22 - “Riding The Porcelain Bus”

Originally Written: March 31st, 2000

November 17th, 2000

A long forgotten memory was the burning star of day and the warmth it spread forth over the land.  The clouds of drifting dusk held within their murky confines, a supreme and unchallenged ability to lay upon the ground the freezing drifts of snow, with the power to paralyze the entire island below.  It was just now a question of when.

The residents of Manhattan had prepared themselves as best they could for the coming Winter, appropriately changing their garb for the season, jackets, hats and thick scarves becoming a most familiar sight.  Even the winged guardians of this gleaming metropolis had almost surrendered to the piercing cold.  The air, especially at the higher altitudes, carried a nasty chill, nearly preventing three figures from finding a warm current to lift themselves over the rooftops.

Goliath, with Elisa in his arms, and Annika behind them, respectively keeping her distance, as the married couple in her sights had been captured kissing in mid-flight once again.  She turned her gaze to the street below her, scanning the endless rows of traffic. But eyes of an eagle’s precision had picked from the blur of metal and paint and concrete, a black Jeep Cherokee, winding it’s way through the asphalt trails crisscrossing the land like tracks made by some giant mythical snake.

Todd was following behind them as best he could, intent on meeting at the castle after their dinner with Elisa’s parents.  With every few minutes, he would look to the sky, confirming his friends were still above him.  But as he passed through a green light on 6th avenue, the shadows in the air veered off to the side.  He yanked the wheel and pulled a quick left turn, narrowly missing a group of passing pedestrians.  He laughed under his breath as their infuriated yells and rabid blaspheme faded from the roar of his music and he then reached for his two way radio receiver.  “Thanks for the warning, Annika,” crackled his voice through the tiny transmitter, “I almost killed some of my fellow New Yorkers back there.”

“Sorry about that, handsome,” Annika replied through her own earpiece, “but we just got a call on Elisa’s cell, someone’s breaking into one of David’s chemical plants.  It may be that gargoyle we’ve been looking for.”

He trailed the figures overhead to a large faceless building, towering above the curb, with nothing to mark it’s bland surface but the locked doors and the neon sign of Xanatos Chemicals.  He came to an expeditious halt, parked the Jeep, and tore out the driver’s side door.  Past the grim walls of brick and plaster, he arrived near the side entrance where the gargoyles had landed.

“Xanatos said a silent alarm was tripped here less than ten minutes ago.” Elisa told the group, as they circled around.  “Maybe it’s our killer.” she stated coldly as Goliath rammed the door with his fist, but with enough tactfulness to leave it still attached to the hinges.  “Todd, stay here.”

The young man beheld his friends moving away from him with not a single explanation, entering into the building.  “What am I, a kid?!” Todd yelled out, “why does Annika get to go?!”  His indignant response was met by a gargoyle of the purest rose poking her head out the door, smiling and closing it behind her.  “Oh, that was just rude.”

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

It was now that Elisa truly missed the security of her firearm, as she crept through an entanglement of pipes and computers, leading her gargoyle companions through the darkened chemical plant.  Goliath was immediately behind her, his deep, powerful eyes studying his twisted environment for any movement.  Annika took up the rear, watching behind the group in case the thief decided to backtrack and make his escape through the side door.  What was thought to be a massive hallway, spilled into an even more cavernous holding area, overflowing with vats containing an engorgement of various chemicals used throughout the city.

With Goliath’s silent hand signal, they spread out and encircled the room.  A soft drone of machines fell into place in the background, producing a sound that overpowered the guardians’ discreetful steps.  Yet their search turned up nothing, and the decision was made to move on, until Goliath’s keen sight isolated an unusual shape from the clatter of conduits and computer screens.

A catwalk stretched above the room, and over the vats.  Goliath’s eyes thinned as he strained to make out the shape.  It was familiar, very familiar.  “I’ve found the thief...” As if the shadow heard Goliath’s rasped undertone, it darted across the expanse of metal running the length of the room.  He and the others took to pursuit and soon ended up where the catwalk joined the stairs, running the length of the North wall, and angling to the ground.

The shadow stopped in it’s tracks, seeming to stare down upon the guardians with distrustful eyes, hidden in the depths of steel beams and rising mist.

“I don’t think so, pal, you’re surrounded.” Elisa called to the thief, and hoping her bluff wouldn’t be called.  “I’ve already phoned in for backup, and they’re probably right outside.”  They anxiously waited for a reply and lingered where the steps were anchored to the cement with three paused breaths, holding for what seemed perchance an endless time, the uneasy silence feeding their every fear and wild misgiving about the killer perched just above their reach.

With a speed that defied imagination, the shadow lept from the catwalk and almost seemed to float above their heads.  It touched down beside a large switchboard and by either resourceful planning or one last desperate attempt to flee, started to flip lighted switch after lighted switch.

“Hey!!” Annika screamed, becoming easily agitated and allowing her nervousness to extinguish her emotional reserve.  “Get away from there NOW!!!”  She wasn’t given a response.  Both she and Goliath went to move towards their quarry but were held back by two copper hands.

“He’s filling the room with some kind of gas.” Elisa yelled out, her cry catching on the choking gas and her words becoming a stutter.  “We have...to get out of here!”

The room had become engulfed with a thick, greenish gas, flowing through opened vents on a massive cylindrical tank near them.  They held their hands over their mouths but to no prevail, as the gas surrounded their forms and stole the clean oxygen from their lungs.

