This work is a fanfic for the television show "Gargoyles". It is written in tribute to the fine work that went into making such a compelling cartoon. All characters from the TV show are copyrighted to Disney and Buena Vista Television. [Translation: Don't sue, it's meant to be a compliment.]
Part of this story occurs during the episode "Kingdom", giving another perspective to some of the events therein and elaborating on Claw's role. As well, it answers a few questions on Claw and the mutates in general. I've always felt Claw has the potential to be more than the 'incidental character' he always appears as.
Also of note, I've written Claw such that he can make tiger-like sounds. In the episode "Metamorphosis", Claw can be seen growling with Fang behind the glass plates, though it's hard to be sure if both are heard. I've also kept the tail which disappeared in subsequent episodes.
The events of this story are continued in the subsequent segments of my Tyger! Tyger! series. This series is growing far past my expectations. At each point I believe a story will close all loose threads, I make the foolish mistake of creating more. :)
This is my first fanfic work and I am personally pleased with how it turned out. Those who agree (or don't) may email their comments on the story to 'marlos@spottycat.com'.
For those concerned, I'll give this story a G rating. It's the same level of stuff that appears in the tv show.
For those that don't know, CRES stands for 'Centre for the Reproduction of
Endangered Species'. It is a non-profit organization which works through various
breeding programs to strengthen the numbers of many endangered animals throughout the
world. This has been a public service announcement. For more information or to
contribute to this worthy effort, please contact:
The janitor mopped the floors, whistling to take his mind off the sounds. It didn't help;
try as he might, he couldn't block out those muffled growls.
A large figure flies over the rooftops, bat-like wings flapping slowly. The orange furred
being lands on a rooftop and rests a moment on an old building. Claw rubs his temples
as he tries to clear his head. Fang was at it again, joking around and acting tough. But he
was only trying to be funny, even if it got on his nerves from time to time. He only had 3
friends now and he had to make due. Fang spent time with him at least. The others were too
busy now. Derek more or less ran the Labyrinth and Maggie always helped the new tenants
settle in. "I'm lucky to have what I do," he thought to himself.
A tall woman with long dark hair got off the bus. Tara had left the office party early;
Paul had too much to drink and wouldn't stop making lewd passes at her and the other
women.
She closes the door and leans against it with a sigh. Claw looks at her with a shy smile
and a paw-like hand over his swollen eye. He pulls himself up to a seated position,
leaning forward to keep his injured wing from touching the back of the sofa. After a few
moments, she composes herself enough to manage asking "What's your name?" To her
surprise, his smile fades and he looks away and hangs his head. She nervously steps
forward. "What's wrong? Don't you have a name?" He turns and looks at her with a
pained look on his face and points to his open mouth, then claps his palm over it. "Of
course he can't talk!" she mentally kicks herself. "Fool, you have one of those gargoyle
things in your apartment and you ask its name."
She enters the store and says hello to Mr. Chapman as he finishes sweeping the floor.
She returns to find him watching Travis Marshall wrap up the evening news with
interest. He smiles to her as she comes in and gets up to help.
That evening, they watched TV together and got to know another, chatting till late into
the night. Her full name was Tara Carrie Collins. She was an office worker for a small
advertising agency and had recently been promoted to head of the office department.
Queen of the paper pushers, she called herself. He told her in his notes a little about
Derek, Maggie, Fang and himself running a shelter beneath the city. He also said that he
wasn't a gargoyle (though he wouldn't elaborate on the distinction) and that he and the
others knew the real gargoyles and were their friends. Putting the cold packs back into
the freezer, she left him a blanket and a pillow and went to bed.
The janitor could now hear voices coming from the door. His curiosity exceeded his fear
and he crept closer. The growls were growing weaker, making it easier to hear the
people inside. It was Dr. Sevarius and one of the assistants.
The next morning, she awakes to the sounds and smells of breakfast being made.
"Omigod, it wasn't all a dream" she thinks to herself as she joins Claw in the kitchen.
The swelling was down and his limp was barely noticeable.
"Mmmm... where'd you learn to cook like that?" she asks him as she finishes.
