Shadowplay (Part Three)
A "Gargoyles" Fan Fiction Story by Dylan P. Blacquiere (pblacqui@cycor.ca)

Part III                                   One Ring To Rule Them All

AUTHOR'S NOTE : With some exceptions, none of the characters used in the story
are mine.  "Gargoyles" characters belong to Walt Disney/Buena Vista Television. 
This is an unofficial story, not sanctioned in any way by Disney.  Also, this
story incorporates, and sets up later events, which will conflict with future
episodes of "Gargoyles".  In other words, it'll fly in the face of everything
canon come September 7.  But, that's life.  Enjoy.

HISTORIAN'S NOTE: This story takes place after "Hunter's Moon, Parts One to
Three", and after Shadowplay, Parts One and Two".  BEFORE YOU READ THIS STORY,
READ PARTS ONE AND TWO OF THE FANFIC, "THE COMING OF SHADOWS" AND "AND THEN
THERE WERE SIX".

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HAWTHORNE: "The second piece of the ring is in Las Vegas, Nevada."
"And Then There Were Six"

ANGELA: (voiceover) "Previously, on Gargoyles..."

ARIEL:  "Adieu"
"And Then There Were Six"

LEXINGTON:  "Do you two want to be alone?"
"The Coming Of Shadows"

BROOKLYN:  "My WING!"
"And Then There Were Six"

BROADWAY:  "Just swear that no matter what happens, we'll look out for each
other."
"And Then There Were Six"

SILHOUETTE:  "These gargoyles must be stopped."
(Show Maria Chavez being subverted, "And Then There Were Six")
(Show Brendan LaPorte being subverted, "The Coming Of Shadows")
SILHOUETTE:  "I don't care what you do with them, as long as they're dead when
you finish."
"And Then There Were Six"

GOLIATH:  "We've got to get away from here!"
(Show Goliath and Hudson fleeing the castle, "And Then There Were Six")
"And Then There Were Six"

OPHELIA:  "I'll do anything to stop that witch Silhouette."
"And Then There Were Six"

BROOKLYN:  "I really, really like you."
"And Then There Were Six"

HAWTHORNE:  "Yeah, count me in.  Someone's got to look after you."
"And Then There Were Six"

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Prologue

          The Point Of No Return

Golden Chance Casino, Las Vegas
November 2, 1996

     Las Vegas was a city of lights, the bright neon and flashing bulbs of the
casinos reflecting off of the sky around the city for miles around.
     So nobody was surprised to see the ball of flame appear on the roof of one
of the fanciest casinos on Fremont Street.
     As the ball vanished, six gargoyles stood there, taking in the sights.
     "It's amazing!"  Ophelia gasped, seeing the lights.  "Towers of glass, and
steel...thousands of people...the lights..."
     Hawthorne smiled.  Brooklyn, Lexington, Angela and Broadway just stared at
Ophelia, trying to remember their first glimpses of the twentieth century. 
They'd had reactions fairly similar, they recalled.
     But even they had to marvel at the sights of Las Vegas.  If New York City
was bright at night, then this was surely what the light of the sun must look
like.
     "It's breathtaking."  Angela sighed.
     "Spectacular."  Lexington gaped.
     "Beautiful."  Broadway marvelled.
     "Stunning."  Brooklyn smiled.
     "There's too much glare."  Hawthorne complained, shielding her eyes.
     Broadway turned around to face her.  "You really know how to spoil the
moment, don't you."
     "Well, it is.  It hurts my eyes."  Hawthorne replied defensively.
     "Yeah, well...the rest of us weren't quite done marvelling yet."  Brooklyn
sighed.
     Hawthorne mimicked him, and laughed.
     Then, she closed her eyes.  She frowned.
     "I can't tell exactly where the second piece of the ring is.  It's...moving
around inside the building we're on top of."
     "Inside?"  Angela asked.
     "Yeah.  It's..."  Hawthorne began, but then she froze up.
     "Hawthorne?"  Lexington asked, concerned.
     Hawthorne suddenly collapsed.
     "Oh, no."  Broadway exhaled.  The five gargoyles ran to her side, and
crowded around, trying to wake her.
     Brooklyn knelt down and took her head, cradling it on his lap.
     "Hawthorne..." he asked, suddenly convinced she was dead.  "Hawthorne, are
you all right?"
     Hawthorne's eyes fluttered open, a look of sheer terror in them.
     "Brooklyn...those monsters, they were REAL...that place...I was going to
die..."  she babbled, obviously in shock.
     "Sssh...Hawthorne, it's okay.  I'm right here..."  he whispered, rubbing
her chin.  "Just relax.  I'm here to protect you."
     "She must be having a delayed reaction to Avalon.  She's in shock." 
Lexington deduced.  He knelt down, and raised her feet.  "This'll help."
     "Hawthorne, are you all right?"  Broadway asked.
     Hawthorne seemed to sigh deeply.  "I'm...I'll be fine.  I just need a
second to get calmed down."
     Groaning, she sat up, and held her head.  "It's like I just realized right
now how much danger I was in on that island.  I couldn't help it, I just got
frightened now instead of then."
     "It's okay, Hawthorne."  Brooklyn moved a little closer.  "Everything's
fine now.  We're safe.  And I'm here for you."
     Hawthorne took a few deep breaths.  "Thanks.  I'll be fine."
     A couple of minutes later, she was walking around.  Brooklyn walked with
her, to keep her steady, his hands around her shoulders.  Hawthorne turned to
face him, and sighed.
     "Thanks for the help, Brooklyn."  she sighed. 
     "Don't mention it." he smiled.
     Hawthorne suddenly seemed to look very intently at Brooklyn.
     "Brooklyn...could I talk to you for a minute?"  she asked, raising an
eyebrow.
     "Sure.  What's on your mind?"
     "Alone."  Hawthorne stated emphatically.
     Brooklyn seemed to look uncomfortable.  "Uh, sure...I guess so..." he
stammered.
     The two of them walked towards the edge of the roof.

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     Broadway, meanwhile, was sitting down, looking out over Fremont Street.
     "It's fabulous, isn't it."  Angela stated, coming to sit down beside him.
     "Yeah!  I mean, it's a lot brighter than Manhattan."  Broadway sighed.
     Angela turned so that she was facing him.  "Broadway, there's something I
want to ask you."
     Broadway turned around.  "What is it?"
     Angela looked dismayed, as if searching for the right words.  "Why did you
say that?"
     "What, 'what is it'?"
     "No."  Angela laughed.  "That pact we made on the beach a few minutes ago. 
What was the story behind that?"
     Broadway sighed.  "Angela..."
     "Broadway...tell me."
     Broadway moaned.  "I just want to make sure that we all look out for each
other.  That's all.  I'm the Protector, so I'm supposed to make sure that
everyone is safe."
     Angela looked down at the street.
     "There's more to it than that."
     "What do you mean?"
     "The way you were so insistant about it, there had to be something more to
it."  Angela concluded.
     Broadway sighed.  "You got me."
     "So explain it."
     Broadway looked directly into her eyes.  "Promise you won't think I'm being
selfish?"
     Angela felt her curiousity jump.  "I won't."
     Broadway slumped.  "I want everyone there to look out for each other, but I
want you all there to look after me."
     Angela became confused.  "What?"
     "Look.  When I used my power on Avalon, I lost myself, right?"
     "Yes."  Angela told him, remembering the conversation the two of them had
had on the beach afterwards.  Broadway had said that he had felt in danger of
losing control, and not being able to control the power when he wanted to.  He
had said that he was so scared that he'd hurt someone that he was questioning
the wisdom of using the power ever again.
     "So, I want to make sure that doesn't happen again."  Broadway continued. 
"The pact is just reassuring me that if that does happen, if I'm forced to use
my power and I get lost in the moment, that you'll all help to bring me back. 
It tells me that no matter what happens, you've all pledged to help keeping me
from reaching that "point of no return", and that keeps me safe, knowing I've
got a safety net to fall into.  It's really selfish, I know...but I just need
that extra reassurance."
     "You know that even without the pact, we'd help you."  Angela claimed,
feeling a little insulted that he'd think otherwise.
     "I know!"  Broadway repeated.  "It's just for peace of mind...and I don't
want to lose myself to fear.  If I can't use my power because I'm afraid of what
might happen, I won't be able to keep you safe.  And I don't know what I'd do
without you."  he sighed, letting his feelings slip through.
     "Broadway."  Angela smiled.  "I've known you for almost six months now, and
I'm your friend.  I wouldn't abandon you to that.  Pact or no pact.  Brooklyn
and Lexington feel the same way...we'd all die for each other.  You've proven
that to me, and I know you know I would too.  Even Hawthorne and
Ophelia...they've barely known you, and they're your true friends.  We all
care...I care too much for that to happen to you."
     Broadway looked into Angela's soft brown eyes.  "You care too much?"
     Angela nodded.  "Yes.  I do.  You mean a lot to me."
     Broadway felt his heart skip a beat.  He thought back to the day when
Angela had first arrived at the clock tower.  Broadway was immediatly enchanted
by her beauty...her raven locks, her beautiful, innocent face.  He was head over
heels in love with her, and he thought she felt the same way.  He hoped she did. 
On Yankee Stadium...last night, subjectively, but really four days ago..they'd
almost kissed.  Broadway had known then that the feelings he had were most
likely mutual, but he still wasn't absolutely sure.
     And suddenly, more than ever, he needed to know.
     "Does this mean that...you're in love with me?"  Broadway asked, hoping
against hope.
     Angela's eyes widened at the question, and she seemed to hesitate.  She
thought about it, and blushed.
     "I...I think so."  Angela stammered.  "Yes, Broadway, I think I do love
you."
     This time, Broadway's heart did skip a beat.  His world seemed to suddenly
brighten.
     "You...you do?"  he asked.
     "Yes.  At first, I thought it was just a friendly thing, but I've come to
realize that maybe it's love."
     "Oh, Angela."  Broadway sighed.  "I've been waiting for six months to hear
you say that."
     Angela laughed.  "I take it this means you love me, too."
     Broadway smiled.  "God, yes!  I've been head over feet in love with you
since I first saw you!"
     Angela smiled.  "I've known for a while.  You aren't exactly subtle."
     Broadway blushed.  "You should see me when I try."
     Angela grinned.  "Well, you know how I feel.  I'll look out for you.  Pact
or no pact, and when this is all over, I want to be there with you."
     I've dreamed of this for months, Broadway thought.  In one swift stroke, it
was all coming true.
     He leaned a little closer.  She did they same.  Their hands locked, and
their heads tilted forward.  As their lips brushed together, they began to kiss.
     They did so for a long time, under the Nevada sky.

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     Lexington and Ophelia stood at the opposite edge of the building, staring
out over the ledge.
     Lexington was miserable, and showing it.
     He'd turned around once, and saw Broadway and Angela sitting there talking. 
He turned around again, and saw them kissing.
     He could only stare in shock.  That should be me there, instead of
Broadway, he thought, angry.  He knew nothing could be done, and that he
shouldn't be mad, but he couldn't help it.
     It wasn't fair.  Goliath had Elisa, Broadway had Angela...even Brooklyn
seemed to be making progress with Hawthorne.  Leaving him standing out in the
cold.
     It was incredibly frustrating.  One of the last gargoyles in the world, and
nobody to mate with.  Now Angela was claimed, and there was nothing he could do
about it.  
     He turned to Ophelia.  She was gaping at the Las Vegas skyline, marvelling
at the sights.
     I wish I was that naive again, Lexington thought.  Seeing everything as
new.  I'd be so distracted I wouldn't feel like dirt under Angela's feet.
     Ophelia turned, and noticed the dismayed look on Lexington's face.  "What's
wrong?"  she asked, taking her mind off of the scenery.
     Lexington shuffled over to the roof, and slumped over, looking at the
street.  He tilted his head back, pointing towards Broadway and Angela.
     Ophelia glanced, and quickly turned away.  "Oh.  Uh...that sort of thing
offends you?"
     Lexington rolled his eyes.  "It doesn't offend me, it's just...I feel
slighted.  Broadway and Angela are in love with each other, and I'm left in the
dark."
     Ophelia nodded in understanding.  "I know how you feel.  On Avalon, I was
in love with someone, and another girl got to him first.  But I got over it. 
You can too."
     "Not her.  She's...it's like...well, since she came to New York, the three
of us were fighting for her.  Broadway got to her first, and I feel like she
completely ignores me.  I'm like...I don't know, chopped liver.  At least,
that's how I feel."
     "Don't worry about it!"  Ophelia exclaimed.  "You might not have gotten
Angela, but keep a positive mindset!  There's other female gargoyles around. 
And you've got plenty of qualities on your side.  I've known you for what seems
like a few hours now, and I can tell you're smart, funny, sensitive...in fact,
you're what a lot of girls would call the perfect guy.  So if Angela can't see
that, it's her loss." 
     She clapped Lexington on the shoulder, and gave him a friendly smile. 
Then, she walked away.
     Lexington looked at his shoulder, and then back at Ophelia. 
     She likes me, he thought.
    
