Masquerade By Amy K. Cyrway blkblade@mailexcite.com DISCLAIMER: Come to think of it, I think the Disclaimers are so much fun to write. Here, I can trash Disney and Buena Vista, then say I mean no infringement...seriously, Gargoyles belong to the aboveforementioned companies, the name "Dorian Hawkmoon" is Michael Moorcock's (duh...who didn't see THAT coming?) Arin MacDuff, the Black Sword, and anyone else you don't recognise are mine, Chimura is Jennifer DeSalme's (Mercedes), Tex and the Big Yellow Taxi belongs to my friend Ryan Lebreque ("Yes, this is the lost civilisation of Quetzahl. I play beano with them on Fridays."), and the Lorena Bobbit as a Quarryman joke actually came from my boyfriend Jon. ("Can you say, 'eunuch?' Hee hee hee...") As usual, there is a MATURE CONTENT warning in this piece, more for swearing and "adult" situations or some malarkey like that. *Rolls eyes.* Anyway, on with my acknowledgements. Thanx to Joel Belgard, Strider, and Krystiana for writing their praises to me, and extra thanx to Mercedes and Sombrero, who encouraged me to write, Stoney, who is a great friend, no matter what, Blitz, who helped me out when I was suffering from writer's block, and Dylan Blacquiere, my buddy Whitbourne, for without his "Shadowplay" and "Immortal Beloved", I would have never had the balls to post my fanfic. Thanx again, to all of you. Non est mortuum quod perpetuum manet atque in saeculis miris et mors moriatur. (That which is not dead which eternal may lie/With strange aeons, even death may die.)--Amy TITANIA: Previously, on Gargoyles... PUCK: Did you say that human, or that human? Oh, never mind, I'll figure it out. This just might be fun after all. (Show Puck turning Manhattan's population to gargoyles, "The Mirror") LEXINGTON: It's kinda weird. Fun, but weird. (Show the Trio being "sized up" by the three "garg-babes", same ep.) (Show Puck turning the clan into humans, same ep.) BROOKLYN: I would have liked to see the sun rise just once. (Same ep.) (Show Demona looking at her human form through the Mirror, same ep.) ARIN: I don't think I can live like this... (Show Arin dive off the Eyrie Building, "Love & War, part 4.") *** Wyvern Castle 9:30 pm The large teddy bear clobbered Lexington in the side of the head. He bit his tongue on a curse, of course, as he gently shook his head at the seemingly- human toddler. "No, Alex, that's bad," he warned, picking the stuffed animal from the floor and placing it back on the bureau. "Sorry, Unca Lex," he mumbled. "But I wanna play wif you!" "Alex, it's past your bedtime." "But I'm not tired!" "Please, Alex, your mother said--" "Daddy an' Momma's gone!" The jovial boy jumped up and down on his bed. "I wanna play!" "Alexander, you've got to go to sleep, or you won't wake up when you're supposed to." It was really no use. Arguing with a twenty-month-old, especially one as intelligent as Alex, usually ended up the same in the finish: the kid would win. "You have a natural touch with kids, Lex!" A soprano voice called out from the hall, surrounded with giggles. Lex grumbled something intangible, then snapped his fingers as a wicked gleam caught his eyes. "If Auntie Arin told you a story and sang you a lullaby, would you go to sleep?" he asked. The little boy vigorously nodded his head. "Auntie! Tell me a story!"he then shouted. "Busted,"Brooklyn snickered from the living room across the hall. "Shut your mouth, bloke,"she ordered, storming into the nursery, "Or I'll make you sing the Barney song to him." "I'm quiet,"he retorted. "You owe me, Shorty,"she pointed a talon at Lex's chest, though she was not much taller than him. "By the way, did you hear Lorena Bobbit joined the Quarrymen?" "That's not funny,"Lex snorted, trying really hard not to break a l augh. "Angela thought so, and after we explained it to Chimura, she agreed too." "You're brainwashing her!"Lex protested, exiting the room across the hall to the living room where his brothers, Angela, and Chimura were watching (and heckling) Disney's Hercules. Arin stuck her tongue out at the olive gargoyle, then pivoted on her heel and clapped her hands. "Okay, kiddo,"she smiled brilliantly. "What story do you want to here?" "'Green Eggs an' Ham!'"He jumped up and down again. She rolled her eyes in disgust. She could recite that one by heart, Alex had her read it to him so many times. "'I did not stab her with a knife, I could not, would not kill my wife!'" Broadway recited. "Sit down and shut up, OJ!"Brooklyn ordered. "'I could not kill the one I love, so can I please have back my glove?'" Angela lost it. Arin heard her hit the floor, her giggles overcoming her. "That wasn't 'Green Eggs an' Ham,'" Alex shook his head. "That's right, it wasn't. And I better not hear the Clinton one, either!" Arin returned her attention to the toddler. "Why don't I make up a story? A new one, you haven't heard before?" "Okay, Auntie," Alex nodded, flopping onto the bed. She tucked him into the bedding and put the side guard up. Pulling up the rocking chair, she scratched her head, then snapped her fingers. "Once upon a time--" "--In a galaxy far, far away," Lexington mumbled, followed by snickers. "--lived a young boy, who wanted more than anything in the world to be able to fly. He was a very good boy who did his chores and went to bed on time. And every night, when he said his prayers, he would ask to be able to fly. One night, Lady Titania appeared to him and granted his wish, being that he was a good boy. She turned him into a dragon, a small, baby dragon, about the size of a boy. He was so happy, he ran downstairs to show his mother and father. But they were afraid, and ran away. He was so alone. He tried to see his friends, but they threw stones at him. So he flew away in search for the island of Avalon. He flew and flew and flew, until finally he found it, surrounded by mist and hidden from the real world. The Faerie welcomed him with open arms, and he made new friends, but he missed his mother and father. So he confronted Queen Titania again, pleading with her to take away his wish. "'But why?' she asked him. 'You wanted the gift so bad.' "'Yes, but I miss my mother and father,' he answered simply. 'I miss my home. Avalon is lovely, but I miss my home, and my room, and my toys, and my mother and father. "'You may not return to Avalon if you return,' she warned." "'I want to be with my family.' "This touched Titania's heart, and she turned the dragon back to a boy. But the boy was no longer a boy; he had in all his searching lost track of the time and became a man. Titania then sent him back to his home, where he found his parents in their garden. They were much older than he remembered. He called out for them, and even though he was older, they recognised him and welcomed him back. And though he never wanted to fly again, he realised that Titania did give him a gift he knew he had always desired. "Love." The little boy yawned, and smiled sleepily. "Do you miss being human, Auntie?"he suddenly asked. She was taken somewhat aback by the question. "What exactly is human, kiddo?"she asked. "I mean, the two of us and your mommy are part fae." "Do you miss the sun?" "Yes,"she answered quickly. "Yes, I do, Alexander." The little boy nodded, settling back into his bed. "Sing me a song, Auntie,"he pleaded. "Hmmm...what one would you like to hear?" "Can Brook sing the Barney song to me?" "Stop influencing the kid, Arin!" Brooklyn yelled from the living room. "Good one, Alex. Really, what do you want to hear?" "Umm...'Mask'rade'...." She shrugged. Not really a lullaby, too loud and boisterous, nor meant for a solo. Oh, well, she was known to improvise. "'Masquerade,'" her voice was toned down, more of the speed of the Phantom's at the end of the play rather than the full version at the beginning of Act Three. "'Paper faces on parade, Masquerade, hide your face so the world can never find you. Masquerade, every face a different shade, Masquerade, look around, there's another masque behind you....'" She smiled as Alexander drifted to sleep already. Getting up slowly, she turned off the overhead light, leaving the Elmo night light glowing softly in the corner. She closed the door behind her but did not latch it so she could hear if there was any trouble. Rejoining the rest of the young gargoyles, Arin claimed the seat next to Brooklyn and grabbed at the popcorn bowl. "What'd I miss?"she demanded. "Herc wearing Scar from the Lion King," Broadway mumbled, his mouth full of popcorn. "What's next?" she nodded to the pile of video cassettes on the end table. "The 'Evil Dead' series," Lexington grinned. "Does that include the new version of the 'Love Bug'?" Brooklyn quipped. "I was really expecting Bruce Campbell to pull out a shotgun and fire it at Horus the Hate Bug," Angela giggled. "I can see it now. Standing through Herbie's ragtop, unloading ten shots off a double-barrel shotgun. Never once did he have to reload," Lexington added. "'Good, bad,'" Brooklyn quoted, "'I'm the guy with the gun.'" "Oh, great. 'Necromonicon' meets 'Herbie'," Arin groaned. "'Gimme some sugar, baby," Brooklyn continued his tribute to Bruce Campbell as he snaked a hand around Arin's shoulders and pulled her closer. "'Uh, uh,'" Arin's turn to quote in a fake Swedish accent. "'No ding-ding without the wedding ring!'" "Okay, we just went from 'Army of Darkness' to 'Herbie the Love Bug' to 'Men in Tights',"Broadway laughed. "What's wrong with this picture?" "Will you please slow down?"Chimura pleaded. "I cannot understand you!" "What don't you understand?"Angela asked, trying to help. "Why are you talking about a dead book?" "Necromonicon. Book of the Dead. Good basis for a horror movie," Brooklyn explained. "Like Jason and Freddy?" Chimura shook her head. "I did not like them." "I think it's an eighties thing,"Arin shrugged. Alexander listened to the six talk softly in the other room. He didn't understand what they were talking about, their voices were too low, but he couldn't help but to think about what Auntie Arin had said. She missed the sun, the same sun he played under. Getting out of bed, he padded over to the door and peeked out across the hall. Auntie Arin was on the couch, snuggled against Brook, who had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Broadway and Angela were sharing an armchair, and Unca Lex and Chimura were on the floor, propping their heads with their hands, watching the television. He took a deep breath, staring at Arin. "'Cursed into gargoyle form/revert to which you were born,'" he chanted simply, directing his fae power toward the tan gargoyle. Brooklyn could not understand it. Arin was chattering away, leaning against him one minute; the next, she doubled over with a grunt of pain, curled up into a ball. The others surrounded the two as he gently put his hands on her shoulders, trying to look up. What's wrong?" he whispered soothingly. 