… I dunno…
I guess I was just thinking of how it was back at the castle when all of
the adults were taking care of the eggs.”
It HAS to be her. Taking the risk, Gabriel knocks on the back door
of the house.
“Angela!” he calls out.
Curious, Brook and Angela answer the back door to find a gargoyle
standing on their back porch.
Angela gasps in shock. “Gabriel! What… what are you doing here?”
“I came searching for you! We became worried about you after you
never returned. Oberon and Titania said that you were back in New York,
but soon after, she felt Fox die. What happened?”
“Gabriel?” Brook asks as he turns towards his wife. “Is this the
Gabriel you told me about?”
Angela answers sadly. “The one and only.” Angela gasps again. “The
Quarrymen! They will find you! Quick Gabriel, you MUST leave now!”
Suddenly, there is a hard knock on the door.
“THERE HERE!” Angela practically screams. Hearing the scream, the
Quarrymen kick the door in.
“GARGOYLE, FREEZE!” The lead Quarryman, who is wearing power armor,
yells as he points his hammer at the gargoyle.
The gargoyle takes up a defensive position and his eyes flare white.
The Quarryman wearing power armor cocks the handle of his hammer
and it starts to hum. After a second, sparks are covering the head of the
hammer.
“I was hoping you would resist.”
In the backyard, Gabriel hears a loud thumping noise as a Quarryman
troop carrier lands. Within seconds, a dozen of Quarrymen are in the backyard,
waiting for the gargoyle to make a move.
“Mommy, what’s going on?” A groggy David asks from halfway down
the living room steps. He quickly sees the troops. “Cool!” He beams.
“DAVID! GO BACK UP TO YOUR ROOM! NOW!” Brook and Angela yell to
their (Currently) only biological child.
The lead Quarryman looks towards David, giving Gabriel the opportunity
he needed. Quickly, he grabs the cutting block table and throws it at the
Quarryman.
Seeing the table coming towards him, the leader swings his hammer
with all of his might, connecting with the table. As soon as the charged
head hits the table, the table explodes, showering the troops and hitting
little David with wood fragments.
The little boy slumps onto the steps.
“NO!” Brook yells as he grabs the kitchen table and swings it with
more force than he thought he could and hits Gabriel in the back. The gargoyle
slumps to the ground.
As soon as the gargoyle hits the floor, the Quarrymen move forward,
securing the unconscious gargoyle in clamps and chains. The worried parents
run to their son.
“David!” Angela gasps as she sees her son lying on the steps. She
picks up her son and feels for a pulse. She gives a sigh of relief when
she fels one.
“Ma’am, if you would like, we could take your son to our medical
facility. It is the least we could do.”
Angela nods and ws escorted towards the helicopter in her backyard.
Alex runs down the steps and notices all of Quarrymen in the living room.
“Dad,” he cringes inwardly. “What’s going on?” Alex gives Brook
a look as if to say ‘Have we been caught?’
Brook mouths ‘No’ before speaking. “The Quarrymen tracked a gargoyle
here and were able to capture him.” Brook gestured to the gargoyle being
carried out to the helicopter. “Your brother was hurt, and we are taking
him to the hospital.”
“I am going too.” Alex announced. Brook nodded and soon both were
in the helicopter on the way to the Quarrymen Headquarters.
“I am VERY proud of you, citizen.” A 5’10” man with blonde hair
and a slight mustache starts to say. “I am sorry to hear that your son
was injured. Since we were involved in his injury, we will see that he
gets the best medical attention possible.”
Brook looks around the sophisticated medical facility before answering.
“Thank you Mr. Castaway…”
“Please, call me John.” Castaway smiles.
“Ok. John. Anyway, I am Brook Robbins, head of Xanatos Enterprises.
I can assure you that my son WILL get the best medical attention possible.”
Castaway steps back in shock.