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     "What do you want to tell me?"  Brooklyn asked, as Hawthorne turned around.
     "Something's odd about the way you're acting towards me."  she accused him.
     "What?"
     "You're acting protective, and really concerned for my safety, and you're
just generally going out of your way to make sure I'm okay."  Hawthorne told
him.
     Oh, oh, Brooklyn thought.  "Is there something wrong with that?"
     Hawthorne shook her head.  "Nothing wrong with it, I just want to know why
it is you're going so far out for me."
     Brooklyn thought for a second.  He didn't want to scare her away by coming
right out and saying it.  Better to conceal it.
     "I..." he began, stammering.  "I just want to make sure your safe.  We need
you to fufill this prophecy."
     Hawthorne stared at him, and then touched his face. 
     "You've got a dimple right there."  she remarked.
     "So..."
     "So when you lie, it twitches.  It's practically moving of its own volition
right now."
     Brooklyn touched his dimple, and groaned.  Betrayed by my own face, he
thought.
     Hawthorne cleared her throat.  "I know what's going on here, Brooklyn."
     "Oh?"  he squeaked, trying to make his voice sound nonchalant.  It failed
him, and came out in a high tone, that sounded like a mouse.
     She smiled.  "You're starting to develop some kind of romantic attraction
for me, and it's just your way of showing it."
     Brooklyn felt the air being driven from his chest.  "Oh?"  he said again. 
"How do you know that?"
     She sighed.  "Remember Whistler?"
     "Your friend from Clayoquot Sound?  You told me about him back in Nanaimo."
     "He wasn't just my friend, Brooklyn, he was in love with me.  Desparately,
according to him.  That's why he came with me to Nanaimo."  Hawthorne explained.
     Brooklyn's jaw dropped.  "You and Whistler?  Oh, geez."  he slapped his
forehead.
     "What's wrong?"
     Brooklyn groaned.  "I'm just surprised, that's all."  Not to mention
devastated, he didn't say.  Hawthorne was in love with another gargoyle!
     "It wasn't anything serious on my part.  I just thought of it as another
level of our friendship.  He was the one who believed we were destined to be
together.  He gave me this pendant as a pledge of his love, but all I think of
it as is a glorified friendship charm."  Hawthorne took a crystal pendant out of
her jacket, and showed it to him.  He held it, and sighed.
     "You were just friends."  he breathed a sigh of relief.
     Hawthorne raised her eyebrow.  Nice, but a little obvious, she thought to
herself. 
     "Anyway, he acted the same way.  Protective, always saying he'd be there
for me...exactly what you've been doing."
     "So, you think that because I'm acting like Whistler did, I'm thinking the
way he did."  Brooklyn concluded, knowing that it was the truth.
     "Are you?  Do you think you love me, Brooklyn?"  she asked.
     Brooklyn looked up at her, and found himself captivated by her stare.  Her
eyes were a brilliant green color, and he suddenly wanted to tell her
everything.
     "How do you feel about me, Hawthorne?"  he stuttered, realizing that she
had him.
     "Brooklyn," Hawthorne sighed, "You're avoiding the question.  Straight up. 
Tell me.  Do you think you love me?"
     Brooklyn remained silent.
     "Well?"
     He sighed, his resistance caving in.  "Hawthorne, I don't think I'm in love
with you."
     "Oh."
     "I know I am."
     Hawthorne looked at him.
     "Whenever I look at you, I see the face of the girl I want to spend the
rest of my life with.  Back in Scotland, I used to play a game with my rookery
brothers, where we'd try to describe our future mates.  I'd describe someone,
that I imagined I'd like her to be.  But I never could settle on something. 
Then, I see you, and I realize..."  he sighed, realizing how sappy this probably
sounded, "that I was probably trying to describe you."
     Hawthorne simply stared.
     "And I know that once this business with the ring is over, that you're the
person I want to spend my life with.  That's how I feel, Hawthorne.  Straight
up."
     Hawthorne seemed confused.  "Brooklyn...when we were in Nanaimo...when we
first met, I began to think things about you...how nice you looked, how nice you
acted, how mature you seemed.  When I got mad at you, I was just feeling so
confused that someone like you would be so involved in something like this that
I just couldn't believe it.  But something made me see that you were so much
more than you seemed, and I couldn't help but wonder if I was starting to feel
something for you.  And since then, when you've been protecting me, I think more
and more of you.  I don't know what it is about you, but I feel like I can tell
you anything, and I know you'll still see me as who I am.  I really admire
that."
     Brooklyn seemed to beam.  "Do...do you love me too?"
     "I didn't say that."  Hawthorne raised her hand.  Brooklyn's face suddenly
fell, and Hawthorne had to feel a little guilty.
     "But I didn't say I don't, either."  she clarified.  Brooklyn's expression
changed from one of pain to confusion.
     "What are you saying?"  he asked.
     "I'm saying I don't know.  I know I feel something for you, but I'm not
quite sure what it is yet.  I just need time to confront what I feel about you,
and then I'll let you know."
     Brooklyn took her face in his talons.  His eyes seemed to say things his
mouth would never even dream of speaking.
     "I'll wait for you."  he sighed.  He closed his eyes.  "I'll wait for you."
     Hawthorne smiled.  "I'll try to make it short."
     The two stared at each other wordlessy, with the look of two people who
don't know where their friendship stands...on the brink of love, or just away
from it.
     They both closed their eyes, and sighed deeply.
     Brooklyn opened his eyes.  "We should talk about this later.  For now, we
should get back to this ring business."
     Hawthorne sighed.  "It's only been a day, in my mind...and I already want
to get this over with."
     Brooklyn laughed.  "You and me both."
     The two of them walked back to the rest of them to find Broadway and Angela
beaming, and Lexington looking confused.  Ophelia looked amazed at the sights of
the city.  She's only at the beginning, Brooklyn thought.  Wait till she sees
New York.
     "Uh."  Brooklyn stammered.  "We should probably try to get the next piece
of the ring."
     "It's inside the casino."  Hawthorne explained.
     "Well, that presents a problem."  Lexington exclaimed.
     "What?"
     "How are we supposed to get inside and find it looking like this?"  he
pointed out.  "We'd kind of stick out."
     "Like sore thumbs."  Broadway added.
     "Well...we...I don't know!"  Brooklyn sputtered, realizing they had a
point.  They just couldn't walk into the building as gargoyles.
     "The ring is moving around somewhere where there's a lot of people around." 
Hawthorne added.  "I can't get a lock on it."
     Ophelia snapped her fingers.  "What if I made an illusion...that made us
look human?" she suggested.
     The others just stared at her.
     "You can do that?"  Angela asked.
     "I could make us invisible, and make copies of us, couldn't I?"  Ophelia
shot back, a little testy.  "All I have to do is concentrate, and keep it in the
back of my mind, and it happens."
     "All right...I guess that's our plan."  Brooklyn shrugged.
     All of the gargoyles folded their wings.  Brooklyn's still hurt when he did
that, but it was becoming bearable.  As long as he didn't glide, he'd be fine.
     I sure as hell can't wait till sunrise, he thought, looking at the bandage.
     Broadway began to wind his tail around one of his legs.
     "Why are you doing that?"  Angela asked.
     "Well, we aren't really becoming human, right?"
     Ophelia shook her head.
     "So, with our tails out like this, people might start tripping over them,
and begin to suspect something's up, cause they'll they'll be tripping over
something they can't see."  Broadway explained.
     "Good point."  Lexington agreed.  He wrapped his tail around his leg.  The
others did the same.
     "Well, I guess we're ready."  Brooklyn sighed, once he'd finished.
     Ophelia concentrated, and suddenly their gargoyle features vanished,
replaced by more subtle human characteristics. 
     Suddenly, Hawthorne burst out laughing.
     "What?" Ophelia asked.
     "I never realized until just now,"  she giggled, "how underdressed you guys
are."
     Brooklyn looked down.  Sure enough, he, Broadway and Lexington were wearing
only loincloths, the same as they always did.  But, as humans, it seemed a
little, well, peculiar.
     Angela and Ophelia were a bit better, wearing the same as they usually did,
but, again, as humans, it looked odd.  Only Hawthorne looked normal, wearing her
Umbro jacket and blue jeans still.
     "This is cute."  Broadway frowned.  "We look like humans, and we still
stand out."
     "Ophelia,"  Angela asked, "could you maybe...cover us up a bit?"
     "I guess so,"  she whispered, and dropped the illusion.  Then, she tried
again, but this time, she and Angela were wearing long flowing dresses, and the
Trio, suits of armor.  Hawthorne was in hysterics, now.
     "No, no. no.  Look,"  Brooklyn told her, "we have to dress like people
here, not Avalon." 
     "I don't know what people here dress like!"  Ophelia protested.
     "Look at that sign, over there."  Lexington pointed to her, showing her a
billboard with a group of twentysomethings walking somewhere together.  They
were dressed in nice, normal clothes.
     "Like that."  Lexington told her.
     "Okay."  Ophelia sighed, and she did so.
     "That's better."  Angela told her, pulling down her wool sweater over her
blue jeans.
     "Real improvement."  Brooklyn agreed.  He was wearing a cotton vest, with a
"Guess" shirt underneath and cutoff blue jeans.  He looked down, and noted the
tennis shoes on his feet.  "Really nice."
     Lexington pulled the baseball cap off of his head, now covered with short
cropped black hair, mildly surprised he could feel the hat when it was just an
illusion.  "This thing's too big,"  he complained, adjusting the strap, "and I
don't like the team that's on it, but it'll do."
     "You don't like the Knicks?  I thought you were from New York."  Hawthorne
asked.
     "I am...I just don't like the Knicks."  Lexington responded.
     Broadway adjusted the sleeve on his shirt, which was open to show a white
T-shirt beneath.  "I don't like the Knicks either, but I don't mind the hat."
     "Here, do you want it?"  Lexington asked.
     "Sure!"  Broadway replied, and he put it on over his blonde hair.  "It's
too small."  he complained, and fixed it.
     "Well, I guess we should go in."  Hawthorne told them, still giggling.
     "We're dressed all right now, aren't we?"  Brooklyn asked.
     "Yeah, it's just..." Hawthorne began, and suddenly laughed again.
     Brooklyn rolled his eyes.  "Well, come on, Giggles.  We've got a ring to
find."
     The six of them, looking human, opened the door from the roof, and stepped
into the casino.

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Chapter One

          Subversion

Greenwich Apartment Complex, New York City

     "Can I get you two anything else?"  Elisa asked, looking at Goliath and
Hudson.  The elder gargoyle was staring at the TV, but not watching it, more
just absently playing with the remote control.  Goliath, meanwhile, was simply
staring out the window.
     "Goliath?"  Elisa questioned.  He turned around, looking angry...but a
little lost as well, and confused.
     He's scared to death, Elisa thought.  He's frightened as a hatchling, and
he refuses to show it.
     "Goliath, something's really bothering you.  Tell me."  she commanded.  He
looked at her, giving her an incredulous
"You-mean-to-tell-me-you-don't-already-know?" expression, and sighed.
     "It's been three days since we were forced to leave the castle, and we
haven't been able to do anything to regain our home, or stop this evil."  he
told her.  "I wish there was something we could do."
     "If Xanatos and Owen are subverted, then it wouldn't be safe for you there. 
You had no choice but to leave."
     Hudson, meanwhile, stopped on one station long enough to listen to a sound
bite out of the rebroadcast of Mayor Giulliani's speech detailing the
declaration of a State of Emergency in New York City.  He turned it off when it
started talking about President Clinton delaying the election because of Bob
Dole's and Al Gore's tragic "infection" with Richmond, and turned to Goliath and
Elisa.
     "We know that, lass."  he sighed.  "It's just we wish there was something
we could do to stop this, instead of waiting for Brooklyn and the others to
return."
     "There's nothing we can do."  Elisa told him, feeling like it was the
umpteenth time she'd said that.  "The only way Silhouette can be stopped is with
the ring, and Brooklyn, Broadway, Lex and Angela are the ones who have to do
that."
     She sighed, and rested on the windowsill.  Goliath put his arm around her,
and held her close.
     "Don't think I'm not worried, guys."  Elisa frowned.  "I'm terribly
worried.  I haven't been able to get a hold of Mom or Dad for two days.  When I
phone, I get the machine...and I drove to the house today to see if they were
there.  Their neighbours say they haven't seen either of them since two nights
ago.  It's not like them to just vanish."
     Goliath looked at her, wishing he didn't have to say this.  "You don't
suppose they might have been..."
     "Subverted.  It's a strong possibilty.  Mom told me that Mr. Schott, the
guy who lives across from the street from her, had black eyes.  I don't want to
think about it, but I have this nagging suspicion that that's what happened."
Elisa finished for him.
     She walked to the phone.  "I'm going to try again."  she sighed, picking up
the reciever.
     "Elisa, it's 1 o'clock in the morning.  If they are safe, they'll probably
be asleep."  Goliath pointed out.
     "Look, I'm going to try.  If they're asleep, then this'll wake them up, and
I'll at least know they're safe."  Elisa rationalized, dialing the number.
     The phone rang several times, but nobody answered.  Finally the answering
machine picked up.
     "Hi.  You've reached the home of Peter and Diane Maza.  We're not available
right now, so please leave a message at the tone.  We'll call back ASAP. 
Thanks!"  the machine played, and then the tone sounded.
     "Hi, Mom?  Dad?  It's Elisa.  I'm just calling to see if you're all right. 
Could you call me back as soon as you can, just to ease my mind?  Thanks!" 
Elisa sighed, and she hung up.  Groaning, she sat down on the couch.
     "I got the machine."  she muttered.
     Goliath moved next to her, and knelt down.  "Elisa..." he began, brushing
back her hair.  "Your parents are fine."  he whispered.
     Elisa looked up.  She thought back to three nights ago, when Goliath and
Hudson had first arrived at her apartment, and asked if they could stay there,
until Silhouette was stopped.
Elisa had accepted, realizing that things must have been bad at the castle if it
would drive Goliath and Hudson out. 
     Elisa had tried to reassure Goliath, because he was very upset at the loss,
but now, Elisa realized that he was trying to return the favor.
     "I hope so."   Elisa frowned, sighing.  "I just wish there was some way I
could find out for sure."
     Hudson looked up.  "Perhaps Talon and the Mutates might know." 
     Elisa looked at him.  "You might be right.  Derek might be able to tell me
something."
     Goliath stood up.  "We shall go with you.  To make sure that you're safe."
     Elisa smiled.  "Thanks for the concern."
     The three of them stood up, and walked to the balcony.  Goliath leapt up to
the edge, and took Elisa in his arms.  Hudson jumped up as well, and the three
of them soared away to the Labrynth.

********************************************************************************
********************************

The Labrynth

     "What in the..."  Goliath exclaimed, tugging on the door to the Labrynth. 
It was securely locked, and no amount of pulling or banging on it would open it.
     "Why would Derek lock the door?"  Elisa asked.
     "I do not know.  But if we're going to get in, we'll have to try another
method."  Goliath warned.  He dug his claws into the metal, and tried to rip the
door free, but no amount of force would open the door.  The metal was just too
thick.
     Suddenly, a peephole opened, and a orange face peered through at them. 
Claw looked at them, and closed the peephole.  In a second, the door was open,
and Goliath, Hudson and Elisa stepped in.
     "Claw,"  Hudson asked, "why was the door locked?"
     Claw pantomimed somebody sneaking in, and staring at somebody.  Waving his
hands, he indicated that the door was locked to keep Sevants of Twilight out.
     "That explains it.  They're protecting themselves against the subverted." 
Hudson explained.
     "Astute."  came a voice from behind them.
     The three of them turned around, and saw Talon and Maggie standing there. 
Maggie's wrist was bandaged, and Talon had a bandage on his forehead.
     "Derek?"  Elisa asked.
     "Hi, sis."  Talon sighed.  "What brings you three down here?"
     "I assume from Claw's explanation that you've heard of what's happening." 
Goliath told him.
     Maggie nodded.  "We've done more than heard."
     "Two nights ago, we let in a man infected with Richmond.  He began to
infect other people, and we just barely got him out.  He got the clones of your
clan, too...Burbank, Delilah, Malibu, Brentwood, and Hollywood.  They didn't
know any better but to try to stop him, and they got infected.  Nobody besides
the Mutates are here now, and we're keeping the door locked to keep other
carriers out."  Talon explained.
     "Well, we're down here to ask you something.  Derek, have you seen Mom and
Dad lately?  Have you been talking to them?"
     Talon shook his head.  "No.  I haven't seen them since last month.  Why?"
     Elisa gulped.  "I can't get a hold of them.  I'm afraid they might have
been subverted."
     "Subverted?"  Maggie asked, a curious tilt in her voice.
     "Er...infected."  Elisa covered.  Talon gasped.
     "WHAT?"  he roared. 
     Elisa winced.  "Derek..."
     He growled.  "Are you sure?"
     "No.  But I can't get hold of them, and their neighbours say they haven't
seen them in days."
     "This isn't good."  Talon frowned.  "I haven't seen or heard from them in
weeks."
     "Oh.  Well, we just came down to see if you'd heard anything."  Elisa
replied, sadly.
     Talon frowned.  "I'm sorry."
     "What were you saying about 'subverted'?"  Maggie asked.
     Goliath frowned.  "The truth about this virus is that it isn't a disease at
all.  It's a magical curse."
     And then Goliath explianed it all, or at least what he understood.  He
ended with their leaving the castle, and being forced to live in Elisa's
apartment.
     Talon crossed his arms.  "That story sounds kind of farfetched."
     "It's the truth.  It's hard to believe, but it's absolutely true."  Elisa
told him.
     Talon shrugged.  "I've learned to believe in a lot of stranger things over
the past year or so."
     "So, Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington and Angela had to go to stop this?" 
Maggie asked.
     "Aye, lass.  By finding the ring and rebanishing this Silhouette."
     "So what can we do?"  Talon asked.
     Goliath thought.  "Apparently, nothing."
     Maggie frowned.  "That's not a very good option."
     Goliath scowled.  "We could set up patrols.  Just to make sure that
innocent people aren't victimized by these...things."
     Talon smiled.  "It might not be much, but at least it's something useful."
     Hudson agreed.  "Aye, Goliath.  We might even be able to help the young
lads along on their quest."
     "That was the plan."  Goliath growled.
     He turned to Elisa.  "You should probably go home.  It would be safer
there."
     Elisa nodded.  "I'm not about to argue."
     "I'll take Elisa home."  Goliath announced.  "Hudson, you stay here.  When
I return, the five of us will plan our patrol strategy."
     Hudson nodded.  "I'll wait for you."
     Goliath smiled, and he walked away, Elisa following.
     They left the Labrynth, and shut the door.
     "Goliath,"  Elisa began.  "Do you think that patrolling will really work? 
I mean, none of you are immune to subversion, like Lex and Broadway and Brooklyn
and Angela are."
     "It's the only thing we can do."  Goliath replied.  "We don't have magic to
use against them.  Our vigilance will have to protect us."
     Elisa looked at him.
     "Will that be enough?"
     Goliath looked at her, and sighed glumly.
     "It will have to be."