'What happened?" She shook her head in confusion, huddling in the corner of the couch. "No..." she hissed. "Noooo...." Abruptly a rumble in Alexander's mind alerted he had done a no-no. :What do you think you're doing, child?: Oberon's voice echoed in the boy's ears. :Did the Puck tell you to revert my curse?: "No..." he whimpered, falling onto his padded bottom, tears streaming down his eyes. "Nooo...trying to help..." A flash of light appeared out of nowhere, and Puck picked the child up. "Please, Lord Oberon, be easy on the child,"Puck suggested. "He didn't know--" :SILENCE!: The baritone voice boomed. :He still will be punished accordingly.: There was another flash of green light, this one hitting Alexander's eyes. He cried out, rubbing his eyes. :The spell then will be directed upon the others.: And, with that, the presence of the Fae lord vanished. Lexington was the first to hear Alexander cry. Jumping to his feet, he heard another moan from Arin. Her eyes flared green abruptly, spraying five beams of fae light out from her mouth, each one striking the others. Brooklyn, Broadway and Angela, Lexington and Chimura's change was rather subtle. A faint tingling, and it was over. "What the hell was that--" Brooklyn glanced over at his brothers again and groaned. "Not again." "What?"Broadway ran his hand through his short blond hair-- --And paused, eyes wide. "When did I have hair?"He muttered, more to himself. Brooklyn drummed his fingers against the arm of the couch, raising an eyebrow at his larger brother. "We're human!"Lex cried out, examining his five-fingered hands in shock. Arin stared at the five in shock, her gaze remaining the longest on her beau, now a tall, lithe human with a long face. Even without the beak, his eyes were still recognisible as Brooklyn's, the same rich hazel. Touching his smooth cheek gingerly, she whispered something intangible. He only took her hand away, clasping it with his own five digits, and closed his eyes, almost apologetically. Broadway groaned, slapping his forehead. "Okay, where's the little bugger..." he then stormed out of the room. Brooklyn leapt to his feet and grabbed hold of his arm. "Wait a minute. Why would Puck use Arin? He can only teach Alexander," Brooklyn demanded, returning to his disorientated love. "I can't believe this..." Angela muttered, trying to calm down the rapidly-Greek- spewing Chimura, now a beautiful Mediterranean woman, her Grecian complexion setting off nicely with her deep red hair, with wide eyes full of confusion and fear. "What could have made us human if it wasn't Puck?" "Alexander?" Brooklyn suggested, still holding Arin close. She groaned, shook her head, and glanced up at the five. "Wonderful," she grumbled. "This is just ducky." "What happened?"Angela questioned. "I think Alexander pissed Wicked Evil Step-Dad off," she shrugged, standing shakenly. She was still full gargoyle. "I heard his spell." She bolted out the room and into the nursery, followed by five humans in loincloths and tunics. She was greeted by the toddler latching onto her leg, crying. "I'm sorry!" he sobbed. "I'm sorry!" "It's okay, sweetheart," she picked him up gently. "You didn't know." "I was bad!" he wailed. "No you weren't. You were trying to be good," she whispered, hugging him tight. "So," Brooklyn faced Puck with a rather irrate look to his eyes. "Just tell us the spell will wear off,"he growled. Puck nodded. "Oh, don't worry about that. I don't quite understand what Big-Daddy actually cursed, but Titania won't allow him to punish Alex for long." The fae shrugged. "Heck, if the curse was at all serious, I would be able to negate the effects quite efficiently, considering I am Alexander's protector. It'll probably be nullified within a day, no more." "Does that include us being turned back?" Chimura whimpered. Puck blinked. "Well, yeah, I suppose it does. Again, the curse was directed toward Alex, then deflected to the five of you, so I should be able to reverse it if need be. Which I doubt." "You doubt what?" Broadway demanded. "That I will need to reverse it myself. You guys should be all back to your normal gargoyle selves tomorrow at sundown." "Do you give your word?" Brooklyn demanded. "I don't see what that has to do with any--" "Do you give your word?" "Well, yes, of course I give my word. There wasn't much power to it anyway. The worse-case scenario would be Alex will probably sleep all day, wake up tomorrow night, and you guys will return to normal. Well, technically, you all are still yourselves, just minus the wings, tails, fangs, horns, et cetera--though with Brooklyn's case, I'm not sure about mentally..." "One way to find out," Arin giggled, pulled the white-haired human over toward her and stared deep into his hazel eyes. "What are you--ARIN!" Though before, no one could tell when he was blushing, now it was readily apparent as his cheeks flushed red. "Okay, we're all normal here, or as normal as it could possibly get, though I really don't want to know what you told him, young lady," Puck waved a finger at the only gargoyle of the group. "Oh, well, Alex, you're going to bed." Puck took the boy to his bed, tucked him in, and vanished, not clearly not wanting to face any more questions. "So all this will clear up by tomorrow night," Angela pointed out. "Theoretically," Arin shrugged, kissing her nephew goodnight and led the recently-converted humans back to the living room. "Until then..." she trailed off, scratching at her tri-coloured hair. "Until then, why don't you guys see how the other half lives?" The five glanced nervously at each other. "Oh, come on, blokes! Don't tell me you never wondered how it would be to walk in the daylight!" "Oh, no, guilt trip time," Lex rolled his eyes. "Seriously! Well..." Arin eyeballed her surrogate family with a scrutinising eye. "I think we might have to get you a change of clothes...The Big Apple is weird, but I don't know how it'll take to five chums walking around wearing nothing but a smile and a bandanna..." She snapped her fingers. "I don't know what to do about Broadway, or maybe I do, but I have a whole closet full of clothes I haven't tailored yet for the rest of you. C'mon!" "Arin, problem," Lex pointed out, raising a dark brown eyebrow. She slapped her forehead, then snapped again. "I'll be right back, then," she grinned. "Stay put." And, with that, she bolted out of the room, leaving the humans to fend for themselves. Brooklyn suddenly groaned. "Who's going to tell Goliath and Hudson what happened to us?" he muttered. His brothers, Angela, and Chimura pointed a rather accusitive finger at him. "Outvoted. Damn." The white-haired human sunk into the armchair. "We might as well finish 'The Evil Dead' while we wait for Arin to come back." "What about this?" Chimura demanded, eyes wide in confusion. "How can we protect like this?!" "Chimura, there isn't much we can do about it," Brooklyn explained. "It 's like...it's like our fate to be like this." "What are you talking about, Brook?" Broadway demanded flatly. "I mean, maybe Arin's got a point. This is a chance for us to see how the humans live." "Sort of like the proverbial 'grass is greener on the other side of the fence,'" Broadway mumbled. "I think I've learned my lesson. I will not wish to be anything else than what I already am." "Ha ha," Brooklyn hit the "play" button on the VCR remote. Bruce Campbell and four of his friends were in that old yellow Oldsmobile, driving along a deserted forest road. "You aren't the least bit curious about the Barnes and Noble bookstore with the café. In fact, I remember last week you saying something along the lines of 'Man, what I wouldn't give to be human, just to check out that place--'" "Okay, okay, I get the point," Broadway groaned, rolling his eyes. Angela giggled. "I think it's a wonderful idea," she then added. "How many chances in a gargoyle's lifetime does he get to watch the sun rise?" "How many..." Brooklyn copied, trailing off in thought. "Have you guys noticed Arin acting a little too cheerful about this situation?" Nearly audible blinks answered him. "Why would you say that?" Broadway questioned. "Well, out of all of us, who would like to be human the most?" The answer was unanimous. "Arin," they groaned. "Exactly," he nodded, his eyes showing signs of pain. *** Macbeth Manor Brooklyn Heights Her father hadn't returned from his lecture over at NYU yet, Arin remembered as she pawed through her closet, throwing different style clothes out onto her bed. She had found a tee-shirt and jeans along with a denim jacket and suede boots for Angela, a casual skirt suit and matching Grecian sandals for Chimura, and, digging further back, various sized jeans, from ultra-tight to whigger, and different shirts, flannels and tee-shirts with obscure band logos for the Trio. Tapping her talons on the dresser top, she then ran to her father's room, grabbing a pair of old running shoes, army boots, and a brand-new pair of LL Bean hiking boots that were a too large for Macbeth but he never got the chance to return them. As she returned to her room, she began stuffing the clothes into a large gym bag by her dresser. Pausing for a moment, she realised what had happened during the past hour. And realised what she had missed out on. "Damn you, Oberon!" she screeched, her eyes flaring red with rage. "Damn you and your curse, you bastard! All I ever wanted was to be a normal human being!" With another, this one intangible, scream, she sank to her knees and sobbed, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. Taking hold of the tattered brown teddy bear on her bed, she wrapped her arms around it, flopping onto the mattress, remembering how she used to sleep in it. I miss sleeping on a real bed. I miss the walks down Fifth Avenue. I miss being normal. I miss the sun. On the last thought, she let loose another sob before gathering back up her somber exterior, returning to packing all the clothes. Adding one last thrust for good measures, she zipped up the bag and, flinging the strap over to her side, she vaulted out of the open window back toward Castle Wyvern. *** Castle Wyvern "Okay, I just noticed one hole in the plot..." Lex pointed out. "In 'Evil Dead 2', Ash falls out of the sky, and they worship him. In 'Army of Darkness', they take him for a sorcerer and in league with Arthur's enemy, Henry the Red. What's going on here?" "If you noticed the transition between 'Evil Dead' and 'Evil Dead 2', bro," Brooklyn retorted, "they totally dropped the three other campers. They only showed Ash and Linda." "Good point," Broadway nodded, stuffing his face with more popcorn. Chimura glanced around, still a little uncomfortable with the situation. Everything was normal, save for the fact that they were...well...human. "Ut-oh," Brooklyn then grumbled, his eyes ever leaving the TV screen. "Time to face the music. Goliath and Hudson's returned." "I hate it when you do that," Broadway rolled his eyes. "You get used to it when you hang out with RC," Lex smirked, grabbing a soda. "Goliath!" Brooklyn called out. "We have a problem!" "That always works," Angela shrugged as the light footfalls of her father and the clan elder neared, followed by the excited run of Bronx, who beat Goliath and Hudson to the living room. The gargbeast skid to a stop, cocking his head in confusion to go with his confused whine. "What sorcery..." soon followed as the Clan Manhattan's leader stood in the doorway, staring bug-eyed at the humans, clearly sharing the Trio's, Angela's, and Chimura's features, but now...human.... "I know this is weird, Goliath," Brooklyn stood. "But Alexander was trying something, and it backfired. We've already talked to Puck, and he promised the spell to wear off tomorrow night." "Gods blast it!" Hudson swore, drawing his sword. "Where be the little faerie?" "Force isn't going to change us back, Hudson," Brooklyn shook his head. "We might as well be patient until tomorrow night." "But this isnae right!" the elderly gargoyle protested. "And risk another practical joke by Puck?" the second-in-command raised an elegant white eyebrow. "He gave us his word we'd revert sundown tomorrow." Goliath's gaze went from Brooklyn to the dark skinned woman who was his daughter. "Where is Arin?" He asked. "She said she'd be back shortly," Lex remarked. "And was she...changed...as well?" "Well, that's the reason of what happened to us," Brooklyn scratched his head. "Alex tried to turn Arin back human and it kind of backfired onto us. But no, she wasn't changed." "The poor lass...I wonder how she's taking it," Hudson muttered. "Quite well when she left," Broadway