# Gargoyles: Sparks in the Night 2

Author: inuyashasg1
Tags: Brooklyn, Date, Erection, Flirtation, Gargoyle, Gargoyles, Human, Lioness, Long, M/F, Nudity, Relationships, Romance, Talon, elisa, goliath, maggie, plot

Things start to heat up between Maggie and Brooklyn.

One week had passed since the Gen-U-Tech lab debacle. Brooklyn hadn't seen so much as a glimpse of Maggie or any of the other mutates flying around the city. He was worried since he hadn't heard anything from the lioness, and he was also in something of a funk. It's not like a week was really all that long, but every night he woke up and hoped to see her. This night was no different and he couldn't shake the feeling that he should be doing something. He wanted to look for the mutates, but he really didn't know where to start. The only place he could think of was the Eyrie building but going there was forbidden by Goliath. All Brooklyn could do was patrol the city like normal and hope that luck or fate would intervene on his behalf.

 

 

As the red gargoyle glided above the streets, he spotted a familiar scene. Some guy in an “I heart NYC" T-shirt decided to take a shortcut down a dark alley only for a couple of thugs to grab him. Now he was being held up against a wall and threatened by a knife against his throat. It was the perfect distraction for the gargoyle. Any other day the guy should just give up his wallet and count himself lucky to walk away, but this night he won the lottery. Two unaware criminals with nothing but a switchblade between them should be no trouble for a gargoyle. Brooklyn swooped down into the alley, letting out an otherworldly roar making both the thieves and the victim turn their heads. Just as the gargoyle had hoped, it had distracted the robber holding the knife. He slammed into the blade-wielding criminal knocking him into the ground, making him skid a few feet on his back before the two came to a stop. The impact knocked the wind out of the thief and for the moment he was out of commission. The red gargoyle quickly got off the downed human and spun around to face the second criminal. He noticed that the victim had already taken the opportunity to run, leaving only the thug in the alley, and this one was unarmed. Brooklyn took a step forward and the human stumbled backward trying to keep his distance only to back into the wall. Out of desperation, the man took a wild swing at the demonic looking creature standing in front of him. It was such a clumsy attack that Brooklyn was easily able to dodge, then reach out and grab the man by the shirt and lift him up. Before the gargoyle could think of anything clever to say pain erupted from the back of his head and his vision went black. A second later it returned. His head was throbbing, and his cheek was pressed up against the rough assault.

 

 

"Where did this friggin monster come from?" Brooklyn heard a third criminal say from behind him, as the gargoyle rolled himself over on his back so he could see his attacker. He couldn't really make out any details, there was a light behind the man and his eyes refused to focus properly. All Brooklyn could tell for sure was that the guy was quite tall for a human. "Still moving huh, I'll fix that." The criminal brought down his weapon, aiming it squarely at the demonic creature's head. Brooklyn moved his arms in front of his face taking the hit against his left forearm. The gargoyle let out a short yell of pain as the thief pulled his arm back for a second hit. The red gargoyle wasn't sure what he was being hit with other than it was hard and blunt, probably a crowbar or pipe. Either way, it didn't matter, he couldn't keep taking hits like that. He was substantially stronger than a human, but his bones would still break. He rolled to the side, hearing a dull "tink" of metal hitting the ground. He tried to get to his feet, but the thief was faster than he expected, or maybe Brooklyn was slowed more than he realized. Either way, the gargoyle felt his chest erupt with a mix of fire and thousands of needles, followed quickly by his lungs expelling all their air. A dull hollow, slightly wet noise echoed between the buildings. Brooklyn was lifted a few inches off the ground and sent tumbling away from his attacker, ending up flat on his side and grasping his chest.

 

 

It was clear that Brooklyn wasn't going to be able to run at this point, so instead, he would have to go on the attack. He prepared himself for another hit, steadying himself so that he could retaliate while the criminal was off balance. Brooklyn wasn't going to hold back either, he couldn't at this point. It might kill the man depending where the human got hit, but at this point, the gargoyle needed to end this quickly. Fortunately for Brooklyn, the attack never came. Just as the thief was about to deliver another blow to the downed gargoyle, something in his peripheral vision caught the man's eye. He looked up just in time to see a blondish brown blur descending straight towards him. Maggie's furry foot connected with the thief's face, making a loud smack. The criminal's nose was smashed and broken. Blood was already starting to erupt from the torn skin and cartilage as his feet left the ground from the force of the blow. A second later he hit the ground, cracking his head against the asphalt with his body going limp.

 

 

The lioness mutate leaned down and checked the man just to make sure he was still breathing. So long as he was alive, she could care less about his condition. All that mattered to her was getting the gargoyle out of there. "Brooklyn, are you alright?" She asked kneeling down next to him and putting her furry hand on his shoulder, gently rolling him over on his back.

 

 

Brooklyn gave her a smile. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. This... This is nothing. I've had worse." He replied with some exertion. She put her arm under his right arm and started to help him to his feet. He moved his left hand to the ground and started to push himself up with it, only for a jolt of pain to shoot up it. "Argh," he yelled out. He started to fall back to the ground, only to be stopped by Maggie. She looked at his arm and saw a trail of blood dripping down it. "You're not going to be able to climb with that arm and I don't think I'll be able to fly while carrying you." She looked around trying to figure out what to do. She saw a fire escape, though the ladder that was supposed to extend down to the ground seemed to be missing. Still, the first-floor platform wasn't too high up. She flapped her wings a couple times then lifted off and flew up to it. She grabbed hold of the railing and pulled herself over it, looking down through the square hole where the ladder was supposed to be. She got down on her belly and grabbed hold of the railing's support with her left hand to anchor herself. Then she leaned her torso down through the hole and extended her right arm towards Brooklyn. "Take my hand, I'll pull you up."

 

 

The red gargoyle took a couple unsteady steps towards the fire escape and looked up at the woman's outstretched hand. It still was a good few feet above him. "Are you sure you'll be alright? I don't want you to retch your arm when I grab you."

 

 

"You're one to talk, just jump damn it!" Maggie growled in irritation. Brooklyn made a face that she put somewhere between irritation and worry, but he wisely kept his mouth shut and did as she asked. He bent down and the launched himself upwards, easily reaching her arm. In fact, he almost had enough height to touch the platform itself. He grasped her forearm as she did the same with his. Despite Maggie's bravado, she was caught off guard by the sudden shift in weight. She knew he would be heavy, but she had expected her enhanced strength to handle it without much trouble. As it turned out, raw strength didn't make up for lack of experience. She nearly fell through the opening rather than pulling the gargoyle through it. The only thing that kept her from tumbling forward was her grasp on the thin rebar support and it was a small miracle that it didn't tear free. With a loud grunt, she pulled him upward enough so she could shift her knees forward and start to stand up. Once she was halfway standing, Brooklyn was high enough that he could get his foot talons into the metal and help her some. When he was finally all the way up, she released his arm and let out a gasp. "Okay, maybe that was a bit harder than I thought it would be."

 

 

The gargoyle let out a little chuckle at her comment then let out a relieved sigh. "Thanks for saving me."

 

 

"Don't mention it. Let's get out of here before those assholes wake up." Maggie said as she started to climb the rusty metal stairs. As they approached the roof, she looked over her shoulder. The red man had his left arm bent across his chest for a little support and cradled gently by his right hand. "Do you think you can glide?"

 

 

Brooklyn nodded his head, "Yeah my wings are fine. Where are we going?"