********************************************************************************
********************************
    
Fifth Avenue Subway Tunnel

     The man glanced around, searching for the familiar path to the Labrynth. 
Nervously, he glanced over his shoulder to see if a train was coming, forgetting
that this tunnel hadn't been used in three years.
     His name was Harold Farmer, and he didn't know why he was going to the
Labrynth at all.  Not rationally.
     But, he was also subverted, and that was reason enough.
     Two days ago, he'd been a tenant in the Labrynth, there until he could find
a way to get a new job.  But, things didn't work out as planned, and he found
himself running away from a Richmond infected person, who had invaded the
Labrynth.  He'd run, back up to the street, and was forced to beg for food.
     But he'd made a big mistake.  He'd begged from a subverted person, and
earned himself the same treatment.
     No, he didn't know why, but he had an urge to go to the Labrynth.  It was
unreasonable, and stupid, because Talon and the others would most likely kill
him if he entered the Labrynth with black eyes, but he just felt a need to go
there.
     It took him a while to find it, but eventually, he found the great iron
door which marked the entrance to the Labrynth.  Sighing, he traced the outline
of the Cyberbiotics logo, which was fading away on the metal of the door.
     Then, he noticed claw marks in the door. 
     "Oh..."  he whispered.  He'd known about gargoyles for a while now, since
that time four months ago when one had been brought to the Labrynth to be
jailed, and several true gargoyles were guarding her.  But, he thought that
maybe the gargoyles Silhouette was talking about when she called the four people
to her about an hour ago might be inside.
     "Imagine that."  Harold exclaimed.  "Harold Farmer catching the gargoyles."
     Harold understood what that would mean.  A reward.
     With a grin, he realized that maybe that was why he had been compelled to
come to the Labrynth.
     He smiled, and tugged on the door.  But, it wouldn't budge.
     He tried again.  Obviously, these gargoyles were expecting him, and were
afraid.
     "And they should be."  he smirked.
     With a sigh, he simply metamorphosed into a shadow, and passed under the
door unhindered.

********************************************************************************
********************************

The Labrynth

     "So, tell me again what this Silhouette thing is."  Talon asked Hudson.  "I
don't understand."
     "She's a Child of Oberon."  Hudson explained.
     Claw shrugged.  Talon looked at him, an eyebrow raised.  "Meaning what,
exactly?"
     "There are three races on this earth."  Hudson explained.  "Humans,
gargoyles, and Children of Oberon.  They're magical beings with great power. 
And the thing that's causing this sickness is one of them."
     The four of them were walking through the Labrynth.  Hudson marvelled at
how deserted it was...the last time he'd been here, guarding Demona, before that
messy clone business, the place was teeming with humans, who had nowhere else to
go.
     Now, they were all gone.
     "What happened to the humans who were here that weren't subverted?"  Hudson
asked.  "Surely you didn't send them away with such a danger on the streets."
     Maggie sighed.  "When that homeless man invaded, he inf...subverted most of
the people who were here.  Those who stayed free left of their own choice,
scared beyond reason.  We tried to convince them that the Labrynth was safe, but
they wouldn't listen."
     Hudson nodded.  That made more sense.  Talon wasn't the sort to send people
away if they needed help...a remnant of his time as a police officer.
     Now that other one...
     "Whatever happened to Fang, anyway?"  Hudson asked.
     Talon rolled his eyes.  "He's still gracing our precense.  He's locked up
in one of the glass cages.  I intend to keep him there."
     "We have to keep him safe, too.  If Fang were to be subverted..." Maggie
shuddered.  Claw mimed a breakout, and somebody shooting their way to freedom. 
Hudson understood what that meant...disaster.
     Suddenly, there was a crash from the entrance.
     "What was that?"  Talon asked, perking up.
     "It sounded like it was coming from the entrance to the Labrynth."  Hudson
exclaimed.  "Let's go."
     The four of them ran to the entrance.  When they got there, the place was
abandoned.
     "It was nothing."  Maggie exclaimed, relieved.
     Hudson drew his sword, meanwhile.  "I wouldn't bet on that."
     He turned out to be right.  As they watched, a column of shadow
materialized on the platform.  It solidified into a person.
     It didn't mince words.  "Where are the gargoyles?" it asked.
     "A Servant of Twilight!"  Hudson yelled.  His eyes flared white, and he
stepped forward, growling.
     Talon stopped him.  "Cool it.  He isn't looking for us."
     The Servant smiled.  "You're right.  You four aren't important.  And if you
tell me where the six I DO seek are, then I....oh, I don't know, I might not
decide to subvert you."
     He spread his hands, and a beam of shadow spread out from his hands,
forming into the shapes of six gargoyles.  Hudson didn't know two of them, but
he could tell Brooklyn, Lexington, Angela and Broadway's outlines anywhere.
     "You're looking for those who went with Ariel, aren't ye."
     "You mean the ones who can't be subverted?  Yippers, gramps, they're the
ones."  the Servant replied, bowing.  "Now tell me where they are."
     Maggie frowned.  "They aren't here."
     The Servant's face darkened.  "Stop lying to me."
     "We aren't lying.  Brooklyn and the others are not here."  Talon claimed. 
     The Servant narrowed his eyes.
     "Now please leave."  Talon finished.
     The Servant stared at Talon, and too late Talon realized his mistake.  A
blast of shadow emerged out of the Servant's eyes, and plunged into Talon's. 
Talon turned, his eyes dark, and he smiled.
     "What..." Maggie gasped.
     "Run."  Hudson ordered. backing away.
     Maggie and Claw began staring stupidly at Talon.
     "RUN!"  Hudson yelled, and he turned, fleeing into the tunnels.
     Maggie and Claw followed, glancing back in fear.
     Talon and Harold sighed, and vanished.

********************************************************************************
********************************

     "Oh, no."  Hudson sighed, nearly crashing into a dead end.
     Maggie and Claw stared dejectedly at the stone wall which blocked their
way.
     "What do we do now?"  Maggie asked.
     Claw snapped his talons, and mimed digging.  He then indicated an open sky
beyond the wall.
     "It's our only chance, lass."  Hudson sighed.  Nodding, Maggie and Claw
raised their hands, and blasted the wall.  Once they stopped, Hudson began to
tear through it, in a desparate attempt to escape.
     "Temper, temper."  Talon lamented, suddenly materializing by the wall.  He
blasted the wall, sending a cascade of rubble down on the three.
     "That's how you do it."  he told them, laughing.  He blasted again, sending
new spurts of stone down on them.
     Hudson covered his head.  "We can't last very long like this."  he pointed
out.
     Maggie fired an energy bolt back at Talon, and winced as it hit him. 
"Derek!"  she yelled, but Claw pulled her down, putting a hand to his mouth to
indicate silence.
     Talon, meanwhile, got up, and became enraged.  He blasted bolt after bolt
of shadow at them, laughing sadistically as he did so. 
     But one blast hit directly into the hole that Maggie, Claw and Hudson had
made, opening it to safety.
     Hudson noticed, and frowned.  Talon was too close for them to make a clean
getaway. 
     But if one of them were to distract him, then the other two might be able
to make it to warn Goliath.
     He looked at Maggie and Claw, and decided that he would remain.
     "Get out, you two.  I'll stay and handle Talon."  Hudson ordered, drawing
his sword.
     "You can't stay here!  Derek will kill you!"  Maggie protested, ducking as
another blast came at them.
     "I said get out!  Someone has to warn Goliath.  And if you don't go now,
you'll never get out.  If I can, I'll come after.  Now go!"   Hudson yelled.
     Reluctantly, Maggie and Claw nodded.
     Hudson, sighing, stepped out, and yelled.  Talon looked at him, and blasted
a shadow.  Hudson raised his sword, intending to deflect it, but it hit the
sword straight on, and the force knocked him backwards.
     Groaning, Hudson looked up, and saw an orange foot disappearing into the
tunnel.  Maggie and Claw were out.
     Suddenly, the human subverted appeared.  He had a look of disgust on his
face.
     "They aren't here."  he sighed miserably.
     Talon pointed to Hudson.  "What about him?"
     "Oh, subvert him.  I don't care."  he frowned, and vanished.
     Talon waved, and Hudson was suddenly bound in shadow.  He was lifted up,
and levitated towards Talon.
     Talon laughed.  "Now, it's your turn."  he smiled.
     Hudson spit in his face.
     "You..." he sputtered.
     Talon wiped the spit off of his face, and growled.  Wordlessly, he looked
into Hudson's eyes, and subverted him.  He let him go, and Hudson, eyes dark as
Talon's fur, laughed.
     "I don't know why I was so concerned about this."  he laughed.
     Talon smiled.  "It is a lot of freedom, isn't it."
     "Tell me about it!"  Hudson laughed.  The two of them melted away into the
shadows, and were gone.
     In another part of the Labrynth, Fang woke up from a sound sleep.  He
patted his stomach, and realized he'd probably slept through dinner.
     There wasn't any food on the tray outside.
     Fang raised an eyebrow, and walked to the glass front of the cage. 
"Where's my food?"  he called.
     No response.
     Fang began to bang on the cage, and started hollering.
     No reply.  The Labrynth seemed totally abandoned.
     "Is anybody here?  Hello?"  he called.  Still, nobody answered.
     Maybe they're gonna let me starve to death, Fang thought.  Becoming
frightened, he banged as hard as he could on the glass, and then tried to blast
it with an electic bolt. 
     It was no use.  Cyberbiotics had designed the cage to hold dangerous
biological specimens, and that meant that Fang was safely locked inside.
     Groaning with hunger, he sat down, and tried not to think of food.

********************************************************************************
********************************

Greenwich Apartment Complex

     "I'm getting more worried by the second, Goliath.  There's no answer still,
no answer anywhere in the neighbourhood, nobody I can reach has seen them..."
Elisa shuddered, picturing her parents with black eyes.
     "Elisa..."  Goliath sighed, trying to reassure her.  He had meant to go
back to the Labrynth, but Elisa had seemed so shaked that he couldn't leave her.
     A tear ran down her face.  "I'm so scared.  I think of my parents..."  she
spoke, and then she just lurched into Goliath's arms.
     He held her close.  How am I supposed to reassure her when I'm so scared
myself? he thought, running his talons through her silky hair.
     He was scared that Brooklyn and the others would fail, that his daughter
and clan would be annihilated...he was simply scared of the whole messy
business.
     "Elisa...I'm here.  Whenever you need me, I'm here."  Goliath sighed.
looking at the ceiling.
     Elisa looked at him.  "Thanks.  I'm glad I've got friends like you,
Goliath.  It's like...one look at you, and I suddenly feel like everything's all
right again."
     Goliath smiled.  "That's what I'm here for."
     He raised her chin, and the two tenderly kissed for a brief second, more as
friends than lovers.  Suddenly, there was a swooping sound, and Maggie and Claw
were at the skylight.
     "Why are they here?"  Elisa asked.
     Maggie opened the door, and she and Claw clambered in, shaken.
     "Why are you two not at the Labrynth?"  Goliath asked.
     Maggie looked at him sadly.  "The Labrynth was lost.  A subverted person
broke in, and got Talon.  We were attacked..." she breathed, looking ready to
collapse.
     "No..."  Goliath whispered, horrified.  "Where's Hudson?"
     Claw looked at Maggie, with a regretful look on his face.  Maggie
swallowed.  "He didn't come with us.  He stayed behind so we could escape.  He
said he'd follow us if he could, but he didn't.  Maybe Talon..."
     She didn't have to finish.  Goliath roared, his eyes blasting to brilliant
white.  He ran to the window, but Elisa blocked him off.
     "Elisa, let me pass!"  Goliath yelled desparately.  "Hudson..."
     "Didn't you hear what they said?  The Labrynth is gone, Goliath.  If
Hudson's still in there, he's probably s...subverted...you can't take the
chance..." Elisa choked, not believing she was doing this.  If Hudson needed
help, they should go and help, but common sense told them they shouldn't, and it
was with reluctance that Elisa sided with it.
     Goliath calmed down, but the pain in his eyes was evident.
     "I'll make her pay."  Goliath growled.  "Silhouette is taking everything
from me...my clan, my friends, my family, my home...and I will not rest
until..."  he stopped.
     "Until you what?"  Maggie asked.
     Goliath looked at her.  "Until the threat she poses is ended once and for
all."
     He turned to look at Elisa.  "Until she is destroyed."
     He walked to the window, and began to stare unhappily at the castle.