shrugged. Only Brooklyn shook his head slowly, but no one really noticed as they heard someone run in from the courtyard. Tossing the gym bag over to Broadway, she flashed a brilliant smile to Goliath and Hudson. "Too bad you missed all the excitement," she shrugged. "I don't know about that one, lass," Hudson ran a hand across his balding scalp. The six retreated into one of the guest rooms, where Arin dumped all the contents of the bag onto the neatly made bed. "Okay, everyone," Arin indicated the pile of clothes on the bed in a Vanna White- esque manner. "Dig in." The Trio and Angela practically dove onto the bed, fighting over different tee- shirts and flannel shirts. Chimura kind of stayed to the shadows, a little timid. Arin draped a friendly arm over her shoulders. "I've got something in mind for you," she smiled warmly, pushing Lexington aside to get to the pile, pulling out the pastel suit and the Grecian- style sandals. "I hope you like them; they've been in my closet for god-knows how long." Chimura took the dress, admiring it at arm's length. "Thank you," she whispered, swiftly moving to the adjacent bathroom to change, allowing Arin's attention to return to the squabbling four. Broadway and Brooklyn were fighting over a rather cool-looking Scorpions long-sleeve, and Lexington was arguing Angela for the denim jacket. "You guys are so silly!" Arin chortled. "Broadway, do you really think that shirt's going to fit you? And Lex, that jacket's got a Victoria's Secret logo on the breast pocket." Broadway cracked up, tossing the shirt at Brooklyn and dug through the pile once more. The khaki whigger pants fit him just fine as he hiked them underneath his loincloth. Waist-wise, however, he had to suck in his gut to zip up the fly. Brooklyn was doing the same with a stonewashed blue pair of Levi's 551's. Lexington blushed, relinquishing the jacket as he yanked out a pair of faded blue Wranglers and copied his brothers' procedures just as Chimura emerged from the bathroom, donning the dress, the sandals still in her hand. "I like it," she smiled sheepishly, "But I do not know how to tie these up." "Not a problem," Arin took the sandals and indicated the dresser chair. "Sit down and I'll show you." Just then, yet another fight between the Trio broke out as they argued over the combat boots. "Broadway, try on the hiking boots. Lex, I think you'd like the sneakers better." Ain rolled her eyes as she tied up the sandals around Chimura's calves. "You're only saying that because Brook's your boyfriend," Lex stuck his tongue out. "Yeah, well just remember who can always kick your ass," Brooklyn snatched up the boots and tugged them on. "A little loose..." "For god's sake, do I have to tell you everything?" The tan gargoyle laughed. "Put on some socks!" Angela giggled as Brooklyn mumbled, "Yeah, I knew that," and pulled a pair of white tube socks from the pile. Finally, the five stood, now appearing like the average, garden-variety Generation- Xers. Brooklyn had threw on his own leather jacket over the "Rock You Like A Hurricane" tee-shirt, the wing slits not even noticeable on black-against-black, and pulled the pant legs over the black leather boots. Angela had a white tee-shirt and form-fitting jeans along with the denim jacket and suede boots. Broadway seemed content with the large Def Leppard Adrenalise tee-shirt and a black, blue, and white flannel tied around his waist, though the boots were a tad too short. Lexington made do with a Deep Fix tee with a Dodgem Dude "Radioactive Area: Enter At Your Own Risk" design to it underneath a black and silver logoless baseball jersey, and the ratty Adidas running shoes actually fit him. "Lexington, you'd better take that shirt off before sun-set," Arin growled. "If my Deep Fix gets wrecked, you're going to have hell to pay." "Fine," the smallest male shrugged, walking around in circles to get used to the sneakers. "Wonderful!" Arin clapped her hands. "You are now ready to interact with the human race." Suddenly, she glanced at the pile of leftover clothes. "Did anyone tell you about underwear?" She snickered, thrown an unopened package of boxers toward the Trio. *** NYU Parking Lot B 11:00 pm Lennox MacDuff disengaged his car alarm as he walked toward his BMW. It was a late lecture, true, but he enjoyed spreading the wisdom he had gathered throughout the millennium, especially to young minds who were interested in learning. As he unlocked his car, he glanced up to see a black-haired woman, her head bent down against the wind, wearing an air-brushed leather jacket with the Phantom of the Opera logo on the back. Recognising her, he called out, "Ms. Spiker!" Her head snapped up, changing direction to meet up with him. "Evening, sir," she nodded. "Excellent seminar tonight." "I think we can drop the formalities, RC," he smiled slightly. "May I ask where you're heading to this time of night? The apartments are on the south end of campus." The corner of her mouth quirked upward. "I have to see Brooklyn tonight. Help him out with something. And Lex wanted me to help him with CGI programming." Her tone suddenly dropped. "Also, as cliched as it sounds, sir, I felt a great disturbance in the Force," she remarked. "I have a bad feeling about it, and when I have a bad feeling, I tend to listen to it. Unfortunately, it seems to be coming from the Eyrie Building. And, even worse, my bike's in the shop." "Get in," he ordered, unlocking the passenger side door. If there was trouble at the castle, his daughter might be in danger...! "I don't think it's really danger, sir," she shook her head as if reading his mind (which, of course, she mind have been). "It's more of an oddity...a strange occurrence, a freak of nature. A great change, a shift of some sort. I may not be able to pinpoint it, but I now what fae senses like, and this reeks it." "Not again," he growled as he pulled out of the parking lot rather haphazardly, almost clipping a Ford Explorer heading inward. "Whatever happened to the dream of normality?" "Begging your pardon, sir, but what exactly is normality?" "True," he retorted, navigating onto the East 8th Street. "Of course, who am I to say what is normal? I'm immortal, my ex-wife turns out to be none other than the Queen of the Fae, and my daughter is turned into a gargoyle by King Oberon himself." He laughed shortly. "You're not the only one, sir," RC glanced at Macbeth out of the corner of her deep grey eyes. "You try growing up around people who think you're crazy to be hearing voices in your head. Then when you finally realise what's going on, the wrong people get interested in you and use you for their needs." She sighed. "I wanted out of the Black Sword so bad when I found out Zanthé's twisted mind to be beyond my tastes." She finished with a snort. "It all boils down to one thing: normality is overrated," she finalised, sinking deeper into the seat. *** "This is just too weird," Brooklyn muttered. He and Arin were in their private corner of the library, separated from the rest of the world by shelves of Michael Moorcock, H.P. Lovecraft, Douglas Adams, Mercedes Lackey, amongst other writers. She sat across his lap, her arms around his neck, her head on his shoulder, her legs draped over the arm of the beat-up chair. Her eyes were closed. He watched in fascination as his five-fingered hand combed through her tri-coloured hair. "I'd say," she agreed sleepily. "You're really angry about this, aren't you?" he whispered. He felt her take a deep breath. "It's no use hiding it from you, isn't it?" she sighed. "Yes, I am. I spent half the time at home screaming and crying about the unfairness of the situation." "I figured you would," he kissed the top of her head, marveling at the strange and alien sensations his brain received from his pale lips. "Listen, Brook, I didn't want to bring my bad mood to the rest of the gang. I want you to know what it's like to live outside the night." She reached up, twirling a lock of snow white hair around her finger. They sat in silence for a few minutes more in the dim light. "You make a very handsome human," she smirked somewhat. "You make a very beautiful gargoyle," he smiled warmly. "So, did you really mean what you said, or rather, projected, to me earlier?" Her grinned stretched further, more evilly. "You bet, handsome," she chuckled, kissing his neck lightly. Tilting her head up slightly, he leaned over and kissed her on her lips, at first lightly, savoring the all-together new and entirely different sensations coursing through his nerves. Hungrily, she shifted onto her knees, placed her hands on his shoulders, and leaned into the kiss. He mewed in surprise, his brain jousted with new feeling. Not that it wasn't a bad thing...in fact, he was enjoying every moment of it. Running his hand under her shirt, he caressed her back, up to the sensitive spot between the wings. She purred softly, straddling his lap-- --then stopped. Dropped her hands, her face, her eyes. "I'm sorry, Brook," she whispered. "I can't do this...I feel like I'm taking advantage of you." "I don't understand," he mouthed. "I just don't feel comfortable with you this way," she whispered. "I mean, I know it's you, but..." she shook her head. "I can't do this with you in your condition." "I don't have some disease, Arin," he laughed somewhat. "Why is it suddenly different?" "Because I know first-hand how fragile the human body is, and I don't want to hurt you by accident," she blurted out. He blinked his rich hazel eyes, surprised, unmoving save his hand stroking her hair. "I'm sorry," she apologised, getting up and walking to the bookshelf, her eyes skimming the titles. "Anything you want to read tonight?" He stood as well, hugging her from behind. "I still love you, Arin," he hissed in her ear. "I'll love you no matter what." "I know you would," she turned and returned the hug. "And I love you too. It's just a little...weird...." "I wish you would have changed as well," he closed his eyes. "I've always wanted to share the sunrise with you." "I don't think it will ever happen, thanks to shit-head Step-daddy," she grumbled. "Don't give your hopes up, bright sun," he kissed her lightly. "Please don't give your hopes up." *** Eyrie Building "What in the hell...?" Macbeth blinked, staring at the two humans who looked suspiciously like Angela and Broadway. "Alexander tried to help Arin, and his spell backfired," Broadway grumbled simply. "Is it just you or--" RC questioned just as Angela shook her head. "Brooklyn, Chimura, and Lexington were affected as well," she retorted. "And Arin?" Macbeth demanded forcefully. "She's in the library," Broadway shrugged. "And, as far as we can tell, she's fine, just still gargoyle." The grey-bearded human grumbled, making a bee-line to the large oak door down the main hallway. Pushing it open with a creak on the hinges, he called out into the darkness, "Arin!" "Yes, Da?" her soprano voice answered as she navigated through the shelves of the library. "What the blazed happened? I just ran into Broadway and Angela." "Ah," she nodded giving a sheepish smile. "Well, Alexander was trying to be a good boy and...well...what was meant for me backfired onto the rest of the gang." As if on cue, Brooklyn joined Arin at her side. "'Backfired' is not the word for it," he muttered. "But everything should be fine and dandy tomorrow evening. At least, that's what Puck said," Arin shrugged. "I see," he nodded, glancing back at Brooklyn, regarding the lithe young man with piercing steel grey eyes. Brooklyn could sense the thought brewing inside the immortal king's head, but dared not probe any deeper. RC's first rule in telepathy was to never read anyone without his or her permission. Her lessons always made