Air. That was the first
thought that went through Broadway’s mind when he resumed conscious he had to
get some air, and in order to do that he had to break away from the stone shell
that was coating him. He moved his once stiff limbs, sending the pieces of
stone skin flying. His lungs were free to expand and he took in his deep breath
that caused him to roar along with the others.
“Ah,” Broadway shook off
any remaining gravel and stretched. The rest of the clan were also getting the
kinks out of their bodies, a few scratched at a few random itchy spots and few
others even yawned.
A gurgling echo rumbled
through his stomach, reminding him what his next major priority was. He had to
refuel his empty tank. There was also the possibility that Owen hadn’t cooked
them a meal. Broadway would have to cook breakfast for everyone.
"I'm going to fix
breakfast," Broadway told the rest of his clan as he entered the castle.
“Anyone have any requests?”
“Anything you make will
be delicious and welcome,” Katana said.
“Can we have some
pancakes?” Nashville asked. He had hopped off the battlements and went to pet
both garg beasts behind the ears.
“Nashville,” Katana said
in a disapproving tone.
“I’m sorry,” Nashville
sighed. “May we have some pancakes?”
“That is better,” Katana
nodded.
“Sure,” Broadway smiled.
He had no idea what he was going to cook and the idea of pancakes does sound
tempting. “Anything else?”
“Maybe some hash browns,”
Lexington said.
“I’m good as long as I
have my tea,” Hudson said as he stepped down from the battlement.
“Got it,” Broadway said.
“Pancakes, hash browns, tea and whatever I come up with.” He was about to enter
the tower again when Angela blocked his path. “Yes?”
“I just want to let you
know that anything you make will taste like the food of the gods to me,” Angela
said. She looked deep into his eyes.
“Thank you,” he ran his
fingers through her hair. “Tell Goliath I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“I let him know,” she
stroked his brow ridges. “Let me know if you need any help.”
“I promise,” he said
before he stepped past her and entered the castle.
As Broadway neared the
kitchen her heard a faint sizzling sound. He closed his eyes and sniffed.
Something smelled delicious. Looked like Owen did prepare breakfast for the
clan. Hopefully Nashville and Lex won’t be too disappointed if Owen didn’t
prepare what was requested.
“I should lend him a
hand,” Broadway said. It was the least he could do. “Hi Owen,” he said before
he stepped into the kitchen. “Do you need an-“ He stopped in his tracks when he
saw the cook wasn’t Owen.
It was a young girl in
her late teens with bright red hair that was held back with a hairclip. She had
warm brown eyes and freckles. She wore a red apron over her golden yellow
t-shirt and was pouring a mixture into a skillet.
“Kayla?” Broadway said
when he remembered the name of the red head.
“Yeah?” Kayla turned to
see him. “I hope I didn’t startle you.”
“Nah you didn’t startle
me,” Broadway said as he approached the stove. There was a plate piled high
with very thin pancakes. “I just thought it was Owen.”
“Oh,” Kayla said as she
flipped the pancake. “He was a lot of help. He showed me where everything is.”
“Do you need any help?”
Kayla nodded. “I have the
hash browns mix in the bowl here. I just need to fry them and the steaks up.”
“Hash browns?” Broadway
blinked. How did Kayla know what Nashville and Lexington wanted for breakfast?
“Are you psychic?”
“No why?”
“Well when we woke up I
asked everyone what they wanted and Nashville said he wanted pancakes and Lex
said he wanted hash browns, and Hudson just wants tea, well know not just tea
but that is what he requested.”
“I haven’t brewed any
tea,” Kayla said. She removed the cooked pancake from the skillet and placed it
on top of the stack on the plate. “My hash browns may be a bit different from
what he is expecting, and these are not pancakes. These are crepes.”
“Oh,” he felt like
kicking himself. He should have known that. “But it is close enough.” He
grabbed the bowl Kayla and pointed at. Inside was shredded potatoes along with
shredded onions and what looked like green and red bell peppers. “They look
great.”
“Mr. Burnett said I could
use the salad shooter,” Kayla said as she flipped over the crepe. “That thing
is a time saver.”
“It certainly is,”
Broadway said as he poured a little oil into the skillet.
“I would of added some
shredded cheese, but I didn’t know if gargoyles are lactose intolerant or not.”
“We’re not,” Broadway
said. “We can eat almost anything.”
“Good to know,” Kayla
poured in the last of the batter. “I have to know if there are any food
allergies with anyone. Not every human is built the same and I figure the same
goes for gargoyles.”
“That’s true, but I don’t
think anyone is allergic to anything.” He filled up the pan with one third of
the hash brown mix.
“I also would like to
know what everyone’s favorites is,” Kayla said. “I want to make everyone’s
favorite dish and I need to know what to avoid. The foods that you guys and
gals can’t stand.”
“I don’t know if I have a
favorite dish. I don’t really hate any kind of food.”
“I love most kinds of
food too.” Kayla flipped the crepe. “Except for raisons. I can’t stand them.”
“Even when they are
covered in chocolate?”
Kayla nodded. “That ruins
the chocolate.”
“Gotcha,” Broadway said
and stirred around the browns. “Now to put on a pot of tea.”
“That’s the last of the
crepes,” Kayla said as she removed the crepe from the skillet. “Now for the
steaks.”
A few more minutes had
passed and everything was done. Broadway carried the plates that contained the
steaks and crepes while Kayla brought in the bowl with the cooked hash browns.
They returned to the kitchen to bring in more plates, silverware, napkins, cups
and glasses, the pot of tea, a pot of coffee and carton of orange juice.