“XANATOS Enterprises? HE was the one who brought the gargoyle menace
from Scotland. Are YOU a gargoyle sympathizer also?” Castaway asks, hand
on the laser pistol behind his back.
“At one time, yes.” He answers, not looking towards Castaway. “But
after a night like tonight… I could have lost my son.” Brook thinks about
what might happen if more gargoyles come from Avalon in search of Angela
or Alex. “They must be stopped.” Brook mutters to himself as he thinks
of the one thing that is more important to him than ANYTHING. His family.
“Yes. They must. That is why we are going to interrogate the prisoner
once he wakes up.”
Brook thought hard for a few moments.
“Please, John. Allow me the honor of interrogating the prisoner.
He came looking for me, thinking I had the same beliefs as Xanatos. He
may be more willing to share his secrets with me.”
“Yes.” Castaway mutters quietly first before speaking louder. “Yes.
YES. That sounds like a great idea. Please. Join us. Wear the hood of my
family as we stop this gargoyle menace.”
Brook didn’t need to think. “Where do I get my hammer?”
At sunset the next day, Gabriel wakes from his stone sleep to find
he is in a metal cell with wrist, ankle and tail restraints on him.
“RELEASE ME!” he roars. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!?”
“Gabriel!” It was Angela. “It’s me. Angela.”
“Angela! My rookery sister, have you come to rescue me?”
“Uh… yes. But first, we need to ask you a few more things. If we
come in, you won’t do anything, will you?”
“Why do you ask, Angela. You know I would never harm you.”
The cell door opens and two humans walk in. One, he recognizes
as Angela, while the other, he did recognize from the night before. Angela’s
mate… I think.
Angela nods and the guards close the cell door and leave. Angela
raises a remote control and presses a button, releasing the cuffs on Gabriel.
He embraces her in a large hug. “Rookery sister! It is so good
to see you again. After last night, I feared the worse again. What has
happened to you?”
Angela shakes her head and releases herself from his grasp. “We
don’t have time for that right now. I need to ask you a few questions before
the guards come back.” Gabriel nods. “First, what time of the night was
it when you left Avalon?”
“It was the middle of the night. Why?” Gabriel has a questioning
look on his face.
“It’s not important. Did any more gargoyles come with you from
Avalon?”
“No.” Now Gabriel is starting to get worried. “Angela, what is
the meaning of this? Are you here to release me or not.”
Angela steps back before answering. “Not.” Angela notices Gabriel
filling with rage before her eyes. “Gabriel, I am sorry, but if we let
you go, they could hurt my family.”
“You have betrayed me!” Gabriel’s eyes flare as he readies to attack.
Suddenly, he feels a hard object hit him and a shock flows through him.
Unable to stand, Gabriel falls to his knees.
He looks up and sees that it is Angela’s husband that had hit him
with on of the Quarrymen’s hammers.
“Why?” Gabriel gasps.
“I need to protect my family. They are all I have left in the world.
I hope you understand.” Angela answers sadly.
Brook turns the dial to the maximum level and raises it to hit
the fallen gargoyle.
As he brings the hammer down onto the gargoyle, Gabriel looks Brook
right in the eye with a look that says ‘I understand. I pity you.’
As the hammer contacts with the gargoyle's head with a crunch,
the gargoyle convulses and screamed as the hammer discharges. His skin
burns, and after a moment, all that is left of the captain of the Avalon
honor guard is nothing but a burned corpse.
As the last of the charge leaves the hammer, Brook drops it onto
the cell floor.
“What happened here?” Castaway demands as he sees the burnt corpse
of the gargoyle on the floor.
“He tried to attack my wife when he figured out that we were not
going to let him go. I hit him with the hammer to stun him, but I guess
it was on too high.” Brook sighs.
“Did you find anything out?” Castaway looks at the couple. The
couple look at each other, and then Angela speaks.
“Yes. We found out that the gargoyle came from a magical island.
He also told us the spell to get there. There are hundreds of gargoyles
there.” Angela says this as she looks sadly at the dead gargoyle.