 

 

"Hmm, we could go to Elisa's place, but Derick sometimes checks in on her. We don't want to risk him flying off the handle and getting into a fight with you. We need somewhere else, somewhere close to go. Do you know the warehouses about a mile to the east of us?" Brooklyn nodded his head, aware of the general area she was talking about. “There's an old, half condemned mall near there. Most of the shops in it are closed up and it's only a matter of time before it's bought out and turned into something else." Maggie said turning her head from side to side a couple times as she tried to figure out the correct direction to head.

 

 

"Sounds lovely. Why are we headed there exactly?" Brooklyn asked moving up next to her.

 

 

"There's practically no security there during the day, at night I'd be willing to bet it's the same. We should be able to get in there without much trouble and they should have a first aid kit in the security room." The lioness replied, then jumped off the building with the gargoyle in close pursuit. It only took about five minutes to find the building, and it looked even worse than Brooklyn had pictured in his mind. It was basically just a converted warehouse. The exterior had rust stains running down the walls and numerous windows were covered with half-rotten wooden boards. The two landed on the roof and found its door wasn't even locked. Not a huge surprise given the small mound of cigarette butts near it. Looking inside all, they could see was a dimly lit stairwell made up of unpainted concrete walls and steps.

 

 

Maggie went in first with Brooklyn following close behind. It wasn't particularly hard to find the security room since these back corridors only went in one direction. "Wait here." She whispered to the crimson man before she peaked into the room. She cursed under her breath when she saw the lanky security guard sitting in the chair, gently snoring. She took a quick look at the monitors before she started looking for the first aid kit. About a third of the displays were off, while the rest had various amounts of snow that would make it nearly impossible to see any detail. That meant it should be fairly safe to walk around the floor, which she was getting worried they might actually have to do. The first aid kit should have been mounted on the wall where it could be easily accessed, but it was nowhere to be found. She was just about to head out when she saw a white box out the corner of her eye. It was mostly buried under a month's worth of newspaper and a couple of what appeared to be well "read" Playboy magazines. She only noticed this because she had to carefully and quietly move the junk out of the way before she could get to her goal. When she finally had it, she quietly tiptoed out of the room and shut the door. "Okay, let's go find a bathroom. We should wash your wounds and I definitely need to wash my hands."

 

 

They reached the restroom with no incident. Brooklyn sat down on the sink counter since. He certainly wasn't going to sit down on one of those nasty toilets to have his wounds cleaned. Maggie turned on the faucet next to him and cleaned her hands with an abundant amount of soap before she checked the first aid kit to see what was in there. She had been worried that when she opened it the thing would be empty. Fortunately, everything she expected to see was there; gauze, medical tape, Coban wrap, various adhesive bandages, scissors, rubbing alcohol, and of course the usual assortment of over the counter medicines that all appeared to be out of date by several years. She went over to the paper towel dispenser and got ten or so feet of the cheap brown paper. She tore it in several places to make it a more manageable size, crumpling up one of the pieces and putting it under the running water. "Let me see your arm. I'll be gentle."

 

 

"I'm sure you will," Brooklyn said moving his injured arm away from his chest so she could reach it. "I'm lucky you came along when you did." The lioness reached out and tenderly placed her left hand under his own, feeling the hard alien flesh rub against her. Then she reaches out with her right arm and began to carefully clean the blood from his arm. It wasn't the easiest thing given the color of his skin, but even in the bathrooms poor light, she could still mostly make out the difference. There was certainly no missing the wound itself. It was a gouge in his skin, swollen and still oozing blood from it and the numerous smaller cuts near it.

 

 

"Yeah you are. It's a good thing Goliath was able to point me in your direction." Maggie paused for a moment, pulling the bloody towel away to get a better look. “This is pretty bad. I think it might need stitches... Or at least you would if you were human. I guess when you turn to stone, you'll heal just fine."

 

 

"Ahh!" Brooklyn grunted out in pain, making the woman stop. "Sorry, it's fine, keep going." She resumed cleaning his arm and the two were silent for a moment. "So, uh, I take it that you were looking for me specifically?"

 

 

Maggie put down the bloody paper towel, then grabbed a clean one and resumed. "Yeah, I meant to get with you earlier, but things have been... hectic. I've been trying to convenience Talon that you guys aren't responsible for what happened to us, but he takes everything Xanatos says as though it's the gospel. So, you know, that doesn't help either. Honestly, the reason I wanted to see you was because I need a break from all of that. I wanted to have some fun."

 

 

"Well, sorry I messed that up for you." The gargoyle said though he was smiling. He might be in pain but hearing that she wanted to be with him almost made up for it.

 

 

"Don't worry about it. At least we're even now." Maggie replied with a smile herself. She let go of his arm and went back to the medkit, tearing open a sterile gauze pad. "This is going to hurt, a lot." The lioness said while poring some of the alcohol onto the pad.

 

 

Brooklyn grit his teeth and let out a prolonged groan of pain as she pat the wound. She did her best to clean it as quickly and painlessly as she could, but there wasn't much she could do. Once it was clean, she placed a new gauze pad over the wound and wrapped his arm with Coban wrap till it was moderately tight. "Okay, yeah, that sucked. Thank god you don't have to do that for my chest. Just have a couple bruised ribs there." He said with a nervous laugh.

 

 

Maggie just shook her head with a small smirk while looking at his muscular chest and only seeing a few minor scratches. "Yeah, speaking of bones, do you think your arm's broken?"

 

 

The gargoyle shook his head side to side. "No, at least not fully. I might have a hairline fracture. If I don't try to use it for anything strenuous, I should be fine. With luck, I shouldn't have anything worse than a small scar by tomorrow night."

 

 

"Hmm, still, it wouldn't hurt to at least put it in a sling if we could. Let's look around the mall and see if there's anything we can use. Maybe if we're lucky the rest of the night can be easy going." The mutate woman said throwing away the bloody trash.

 

 

"That'd be a nice change of pace. Who knows, maybe I'll find something new to wear." Brooklyn said jokingly.

 

 

Maggie smirked, "Yeah, maybe we can get you a nice three-piece suit. Speaking of clothing, what do you think of mine. I'm not particularly sold on it myself."

 

 

For the first time that night Brooklyn really looked at the mutate woman. He'd been too groggy after getting hit to realize that she looked different. He had to focus just on flying. After they had landed, she had closed her wings around herself just like he did so they could move more easily through the corridors. Now she spread her wings and struck a pose pushing her hip to the side and ever so slightly sticking out her chest. The outfit Elisa had given her was gone, replaced by a slightly shiny green leotard that clung quite tightly to her body. Her collar was crimson red, and around the waist was a slightly darker red belt. She also had what appeared to be leather forearm guards colored in a similar shade of green with a red border at the top and bottom. "I think it looks great!" The gargoyle enthusiastically said.

 

 

"Oh, I bet you do. It doesn't leave much to the imagination." Maggie snidely remarked.

 

 

The gargoyle got up from the counter. His expression had changed, and his face blanched slightly. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant..."

 

 

"Relax, I'm just playing with you." The lioness replied with a chuckle, putting her hand on his right arm. "Come on, let's go see if there's anything interesting out there." She tugged on his arm and the two left the bathroom.