“Just a few more things,”
Kayla said before she jogged back into the kitchen. “Apollo you better not be
napping on one of the chairs.”
“What do you take me
for?” A voice under the table said.
“And don’t try to steal
any of the food,” Kayla said.
“Killjoy,” Apollo complained.
“I’ll see if I can find the clan and tell them the food is ready.”
“What are you getting?”
Broadway asked.
“Condiments,” Kayla said.
“Oh yeah.” Broadway
grabbed the bottles of AI, Worchester sauce, ketchup, hotsauce and salt and
pepper shakers.
Kayla made a few trips
between the kitchen and dining hall. She brought in a container of vanilla
yogurt, various jellies and marmalade, peanut butter, apple butter, nutella,
and a few fruit cups.
“All of this for the
crepes?” Broadway asked.
“Yup,” Kayla said.
Baring was heard before
Apollo raced into the room. He was followed by Bronx and Fu-dog.
“Hey,” Broadway frowned.
“You two leave the bunny alone.”
“They are not chasing
me,” Apollo said. “They only started to run to the kitchen when I said the food
was ready.”
“Why did you run?” Kayla
asked. She placed a few steaks onto two plates and set it on the floor for the
beasts.
“I wanted to beat them
here,” Apollo said in a smug tone. “And how come they can have some of the
food.”
“You can have some too,”
Broadway said. He wasn’t too sure what Apollo would prefer. He had a feeling
the rabbit wouldn’t want any of the steaks. “What would you like?”
“Give him a crepe with
some fruit and a little bit of hash browns on the side,” Kayla instructed.
Broadway selected the
crepe from the top of the stack and placed it onto one of the plates. He topped
with a good spoonful of mixed fruit and on the side added a spoonful of the
hash brown mix.
“Thanks,” Apollo said
when Broadway placed the plate down in front of him.
“Your welcome,” Broadway
said and stood back up in time to see Nashville burst into the room.
“Wow,” the young gargoyle
said when he saw the food. “We get to have pancakes and steak.”
“It looks delicious,”
Angela said. She and Lexington entered right behind the hatchling.
“It smells delicious,”
Lexington added.
“Thank you,” Kayla said.
“But they are not pancakes. They are crepes.”
“Even better,” Nashville
said.
The rest of the clan
entered the dining area and everyone gathered around the table and took their
seat.
“I remembered your tea,
Hudson,” Broadway sat down.
“Thank ye lad,” Hudson
said. He looked up towards Kayla. “Kayla, sit down with us lass."
“Sure,” Kayla said and
pulled out a chair for herself and sat down.
“Oh,” Broadway stood back
up. The clan didn’t know that he wasn’t the one who cooked the entire
breakfast. “We should all thank Kayla. She made the crepes and the hash browns.
I just helped her cook it.”
“And you have been a
great help,” Kayla said.
Nashville grabbed a fork
and tried to spear a steak. He was stopped by Brooklyn who grabbed his wrist.
“Have we forgotten our
manners?” Katana asked.
“No,” Nashville stared at
his plate. “May I have a few steaks?”
“That is better,”
Brooklyn said as he took the hatchling’s plate. “And yes you may.” He placed a
couple steaks on Nashville’s plate before handing it back to him.
“Thank you fa-Brooklyn,”
Nashville said.
Broadway tried not to
comment on that as he placed three of the crepes on his plate. The clan raises
the children not the biological parents. A gargoyle does not have two parents
they have the whole clan. That was what he was raised to believe. Angela was
raised different but they have agreed to raise their future hatchlings the
gargoyle way.
Brooklyn may have wanted
to do the same, but then he was swept up by the magic of the Phoenix Gate. He
and Katana knew Nashville was theirs. They named him and made sure he was with
them when the gate went off and they were swept into a different time. They
tried to put the idea that their son was the child of the entire clan in, but
it was difficult for Nashville when he had only two gargoyles to raise him for
eighteen years. Nashville sees Brooklyn and Katana as his parents.
Broadway also noted that
whenever Nashville needed correcting not he, or Lexington, or Angela or even
Hudson or Goliath would say anything. It was always Brooklyn of Katana who
instructed their son, or lectured him or even punished him. Broadway could step
in, but he felt like he would be intruding. Maybe things will be different with
their second egg that was in the rookery.
“Steaks?” Angela asked
him. She held the plate with the steaks.
“Thank you,” Broadway
said and placed three of the steaks on his plate before he passed it to
Lexington. He added a generous scoop of hash browns to his plate before he
dressed his crepes. He put grape jelly on one, some of the nutella spread on
the second and then some yogurt and fruit on the third.
“These are great,”
Lexington said after he took a bite from his hash browns.
Broadway bit into his
crepe before trying the potato mix. “Yeah, these are awesome Kayla.”
"They are quite
delicious," Katana said.
“The tea goes well with
it,” Hudson said. “You brewed a nice pot, lad.”
"This is a very nice
breakfast," Angela said. “Thank you Kayla.”
“I agree,” Goliath said.
“This was a nice surprise.”
“Are the others not
coming?” Nashville asked as he cut into his steak.
“They all have work,”
Kayla explained. “Sadie has a game in the Brooklyn area. She also took Celeste
to see if the fifth lady is there.”
“And instead of also
searching for her or doing homework you came here,” Apollo said.
“First of all I don’t
have any homework,” Kayla said. “Second of all I don’t know exactly where to
look. Unlike you I don’t have the ability to sense for the potential fifth
Lady.”
“Do you have other
friends?” Lexington asked.
Broadway glared at him.
What kind of question was that?
“Sure,” Kayla said.