Falling to her knees, Elisa’s teared gaze caught sight of the shadowed form as it slipped past her, it’s golden features disguised with a black metal gasmask.  For a brief second, they stared at each other, before the thief quickly moved away from her and towards the side exit.  Elisa wheezed for air but found herself swallowing even more of the toxic phosgene, and lost consciousness, falling hard to the cement floor.

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

Todd waited impatiently near the door, an angered stance of crossed arms and mirthless scowl.  But suddenly, the entrance blew open and past him, a distorted phantom bolted into the alley, it’s contorted, anthropomorphic shape melting into the distant end of the side street, with barely a disturbance of debris to concede it was even ever there.

“Hey!!” Todd cried, paralyzed in place.  “Oh crap...”  He ran into the building, intent on finding out what had happened to his girlfriend and companions.  He fought his way through the encroaching mist of gas, and entered the massive room, almost tripping over Annika’s limp body.  “Shit!!”

Goliath had foundered helplessly to the ground, barely conscious, holding his wife in his arms and struggling to breathe.  They locked eyes and nodded, before Todd grabbed Annika’s form and dragged himself from the building, with Goliath barely on his tail. The group collapsed in a heap on the alley’s floor and tried to catch their breath.  Annika and Elisa had awakened, coughing the last of the gas from their lungs, and suckling on the sweet fresh air offered in the cool twilight breeze.

“Oh man...” Elisa sputtered a haggard response, resting in Goliath’s embrace.

“Indeed.” Goliath wheezed as he cupped her face.  “Is everyone all right?”

The women nodded their heads, and Todd muttered something incoherently.  A disconcerting stupefaction settled on the small group, as a silence spread between them, and an intoxicating fog began to cloud upon their very cognizant thoughts.  Wearied eyes looked to the horizon, as more flying shapes steered themselves to the fallen members, Broadway, Angela, Othello, and Desdemona.

“We got your call, Elisa,” Broadway exclaimed with a tinge of concern, seeing his friends sprawled on the ground before him, “what’s going on?”

“I think...I think our gargoyle just got away again.” she spat out, leaning into Goliath’s chest and feeling lightheaded.

Othello perked up.  “The killer from last week?  He was here?!” he queried with an urgency unlike him, helping Goliath and Elisa to their feet.

“We think so, but he filled the room...with some kind of gas before we could escape, heh...”  Elisa let out a slight chuckle as she staggered around Goliath, barely keeping her slender form upright.  “Damn, hee hee...”  Her husband in turn stared into space, an askewed grin spread forth on his lips.

Angela widened her gaze, and cocked an eyebrow at the others, who just shrugged and whirled around to raised voices behind.

Annika and Todd seemed to be yelling at each other, squaring off face to face.  “You’re nuts, woman,” the young man chuffed, delicately holding his own against the pull of gravity, “there’s no way ‘Issues’ is a better album than ‘Follow The Leader’!!”

“What?!  It’s much better.  You just have no idea what you’re talking about!!” she yelled back at him.  “But you’re still so damn cute.”  She stumbled against his chest and reached her arms around him, pulling him closer.  She locked her lips with his and almost dragged him down as she lost her balance again.

The others who had just arrived looked on in astonishment as the four humans and gargoyles before them seemed to be almost giddy and could barely hold themselves up.

“Something is wrong.” Desdemona whispered to the others.  “We must get them back to the castle and have them checked.  Perhaps this...gas had an effect on them.”  She came to Elisa’s side and placed a hand on her shoulder.  “We must get back to the castle, my sister.  I can carry you.”

“NO!!!” A large, angry baritone growled behind her.  “Elisa is my mate!  She flies with me, and me alone.”  Goliath staggered to his sister’s stead and in a failed attempt to hoist his wife from the ground, seven hundred pounds came crashing to the adamantine bedrock surface.  Elisa burst out with a shrill laughter and Goliath soon joined in as he recovered from the sudden shock.

“Oh man, I think they’re sloshed.  Are you sure it was the gas, maybe they had something to drink over at Elisa’s parents’ place?” said Broadway as he observed Goliath steal his arms around his small wife and nestle upon her neck with his lips and fangs, with Elisa relishing every intimate caress.  Todd held to Annika as she swayed from side to side, rubbing his face with her hand.  “In any event, we’d better get them home.  Othello, we’ll take Goliath and Elisa.  Angela, Desdemona...you take the ladies.”

He moved gently towards the lavender giant, as not to arouse his temper, and gingerly hoisted him from the ground.  He and Othello each grabbed a forelimb and, with Elisa in his arms, climbed the side of the building.  Goliath’s great weight made it a slow, difficult ascent, yet soon, the entire group had reached the roof and taken to wing.

Goliath and Elisa had wholly succumbed to the gas’ intoxicating symptoms, left to dwell in their own little world of the gargoyle’s muscular arms and could barely focus in on the sights blurring past them.  Todd and Annika lingered behind in their clanmate’s arms, the spirit of youth taking hold of the toxic ether and molding it to nothing but a delirious high.

“WHHEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” Annika screamed to the sky as she spread her arms, allowing Angela to guide her through the air.

“Oh man, we’re high up!!  I sure hope you know how to fly, D!!”  Todd grabbed tighter to Desdemona’s back as he looked back at his girlfriend.  “Hey, hurry up, Annika!!”

“I’m flying as fast as Angela can go!!” she called back, invoking a angered sigh from her lavender sister, yet lost to the onslaught of wind.