 

 

The public part of the mall was a pretty banal affair. It's floor a bland brown tile that showed it's age. It wasn't specifically the dirt that gave it away, though there was more of that than there should have been. No, it was all the scuffs and the way it was worn down. The layout of the building was simple. It was a relatively small, rectangular building with two levels, meaning that almost the entire thing could be seen no matter where they stood. Nearly all the shops were vacant, their metal gates pulled down and the rectangular rooms almost completely empty save for the odd left behind set of shelves or clothing racks. Some looked like they could have a new business ready to move in relatively soon if there was any desire, while others had hanging wires that had to be some kind of safety violation. A couple of them even seemed to be used as storage, shoved full of boxes and various pieces of large equipment. The few operational businesses that remained all seemed to be towards the center of the building near the food court. In fact, half of them seemed to be restaurants. Of course, none of them were of interest to the monstrous pair. That left a pawn shop, a couple of clothing retailers, and a knock off Harley Davidson's retail store.

 

 

Brooklyn immediately was drawn to the motorcycle shop, much to Maggie's surprise. He was almost giddy at seeing it. She was interested in checking out one of the clothing shops but didn't mind waiting for that. It wasn't like they were in any rush, plus she was curious to find out what he was so interested in seeing. It was easy enough to get in after all the gate was only held down by a cheap lock. The gargoyle tore it free with his good arm then lifted the gate so the lioness could enter. The store was filled with normal products. On the right wall, there was an assortment of helmets ranging from fully enclosed to the simpler kind that just covered the top of the head. Along the opposite wall, there were a series of shelves with T-shirts that represented the motorcycle manufactures and other such graphics. The back wall had smaller items, such as gloves and padding. There were also, of course, numerous racks on the floor that had various types of motorcycle clothing jackets and pants. However, while all this interested Brooklyn what really caught his attention was the bolted down motorcycle sitting in the middle of the shop. "Look at that!" The crimson man said almost running over to get a better look.

 

 

"Seriously?" Maggie said with a bemused tone.

 

 

Brooklyn looked back at her sheepishly. "What?"

 

 

She shook her head from side to side and chuckled to herself, walking up next to him to get a better look at the bike. "Oh, it's nothing. I just didn't expect you to be into something so... normal."

 

 

"Well, they're cool." The gargoyle responded before leaning in to get a closer look at the bike. "I spotted one the first day after we were freed of our stone sleep, but before I could to get a good look at its Lexington crashed the thing."

 

 

"Oh, so this is the first time you've been able to see one up close then?" Maggie asked as the man hopped onto the bike.

 

 

Brooklyn almost grimaced when she asked that. "Not really. Lexington fixed up an old bike we found abandoned. I uh, got to ride it a good two or three minutes before it kind of… exploded."

 

 

"Yeah, that sounds about right for you." She said jokingly, then pat him on the shoulder. "It's too bad though, you look good on a bike."

 

 

Brooklyn blushed a bit at this but also felt emboldened by the compliment. "Yeah, but I look even better with the whole getup on." He gestured his head towards a rack of leather jackets and flashed her a toothy grin.

 

 

"Why don't you go pick one out then?" The mutate asked causing the gargoyle to look over and get a slightly annoyed look on his face.

 

 

"Nah, I can't do that. I mean I want it, but I can't justify stealing something like that. Something like food, sure that's fine, but this would just be for fun." The gargoyle said getting off the bike a bit dejected.

 

 

Maggie moved her hand to her collar, pushing it down then pulled out several dollar bills. "What if Steven Goddard paid for it?"

 

 

"Who's that," he asked having no clue what the woman was referring to?

 

 

"The thief that attacked you. I took the money out of his wallet before we left. Hope that isn't an issue." Maggie said, curious to see how he'd respond.

 

 

Brooklyn moved his eyes upward and moved his head side to side slightly as he thought. "Nah, that's fine. The cops would have taken it from him anyway. Besides, the original jacket I had was taken from some mugger I caught. "

 

 

He eagerly went over and started to look at the jackets, though she honestly didn't know how he could wear one with his wings. Still, if it made him happy, she wasn't going to question it. Besides, she had just learned something about him. He was a good guy, but not too good. He still knew how to cut loose and have fun. "I'm going to see if they have anything that suits me." The lioness said with a very slight purr in her voice.

 

 

The couple spent the next few minutes looking through the various pieces of clothing. Brooklyn eventually found a jacket he liked, one that was roomy enough to fit his wings under without looking awkward. It was a plain black leather setup, but it did have the one thing he'd been missing his whole life, pockets. Meanwhile, the lioness had been looking at the women's section. She wasn't particularly interested in a jacket herself. Her fur was warm enough, so she didn't really want to add more insulation on top of it. However, she did come across a leather vest that she thought looked nice. She could only hold it up to herself in the mirror so the exact fit would be a bit of a gamble, but from what she saw she guessed it would leave her midriff exposed. When she was a human that would have been a turn off for her, but now she thought it sounded nice. "I think I found what I'm looking for, what about you." She yelled to Brooklyn as she started to walk towards the register. He responded with a yeah, so she put down most of the cash on the counter. Before she walked away, she saw the gloves hanging on the wall and grabbed a pair with plastic knuckle guards. "This might be useful." She muttered to herself.

 

 

The feline woman returned to Brooklyn who was now fully wearing the jacket, price tag still attached. "Wow, it does look good on you." She complimented him before reaching over and cutting the tag with her claws.

 

 

"Thanks!" He said a bit over-eagerly with a huge grin. "So, what about you. I mean uh, how does yours fit?"

 

 

"Oh, this?" She said holding up the vest that she had draped over her arm. "I won't know until later. I'll need to do a little work on it so my wings can fit. Maybe I can show you next time." The two left the biker store, shutting the metal gate behind them. As they made their way back towards the exit Maggie spotted a shop on the second level that she missed previously. She flew up to take a closer look to see what it was. From a distance, she thought it was a Hot Topic or similar store. However, it turned out that the store was much more risqué. "Hey Brooklyn, come up here. I want to check this place out." She said as a lewd thought danced around her mind.

 

 

It took a minute for the gargoyle to get to the second level. By the time he reached the mutate, she had already broken the lock and opened the shutter. He had thought it was just another clothing store, which it half was. As he approached the small outlet space it seemed normal. There were a half dozen mannequins in the window wearing things such as skimpy bustiers, ornate brassieres, tube tops, short miniskirts, tight leather pants, and tiny swimsuits. They were all fairly revealing, but nothing he didn't see on TV or on the streets almost every night. As he entered and moved towards the back things started to change. He saw strange full-body leather outfits, fuzzy handcuffs, and many types of undergarments that he didn't even know existed. He knew about bras and panties from Elisa, he'd seen them in her laundry. The ones he was seeing now almost seemed pointless. Many of the bras seemed to have material so thin that he could see the nipples of the women wearing them in the pictures, while several had such little material that it seemed like they would hurt to wear. He looked around for Maggie, trying not to focus on anything in particular around him as he was starting to get embarrassed. He didn't see her nearby, but he did notice that the back of the store was partially sectioned off by a wall of beads and a sign that said, "Adults Only."

 

 

The gargoyle swallowed hard and pushed aside the beads revealing the Lioness. "Oh, there you are Brooklyn. I wondered what was taking you so long. Did you see anything you like in here?" She asked, almost purring in delight at making him squirm. She had considered waiting in the back for him but decided that might be too much for the young gargoyle. He might not be ready to see all the things humans had come up with to satisfy their carnal desires. Still, she was curious to see how close a gargoyle's desires would align with a human's. Given how bright red his cheeks were, she could tell they weren't that different. A tiny voice in her was telling her to stop now, keep things casual and not lead him on. However, it was completely drowned out. She walked over to one of the bra displays and picked up a pair. It was a lacy black pair designed to push up the breasts and make them look larger as well as showing off as much skin as it could without technically being indecent. She turned around and held it up in front of her chest. "How do you think this would look on me?"