When she emerges, she finds him sitting on the couch in a pile of notes. He tosses a pile
of crumpled ones into the trash and makes some room for her. He cycles through the
notes and writes a few more. The notes talk about how Dr. Sevarius used him and the
other three as guinea pigs for his demented project to make an artificial gargoyle. He
tells her how Xanatos told them all he wanted to help, how they'd been tricked into
thinking the gargoyles were working with Sevarius. He then tells her how they only
found out at the last second that Xanatos had set it all up.
During an afternoon of board games, they began to talk of the Labyrinth which the
mutates had taken as their home. He told her how it used to be a Cyberbiotics research
base before they moved in and started the shelter. Derek seemed to unofficially
administer while Maggie helped the newcomers to settle in. Fang made himself
responsible to keep troublemakers in check.
Later, they decided to order pizza for supper. When she hears the knock, she turns to tell
Claw to hide, only to catch a glimpse of his tail disappearing behind the kitchen counter.
She pays the delivery boy quickly and shuffles him out.
After a game of Monopoly that evening, they settled on the couch to watch 'Pretty Woman'
on the television. Partway through the movie, Tara sighed and rests her head on
his shoulder. He glanced down at her, uncertain what to do, uncertain if she even knew
what she'd done. Slowly, as if scared to startle her, he wrapped his furry arm around her
and snuggled her close.
"Project: Metamorphosis, advanced subject number 13. The subject is James Maxwell,
GenUTech employee #0274. A janitor until his views of this project began to interfere
with his work." Dr. Sevarius spoke into a pocket recorder as what used to be his
employee struggled with his bonds.
Tara feels something soft brush against her cheek and she mmms softly, nuzzling into the
fuzzy blanket beneath her. Suddenly her bed shifts and she rolls over right onto the
living room floor. She looks up at the TV, remembering too late that she fell asleep in
the den.
Over breakfast, he told her about what happened after he lost his job at the fix-it shop.
The story he'd never told the others. He wrote how he didn't end up on the street, but
that he had to drop his night classes. He moved to a cheap and dirty apartment to save
the cash he earned doing odd jobs. He was almost evicted before he was hired by
GenUTech as a janitor.
That evening, they snuck out to the alley and slipped into the sewers. Claw didn't want
her to come, but she insisted and he couldn't tell her 'No.' She wanted to meet his
friends and see all the work he'd done for them. "Maybe he'll feel better if he knows
how much he's helped" she thought. After a few minutes, they moved to the abandoned
subway lines leading to the Labyrinth.
While they joked around together, the others discussed a problem that had arisen. Elisa,
Goliath and Bronx had disappeared several days ago. The gargoyles had searched for them, but
in vain. Fang steps from the shadows and tells Derek that, after everything else Xanatos had
done, he must be to blame. Blinded by rage, Derek leaves the Labyrinth with a reluctant
Brooklyn to force him to release them.
Claw and Tara enter soon afterwards and Lou, the middle-aged man in the army jacket
and hat, tells Fang and Claw that he and Chaz found something. With a quick note, he
asks Maggie to show Tara around while he's busy with whatever repair it is. Shocked,
she babbles an okay.
While Tara and Maggie talked, Fang, Claw and the others search a newly uncovered room.
Inside, they find a sealed containment unit holding a cache of weapons. Opening it with a
keycard Claw found, Fang passes out guns. Fang also takes the reinforced containment unit
in which they were stored.
Upon Derek's return to the Labyrinth at dawn, he is confronted by Fang and his 'army' who
are waiting for him. Fang tells Derek to follow his orders or join Maggie in the cell.
Derek growls in anger and lunges; a battle ensues. They grapple with each other, arms
rippling with sparks. Suddenly, in a bright flash, a blast of electrical feedback sends
them hurtling apart. Fang passes out and the two men open fire on Derek.
During a round-up of the Labyrinth's residents Fang ordered, Claw snuck off to check
on Tara. She hugs him tightly, shaking.
Fang wasted no time taking charge, by that evening he had gathered all the residents of
the Labyrinth into the main hall. He mocked and gloated to Derek, who couldn't break
out of the lightning-proof cell. Just as he tells the crowd that he's in charge and that they
work for him now, Maggie and the gargoyles burst through the ceiling.