sense, and that bothered him somewhat, considering his instructor was the Second Matriarch of the Black Sword. "If you would excuse me, I just remembered something I had to take care of...." Out of habit, he pecked Arin on the cheek and bolted out of the library... ...Stopping short in the television room, slapping his forehead. Shit. Arin was going to kill him. She didn't want her father to know they were "involved." Hell, everyone else knew about them, what would the trouble with Macbeth knowing as well? Because he's a traditional father only looking out for his daughter, he reminded himself, slouching somewhat as he plopped himself in front of the television and turned on to South Park. And what kind of father would allow his daughter to date let alone anything else with a long-haired, motorcycling- loving, leather-jacket-wearing, telepathic freak like himself? He could Feel Arin's anger bubbling up, even from way out here. She was going to kill him. *** "BROOKLYN!!!" He cringed, finding her staring up at the stars out in the courtyard. "Thanks a lot," she snarled. "I just spent a half-hour talking to my father." "Was it that bad, bright sun?" he whispered gently, setting his hands on her shoulders. "He wants to chew you out personally," she grumbled, glancing away. "Fun," he muttered, taking her chin and kissing her lightly. "Oh, well. I'll just tell him how I truly feel about you." "He's in the parlor, with Goliath and Hudson," she smirked. "Wonderful," he rolled his eyes. "Shut your yap, bloke," Arin snorted as Brooklyn entered the castle once more. Arin, all alone, stared up at the starry sky. Her knees gave way as she tumbled onto the cold stone ground, softly crying. Why isn't it fair...?! Why isn't it fair...?! "Brooklyn..." she whispered. "Brooklyn...it's so unfair...I can't help but to love you..." *** RC giggled as she arrived at the scrawny teenager at the computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard, occasionally swearing as that nettlesome pinkie finger constantly struck an unwanted key, causing him to delete an entire string of commands. "How can you do this?" He then demanded at her. "It takes practice, amigo," RC squeezed his shoulder. "And even then, there's the fact that I can type fifty words per minute using only six fingers." "We should be back to normal tomorrow night," Chimura remarked for the umpteenth time since the accident, as if reassuring herself. "I don't know how much longer I can continue to program like this!" Lex growled. "Why the hell did they put the 'control' and 'z' buttons so close together?!" "To frustrate people with only eight fingers," Broadway walked in, carrying the ever-present jar of jalapeño peppers. "'Frustrate' doesn't even scratch the surface of my problems," Lex mumbled, propping his head on his hand, running his free hand through his thick brown hair. "I don't think I can ever get used to this." He sat up, taking Chimura's hand with his left hand and squeezing it. "I just hope Puck keeps his word." "Why wouldn't he?" Angela questioned. "He has nothing to gain in this." "All I can say is to take it in stride, amigos," RC shrugged. "I got to get home. I've got a class at nine, and here it is almost midnight. If you need a place to crash, you know where I live." And, with a slight wave, she exited silently from the room. "Wonderful," Lex grumbled, burying his head in his arms. RC stuck her head back into the room. "Bee-Tee-Dub," she exclaimed, her way of saying "by the way," "How about we go to lunch tomorrow, say, noonish? My treat." "Sure!" Broadway agreed a full nanosecond after she asked. "My place, at noon. Sounds good. See you then!" She left again, this time for good. *** "Yer tellin' me ye didn't know?" Hudson snickered. "You've made you're point, old man," Macbeth grumbled, reaching for the brandy bottle. "It's been almost a year!" "Wonderful," the human muttered, deadpan, as he poured the whiskey glass half full, staring at the amber liquid. "Simply wonderful." "Ach, isn't love grand?" The light brown gargoyle took the bottle from his friend and poured himself a glass himself. "Why should I be upset?" Macbeth took a deep swig. "My only daughter--" "--Cursed by Lord Oberon in the form of a gargoyle, falling in love with the lad," Hudson finished, following Macbeth's example with the drink. "We all know the story. We were all there. Maybe it's time t'accept that the lass is growing up." "Interesting concept, coming from a gargoyle," Macbeth raised an eyebrow humourously. "Ach, well," Hudson shrugged. "I was around to watch Malcolm raise Princess Katherine. That, and I caught a 20/20 segment on parenting just before the Trio changed the channel. Damn 'South Park'." "Now there's a family-orientated program," Macbeth mumbled. Hudson let loose a healthy chortle, finishing his drink and pouring himself another just as Goliath joined them, helping himself to New York City tap water. "Goliath!" Macbeth exclaimed. "Just the man I'm looking for!" The large lavender gargoyle sat at the table with the two, noting the glasses and the half-empty bottle of brandy. Though keeping his somber exterior, his eyes clearly stared, "Oh, no, they're both drunk, or at least trying to get there." "Father to father advise," Macbeth pulled another glass out of the cupboard and offered a drink. Goliath politely refused. "What did you do when you found out Broadway and Angela?" "This is about Arin and Brooklyn, isn't it?" Goliath smirked somewhat out of character. "Broadway and I discussed it in a civil manner...he and Angela are both adults, and can make their own decisions, I rationed out...and if I ever found out he hurt her in any way, I would personally castrate him with my own talons." He explained rather calmly as he leaned back, taking a sip of his water. Macbeth snorted somewhat. "I've got to admire the fact you can say that with a straight face, Goliath," he replied. "Well. I guess I can look at the bright side of things: she's not hanging out in a gang, doing drugs, getting into more trouble than she can handle, I've never seen her happier..." he sighed, taking the bottle from the center of the table. "I'm losing her, aren't I?" "I wouldnae say losing her," Hudson corrected. "She is always clan, and ye cannae loose that bond." "Words to live by, old man," Macbeth raised his glass up in toast and tilted back. A slight cough at the doorway caught their attentions. "Am I interrupting anything?" Brooklyn questioned, a little hesitantly. There was a double-take, of course, from the three gentlemen, but the surprise was getting less and less of a shock of a human with Brooklyn's voice and eyes. "No, no, not at all, lad," Hudson replied, pulling out the fourth seat for the young man to sit. "What brings you here?" "Well," he sat, hands shoved in his pockets. "Arin told me Mr. MacDuff wished to speak with me." "And that I do," Macbeth seemed to sober up mighty quickly as he sat up straight, demanding attention. "There is an old tradition. A suitor, let's say for example, you, lad, wishes to court a daughter of a noble house, in this case, Arin. There's an interview process, if you may call it that, that the daughter's father will the suitor." Oh, boy, Brooklyn thought to himself and any other telepath in a fifty mile radius. He's drunk, and wants to ask me questions about how I feel about his daughter. "Have you slept with Arin?" "Yes, sir, but only once, and we were both drunk." That would really impress him. Macbeth leaned forward, raising a grey eyebrow over his left eye. "Well, it has come to my attention that you show an interest in my daughter. And clearly, the feeling is mutual." Here it comes...Brooklyn instinctively tensed up, though forcing his eyes to remain locked on the hard grey orbs. "It also seems we may have an interesting predicament on our hands," he leaned back again. "And I think we can utilise it to an advantage. It seems, at least until nightfall tomorrow night, you're human, so I suggest maybe a neutral ground. Tomorrow, noon. I know of a place. Meet me here, at the front door, no later than quarter of twelve." He stood, not waiting for an answer. Bowing slightly to Goliath and Hudson, he added, "Now, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I must depart. I have an interesting day planned out ahead of me." And, with somewhat of a bounce to his step, he left the parlor. "Lad," Hudson paused, his finger pointing at the young man staring horrifically at the place Macbeth had taken just a few short seconds before. "Lad, for lack of better words, ye're screwed." "You took the words right out of my mouth, Hudson," he groaned, sinking somewhat. "What am I going to do, Goliath?" "I don't think I'm in the position to tell you," the leader retorted. "However, I can advise you to talk to Broadway." "Apparently, he's got more experience dealing with overprotective fathers," Brooklyn rifled back in his old sarcasmo disposition. Goliath took a half-second to register his second's remark. "Broadway never had the problem of dealing with a human father," he reciprocated with a small smirk. "True, but now you have a human daughter, and can't keep an eye on her like you did, at least for the day." Brooklyn stood, saluting the leader and elder. "Well, I must be off. Have a big day ahead of me, you know. Good night." And, with that, he took off to the direction of the courtyard. "Is it me," Hudson remarked, "or has the lad developed a rather sarcastic disposition?" "No," Goliath shook his head. "Merely growing up." *** He found her where he left her, though he was on her knees, her back toward him. "Arin?" he whispered, touching her shoulder. She spun around defensively, swiping at her cheeks. "I'm fine, bloke," she retorted. "Just...a gust of wind hit me head on, that's all." "Of course," he took her hands and helped her stand. "Arin, this is really bothering you." "I know it is!" she snarled. "And it down-right sucks." She buried her head into his shoulder. "It fucking sucks." He held her tightly, stroking her tri-coloured hair. He estimated a full hour had passed by the time she finally got all the crying out of the way. "Brooklyn," she hissed, staring up at him. "Please don't leave me." "I would never do that, bright sun," he whispered. "You know that." "No, you wouldn't." She pulled away reluctantly, brushing her knees, her pantleg, and finally, her cheeks once more. "So, did you talk to my da?" "I did." "And...?" "...and he wants to talk to me at noon tomorrow. His choice of... wherever." "Whatever you do, bloke, refuse any alcoholic beverages he offers you." "No problem. You know how I get when I drink." "You start finishing other people's questions. I know," she shrugged. "And I don't think that's a good way of setting on a first impression on my da." *** Goliath could see the pain between Brooklyn and Arin as morning approached minute by minute. And, by the way the rest of the clan watched the two star-crossed lovers, say their good-nights, everyone seemed to the point of teary-eyed, especially Angela and Broadway. "See you tonight?" Arin finally demanded as she released him from her embrace. "I'll be here when you wake, I promise," he whispered as the sun peaked over the horizon, solidifying her, Goliath, Hudson, and Bronx. He only heard the four others ohhing and ahhing at the sun. His eyes, however, were on the beautiful statue before him, his eyes watering uncontrollably. With one last caress against its shoulder, he trudged back to Broadway, Lexington, Angela, and Chimura. "What now, guys?" he questioned. "You're in charge, Brook," Broadway retorted. "Let's go see RC," Lexington suggested. "Great, we see her last night, and what's the first thing you want to do? See RC," he shrugged. "What else are