“VERY good. We must go there immediately.”
“NO!” Brooked yells. Castaway turns towards him with a puzzled
look on his face.
“ER… what I mean is that the on the gargoyles island, time runs
very differently.”
“Continue” Says Castaway, encouraged.
“Yes…” Angela now continues. “For every hour that passes on their
island, one day passes in the real world.”
“So…?”
“So,” Brooklyn continues, “if we attack now, it will be in the
middle of the night, when the gargoyles are out in force. If we wait a
week, it will be day light and…”
“…and we can simply walk in and smash them. I like how you think!”
“But,” Angela continues, “the gargoyles island is protected by
powerful magical beings. It would be best to simply destroy the island.”
She shrugs. “Better be safe than sorry.”
“Yes. THAT sounds like the best plan. Now, give me the spell.”
“Mr. Castaway… John… I think it would be best if I kept the knowledge
of this spell to my self for the time being.” Angela answers. “Would you
be able to not use the spell, knowing it would bring you to the remaining
gargoyles?”
“Hmm… good point. Well, good things come to those who wait!” Castaway
smiles and lets out a little laugh. “In one week, the gargoyle menace will
be gone forever.”
“They did WHAT?!?” Demona screams at the 7 year old Alexander “Fox”
Xanatos.
“They are going to lead Castaway and the Quarrymen to Avalon to
be rid of the gargoyles for good.”
Demona crosses her arms and looked at the child.
“Just how do you know this?”
Alex sighs. “I used my magic. Before the Puck died, he gave me
all of his knowledge, both what Owen knew AND what Puck knew. That’s also
why I am so good in school.” He grins. “THAT… and they told me when we
got home.”
Demona is about to say more when a slightly nerdy looking but still
rather attractive male, about 25 years old, enters the room.
“I just finished talking to the Ishimura gargoyles. They are doing
fine and thank us for helping them fool the Quarrymen. They said that if
we ever needed anything, just ask.” He quickly notices that the tension
in the room is thick enough to cut with a broadsword. “Did I miss anything?”
“Lex, we have a serious problem…” Demona starts.
After several minutes, Demona had brought Lex up to speed on the
current events.
“Hmm… that Is a problem.” He looks at Alex. “Alex, could you please
turn me back into a gargoyle? I think that my gargoyle speed and strength
would be of help here. Plus, I am tired of being a human.”
Alex nods and waves his hand, turning the human back into the gargoyle
he once was.
“Well, first things first…” Lex continues to say as he admires
his newly returned body. “…we have to stop your parents, Alex.”
“My parents died over six years ago in the blast.” Alex states
simply.
“As did my rookery brother Brooklyn…” Lex adds.
“And my daughter Angela.” Demona concludes.
“Then it’s settled.” Demona states simply. “We eliminate those
two as soon as we can, and by any means possible. Then we eliminate the
Quarrymen threat.”
Lex and Alex nod in complete agreement.
“Are you sure we are doing the right thing, my love?” Angela asks
as she lies in bed with her husband, Brook.
“Yes. This is the only way we can be sure that none of the gargoyles
threaten our family in the future.” He notices the concern in Angela’s
face. “Don’t worry. I am sure Alex would agree. He has always been a sensible
boy. And we are doing this to protect him.” Brook smiles. “Now sleep well,
my love. We have a busy week ahead of us.”
Epilogue:
“Thank you for tuning into WVRN news at 11. I am Kent Brockman
here with the hour’s top stories. Earlier today the bodies of Brook Robbins,
head of Xanatos Enterprises, and his wife Angela were found dead in their
suburban house, apparently victims double suicide. Details are sketchy,
but sources say that it was as if their lungs just stopped working. We
take you live now to the Robbins Estate.”