 

 

Brooklyn's eyes went wide for a second as he got even redder, but then his expression changed to annoyed. "You're taunting me, aren't you?"

 

 

Maggie held up her right hand, holding her index finger and thumb so they were nearly touching. "Yeah, just a little bit." Brooklyn turned his head away from her, and she could tell he was upset. She reached out and brought his head back to looking at her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'll stop. It's just... Sometimes when I like someone, I tease them. I only mean it as a joke, and I'm only doing it with you because I feel comfortable enough to not worry what you might think of me... And if I'm being honest, I wanted to see how you'd react."

 

 

"Well, I guess that's fine, and if I'm honest I think that you'd look very sexy wearing that," Brooklyn said, feeling embarrassed saying it out loud.

 

 

Maggie swallowed audibly. "So, would you like me to put it on?"

 

 

"I thought you said you'd stop teasing me," the gargoyle replied dryly.

 

 

"I'm not." She said leaning in close enough so he could feel her breath against him.

 

 

Brooklyn was silent for a moment as he thought. No that wasn't it, that's just what he was telling himself. Really, he was working up the courage to speak the truth. "Yes, God yes!"

 

 

Maggie blushed and smiled at him while taking a step back. "Turn around and no peaking." He did as she asked while she slipped behind a display of assorted undergarments. She reached up to her collar and undid it, then reached behind it and began to unzip her leotard. It was a bit of an ordeal given her wings and that she was still getting used to them so it took her a bit longer than she would have if she were still human. Brooklyn kept himself facing away from her, keeping himself distracted by looking around the room. That was until he spotted a convex mirror in the ceiling corner that the shop owner could use to keep an eye on customers. He could see the furry woman pulling down the green silky cloth, revealing her generous blond bosom. He really couldn't make out much detail, and he looked away trying to keep his word only to glance back at the mirror mere seconds later. He couldn't help himself. With her outfit pulled down below her breasts it was fairly easy to put on the bra, though the back strap was slightly riding up against the base of her wings. It was then she realized that her form-fitting outfit might, in fact, have some desirable qualities. Still, she could deal with the discomfort for the next few minutes.

 

 

The feline woman stepped out into the open. "Okay, you can turn around," she said, her face bright red despite her attempt to come off as confident. Up until now, it'd just been fun and games, but for the first time, she was feeling flustered too. This had gone further than she had expected. She was getting swept up in the moment, doing things she should know better than to do. She couldn't stop now. "Well, what do you think?"

 

 

"Wow!" the gargoyle said with a genuine gasp. She looked even more amazing than he had imagined. He knew it shouldn't make a difference whether she was wearing something revealing or something that covered her more, but he certainly hadn't realized how amazing her chest looked until right now. The large round mounds were pushed up higher, making them appear even larger than before. Tiny clumps of her fur bulged through the holes in the lace. Seeing her for the first time without a shirt on, he noticed a large fluffy tuff of fur right above her deep cleavage. He was really getting turned on. In fact, it might have been turning him on a bit too much. When he finally managed to pull his eyes away from her chest to look at her face, he noticed her eyes seemed to be looking quite low. That's when he realized what was happening. "Oh, shit" he muttered mostly to himself as he shoved his hands down in front of his crotch and spun around to hide the bulge in his loincloth.

 

 

Maggie likewise turned away, now almost as red as the man was. She wasn't sure what she'd just seen. Well, of course, she knew what it was. She just didn't know how to comprehend it. The tent that had started to form from his sackcloth clothing was huge, at least by human standards. She told herself that it was just a trick of the lighting, and even if it wasn't, it didn't matter. After all, she didn't care what he was like down there, did she? Then she started to think about how alien he might actually be, and she shook her head trying desperately to think of anything else. "Uh, you know it's getting late." She stuttered out failing to get the picture of him out of her mind. "We better get going. Don't want you turning to stone in the middle of this place." She laughed nervously while pulling her outfit back on, overtop the lacy bra. The discomfort it had caused was completely gone from her mind.

 

 

"Nope, don't want to do that." The gargoyle stated while starting to move towards the exit. Maggie followed behind him, taking a few seconds to catch up since he was moving pretty fast. By the time they made it to the roof, Brooklyn was thankfully back to normal. "Well, that was fun... I guess I should head back to the clock tower." He took off the jacket and folded it up before shoving it under his belt so it wouldn't get in the way when he took to the sky. Then he extended his wings as he approached the edge of the roof.

 

 

"Brooklyn wait," Maggie said grabbing hold of his shoulder and stopping him. "I uh, I mean that was nothing to get embarrassed about. It was a perfectly natural reaction to the situation it just surprised me." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I really did have a good time with you, and I'd like to do it again sometime if that's fine with you."

 

 

The gargoyle turned around to look at her. "Really?"

 

 

The lioness breathed in deeply through her nose, then took a step forward and reached up putting her hands on both sides of his face. She leaned in and gently pressed her lips against his beak. It took a moment for the shock to wear off the gargoyle before he returned the kiss. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she felt like she was almost floating as she pulled away from the crimson man. "Yeah, really." She said with a smile.

 

 

"Cool, I mean, absolutely. I'd love to go out with you again... on another date?" The man was finding it hard to say what he was thinking, his mind was racing with so many different thoughts it was hard to parse them all.

 

 

Maggie nodded her head. "Yes, a second date. I don't know when it will be though. You know how things are. Stuff gets in the way."

 

 

"That's fine, I can wait," Brooklyn said leaning in and giving her another kiss. She returned it with a little more vigor than the first time. He broke the kiss after a few seconds. "It sucks, but I really do have to get going."

 

 

The mutate woman nodded her head in understanding. "I know, till next time." With that the two parted each other's company, taking off into the sky in different directions. Both were in a very good mood as they headed to their respective destinations.

 

 

Maggie headed towards the Eyrie building, flying up its long glass-covered exterior, through the clouds until she could see the tall castle sitting atop the skyscraper. She didn't immediately land. First, she circled around the building, looking to see if anything was out of the ordinary. There wasn't any particular reason to think something was wrong. It was just that she had taken up being cautious ever since she was mutated. She didn't see Xanatos anywhere, just the other mutates. Talon on one side of the courtyard working out, while Fang and Claw were on the opposite side watching a movie being projected onto one of the walls. The lioness swooped down, pulling up just a moment before contact with the roof to arrest most of her momentum before pulling in her wings and falling a few inches to the stone rooftop.

 

 

"Hey there Maggie, are you feeling better after your night on the town?" The tall panther-like mutate asked putting down the dumbbell.

 

 

The tall woman gave him a slight smile and nodded. "Yeah, it was just what I needed." She replied as he moved up next to her and put his arm around her shoulder then leaned in for a kiss. She suddenly felt very awkward feeling his lips against hers and she didn't really return the kiss as she had on the previous days.

 

 

Talon pulled away from her and had a perplexed look. "What's wrong?"

 

 

She looked slightly to the side then tried to pull away from his arm without it seeming unnatural. "It's nothing, I'm just tired that's all."

 

 

"Too tired for dinner," the man asked putting down his arm? "I had something made for us earlier. I figured you'd be hungry when you got back, but if you're too tired..."