“Laurine and Sadie kind of brought me into their circle. Donna also likes to
cook and Ashley and Evan also like to play tennis.”
“I’m just asking cause I
heard it’s hard to make new friends when you are new in town,” Lexington said.
“It can be,” Kayla
nodded. “But I wanted to hang with you guys and decided to cook you all a nice
breakfast.”
“Do you cook often?”
Brooklyn asked. He was answered by Apollo’s laughter.
“Any chance I can get,”
Kayla said.
“Do you plan on becoming
a chef?” Angela asked.
“I’m not sure,” Kayla
shrugged. “I love to cook and sew and to design clothes. After school I want to
enroll in college for a few years and then go to culinary school and design
school.” She closed her eyes. “I want to start my own fashion line and own my
own restaurant, maybe even start my own culinary school in the future. Is it
possible to have too many dreams?”
“One can never have too
many dreams,” Katana said. “And you should never give up on them.”
“Thank you,” Kayla said.
“I
agree,” Broadway said. Kayla should never give up on cooking. Her food was too
delicious to abandon that dream.
After breakfast was over
Kayla and Broadway carried the stack of dishes to the sink. Katana, Angela and
Nashville joined them and between the five of them they managed to get
everything cleaned up in a few minutes.
“What are you going to do
now?” Apollo asked once the last bit of silverware was put away.
“I’m going to be kicking
it old school,” Kayla said.
“What?” Apollo gave her
an odd look.
“We are going to do what
we used to do.”
“I still don’t
understand,” Apollo said.
“You will see,” Kayla
said. She climbed the steps of the tallest tower and joined the clan who was
gathered out, waiting to hear who they would be patrolling with and where they
would be going.
"Hudson, I want you,
Fu-Dog and Angela to watch over Central Park tonight,” Goliath instructed.
There was something about that gargoyle that just sent a tingle down Kayla’s
spine, maybe it was his height and build, maybe it was his majestic wings and
how they were folded across his shoulders like a cloak, or maybe it was his
rich and velvety voice. Whatever it was he inspired Kayla. He had the stance and
confidence of a leader. If Kayla did end up with the role of leader she would
want to be like Goliath.
“Lexington you Broadway
and Katana will be gliding over downtown,” Goliath continued in his
orders. “Brooklyn you and Bronx will be
with me.”
“What about me?”
Nashville asked.
“You will stay here and
guard the castle,” Goliath said.
“Man,” Nashville frowned.
“I never get to go out on patrol.”
“Do not pout,” Katana
waved a talon at him. “Protecting our home is an honor.”
“But that’s easy,”
Nashville said. “Xanatos has this place rigged with cameras and hidden guns and
there is the steel clan and everything.”
“He could still use your
help,” Brooklyn said.
“It’s not fair,”
Nashville stomped his foot.
“Ye won’t be alone,”
Hudson said. “Ye will have Kayla and Apollo wi ye.”
“Uh oh,” Kayla said. “You
see uh there is this thing.” She swallowed. “I was about to ask if I can come
and patrol with you guys, as Lady Sun of course.”
"Were not fighting
those youma monsters," Lexington pointed out. “We are protecting the citizens
from criminal activity.”
“Wouldn’t that be easy
for her?” Brooklyn asked.
"It is,” Kayla said.
“I’ve been a Galactic Lady since August where all I did was fight crime in
Hartford."
“I had to keep her skills
sharp,” Apollo said. “I made her patrol the streets, just like you are doing.”
"She can come
along," Goliath said. "She will be with Katana’s group."
“Thank you,” Kayla said
before she turned to a pouting Nashville. “I’m sorry. I’ll bake you some
cupcakes to make up for it.”
Nashville grumbled before
looking over his shoulder. “Chocolate?”
“Of course,” Kayla
smiled. “And think about it, except for the humans you are going to have the
castle all to yourself. When I was your age I would have given up pizza for a
year for an opportunity like that.”
“All to myself,”
Nashville said. A few seconds passed before a smile appeared on his face. “All
to myself. Yes.” He jumped up and ran down the stairs.
“I hope we won’t regret
this,” Brooklyn said. “Although good job on cheering him up.”
“Always got to look on
the bright side of things,” Kayla said before she took a deep breath. “Sun
Spectrum Power Make-up!" a shimmering sun shaped light formed in front of
Kayla wrapping her up in its beams. A flash formed and her leotard and collar
were formed. Two little stars danced around her arms and her bands were formed.
The stars danced around her feet forming her boots, tights, and skirt. A
glowing gold band of light formed on her forehead while her clip turned into a
golden crown shaped one and two orange star shaped lights formed. Her Chakram formed in her hands.
"You forgot one
small detail," Apollo said. “You don’t have wings.”
“I’m aware of that,” Lady
Sun said.
“So how are we going to
keep up?” Apollo asked.
Lady Sun tilted her head
to the side as she stared at her guardian. “Why must you be so negative, and
you know how I am going to keep up. I’m going to run across the roof tops and
jump from building to building. Just like we did when we are in Connecticut.”
“Except there were no
ginormus buildings with castles on top of them in Connecticut,” Apollo reminded
her. “How are we going to get to the next building miss smarty pants?”
“Easy,” Lady Sun turned
to Broadway. “You don’t mind carrying me for a bit?”
“Of course not,” Broadway
said. “You didn’t even have to ask.” He lifted Lady Sun into his arms.
“See this is no sweat,”
Sun said. She stared down at the ground where Apollo was. “Ready guardian?”
“I’m ready,” Apollo said
and leapt into her arms.
“Are we ready?” Katana
asked.