Refusing to hide down the hall, Tara watches from around the bend as the others return
to the main chamber. She sees that the fight is over: the rifles destroyed and Chaz and
Lou captured. Refusing to give up his domain, Fang grabs Maggie and holds her hostage. He
tells Brooklyn that if the gargoyles leave, he'll let her go. Brooklyn agrees on the
condition that she goes with them. Tara gasps and takes a step back. Maggie struggles
against Brooklyn's grip as he slips her the keycard he pulled from Fang during the fight.
While Maggie says her farewell to Derek, she opens the cell. Jumping him together, Derek
and Brooklyn wrestle him down.
Just past midnight, Claw escorts Tara out of the Labyrinth. They emerge in an alleyway
lit by a flickering streetlight. Taking her hand, he carefully leads her up the fire escape to
the roof.
Ten minutes later, Claw stroked Tara's soft hair as she slept next to him. Having stopped
his protests with a kiss, she'd crawled into bed, wrapped her arms around him, given him
another soft kiss and gone swiftly to sleep. His mind raced with confused thoughts. As
he drifted off, he knew only one thing for certain: Tonight, the nightmares could not
touch him.
"I can't let it get to me." he mumbled. "I need this job too much. They're paying
me pretty good to just clean up. Just a few more weeks and there'll be enough cash to get
back to those night classes. Gotta have something to fall back on this time, that's all."
The tall, thin man kept to his work, nearing the door from which the horrible
sounds came.
"But something isn't right here. A lab doesn't need armed guards. Damn, those
guns of theirs look better than the army's. Who'd want to attack this place anyway?"
Another pained growl came from the ajar door at the end of the hall. "Maybe it's to keep
something inside.
"And those boxes they told me to put in the incinerator. They had CRES logos on
them; I'm pretty sure they're an environmental group. They tried to tear off the shipping
labels, but I could tell they weren't meant to end up here.
"Quit thinking about it and stop acting paranoid" he chided himself. "The doc
said that things'd seem a little strange when he hired me. Sevarius gave me a second
chance to get my life together and I'm not going to screw it up."
* Friday Evening *
"Not that he hasn't made them while sober," she says aloud. "Sure he looks great,
but he's such an ass." She starts walking to calm down before heading home. "Can't he
take a hint?"
Someone reaches out and grabs her as she passes an abandoned warehouse beside
a decrepit factory. The big man flings her down the alley against the back wall. He pulls
her purse from her as she screams. The thug punches her in the stomach and presses a
hand over her mouth. He then slams her against the wall and looks her over hungrily.
Tara looks over his shoulder and gasps as a huge, dark form grabs the man's arm and whirls him
against the warehouse wall.
Mark, street tough guy and local terror, stands and is shocked by the looming
figure standing between him and the chick. It pushes a crate aside and folds its bat wings
back. The tiger-headed beast's lips curl back, revealing its sharp fangs. "Oh f***!" he
swears as Claw steps forward to grab him again.
Tara can only stare as it flings the thug from her. "It's one of those monsters I've
heard about," she thought. "But they're only rumours. What have I gotten myself into
now?" It steps between her and the mugger, advancing on him as its tail twitches angrily.
Mark'd also heard of these monsters; that they were worth a lot of cash to certain
people. "And if I can do it, I'll finally get in good with Dracon's men," he thinks. "Heard
they had some trouble with them, too."
Tara screams for help again and it glances back at her, the snarl fading into
something resembling a smile. Mark makes his move while the beast is looking away,
kicking it in the knee. The monster stumbles and takes blows to the chest and face. "It's
big, but it doesn't know how to fight," the thug thought. "This shouldn't be too hard."
Mark had taken some martial arts classes until the sensei had found out he'd been
using what he'd learnt to start fights. He blocks and dodges the simple blows his foe
throws. "Monster, you're my ticket to the big times. I can't wait to cash in on your hairy
hide."
She gasps as her attacker bashes it across the eye, bringing it to one knee as its
paws cover its face. "I have to help it," she decides. "He's trying to help me." She rushes
at the man as he sends a few chops to the creature's back, just over the wing-shoulder joint.