we going to do at--" Broadway stuck his tongue out in thought, "-- six in the morning?" Brooklyn shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. His eyes widened in surprise. Pulling an envelope out of his jacket, he opened it up cautiously, then grinned somewhat evilly as he ran over to Arin's statue. "I'll make it up to you, bright sun, I promise," he whispered, pecking the stone on the cheek as he jogged back to his brothers. "What is it?" Lex demanded. "Some cash to do whatever we want," he muttered, reading the note inside the envelope. "There's got to be about a hundred bucks here!" Chimura glanced back at Arin, then turned back to Brooklyn. "She really loves you," she remarked simply. Brooklyn nodded. "The feeling's mutual," he retorted. "Anyone in the mood for coffee?" Owen was almost trampled over by the five young adults stampeding from the elevator. "And where do you think you are going?" he demanded, catching Lexington by the collar of his jersey. "Just over to a coffee shop, then over to RC's," Brooklyn remarked casually. "I see. And you plan to walk?" "Of course!" Angela interjected. "It's a beautiful day today!" Owen suppressed rolling his eyes as he nodded reluctantly, striding over to the front desk. Taking a cell phone out of the bottom drawer, he handed it to Brooklyn. "Call if there are any problems," Owen ordered stoically. "Of course," Brooklyn agreed, already half-way out the door, followed by the others. "You'll be the first one we'll call." "Bye!" Lex added for emphasis, the last one out the revolving door. They stood at ground level, staring up at the Eyrie Building for a good five minutes. "Wow," Lexington hissed. "I never realised how high up the castle is until now!" Brooklyn and Broadway both whistled, barely able to see Castle Wyvern through the low clouds of the morning. "Wow," Lex whimpered again. "I'm feeling really small and insignificant." "When don't you feel really small and insignificant?" Broadway jested, ruffling his little brother's hair. "Oh, shut up," Lex grumbled, walking down 4th Avenue ahead of the gang. "I don't know about you, but there's that little campus coffee shop RC swears near Washington Square Park." *** The Bottomless Mug Mary yawned, leaning against the counter. It was too frigging early to be working. And, irony of ironies, she worked at a java house. She watched as five students, three guys and two chicks, walked in all chipper and awake, taking a table in the far corner. People like that should burn in hell, she thought sleepily as the lead guy, a handsome fellow with long blond--or was it white--hair and deep hazel eyes walked over to the counter, folding his arms on the counter and leaning forward, staring up at the menu. Mary watched with new fascination as those rich green-brown orbs moved slightly, reading the words as his mouth barely moved, forming out the syllables. "Two Dark Chocolate Decadence, a cappuccino, a regular, and..." He glanced behind him, smiling evilly, "...a double espresso for my big brother there..." "Yeah, no problem," she stumbled over to the cash register and began punching buttons. "Umm...a regular what?" "Coffee," he blinked. "What flavor?" "Coffee!" he bit his lip, trying to resist the temptation in repeating a Denis Leary skit. "Coffee-flavored coffee!" "Sorry, I couldn't resist," she smiled sweetly, punching it up. "Don't you like 'Lock and Load?'" "I'm not calling you a haiku-writing mother, am I?" he smirked. "Pull up your pants!" She laughed as she handed him the cups. "That'll be seven-sixty-four, please. The espresso and cappuccino will be up shortly, and the Decadence and regular are around the corner." He handed her a ten-dollar bill from his pocket and waited for change. "Talk about winging it," Lexington snorted. "Look at him! Like he's ordered coffee before." "Amazing what you learn from watching 'Friends'," Broadway retorted as Brooklyn returned to the table, setting down the tray of java. He placed the Decadence in front of the girls, forked over the cappuccino to Lex, and finally set the tiny cup of espresso in front of Broadway. Pulling an extra chair over from a nearby table, he straddled it, mulling his own Styrofoam cup. "What's this?" Broadway demanded. "It's good," Brooklyn reassured. "Drink it all at once." Broadway raised a thick blond eyebrow and gave his brother a scrutinising look as he tipped his head back and drank the contents in one gulp. His eyes suddenly bulged as the double-hit of espresso coursed through his system. "EEEOOOW!" he jumped up, shaking his head. "What the hell...?" "Arin had me try it before," Brooklyn smirked. "I think I had the same reaction." His face abruptly fell. Chimura, closest to him, patted his arm. "You will see her tonight," she smiled warmly. "I know," he shrugged, sipping his own coffee. "But this has got to be the longest I've been without seeing her." "What about the thirty-nine years before?" Lex pointed out. "And let's not forget the millennium we were sleep--" Brooklyn clamped his hand over his youngest brother's face casually as he took another sip. "We've got to be careful what we talk about," he hissed. "I don't think the population would like to know about five humans who think they're gargoyles turned into humans, if you know what I mean." "Gotcha, bro," Broadway nodded vigorously. "Great," Angela groaned, resting her head on her hand. "He's going to be wired all day, no thanks to you." She slapped Brooklyn lightly on his arm. Brooklyn only shrugged. "So, what's everyone's plans for today?" "Well, at noon, RC's treating us to lunch," Lexington remarked. "You guys are going to behave yourselves, right?" The white-haired man raised an eyebrow. "No food fights, okay?" "Alexander started it!" Broadway protested. "Blame it on a baby, why don't you?" Angela smirked. Chimura started to giggle. "Well, he did manage to flip an entire pot of potatoes on me," Broadway protested. "And that caused you to throw a roll at Lexington--" Brooklyn retorted. "--and he 'conveniently' dumped gravy in your lap," Angela snickered, pointing to Brooklyn. "Don't remind me," Brooklyn rolled his eyes, finishing off his coffee. "Well, how much time did we kill?" Broadway checked the clock on the wall. "An hour and a half," he retorted. "Well, then," Brooklyn stood, pushing his chair back to where it belonged. "What do you say to dropping in on RC?" "I'm all in favor," Lexington shrugged. Mary watched the five leave. In a way, she was glad they left. Their cheerfulness were getting on her nerves at this ungodly hour. At least they either dumped or took their cups with them. She hated to clean up after slobs. Yawning with a stretch, she pulled out a rag from the sink and went over to the table, wiping it down. Glancing back at the students crossing the street to the dorms and apartments, she shrugged as she returned to her duties. That biker guy did have a cute ass, she had to admit. She had overheard the name "RC". Wonder if they meant that psychology major over in the apartment complex? The weirdo whose front door seemed to have exploded last May? Mary shrugged again and returned to the counter, pulling out an English textbook from her bookbag and began reading. *** "What the hell...?" RC grumbled as the alarm next to her bed suddenly shook with intense fury. Instead of moving from her warm and comfortable spot in the bed, she telekinetically smashed the snooze button with a satisfying "ha!" "Too friggin' early to get up..." she added, just as the phone rang. "Shit." Rolling over, she sat up, picking up the receiver. "This better be good," she snarled. "It's too early in the morning to be getting any social calls." "How 'bout an antisocial call, babe, like, where the hell's Claw?" Fang's voice snapped. "'Morning, Fang," She greeted, deadpan. "Colm's here. We were watching 'Casablanca' last night, and he fell asleep here." "Do you expect me to believe that? 'He fell asleep here.' Yeah, right. Lemme speak to him." "Yeah, let me go--oh, fuck you, Fang. That wasn't funny." She grimaced as she listened to the cougar mutate laugh hysterically on the other end, followed by a "Gimme that goddamned phone!" from Talon. "Hi, RC," Talon greeted. "Sorry for waking you up, but we were a little worried when he didn't come home before dawn." "No problem," she pushed a stray lock of curly black hair from her face. "Yeah, he's staying here for the day. Poor guy, he didn't even make it to the night club scene." "Well, he was working the late dinner line last night with Delilah." Talon breathed a sigh of relief. "Just as long as he's safe. Thanks RC." "Do you need some help for the early supper? I've got class at three, but I can come in for a bit afterwards." "That would be great. Thanks again." "No problem. See ya, Derek," RC nodded, dropping the receiver back onto the cradle and falling back into the warm covers just as the alarm rang again. She flipped the bird at the noisy contraption and hit the reset button, finally getting up. "Can't get any friggin' sleep around here," she mumbled as she yawned and stretched, padding out to the living room, leaning over the edge of the couch, she ruffled the orange and black-striped fur of the creature sprawled out on the furniture. He stirred a bit, pulling the blanket over his head, exposing his elongated, feline feet. She put her hands on her hips and walked around, tickling the bottoms of his feet. Claw jumped suddenly, tackling her and tickling her sides. She giggled uncontrollably, squirming in his gentle grasp. "Okay! I give!" she gasped, laughing as she straightened her "Tickle This!" Elmo night-shirt back into place. "Okay, Hobbes, I've gotta be to class in--" she checked the time. "--an hour. I'm expecting some company later--" He formed a mental picture from the old television sitcom "Alf" of the little furry alien sulking into the kitchen. She laughed again, kissing his forehead. "Not this time, furrball," she grinned. "You actually know these guys." This time, he imagined Tristan, Al, Elisa, her brother Shawn, and some other squatters down from the Labyrinth. "No, but they are friends," she kissed his forehead again, turning to the bathroom. "I'll be right back after my shower--and no, you can't join me!" Claw pouted a bit, looking pitifully. RC chucked a pillow at him and disappeared into the small room. He flopped back onto the couch, picking up the remote. Clicking on the TV, he surfed around for some old cartoon he used to watch as a kid. The new ones were terrible. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, VR Troopers, Big Bad Beetleborgs, Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills...they were roughly the same. Anyway, they were all based on Voltron. What the hell was that all about? His feline face suddenly perked up as he hit Cartoon Network and cheered silently as the Thundercats theme song played from the surround-sound speakers. He watched contently the Liono competing against Cheetara in the Trials of Thundra with child-like wonder. He hadn't seen those episodes in a million years. A knock caught his sharp hearing. His ear closest to the door rotated somewhat as he stood, walking cautiously to it, peeping out the peep hole. Five humans stood on the other side of the door, talking amongst each other. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. She was right. He knew them, but from where? Why did they look familiar? Retreating back to the bathroom, he knocked on the door. "What do you want, furrball?" RC shouted over the running water. He created a mental picture of the guests. "You know them, Colm. Let them in." He shrugged, confused, then walked back over to the door and, making sure there was no one else in the hall, threw open the door and bared his teeth menacingly. "Hi, Claw," The white-haired human in the lead walked casually past him. In fact, of the five, the only one who was even remotely startled was the dark red-head Mediterranean woman in the rear. He closed the door, confused. "You too?" White-Hair smirked. "Claw, it's me. Brooklyn." More confusion. "We had a little accident with Alexander," Lexington explained quickly. Claw rolled his eyes in realisation. "I'll be out in a second!" RC shouted, running out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around her slim form to the bedroom. Sure enough, she was back out in record time, wearing jeans and an anime tee-shirt, this one Dominion Tank Police, and taking a comb to her unruly hair. "A little early, aren't you?" "Words could not describe our immediate boredom," Brooklyn remarked. "We walked over to the Bottomless Mug, hung out there for about an hour, then came here." "Welcome to the world of the mundane," she smirked, glancing over at Claw. "Oh, shut up, furrball. I'm just as mundane as the next girl!" "Beg to differ, but since when does dating a tiger mutate with wings and possessing psychic abilities constitute as 'mundane'?" Angela queried. "Since I said so," RC retorted, hugging Claw defensively, who in turn wrapped his arm around her shoulders and bared his teeth again, this time humourously. "Mundane?" Chimura whispered to Broadway. "Normal." He explained simply. She nodded in understanding. *** Room 532 Ethics 401 RC glanced back up at the clock. Ten-thirty. She had left one mutate and five humans who were really gargoyles alone in her apartment with all her anime movies and food supply. She was beginning to wonder if that was really a good idea, considering the dent Broadway and Claw alone could put in her refrigerator. Tapping her pencil against the desk, she stared up at the clock, wishing for noon. As Mr. Frayer continued his talk about different motivations on the topic of racism, she overheard the two students whispering behind her. She knew them both from the coffee shop, Mary and her friend Kellie. Today's behind-the-instructor's-back topic was about a cute guy Mary had seen at the shop this morning. RC rolled her eyes when she described Brooklyn right down to the letter. "I know him," she hissed with a smile, pretending to jot down notes. "In fact, remember that seminar last night? His girlfriend's MacDuff's daughter." "You're shitting me," Mary breathed. "Old Man MacDuff has a daughter?" "Yep," RC nodded, glancing upward to see what Mr. Frayer was writing on the large chalkboard at the front of the lecture hall. "Brook's been dating her ever since she returned from London last May." "So he's not single," Kellie pouted. "Nope." "Sorry, Kell," Mary giggled at her devastated friend. RC returned her attention to the instructor as the two's topic switched to what to do for lunch. The minutes dragged on, and so did RC's pencil as she began writing HTML tags for a CGI-based chatroom she had designed. Finally, bored with that, she set down her pencil and stared straight at the chalkboard. *** It didn't take long to turn RC's normally neat living room into what could pass for a frat house as cans of Coke and Sprite littered the coffee table, various anime tapes covered the floor, and a large bowl of popcorn sat in between Broadway and Claw as "Tenchi in Love" came to a close with an interesting twist. "'Tank Police!'" Lex shouted as soon at the tape ended, jumping up to tear out Tenchi and shove it into the rewinder with his left hand while his right inserted the next movie. "Oh, great." Brooklyn rolled his eyes. "Suddenly, I'm getting an image of Elisa calling her Fairline 'Bonaparte'." "Wait, mental picture of her in a bunny suit and Matt throwing knives at Tony Dracon strapped to the Wheel of Fortune..." Broadway cracked up, leaning back on the couch. Angela and Lexington both shared his giggles, and Brooklyn and Claw just smirked and rolled their eyes. During the battle scene with the twins doing their strip routine, the door flung open, and there stood RC, looking rather frazzled. "I hate three-hour classes," she snarled, throwing her bag onto the table. "Okay, guys, you ready?" "Shit! What time is it?" Brooklyn jumped up, glancing at the clock on the VCR. Sure enough, it was blinking twelve a.m. Hastily, he looked at the kitchen clock. Eleven-thirty. "Gotta go! Shit, I'm going to be late," he cursed, running out the ajar door. "What's his hurry?" RC demanded, sharing Claw's confusion. "He's got to meet Macbeth," Lex commented. "Apparently, he just found out Brook's 'interested' in Arin." "The poor guy," RC whispered. "So he's going to drill poor Brook until he dies of a heart attack." She flipped a thumb over at Claw. "My father tried that with Colm." Claw snickered silently. "Well," she clapped her hands. "Anyone ever been to Applebee's?" *** Combat boots were not made for running. However, he only had fifteen minutes to get back to the Eyrie Building. No time to stop and puzzle over the noisiness and crowded streets of Manhattan, he dodged pedestrians, bikers, skaters, and cars, almost meeting head-on a hot pink 1967 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. Though he didn't have the strength, he still had his dexterity, and managed to get across the street without getting run over by any maniacal taxi drivers. Not pausing, not even for a breath, he succeeded to get to Fourth Avenue without getting killed. Finally, he fell against the stone wall of the Eyrie Building, mopping the sweat- drenched hair from his face. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out an elastic and tied his hair back. He sucked in a deep breath of air, shrugging off his jacket and slinging it over his shoulder, he wiped his face with his sleeve and glanced up the street at the large digital clock on the People's Heritage Bank. Eleven forty-four. With a heavy sigh of relief, he smiled, glancing up the building. "The things I do for you," he shook his head, mopping his forehead once more just as a black BMW pulled over to the side of the building. And suddenly, he was very nervous. There were few things he feared. The King of the Scots was on that list. Taking a deep breath once more, he advanced the car and slipped into the passenger side. "You're right on time, lad," Macbeth praised, glancing at the clock on the dash. His eyes moved from the clock to the young man and flashed a cool and calculating smile. "You said quarter-to-twelve sharp," Brooklyn retorted. "I like punctuality. I hate waiting. So, do you have a preference of restaurants?" "Preference?" Brooklyn smirked, trying to feel less nervous. "I don't usually go out to eat." There was a snort from Macbeth, though it wasn't at all menacing. "Then again, there was the time we ordered pizza. Owen got stuck with the check." This time he let out a good chortle. "I think we can do better than pizza," he stated. "Though neither of us are dressed for anything fancy. I know of a great bar and grill a little ways from here..." *** Applebee's Bar and Grill "Yo, Doug! I need a Bud Lite and a mudslide!" The blond waitress with "Al=)" on her nametag shouted as she headed into the kitchen with a table's orders. The bartender, Doug, saluted her with a wink as he pulled out the rum, vodka, Kahlua, mocha ice cream and chocolate syrup and began mixing. The stocky hostess--"Amy" by her tag--leaned against the podium, jotting down some names on the waiting list. "Spiker, party of five!" She shouted over the crowded din of the restaurant. "Spiker, party of five!" "I like 'Friends' better!" Doug joked. A few of the patrons laughed. What a great idea, she smirked. Put a bar and grill near a university. Get a lot of business there. "Dylan! Hi, folks," she grinned to the five students coming forward. She gave some laminated menus to a slightly taller man. "Dylan's going to be your waiter today." "Hey, everyone!" The dark haired man smiled brilliantly and lead them to the only empty table in the bar. "Can I get anyone something to drink?" "Yes, I'm going to have a Coke," the tall black-haired woman retorted without looking at her menu. The other four agreed as Dylan scrawled on his pad. "Great. I'll bring them around shortly," he grinned, turning around to the bar. "Doug! I need five Cokes!" "What do I look like, a bartender?" Doug retorted cheerfully as he handed Al her drinks. "No comment," Al giggled, heading back to the upper level smoking area. "MacDuff, party of two!" Amy called out. "MacDuff, party of two!" Lexington stared in wonder at all the people in the restaurant. "I can't believe this," he whispered sipping his drink. Chimura was too shocked to speak. Broadway gazed around the room, taking hold of Angela's hand. "It doesn't get much better than this," he grinned. "Well, everyone, anyone want appetisers? I recommend the mozz sticks myself," RC smiled, opening her menu. Angela's eyebrows suddenly shot up. "Quick, everyone, open your menus," she whispered, hiding her face behind it. "You'd never guess who just walked in." "Jon Castaway?" Broadway retorted, doing the same. "No," she shook her head. "Try Macbeth and Brook." RC giggled "Of all the places in Lower Manhattan," she smirked. "You'd think a rich guy like that would go for something a little more...upscale...." "Well, remember the Yales?" Lex whispered. "You know, Margot and her husband, what's-his-face? They're right behind us." "Wonderful," Angela rolled her eyes. "Who?" Chimura hissed. "A gargoyle-hating district attorney," Broadway grumbled, sipping at his Coke. "Okay, everyone, don't think." RC muttered, nodding toward the two men being lead by the perky blond. "They're walking right past us." Giggles were stifled as Broadway watched his normally-calm-but-now-as- tense-as-a-guitar-string older brother walk pasted, too nervous to notice them. "Poor Brooklyn," Angela snickered. Dylan returned, flashing another smile. "Can I interest anyone with an appetiser, or are you ready to order?" He asked cheerfully. "Brandon, don't look now, but you'd never guess who just sat behind us." Brandon set his beer glass down and started to turn his head. "Brandon!" Margot kicked him in the shin. "I said, don't look! It's Len MacDuff." "Your friend from 'Crossfire'? What would he be doing here?" "He's not exactly my friend," she grumbled, sipping her mudslide. "Though he's got a young man with him." "His son?" "No, he only has a daughter, from what I heard." She shrugged. "May I get you any drinks to start with?" Al questioned with a brilliant grin. Macbeth glanced at the drinks list and retorted, "Long Island Iced Tea." "Wonderful! And you, handsome?" "Coke, please," he answered, his voice a little below normal volume. "Not a problem! I'll bring it right out to you!" She tapped her pad and scooted over to the next table-- --where sat the Yales. "Don't look now," he hissed, studying his menu, "but you'll never guess who's sitting behind you." "Are you folks ready to order?" Al questioned bubbly. "We still need some more time, thank you," Margot retorted. "Actually," Brandon raised a finger, "Bring over a plate of mozzarella sticks." "Brandon, you don't need those!" "I haven't had mozz sticks since I was a kid!" he protested. "Then it's a good time to have them now!" Al smiled. "I'll be right back!" "I can't believe you're getting those! What about your cholesterol?" "My cholesterol level is one-seventy-five, Margot. I won't kneel over from a heart attack from one order of mozz sticks." "Indulge, I don't care," she shrugged, her eyes narrowing. "Who is that man? I could have sworn I've seen him before." "You mean, the one with Len?" "Of course I mean him!" she hissed. "Why does he seem so familiar?" "Let's get down to business," Macbeth folded his