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

As soon as they touched down upon the ancient, Scottish stones, Goliath immediately broke away from Broadway and Othello and carried his wife in a crooked path to the courtyard, setting her down in the lush grass.

Todd fell to his backside and watched with bleary vision as Annika tried to walk around without much success.  “Hey woman, stop spinning!!” he called out as his girlfriend spun around, faltered towards him and pulled him up.

“I’m not spinning, silly,” she breathed as she placed her cheek to his own, “I think the entire castle is turning round and round and round...and round...whoa...”  She grabbed his hand and led him to the courtyard where Goliath and Elisa were kissing with wild abandonment.

“Man, there’s that mental picture again.” Todd joked as he fell to the grass with Annika on top of him.  With a guttural growl, she caught his face with gargoyle talons and shoved her tongue down his throat, but not before he was able to muffle one last distinct utterance, “God damnmmmmmphf...”

Angela quickly came about and averted her eyes to her parents’ lovemaking, eyeing the others, knowing they needed help before things became rather embarrassing.  “We had better get Dr. Pierce...”

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

“Well, by their behavior, I’d say they’re completely wrecked.”  Alan Pierce looked to the gathered clan in his office.  The four affected members were each placed in chairs and on the bed, trying to muffle their sniggers and giggles and losing their attention to his words quite quickly.

“That’s your medical opinion?” Brooklyn chuffed.

“Pretty much.  The gas, according to Xanatos, is a variant of Nitrous Oxide, laughing gas, generally used for mild anesthetics.  It’s a different strain that, if exposed to too much, completely strips the affected person of any restraint or inhibition.  It’s just like having one too many beers at the pub.  They’ll be fine.  We should just let the gas run it’s course and it’ll wear off by morning.”  Dr. Pierce paused for a second to watch his intoxicated guests.  “Actually, it should do Goliath some good, he needs to unwind a little.  But they’re all going to feel sick and have very big headaches come tomorrow, even Goliath and Annika.”

Beyond the tedium of the doctor’s words, came a steady heartbeat through Elisa’s chest. Goliath had discovered the stethoscope, having been attracted to the ‘shiny things’ in the office, and practiced his medical technique on his wife’s tight ebon shirt, listening to her snicker slightly as the cold tool passed upon each breast.  Annika was still wrapped around Todd, humming an unrecognizable tune and resting her head on his back, while the human inspected a couple of random x-rays.

“Of course, I don’t want them gliding,” Dr. Pierce winced, “try to keep them inside and occupied.  The last thing this city needs is Goliath flying around naked or something.”

“I don’t know,” Elisa chimed in, “I’d love to shee that!”  She jumped on her husband and they both fell to the floor, laughing hysterically.

“I wouldn’t!” Todd replied.

“Speak for yourself.” Annika chuckled as she held tighter to Todd’s frame.

“HEY!!!”

“Uhm, I think I’ll go check in with Trinity and Fox.” Angela whispered to the others and quietly slipped from the room.  “Try to keep their attention elsewhere.”

Brooklyn leaned in to his mate and smirked.  “That shouldn’t be too hard.  Hey...what the hell is Goliath doing?  Hey!!...”

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

“Jalapena...”  Goliath shook his head and struggled unceasingly to keep his vision from blurring.  Mere minutes before, with a quick move and a barricade of furniture upon the door, he, Elisa, Annika and Todd had slipped away from the other gargoyles, trapping them and the doctor inside the office, and then unknowingly, taken different paths.

He fell into the empty media room and with a few unsuccessful tries, he finally flicked the light on and discovered in front of him, the video game equipment.  “Good, no one is hogging the television.  Now I get to play...”  He dropped to the floor in front of the large television, grabbed the specially made, oversized controller and soon was touring along Laguna Seca racetrack in one of his favorite racecars.

Elisa stumbled into the room moments later and noticed a large lavender shape in the haze of her sight.  She came forward, and with her impaired depth perception, blundered to a stop on his massive backside, placing her head on his shoulder.  “Heeey, you’re winning there, Big Guy...but that yellow car’s comin’ up fast.”

“I despise that yellow car.  It always rides my bumper...”  The lavender giant smiled.  “It drives like you do, my‘lisa.”

“I don’t drive like that!  If that was me, I’d be in first place!” Elisa defended herself in a blaring cry.

Goliath paused the game and grabbed the other controller.  “Prove it.”

Elisa snatched the controller from her husband’s talons and plopped down into his lap. “Get ready to lose, tall, dark and purple...”

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

Annika Smith dragged her gargoyle claws along the stone walls as she navigated the paths of Wyvern.  Her eyesight obscure and on the verge of toppling over, she had never felt like this before, she kind of liked it.  She had been led on a search through the halls of the castle, a enticing pursuit for someone in particular who had ‘escaped’ her grasp moments ago.  She swayed along the corridor and came upon the door to one of the bathrooms.  Her excellent sense of smell caught a familiar cologne and she lurched to an indirect stop.  She had found her target.

Within seconds, the door swung open and Todd almost fell out.  “D’oh!!  Fuck...that door looked about ten feet away.”  He swathed his hand past his face a few more times, as if trying to discern whether or not he had actually exited the bathroom.

“Hey there...shexy.”  Annika curled around him with the grace and lithe of a snake.  “I’ve been lookin’ fer you.”

“All righty then, what for?”

“You’ve never looked more handsome than right now.”

“Right now?!  What about all th’other times?”