"Leave him alone!" she yells as she punches him in the breadbasket to drive him back. As
she's helping the tiger-man up, Mark drives a spinning kick to her ribs.
She is caught in Claw's arms and sees azure sparks flare around his eyes as he
stares at the thug. He stops short for a second, losing his resolve as Claw glares at him.
The lights fade as he lays her down gently and once again puts himself between her and
her attacker.
Noting the beast's limp, he sends another kick to its leg. He can almost feel the
money as he slugs it in the eye again. It stumbles back a step before lunging and grabbing
him. A second later, Mark hurtles back into a stack of wooden crates.
As the crates teeter, Mark pushes at the stack and sends it toppling. The heavy boxes
cascade down onto Claw, half-burying him. "This should finish it off," Mark thinks as he steps
over the struggling form, raising his fist to smash its throat.
Tara screams "No!" as she tries to rise. Her warning doesn't go unheard and Claw
sees the arm coming down at him with his good eye. Mark cries out in pain as its hairy
paws grab his arms and ripple with electricity. The last thing he sees before he passes
out is the monster's lips silently cursing him.
Tara is the first to rise and turns to run, but stops when she sees Claw struggling
to pull free of the crates. She cautiously steps over and helps him up. He nods his thanks
and tries to flap his injured wing, but he winces and stumbles. She takes his arm and tells
him that he can hide at her place. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she thinks to herself,
"but I can't leave him here, he just saved me."
They leave the thug lying in the alley and hurry across the street. They take a few
alleys; the street people leave the strange intruders alone. They sneak in the back door of
Tara's apartment building and head up the stairs.
As she's opening the door, Mr. Simmons staggers around the corner and stops,
staring. "He's back from the bars early; he must be working the early shift tomorrow.
Come on. Think of something..." Claw looks away, glancing at the back stairwell. Tara
takes his arm in hers and giggles, "Come on Charles, you've had a little too much to drink
at the costume party. Let's get you inside." Now out of sight, Claw collapses onto the
couch.
Buddy - everyone called him that - smiles drunkenly. "Your friend there can't
hold his liquor, not like me." he drawls. "You'd best keep him away from the bottle."
"I've been trying to, but he's quite the party animal. I'd better get inside and check
on him. Thanks and goodnight, Buddy."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...", she pauses, unsure what to do and then remembers.
"You're hurt. Let me get some ice." She ducked into the kitchen and fixed an ice bag
while half-watching him. "What am I going to do with him? I can't just throw him out;
he saved me back there. Maybe I can hide him for the night and send him..." Her
thoughts are interrupted as she notices him rummaging through the papers by the living
room phone. Grabbing the ice pack, she rushes into the den. But as she steps up he turns
and passes her notepad to her with a shy, but proud, smile. "He can write! But how?
Who taught him?" her thoughts exclaim as she drops the ice pack and reads his tidy print.
"Thank you. I'm sorry to trouble you" it states simply.
"You can write? How?" she asks as he places the discarded cold pack over his
eye. His smile fades and he reaches slowly for the paper. He adds to it "Please don't
ask."
"Ok, I won't pry any more."
On the next sheet, he writes "Everyone calls me Claw now."
She lets the 'now' pass, but wonders about its meaning.
"Claw it is then. I'm Tara. Now, let me look at your wing and knee. I know
some first aid and I may be able to fix you up."
"Knee's ok, just bruised. I can't check the wing."
She runs her fingers through his surprisingly smooth fur, gently probing the joint.
She'd never heard of anything like it; the wing seemed to protrude from a joint under the
shoulder blade. Curious, she prods the uninjured one in comparison until she notices
Claw wincing and his paws balling up with each touch.
"I... I'm sorry, Claw. I didn't notice. I don't think it's broken or dislocated,
only swollen and bruised. Just a sec, I'll go get something for it." She dashes off to the
kitchen only to return a moment later. She picks up her coat and purse off the chair.
"I'm out of ice, so I'm going to the store across the street to get something just as good."
He starts to get up. "No, you stay here. I'll be alright. Just sit tight and... here..."
she says, tossing him the remote "watch some TV."