 

 

"No, it's fine. I'll probably just head to bed early after that." She responded, not wanting to make things awkward. She realized that was a mistake once he led her into the castle. It wasn't unusual to find a rather abundant amount of food prepared for them. Xanatos understood that keeping them happy meant it was less likely that Talon or the others would want to question his motives. Still, it wasn't as if the businessman had a full wait staff ready to prepare them meals at beck and call. That would have been overkill, not to mention would have let more people in on their existence. No, it was pretty much all up to Owen. The tall, skinny blond man who's lack of personality was made up for by his apparent unwavering service and talents. He usually appeared with finely prepared food such as whole turkeys or fine steak as well as a wide assortment of side dishes, bread, salads, and desserts. That said he didn't show up like that for every meal. The mutates did have full access to a kitchen after all.

 

 

This was different. The table the mutates normally ate at was replaced by a nicer, more intimate table that had a red velvet tablecloth with golden inlays draped over it. In the center of there was an elaborate silver candle stand with multiple arms. It looked pristine save the parts that were now stained by wax from the half-melted candles that had no doubt been lit some time ago when the food arrived. She had returned later than she had told him to expect her back. Clearly, he wanted to surprise her with something nice. He went over to the table and pulled out one of the heavy chairs for her to sit in. Once she did, he reached over to the silver dome covering her plate and lifted it. "It's uh, gotten a bit cold, unfortunately. I can put it in the microwave if you'd like." He said, referring to the contents of the plate. There was a small Cornish hen cooked so that its skin was slightly golden but the contents still moist. To its side was 5 small tourne cut potatoes fried and seasoned with just a dash of rosemary, salt, and thyme as well as some amazingly bright and crisp green beans.

 

 

Maggie had to admit that it looked amazing, and under normal circumstances, she would have loved this. As it was though, she just felt uncomfortable and wanted to get this over with. She had a knot growing in her stomach that was completely overwhelming her hunger. "It's fine, I'm sure it'll still taste good." She replied picking up a fork. Talon went over and sat down opposite of her. The rest of the meal went by slowly and progressively became more uncomfortable. The two talked about various things with the panther slipping in a few innuendos and generally flirting with her. For Maggie's part, she did her best to avoid responding to his suggestions. Instead, she focused on trying to finish her meal as quickly as she could so that she could leave. Funny thing was, just the prior night she would have loved this.

 

 

Talon seemed to notice her evasiveness and eventually gave up, caulking it up to her supposed exhaustion. He figured she'd feel better the next day and that things would be back to normal. He was wrong. The next few days she was just as flighty, and it became clear she was trying to avoid him. She'd always find something to do whenever he tried to talk to her. Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore and confronted her about it. She claimed that it was just because she felt uncomfortable in the castle. He didn't buy that excuse and when he pressed her on it, she snapped at him that Xanatos couldn't be trusted and that he was just using Talon's anger against the gargoyles to control him. This, of course, caused the panther to erupt into anger. The two began to shout at each other, drawing an audience from the tiger mutate who was concerned and Fang who was enjoying the drama playing out.

 

 

Eventually, the woman walked away, throwing up her hands in frustration. "Enough of this! You're too bull-headed to listen and I'm tired of talking. I'm leaving."

 

 

"Yeah, where you going to go? It's still daylight outside?" The panther responded with a condescending tone.

 

 

She turned back to sneer at the panther. "I'm going to see your sister since apparently, she's the one that got all the brains in your family." She yelled at him before taking to the air and diving down out of sight.

 

 

"Oh, which one are you talking about. I got two sisters!" He yelled after her.

 

 

Fang snickered behind Talon, causing the black feline to turn around. "Oh yeah, you sure told her."

 

 

"Shut up fang." Talon snarled at the brown-furred mutate who just rolled his eyes in response.

 

 

Despite Maggie leaving in a huff, she had to admit that Talon was right about one thing. It was too early to go see Elisa. Instead, she flew over to one of the nearby skyscrapers and perched on the roof. She'd have to wait half an hour or so before she could go any further. When the sun was finally low enough, she took off. She figured it'd be hard enough to see her that any onlooker would assume she's just a large bird.

 

 

The lioness landed on Elisa's balcony just before the last sliver of the sun dipped below the horizon. Inside the human woman heard the noise from her balcony. By now she was used to the sound gargoyles made when they arrived and it seemed very similar, but it was too early for that. She was currently wearing just a bathrobe, as she had just gotten out of the shower, so she was currently defenseless if this was someone about to break in. She kept her eye on the balcony door as she moved into her kitchen, the view outside obscured by the closed curtain. She silently pulled out her lockbox and removed her pistol, pulling the slide back gently to make sure a round was chambered. Then she moved towards the balcony door. She pulled back the curtain and started to aim her sidearm only to pull it off target a split second later. "God, you scared me!" Elisa gasped out moving her gun, so it was aiming down and enabling its safety.

 

 

"Sorry, I just needed to get away from Talon. I just... I can't be around him right now." Maggie said after the human slid open the glass door.

 

 

"Why, what happened?" Elisa asked as the feline passed her and plopped down on her couch.

 

 

Maggie let out a big sigh, then blew a few strands of hair out of her face. "We had a fight about him trusting Xanatos and wanting pointless revenge on the gargoyles, but honestly that's not really the issue. It's an issue, just not the one I'm struggling with right now."

 

 

Elisa sat down next to the lioness. "Then what's the real problem?"

 

 

"A few nights ago..." The mutate paused, then started over. "Your brother is a nice guy; I can tell that. Right now, he's mad, but I understand why. I mean, I'm angry too. I like him and he likes me, but... I don't know what to do."

 

 

"You don't need to return Derick's feelings if you aren't comfortable doing that," Elisa said softly.

 

 

Maggie shook her head side to side. "That's not what I mean, if that was the case, I would just tell him. The thing is before we moved into the Eyrie building, I could already feel our chemistry and we were starting to hit it off. "

 

 

"Wait, did you say that you're living in the castle, with Xanatos?!" Elisa asked in horror at the prospect.

 

 

"Yeah, after a couple days in the city it became clear there weren't a lot of places where a monster could hide. In fact, the only people that could really help us would be Xanatos or the gargoyles. Talon... Err Derick wasn't about to ask them for help, and I think you can figure out the rest from there." Maggie said in response "Sorry I should have told you earlier."

 

 

Elisa stood up and started to pace as she thought about her brother. She looked back at the woman sitting on the couch and realized she cut her off. "It's fine, any way you were saying?"

 

 

"Oh uh, I'm not sure if our feelings are genuine or if it's just because of the stress of the situation. Like, we could be just desperate for something normal. If we were normal that wouldn't be too big of a deal. I mean I've dated guys before that didn't work out. I'm sure you've experienced that too, everyone has. It happens, then you move on. You find someone else that you work better with and you do this whole song and dance all over again. Thing is, like, can I do that when I'm like this?" Maggie asked, gesturing to her furry body. "There aren't exactly a lot of options for a mutate like me. Should I just play it safe? I mean that's probably the smarter idea."

 

 

Elisa cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms. "Maggie, what are you talking about? You're clearly dancing around something."

 

 

The lioness moved her right hand to her forehead and gave it a little rub while her left hand fidgeted with the edge of the cushion. "It's Brooklyn... I think... I think I like him and it's weird. It is weird, isn't it?"

 

 

"I mean kinda, but I understand what you mean. Don't tell anyone, but I feel the same way about Goliath. I didn't realize it until recently and I haven't even let him know yet. I honestly have no idea if that kind of relationship could ever work but..." Elisa trailed off, realizing she really had no idea where to go from there since she herself was still struggling to figure out what she wanted to do. "It's definitely a conundrum. All I know for sure is that settling for the safe option almost never ends in happiness. I don't want Derick to get hurt, but he's an adult. I think he'll understand, but even if he doesn't I can't see him being happy in a relationship founded on convience rather than love."