“Oh you were good lookin’ then too, but now yer god damn gorgeous.  Hee hee hee...” The couple pressed their lips together and held on to each other for support.

Todd eventually broke the kiss and placed his head on his girlfriend’s ample chest.  He smiled as he nuzzled her breasts with his face.  “I need a pillow like this...”  He felt Annika tremble as she laughed and pressed him closer.

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

The cold November winds did their worst to hinder the slim form of Demona, fighting past the blustery streams of biting frigidity, and making her way to the Eyrie.  An upsurge of courage this night had resulted in her throwing her apprehension to the stars, deciding to endeavor the proverbial ‘drop in’ on her daughter and...family.  Past conversations with several members of the clan, encouraging her, telling her she was welcome in their home, in her home, always, and now, she had finally summoned enough nerve to take her daughter’s offer.

She slowed her descent and landed on the parapets, and for the first time in a long time, as a true ally.  It was strange to her, this place of painful memories and the lair of enemies she had once fought against with a venomous passion.  Now, it would perhaps serve as her salvation.

She entered through the large archway and quickly noticed a deafening clamor erupting from a room near her.  Upon her peering into the room to investigate, she was hit head on by loud music blaring from a stereo in the corner.  A sofa had been upturned and Annika was sprawled on the floor, laughing ferociously to the roof.

A hand came from behind the couch and Todd appeared suddenly, pulling himself up. “You almost killed me!!  Hah hah...”

“Ha ha ha...I was trying to see if I could dance on the couch.”  She sat up and grabbed her boyfriend’s hand, pulling him down on top of her with a meeting of their lips.

The immortal gargoyle looked on in amusement.  “Youth...”  She continued on, shaking her head and suppressing a smile.  As she traveled deeper into the castle, an echoing of choired cheers played a pirouette upon the hallway’s stone barriers, and grew in intensity as she neared the media room, where almost the entire clan had gathered around the massive television screen.  She was unsure whether to enter, as she could not locate Angela within the huddled mass of wings and tail, but her curiosity had reigned supreme and she slowly crept forward.  Behind Brooklyn’s shoulder, she looked on and gasped at what the attention of the clan was centered on.

Goliath and Elisa were busy battling it out as they entered the last lap of the computer powered raceway.  Demona had very little idea Goliath was so adept at using this century’s technology, let alone playing frivolous video games.  But her eyes were drawn furthermore to the couple’s odd behavior, as Goliath seemed to be smiling more than usual.

The remainder of the clan had decided to cheer them on, rather than becoming angry at Goliath’s ploy to separate themselves.  It would at least keep their attention elsewhere for the time being.

They crossed the finish line and Goliath had won by bare seconds.  He rose to his feet, raising his arms above him, and roared his victory to the walls of the castle.

Elisa threw the controller down and crossed her arms.  “No fair!” she cried as Goliath laughed under his breath.  “You’ve played this game more than I have!”

Goliath met her angered response by drawing her close.  “Yes, I have.” he answered demurely, pulling her slender form to his chest and kissing her.  It wasn’t until he opened his eyes that his gaze snagged upon an azure skinned interloper standing at the rear of the crowd.  “DEMONA!!!”  Goliath dropped Elisa and staggered through the crowd to his ex-mate.

The immortal was extremely surprised at his outburst and stepped back slightly.  But it was not far enough, as his mammoth form encompassed her own and squeezed her tight. Her feet were lifted off the ground and Goliath trapped her in a bearhug that would perhaps crush an ordinary human.

“Hey, Bigguy,” Elisa whined as she rubbed her backside, slowly getting to her feet, “that hurt!!”

“Oh, my’lisa.”  He let go of Demona and rushed to his wife.  “I’m sorry, so very sorry.” He cupped her cheek and pressed her close, similar to a young child and it’s favorite doll. But without his control, his tail snaked between his legs and he tripped over his own feet, his already fractured balance causing them both to plunge to the carpet.

Demona watched with wide eyes as the couple burst into a rousing laugh.  “Am I missing something here?” she inquired to the others.  “This is the second time I’ve seen members of the clan acting strange tonight.  I just passed by the other room and saw Annika and...Todd, is it?  They were behaving just as...peculiar.”

“Hey, I sure hope yer not here to kill us,” Elisa joked as she pulled herself from the entanglement of Goliath’s wings, draped over the pair, “‘cause I don’t have my gun wif me...”

“No, my’lisa, ssshe’s a good guy now.” Goliath answered, in a garbled reply, the best he could manage.

“How come there’s so many bad guysh that became good guysh?  Xanatos, heh, that’s a funny name...Fox, Demona,” she counted slowly on her slender fingers, “MacBeth, Dingo, Jason...”

At the mention of Jason Canmore’s name, Goliath’s eyes involuntarily flashed a fervent white.  “I hate that human.”

“Awww, my Big Guy is jealous, hee hee hee.”  She hugged his massive chest, and kissed directly between the pectoral muscles.  “Don’t worry, you’re a hell of a lot better lookin’.”

“They were exposed to some kind of gas earlier tonight,” Broadway explained, “it strips the affected person of their...inhibitions.”

“Oh...my.”  Demona looked back to the couple trying desperately to get to their feet, all the while stealing kisses on various parts of their bodies.  “Maybe this wasn’t the best night to visit.”

“Actually, Goliath seemed rather pleased to see you,” Desdemona added as she neared her rookery sister with the others turning their attention to the new arrival, “he seems to have missed your company.”