Surprised by how much she trusted him, she thinks "It's hard to be scared of
someone who's so polite, even if he can't talk. He's not like the giant predator he
resembles, he's more like an overgrown kitten. I'd better hurry before Mr. Chapman
closes shop for the night."
"Hi Tara, what do you need at this hour? I'm about to close up, so I'll lock up as
you leave."
"Just a few things, I'll make it quick." "Hmm... what do gargoyles eat?" she
wonders as she grabs a few snacks and a bag of frozen peas.
As he locks up the store, he asks her if she needs a hand with her bags.
"No! ... Thanks, but I can manage. I've got a friend waiting for me."
"Ahhh" he replies as if that explained all.
"Goodnight Mr. Chapman."
"'Night Tara"
"You stay there, I can manage. You helped me out, now let me help you. What
would you like for a snack: chips, cheezies or hotdogs?"
"A hotdog and some cheezies would be great." he scribbles.
"What about a drink?" she adds. "There's milk, juice and some cola." She
decides to be quiet about the beer, just in case. Her last boyfriend was a nice guy until
he got a few into him and then he was loud and obnoxious.
"Lemonade?"
"You got it, Claw."
She tosses him a large bag of cheezies and brings the rest into the kitchen. She
finds him munching on the snacks and writing as she brings in out a glass of lemonade, a
large bowl and the frozen peas. "The dogs'll be ready in a minute."
"Thanks for helping me," he'd written "but I can't stay too long. If I'm found, you
could get hurt."
"You put that out of your mind. I've closed the blinds so no one will know you're
here." She shakes the peas and wraps them around the swollen joint. "Keep this around
your wing; it works as well as an ice pack and is easier to shape. It's my mum's trick."
She dumps the cheezies into the bowl and puts the glass beside the phone. He
reaches for the glass, but the peas slips off. He reaches back and puts them back only to
have the bag slip off again. She giggles and puts it back on, tying it with a length of
string before rushing off to get the hotdogs.
"I don't think this subject is going to survive either. The cranial trauma is too
great. Perhaps an alteration to plasmid group 6, sir?" the assistant asked.
"That seems to be our only remaining option" Dr. Sevarius replied. "I hope it
doesn't affect the features to greatly."
"It's too bad doctor; the early effects showed great improvement in this case.
That's an even dozen now we've lost."
"It's such a bother collecting volunteers."
There was another vicious growl followed by the clatter of the mop on the tiles.
The voices were silenced, but it encouraged the muffled snarls. The janitor clumsily
grasped it and watched as Dr. Sevarius opened the door.
"H-h-hello doctor, just finishing up here. Sorry if..." he stopped short at what he
saw.
Lying belly down and securely strapped to a table was a monstrosity. It had a
lithe, feminine body covered in spotted fur. Spotted, leathery wings were folded and
strapped across its bare back. Even the tail that protruded from a jagged tear in the skirt
was tied down. But what caught his attention was the way it looked at him. Those
strange cat-eyes stared at him, begging for his help.
"What's going on here? What is that thing?" It emitted another weak growl as he
pointed in fear and disgust. The monster pulled the gag at the corner of the headrest.
"That is another failure in our main project. She unfortunately won't survive the
transformation" the doctor replied.
Just then, the beast pulled free the gag and turned to him. "Help me. Please, help
me!" she pleaded in a scratchy, but distinctly feminine voice. She was then racked with
coughs, spitting blood on the table and floor.
"You're mad! I'm calling an ambulance and the cops. You..." he stopped as he
felt a jab in his arm and grew dizzy. His vision blurred and the last thing he remembered
was the assistant saying "I think we just found lucky number 13."
* Saturday Morning *
With a friendly good morning smile, he hands her a note he'd written earlier.
"Morning Tara. I got up early and decided you might like a homemade breakfast."
"Thank you Claw. You're a perfect gentleman. You finish that up while I get
those cold packs back on you."
He takes the icepack for his eye, but waves off the other. He scribbles a fast note.
"Ok now. I heal quick."
Taking the spatula from his free paw, she says "Here, let me help you with those
pancakes." She finishes them while he serves the eggs and bacon. They sit and quietly
enjoy the breakfast.
