((locked to dragon_paragon))

[reluctant_gargoyle]

It was Manhattan in the year 1995.  Nothing really remarakble about it, at least compared to some of the other Manhattan's of the multiverse, except for the Eryie Building, corporate headquarters and home of Xanatos, complete with a large portion of Castle Wyvern installed on its top.

It was early in the evening, probably only about 9:00 pm.  Plenty of hours of darkness left for those who turned to stone with the rising sun. 

She's reappeared outside a large tunnel, blocked by a hefty, although unlocked, gate.  It clearly led underground and did not smell all that well.  She gives her companion an appologetic smile.  "I know it looks bad, but trust me one this one." 

This would be the second time in not all that long that she'd be imposing upon her brother and his home, but there were few options.   She couldn't bring him back to the Clock Tower after all.  Refusing to help had also not been an option; it simply wasn't how she'd been brought up to act.  And, of course, there was the fact that for all the extraordinary things in her world, from Gargoyles to fey to Mutates, it was still much more normal than a lot of the ones  that connected with the Nexus.

Comments

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

BBKakyoin: *BBKakyoin slinks after Elisa, lurking from shadow to shadow, despite the obvious lack of observers. He cautiously glances around himself-The way his ears are turned back would suggest he's ashamed at the mere thought of being seen like this.* Thanks again, Elisa. *BBKakyoin takes a look down the yawning aperture, his new nose wrinkling slightly as it absorbs the smell in ways his old one had mercifully ignored. In truth, though, it was far from intolerable, and he did need a place to stay.* Hey, no complaints here. Just like home! Anything I should look out for?

((Hmm...I'm contemplating unleashing a villain or two just to spice things up, but I wouldn't dream of wrecking Manhattan without your permission.))

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"Nothing to major," Elisa says, as she opens up the gate. "Most of the major bad guys are pretty quite right now and they've only come down here once. It's, ah, 1995 here, if that means anything."

This will be a good place for Kakyoin. Between Derek, Maggie, and Claw, he'll be in good company of former humans, and she'll probably drop by herself at some point.

"C'mon, it's a little ways inside."

((That could be cool. What did you have in mind?))

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

BBKakyoin: That's only a few years before my time. I feel younger already. *BBKakyoin gives Elisa one of his patented wry grins.*

*BBKakyoin follows Elisa in, resisting the impulse to call Heirophant Green.* You're the boss.

((Either Kakyoin's twice-time murderer or Taron's archnemesis. Both are capable of world-shifting.))

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

((Hmmm. I suppose it depends on how big a thing we're talking about here. Most of the regular people of this universe don't really know just how much strange stuff is out there yet, and I need to keep it that way for other stuff I have planned.))

Elisa leads Kakyoin through a series of tunnels, occasionally making her choices in what seems like a random fashion. It's not. When one's been this way as often as she has, it's easy.

Finally, they come to a larger chamber, one which ends in a large metal door that looks much newer than the rest of the tunnel around it. And standing in front of the door were three beings.

The one on the right was the largest of the three, a broadchested man covered in tiger-striped fur. Large bat-wings sprouted from his back. He wore only a pair of blue trunks.

The one on the left was a woman, perhaps a little bit smaller than Elisa. Her body was covered in a tawny fur, and her features, like the other man's, were somewhat cat-like. She too had wings, those hers were caped around her shoulders, and a mane of blonde hair. She wore a light green leotard.

The man in the center was perhaps the most cat-like, his face resembling that of a panther's more than a man's. His entire body was covered in dark fur. Like the others, he had wings. He wore a blue leotard.

Those Elisa had called ahead, all three were clearly quite surprised by Kakyoin. "What happened to him, Elisa?" the panther-man demanded. "Sevarius?"

"No, Derek... It's a lot more complicated than that, and I can't really tell you everything. But he needs somewhere to stay for a while. Guys, this is Kakyoin. Kakyoin, this is Maggie, Claw, and my brother, Derek."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

((Small scale, affecting Elisa, Kakyoin and anyone in the immediate vicinity, but you've got a good point. I should lay off the shenanigans for a while.))

BBKakyoin: *BBKakyoin becomes lost quite easily, giving up on remembering the way out after about the third turn. So long as he had a guide, however, he wasn't gonna complain. Besides, being easily accessible would be a bad thing.*

*BBKakyoin can't help but feel awkward about the whole thing, but he supposed he was going to have to get over that. You'd think after years in the Nexus he'd have developed a tolerance to this sort of thing, but old habits die hard. BBKakyoin gives as cheerful a wave as he can manage.* Hi! Pleasure to meet ya. Sorry to crash in on the party.