“Yes, but still...”

“Don’t worry, my sister, we have accepted you.  But it will take time for you to accept yourself.”

“Hey, where’d they go?!” Broadway asked as the others scanned the room, but found no trace of the inebriated pair.  “Oh crap, they took off.  Again!!”

“We’d better find them...and Todd and Annika.”  Lexington ran from the room, followed by the rest.  “Damn, we’re terrible baby-sitters.”

“I saw them in the room near the entrance, they could still be there.” Demona told her sister as they pursued the group.

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

Yet that small room had emptied of it’s occupants, leaving overturned furniture and a rather liberal mess behind in their destructive wake.  Annika and Todd had left the very confines of the castle, making their way to the battlements, eventually reaching Goliath’s tower.

“Ouch, you stepped on my tail!!” Annika yelled as Todd stumbled past her.  “Watch those big feet of yours.”

“My big feet?  Look at those suckers!!”

She followed his pointed finger to her taloned feet and she wiggled her toes with red painted talons.  “But I’m a gargoyle.  I’m shupposed to have big feet or every time I landeded, I would fall over.  I wouldn’t be able t’fly.”

“Yeah...what’s it like being able t’fly under yer own power?  I think every time I jumped off the building without anyone there to catch me, I’d be scared shitlesh.”  Todd shuffled closer to his love and placed his hands around her waist.

“It’s aweshome, you have no idea how great it feels to hit those currents and glide for hours on end.”  She extended her arms to mimic wings.  “The best part about being a gargoyle, the freedom of flight.”  She quickly tensed and whirled around to meet his eyes, a gleeful smile cast on large lips.  “Hey,” she cried excitedly, “let’s go flying again!!”

“I dunno...I’ve been flying before and I didn’t really feel...what’s that word, uhm...safe. Course, the first time I was thinkin’ ’bout you th’ whole time and the second, I was just gassed by an evil gargoyle...”  He leaned over the edge of the tower and peered down into the streets below.  “Whoa.  High.”

“But, I’ll be there, remember?  I’m not gonna let you go.  C’mon, it’ll be fun.”

“What’ll be fun?”  A curious question rang from the tower steps as Elisa and Goliath emerged and staggered to the other couple.

“Flying!!  We can all go.”

“I don’t know, Ann’ka.  What if we hit something?” Goliath rubbed his face, and grew a scowl, reliving painful memories of numerous flights which have taken turns for the worse.  “I’ve runned into buildings before and it hurts...a lot.”

“Nuh uh, you’re too good a flyer to hit a building, besides you and I have flown together lots, and I want to go wif Annika and Todd.” Elisa pleaded with her husband, swaying back and forth in a drunken stupor.

“Yeah, let’s go, purple guy.”  Todd climbed onto Annika’s back and wrapped his arms around her neck.  “GERONIMOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

The couple dove from the castle’s edge, capturing the night air beneath Annika’s wings and heeding the call of her most basic instincts.  They circled around the tower once and barely nicked the form of Goliath as they flew past the Mazas, intentionally egging them on.

The lavender giant lost his will to his ever consuming temper, and snatched his wife, forcing her into his arms.  He exploded into the sky, every muscle in his back and wings erupting with power and providing the strength to catch up with the other couple.

It was all Elisa could do to hold fast to his massive chest, feeling the wind circle around her form in a sudden surge.  The wind was frigid, yet she felt no cold, due in part to the gas, and the adrenaline pulsing through her arteries, filling her entire being with the erotic rapture of speed and flight.

Todd looked back, observant to the forms intruding upon them.  “Look, they think they’re faster than us.  Think you can prove ‘em wrong?”

“Watch me, lover!”  Annika leaned hard to the right and executed a near perfect barrel roll, slipping through a pair of adjacent buildings, and narrowly dodging a billboard in the process.  “Whoopsh, hang on!!”

“Please don’t kill me, I’m too damn handsome to die!” Todd howled over the rush of the wind.

“Goliath, they’re getting away!” Elisa yelled to her mate.

Yet another unusual smile grew on his face.  “No they’re not, duck yer head, my’lisa.” Goliath closed his arms around his wife and lowered his head, caping his wings tightly around his body.  He gained speed with every passing foot, aiming directly for the middle of the billboard Annika had missed just seconds before.  He closed his eyes and prepared his body for the impending blow.  With a shattering crack, Goliath blew through the thin wood of the sign, sending shards of plaster and poster paper flying in all directions.

“Whoa!!”  Elisa emerged from the protective embrace of her husband’s arms and wings. “Now that was cool!”  She then noticed the other couple beside them.  “HA, WE CAUGHT UP WITH YOU, LOSERS!!!”

“No, you haven’t.” Annika said under her breath as she swerved out of Elisa’s view.  She headed straight for the skeletal structure of a new skyscraper being slowly raised to the heavens.  With her incredible agility, she flew through the web of steel girders and scaffolding, with the bare tips of her wings and tail barely grazing upon the structure.

Goliath tenaciously pursued, his massive bulk hardly a deterrent to his fantastic dexterity. Elisa enjoyed every minute of the chase, as if a ride at an amusement park.  They emerged into the clear and played cat and mouse with the other couple over the streets of Manhattan, disappearing behind buildings and trying to gain the upper hand at their little airborne contest.

But in an instant, Goliath and Elisa lost sight of their rivals as they had dodged behind the Empire State building.  The lavender giant decided to curve around the other side, wondering if they would surface from their concealment of the gothic tower.  He decided wrong.