hands on the table and leaned forward, his steel grey eyes penetrating Brooklyn's hazel pools of worry. "I realise that there is something between you and Arin." Busted. "And I know she is an adult, but she's also my little girl, so naturally, I'm going to be the overprotective father." Understatement. Al returned with their drinks and gave them a few more minutes at deciding their meals. Macbeth took a sip off his Long Island Ice Tea and nodded his head. "I've spoke my piece of mind. I would like to know what you see in Arin." Brooklyn took a deep breath, then slowly unwrapped the straw and stuck it through the caramel-coloured liquid. Sipping a bit, he sucked another breath through his teeth. "She seems strong and rebellious on the outside, not one to give into fear. And I admire that. But I know she's fragile." "I see," the older man nodded his head, his eyes never leaving Brooklyn's face. "And what makes you think Arin actually feels the same about you?" Brooklyn bit his tongue on his next remark. "She's told me so, sir." he whispered. "I trust her to tell me the truth. She hasn't lied to me yet in the time I've known her." Macbeth this time said nothing, only opened his menu. "I think I'm going to have the sirloin steak today," he muttered. He's doing this on purpose, Brooklyn thought to himself. It was the only explanation. He wants to see me sweat. What now? Same thing to do when ordering pizza and Chinese. Open up the menu and pick out what seems good. Nothing hard with that. Though these here actually had pictures to the meals, whereas with pizza, it's hard to screw up, and Chinese food looked weird anyway. This place--at least the menu--was loaded with food that truly appeared mouth-watering. That was when he realised he was famished. Besides the coffee and snacking this morning, he hadn't eaten since the night before. The waitress returned, taking Macbeth's order. She nodded, and flashed her smile at Brooklyn. "And you, handsome?" she questioned. "Oh," he picked randomly, "I'll have the club sandwich with a Caesar salad." "Excellent!" Al remarked and left the two to continue their man-to-man talk. "Now," Macbeth turned his attention back to the young man, who was trying very hard to retain a cool exterior, but it was clear that he was a little on the nervous side. "I have to say, lad, that I admire you. I've seen you react in tight situations, and sometimes I have to admit I cannot do better myself. Goliath did well in naming you his successor." "Thank you, sir," Brooklyn stammered a bit, surprised at the man's remarks. "What makes me a little uneasy, however, is your current…standing…in society," the older man took a stiff drink. He's talking about the fact that you're not exactly human, Brooklyn grumbled to himself. And neither is Arin, but give the man credit. At least he's not trying to kill you. That would probably be saved for after lunch. "But there's really nothing I can do about what happened to Arin. Just tell me one thing, Brooklyn," he sighed heavily. "Do you really love her?" For some reason, this question was the easiest one to answer. "I love her with all my heart and soul, and would do anything for her and protect her to my dying day," he hissed solemnly, his eyes and voice suddenly shifting from nervousness to sober honesty. Macbeth's hard grey eyes remained locked with his for a full minute. Finally, he leaned back, lifting his drink as if to toast. "Then that's all I can ask for," he smiled grimly. "He didn't kill him?" Lex whispered, his head low to the table. Broadway dared a peek over to the landing behind them and shook his head. "I say mi amigo just got a new father-in-law," RC smirked, dunking a mozz stick into the sauce. There was a collective snort from the other four. "You mean Macbeth gave Brooklyn his blessing?" Chimura hissed. "But that's such a human thing." "And what is Macbeth?" Angela shrugged. "Porcelain meeting," Broadway slapped Lexington's arm, and, when the smaller guy didn't move, the much larger man grabbed his little brother by the jersey and practically dragged him to the men's room. "What was that all about?" Lex protested once in the tiled sanctum. "I don't know about this," Broadway muttered, untying his flannel around his waist. "I mean, Macbeth was our enemy, and now he's all chummy-chummy with Brook. I have a weird feeling about this." "It's weird, I know, but maybe Macbeth changed. He's known as a public gargoyle-sympathiser. What's wrong with that?" "I don't know," Broadway shrugged. "I just have a gut feeling about this." "Are you sure it isn't hunger?" Lex smirked. "You're funny." Broadway stared at the row of urinals on the wall. "Um…" "Let me guess, you're new at the use of public toilets." "Shaddup. I've seen them used on movies all the time. And you're not exactly the expert either." "Then what's the hold-up? No pun intended." "You're funny," the larger brother repeated. "It's kind of weird. Anyway, I don't see you trying it out." "I'm waiting for you. I don't have to go." You guys must have better things to do than discuss how to take a leak," a very familiar voice sneered behind them. "Busted," the two turned to face the oldest member of the Trio. "Damn straight," Brooklyn grumbled. "Did you follow us?" "You? We were here first!" Broadway retorted. "Fine, just checking," Brooklyn leaned against the tiled wall. "But you were eavesdropping." "Were not!" both Lex and Broadway protested. Brooklyn just arched an eye ridge. "Right." He finally nodded, turning to exit the men's room. "Hey, Brooklyn," Lex smirked. "You ever use a urinal before?" Broadway elbowed his much smaller brother in the head. "Just like a normal toilet, without the seat," Brooklyn shrugged, returning to the dining area. "No duh," Broadway muttered. "But do you stand up, sit down--" "Don't tell me you sit down to take a whiz!" "No!" "Man, I wish I had a video camera! Arin is going to die laughing." "If you say anything outside these tiles, little brother, I'll remove your reason for using a urinal in the first place." "You and what army?" "I wonder what's taking them so long?" Angela questioned as she dined on her chef's salad. "Probably worshiping the porcelain god Pot-ee," RC smirked. "Oh, wait, that's for drunks." "And for guys who never used urinals before," Brooklyn hissed as he walked passed RC's ear. She tried all she could not to spit out her drink with a fit of laughter. "I can suddenly see that!" she laughed after swallowing her mouthful. "My god! That is a story to tell Talon and Maggie!" "And if Malibu ever got a hold of that little tidbit," Angela giggled uncontrollably. "What's a urinal--never mind," Chimura snickered in realisation. "What are you girls laughing about?" Broadway demanded as he and Lexington returned to the table. "One word: urinals," RC giggled. "Aw, hell," Broadway rolled his eyes. "Who told you that?" "Brooklyn, of course." the telepath chuckled more. "Did you finally figure it out?" "Shaddup," Broadway mumbled, reclaiming his seat. "I can't stand it anymore," Margot grumbled. "I know I've seen that young man before." "Probably you've seen him at the mall, Margot," Brendan remarked. She stood up. "It's high time I found out," she hissed, walking up to te next table. "Len! Lennox MacDuff! How are you?" "Problem..." Brooklyn hissed as he sat down. "Len! Lennox MacDuff! How are you?" Macbeth exhaled a curse as he swivelled in his seat to face the preppy young district attorney. "Ms. Yale, what a pleasant surprise!" Macbeth suddenly shifted into Lennox MacDuff in a blink of an eye, though that eye rolled with a sort of annoyance. "Fancy meeting you here!" Brooklyn stiffled a giggled. It was hilarious the way he was snowballing Margot to the fact that she was actually thinking he was being nice to her. Inwardly, he could sense a heavy feeling of annoyance from the older man. She was mildly surprised at most. While the two small-talked, Brooklyn shot a glance at his brothers at the table across and down from them. Picking up the unused napkin from the veneer table, he crumbled it into a ball, snuck his hand under the table, then threw it underhand at the largest target, namely Broadway's back. Of course, he was oblivious, but Angela saw the action and elbowed her beau, then flipped her thumb towards the upper level. Broadway turned around, saw Margot conversing with the reluctant Scotsman, and rolled his eyes in sympathy. In turn, he nudged Lexington, who did the exact same thing. "And who's this?" Margot's question suddenly brought Brooklyn back into the present. She was talking to him. Think fast. "Dorian Hawkmoon," he blurted, hearing RC go hysterical both mentally and aloud. "Yes..." Macbeth raised an eyebrow, somewhat in surprise. "...Dorian...is my daughter's finance." No one could tell who was more shocked, Brooklyn, his brothers, or Margot. "A pleasure to meet you, Dorian," Margot nodded. "And where is...?" "Arin?" Macbeth finished. "She works the night shift at the NYU library, and couldn't make it here today." That was it. Macbeth already had a cover story worked out. But what was the thing about the "finance" bit? That kind of scared him. Finally, after a "congratulations," Margot returned to her table. Macbeth sank into his seat and breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought I'd never get rid of that witch," he mumbled under his breath. *** Central Park 4:30pm "Well, this was definitely an interesting day," Brooklyn leaned against the park bench, yawning somewhat. "'Interesting' isn't the word I'd use to describe it," Broadway smirked, picking at the contents of a doggie bag from Applebee's. "I don't know," Lex remarked, staring up at the clouds. "I think the highlight was the urinal, though." The others laughed maniacally as Broadway blushed furiously. "Piss off," he grumbled. "I would have to say the highlight for me was hearing Macbeth actually admit the future son-in-law thing." "That sure shocked the hell out of me," Brooklyn added. "And what, pray tell, was the 'Dorian Hawkmoon' bit?" Angela demanded. "I read that book too, you know!" "What book?" Lexington demanded. "It's a series by--" "Moorcock, of course," the largest of the group groaned, sipping his soda in thought. "Well, it could have been worse...you could have said your name was Hulliam d'Averc." "You've read my books?" Brooklyn demanded. "Well, the first one, at least," Broadway shrugged. "Wasn't really my taste." Chimura giggled, lost, but having a good time. Until she saw the armband. "Everyone--" she spewed some Greek, then switched back to English. "-- Quarrymen!" "What?" Brooklyn sat up and peered to where the newest member of the clan was pointing. "Oh, shit..." There was no mistaking the stylised "Q" with the hammer for a tail, a symbol to gargoyles what the swastika was to Jews. Trouble. Big trouble. And there was about ten of these young men, all in grey tee-shirts and black jeans. And, from the looks of it, they were drawing a crowd as they spread vicious lies. "I can't believe this...Lex, how much longer till sunset?" "About an hour..." "Fuck," Brooklyn cursed, very unlike himself. "Wonderful. Great. Just ducky." "What now?" "I don't know...we surely can't take the bastards by force, and even if we were gargoyles, we'd just go down as terrorising 'innocents'." "I don't see any innocents," Lex grumbled. "Maybe we should get back to the castle," Angela suggested. "I agree," Chimura whispered with a vigorous nod to her head. "Good idea," Brooklyn stood up to leave the park, then turned with an evil grin. "What are you planning, Brooklyn?" Broadway demanded blatantly. "Oh...nothing," the lithe human shoved his hands in his pockets and walked casually closer to the little gathering, leaning against a tree