“Ready,” Lex said. He
leapt off over the edge of the castle and spread his arms and legs, catching
the first thermal.
Lady Sun held her breath
as Broadway and Katana leapt after her. She held Apollo even tighter against
her chest with one arm and grasped onto Broadway’s shoulder. The sense of
falling was brief and there was a slight shudder when Broadway’s wings caught
onto the wind.
Apollo muttered something
that Sun could not understand.
“What was that?” Broadway
asked.
“Apollo?” Sun loosened
her hold on him.
“I can’t breathe,” Apollo
gasped.
“Sorry,” Sun relaxed her
grip a bit more before she turned her head to see the city below as they glided
over it. It reminded her of the scene from Superman where he was flying with
Lois over the city, only this was more breathtaking. “Wow. I have to tell the
others about this.”
“Andromeda and Comet were
carried like this,” Broadway said. “It was the first night we met and the first
time our clan encountered a youma.”
“We
still should do this,” Lady Sun. “Just have a night off, and glide around for
fun.”
They had only reached
their destination when Katana snarled.
“What is it?” Lexington
asked.
“A man stole that woman’s
purse,” Katana said as she pointed at the sidewalk below where a man dressed in
a long black trench coat and a baseball cap was running away from a screaming
woman.
"I'll handle
it," Lady Sun volunteered. “Just get me close to him.”
“Got it,” Broadway said
and dove after the purse-snatcher.
“Remember he is still
human,” Apollo said.
“I know,” Lady Sun said.
She thought about which method of attack she was going to use. She certainly
wasn’t going to send all three light disks on the guy. She thought about using
her chakram, but now that it’s powered up it could cause a serious injury,
maybe even dismemberment. She remembered what she did when she went up against
those mobsters in the library.
“I got it,” she aimed at
the ground a few inches ahead of the crook. “Sun light disk spin!” She sent one
small disk flying forward. It struck the ground creating a small enough
explosion that sent the thief toppling to the ground.
“Great shot,” Broadway
said.
“Thanks,” Sun said. “Hold
on Apollo we are going in.” She held onto her rabbit and leapt from Broadway’s
arms. She landed near where the thief had fallen and walked over to him. “You
okay? I didn’t blow of any toes?”
The thief mumbled
something and tried to get up.
“I don’t think so,” Sun
planted a foot onto his back.
“Bitch,” The thief
grunted. “Get the fuck off me.”
“Watch your language,”
Lady Sun. “There happens to be a Lady present. A Galactic Lady that is.”
“Got it,” Apollo said. He
had slipped under the thief’s coat and came out pulling the purse that was
stolen.
The woman walked over to retrieve her purse.
Her eyes held a look of gratitude as she gazed up at Lady Sun.
"Are you okay?
"Sun asked. "He didn’t hurt you or anything?"
“No,” the woman said.
“Thank you.”
“Your wel-“ the sound of
a siren cut her off. “Well isn’t that convenient?”
The woman waved her hands
around. “Over here officer.” She pointed at the crook on the ground. “He is the
one that stole my purse.”
The doors opened on the
car and two uniformed officers stepped out. They both seemed to be confused
about Sun’s presence.
“Are you all right
ma’am?” One of the cops asked the woman.
“I’m fine,” the woman
said. “He would have gotten away if she hadn’t helped.” She pointed at Lady
Sun.
"Just doing my
job," Sun said as both cops approached the thief.
“Your job?” One of them
raised an eyebrow.
“My job of being a
soldier of love and justice,” Lady Sun said. She placed one hand on her left
hip and gave a mock salute with her right hand. She blinked when a few camera
flashes went off.
"Arnt you one of the
Galatic Ladies?" One of the cops asked.
"That’s me. I’m Lady
Sun.”
“We like to thank you in
helping us,” the other officer said. “But we have to tell you that it is very
dangerous for citizens to be assisting us in this way and that you shouldn’t do
it in the future.”
“Does that go for all
citizens, or just those with out any super powers?” Lady Sun asked.
“We have to tell
everyone,” the first officer said. “We haven’t really come across any real
super hero before and we might change the rules.”
“Thank you.”
"You be careful
now."
“Don’t worry I will,”
Lady Sun said as she ran away. She hoped none of the people with cameras has
followed her into the alley. She jumped on top of the dumpster, then on top one
of one of the fire escape landings and leaped from there until she was on top
of the building.
The gargoyles were
waiting for her.
“That was pretty clever,”
Lexington said. “Using your power like that.”
Katana nodded. “You are a
skilled warrior.”
“Thank you,” Kayla said.
“I think I can stick to the rooftops now.” She wasn’t done yet, not by far, and
the night was young.
-
Lady Sun had decided to
let the gargoyles take care of the armed robber and the cat burglar. Now it
would be her turn to bust up a crook. She followed the clan on the rooftops
with Apollo either following her or riding on her shoulder.
“Are you tired?” Apollo
asked with a concerned tone in his voice.
“Nope,” Lady Sun said.
“We just rested a few minutes ago.”
“I just want to make sure
you aren’t exhausted,” Apollo said.
“We’ve been on patrols
longer than this,” Lady Sun said.
“I know, but in the past
we haven’t had to keep up with a bunch of gliding powerful warriors.”
“Who said anything about
trying to keep up?” Sun asked. “We are going at the same pace. I don’t think
I’m going to be stopping anytime soon.”
An explosion from a
nearby building made her pause in her tracks.
“Except for that. I will
stop for that.” She turned to where the explosion came from.
It was what looked like
an average office building and there was smoke pouring out of a couple windows.
Two figures emerged from the building and flew away by using what appeared to
have been jetpacks on their backs.