 

 

"Maybe, or it'll give him one more thing to blame the gargoyles for," Maggie responded.

 

 

Elisa thought about it for a moment then gave a few small nods of her head as she sort of scrunched up her face. " All we can try to do is convince him of the truth. In fact, I think it's time I had another talk with him."

 

 

---\*---

 

 

Brooklyn grumbled to himself as he and his brothers stood atop a building adjacent to central park. Rotund Broadway and short Lexington were both perched on the edge of a roof, enjoying the show below. There was a huge crowd of people watching and cheering for a rock band. The distance made the band on stage looked tiny, though gargoyle's eyesight was significantly more acute than a human. It was what allowed them to fully utilize their aerial capabilities to their advantage. In the past, it would have been used for hunting, but now it was more useful for patrolling the many seedy corners and crevices that the criminals of the city used. As for the music, that was impossible to miss. Large, powerful speakers were projecting it outward filling not only the park but also the adjacent streets. Still, the red gargoyle wasn't particularly enjoying the experience. It wasn't because he disliked the band, but rather stemmed from the fact that he had hoped to experience it with Maggie. It wasn't something he had told the other two gargoyles. To them, it just seemed like he was surly for no good reason. He had kept his potential relationship with the mutate a secret. The only one he had informed was Goliath, and that was because he didn't want to go behind his leaders back. The idea of doing that gave him flashes of Demona acting on her own behalf which filled him with rage.

 

 

The concert came to an end around eleven O'clock. The crowd slowly dispersed, making their way to the streets. Numerous police cars and officers were below them, temporarily stopping traffic to allow the people to safely leave the park. Broadway wondered if there was any chance that Elisa was one of them, but Lexington pointed out that it was unlikely that a detective would be doing that. Brooklyn agreed with the brownish-green gargoyle, she had better things to do and so did they. "We should head back to the clock tower, then go on patrol. If there are more cops here, then chances are there's less somewhere else."

 

 

Fifteen minutes later the three gargoyles landed back at their home. As soon as they touched the ground, they could hear Elisa's familiar voice coming from inside and she was pissed. "Well, that doesn't sound good," Lexington said in his high, slightly nasally voice before the three headed in. As they got closer, it became clear that she was complaining about her brother. Once inside Broadway and Lexington went over to be next to the human, but Brooklyn stopped short when he saw Maggie leaning up against a wall to the side of the room.

 

 

"Hey, didn't expect to see you here." The red gargoyle said in a slightly more cheerful tone than he meant to since he could tell something was wrong.

 

 

"Yeah, well I'm not exactly here for a social call. Elisa tried to talk some sense into her brother, and it went about as well as when I tried. Maybe worse. We, meaning us mutates, thought that Sevarius was dead, but Elisa told Derick that his body was never found. So, either Xanatos hid the body or more likely he's still alive." Maggie said, with an edge of rage to her voice.

 

 

Brooklyn put his hand behind his head, slipping his fingers into his long white hair and scratch. "Whew, that's a lot to take in. What are you going to do now?" The man hoped that maybe she'd once again need to take some time off and relax, which he'd be more than happy to help her do."

 

 

The lioness let out a sigh and pushed herself off the wall to be fully standing. "I don't know, but I need to be getting back. Things are only going to get worse from here. If I'm lucky, maybe I can keep things from getting completely out of hand."

 

 

"Are you sure, I mean you could stay here for a little while and let things cool down?" The red man suggested only to get a glare from the woman. "Yeah, no. You're right. That's a stupid idea." He laughed nervously, getting out of her way so she could leave. He let out a long sigh once she was gone then joined his brothers, coming in at the end of Elisa's explanation. He was only half paying attention to what she was saying, instead wondering to himself how he should have handled the situation better with Maggie. He was almost caught off guard when Elisa started to leave so she could investigate a few leads.

 

 

Goliath noticed his second in command was distracted. "Brooklyn, come with me. We need to talk." The two men walked outside so that they were alone, leaving Broadway and Lexington inside to discuss the situation with Hudson. "I need to go away, possibly for a few nights. There's something I need to take care of by myself. While I'm gone, you'll be in charge. Keep an eye on Elisa, there's no telling what Xanatos may do to try and keep his secret from the mutates. Oh, and try not to get too distracted around Maggie. I understand your feelings for her are strong but don't let them blind you."

 

 

The lioness felt a little bad as she flew back to the castle. She hadn't intended to be so cold with Brooklyn. It was just that she didn't want to have to think about their relationship right now. It was too much to deal with that and the possibility Sevarius could still be alive. The idea of that bastard walking around drowned everything else out, or rather she could use that to drown it out. It was easier to be angry than conflicted.

 

 

As soon as Maggie landed the panther mutate began to interrogate her. "So, did you have any trouble taking my sister home."

 

 

"Not really," The woman replied in a tired tone.

 

 

"Then why did it take you so long to come back. It takes like five, maybe ten minutes tops to get to her apartment," Derick growled at the woman.

 

 

The lioness turned away from him and started to walk away. "So, I talked with her a bit before coming back. What's the big deal."

 

 

"Don't lie to me!" He yelled at her while grabbing hold of her wrist to keep her from walking away. "You didn't even take off in the right direction to take Elisa home. You took her to meet with the gargoyles, didn't you? I bet you even know where they live!"

 

 

Maggie turned back, looking at his black-furred hand around her wrist then back to the panther's face. She snarled and growled at the man while her eyes practically bored a hole through him. He seemed to realize his mistake as his expression softened, but he didn't have time to say anything. She tore her hand free from his grip and practically spit her response at him. "What if I did! I can't imagine why I would want to keep that information from a paranoid control freak. Do you really think I can't take care of myself? I'm the one who managed to escape from the lab. I'm the one who came back and try to break the others out. I'm not the one who's been gobbling up every line fed to us by Xanatos like some loyal dog. Rather than wasting all your energy trying to figure out what I've been doing, why don't you do something useful like figuring out where Sevarius is."

 

 

"Hey, why don't we all take a breath and calm down. We've all been under a lot of pressure. Maybe Maggie's right, we don't really know if the gargoyles were behind this. We should meet up with them and see if we can hash things out. I mean if she knows how to get in contact with them, I don't see any reason not to." Fang, the scruffiest looking and normally crudest of the mutates stated in an unusually levelheaded manner.

 

 

In fact, it was too calm and considered. The only time the brown-furred mutate ever acted diplomatic was when he was planning something and didn't want to raise anyone's suspicion. It might have worked on a stranger, but for Maggie, it was setting off alarms. "Fine, do what you want!" The Panther yelled and gave a dismissive wave of his hand before walking into the castle.

 

 

"So, what do you say girl? Can you take us to them" Fang asked?

 

 

The lioness hesitated a moment. There was no chance she'd actually take him there, but she needed to come up with some natural sounding excuse. She decided to play to his ego since that was the one thing, she was sure he wouldn't question. "Maybe tomorrow. I'm really tired after flying Elisa all over the city. I'm sure you could have done it with no problem, but for me... Well, I'm just not as strong as you."

 

 

A cocky grin formed on the brown mutates face. "Yeah well, not everyone can be gifted like me. I don't see any need to rush things. Tomorrow should be fine, and I'd hate for you to overexert yourself."