********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
****************

Chapter Two

          The Second Fragment

Golden Chance Casino, Las Vegas

     The stairwell door opened, and six apparently normal people stepped out.
     "Whoa."  Broadway mouthed, amazed.
     "This is so...different!"  Ophelia cried excitedly.  "I'd never dreamed
that the real world would look like this!"
     She'd said it a little too loudly, and a couple of people turned to stare
at them.
     Brooklyn sighed, and ran a hand through his long, white hair.  "Okay,
Ophelia, you've got to hold things like that here.  If people hear you talking
like that they might think you're some kind of nutcase.  Just keep things like
that to yourself."
     Ophelia nodded, realizing her mistake.
     "Sorry."  she whispered.
     "It's okay."  Brooklyn smiled.  "You're right...it is amazing."
     They were talking about the casino.  Inside, the place was made out in
splendour, with crystal chandeliers and soft carpeting on the floor.  All around
were roulette and blackjack tables, and along one wall was a row of slot
machines.  Waiters walked around with glasses of champagne, and people were all
dressed in tuxedos or dresses.
     Brooklyn looked down at his vest and cutoffs. "We might look a little too
casual."
     Lexington turned to him.  "Nobody's come to kick us out yet for being too
dressed down...I guess it's all right."
     As if to prove this, a waiter walked by, and smiled at them.
     "Friendly sort."  Hawthorne grinned.  "I wonder if he's coming around with
that champagne later."
     "You drink?"  Brooklyn spun around, amazed.
     "Not champagne."
     Brooklyn seemed to relax.
     "Just heavier stuff.  I've never drank champagne in my life."
     Brooklyn just stared at her, his mouth upturned in a little smile.
     "You've never drank, have you."  Hawthorne asked, smiling.
     "Ale and cider, back in...you know, when I'm from..." he told her
cryptically as a couple of socialites passed by.
     Hawthorne laughed.  "I'm sorry...it's just that you seem like the sort who
doesn't mind a party on Saturday night with a few beer."
     "I love Saturday night parties,"  Brooklyn clarified, "but I've never drank
at them."
     "Nothing wrong with that."  Hawthorne told him.
     Then, she wrinkled her brow.  "I still can't tell exactly where the ring
is.  I can only tell that it's moving between the casino and those two doors.  I
think someone has it with them."
     Angela squinted.  "One of them goes to a bar, the other to a dance club." 
she read the signs over top of them.
     "So, we're probably going to have to split up, and look for it."  Broadway
concluded.
     Brooklyn nodded.  "Yeah.  Well, Hawthorne and I will look in the casino."
     Angela looked at Broadway.  "The two of us will take the bar."
     Brooklyn looked to Lexington and Ophelia.  "Well, looks like you two got
the dance hall."  he smiled.  But Lexington and Ophelia just glanced at each
other nervously, and smiled weakly.
     "Uh...sure."  Lexington muttered.
     "Try and find the ring...or at least if you can get any information on
where it is."  Hawthorne told them.  They all nodded, and went their separate
ways. 
     Brooklyn and Hawthorne began to wander around the casino, searching for the
ring.
     "Can you get at least a hunch on it?"
     "It's somewhere in here now, but I can't tell exactly where."  Hawthorne
replied.
     Suddenly, a man tapped Hawthorne on the shoulder.
     The two of them spun around, half expecting to see a Servant of Twilight,
but instead came face to face with a twenty year old man, holding out a piece of
paper at a pen.
     "Can I have your autograph?" he asked Hawthorne.
     Hawthorne blinked.  "Excuse me?"
     "Aren't you Alanis Morrissette?"  the man asked.
     Hawthorne frowned.  "No..."
     "But you look so much like her!"
     "Well, I'm not her.  Sorry."
     The man frowned.  "Are you sure?"
     "Yes, I'm sure."  Hawthorne hissed.
     The man scowled.  "Damnit.  All right, I'm sorry."  he apologized, and he
walked away.
     Hawthorne watched him go.  "What a tard."  she muttered.
     "Imagine that.  Mistaking you for Alanis."  Brooklyn began to chuckle.
     "I know.  I don't look anything like her."
     Brooklyn peered at her.  "Well, now that you mention it...as a human,
there's a slight resemblance."
     Hawthorne glared at him.  "Well, maybe in the face..."
     Brooklyn shook his head.  "It's not uncanny, or anything..."
     And then he grinned wickedly.  "But isn't it ironic?"
     "If you say 'don't you think', I'll hit you."
     Brooklyn raised his hands.  "All right!"
     "Good."
     "I just thought that you oughta know."
     Hawthorne scowled.  "Brooklyn..."
     "You're right.  That was awful.  Am I forgiven?"
     "Urgh!"  Hawthorne hissed.  "Stop that!"
     "Sorry!  Nobody's perfect.  But if you want, I'll leave one hand in my
pocket."  Brooklyn was grinning broadly now.
     "You know what?  You're horrible."
     "So I'm told."
     "Just stop that, okay?  No more jokes about Alanis.  I don't look like
her."
     "Sure."  Brooklyn smiled.  Then he started whistling "You Learn".
     Hawthorne gave him an icy glance, and then both of them burst out laughing.
     They walked around for a bit more, asking occasionally if anyone had seen
the ring.  They always got a negative answer, and they sighed dejectedly.
     Then, a dealer approached them, with a pen and ticket pad.
     "Excuse me, sir..." the dealer began, "But as a free promotion for the
casino, tonight we're offering tickets on several door prizes.  Would you be
interested in filling out a ballot?  Like I said, it's free of charge."
     Brooklyn and Hawthorne looked at each other. 
     "You try to get a lock on the ring."  he told her, and then turned back to
the dealer.
     "Sure!"  Brooklyn smiled.
     "Could I have your name?"  the dealer asked, uncapping the pen.
     Brooklyn thought for a second.  "Nicholas Brooklyn."  he told him.  "And
this is my wife, Elizabeth.  Can we get a ballot for her, too?"
     "Well, I could just put her name on this one."  The dealer replied.  "Where
are you from?"
     "New York City."
     The dealer smiled, and ripped off the ticket.  "Thank you, sir." he nodded,
and walked off.
     Hawthorne turned to him.  "Nicholas Brooklyn, and his wife Elizabeth?"
     Brooklyn smiled.  "I got it from my favorite move.  Did you ever see
'Leaving Las Vegas'?"
     Hawthorne groaned.  "Nicholas Cage and Elizabeth Shue.  I should have
guessed."
     Brooklyn smirked.
     "You're nuts."  Hawthorne groaned.
     Brooklyn looked at her.  "Nuts?  Hardly.  Just a movie buff.  Did you get a
lock on the ring?"
     "Yes, but it's spotty.  I saw a blackjack table, near the opposite end of
the room, under that painting."
     Brooklyn smiled.  "Let's go then, Elizabeth."
     Hawthorne looked at him, and burst out laughing.

********************************************************************************
********************************

     "Okay.  Thanks anyway."  Angela sighed, and walked back to Broadway.
     "They haven't seen a piece of the ring either."  she told him.
     Broadway frowned.  "This is just one dead end after another."
     The two of them were circulating around the bar, which looked quite
different from the casino.  It's subdued blue lighting was starting to make them
tired.
     Angela yawned.  "If we don't find this ring soon, I'm going to fall asleep
right here."
     Broadway looked around.  "Everyone probably thinks we're morons.  I've
asked ten people, and no one's seen anything."
     "I've asked eight.  Same story."
     They glanced around. 
     "Well, we should probably ask a few more."  Broadway sighed.
     "If we don't get anything, we might as well stop."  Angela told him.  He
nodded, and walked off.  Angela trod over to a woman standing at the bar.
     Broadway saw a person he hadn't talked to yet, and crossed his fingers.  He
walked over, and sat down next to her.
     "Hi, there."  he greeted.
     The woman glanced at him.  "Hello."  she greeted coldly.
     "Have you seen a piece of metal, kind of an arc, looking silvery?" 
Broadway asked.
     The woman took a drink of her Manhattan.  "Now that you mention it, I
remember someone talking about something like that.  He's over there, in that
booth.  Wiry brown hair, leather jacket...you can't miss him.  He just complains
about it, though.  Says it broke him.  I can't stand him.  He's a total idiot."
     Broadway found himself smiling.  "Thanks."  he told her, and got up.  He
walked to Angela, who'd just gotten another bust. 
     "That guy there might have seen it."  he told her, pointing at the man the
woman indicated.
     "Are you sure he can help?  He looks kind of...upset..." Angela replied,
watching as the man took a drink of beer, and then slammed his fist on the
table.
     "He's the only lead we have.  Come on."  Broadway declared, and the two of
them walked to the table.  They sat down, and smiled nervously at him.
     "What the hell do you want?"  the man asked, looking frustrated.  He was
thin, and small, and looked like he was trying to forget something that had just
happened.
     "We're looking for a piece of metal.  Silvery, kind of an arc..." Angela
began.
     The man glared at her.  "Can't you leave me alone?"
     "Excuse me?"  Broadway asked.
     "That goddamn piece of metal broke me.  Spent all my money on one bet, and
lost it.  The guy I bet with took out the piece, and thanked it, saying he
hadn't lost since he got it."
     Broadway and Angela looked at each other.
     "Where's the metal now?"  Angela asked.
     The man took another drink.  "The guy still has it.  It's his good luck
charm...he won't part with it.  Name's 'Texas John' Macklinson.  He wears a
cowboy hat, jeans and a rugby sweater.  You can't miss him.  But don't bet with
him.  With that ring, he can't lose."
     Broadway got up.  "Where's 'Texas John' now?" he asked.
     The man looked at him.  "In the casino, fool.  He can't lose, so he keeps
betting.  Don't bet with him.  I'm warning you."
     Angela glanced at Broadway.  "Well, thanks.  C'mon, Broadway." she told
him.  They both left, not bothering to say anything to the man in the booth
besides 'Thanks'.
     "'Texas John' Macklinson."  Broadway muttered.
     Angela sighed.  "C'mon.  We'd better go and tell Brooklyn and Hawthorne"

********************************************************************************
********************************

     Lexington and Ophelia opened the door, and Ophelia immediately covered her
ears.
     "What?" Lexington asked.
     "Loud!  And what kind of music is this?"  Ophelia asked.
     "Dance music." Lexington replied.  Involuntarily, he started to tap his
feet.  He liked the song they were playing now..."Total Eclipse Of The Heart",
by Nikki French.
     "Once upon I time I was falling in love, now I'm only falling apart. 
Nothing I can do, a total eclipse of the heart!" he sang, before he realized he
was doing it.  He turned, and saw Ophelia giving him a funny look.  He blushed,
and pointed inside.  Ophelia nodded.
     Lexington didn't have a clue how they were supposed to find the ring.
     Suddenly, he began to see a flash of brown through his human skin.  Ophelia
was about to drop the illusion.
     "Jalapena."  he swore.  "Ophelia!  Keep concentrating!" he yelled.  Ophelia
realized what she was about to do, and managed to maintain the illusion.
     "Thanks."  she muttered, realizing how close she'd come to losing it.
     Lexington nodded.  "Don't mention it.  Now, we have to circulate
around...try to see if the ring is here." he told her.
     Ophelia sighed, and indicated her agreement.  "How are we supposed to find
it in here?"
     Lexington shrugged.  "Maybe, if we just ask other people if they've seen
it, someone will be able to tell us.
     "Split up.  Meet back here in...oh, half an hour, and we'll see if we find
anything."  Lexington finished, and he walked into the crowd.
     Ophelia watched him go, and went off on her own.
     Lexington frowned as he walked into the dancing masses.  He tried to tap on
someone's shoulder, to ask, but was ignored.
     Scowling, he tried again.  The person spun around, and stared at him.
     "Excuse me...I'm looking for a piece of..." he began, and then stopped,
listening to the music.  The song had just changed.
    
          "Hey, this is radio station WSKEE
             We're takin' calls off the wish line
           Making all your wacky wishes come true."
    
     "What do you want?"  The girl asked. 
     Lexington was listening. He began tapping his feet.  This song seemed so
familiar. "What song is this?"  he asked the girl.
     " 'I Wish', by Skee-Lo.  Is that what you wanted?"
     "No, I was...." he began again, but found himself listening more to the
music.  Suddenly, the actual song started.
    
          "I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller,
            I wish I had a girl who looked good, I would call her,
           I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat and a '64 Impala..."
    
     "I love this song!"  Lexington exclaimed.  He used to hate it, when
Brooklyn and Broadway had taunted him, saying the first line fit him, but he
found he was starting to like it more after the 64th time he'd been forced to
listen to it.  Now, it was one of his favorite songs in the whole world.
     "Well, that's nice..." the girl began, but then Lexington, caught up in the
moment,  began to dance.
     The girl stared at him.  This kid was one of the bestdancers she'd ever seen.
     She tapped her boyfriend on the shoulder.  "Tyrone...look at this."
     Tyrone sighed.  "In the middle of Skee-Lo?  Oneisha..."
     Oneisha insisted.  Tyrone looked, and his eyes widened. 
     "That guy's pretty good."  Tyrone exclaimed.
     "Widen out, then.  Let him in."  Tyrone's friend Tevin yelled.  Oneisha
grabbed Lexington's arm, and pulled him into the circle she and her friends had
made, and soon, Lexington was dancing in the centre, with everyone in the group
clapping him on.  In a few minutes, he was having so much fun he'd forgotten why
he was in the dance club in the first place.
     Ophelia, meanwhile, was trying to find the ring.  She backed up, and bumped
into somebody standing there.
     "Hey, watch it!" he yelled.  He spun around.
     "Oh, I'm sorry."  she apologized.
     The guy sighed.  "Sorry about that.  I'm just a little testy, cause my date
just ran off without me.  My name's Thompson Riley."
     "Uh, hi, Thompson." Ophelia stammered.
     Thompson looked around.  "Are you here with someone?" he asked.
     Ophelia thought.  "No..." she admitted.
     "Do you want to dance?"
     "Uh, I don't know..."  Ophelia waffled, thinking of the ring.
     "Oh, come on.  Just one dance."
     Ophelia shrugged.  "I don't dance that often."
     Thompson laughed.  "It's easy.  Come on, I'll show you how."
     Ophelia shook her head.
     "Oh, come on!"  Thompson laughed, and he began to dance.  Ophelia watched,
and began to move around a little bit, confused by the style of dance.  Ther was
no grace, not like the waltzes she'd learned on Avalon...
     Then, Thompson laughed.  "What did I tell you?  It's easy!" 
     Ophelia shrugged, and began to dance with him.