“This is Samantha Talbert live, where officials have now confirmed
that both of the victims lungs just stopped working, and a broken syringe
with some as yet unidentified substance on the tip. No evidence of any
drug has been detected in their blood stream, but their deaths are for
now being deemed a suicide. Medical investigators also confirmed that Mrs.
Robbins was five months pregnant. In their suicide note, they wrote that
they wished for their two sons, four year old David, named after a friend
of the family David Xanatos, and Alexander Xanatos, their adopted son,
to be raised under the care of Mrs. Robbin’s mother Dominique Destine,
head of Nightstone Unlimited. Earlier today, Dominique Destine gave a press
conference about this whole incident...”
A woman with flaming red hair is shown on the screen with two children
standing at her sides. The younger of the two is clearly distraught and
on the verge of losing control again. His face is flushed and his eyes
are red and wet with unshed tears, evidence that he was recently crying.
The older of the two seemed calmer, more in control, with only a little
sadness in his eyes.
“I was deeply saddened when I heard my daughter and her husband,
my business partner, had decided to end their lives when they had so much
to live for. Brook had recently confessed to me that he was deeply unhappy
with his life. My daughter had confessed to me equally. I am just glad
that they had the sense to leave their two darling,” she raises her arms
and the children hug her, “children to me to look after. I am sure that
with the help of my finance Lex Jacobs, we will be able to create a loving
environment for them. That is all I have to say, and we will not take any
more questions.” The woman ends, then turns into a large building.
“Also topping the news at 11pm,” Kent Brockman continues after
the video clip, “a large nuclear detonation occurred in up state New York,
apparently at the base of the Quarrymen. News is still very sketchy at
this hour, but the military and seismologists have confirmed that it was
five separate detonations, and they are assumed to be the Quarrymen’s last
remaining nuclear warheads. More news after the break.” He then mumbles,
“I am sure glad those assholes are gone…What do you mean we are still on
the air?”
At the new Destine manor, a small winged figure is seen flying towards
the ground.
“I got you!” Demona says joyfully as she catches the small winged
figure. The little gargoyle, who has a small beak, lavender skin, and white
hair, giggles in delight.
Demona looks at the young gargoyle with a gleam in her eye.
“And to think. Your parents wanted you to never know you could
fly.”
“Can I fly again?!?”
Demona smiles. “Sure. Just make sure Alex watches.” She turns her
head towards a 7-year-old boy, who is reading a book while floating in
the air. “Ok Alex.”
Alex smiles. “Come on David. I’ll show you some REAL flying!” Alex
flies out of the house, grabbing the laughing young gargoyle into the air.
Demona watches the two children play in the air.
“Brings back the old days back at the castle, doesn’t it?”
Demona sighs and nods. “Over the centuries, I never realized how
much I missed watching children play.” After a few moments, her smile turns
to a sad shake of her head. “But I probably can never have children again.
There are no other female gargoyles around to start a breeding season.”
Lexington turns Demona around and gives her a hug as best as he
is able.
“Well, someone has to show the Avalon gargoyles how to start one.
And besides… they must be told about Gabriel.”
“I have been thinking about Gabriel… According to Sevarius, he
could clone Gabriel a new body, and Alex could just transfer his soul from
the dead body to the new one.”
Lexington looks up at Demona with a sly grin on his face. “I never
knew you cared about him. Are you going soft on me, my love?”
Demona grins for a moment before answering. “Just looking out for
a fellow gargoyle. That’s all. Also, if we plan to survive as a species,
we need all the help we can get. And me, go soft? HA!”
“Besides,” Demona thinks as she grins evilly, “I have something
very important in mind for Gabriel.” She closes her eyes and thinks of
all her plans. Avalon… An end to the human plague… Supreme power… And…
Demona shakes herself out of her revelry and addresses the task
at hand. She pulls the web winged gargoyle closer still to herself. “Now,
enough shop talk. Let’s just enjoy the moment, my love.”
Demona smiles as she hugs Lexington, thinking of all that will
happen in the upcoming year.
The End?