He wrote slowly with a tear in his eye. "I wasn't always like this. I was like you...
human once, now only a monster." He lays his head on his arms and weeps. He sobs
with a few pained growls intermixed.
Reaching across the table, she takes his hand in hers. "I'm sorry Claw, I didn't
understand. But you're not a monster. Monsters don't save people; they don't risk
themselves for others; and they don't cook you breakfast in the morning."
He smiles a little and pats her hand before rising to clear the table.
"Don't be so hard on yourself; you're more human than a lot of people in this
crazy city. It doesn't matter what you look like, only what's on the inside truly counts."
He only nods silently as he scrapes the plates and puts them in the sink.
"We'll leave those for later and listen to me. I'm going to take a quick shower and
when I get out I want to hear all about what happened. No buts, you've got to get this off
your chest."
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Yes, you do. Otherwise you wouldn't have told me. Write it all down and show
me when I get out."
"That's horrible! And Sevarius is still running around free?" Claw nods. "He's
got to be stopped. Who knows what demented project he's working on this time?"
"Long gone. No trace of him."
"Who else knows? What about your family?"
He shakes his head at this, but adds to the sheet "No family. Elisa knows
though."
"Who's Elisa?"
"Elisa Maza. Derek's sister; he told his family. She's a cop. Knows the
gargoyles, too."
"How can I reach her? She can tell the others you're safe."
He adds her phone number which he's memorized even if he can't use it. "She
works the night shift; she may be asleep. Call later."
"Nonsense. I don't think she'll mind. And your friends are probably worried sick
about you." He shakes his head to show that he doubted it.
She dialled, but only got the machine. "Hi. I'm Tara Collins. C's ok. He's at my
place. Tell Derek he'll be back soon. Call me at 555-8272." She hung up and turned
back to him. "She's out; she'll probably call back soon."
He nods. "Thanks for listening" he smiles a little more.
She surprises them both by hugging him. "You're welcome. Everybody needs a
shoulder to cry on from time to time." They hold each other for a moment then she
pokes him under the ribs. "Come on. Let's go tackle those dishes." He squirms a little
and nods. "I'd better wash; you'd probably clog my sink with a hairball." He grins a
pushes her off to the kitchen.
"It's strange" he thinks, "her joking doesn't bother me... not like Fang's does."
"But what do you do?" Tara asked.
"Not much. Just the odd jobs" he wrote.
"Like what?"
"Fix the pipes, got the base generators working, keep the ventilation running. All
the fix-it work."
She whistles. "You do all that? How do you know enough to do all that?"
His face takes on a sorrowful look. "I studied engineering for a while. Dropped
out for...personal reasons. I bounced around for a while. I got a job at a fix-it shop and
went to night school. When the shop closed, I was out on the street by the end of the
month."
"What about your family? Couldn't they help you?"
He shakes his head. "They died in an accident. That's why I left college." Tears
ran freely down his cheeks, wetting his fur.
She puts her arms around him and holds him close. "You've been through so
much."
This scene would have look strange to anyone else: the huge tigermorph and the
woman holding each other close as he wept, tail wrapped around her waist and wings
folded over them both. Claw rested his head against hers and sobbed in pained growls
which he tried to stifle.
As she walks to the kitchen, Claw pops up suddenly and hands her his notepad
with a serious face. He carefully takes the box from her, slowly puts it on the table and
opens it with care.
The note reads. "I'm with the NYPD bomb squad. This box contains an
explosive combination of cheese and pepperoni. Stand clear while I disarm it."
She giggles and ducks behind the counter as he examines the pizza, then selects a
slice. He wipes his brow and starts cutting the cheese strands with a claw. She
laughingly calls out "Cut the red wire. The red wire!" A rumbling chuckle can be heard
as he switches to another strand and cuts it instead. He mimes a sign of relief and nods
to her with a smile. "Is it safe?" she asked; he answers by taking a big bite out of the
slice. She pokes him and takes a slice. "Silly kitty."