********************************************************************************
********************************

     "We lost it."  Brooklyn sighed.
     The two were at the blackjack table, looking for the ring, but it wasn't
there.
     Hawthorne slammed a fist down on the unattended blackjack table.  "Damn. 
Right out from between our fingers."
     Suddenly, Brooklyn looked up, and saw Broadway and Angela coming from the
bar.
     He waved, and the two raced over to him, looking happy to find him.
     "Did you two find anything?"  Brooklyn asked.
     "Yeah."  Broadway smiled.  "Someone told us that some guy named 'Texas
John' Macklinson has it, and that he uses it a good luck charm."
     "'Texas John'?" Hawthorne asked.  Angela shrugged. 
     "It's what we were told."  she replied.
     Brooklyn frowned.  "Texas John."  he mused.
     "Sounds like the stereotyped Texas gambler, doesn't it?"  Hawthorne noted.
     "Yeah.  Well, this makes it somewhat easier, anyway."  Angela pointed out.
     "Uh huh.  Well, let's go find this guy, then.  We have to get moving on." 
Brooklyn decided.
     The four gargoyles in disguise walked around, searching for anybody named
Texas John Macklinson.  A gambler at a blackjack table knew who he was, and
pointed to a roulette table.  Broadway thanked him, and the quartet walked up to
the place he pointed to.
     Texas John was a tall, wiry man, who was only called Texas John because of
his cowboy hat.  Really, he was from Massachusetts, as he said several times
when some people asked him why he called himself Texas John when he didn't have
a southern drawl.
     He might not have been a Texan, but he was one hell of a good gambler,
evidenced by his endless winning streak.  As he raked in his earnings, he took
out a silvery arc of metal, and laughed.
     The gargoyles' eyes widened.  It was the second piece of the ring.
     "Excuse me,"  Brooklyn asked him after the crowd of gamblers had moved on,
"but where did you get that ring?"
     Texas John looked at him.  "Want one of your own, do you?"
     Brooklyn smiled.  "Yeah...you could say that."
     Texas John scratched his head.  "I don't blame you.  This thing's brought
me nothing but good luck since I found it.  But I only found it.  You can't get
them anywhere else."
     "Where did you find it?"
     "It was just lying on the sidewalk on Fremont Street two days ago.  I
picked it up, and kept it, and then kept winning.  It's really strange."
     Brooklyn's eyes widened.  "Did you say Fremont Street?"  he slapped his
forehead in disbelief.
     "Yeah...why?"
     Brooklyn hoped his dimple wouldn't betray him.  "That is such a
coincidence?"
     "How?"
     "I lost a piece of metal like that almost two weeks ago.  Right on Fremont
Street.  Where did you find it?" he lied.
     "Outside the Golden Nugget Casino."
     Brooklyn waved his hands in the air.  "That's were I lost it!  Right,
Angela?"
     Angela nodded. 
     "I can vouch for him too."  Broadway added.
     Brooklyn looked at him.  "Texas John, I'd like to thank you for finding
this for me.  Thank you so much."  He reached out to take the ring, but John
pulled back.
     "I don't believe how low you people are willing to go."  John gasped. 
     "Excuse me?"  Hawthorne asked.
     "I know what this is.  You're setting me up so I'll ditch the ring and lose
my good luck charm.  Well, it won't work.  Geez, you guys...I've given you
people the same answer for two days now."
     "We aren't trying to make you lose the charm...we want back what's
rightfully ours!"  Hawthorne protested.
     Texas John raised a hand.  "I'm sorry, but you don't have any proof that
it's yours, other than this guy's word for it."  he pointed to Brooklyn.  "But
I'll tell you what...I'll make you a deal."
     He smiled, and pointed at the roulette table.  "I'll play you for it."

********************************************************************************
********************************

     "Go!  Go!  Go!  Go!"  the people shouted.  Lexington and Oneisha were dirty
dancing together, to that Deborah Cox song, "Sentimental".
     Lexington was pressed against her hips, swaying in time to the music.  They
were practically crouched down, Oneisha almost sitting on his lap as they danced
together. 
     Tyrone was laughing.  He didn't care that this new guy was dancing with his
girl, since he'd assured her that he meant no harm.  And he wasn't dancing with
Oneisha alone.  Lexington had danced with practically every girl in the group.
     Oneisha stepped away from Lexington, and began to dance on her own, her
movement just as good as Lexington's.
     "You go, girl."  Lexington called.  Oneisha laughed, and danced harder.
     Lexington smiled.  He didn't really care why it was that he was dancing. 
He just felt like it, that was all.  The song had played, and he'd got caught up
in the moment.  And then, this new group of friends seemed to carry things
along, and things simply progressed from there.
     He grabbed another girls wrists, and the two of them began to dance
together.
     Then, Tyrone and Tevin moved out of the way, and Lexington suddenly had an
unobstructed view of Ophelia.
     Dancing with somebody else.
     Lexington frowned.  Ophelia had practically come out on the roof and told
him that she liked him, and here she was dancing with somebody else.  Something
suddenly bubbled up to the emotional surface in him, and he suddenly stopped
dancing.
     Tyrone laughed.  "Hey man, what are you stopping for?"
     Lexington stared at him.  "Later, Tyrone."
     "What?"  Tyrone asked.  Lexington pushed out from the group, and strode
towards Ophelia.
     He didn't know what he was feeling...well, that wasn't exactly true.  He
knew what he was feeling, but he didn't know why he was feeling it.
     It was jealousy.  He was jealous of that guy dancing with Ophelia.
     Why?  he asked himself.  Why are you jealous of him?  Ophelia couldn't
possibly like him, he's human!
     Then again, that hadn't stopped Goliath and Elisa.
     Whatever was going on, he wasn't going to let Ophelia slip between his
fingers, like he let Angela.
     He didn't know, really, but he wasn't thinking straight, and before he
could stop himself, he was right beside the guy she was dancing with.
     He tapped him on the shoulder.
     "Yes?"  Thompson asked, turning.
     Lexington frowned.  "Cut in."
     "Wha...?"
     Even though Thompson Riley was much larger than Lexington, he had the
advantage of gargoyle strength.  So, Lexington easily pushed Thompson out of the
way. 
     "Wanna dance?"  he asked Ophelia, winking.
     "Lexington?"  she exclaimed, but then the song changed...to "Leaving Las
Vegas", by Sheryl Crow.

     "I'm leaving Las Vegas,
      The lights so bright, palms sweating, blackjack on a Saturday Night,
      Leaving Las Vegas, yeah, I'm leaving for good.
      I'm leaving for good."
    
     Lexington grabbed Ophelia's wrists and began to dance.  At first, she
resisted, but soon, she was caught up in the moment again.  Soon, like with the
group, Lexington was the center of attention, with a group of people surrounding
them, clapping.  Ophelia had learned well from Thompson, too, and she was
managing, barely, to keep up to Lexington, who seemed to be on an energetic
high.
     "Lexington..."  Ophelia gasped, and he twirled her around, and started to
dirty dance.  "What's gotten into you?"
     "I don't know."  he replied, honestly.  "But I think I'm gonna have a lot
of fun finding out what."
     The two continued dancing, as others stared on in amazement.

********************************************************************************
********************************

     "Bet?"  Brooklyn asked in bewilderment.  "You want me to bet with you for
the ring?"
     Texas John shrugged.  "If you want it badly enough..."
     "But I don't have anything to bet with!"
     "The chip changer's over there."  John pointed.
     Brooklyn rolled his eyes.  "I don't have anything to change."
     John looked amazed.  "You have NO MONEY?"  Brooklyn shook his head.
     "Well, that could present a problem."  John sighed.
     "What?"  Angela asked.
     "No money, no bet."  John shrugged, and he prepared to leave.
     Then, almost by chance, he saw a chain around Hawthorne's neck.
     "Hello..." he exhaled, taking the pendant out from her jacket.  "You could
bet with this."
     "Like hell."  Hawthorne snapped, jerking back the pendant. 
     Angela stepped next to her.  "Hawthorne...it's our only chance."
     "No!"  she protested.  "If you knew where this was coming from, you'd
understand..."
     Broadway sighed.  "Hawthorne, it's the only way."
     "NO!"  she yelled.
     John seemed taken aback.  "It was only a suggestion..."
     Brooklyn shushed him.  "Hawthorne..."  he began.  "I know that the
pendant's important to you, but think of what's on the line.  Remember Avalon?"
     Hawthorne nodded.
     "Well, remember what's going to happen if we don't get that ring.  Please,
Hawthorne."  Brooklyn begged.
     Hawthorne hesitantly unhooked the pendant and gave it to him.
     "All right.  But you don't lose.  You know how much that means to me."
     "Fine."  Brooklyn told her.  "So, how do you play this?"
     "We'll change the rules a bit, cause it's a special bet.  The ball rolls on
that wheel as it spins.  We place our bets on the table, in some way...once we
decide on the way we're playing.  How does red and black sound?"
     "This is all Greek to me."  Brooklyn replied, becoming angry.
     "Okay."  John rolled his eyes.  "When the ball rolls, it'll stop on one of
those numbers.  Each number has a color.  How about...red, I win, black, you
win.  Green, neither of us do, and we both lose.  The house gets both."  He
pointed at the dealer at the table, who suddenly wanted to go somewhere else.
     Brooklyn sighed.  "Okay."
     "Set that pendant on that black space there."  John pointed, and Brooklyn
did so.
     "Good."  John smiled, and he set the ring on the red space.
     "All right.  Now, we're all set."  Texas John laughed, rubbing his hands.
     Broadway stopped him.  "Excuse me, for one second."  he smiled, and he took
Brooklyn aside.
     "I don't like this.  We're leaving this all up to chance."  Broadway
whispered.
     "Do we have another choice?"  Brooklyn retorted.  "Besides, I have a plan."
     "A plan."  Broadway groaned.  "You can't plan on anything here.  It's a
game of chance."
     Then, something tapped Broadway on the shoulder.
     He turned, but no one was there.
     "What was that?"  Broadway asked.
     "It was me."  Brooklyn replied.  Then, in a low whisper, he added "I've
unwound my tail."
     "How will that help?"
     "Watch.  Just try to keep the dealer and Texas John distracted."
     The two of them returned to the table.  "We're ready."  Brooklyn told the
dealer.  With a sigh, the dealer turned the wheel, and spun the ball in the
other direction. 
     The wheel turned, and the ball bounced around.  As the wheel slowed,
Broadway snuck behind Texas John.  His own tail invisibly unwound, he tapped on
John's shoulder.  While he was distracted, Brooklyn turned, and sent his tail
out to the roulette wheel.  The wheel stopped, and the ball headed straight
towards the green "0" space.
     Hawthorne gasped, but then the ball seemed to oddly jump, and landed in the
black "28" space.
     "Black."  the dealer announced.  "Black wins."
     Angela gaped in shock.
     "We won!"  Hawthorne yelled.  Texas John frowned, and looked at Brooklyn.
     "What?"  he stared hoarsely, looking at the roulette wheel.  "It was about
to go in the green space!"
     The dealer shrugged, and turned to walk away.
     "I don't believe this."  Texas John exclaimed.  "I was on a winning
streak...eight thousand dollars in one night..."
     He closed his eyes.  "Fine.  The better man won."  he whispered bitterly.
     "Congratulations."  he muttered, insincerely.  He turned, and stalked off.
     Brooklyn picked up Hawthorne's pendant, and put it around her neck.
     "Did you notice how the ball just jumped into our space?"  Hawthorne asked,
as Brooklyn picked up the ring.
     "There's a reason for that."  he told her.  Lowering his voice, he leaned
in closer to Angela and Hawthorne.  "I gave it a little push with my tail."
     "You what?"  Angela yelled.
     "Ssh!"
     "Sorry."  she apologized.
     "I didn't like leaving it up to chance any more than you did."  Brooklyn
explained as they walked away from the table.  "That's why I did it.  We didn't
have a choice."
     "Nobody's saying you did the wrong thing."  Angela told him.
     "I know...it's just that I'm not the type who likes to cheat, that's all." 
Brooklyn sighed.  "Come on.  Let's go find Lex and Ophelia and get out of here."
     The four of them left, headed for the dance hall.

********************************************************************************
********************************

     At the door to the casino, Keegan Burns sighed.  He hated this
job...greeting the patrons who came in.  It was a dead end job, and he planned
to quit as soon as he got his PhD in Marketing.
     Sighing, he watched as someone opened the door.  A woman stepped in,
wearing sunglasses.  Keegan raised his eyebrow...he wasn't paid to ask
questions, but it still was odd to see someone walking around with sunglasses on
at ten to twelve at night.
     "May I help you, m'am?"  Keegan asked.  The woman looked at him.  As he
watched, several other people followed her in.
     "M'am?"  Keegan asked again.
     The woman took off her sunglasses, and subverted him.
     Keegan stiffened, and went back behind the desk.
     "Yes, you can help me."  the woman told him.  "My name is Maria Chavez, and
I was wondering if you'd seen any gargoyles around."
     Keegan thought for a second.  When he was subverted, he automatically knew
about the gargoyles and the ring.  "No, Ms. Chavez."  he nodded.  "No gargoyles
tonight."
     Maria said an interesting word under her breath.  "Thanks."  she sighed,
putting the sunglasses on to cover her black eyes.
     "They aren't inside.  They may already have the ring."  she told the three
men behind her, all wearing sunglasses, and all carrying rather nasty guns in
their pockets.
     And then, four young people bumped past her.
     "Sorry."  one of them, a black haired female wearing a wool sweater
exclaimed as she ran into her.  Angela didn't recognize Chavez, and at first,
Chavez didn't recognize her, either.
     Then, as she looked at the girl, Chavez became overwhelmed with a sense of
deja vu.
     Chavez thought for a second.  Mentally, she called up a picture of the six
gargoyles, and compared the girl to them all.
     She came up with a match with a purple colored female one, who Chavez
remembered was called Angela.
     "I don't believe it."  Chavez muttered as she stared after the gargoyles. 
"They've made themselves human."
     Sihghing, Chavez communicated with Sil.
     [YOU HAVE THEM?]  Silhouette asked, sounding interested.
     Chavez frowned.  [NO.  I MAY NEED YOU TO DO A FAVOR FOR ME.]
     She explained to Silhouette what she wanted.  Silhouette sighed, and
agreed.
     Chavez walked up to the gargoyles, telling her followers to come with her. 
Being subverted had its advantages.  Normally, she would have had to have been
on crutches, since her ankle was broken.  But, now, she could walk fine, a side
effect of being a Servant of Twilight.
     Membership has its privilages, she thought, and smiled.
     She had to struggle to get through the crowd, but eventually caught up with
them.
     "Angela!"  she called. 
     Angela spun around, and peered at Chavez.  Broadway stared at her intently,
trying to place her.
     "You're Elisa's police captain!"  he exclaimed, after recognizing her.
     You idiot, Chavez thought.  You've gone and given yourself away.
     Maria remembered that Elisa Maza had explained to her about the gargoyles. 
The fact that one of them looked very similar to a member of the group of
gargoyles, plus the fact that one of them knew Elisa, could only prove that they
were indeed the gargoyles she was searching for.
     "Angela, I have to talk to you."  Chavez exclaimed.  She took off her
sunglasses, to reveal perfectly normal green eyes.  It was a convincing
illusion, but an illusion nonetheless, granted by asking Silhouette a few
seconds ago.  It wasn't easy for Silhouette to maintain, and would only last a
few seconds, but was real enough to convince Angela.  Even with her power, she
didn't notice, mainly because Chavez only allowed a brief glimpse of her eyes. 
She put the glasses back on.
     "What is it?"  Angela asked, a little confused, not asking how Maria
recognized them as humans.
     "It has to be outside."  Chavez stated, emphatically. "There's Servants of
Twilight in here, and they want you dead.  It's safer out there."
     The gargoyles shrugged, nervously, and followed her out of the casino, a
little bit intimidated by the followers.
     "This won't take long, will it?"  Brooklyn asked.  "We have to meet up with
our friends."
     "They're all right."  Chavez told them, ducking into a side alley.
     Then, Chavez stepped behind them.  She and her followers were directly
behind the gargoyles.
     "What is it you have to tell us?"  Angela asked.
     "Just this."  Maria sighed, snapping her fingers.  Her followers suddenly
drew their guns, aimed point blank at the gargoyles.
     "Shoot them."  Maria told her Servants.