 

 

"Thanks for understanding Fang." She said, then yawned and stretched her arms. "Well, I'm going to head in and relax some, maybe call it an early night. Try to keep Derick from getting in any trouble, if that's possible." She walked away, heading into a different part of the castle. As soon as she was out of sight, she ducked down a corridor and moved back towards the area the panther mutate had headed. When she was closer, she was able to catch his scent and follow it through the building till she eventually reached Xanatos's office. Even through the thick, reinforced door, she could hear the panther yelling at the human who reacted calmly. It was clear to Maggie he was not surprised at all to learn that Sevarius was alive, though she did have to admit that he hardly ever let down his guard when it came to information. He very much liked to playthings close to the vest. The businessman was easily twisting the facts to lay the blame on the gargoyles, saying Goliath must have faked Sevarius's death.

 

 

"Damn it," the lioness cursed upon hearing the bull-headed mutate take the bait. She had been hoping that things would just simmer down, but it seemed that she was going to have a long night ahead of her. She stealthily made her way out of the castle and flew herself over to Elisa's place. She nearly missed the human woman, who was putting on her red leather jacket and was about to head out when she landed.

 

 

Elisa let out a sigh and went over to let her in. “I didn't expect to see you again tonight. I can't stay and talk, but you can stay here if you need some time away from the others." The human said, already turning around and heading for her front door.

 

 

The lioness reached out and grabbed Elisa gently by the shoulder. "Wait, I didn't come to talk. I just came to let you know that Talon, sorry, Derick is on the warpath. We need to find Sevarius before he does. He'll kill him if we don't."

 

 

"I figured as much, I'm about to go check a facility he may be working at. Asshole didn't even bother to use a fake name. He just went to work for a different laboratory and changed his looks a little bit" Elisa said. "I suppose it's possible he's a different guy, he is quite a bit younger but... Why don't you come with me? You'll be able to identify him better than I can. Plus, if he tries to run..."

 

 

"I'll knock the shit out of him," Maggie said with an evil grin.

 

 

For the next couple hours, Elisa investigated the small laboratory that Sevarius had begun working for. It was an independent pharmaceutical company that she knew in her gut had to be owned by Xanatos. It was far too well funded for such a small and obscure facility. Still, that didn't matter at the moment. The guard on duty didn't seem to be instructed to obstruct her and actually seemed to be quite helpful. In the parking lot, she found the doctor's car and next to it was his leather-bound briefcase. She searched through his personal lab, though she didn't quite know what she was looking for. She couldn't make heads or tails of the high-tech equipment outside of common stuff like the centrifuge sitting in the corner. She tried to log on to his computer, but it was of course password locked. She tried to convince the guard to give her access, but even if he wanted to help her, he didn't have that kind of authority. Ultimately, she didn't learn anything she didn't already know, so she decided to change approaches. She went to the security room and had the guard show her the camera footage for the facility. She wanted to see everything and everywhere he had gone in the prior day. It all seemed pretty normal until he finally left for home. As he was approaching his car, some dark blur came out of nowhere and whisked him off. Slowing down the video to go frame by frame revealed the culprit. The guard freaked out when he saw the monster on the screen while Elisa just shook her head in disappointment.

 

 

Maggie was forced to wait outside on an adjacent building, standing under an overhang to avoid the storm that had rolled in. It was incredibly boring, and she wished she had something to pass the time. Her mind began to wonder to Brooklyn which was the last thing she wanted but there wasn't much else to distract herself with. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she spotted Elisa walking out with a very angry expression. It seemed like she was alone, and the parking lot was dark, so Maggie flew down next to the woman's car, pulling in her wings as soon as she landed so they were close to her body. Anyone that saw her from a distance probably wouldn't notice she wasn't human. At least not right away. "

 

 

"Were you able to find out anything?" Maggie asked while Elisa fumbled with her keys.

 

 

"Get in, I'll tell you on the way. Goliath's gone and done something stupid!" The human practically hissed as she got into her car.

 

 

Just a few miles away Goliath was towering over the sniveling scientist, trying to coax Sevarius into creating a cure for the mutations he had caused. He had kidnapped the man right out of the parking lot and brought him to the ruined Gen-U-Tech building. It was the only place the gargoyle knew of that would have the technology the man would need for his work, not that Sevarius appreciated it. All the man did was complain and stall. No doubt he hoped to be able to escape when dawn arrived. To be honest, the gargoyle didn't really have much of a plan for that, at least not at this moment. That was still several hours away. He figured he could always find a closet and throw the man in there, then barricade the door so he couldn't get out.

 

 

"I don't know how you expect me to work in these conditions. Half of the equipment is broken, and I don't even have my notes. How am I supposed to begin to reverse the effects if I can't even refer to the original mutagenic compound? I may be a genius, but even I can't remember ever single thing I've done." The brown-haired human said, trying to convince the gargoyle how pointless this endeavor was. Behind the violet mass, he saw two women enter the room. "Oh wonderful, guests."

 

 

Goliath turned around, half in response to the human's statement, and half because he heard something behind him. "Elisa, you shouldn't be here." He said upon seeing the dark-haired woman, as well as the lioness, mutate entering the room.

 

 

"Yeah, neither should he. What were you thinking?" The human woman asked with an obvious hint of venom in her voice.

 

 

Goliath started to respond, then noticed that the scientist had paused his work and was instead intently watching the gargoyles interaction with the woman. "By all means doctor, don't let us interrupt you." He then turned to Elisa and spoke more quietly to avoid being easily overheard by the man. "I saw how much what happened to your brother hurt you, and this was the only way I could think of to help. I knew that if Talon got to Sevarius first, he'd kill him and if that happened then there would never be any chance to cure him or the others. Besides, it's not as if Sevarius deserves better than this."

 

 

"I know your heart was in the right place, but this isn't right," Elisa said as she gently caressed the gargoyle's cheek.

 

 

"Umm," Maggie grunted out with some sarcasm, making it clear she didn't really agree.

 

 

Elisa shot the feline a chiding look. "It's not the right way. He's a psychopath but we aren't. We need to be better than him. Coursing him like this is something that Xanatos would do."

 

 

Goliath let out a defeated sigh. "You're right of course, we'll release him."

 

 

"Bullshit we will!" Maggie exclaimed with a snarl. "You don't want to keep him here, fine! He still needs to pay for what he did. He needs to be put in jail and don't tell me you can't do it because there's no evidence. He must have done something wrong. There's no way I... we were his first victims."

 

 

Before Maggie could continue with her argument, the loud sizzle of electricity was suddenly heard outside the room. The heavy wooden door was turned to splinters as Brooklyn was sent careening through it. A split second later a black-furred mass, clad in a green and blue spandex unitard leapt atop the grounded gargoyle. He let loose with a fast right hook, catching the side of the red man's head leaving him dazed. Talon was about to hit him again when he noticed the people in the room. "Elisa! Maggie! I knew that Goliath was working with Sevarius, but I can't believe you are helping him!" The panther growled in anger.

 

 

"Derick, that's not how it is. Listen to me..." Before Elisa could continue the dark-furred man leap towards the violet gargoyle causing the two of them to tumble across the floor. Goliath recovered a bit faster than Talon, allowing him to get the upper hand as the panther mutate attempted to grab him. Instead, the mutate was thrown off balance, then forced into the cabinets behind him shattering several empty beakers in the progress. Talon retaliated by grabbing the gargoyle by the shoulders then pushing him back a few feet before Goliath dug his talons into the floor. The lab's tile was ripped up for a few inches before the mutate lost his momentum, leaving the two struggling with each other in the middle of the room.