Suddenly, Annika and Todd appeared in front of them.  With his dulled reflexes, Goliath couldn’t dodge in time.  The four collided with a sickening thud and fell from the sky. The human passengers were thrown clear and began the long and terrifying descent towards the ground.

“OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!” Todd screamed at the top of his lungs.  He turned in mid-air to see Elisa falling beside him.

Unbelievably, she had nothing but a smile on her face and seemed quite sedate, hurtling towards the ground at breakneck speed.  She even went so far as to spread her arms, almost diving into the oncoming wind.

“HOW CAN YOU BE SO FUCKING CALM??!!!” he yelled to her as he flapped his arms in a vain attempt to slow himself.

But Elisa’s placid demeanor was justified as a large lavender shape barreled down on her, and scooped her from the sky.  Goliath extended his wings and drifted away, landing on a rooftop nearby.

“HEY!!!  WHAT ABOUT MEEEEEE??!!!”  Todd looked back at the upcoming concrete sidewalk, and closed his eyes.  “Oh shit, I’m street pizza...but what a way to go!! YEEEEEEHAAAAWHOA!!!”  His suicidal cry was abruptly interrupted as he felt two hands come under his shoulders.  He looked up to see Annika’s smiling face as she spread her wings, effectively halting his descent.  The gargess veered to the right and came to a perch on the same roof that Goliath had landed on.  Todd’s first instinct was to run over to Goliath and Elisa and begin to furiously rant, “Thanks fer catching me, jerk!!”

“Oh, yu’were fine.” Elisa chuffed.  “Course, that woulda been kinda neat...SPLAT!!  Ha ha ha.”

“I knew Ann’ka would catch you.” Goliath said, folding his wings around both him and his wife.  “It sheems not all humans have your fearless attitude, my pretty ‘lisa.”

“Oh gee, thanksh a lot, pal!” Todd yelled back.

“But they’re right, my wingless wonder,” Annika came up behind him and wrapped both her wings and arms around him, “I said I wasn’t gonna letchu go.”

“Fine, but I’m still pisshed off.” he choked, and turned his attention to Elisa.  “And you, ya friggin’ psycho, when you were fallin’, you didn’t look scared at all,” Todd inquired, a sheer morbid curiosity overcoming his anger, “how come?”

“I knew that Goliath wou’catch me.  He promised never t’let me fall.”  She gave her husband a long kiss on the lips.

“Lucky for you, he kept his promise.” said the shadows above, as Desdemona, with Othello and Shadow behind her, settled before the group’s astonished eyes.

“What’s yer point?” Elisa asked as she struggled to keep her balance, invoking a collective groan from the sober gargoyles.

“Come, let’s get you back to the castle.”

“And what if we don’t want to come home right now, my sister?” Goliath asked, a hint of anger very evident in his deep baritone.

“It is for your own safety, brother,” Desdemona pleaded, “I don’t wish to see you seriously hurt.”

“Fine,” he snarled, “but we are flying back.  I am the leader, I make the decisions because I am the leader.  Who makes the decisions.”  Elisa jumped into his arms, and the lavender giant wobbled to the ledge.  With a posture that seemed as if he fell into the sky, he eventually regained his composure, and began the long glide back to the Eyrie, with Todd and Annika behind them, and the three Wyvern gargoyles taking up the rear, carefully eyeing their erratic flightpath.

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

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!!!” Angela’s enraged voice reverberated throughout the library.  “I WAS WORRIED SICK!!!” she screamed, facing the library couch, where the two couples had been brought home and lined up, similar to rowdy teenagers out past their curfew.  The other clan members had been recalled from their search and were gathered in front of the affected humans and gargoyles.  “You placed yourself in danger just to go gallivanting around the city?!” she grilled them, receiving only muffled laughter to her incensed words.

“Gee, shorry...MOM!!!” Todd quipped, as Elisa and Annika burst out laughing and Goliath covered his face with his hands to suppress his giggles.

“This isn’t funny!”  Angela tried to regain some control but gave up, knowing it was useless.  The gas was still affecting them, and dawn was a couple hours away.  “Just promise me you will all stay in the castle until dawn.”

“Okay, my daughter.  We’ll be good hatchlings an’ play in th’castle.” Goliath rose from the couch and grabbed Elisa’s hand.  “Besides, my mate and I have better things t’do, and they don’t involved leaving th’ ground.”  He chomped down on her neck, and suckled on her warm, soft skin, hearing her squeal with unadulterated delight.  He led her from the library and in the direction of their room.

“Uh, if they’re going where I think they’re going, shouldn’t somebody get Trinity?” Brooklyn questioned as he watched his leader and human friend quickly leave.

“Do not worry, my mate,” Sata answered, “Fox has her.  It’s probably best that the parents forget about the daughter, at least until the gas wears off.  That just leaves those two...”  She pointed to Todd and Annika, the human sitting upside down with his feet in the air, and the gargess who was slowly waving her hands in front of her face.

“Wow...my hands look all blurry, hee hee.”

“Hey guys, maybe you should go spend some time in Annika’s room.” Brooklyn suggested coyly.

“Brooklyn-san!!” Sata gave him a nudge with her elbow.

“What?”  He looked to the couple, who in turn looked to each other.  “It should keep them occupied for a long while, if Hawkin’s boasts are true.”

Annika smirked and growled low in her chest.  She shot up and grabbed Todd’s hand, nearly pulling it from his socket and dragging him out of the room.