********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
****************

Chapter Three

          Leaving Las Vegas

     Before the guns could fire, Broadway leapt down, tackling the other three. 
The bullets sailed over their heads, ricocheting off of the brick wall behind
them.
     "Holy..."  Hawthorne swore.
     The four of them leapt up, and tackled the gunmen, before they had the
chance to shoot again.  Chavez swore, and drew a gun.  But because the gargoyles
were moving around too much, she couldn't get a clear shot.
     "Stay still!"  she yelled, and fired the gun.  The bullet whizzed by
Brooklyn's ear, missing him by a hair's width.
     "We've got to get out of here!"  Angela yelled.
     The four of them ran to the wall, scaling it as fast as they could.
     Hawthorne marvelled as her human looking fingers sank into the stone.  But
as she stared, a bullet nicked her toe.  Screaming, she raced up the wall. 
     Chavez swore, and shot again.  She would soon run out of bullets, and she
had six gargoyles to kill.  Her helpers had all vaporized, gone back to the
shadows from whence they came, so she was alone.
     She looked up.  The last of them was up on the roof, being pulled up by the
others.
     She sighed.  The only way down from there was the stairs, or gliding away. 
And they'd mentioned that they had to "get the others", so that meant they were
most likely to take the stairs.
     Smiling grimly, Chavez vanished.

********************************************************************************
********************************

     Up on the roof, the gargoyles were gasping for breath.
     "Why was she shooting at us?"  Hawthorne asked, inspecting her toe.  It
wasn't a serious wound, just a nick...but it hurt.
     Brooklyn panted.  "She was probably a Servant of Twilight.  Sent by
Silhouette to kill us."
     "So she sends out assassins, now?"  Broadway roared, angry.  His eyes,
flared...which looked odd, since he was still human.
     Angela peered carefully over the edge, expecting to be shot at.
     No bullets came.  The alley was deserted.
     "She's gone."  Angela reported.
     "For now."  Broadway told her.  "She'll be back soon enough.  She knows
we're still alive."
     Hawthorne was looking a little more shaken than the others.  "This is
getting more dangerous by the second."  she cried.  "I thought the most risky
thing that would happen here would be losing the bet."
     "Surprise."  Brooklyn muttered.  He was ticked off too.
     He got up.  "Let's go find Lexington and Ophelia.  The sooner we get out of
here, the better."
     Then he paled.  "Oh, God." he whispered.
     "What?"
     "Lex and Ophelia are still in there.  If Chavez is gone, then she might
have gone in after those two."
     "Oh, no."  Angela muttered.  "We have to get to them first."
     "Let's go.  We'll take the stairs."  Broadway pointed.
     The gargoyles ran to the stairwell.  As they raced down, they suddenly
stopped.
     Angela stepped forward.  "There's an illusion down there."
     As the others watched, she concentrated, and suddenly, Chavez materialized,
a gun pointed at Hawthorne's head.
     "Congratulations, Angela."  Chavez smiled.  "Your powers are coming along
nicely."
     She cocked the gun.  Brooklyn growled, and came down a step.
     "Don't move."  Chavez warned.
     Brooklyn tackled her, and she fell down to the landing.
     She got up, and groaned. 
     "Let us pass."  Broadway warned, his eyes staring to flare.
     "Don't you understand?'  Chavez told him.  "You can't be allowed to live! 
You've got two pieces of the ring!  You're a threat to my kind which has to be
neutralized!"
     "Neutralize this."  Broadway spat, and he punched her.  Chavez went
spinning backwards, and hit the wall.  Her lip was bleeding, but she turned
around and shot at Broadway.
     Nothing happened.  The barrel clicked, but nothing fired.  Chavez was out
of bullets.
     Growling, she began to fire blasts of shadow at the gargoyles.
     They ducked, and ran back up the stairs to the next floor.
     Brooklyn looked down.  The stairwell was the sort were there was a hole in
the middle, and the bottom of it could be seen.
     "We could go down directly."  he said.
     "WHAT?"  Hawthorne yelled.  "You want us to jump down that?"
     "It's the only way.  With our wings to slow us down, we should be able to
make it."
     "You can't glide!"  Angela reminded him.  "You can barely even open your
wings!"
     Brooklyn looked at Broadway.  "Could I hitch a ride?" he asked.
     Broadway smiled.  "Hop on."
     Brooklyn jumped onto Broadway's back.
     "When we jump, use your wings as a parachute."  Brooklyn told them.
     "Right."  Hawthorne exclaimed. Sighing, they spread their wings, creating a
shimmer in the human illusion as they did so.
     With a prayer, the three of them leapt off the landing, and began the free
fall into space.
     With a grunt of protest, Broadway spread his wings as far as they could to
slow the descent.  The edges of them banged against the railing of the stairs,
but it slowed him down considerably.
     They landed, and with a groan, Brooklyn leapt off.
     "Thanks, Broadway."  he sighed.
     "No problem."  he panted.  The four of them opened the door to the casino,
and ran through it into the dance hall.
    
********************************************************************************
********************************

     They were instantly lost in the noise.
     "How are we going to find them?"  Hawthorne yelled.
     Broadway turned, and saw a huge group of people.  Although it was nearly
drowned out by the music, (Wrong, by Everything But The Girl, Broadway
recognized.) they could hear the crowd chanting "Lex!  Lex!  Lex!  Lex!"
     "I think that might be a good place to start."  he pointed.
     The crowd cleared a little bit, just long enough so that the gargoyles
could see Lexington and Ophelia dirty dancing together.
     "Nice to see they're having fun."  Brooklyn muttered.
     "Come on.  We have to get them, and get out of here."  Angela sighed.
     They were too late.  Seconds later, Maria Chavez appeared, and blasted a
shadow bolt at the dance equipment.  The music ground to a halt, and the lights
suddenly came on.  Everyone looked around in confusion.  Lexington and Ophelia
turned, their eyes widening in realization and horror.
     Chavez grabbed Thompson Riley, who was the closest person to her, and put
her open hand on his temple.
     "Gargoyles!"  she yelled.  "If you come out now, with the ring, I'll spare
you."
     "Fat chance."  Broadway muttered. 
     "Otherwise, I subvert this entire building." Chavez called again, drawing a
confused look from Thompson.  Lexington and Ophelia, who were behind her,
glanced at each other, trying to keep from panicking.
     The people who were at the dance stood around, asking themselves what was
going on.
     "Lex and Ophelia are right behind her.  She doesn't even see them." 
Hawthorne pointed.
     "Then let's use that to our advantage.  If we can sneak..."  Brooklyn
began, but then Chavez subverted Thompson, and began to move on to others.. 
     There was a mad rush for the doors, as people raced to get out.  Brooklyn,
Broadway, Angela and Hawthorne struggled to get through the crowd, but were
failing.
     Chavez continued to subvert whoever she saw, and they subverted others. 
Lexington and Ophelia tried to get away, remaining unnoticed by the Servants.
     Brooklyn, meanwhile, turned around, and found the others gone.  He tried to
call out for them, but they were lost in the crowd. 
     Groaning, he turned, and saw Lexington and Ophelia about seven feet away.
     Sighing, he tried to wade through the crowd.

********************************************************************************
********************************

     Lexington frowned.  "There's no way we can get to the others."  he snapped. 
"We don't even know where they are, much less how we can get through the crowd."
     Ophelia thought for a second.  "I know how we can clear a few people."
     Lexington was about to ask how, when he realized his human appearence was
gone.
     He and Ophelia were gargoyles again.
     Several people who were nearby suddenly screamed, and ran even faster
towards the doors.  Lexington and Ophelia cried out as people battered into
them.
     "Brilliant strategy."  Lexington exclaimed, sarcastically.  Ophelia glared
at him.    
     "It worked.  In a few minutes, everyone'll be out of here, and we'll have a
bit more room."  she told him.  Lexington sighed.
     Suddenly, Brooklyn was there, his beak and horns visible once more.
     "Brooklyn!"  Lexington called.
     Brooklyn waded through the crowd, which was trying its best to get away
from him.  He got to them, and looked curiously at Ophelia.
     "Did you lose the illusion?"  he asked her.
     Ophelia nodded.  By now, the worst of the mob was out, and the dance hall
was mostly abandoned. "On purpose."
     Brooklyn was about to ask why, when Broadway and the others ran up to them.
     "What happened?"  Broadway asked.
     "Ophelia dropped the illusion."  Lexington explained.  "Do you have the
ring?"
     Brooklyn nodded, and removed it from his belt.
     "Say the spell, and we can get out of here." 
     Lexington nodded.  "Desflegrate, muri inter....ahhh!"  he cried, as a blast
of shadow hit him in the stomach.  He was knocked backwards.
     The gargoyles turned around, and saw Chavez, and almost thirty other
subverted people advancing towards them.
     "Lexington, say the spell!"  Angela hissed.
     Lexington tried again.  "Desflegr..." he started, but a barrage of bolts
flew at them.
     "They're waiting till I start, and blasting us!"  Lexington exclaimed. 
     "We've got to get somewhere safer to leave."  Broadway yelled.  "Let's get
to the roof!"
     The six gargoyles turned and ran.  The Servants followed them, Maria
leading, blasting shadows to keep Lexington from activating the spell.
     The gargoyles ran into the casino, (prompting gasps of shock from the
patrons, who had just seen people run out of the dance hall yelling about
monsters and psychopathic shadows) and up the stairs, but again, the servants
followed them.  They changed into pure shadow, and began to accelerate to them. 
Shadows blasted, and one hit Angela in the back.  She was knocked forward. 
Broadway caught her, and picked her up.
     The door to the roof burst open, and they rushed out.
     "Now, Lex!"  Brooklyn yelled.  Lexington cleared his throat, and began...
     But then, the stairwell door exploded, showering wood, glass and shadow at
the gargoyles.  Hawthorne was knocked back, and the impact jarred the first
piece of the ring out from her pocket.  It skidded, and went sailing over the
side of the building, under the railing.
     "Damnit!"  Hawthorne cried, turning.  With a sigh of relief, she noticed
that the piece of metal had landed on a windowsill, near the ground.  Groaning,
she jumped down, and went to retrieve it.
     The Servants raced up from the starirs, and Chavez suddenly materialized in
front of them.  The gargoyles' eyes flared, and they bared their fangs, prepared
to attack.
     "Oh, please."  Chavez sighed, and she blasted them.  The five of them were
painfully knocked backwards.
     Chavez strolled over to the side, and looked down.  Hawthorne had the ring,
and was preparing to scale the wall.  She raised her hand, and aimed. At the
right angle, a blast would knock her off of the side.  If she hit the ground,
she wouldn't survive.
     Brooklyn looked over the side, and saw Hawthorne climbing the wall, with
the piece of ring in her hand.  He then noticed Chavez preparing to blast her.
     "NOOOOOO!" he cried.  Using what energy the blast had left him, he dove off
the side of the roof, and fell down to catch Hawthorne.  He spread his wings,
but the bolt of pain was so agonizing that he screamed.  At the same time,
Chavez fired, and the blast hit Hawthorne in the back.  She cried, and fell
down, about to hit Fremont Street.
     Brooklyn winced as his wing screamed at him, and turned over.  His speed
accelerated.  He knew he had one chance at this.
     His acceleration exceeded that of Hawthorne's, and as he passed her, he
grabbed her.  He then reached out his other arm and his feet, and dug his claws
into the side of the building.  He felt a jolt as he deaccelerated, and a
dizzying sense of vertigo.  He looked down.  Another twenty-five feet, and they
would have hit the sidewalk. 
     Shuddering, he began to climb up the building again.

********************************************************************************
********************************

     Chavez sighed, and prepared to blast them again.
     Angela looked at Broadway.  "If we attack her, then the Servants will take
us down.  You have to use your power."
     Broadway hesitated. 
     "I can't."  he whispered, his eyes closed.  "I'll lose control."
     "Broadway...you have to.  Brooklyn and Hawthorne are going to die in a
second if you don't!"  Lexington hissed.
     Broadway clenched his teeth.  "Fine.  But remember the pact."
     The three of them nodded.  Broadway sighed, and tried to call his power,
but couldn't make it work.
     "I can't.  I have to see someone in real danger."  he sighed, dejectedly.
     "Then look down."  Ophelia pointed.  Brooklyn and Hawthorne were scaling
the wall, defenseless against what would be fired at them.
     Broadway roared.  The dam in his mind burst again, and his thoughts filled
with rage.  His eyes flared, and he blasted the white light. It hit the
subverted humans, and Chavez and the Servants were knocked down.  Broadway stood
up, that twisted smile crossing his face.
     "Now!"  Angela called.  "Get Broadway to stop using the power!"
     The three of them called his name, and he turned around.
     "Stop it, Broadway!"  Angela yelled.  "NOW!"
     Broadway smiled, and the light died.
     "Oh, Angela."  he grinned.  "I could control it, this time!"
     Angela smiled.  But it died as she noticed some of the Servants coming
around.
     "It wasn't as powerful, either."  she hissed.
     "That's probably why it was so easy to call you back.  You restrained
yourself."  Lexington guessed.
     "Let's go down and get those two, before these things come around." 
Lexington pointed, indicating the Servants.  The other three agreed, and they
dove off of the roof.  They swooped down, and stopped in front of Brooklyn and
Hawthorne.
     "Here, take the ring."  Hawthorne told Lexington.  "I'm about to drop it."
     Lexington took it.  Broadway picked up Brooklyn, and Ophelia took
Hawthorne.  The six gargoyles found an updraft, and soared upwards, over the Las
Vegas skyline.
     As they passed the top of the Golden Chance, Brooklyn noted the Servants
lying down on the roof.  A few of them were up, but they were dazed.  Chavez was
gone.  She'd disappeared back into the shadows.
     "No way you could have taken them all."  he whispered in awe.
     Angela looked to him.  "Broadway did.  He used his power, but we kept him
under control."
     Brooklyn smiled at his rookery brother.  "All right!"
     Broadway grinned.  The six of them flew away, far from the Golden Chance.