Overhead Lexington
snarled. The small gargoyle eyes were glowing a fiery white. His fangs were
bared as he glided after the two.
Katana and Broadway
looked at each other. The larger gargoyle sighed before he and Katana followed
after Lexington.
"What’s going
on?" Lady Sun asked.
"Beats me,"
Apollo replied. "We better go look."
“Right,” Lady Sun said.
She shifted her direction and followed after the gargoyles.
She managed to catch up
with the clan just as Lexington plowed into one of the odd figures causing it
to drop the folder it was carrying.
Sun looked up at the
other figure and her jaw dropped when she got a good look at him. He was a
cyborg, and not just any cyborg but it was Jackal from that show she used to
watch.
He had limbs made out of
metal with a golden hue. His legs were black and gold with kneepads that looked
like the head of a wild dog. A blue
metal plate made up the mantel and was across his shoulders with another dog
head decoration on his chest and had what looked like an eye patch made of gold
metal and glass.
A panel over his forearm
opened up and three small guns popped out, two at the sides and one on top of
his arm. He aimed his arm at Lexington.
Broadway glided up to him
from behind and punched him in the gut. Apparently a part of Jackal’s torso was
still flesh because the punch caused him pain and made him toppled backwards
before he flew down to the empty lot bellow.
Broadway and Katana
followed.
“They are going to need
my help with this one,” Sun said as she and Apollo scaled down the side of the
building. The landed a few feet behind Lexington and the other figure.
The second person, or
cyborg was Hyena. Like her brother she had gold metal arms with high shoulders
and mostly gold legs with maroon thighs. She had gold metal chest plating that
resembled a bikini top and a bit of gold metal that looked like a bikini
bottom. She also had a bit of gold metal along her chin that ran up to her
cheekbones.
"Should have known
ya winged lizards would cause trouble," Hyena said as her finger grew and
charged up with electricity. She fired
a blast of electricity at Lexington who managed to get away before he could be
hit. Hyena charged up her finger again.
“I don’t think so,” Lady
Sun said and threw her chakram. The spinning weapon sliced through Hyena’s
finger breaking the tip off. Sparks flew from where the finger was severed.
"Who dares?"
Hyena demanded. Her eyes grew wider when Sun jumped in front of her and caught
the weapon. “You.”
“Me,” Sun smiled. “Have
we met?”
"Your one of
them," Hyena gasped .
“Yeah I happen to be one
of them,” Lady Sun said. “What you want an autograph or something?
“Lady Sun,” Katana walked
up beside her. “You must be careful with this one.”
“You don’t have to be
afraid,” Hyena said. “I won’t bite,” She held out her hand and her fingers
folded back. “Much.” A blast of energy shot forth.
Katana brought up her
blade. It took most of the blast but the force of it knocked the sword out of
her grasp.
“You got autographs
before?” Hyena asked. “I bet you are just eating up all of the attention. Soon
you fans will crowd you wherever you go and you wont be able to get anything
done and then you will get bored and try anything just for the thrill of it.”
“I don’t know,” Sun
shrugged. “That may happen, but then again I’m not a psychotic washed up TV has
been.”
Hyena’s smile faded and
was replaced with a snarl, "You little brat!" She pulled her limbs in
forming a ball that charged into Sun.
Lady Sun jumped out of
the way at the last second as Hyena crashed into the building.
“Crazy chick,” Lady Sun
said as she got back up on her feet.
“Where does she get these
wonderful toys?” Apollo asked using his Jack Nicholson voice.
“How cute,” Hyena said as
she returned to her feet. “A rabbit that not only talks but does impressions.
Where can I get one?”
“Sorry,” Sun said. “He is
one of a kind.”
“Then I’ll just take
him,” Hyena said as a blade emerged from her foot. “To eat.” She ran up to
Apollo and Sun
Katana roared out a cry
that mimicked a cougar and tackled Hyena to the ground.
Lady Sun gave the cyborg
a good kick in her fleshy side. No one threatens her guardian and gets away
with it. She looked up to see how the boys were handling Jackal.
Jackal was trying to
blast Broadway with his laser gun that flung out of his arm. The pale aqua
gargoyle kept dodging the blasts.
Lexington jumped onto
Jackal from behind and grabbed his eyes.
"What the?" The
cyborg asked, and started to struggle with the olive green gargoyle.
Broadway leaped onto
Jackal and helped Lexington to pin their enemy down.
"Get off my
brother!" Hyena yelled. She
squeezed out of Katana’s grasp and kicked her with the blade tip of her shoe.
The blade cut into the female gargoyle’s thigh.
"Katana," Sun
said, "Sun light disc Spin!" Two of her discs struck Hyena and the
third hit jackal.
Broadway and Lexington punched Jackal in the
face. The cyborg went limp.
“Katana,” Sun ran over to
Katana’s side. The cut was deep and blood was spilling out. “Sun Healing.” She
forced herself into a deep concentration as she rained down the healing energy.
When she stopped she opened her eyes. The cut was healed.
“Arigato Lady Sun,”
Katana said.
“Do you have any injury's
guys?” Sun asked.
"Nothing big, just a
few bruises," Broadway said.
“We don’t have any
serious injuries,” Lexington said. “Save your energy for something big.”
“What are we going to do
with these guys?” Apollo asked. He was pointing at Jackal and Hyena.
“Find something to bind
them with,” Lex said. “And then we’ll drop them off at the nearest precinct.”
“Bind them with what?”
Lady Sun asked. “And what were they stealing?” She thought she heard the sound
of sirens in the distant.
“My guess would be
important papers,” Katana said as she pointed at one of the manila folders.