 

 

Elisa went over to try and stop the two from fighting, while Maggie went over to check on Brooklyn. The human woman couldn't do much of anything to stop the two. Talon was too angry to listen to reason and Goliath knew it. Maggie had a little more luck as the red gargoyle at least managed to slur together a greeting, so at least she knew he'd be fine. "Don't even think about it!" The lioness yelled as she noticed the weaselly scientist trying to slink towards the door on the opposite side of the room. He looked at her for a moment, holding a vile of green liquid in his hand with a quark stopper on the top of it, then he ran. She pushed herself to her feet to begin pursuing him, but before she even managed to start running, he had already been stopped.

 

 

A furry brown arm reached out and lifted the human by his shirt, making him swing his legs wildly. "Where do you think you're going," Fang asked in a cocky manner. The tiger mutate standing to his right snarled at the scientist before running over to assist in the fight.

 

 

Before Claw could reach Talon and Goliath, he was stopped by the lioness moving in front of him and putting out her arms in front of her. "No stop, everybody stop fighting!" She yelled out in exasperation. This succeeded in stopping most of the people, though it critically didn't effect Talon. Instead, he simply took the opportunity to headbutt the violet gargoyle. Goliath stumbled backward a step, allowing the panther to turn slightly to the side and kick the large man in the gut sending him into the nearby wall. Elisa grabbed on to Talon's arm to try and stop him, though he quickly shook her off then unleashed a flurry of electrical bolts that slammed into bricks and ceiling tiles near his target, breaking them and burring the gargoyle under the debris.

 

 

"Alright, now bring Sevarius over here. They can die together." Talon said as he gave Maggie a cold glare.

 

 

"Now, now, let's not be hasty. After all, I have the antidote right here." The human said holding up the vile. "Of course, there is only this one dose, but it's enough for you. I can make more though, as much as you all need. All I ask in return is my safety and my freedom."

 

 

Talon rolled his eyes. "I'm long past wanting your antidote."

 

 

"Me too, I like this body," Fang said flexing his arms to show off his muscles.

 

 

"I just want you to pay for your crimes." The panther said, getting right up in the man's face and showing him a toothy smile.

 

 

"Wait, Derick, you can't just kill him. Even if you don't want the cure right now, you might want it later. Besides, what about the rest of us," Maggie asked?

 

 

Talon turned away from her in seeming disgust. "Fine, whatever. Give it to her."

 

 

Sevarius pulled the antidote in closer, "Why give it to her. You're the one who really deserves it.

 

 

"What do you care?" Fang said while reaching over the human's shoulder and pulling the vile from his hands. The mutate casually tossed the antidote to Maggie, who almost fumbled the catch since she hadn't been expecting it. She shot him a dirty look and he just sort of shrugged in response.

 

 

"Yeah, why does it matter if he's going to cure you all anyway?" Elisa asked while she went over to the rubble to check on Goliath.

 

 

Talon thought about it for a moment, then quickly turned back to the lioness. "Maggie wait, don't take it. It must be poison; he just wants to get me out of the way."

 

 

Maggie looked at the vial, seeing the strange green contents and imagining what it could hold. She thought about her human life, then looked around the room at the other mutates, Elisa, and finally at Brooklyn who was just now starting to push himself to his feet. "You're right, this isn't worth the risk. Given what he has available it's probably nothing more than acid or Drano mixed with some food coloring." She glanced to her side, looking at the scientist. "Of course, there is an easy way to find out if it's safe. You could take it doctor; prove to us that you've really changed your ways."

 

 

"Well, of course, I'd love to, but uh, you see it's designed to work on mutates. I have no idea what kind of reaction it would have for a normal human." Sevarius stuttered out as she got closer to him. "You really must trust me, it's quite safe."

 

 

"I really don't though," Maggie said grabbing hold of his jaw and forcing his mouth open.

 

 

Before the lioness could force-feed the antidote to the man a red energy beam hit the hand holding the vial. She felt a mix of being burned and getting hit with a rubber mallet at the same time. Her hand was forced away from the human and the vial was hurled to the floor where it shattered releasing its contents all over the tile. "You always did overplay your hand, Anton." A metallic muffled voice said before a second more powerful shot hit Fang in the chest, hurtling the shaggy mutate into a metal cabinet destroying the door as he slammed into it.

 

 

All the people in the room turned to see Xanatos standing in his red, gargoyle-like power armor flanked on both sides by gray robotic gargoyle sentries. His robotic guards each kept their wrist-mounted energy cannons trained on the group while Xanatos lowered his and then removed his helmet. At the same time, Sevarius took the opportunity to run over to the businessman.

 

 

"I don't believe it. It wasn't Goliath working with Sevarius, it was you all along." Talon said while pointing at the armored man. "I trusted you. You turned me into a monster, and I defended you!" The mutate took a step towards the human, only to be stopped in his tracks when Xanatos shot the ground right in front of Talon, leaving a small crater in the tile.

 

 

"I am sorry things turned out this way. We'd all be happier if you had remained in the dark, but I can't let you damage Anton. He's a bit of a bother, but his mind represents infinite possibility." Xanatos shifted his eyes to the side, regarding the doctor for a moment. "He's the scientist, you're just the experiment." At the side of the room, he noticed Elisa helping Goliath stand up. "Oh, hello Goliath. I didn't even notice you there."

 

 

One of the robots left the room with the scientist close behind, followed a few seconds later by Xanatos. Finally, the remaining robots pulled out while keeping their weapons trained on the group. "Oh Elisa, I was such a fool." The panther said, hanging his head with Elisa coming over to try and comfort him.

 

 

"Well, I think that could have gone better," Brooklyn said now that he had fully regained his faculties. "So, what are you guys going to do now?" He moved closer to Maggie and checked on her, taking her injured hand into his own.

 

 

"Return with us to the clock tower, join our clan," Goliath said while clasping his wings around himself.

 

 

"You'd have us, after how I treated you?" Talon asked, feeling ashamed at what a fool he had been.

 

 

Goliath nodded his head. "Elisa is already part of our clan."

 

 

"Thank you, Goliath, but it looks like I already have a clan and family of my own." He said looking at the other mutates. Fang and Claw were both at his side, but he noticed that Maggie wasn't. Instead she was still preoccupied with Brooklyn, talking and smiling about something. "Though, we still need someplace to stay. You probably know more about places in this city where we could go without being noticed, would you be able to help us find a new home?"

 

 

Goliath nodded his head and smiled. "We would be happy to help you. In the meantime, I believe that you'll be safe enough here. Strange as it may seem, I don't think that Xanatos will try to attack you. If he intended to do so, he would have already done that when he had your trust."

 

 

Elisa gave her brother a pat on the shoulder. "In the meantime, I think it's time to let our family know what's happened to you. They've been worried."

 

 

The panther nodded his head in agreement. Goliath reached out his hand and Talon shook it, then the violet gargoyle got Brooklyn's attention and the two left. Once the red gargoyle was gone the panther went over to Maggie, who was still holding her injured hand. It didn't look too bad, but when he reached out to try and comfort her, she turned so that he couldn't. He pulled back his hand and hung his head. "I'm sorry for everything I've done and said. I've been such an idiot. I know I've screwed up things between us, but I'd like you to be there when I see my family." He turned to regard the other two mutates. "I think all of us should be there."

 

 

The two male mutates nodded in agreement. Maggie hesitated for a moment, unsure what she should say or do. She glanced over to Elisa who gave a small shrug of her shoulders. The lioness let out a soft sigh, then put on a smile. "I'd be happy to meet them, Derick."

 

To be continued

I hope you enjoyed the story and look forward to the next chapter. I think it's finally time for things to get steamy.  Please feel free to leave me a comment if you enjoyed this.  I love hearing from my readers.

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/pnGvBX7m
Part of the series Gargoyles
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