*BBKakyoin remembered Elisa's past question about clothing. They weren't going to make him run around in his skivvies, were they? BBKakyoin liked his green-veined overcoat way too much to part with it for uniformity's sake.*

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"We turned the Labyrinth into a place for those with nowhere else to go," Derek says. "All are welcome here."

"There's no judgement, no matter what you look like," Maggie adds. "We don't have much, but it's safe here."

Claw simply offered a thumbs up. His transformation, after all, had rendered him mute.

"C'mon, then," Elisa says. "Let's get you settled inside."

Derek opened the door behind him, leading the group inside. There were still plenty of people milling about, men, women, and children of all ages. Some looked fairly normal, others were more obviously members of the homeless, but it was also clear that the place had been made into a home. From somewhere within the complex, there was the smell of food cooking.

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: *BBKakyoin shakes each of their hands in turn.* Nice to meet ya, Derek. Thanks. I'll pull my weight, I know how to get around a city.

A pleasure to meet you, miss Maggie! *BBKakyoin gives Maggie a sly wink. The situation may have been the farthest from normal as possible, but some things will never change-Especially not the urge to show off for a lady.* No matter what I look like, huh? Any rules about how I joke?

*BBKakyoin moves on to Claw, offering the same handshake he gave the others.* Howdy, Claw. ...Not a big talker, huh?

*BBKakyoin steps into the room anxiously. This wasn't as bad as the initial crawl through the sewers had made it seem. Hey, was that food?! BBKakyoin's stomach grumbled loudly as his new nose drew in the smell.*

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"You certainly look like you could," Derek agrees. "Hell, if you had wings, you'd practically be one of us."

Maggie smiles slightly. "Just no puns, please."

Claw pulls a hand across his lips like a zipper. "The transformation into a Mutate did something to his vocal cords," Maggie quickly explains. "He can't speak."

And inside...

Elisa laughs as she heard Kakyoin's stomach rumbling. "Guess we know what's on your mind."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: I was thinking about getting wings, but I can't find a pair that Blue Books under seven thousand, and the dealerships won't even give me that.

*BBKakyoin had a witty retort regarding puns ready, but he's far too distracted at the thought of nourishment to carry on much longer.* Well, I haven't eaten in a while... I, uh...*BBKakyoin coughs, and drops his voice to an almost inaudible range.* I was afraid to go into a restaurant like this.

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

And four of the people around have extraordinarily good hearing, so it's hardly missed. But none of them pass comment on it; they've all been in the same position.

Instead, Claw wanders off for a few moments, before coming back with a plate of food, some sort of pot roast, which he offers to Kakyoin.

"Cyberbiotics, the company that used to operate a research facility out of here," Derek explains, "had enough resources stockpiled here to practically keep an army on its feet for a few years. So a lot of our food is MREs, I'm afraid, but we get by and suppliment it from a few other sources."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: *Big Bad Kakyoin licks his chops unconciously as the food is brought out. Whether it's a side-effect of the transformation or a remnant of BBKakyoin's already animalistic mannerisms, none can say. BBkakyoin takes the plate gratefully.* Thank you! *BBKakyoin begins wolfing the food down in a very appropriate way. He talks around a mouthful of pot roast.* Cyberbiotics? Where they some sorta medical company?

What's an MRE, by the way? *BBKakyoin asked out of curiosity: he was too hungry to care about anything else.*

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"A little bit of everything, from computer technology to robots, to some genetics research," Elisa explains. "The head of the company's actually a friend of ours."

"Meals ready to eat," Derek adds, in answer to the other question. "Packets of food that are self-heating. Not always the best tasting, but they'll fill you up."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: *BBKakyoin doesn't stop shoveling food into his mouth while he answers.* You're pretty well-connected for a cop turned Gargoyle, you know that? Who paints the Clock Tower, Bill Gates?

*At the speed BBKakyoin was inhaling the pot roast, it was doubtful he could taste anything.* Taste just fine to me. *Soon, however, the plate is completely ravaged of pot roast.*

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

Elisa shrugs. "Goliath helped save his mobile coporate headquarters from a literal hostile take-over, and then we helped save his soul and sanity when we were in Prague. We get around, I guess."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: *BBKakyoin nods sagely at the mention of Prague.* Belgium. Beatiful country. *The joke is given away by a slight smile and a laugh he can't quite stifle.* Get around is an understatement. You guys could get a show on the travel channel. (Or Cartoon Network.)