Later, Tara glances up from Claw's softly furred chest and turns off the TV. He'd
fallen asleep soon after the movie ended, gently holding her in his arms. She strokes her
head over his chest and he seems to smile. She slides slowly up. "I'll just sneak off and
let..." but she is stopped mid-thought by an odd rumbling sound. "It can't be a subway or an
el; they don't run close enough to be heard." She looks around the room nervously, then
notices she can feel it too. She lays back down and rests her head on Claw's chest,
letting his rumbly purr lull her to sleep.
"He has been injected with a modified version of the Panthera tigris mutagen
which was `less than a perfect success' with subject #2. Modifications include alteration
of plasmid group #6, increased hormone and steroid levels, and several minor
modifications. Full specifications are on file.
"Current status as of 4:45 pm, five and a half hours after injection: The test
subject is responding quite well to the treatment. There is a profound increase in his
musculoskeletal structure brought on by the added hormones and earlier modifications to
the mutogenic formula. The plasmid alterations have slowed the cranial transformation.
As well, dentition and nail alteration proceeds smoothly, though not without some degree
of pain. But the subject hasn't been complaining lately." The tiger mutate thrashed
again and growled, coughing more dark blood onto his chest.
"The throat damage seems much more profound in his case than in any of the
others. I fear the voice loss is permanent and that will not be at all satisfactory for phase
three." Dr. Sevarius continued unpassionately.
The creature who was James was wracked by more scratchy coughs and cries of
pain as his tailbone snapped again.
* Sunday Morning *
Just as she remembers him, she hears a soft, pained growl. Turning over, she sees
Claw still asleep, but not soundly. His hands, feet and tail twitch intermittently as he
growls in pain and his muzzle curls back a little.
"Claw, wake up, Claw" she whispers as she nudges his shoulder. "Wake up,
Claw." He blinks and looks blankly past her for a moment, then covers his face and
turns away, hiding himself in his wings.
She puts her hand on the leathery wings and opens them slowly, looking into his
large, sad eyes. "Did you have a nightmare?" He nods. "Do you want to talk about it?"
He nods again, then quickly shakes his head. "You're sure?" she asks and takes his
hands in hers, to which he nods slowly. "Will you be alright?" He nods, smiles and pats
her hand lightly.
When she joins him in the kitchen, he hands her a crumpled sheet. The day before,
he'd written on it "Call me James."
"I noticed that strange things, even illegal things, were going on there. But I was
so scared of losing my job that I ignored them." The way his ears hung down and the
look on his face made him look very ashamed.
He then told her about the night he stumbled across Sevarius trying his formula
on a homeless woman he'd brought in.
"Maggie?" she asks.
He shakes his head and shrugs to say "No, I don't know who" and he added
"Dead. Something wrong in the formula. I was the first one to survive. And he lost two
more before Fang and Maggie succeeded."
He moved onto the dreams. "Every night they haunt me. Images of those I saw
die. Others of Sevarius gloating over me as I changed. Watching Fang, Maggie and
Derek suffer as I did. The time I escaped and everyone I met was terrified of me."
As he wrote, she held his other hand. He continued on, answering her questions.
Again they spent the morning talking; Claw telling his tale.
"If I'd done something about it, none of all this would have happened. I could
have prevented it all. For that, maybe I deserve this, but the others don't."
She listened to him and comforted him as he told her his tale. He tells her of the
pain, the sorrow, the guilt he relives every night. She didn't quite know what to say to
him, so she held his hand in hers as she read what he had to say. Somehow that seemed
enough.
From the shadows ahead, she hears a coarse laugh. "Hey. Look what the cat
dragged in." Claw sighs lightly and his shoulders sag a little. He shuffles his feet and
waves to the grey-brown mutate and the seedy-looking guys behind him, walking on.
"Hey Claw, where've you been hiding? Did you get lost in the sewers? The boys
and I couldn't hear you..." He stops as he notices Tara as she moves to stand beside
Claw. "Who have we here, Claw ole buddy? Who's your lady friend?" He slicks back
his head fur and gives her a toothy smile.
She cringes a little and moves closer to Claw who drapes a wing over her side.
The two guys behind Fang chuckle and the one in the green hat says, "I don't think she
likes you, Fang." He turns and growls at them. Tara glances up at Claw and he mimes
her to be quiet as he pats her shoulder.