********************************************************************************
********************************

Horseshoe Hotel

     They landed on a hotel, and collapsed.
     "Thaks for saving my life, Brooklyn."  Hawthorne gasped.
     Brooklyn stared at her.  "I couldn't think of doing anything else."  he
replied.  "I'd be lost without you."
     Everyone stared at him, but he barely even noticed. 
     "Here's the second piece of the ring."  he told them, taking it out from
his belt.  Lexington layed down the first next to it.  They were exactly
identical.
     Hawthorne picked them up, and touched them together.  There was a spark of
green light, and then the two pieces were one, without so much as a line to
announce they had once been separate.
     "Cool."  Lexington muttered.
     Hawthorne closed her eyes, and her mouth dropped.
     "Oh, my God."  she said, half laughing.
     "What is it?"
     "You'll never guess where the third piece is."  Hawthorne snickered.
     "Where?"  Angela asked.
     Hawthorne opened her eyes.  "St. John's."
     Brooklyn looked confused.  "Where's that?"
     Lexington groaned.  "Not Newfoundland!"
     Hawthorne nodded.  Lexington moaned.
     "What's with Newfoundland?"  Ophelia asked.
     Lexington looked at Brooklyn.  "Remember that video we watched...that
'Jimmy Flynn' one?"
     Brooklyn looked shocked.  Broadway drew a blank.  "You wouldn't remember. 
You were out with Elisa, in that thing with the Silver Falcon." Lexington told
him.
     "They don't ALL talk like that there, do they?"  Brooklyn asked, horrified
     "In St. John's?  Not as bad, but you can still hear the accent."  Hawthorne
smirked.
     Lexington stood up.
     "I can't wait to hear THIS."  Broadway muttered.
     "Desflegrate, muri intervalia."  Lexington muttered.
     The flame wrapped around them, and then they left Las Vegas.

********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
****************

Chapter Four

          Clan Newfie

Noseworthy Fish Processing Plant, St. John's, Newfoundland
    
     The eastern sky was beginning to brighten as the ball of flame reappeared. 
A few of the city's early risers saw it, but for the most part, St. John's
ignored the presence of six gargoyles suddenly appearing on the top of an
abandoned fish plant.
     Brooklyn looked at the eastern sky.  "Is it my imagination, or is it almost
sunrise?"
     Angela peered.  "Yep.  Dawn's almost here."
     "All right!"  Brooklyn cried anxiously.  "Finally, I'll be able to glide
again!"
     Hawthorne supressed a yawn.  "This 'jet lag' is starting to get to me, too. 
It's been a long time since I last turned to stone."
     "We might as well wait until sunset to find the next piece."  Broadway
suggested.  The others agreed. 
     "We need the rest.  And we should be safe enough roosting here."  Lexington
sighed.
     Hawthorne was thinking.  "The next piece is in an old stone building,
overlooking the sea."
     Ophelia looked at the St. John's "skyline".  "That describes half of the
city."
     Angela glanced to the left for a brief instant, and suddenly saw four
shapes gliding towards them. 
     "Wha..." her eyes widened, and she squinted.  They were gargoyles.
     The gargoyles turned, and landed in an alleyway nearby.
     She hopped up onto the ledge.
     "Where are you off to?"  Brooklyn asked.
     "I just saw more gargoyles!"  she cried excitedly.
     Brooklyn looked to the sky.  "I don't know if it's safe to check it out."
he warned, indicating that the sun would be rising soon.
     Angela groaned.  "I'm not a hatchling.  I know enough to be back before the
sun rises.  And besides, from the looks of things, it won't be up for another 45
minutes."
     Brooklyn sighed.  "Fine.  You can go.  We'll see if we can investigate
further tonight." 
     Lexington hopped up.  "I'm going, too."  he announced.  Ophelia frowned.
     Angela smiled at him, and the two of them glided off the building to check
it out.

********************************************************************************
********************************

     A blue claw punctured the tire, and ripped free.  With a sickening whoosh,
the tire deflated, and the front end of the car sank down.  The gargoyle
laughed, and turned to his clan.
     "Hurry up, byes...sun's about to come up."  The gargoyle called.
     Another one, a greenish gargoyle with horns and webbed ears, laughed. 
"What's the hurry?"  he asked, as he smashed his hand through the windshield. 
"Few minutes more, and we takes off."
     The next gargoyle, a male with a reddish tinge, looked to the green one.
"Bonavista..." he called.  "Hand me the shaving cream."
     Bonavista obliged.  He threw the can of shaving cream at the red gargoyle,
who laughed, and smashed the window.  Spraying the cream all over the
upholstery, he chuckled.
     "Loveless is gonna get some shock when he comes and opens up his car, eh,
there, Witless?" he yelled at the blue gargoyle.
     "I tells ye all the time not to call me that.  My name's Whitbourne.  Call
me Witless one more time, and I swear, ye're goin off the side of the wharf." 
Whibourne growled.
     "We's done."  called the fourth gargoyle, who was so deep blue she could be
called black, with a shock of white hair.
     "Right, then.  Good old Steven Loveless.  He's quite the lad, my son." 
Whitbourne replied, grabbing Bonavista's shoulder.
     Bonavista looked at him.  "He sure is, bye.  Quite the lad, indeed."
     Then, there was a swooping sound.  Whitbourne looked, and there were
suddenly two gargoyles...one a lavender female with black hair, one a short,
bald brown one.  They stared at the Newfies curiously, then at the car.
     "Did you do that?"  the female asked.
     "And just why do ye want to know?"  the reddish gargoyle asked, dropping
the can and crossing his arms.    
     "Woodstock...settle down.  Hey, there."  Bonavista asked the brown one.
     "Uh, hey.  Why were you doing that to this car?"  he asked.
     Whitbourne chuckled.  "We does this to get back at a friend of ours.  He
plays tricks on us, so we pulls one over on him.  Last time, this buddy ups and
rigs our church so that it's got 'Witless'...that's my nickname...got spray
painted on the walls.  My name's Whitbourne.  This here's Clan
Newfie...Bonavista, Woodstock and Carbonear."
     Carbonear stared at them in shock, but regained her composure, and waved
weakly. Bonavista blew a kiss at Angela.  Woodstock grumbled something, and
leaned against the car.
     Angela's eyes widened.  "Quite the accent."  she whispered quietly to
Lexington. 
     The smaller gargoyle looked back at her.  "If the tape Brooklyn and I
watched is any indication, it gets worse."
     "I"m Angela, and this is my friend Lexington." Angela introduced herself to
the Newfoundland gargoyles.
     "So, what part of the Rock are you from?"  Carbonear asked.
     "The Rock?" Lexington asked, confused.
     "You know, Newfoundland.  Where d'you hail from, my son?"  Bonavista asked.
     "Uh, we're from New York City."
     The Newfies looked at them.
     "New York?"  Woodstock asked.
     "Ye's mainlanders!"  Whitbourne cried, feigning shock.
     "From the States, no less."  Bonavista gaped.
     "I knew they wasn't Newfs when they came here talking like that." Carbonear
exclaimed.
     Whitbourne looked at him.  "The States!  Jesus Christ!  They comes all the
way up from the States to St. John's just to come and has words with us!"
     "They gives us a lecture, and they barely even knows us."  Carbonear sighed
     Lexington stared at Whitbourne.  He looked exactly like Brooklyn...except
for the clothes, the accent, the color and the hair.  Whitbourne had short brown
hair which went to the nape of his neck, and was wearing clothes similar to the
illusory ones they'd been wearing in Las Vegas.  And his eyes were light blue, a
contrast to Brooklyn's hazel brown.
     "He looks just like Brooklyn."  Angela concluded, thinking the same thing
he was.
     "Who's Brooklyn?"  Whitbourne asked.
     "He's a friend of ours."  Lexington replied.
     "OK.  What, he's here with ye?"
     "Yes..." Angela began.  "He and some other friends of ours."
     "How many?"  Carbonear asked.
     "There's six of us all together."  Lexington told her.
     "Six of them..."  Carbonear whispered.
     "Go get them, then!  If we brings them back with us, we can have a good
laugh together.  With these States gargoyles."  Bonavista cried, excitedly.
     "Is that so smart?" Woodstock asked.         
     "Hush, you.  I swear to God, whenever we tries to do something, you tries
to go and spoil it."  Whitbourne laughed.  Woodstock scowled.
     Whitbourne turned to Lexington and Angela.  "So, where's the rest of your
clan to?"
     "Huh?"  Angela asked, confused by the accent.
     "Mainlanders."  Carbonear smiled.  "S'pose we has to speak proper when
they's around us."
     "S'pose so."  Bonavista shrugged.  "They's not like us Newfs, remember."
     Whitbourne smiled.  "Pity."
     He turned to Angela, and spoke in an exaggerated British accent.  "Where
are your friends?"  he asked, enunciating his words.
     Angela sighed.  "I don't know the name of the building.  But it's not far
off...about three minutes away by air."
       "OK.  We'll go and get your friends, and you can come back with us, and
spend the day at our place.  I can't wait to see if I looks like this Brooklyn
buddy of yours."  Whitbourne smiled.
     "OK.  What about the car?"  Lexington asked, pointing to it. 
     Carbonear laughed.  "To hell with the car, bye.  Loveless's just gettin'
his."
     Bonavista pointed skyward.  It had lightened considerably.
     "Look, if we's gonna get their chums, we'd better step off." he warned.
     Sighing, Whitbourne jumped to the wall, and began to scale it.  The rest of
Clan Newfie followed, and Angela and Lexington continued behind them.  When they
reached the top, Whitbourne beckoned Angela and Lexington to come to the front.
     Lexington peered at St. John's.  Sunrise was about 20 minutes away, but if
this church of theirs wasn't far off, they should make it.
     "Lead on, there, buddy."  Whitbourne told him.
     Lexington leapt onto the ledge.  "It's that way, I think."  he pointed
southward.  He and Angela dove off the building, and Clan Newfie followed them.
     "When you told us they talked strange, you were't kidding."  Angela noted,
in a whisper, so as not to offend them.
     Lexington shrugged.  "It's not as bad as the video.  Maybe if...WHEN we get
home through this, I'll show it to you."  he corrected himself, reminding her of
why they were in Newfoundland in the first place.
     Angela frowned, and the six gargoyles flew to the south.

********************************************************************************
********************************

     Ophelia was the first to notice them.
     "Look!" she called.
     Brooklyn, Broadway and Hawthorne turned, and saw Angela and Lexington
returning.  Behind them were four gargoyles...one of whom looked uncannily like
Brooklyn.
     "Whoa..."  Brooklyn stared as they landed.  "It's like looking in a
mirror."
     Carbonear's eyes widened.  "Whitbourne, she's spot on.  This buddy looks
just like ye!"
     The Manhattan gargoyles blinked. 
     "Pardon me, but what did you say?"  Ophelia asked.  "I've never heard an
accent like that before."
     Bonavista rolled his eyes at Carbonear.  "Missy, I tells ye, you've to
speak proper around the mainlanders."
     Lexington coughed.  "Uh, Brooklyn, Broadway, Ophelia, Hawthorne, this is
Clan Newfie.  Whitbourne, Carbonear, Woodstock, and Bonavista."
     Bonavista gave an elaborate bow.
     "Uh, hi."  Brooklyn stammered.  "It's nice to meet ye...you."
     Bonavista laughed.  "I likes this fellow!"  he snickered, clapping Brooklyn
on the back.  "We knows him for all of ten seconds, and we already got him
speaking Newf!"
     Hawthorne gave Brooklyn a bemused smile.
     "We'll get more into introductions later.  Right now, c'mon back to the
church with us.  You can spend the day with us."  Whitbourne told them.
     Broadway looked at Brooklyn.
     "We might as well."  he told him.
     Brooklyn nodded.  "Is your roosting spot far off?"  he asked.  "Because the
sun's almost up."
     Carbonear shook her head.  "It's only five minutes away.  Right close by."
     Hawthorne shrugged.  "Let's go."
     The ten gargoyles hopped up onto the ledge.  Without even asking, Brooklyn
hooked his arms around Broadway, looking anxiously at the horizion.
     Whitbourne looked at him curiously.  "Now what are you at?"
     Brooklyn pointed at the bandage on his wing.  "My wing was hurt.  I can't
glide until sunrise."  What are you at?  What a wierd accent, Brooklyn thought,
hoping that the question meant 'What are you doing?'
     Apparently, it did, since it seemed to satisfy Whitbourne.  He turned, and
prepared to glide away.
     They jumped off the building, gliding to the west, to an old, abandoned
church.  The gargoyles landed on the roof, and clambered into the bell tower.
     "This here's where we turns to stone."  Bonavista explained.
     Carbonear laughed.  "He's being polite now.  Before, he told all our
visitors that this is where we goes and gets stoned.  Thanks to him, we don't
have too much company."
     "Visitors?"  Lexington asked.
     "Of course.  We gots lots of human friends, and they comes up to visit us
now and then.  Loveless is one of them...we got a wonderful relationship based
on mutual abuse, us and he do."  Whitbourne elaborated.
     "Humans don't know...well, they didn't know about us, and now that they
know, they're afraid of us."  Broadway scowled.
     "Afraid of ye?"  Whatever for?"  Bonavista asked, but then the sun rose,
and the ten gargoyles turned to stone.
     The day passed by uneventfully.  Eleven hours later, the sun rose, and the
gargoyles came to life again.
     Brooklyn flapped his wings painlessly.  With a hoot of glee, he removed the
bandage from his wing.  The wound was completely healed over, with nothing but
but an outline to indicate it had once been there.
     "Your wing's better, I see."  Hawthorne smiled.
     "Finally."  Brooklyn laughed.
     Broadway looked to Bonavista.  "Humans are afraid of us because they think
we blew up a building.  Plus, New York City isn't well known for its acceptance
of strange things."
     Bonavista laughed.  "We never has that problem.  If any humans are afeared
of us, it's probably cause they got on Whitbourne's bad side."
     Broadway glanced at Whitbourne.  "Your bad side?"
     Whitbourne glared at Bonavista.  "He has this thing in his head that I gots
some awful temper.  I don't know where he gets these fibs."
     Bonavista snorted.  "Maybe cause every time I says something you don't want
me t'say, we comes to scuffling?"
     Carbonear snorted.  "So ye sees how immature these two are."
     Brooklyn laughed.  "I guess that our looks is where the resemblance stops."
     "Oh, I don't know..."  Hawthorne sighed.  Brooklyn glared at her.
     Whitbourne stared at Brooklyn.  "You know...maybe we're identical twins,
and we got separated at birth."
     "When did you hatch?"  Brooklyn asked.
     Whitbourne thought for a second.  "I'se eighteen human years, so I thinks I
was born in...oh, 1960."
     Brooklyn smiled.  I beat you by about a millenium, he thought.  "I doubt
we're twins." he laughed.
     Broadway looked at the Newfies.  "Why do Newfoundlanders talk they way they
do?"
     Woodstock, who hadn't said a word, bristled.  "What's wrong with the way we
talks, now?"
     Broadway stepped back.  "Nothing's wrong...it's just I can't get used to
the accent."
     "You're lucky we're townies."  Bonavista laughed.
     "Townies?"
     "People from St. John's.  If we was from Burgeo, or Peterview, I doubt
you'd be able to understand a single word we said.  But townies have a 'lesser'
Newfoundland accent than other Newfoundlander's do."  Carbonear patiently
explained.
     "Why are you six here, anyway?"  Woodstock asked.
     Brooklyn sighed.  "Should we tell them?"  he asked the others.
     They shrugged.  Brooklyn sighed, and turned to the Newfs.
     "I'm afraid it's a long story."  Brooklyn told them.  "You might want to
sit down."
     Whitbourne, Carbonear and Bonavista glanced at each other questioningly,
and sat down.  Woodstock remained standing.
     And the travellers told them everything.
     From the tenth century, when they were turned to stone for a thousand
years, to the present, and the quest for Oberon's Ring.  Hawthorne showed them
the two pieces of the ring they had, now fused into one, and told them that the
reason they were in St. John's was to find the third piece.  They finished by
telling them that the ring was in a stone building overlooking the sea.
     When they finished, Whitbourne and the others were staring at them.
     "That's the wierdest tale I've ever heard."  Carbonear gaped.
     "You don't believe us, do you."  Angela sighed.
     "No."  Woodstock stated succinctly, but Whitbourne shushed him.
     "I thinks it sounds kinda farfetched, but I've seen a few of these
black-eyes that ye speaks about."  Whitbourne frowned.  "Plus, I considers ye as
friends, so, if you're goin' out, I wants to come with ye."
     "I believes ye."  Bonavista told them, happily.  "I believes in that kinda
stuff, and even if it's bull, I wants to help you out for a little bit of
excitement." 
     Carbonear sighed.  "I don't entirely believe it, but Bonavista's right. 
Even if it's an outrageous fib, we needs a little excitement.  It's getting
boring just trashing Loveless' car." 
     Whitbourne laughed.  "All right.  The three of us goes with you, anyway. 
Just for the action, now, mind ye.  I think you six are real fine people, so
we's going along for a bit of excitement."
     Woodstock rolled his eyes.
     "I can't believe you actually believe us."  Lexington exclaimed.
     "What, it's a lie then?"  Bonavista asked.
     "No, no...it's just that everyone else we've told has shot us down." 
Lexington corrected, glancing at Hawthorne.
     "Are you coming with us, there, bye?"  Carbonear asked Woodstock.
     Woodstock rolled his eyes.  "Well, they's no sense stayin behnd, is there,
Brilliant?"
     Carbonear sighed.  "If ye's gonna be rude bout it, I'll just not bother
speakin to you, then."
     Hawthorne paused.  "We don't have a real clue where it is.  There's lots of
old stone buildings overlooking the sea in St. John's."
     "Describe it for me, there, girl."  Bonavista asked.
     Hawthorne closed her eyes.  "It's a stone tower...on a cliff, overlooking
the sea.  But St. John's isn't that far off...it's on a cliff over the city. 
There's a tower, kind of round...and a path leading up to it..."
     Whitbourne snapped his talons.  "That's just Signal Hill!"  he whistled.
     "Signal Hill?"  Brooklyn asked.
     "Well, the Cabot Tower.  This ring of yours...if it exists...is in the
tower in Signal Hill Park.  It's just on top of the Narrows."  Whitbourne
replied.  "We just has to go get it, and it's done."
     "Well, let's go, then!"  Broadway exclaimed.  "At the rate we're going, we
could have all six pieces by tomorrow night!"
     Woodstock sighed.  "Do you buddies mind if I go out and has a smoke first?"
     Brooklyn glared at him.  "You smoke?"
     "Don't you?"
     "Uh, no."  Brooklyn muttered.  "I just never saw a gargoyle who smoked
before."
     "We all smokes here."  Whitbourne told him, fishing out a package of
cigarettes from his pocket.  "Mind if I comes out with you?" 
     Woodstock shook his head.
     "Carb, you coming?"
     "No thanks, bye."  Carbonear waved him on.  "I'm trying to quit."
     "YOU trying to quit?  Little miss 'Come on out with me and has a smoke,
there, Whitbourne'?"  Bonavista gaped.
     "Yes.  I'm quitting."
     "All right.  Your loss."  Whitbourne sighed.  "Bonavista, come on out, my
lad, and has a smoke with us."
     "No thanks.  I only gots three smokes left, and Marsha Tibbo's not coming
with more till Wednesday."
     "Who's Marsha Tibbo?"  Angela asked.
     "She's a friend of ours.  Brings us our smokes and our booze. Fine lass,
she is.  Fine lass."  Whitbourne explained.  "I don't suppose any of you'se
smokes, there?"
     "Right."  Broadway told him.
     Whitbourne sighed.  "Just you and me there, then, Woody."
     Woodstock already had the cigarette in his mouth.  "Let's go, then."
     He and Whitbourne left the bell tower, climbing up onto the roof.
     Brooklyn watched as they left.  "Smokes and booze."  he mumbled.
     "Yeah.  The bare necessities of life."  Bonavista smiled.
     "Shush, you.  It's people like you that give Newfoundlander's a bad name. 
We don't go drinkin every night, or anything.  Sometimes, on the weekend, we has
a little bit with some friends."  Carbonear explained.
     Lexington sighed.  "This is the most unusual clan I've ever seen."