You never told me why he abandoned this place, though. I mean, using a lab complex you just stumbled upon can't be good. What if there was a safety breach and some microbe got loose? *BBKakyoin doesn't bring up some of the worst options that are considerable when dealing with a genetics company.*

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"Trust me, after that magic boat ride from hell, I'll be very happy to stay here in good ol' New York for a long while," Elisa says.

"And that's... complicated. It was actually abandoned not long after the Clan came to the present. Xanatos tricked them into attacking several Cyberbiotics sites, this one included. Afterwards, they didn't seem interested in using them again. Sevarius, the nutjob who turned Derek and the others into Mutates, was using it for a while, but after we kicked his ass six ways from Sunday, he abandoned it too. And we gave it a good once over. They left a lot of supplies, but it seems like it was mostly technology research here, not germ-warfare or anything."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: Speakin' of which, how did that turn out? When I saw you on it, you said it took you where you needed to go or something like that. Did you convince it you needed to go home, or did you just abandon the thing in a ditch somewhere?

Yeah, I wouldn't be too keen on striking up a lab again after the Gargoyle Commandos tore it up. *BBKakyoin didn't doubt for a second that it was Elisa who had "kicked his ass six ways from Sunday." He almost felt sorry for the guy.* Ooh, did you find any nifty gadgets? *...What was that? Did he just hear a coarse voice say 'Stars'? Nah, couldn't be.*

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"It eventually decided home was where we needed to be. Oberon, king of the Third Race, had decided that Xanatos's son belonged to him, since the kid's grandmother on his mother's side was Titania. We ended up fighting him alongside Xanatos to protect the kid and the city," Elisa replies.

By now, Claw and Maggie had gone off to do other tasks, but Derek remained. "Nothing we could make any sense of," he says, "We locked most of it up. We did find some high tech guns, but we destroyed them."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: Woah, woah, slow down. I'm still new here. Ok, I think I know Oberon, he's the fairy guy, right? Xanatos was the guy who made the clones, but whose Titania?

...You did what? *BBKakyoin's visually disappointed.* But, imagine how awesome that could've been! Oh, well...Hey, let's take a look at the other stuff later, maybe we can still find a laser watch or something.

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"Oberon's the fairy guy, yes. Xanatos didn't make the clones, but he is the one responsible for the Clan being here in the 20th century, and for turning Derek and the others into Mutates. Sevarius made the clones, and he was working for Thailog and Demona," Elisa says.

She pauses for a breath before going on. "Titania is Oberon's wife and queen of the Third Race. Former ex-wife, actually, but they got back together. She's also the mother of Fox, the woman Xanatos is married to. And Fox's father, is Halcyon Rennard, who's the head of Cyberbiotics. It's all a big circle around here."

Derek scowled slightly. "This is a safe place. No weapons down here."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Ok, so whose Sevarius, Thailog, Demona, and what are my chances of running into them? Yeah, I can see that. Must be fun, having half the group trying to kill you guys. How did you get so many enemies? Did you give them speeding tickets before you got Gargoyle-ified?

Sorry, Derek, I didn't know. If I had, I would've left my bare hands outside. *BBKakyoin throws a one-two punch into the air before holding up his paw/hand.* Come to think of it, these really aren't hands any more...

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"Sevarius is a mad scientist, more or less. He's worked for Xanatos, but also for Demona and Thailog. Nutso genetisist. He'd probably love a chance to cut you open and see what makes you tick. Thailog was a clone of Goliath, but with an intelligence and ethics program modeled after Xanatos. He'd dead now, so him you don't have to worry about. Demona is a rogue, immortal Gargoyle who plans to wipe out humanity. She betrayed the Clan a thousand years ago, and has been nothing but trouble here in the present. She's also Goliath's former mate, and Angela's mother."

She nods. "Sevarius is probably the only one to give you any cause for alarm, but he'll probably be laying low for a good long while. We've also got another group of enemies, called the Pack. A brother and sister pair of cyborgs, called Jackal and Hyena, and a mutated human-wolf hybrid named Wolf. Mercanaries. Xanatos is at the origin of a lot of these bad guys, in some way or another. He created the Pack, Sevarius worked for him, Sevarius made Thailog, and Demona's worked with him, on occasion."