“Why would they be
stealing files?” Broadway asked.
“To get information?” Sun
asked. “Maybe they are planning on hacking into something.” The sirens were
growing louder.
“That doesn’t sound like
them,” Lexington frowned. “They are more the type to steal money. If they were
stealing files then someone is paying them to do it.”
“Who had hired them?”
Katana asked.
“That is a good
questions,” Lexington said.
“Forget it,” Broadway
placed a hand on Lex’s shoulder. “We caught them and stopped them. We let the
police question them.”
“They are here,” Katana
said and looked towards the direction where the sirens came from.
“The police?” Apollo
asked.
“Yes,” Katana nodded.
“We should leave,”
Broadway said.
“I’m not leaving them
here,” Lexington said. “There is a chance they still could get away.”
“I’ll be here,” Sun said.
Lex shook his head. “It’s
too dangerous.”
“Not as dangerous as it
is going to be for us,” Broadway said. He had to raise his voice so he could be
heard over the sirens.
“Not every cop is like
our friends,” Katana added. “We must go.”
“I’ll try to explain,”
Lady Sun said.
Lexington did not lose
his pissed off expression. He continued to glare at the unconscious cyborgs
before he followed Broadway and Katana up the side of a building.
Lady Sun watched them as
they reached the top before she turned around to face the cars. In addition to
the two regular cop cars there was an old red car with a siren placed on top.
“Ready for an
explanation?” Apollo asked and pointed at Jackal and Hyena.
“Yes,” Sun nodded. “But
you better let me do all of the talking.”
Several uniformed cops
spilled out but they were waiting for those in the red car to exit. One was a
young woman with skin the color of caramel and dark hair. She was dressed in
blue jeans, a black shirt and a red jacket. The second was a tall man with
bright red hair dressed in a suit and wearing a trench coat. The had to be
detectives Maza and Bluestone
“There was this
explosion,” Lady Sun explained. “And I saw these two freaks flying away.” She
pointed to Jackal and Hyena.
"Jackal and
Hyena," Bluestone said as he approached the two cyborgs. “I was wondering
what you two have been up to.”
“They had some folders
with them,” Lady Sun explained. “I don’t know what was inside them. I think
they might have been stealing files.”
“We’ll find out soon
enough,” Bluestone said before he turned back to the other cops. “Cuff them.”
Lady Sun stepped aside to
let the cops do their work and was approached by detective Maza.
"You didn’t take
them on by yourself?" Maza asked.
"I had some
help," Sun told her “Apollo here lent a paw and we also joined by a few
concerned citizens with wings.” She lowered her voice to a whisper when she got
to the part about the wings.
“They have been helpful
in the past,” Maza said with a smile.
“I can see you have
everything under control,” Sun said she ran towards the nearest fire escape and
climbed up the steps. Before she reached the top Apollo jumped onto her
shoulder, then bounced off her head and onto the top of the building.
“They are handcuffing the
creeps,” Apollo said to the clan as Sun climbed up over the edge of the
building.
“Good,” Lexington still
seemed pissed.
“Apollo,” Sun glared at
her guardian. “Why did you use my head as a spring board?”
“It was easier for me to
get to the top,” Apollo said. He had getting caught with the hand in the cookie
jar look on his face.
“You could have just held
on to my shoulder,” Sun said.
“I was to eager to
report,” Apollo did not lose the look. His eyes grew larger and he let his ears
fall back. He wiggled his nose at he kept staring at her with those eyes.
“Man,” Sun sighed. She
could not resist that look. “You know that is a deadly weapon.”
“He does look really
cute,” Broadway said.
“I have a feeling that
other rabbit, Celeste would not easily succumb to that look,” Katana said.
“No kidding,” Apollo said.
“I’ve lost count of all the times that I tried.”
“We should get going,”
Lexington said.
“He’s right,” Sun agreed.
“There are still plenty of thugs out there.”
Lexington and Katana took
of into the air but Broadway stayed behind.
“Is something wrong?” Apollo
asked.
“Lady Sun looks a little
tired,” Broadway said.
“I’m fine,” Lady Sun
said. It was a small lie. She did feel a little bit drained after using her
healing on Katana and her feet did feel a little tired from running and
jumping.
“Are you sure you don’t
want me to carry you a little bit?” Broadway asked.
“Well sure,” Lady Sun
said. She braced herself for being lifted into Broadways arms and then
outstretched her arms to accept Apollo into them. “It would be a good time to
talk.”
“Talk about what,”
Broadway said as he leapt off and stretched out his wings.
“About what went on back
there,” Lady Sun said. “Jackal and Hyena. I remember a bit from what I saw on
the news.” She remembered being devastated by the news. She was a freshman in
high school. She had been a fan of the series since it started back four years
prior. She would watch it along with
her younger brother Brian. “I had seen the news on why it was canceled. It was
a bit hard for me to swallow the fact that Fox and Wolf kidnapped a model at
gunpoint.”
“I know a lot of fans who
couldn’t believe it either,” Broadway said. “Fox is different now. I guess you
can say Wolf is also different now, very different.”
“No kidding,” Sun said.
“I was more freaked out when I saw the news reports of what they did to their
bodies. I saw the pictures and I was like No way, but then I just fought them
like that. It is obviously true.”
“We were all kind of
freaked out a bit by what they have done.”
“Lexington seems like he
was the most freaked out,” Sun said. She had noticed how angry the small
gargoyle was when they went up against the pack.
“He was really pissed,”
Apollo said. “And was adamant about them going to jail.”