But Todd stopped when he caught sight of Demona near the doorway.  His eyes traveled the extent of her curvy frame, causing the immortal to blush a little.  “You must be Demona.  Ya know, fer bein’ a thousand years old, yer pretty good lookin’...Red.”

“Hey, yer mine!!” Annika defended her territory as Todd shrugged his shoulders.

“Never know when I’ll need a replacement.”  He laughed as they disappeared through the doors.

Demona managed a slight smile, and peered behind her until the young man was out of sight.

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

Annika locked the doors to her private quarters behind her and pulled her boyfriend to the edge of the mattress.  Using her gargoyle strength, she threw him onto the soft quilts, and commenced to rip the adornments from her body.  Her eyes were glowing with crimson lust and she quickly removed the last of her clothes, standing silently at the foot of the bed.

Todd looked to her as slowly crawled towards him, a deep animalistic growl exhaling from her throat.  She climbed on to him and pressed her fanged teeth to his bottom lip. “God damn...”

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

Elisa sprawled herself over her husband’s chest, curling one wing over her to protect her from the cold.  Her sweaty body glistened in the fading moonlight, as hours had passed since they had first entered this room and Goliath had ravaged upon her flesh and clothes, torn to shreds in the feral act of love.

She shivered slightly, yet not from the cold.  Goliath was stirring in his slumber and inevitably opened her eyes to her smiling face.  “Now that was...very...very nice.” she whispered, as she felt his talons flow through her thick hair and drag sensuously over her scalp.

“Uh huh...” Goliath could barely muster a response.  “I hope the bed didn’t break, my’lisa.  You make love like a gargoyle.”

“Not bad fer someone without a tail, huh Big Guy?”

“Not bad at all.”

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

Barely a sound leaked through the doors to Annika’s room, as the dwellers within had succumbed to their exhaustion, a result of heated passion in the throes of the gas’ yielding ecstasy.  The cerise gargoyle had burrowed near her lover’s body, lumped over his frame and never wanting to release him from her grip.  His earlier remark to Demona had roused her jealousy, but she knew he only wanted to invoke an ardent response, playing on her intense possessiveness.

She awoke with a start, and smacked her parched lips, only to catch a mouthful of hair at the back of Todd’s head.  “Gaaack...”

“Huh, whuzzuh, whuz goin’ on?”  Todd was released from the depths of slumber, and turned to see Annika picking small hairs from her tongue.  “Hey there, pinky.”

“Hi, Toddy.  How is you feelin’?”

“I think you broke my pelvis bone.”

She chuckled and nuzzled her lips to his neck.  “Sorry ‘bout that.  I didn’t mean to be so rough.” she apologized, watching him tumble out of bed and stagger to his feet.

He immediately grabbed his head and repeatedly blinked his eyes.  “Whoa...I think I’m going blind.  This gas is insanely cool.  When is it gonna wear off?”  He looked back at Annika, expecting a reply, yet found nothing but his girlfriend face down in the pillow and snoring loudly. “Oh, yer a great help.  But that...looks like fun...”

WHAM!!!  Todd hit the floor with a thump, and passed out.

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

Shards of gargoyle skin blew apart and covered the sheets and bedspread, as Goliath was freed from his cell of perpetual stone.  The lavender giant woke at the advent of early evening, still in bed beside his wife and roared to the sky.  But as soon as he lifted himself to the ground, he stumbled, teetered and fell back to the bed.  “Jalapena!” he cried with agony, holding his hand to his head and waking Elisa.

“Ohhhhh...”  Elisa rolled over and focused in on her husband, who had covered his entire face with both his hands.  “Oh man, I feel like shit.”

“As do I.  That gas we were exposed to was...extremely powerful.  Are you all right, my’lisa, er...my Elisa?” Goliath asked, as he reached to the bedside table and pulled a small brush and dust pan from the wooden drawer, cleaning tools left from Elisa’s old apartment, as the lavender giant had sometimes been caught in his paramour’s bed at dawn’s light.

“I think so, except for a wicked migraine.”  She crawled over to Goliath as he laid back down on the large bed, having cleared the sheets of the debris.  She placed her head on his chest and shut her eyes, intent on trying to stop the room from spinning.

The doors to their room creaked open, and stepping through, were the remnants of the clan.  Othello held the unconscious form of Annika in his arms and Todd was being dragged in by Brooklyn.  The younger couple was sternly dumped on the bed in a pile of arms, legs and wings.

Brooklyn noticed a small shard left behind, and flicked it from the bed to the garbage basket.  “Missed a piece, Goliath.” he uttered contumely.  “You know, I’ve never thought twice about our stone sleep, but now, ever since you told us about that friggin’ curse, I’m wondering just how much our race would flourish without getting destroyed every night...”

“Let it go, Brooklyn.  It was three thousand years ago, and there’s nothing we can do about it now.” Angela replied as she slipped past him, calming her friend’s anger. “Perhaps mother will succeed in her quest to create amulets for our clan.”

“Maybe.  Maybe not...if I could only get my hands on that guy,” his hands mimicked a motion of curling around someone’s neck, “I’d tear him a new asshole.”

Ignoring Brooklyn’s usual ranting, Angela tiptoed to her father’s side, hands placed delicately behind her back.  “Are you feeling well, father?” she asked overmodestly, knowing by the expression on his face that he was not.

“No.” he stated simply, attempting to ignore his firstborn.