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     "Blood of a bitch."  Whitbourne swore.  "You gots a light, Woody?"
     Woodstock fished for his lighter.  Whitbourne took it, and lit his
cigarette.
     Woodstock took back his lighter, and lit his own.  He took a drag, and
inhaled it.
     "So what do you think of them gargoyles from New York?"  Woodstock asked.
     Whitbourne smiled.  "I really likes them.  They's great.  Awful
storytellers, but they're right respectable."
     "Mmm.  Well, they're okay, I guess."  Woodstock muttered.  "Take a while
getting used to.  I like them too, though."
     Then, there was an odd rustling sound.
     Whitbourne stopped in the middle of a drag, and looked around.
     "Hear something?"  Woodstock asked.
     "Yeah.  Like a rustle, or something."
     Suddenly, a column of darkness rose from the roof.  It seemed to sway a
little, but then solidified into a human.  Whitbourne dropped his cigarette, and
choked.  Woodstock stared in amazement.
     The man had black eyes.
     "Hello."  he stated simply.
     "You're one of them black-eyes things Brooklyn was talking about!" 
Whitbourne scowled.  His eyes flared.  He didn't know how much of Brooklyn's
tale was true, but he knew enough not to trust a black-eyes.
     Two nights ago, Whitbourne and Carbonear were in the city, flying overhead,
when they saw some people breaking into a store.  They normally wouldn't care,
but it was a store that one of their friends, Robbie Hynes, worked at, and they
wanted to make sure he was okay. 
     Other than the black-eyes, the store had been deserted.  Robbie hadn't been
in any danger.  But the black-eyes had attacked Whitbourne and Carbonear.  It
had blasted a beam of shadow at Carbonear's eyes.  Her eyes had become black for
a second, but brightened to normal again.  She'd later told him that she didn't
know how, but she felt that the thing had been pure evil.
     "Awfully observant, aren't you?"  the man stated.  "Relax, I'm not going to
hurt you."
     Tentatively, Whitbourne and Woodstock relaxed.
     "Good." the man smiled.  "My name is Brendan LaPorte.  And as you can see,
I'm one of the Servants of Twilight the New York City gargoyles have probably
told you about."
     "If ye are one of them things, then why aren't you trying to subvert us?" 
Whitbourne asked, still nervous.
     Brendan laughed.  "You've got it all wrong.  We don't subvert people, the
Ring does.  Once Hawthorne has all of the pieces of the ring, then everyone will
become what I am now."
     Woodstock stared at him in shock.  But he had never seen a black-eyes
before.  Whitbourne had, and he wasn't particularly inclined to trust them.
     "Oh, they don't know they're doing it.  They aren't lying to you
intentionally...they honestly believe what they're telling you.  But you should
know that the reason we've been sent after them is not to kill them, but to stop
them from starting a greater set of events in motion.  Once they have the Ring,
then they won't be able to be stopped."
     Woodstock gaped.  "And ye wants us to help you stop them?"
     Brendan smiled.  "Like I said, you're very observant."
     Whitbourne laughed.  "I knows your kind.  You says all these lies and half
truths, and expect us to do what you want.  Well, bugger off, my son.  We's not
interested."
     The story just didn't add up, and Whitbourne didn't believe it for a
moment.  He wasn't going to trust this black-eyes.  From the expression in
Woodstock's eyes, it was evident that he didn't trust this person, either.
     Brendan darkened.
     "I think you are."  he frowned.  He stepped forward, and grabbed Whitbourne
by the front of the vest.  Woodstock tried to stop him, but Brendan stopped him
with one icy glare.  Woodstock stepped back, realizing that something was
definitely wrong.
     Brendan turned to the struggling Whitbourne.  He held fast, and soon
Whitbourne stopped squirming.
     "If you won't listen to reason, then maybe a little...extortion...might
make you see things my way."
     He let go of Whitbourne, and the gargoyle fell to the ground.
     "I have a proposition for you."  Brendan told him.

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Chapter Five
    
          Lines of Duty

     "And ye protects New York?"  Bonavista asked, genuinely interested.
     "Yeah."  Lexington replied.  "It's just our nature."
     "Our nature's just that we does what we wants to."  Carbonear sighed. 
"That usually means parties, and just having a good time."
     "Protecting's not ALL we do."  Brooklyn explained.
     "We have a lot of fun, together, too." Angela exclaimed.
     Carbonear looked at them curiously.  "What do you do, then?"
     Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway, and Angela looked at each other. 
"Just...talk, watch movies, joke around...you know, stuff like that."  Brooklyn
stated.
     Bonavista laughed.  "You needs help."
     Carbonear looked at him.  "Actually, they sounds like they got a pretty
good life there."
     Broadway brightened.  "It has its moments."
     Then, Whitbourne and Woodstock returned, looking shaken.
     "What's with you two?"  Hawthorne asked.
     Whitbourne looked at her.  "Oh, we just smoked a bad one."  he mumbled.
     Brooklyn looked out at the sky.  "Are we ready to go, then?"  he asked.
     Carbonear and Bonavista bolted up.  "Let's go, then."  Carbonear exclaimed,
eager to leave.
     Whitbourne and Woodstock looked at each other. 
     "Is something wrong?"  Lexington asked, a little worried.
     "No!  No, nothin's the matter!"  Whitbourne cried, shocked.  Lexington
glanced at the others.  They all looked curiously at Whitbourne.
     "What's the trouble?"  he asked.
     "Uh, nothing."  Brooklyn muttered, frowning.
     The ten gargoyles each clambered out of the bell tower, and soared off. 
Brooklyn experimentally swooped, laughing with delight as he flew on his own for
the first time in a day.
     Lexington, meanwhile, moved closer to Broadway.
     "Did you notice anything odd about the way Whitbourne and Woodstock are
acting?"  he asked.
     Broadway looked over to the bluish gargoyle.  "He is acting a
little...strange, isn't he?"
     "I mean, Woodstock doesn't seem like a friendly sort anyway, but
Whitbourne...ever since he came back from that cigarette, he's been
acting...preoccupied.  As if something happened."
     Broadway shrugged.  "Well, maybe the cigarette fried his brain, or
something."
     In the meantime, Carbonear moved a little closer to Brooklyn and Hawthorne. 
She was fascinated by the New York version of Whitbourne, and, for some reason,
wanted to talk to him.
     "Hey, Carbonear!"  Hawthorne greeted warmly.  It was obvious that the new
gargoyles liked Clan Newfie just as much as Clan Newfie liked them.
     "Hey yourself, there, girl."  Carbonear smiled.
     Brooklyn swooped agin.  "It feels so good to be able to do this again!"  he
cried.
     "What was with your wing, anyway?"  Carbonear asked.
     Brooklyn sighed.  "It got torn in Nanaimo."  he told her, shooting a
friendly glance at Hawthorne, "and hurt really badly on Avalon."
     Carbonear nodded.  Brooklyn had told her about Avalon during the
explanation he'd given half an hour ago.
     "Can I ask you something?"  Brooklyn asked.
     "Go for it, buddy."  Carbonear replied.
     "Why are you, Bonavista and Whitbourne coming along?"
     Carbonear laughed.  "The excitement!  I thought we told you that!"
     Hawthorne sighed.  "No, we mean...why are you so willing to come along when
you don't even know what exactly you're getting into?"
     Carbonear looked to Bonavista.  "He's coming along cause he believes.  He's
the type of buddy what's after watching "The X-Files", and believes in magic and
all that sort of stuff.  When we was hatchlings, we played this game where he
was some kind of magician...and we was his helpers, or something.  That's just
the way he is."
     "That's something else I want to know."  Brooklyn asked.  "Whitbourne's
your leader, right?"
     "We don't have a leader, not in that way."  Carbonear explained patiently. 
"Whitbourne's just the buddy we all seem to follow around with.  It's more of
his spirit than any leadership qualities.  I mean, face it, Whitbourne's a champ
of a guy, but he couldn't lead his way out of a paper bag."
     Brooklyn glanced to Whitbourne, who was in a shoving match with Bonavista,
seemingly acting 'normal' again.
     "Actually, maybe that's why he's coming...he wants to be involved in
something he thinks is important.  I doesn't know why he picks this, but that's
probably his reasoning.  Then again, he's kind of reckless, so maybe that's
why...just for the hell of it."
     "But...you say you hatched, so there has to be gargoyles you came FROM." 
Brooklyn stated, troubled.  "So, where's the rest of the gargoyles?"
     Carbonear sighed.  "We doesn't know.  Woodstock thinks we were abandoned. 
That's part of the reason he is the way he is...the fact that he feels unwanted
hurt him badly, and he has a hard time opening up to anyone.  The three of us is
just really patient with him.  But we're not really sure about our parentage. 
It just doesn't bother us."
     Brooklyn's eyes widened at the prospect of gargoyles abandoning their own
eggs.  He just couldn't picture it.
     "Abandoned?"  Brooklyn muttered.
     "We don't know for sure.  They might have died, or something.  But we's
here now, and that's all that concerns us."
     "So, anyway, why are you coming along?"  Hawthorne asked, her curiousity
piqued.
     Carbonear thought for a second.  "To tell ye's the honest truth, I'm coming
along for the six of you."
     "Huh?"  Hawthorne blinked.
     "I don't know what it is, but I feels like...I have something in comon with
the six of ye.  You two, and your friends...Lexington, and Subway..."
     "Broadway."  Brooklyn corrected, appreciating the irony of her mistake. 
Broadway loved Subway sandwiches, and frequently begged Elisa to buy him one.
     "Whatever.  Ophelia and Angela, too.  But, for some reason, especially for
you, Brooklyn."
     Brooklyn's eyes widened.  He smiled nervously, and glanced worridly at
Hawthorne.  Hawthorne, however, was glaring at Carbonear.
     Carbonear laughed weakly, with an unreadable expression on her face.  "No! 
Not like that at all!  I means that I feels like there's something between us
that can't be explained.  I didn't mean I was in love with you." 
     "Oh."  Hawthorne relaxed.  Brooklyn was looking at her.
     She was worried that I'd go for Carbonear instead, he thought.  That's a
good sign.
     He looked to