Broadway sighed. “We were
all once fans of the Pack. Lexington was the biggest fan of them all. One night
we went to see a live performance and Lex stayed behind and introduced himself
to them.”
“And they attacked him?”
Sun asked.
“Not quite, they used him
to get to Goliath. They lied to him, said they wanted to be our friends.
Lexington brought Goliath back to meet with them and the pack hunted Lex and
Goliath like animals.”
“Oh,” Sun said. “No
wonder. I’d be that angry too.”
“Hey Broadway,” Lexington
shouted. He and Katana slowed down so that Broadway could catch up. “We noticed
a suspicious looking guy not far from here.”
“How suspicious?”
Broadway asked.
“He dressed entirely in
blue,” Lexington said. “And wore a cloak.”
“It is one of the
generals,” Katana said. “From the dark world.”
“Dark Kingdom,” Apollo
corrected. “Are you going to contact the others?”
“I
might,” Lady Sun said. “I want to see what he is doing first.” She really
didn’t want to disturb Riley and Laurine while they worked and Sadie was too
far away to transform and catch up with them.
Azurite stood on the top
of a very tall building enjoying the crisp November air. The stars sparkled in
the night sky and the lights brightened the city below. The numbing coldness of
the impending winter brought two his mind of crystal like snow flurries dancing
in the wind.
“A beautiful night,” he
sighed. He wished he could be out enjoying the evening, but more importantly he
wished he could b spending the evening with her. If only Lady Andromeda could
remember the past, back when she was Princess Harmony of Euterpe. He would play
his songs for her. They used to go riding through the woods, take walks through
beautiful gardens, go on picnics, carriage rides under the moonlight and they
used to dance together.
“Someday Azurite,” he
said and took another sip from his coffee. He enjoyed his sister’s tea. There
was no denying that, but the brew that came from the bean was richer and
smoother. There was also so many ways to brew it and treat it. The Terrans can
make it strong or weak. They add sugar, cinnamon and various syrups to flavor
it. They add both cold and warm milk and top it with whip cream and foam. They
also serve it with ice and can make it into a milkshake like drink. His drink
that evening was something called a macchiato. It was strong coffee topped with
a little bit of foamed milk. He asked for his to be treated with a single spoon
of sugar and a shot of peppermint syrup.
It was the perfect drink
to have while he worked. He didn’t want to do anything too fancy, nor try to
mark anything new and trendy. Those tend to attract teenagers and every time
they harvested from an area that attracted teenagers they ran into the Galactic
Ladies. He wasn’t going to do that this evening. Instead he chose his target to be an average newspaper stand.
Whenever someone buys an item from the shop a little of their energy would be
drained.
The beauty of the evening
inspired him. He took another sip from his coffee and set the cup down before
he brought his clarinet too his mouth. The light whimsical notes painted his
mind with a vision of a young woman lying on the grass with a crown of lilies
in her hair, gazing up at him as he sat in the tree limbs. He could get Harmony
from he played the same song for her.
The song shifted to their song.
"Azurite!"
The voice shattered his blissful image. He
opened his blue eyes as two gargoyles landed before him. One was a bit on the short side. He was the
color of an unripe olive. His head was perfectly smooth and he had pointed brow
ridges over his large eyes. A leather membrane was stretched from his wrists to
his ankles with a slender sixth limb in between.
The second was a female
gargoyle with turquoise colored skin. She had long glossy black hair with part
of it was styled into a bun. She had long horns that resembled the antlers of a
deer and wore sleeveless kimono.
"Good evening lady
and sir," Azurite said. "What brings you here?"
"You standing here
you Dark Kingdom scum," A female voice from behind said.
Azurite turned around to
see a third gargoyle land with a Galactic Lady in his arms.
The third gargoyle was a
pale aqua in color. He was large in girth with a large dopey looking face, fan
shape ears and a row of spikes down his head.
The Galactic Lady was not
one he had seen before. She had red hair with a gold crown shaped clip as well
as two orange star shaped barrettes in her hair. Her star shaped barrets and
skirt were bright orange. Her skirt had red side flaps that were the same color
as her collar and boots. Her tights, and arm bands were gold and her sleeves
were orange with a gold stripe. She had a rabbit with gold colored fur and a
silver sun shaped mark on his head.
"You must be the
Galactic Lady of the sun," Azurite said with recognition. She matched the
description his sister gave. "Where is the lovely Lady
Andromeda?" He shouldn’t have said
that, but then again this one also knew about his feelings for Andromeda.
"Why?" Sun
asked. "You have a crush on her or something?"
Azurite felt himself
blush; He knew the others have seen it.
“The feelings between the
two are complicated,” the female gargoyle said.
“She is right,” Azurite
said. “We were once involved long ago back when she was Princess Harmony and I
was Azurseus one of the court musicians.”
“Princess Harmony?” Lady
Sun asked.
“Your previous life,”
Apollo said. “Back when you all were the ambassador princesses. Your name was
Princess Aurora.”
“You both were in love,”
the female gargoyle said softly.
“I sought her hand in
marriage,” Azurite said. “She would have accepted, but her father the king
refused to accept it. I was a lowly musician and the only one fit to marry his
daughter was a prince, or a nobleman, or a high ranking soldier.”
“That is why you joined
the enemy?” Lady Sun asked. “Your princess and Lady Andromeda didn’t want you
to do that. What makes you think she would welcome you in her open arms if you
are going to destroy her home and hurt those that she loves.”
“She’s right,” the large
gargoyle said. “If you really loved her then you wouldn’t do this.”
The awkward moment was interrupted by the
sound of a helicopter. Azurite felt the whips of fast winds as a ladder
extended from the copter. Three hooded figures scaled down the ladder and
landed next to them.