trunk. "He's planning something." Broadway groaned. Lexington only shrugged, then began humming a song with a bounce to his step. "What are you so happy about?" Broadway grumbled. "Oh, just a song that Kiva taught me," Lex shrugged. "‘I'm goin' down to Mendo. Gonna raise a lot of kids and not tell them ‘bout Nintendo. Just hope they don't grow up to be Quarrymen skins, ‘cuz then I'll have to kill them, and start all over again!'" "‘Tra-la-lee-la! Tra-la-lee-la! Tra-la-lee-la-lee-la-lee-la!'" Angela joined in. "I've heard that song, it's so funny. But isn't it supposed to be ‘Nazi' skins?" "Had to improvise with the mood." Brooklyn kept in mind RC's first rule of dealing with the mundane: never try to manipulate them without their consent, unless they are posing a threat to the general public. And what were the Quarrymen? Using what he could control, he pulled the telepathic tendrils from out of the Wastelands and gently wrapped the ethereal strands around the speaker's mind. Soothingly, he mentally whispered some words that were not meant for Quarrymen to say. His four companions watched as suddenly, the others turned to the speaker, appalled at what he had uttered. Brooklyn grinned satisfied as he rejoined his clan. "That was fun!" he smirked. "What did you do?" Chimura demanded. He shrugged. "Nothing. He just 'admitted' his current boyfriend was a gargoyle." "Is that ethical?" Angela questioned. "I didn't do anything," Brooklyn protested, his smirk growing wider. "Sure you didn't," Lex nodded, his own smile creeping up in the corner of his mouth as the Quarrymen broke out into a brawl. "Honest, I didn't!" "Right," Broadway rolled his eyes as he started out towards home. "Really!" "Of course," Angela groaned, following her beau's example. Brooklyn glanced over at Chimura. "What's the problem?" he asked her. "I think it was funny...but they're hurting each other..." Brooklyn glanced over at the brawlers. "You're right," he mumbled. "There's a saying that I heard our rookery mother use a long time ago: 'Do to others as you wish to be treated.'" "Words to live by," she whispered as he jogged over back over to the crowd. "What's going on here?" he demanded, acting clueless. "Randy here's a friggin' garg-lover!" the largest of the boys snarled, going in for a punch to his fallen comrade's ribs. Brooklyn caught his arm. "Maybe he was being sarcastic," he whispered, bearing deeply into the Quarryman's blue eyes. "People are like that, you know…" "Too sarcastic…" the big guy nodded slowly. "Jeez, man, what was I thinking? Sorry, Randy…I haven't been thinking clearly since that garg last night in Boston…" Holding out his hand, he helped Randy up to his feet. "Yeah, bro, no problem," Randy coughed. "That shithead really fucked us up bigtime." Brooklyn blinked. More gargoyles? This time in Boston? "What are you talking about?" he queried. "We got into a little… spat… in Bean Town last night," one of the others retorted. "Mean bastard, he had some sorta magic bullshit to him. Kicked the shit outta half our regiment." Demona? Or maybe Caligo… ? "Yeah, we managed to get a pic of it for Castaway, too," another Quarryman, this one a small scrawny guy, piped up. Out of grotesque curiosity, Brooklyn asked, "Do you have it? May I see?" "Sure, why the hell not?" Randy wiped his nose of the blood and pulled out a folder out of his backpack nearby. He leafed through the contents and handed a Polaroid to the white-haired young man. It was the backside of a gargoyle, azure wings with purple membrane spread behind it, and bright red hair streaming behind in mid glide. He almost jumped to the conclusion that Demona was roaming again, but the facts in the picture revealed otherwise. It was definitely male, too heavily built to be his adversary, wearing a black trench coat or duster. The hair was too short in the front and tied back in a sloppy ponytail, and a cigarette was dangled from the side of the mouth. His facial features, however, were obscured. "And this is the guy that kicked your asses?" Brooklyn whispered, feinting awe. "Yeah, Castaway's already got his heavy troops up there looking for the bastard," Randy remarked. "Hey, would you like to join up?" He handed some pamphlets to Brooklyn. "Sorry, friend," he held his hand out in a "no-thanks" gesture. "I'm not one to fight creatures that could rip my throat out." "Strength in numbers," Randy retorted. "And if one of these could kick half your 'regiment' back to the Big Apple?" "You live in the shadow of fear!" "I've gotta get back soon," he checked his naked wrist. "I've got to pick up my girlfriend." "Are you just going to let these monsters rule over you? Terrorise the streets while you huddle in your home, not able to step out to the streets?" Randy shouted as Brooklyn walked away. "What about your girlfriend? What would happen if she fell victim to these creatures?" "That I seriously doubt," he muttered with a snarl, adding under his breath "Asshole." Just as he got out of their range, he gestured the way Arin had taught him. Middle finger extended, he flipped them off. "Brooklyn, you're asking for trouble," Broadway hissed when his older brother rejoined the gang. "Call me Mr. Thrillseeker," he smirked, handing the Polaroid he didn't realise he still had until then to him. "Ever see this guy before?" "Demona?" Broadway whispered as Angela snatched the picture. "It's male," she corrected. "Who is he?" "I don't know," Brooklyn shook his head. "But he lives in Boston. At least, he did last night. Apparently, he took out half a 'regiment' of Quarrymen." "That's a joke," Lexington scoffed. "Their 'regiments' average out to probably fifteen or twenty guys with rifles or sledgehammers." "Then I'd hate to see the 'experienced' troops." "They upgrade to jackhammers." "Your sense of humour is sick, little bro," Broadway slapped Lex's head lightly. "Shit! What time is it?" Brooklyn demanded. "Almost five… shit!" Lexington swore. Brooklyn stepped out to the street, holding out his hand. "Yo, taxi!" he hailed, adding a shrill whistle after. A bright yellow 1959 Chevy squealed to a halt in the southbound lane, a large fellow with a ten-gallon hat sticking his head out the window. "Where to?" he asked, stamping his cigar into the ashtray mounted on the dashboard next to a dancing hula girl. "Eyrie Building!" Brooklyn led the others to the charge on the taxi. "During rush hour? You've gotta be kiddin', kid—" "Listen—" Brooklyn glanced at the license on the back of the seat "—Tex, we have less than a half-hour to get to the Eyrie Building. How much would you normally charge?" "'Bout fifteen—twenty-five bucks." "We'll give you fifty on arrival. How's that?" "Get in! I've got to beat the traffic, kid!" They scurried in quickly, Chimura climbing into Lexington's lap. He blushed furiously as Broadway and Angela sat on either side of him and her. Just as Brooklyn closed the door behind him, Tex was off like a prom dress, barrel-assing down the Avenue of the Americas. Screeching on two wheels, they turned onto a side street that was only meant to go one way and, almost clipping a man on a motorcycle, he pulled onto 5th Avenue just as the light turned red. Brooklyn watched his life flashed before his eyes as they whizzed a little too close for comfort a Peterbilt rig northbound. Chimura buried her head in Lexington's shoulder, not wanting to see if death was waiting around the next corner. Lexington, however, was grinning ear to ear. Finally, after running four red lights and five stop signs, they arrived at a screeching halt at the front doors of the Eyrie Building. "That'll be fifty bucks," Tex slammed up the meter, causing the hula girl to dance. Brooklyn blinked, surprised they had made back it alive. Still in somewhat in a state of shock, he fished out two twenties and a ten, practically fell out of the cab and crawled to the revolving door. "Have a nice day!" Tex called out and slammed on the gas just as Angela took her hand off the door. The five only stared at each other, eyes wide for five seconds. Then, without spoken word, they bolted into the reception area of Xanatos Enterprises and to the service elevator. *** Angela and Broadway, once again in their normal clothing, sat embracing as they watched the sun setting. Chimura and Lexington were silent as well, looking over the Hudson River. Brooklyn glanced up at the stone gargoyle next to him and sighed. He suddenly felt a tingling at the base of his neck that slowly crept down his spine, fanning out across his back and around to his hands and face and shot downwards still, branching at his legs, as though streaming through his circulatory system. And then it was like his entire body was on fire, exploding. He roared as the muscles and bones in his back melted and reformed into wings and a tail. The others were sharing the same experience, shedding the human guises like the gargoyles were shedding their stone exterior. Finally, the transformation was complete, and Brooklyn found himself, once again, staring down his long red beak. That is, just before he was tackled into a big bear hug by Arin. "Did you have fun today?" she grinned broadly as he lifted her up gently by the waist and spun her around. "Actually," he remarked with a grin, "I'm glad to be back even more. I missed you, bright sun. Flirty waitresses, airhead district attorneys, Quarrymen, suicidal taxi drivers…I don't know how humans could stand living it day to day." "And that's just New York!" Arin laughed, kissing the tip of his beak. "I'm just glad to be back to…normal…" he mentally kicked himself, expecting Arin to cry, pout, or get pissed. Instead, she smiled even more, resting her head on his shoulder. "How'd it go with my father?" she then hissed, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You'd never guess what he said," he shook his head. "What?" He took a deep breath, lifting her chin to gaze into her beautiful emerald green eyes. "Arin," his voice took a somber tone. "Arin, I know we haven't known each other for even a year yet, but I…" he shook his head. "Arin, will you be my mate?" The rest of the clan, Lexington, Chimura, Broadway, and Angela, who were excitedly reviewing their day with Goliath and Hudson, snapped their heads toward the two standing by the light of the rising half-moon. "I can't believe it," Angela whispered. Arin's eyes suddenly widened to the size of small UFOs. She let out an excited squeal and hugged him tightly. "Yes!" she cried. "Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes—YES!" Broadway whistled loudly, clapping. "It's about time, lad!" Hudson shouted. Angela poked her beau humourously, who only blushed somewhat shyly. The celebrating gargoyles did not notice the figure in the shadows. "As long as she's happy," Macbeth reassured himself, his though voice took on a tone of sadness. He wasn't losing his daughter. But why did it feel like he was? Yawning somewhat, he desided to turn in early tonight. He had to think. *** THE END...for now...*insert maniacal laughter*...Okay...what do we have on the agenda? *Flips through her clipboard.* I've got three ITP...that's in the process for you non-cybergeeks...my Clone Wars starter, I can't seem to remember the title..."Equinox", a story with Brooklyn versus Zanthé with a struggle between the Matriarch of the Black Sword...and "With No Mouth, It Is Difficult to Scream", a closing of the Clone Wars revolving around...Lexington?! No Brooklyn?! What's wrong with me? Anyway, I can't wait! Can you? SOUNDTRACK: "Masquerade" by Andrew Lloyd Webber. From "Phantom of the Opera" "Coffee" from Denis Leary's "Lock and Load" "Mendo Hoo-ha" from Tribe 8's "Snarkism" ("You can never get enough practice!") ;) --Black Blade "My Cosmic Song Goes On For Eternity"