Derek cracks a small smile. "That's a bit different. But no guns, no knifes, nothing like that down here. People come here seeking shelter, I won't see the Labyrinth become a war zone."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: He wouldn't have to cut far to find out. *BBKakyoin smirks.* Wait, what? Did you say she was immortal?

Mercs. *BBKakyoin scoffs.* A hired goon's a hired goon. I've plowed through enough of those to last me a lifetime. This Sevarius guy sounds kind of interesting, though. *He'd remember to ask around, see if he could find anything on him.*

...Right, I guess that makes sense. *This seems to make BBKakyoin edgy for some reason.* Hey, umm, I probably shouldn't sleep in the same room as anyone. Or even the next room over. I get night terrors, sometimes, wouldn't wanna, you know, wake anyone up.

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, Demona's immortal. She can be killed, but she just comes back to life not long after," Elisa explains.

"You can have Fang's old room," Derek tells him. "There were four of us, originaly. Me, Maggie, Claw, and Fang. But Fang decided he wanted to rule down here, to turn the Labyrinth into a home for gangs... We've locked him up in one of the cells down here, now."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: ....*That sounded familiar. Reeeeaaaal familiar. BBKakyoin changes his natural response to feigned surprise a split second afterwards.* That's...weird. So you're stuck with her, huh?

Great, thanks! You still got him down there? Why don't you kill him? *BBKakyoin looks at Derek with a curious glance.* Oh, Elisa told you about the...the thing, right? *BBKakyoin's fearful shudder returns.*

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"Unfortunately, yeah," Elisa replies.

Derek gives him another scowl. "We're not killers," he says firmly. "We won't sink to his level."

((Er... thing? My memory may have gone foggy here...))

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: ...Is there any way to stop it? Find out what it is, turn it off? Even if you guys don't wanna kill her, you'll have to make sure she's not immortal someday. Whose gonna stop her after you guys?

*Pacifism must be a family trait. BBKakyoin, however, knows when he's beat. Sometimes.* Okay, okay, I get it, won't sink to his level.

((He's referring to that cryptic warning about strange dreams.))

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"We don't know all the details, but we've got the basics. She's magically linked to MacBeth, a former enemy of ours. Both of them are immortal and can only truly die if one of them kills the other. But that would cause the deaths of both," Elisa explains.

Derek's scowl lessens. "Killing isn't an option taken up lightly," he says. "Sometimes, yes, it is the only solution... But often, it's not." He brushes the issue aside, going on the other comment. "Elisa mentioned that, yeah. But no one here's had any strange dreams like that."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: ...Isn't Macbeth the Shakespeare guy? I thought he was dead. Well, whatever. That's gonna be pretty damn hard to orchestrate, especially if they know about it.

You'll tell me if you do, right? *BBKakyoin seems pretty on edge. He nervously glances around.*

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"Shakespeare got quite a few things wrong, when it comes to our universe," Elisa replies. "But both of them know about it and hate each other... but not enough to cause the end of their own life."

Derek nods. "We would. Don't worry."

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyion: I'm sure we could trick them into killing themselves, somehow. The evil types tend to be blinded by their own ambition.

*BBKakyoin doesn't seem very relieved. He's still pretty jittery, for some reason.* Ok, ok. Hey, is there an easier way to get outside? I'm not sure I can remember my way back in.

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"I'd prefer not to, even if it meant the end of Demona. MacBeth's not entirely a bad guy, just a guy who's made some bad choices. And according to the others, he's off helping King Arthur on a quest for the Holy Grail these days."

Derek nods. "There's several ways in and out of here, some more hidden than others. We'll make sure you get to see all of them. ...Hey, you ok, man?"

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: Damn, does that suck. He got the short end of the stick on that one. ...Wait, you mean Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade type Holy Grail?

*BBKakyoin nods emphatically when Derek speaks about the exits, but he visibly jumps when asked if he's ok.* I'm fine, I'm fine, thanks for asking. All good here. Hey, so lets go see those exits?

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, exactly like that. I think, anyway," Elisa says.

Derek nods. "Yeah, let's do that."

((Aaand a good place to wrap this up? Unless you have other plans?))

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

Big Bad Kakyoin: Well, I don't know much about history, but that was a good movie.

*BBKakyoin follows, silent.*

((Sounds great^^ I still have some shenanigans I want to pull, but those can wait for a new post. Mind if I occasionally update with BBKakyoin's misadventures in Manhattan?))

[elisa-garg.livejournal.com]

((Yeah, that's fine by me.))

[dragon-paragon.livejournal.com]

((Kk^^))