"I so enjoy my
moment of solitude," Azurite muttered.
"Lady, Sir, please
step aside as we vanquish these demons," One of the hooded men said.
“Great,” the small
gargoyle groaned. “These guys again.”
The larger gargoyle and
the female growled. Their eyes became illuminated with white and blood red
light
The quarrymen turned on
their hammers.
"You fools!"
Azurite yelled. "These creatures defend your city and planet from the
likes of me and the rest of the Dark Kingdom."
"What?" a
confused quarryman asked.
Azurite played a few notes on his clarinet.
Dark bands of energy wrapped around his clarinet until it was all black
"You will all be
destroyed when Queen Metallia and the Dark Kingdom shall attack!"
He played a few more
notes. An energy shockwave blasted the three quarrymen knocking them down,
dropping their hammers. He looked over his shoulder.
"This what you
defend?" He asked. “This what we seek to get rid off. Those who pollute
the air, the land and the sea, those who cause wars, those who spread hatred
around because of the color of one’s skin, or what they pray to, or what
species they are, they are what we seek to purge from this planet. We will
cleanse it and make it a utopia. Where we will live in peace and no one will be
separate from their true love due to some petty factor like their race of
social rank.”
“We defend them all,” the
large gargoyle said. “Good and bad from the truly bad. It’s what we do.
Gargoyles protect those that cannot protect themselves.”
“To protect those that we
only deem worthy is dishonorable,” the female gargoyle said.
“There are people who are
trying to make the world a better place,” Lady Sun said. “Look at all the
charities, look at all the people who raise awareness of the injustices of the
world. You can’t reach this perfect world by force and destroying everything.”
She held out her hand. “Come with us. Leave the Dark Kingdom. All will be forgiven
and we will protect you if the rest of the Kingdom tries to attack you. It will
make her happy.”
Azurite closed his eyes.
He could go with them. Harmony’s father lived far away and it had been
centuries. He was long dead, but could he turn his back on his work, his
friends and his sister? No he couldn’t. Their way was to slow.
“No,” Azurite said
softly.
“What?” The small
gargoyle asked.
“I said go.” He pointed
at the Quarrymen. “I took them out so you could escape. I did this for you, now
please leave.”
Lady Sun and the
gargoyles just stared at him.
"Get out of
here!" Azurite’s voice was stern.
Lady sun nodded in
agreement. “I’ll take care of this.”
“No,” the small gargoyle
said.
“This is her fight,” The
female said. “We should respect their wishes.”
“She’s right,” the large
gargoyle said.
Azurite did not watch
them glide away. Instead he concentrated on draining the energy from the
Quarrymen and only listened to the whoosh sound of the creatures wings as they
took to the sky.
“You know I have to fight
you,” Lady Sun said.
“I know,” Azurite said.
He stood up and turned around to face her. He brought his clarinet to his
mouth.
She threw her chakram at
his clarinet. It did not slice it in half but it did knock out of his mouth.
He bent down to pick up his instrument only
to have the guardian rabbit to sit on it.
"I'm Lady sun,"
Sun began. "In the name of the sun that provides warmth and light to this
planet I will punish you!"
Azurite
smirked "You think you and your pet can defeat me. He picked up the rabbit
and set him down away from his clarinet. “Until we meet again.” He grabbed his
musical instrument and played another note. A gate that opened up to the
kingdom appeared before him. He jumped inside.
"I can't believe he did that," Broadway said as soon as he and the
others had entered the castle.
“I wonder why,” Lexington
said. “Was he doing it for us or Lady Andromeda?”
“He has some sense of
honor,” Katana said. “Love and honor walk side by side.”
“Why didn’t he take Lady
Sun’s offer?” Lexington asked.
“He is a lot like most
men,” Katana said. “He is stubborn.”
“Very stubborn,” Broadway
agreed and sank into Hudson's chair.
“Hey,” Nashville ran into
the room. His talons had bright colored spots and Broadway detected a whiff of
magic markers. If the worst the hatchling was doing was a simple art fest then
there was nothing to worry about.
“Hey Nashville,”
Lexington said. “You didn’t do anything that we wouldn’t do.”
“Nope,” Nashville shook
his head. “I was going to watch an R rated movie, but Owen wouldn’t let me, so
I played some video games, read some comic books, made myself a sandwich and
drew some pictures.”
“Can I see the pictures?”
Lexington asked.
“Sure,” Nashville nodded.
“Will you tell me what you did?”
“No problem,” Lexington
said. “Lets go see those pictures and I’ll tell you on the way.”
“Looks like it is okay to
leave him here by himself,” Broadway said.
“As long as Owen-san is
here,” Katana said
There was a knock at the
door.
“Hello?” Broadway asked.
"Hey guys" a
detransformed Kayla and Apollo walked in.
"Hi you two,"
Broadway greeted them.
“Welcome back Kayla-chan
and Apollo-san,” Katana greeted
"Wanted to stop by
before returning to mi casa,” Kayla said. “ I wanted to patrol a little longer
but Apollo thinks thaaaa-" She paused to yawn,
"That you should go
to bed and get some sleep?” Katana finished for her.
The red head nodded sleepily. “Yeah that.”
“Mr. Burnett has offered
to drive us home,” Apollo said. “We could have gone home earlier, but she
insisted on saying good night.”
“I also left my bag
here,” Kayla said. “Good night everyone.”
“Good night,” Broadway
said.
“We will tell the others
you have left for the night,” Katana said. “Thank you for your help and for
cooking for us.”
Kayla smiled before she
turned around and left.
-