“Well, thankfully you’re all back to normal.  You did a very stupid thing last night, you four.” Angela scolded them with a stern but laughable tone.

“Sorry, missum Angela,” Todd had regained some sense of consciousness, sarcastically quipping to the lavender female in front of him, “we be never doin’ that agin, I reckon.”

“And people wonder why I stopped drinking.” Elisa added.

“Did you used to drink a lot?” Goliath inquired to his wife.

“No, just the usual teenager stuff.  I had a lot at my senior prom.”

“I remember my prom.” Todd added, as he looked up and smiled.  “Wait a minute, no I don’t.  The only things I can remember from that night are dancing with Connie Langley in her skintight rubber dress, and ralphing on principal Johnson’s Benz.”  He laughed to himself and quickly snapped his gaze to where Annika was awakening.

“Huh, where am I?”

“We’re in the honeymoon suite in the Las Vegas Hilton.”  Todd rested his head on his elbow as he laid across her stomach.  “Good evening, ‘Mrs. Hawkins’.”

“Uh oh...” she gasped, her head falling back down on the thick quilt.

“Well, it’s good to see you’re back to your regular selves.” Fox chuffed as she came through the doors with Trinity in her arms.  “Of course, it was nice seeing the Big Guy relax a little.”

“Oh, my baby girl...”  Elisa leaped from her bed, almost forgetting her queasiness, but the memory was arduously forced upon her as she collapsed against Othello’s shoulder.  She placed a hand over her mouth and her once beautiful bronze skin turned a light shade of green.

“My love,” Desdemona spoke softly to her mate, “please escort our sister to the bathroom.”

Othello allowed Elisa to enter the bathroom and briskly pulled back, when the sickening discord of retching could be heard bursting from the door.  “Jalepena.  How can so much come from such a small human?” the dusty blue gargoyle said, his stout face distorting with a disgusted look.

“Fox, what the hell was David going to use that gas for anyway?” Annika tried to change the subject as Todd buried his face in her hair.

“A better anesthetic, for those who were allergic to Nitrous Oxide.  Of course the gas you were exposed to was in it’s purest form, unrefined, and at a much larger dosage.”

“Unrefined, that’s for damn sure!!”  Elisa emerged from the bathroom and took Trinity from Fox’s arms.  She cradled her warm child close to her chest, and as if by miracle, seemed to fare better with her daughter in her hands.  “Did our killer get anything from the plant?”

“No.  Fortunately, you seemed to have interrupted him.” Fox answered back, watching Elisa crawl back into bed and curl up to Goliath.  “Unfortunately, we have no idea what he was after.  And David’s beefed up the security in all his chemical plants...again.”

“So we actually got gassed for a reason,” Todd mocked the billionairess, “we stopped a robbery.  Joy.  Hey, Elisa, next time you wanna invite Annika and I over to your parent’s house for dinner...don’t.”

The door squeaked open once more and brought forth yet another gargoyle.  Demona had returned after leaving Nightstone for the day.  “I just came by to check up on you four.” She purposely came near Todd and lowered her face, placing her lips beside his ear. “ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!!!”

“AAAAAHHH!!!”  Todd bolted up, and was instantly hit by a wave of nausea.  “Oh boy, here come last night’s veal and potatoes.”  He ran to the bathroom and fell to his knees, as he spilled the previous night’s dinner into the white bowl.

Annika came to the door and knelt beside him, patting his back, and rubbing his bare skin with her talons.  “Thank god my gargoyle body is able to repress the urge to barf better than a human.”

“...R-Remind me later to kill Red.”

“You can’t, remember?  She’s immortal.”

“Then, I’ll just...toilet paper her house.  That’ll learn ‘er.”

“Yes it will, dear.” Annika sighed and shook her head.

Todd finished the last of his powerful dry heaves and flushed the toilet.  He wobbled to the counter and grabbed the mouthwash, trying to rid himself of the resulting rancid breath.  “So, did you have fun last night?”

“Yeah, we should do it again sometime...”

“Oh yeah, let’s just make sure not to upset a killer gargoyle when he’s trying to rob a chemical plant.”

“Oh yeah.”

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

“Damn clan of Wyvern!!”  His shriek went unanswered, apart from his own enraged echo casting off the bare metal walls.  “They ruined my attempt to gain the P-13 carrier gas!!” He moved to the canister, perched within the protective metal enclosure, and pressed up to the transparent plastic window, eyeing the object of his desire, leaving a patch of hot breath on the surface.  “Without that gas, it will be extremely difficult to even transport this toxin without some sort of stabilizing agent, let alone releasing it into the city’s atmosphere.”

He moved as if a wraith to his mainframe, and trailed his talons across the computer screen.  Flashing before his eyes, detailed descriptions and photographs of a certain clan residing in this city.  A particular image was brought forth and he immediately pressed upon a button to hold the picture within the confines of the screen.

“You two...” he muttered with contempt.  “How dare you...how dare you...”  He leaned closer, to better see the swirled colors of copper skin and lavender hide on the screen. “You two disgust me.  How could you lower yourself to...mating with this whore?  Bah!! It’s no matter, she will die soon enough, along with her detestable species.  And if her...lover does not swear his allegiance to me, well, I will just have to separate his internal organs from his body.  With my bare hands.  The time is drawing near, on the night of the triad convergence, my test will commence, and then soon after, the final strike.  Zero one, zero one, zero one...the date of their destiny and a night of their ultimate choice, either live by my side, or die at my feet.”

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