Fang turns back, smiles viciously and pokes Claw in the chest. "You know you
can't just be showing everybody where we're hiding out. If people found out, they'd
send in the army, the marines or something." He raises his arms in emphasis. Claw
shakes his head and points to Tara, giving her an 'ok'. Fang gives her another look and
Claw holds her closer.
"Oh... you two are an item, eh? Don't get too comfy, Stripes. There's not a
woman in the world that'd go for overgrown hairballs like us." Claw's shoulders sink
and he shuffles his feet. Tara glares at Fang, about to lose her temper. "You'd best just
concentrate on the important things." He glances at a figure creeping along the far side
of the tunnel wall. "Speaking of which, we've got some business to attend to."
Claw glances over and nods slowly. He squeezes her shoulder and points that
she's to wait back around the bend. "James, what's going..." she begins to ask, but he
puts a finger over her lips and pushes her off.
Fang chuckles, "Come 'James'. We must go converse with Alexander" he says
with a snooty voice. She can hear the others laugh as she heads back to the stairwell, but
she peers around the corner of the archway to watch.
Claw shuffles behind as Fang and the others run down the homeless man he calls
Al. When all he can extort from him is a few coins, he loses his temper. Upon seeing
Fang hurl a streak of lightning, she presses her back to the wall in fear. "So I didn't
just imagine that in the alley" she says as her heart is pounding in her chest. The rumbles
of thunder from around the corner stop suddenly are replaced by the sounds of fighting.
Worried for James, she looks back to see Fang grappling with something between a
pterodactyl and a man. "It must be a gargoyle" she guesses. Claw only watches on with
uncertainty as the other two cheer their leader on. The fight ends abruptly as a panther
mutate (who must be Derek) arrives. When the gargoyle named Brooklyn tells Derek what
happened, Fang is told that he's not to exploit the weak. Fang grumbles but backs down.
They are joined by a female mutate, who Tara concludes to be Maggie. They
start walking down the tunnel while Claw lags behind to let her catch up. They enter the
Labyrinth and as soon as no one is watching them, she drags Claw down a side passage.
She watches the others continue down the hallway before turning to Claw.
She pokes him in the chest and asks, "James, what was that all about?"
He shrugs, "Fang misses being human a lot. Giving him something he can't get
for himself anymore makes him happy" he wrote as he continued down the new hallway.
"Well, he wasn't happy at all except when he's shooting at that old man."
Claw sighs and shakes his head. "He wasn't in a good mood tonight. He's not
always like that."
"And why did you let him talk to you like that? He's just being a bully, pushing
around anyone he can."
"He's just trying to be funny. To cheer everyone up."
"Funny? He was cruel to you back there. He... he has no right to be so mean to
you."
They come up to an iron door with a sign "CLAW" bolted onto it. He holds it
open for her then follows her in. The room is pretty barren: a mattress has been added to
the contents of the ex-office. A large window along the side wall looks into a small lab
which he'd converted into his workroom. While Claw's room is nearly spotless, the lab
is a clutter of working, busted and dismantled gadgetry. Then she notices something that
makes Claw's room different from any other she's seen in the Labyrinth.
"You've painted the room?" she asks as she looks at the clean blue walls and
white ceiling. He shuffles his feet and nods. It is the only freshly painted room she'd
seen once she'd entered the tunnels. She seriously doubted Fang kept a very clean room.
Knowing that he's trying to distract her by bringing her here, she decides not to press the
matter too quickly.
"Somehow, it makes me feel more human." He sighs.
She smiles. "Well, it looks quite nice to me. Could use a few frills, maybe some
curtains over on the window." She points to the other room. "Is that where you work to
keep this place running?" He nods and opens the door for her.
Even to her untrained eye, the lab equipment and tools seemed cutting edge and
quite expensive. "They just left all this stuff here?" He nods and shrugs. She thinks for
a second as she looks around. "I'd heard that the boss fired everyone who worked here.
I guess they never bothered to tell him that they hadn't taken everything out yet."
"Maybe, some of the stuff was packed up to ship. This is what was left in all the
rooms we'd searched" he writes.
Among the thing she recognizes are a partially assembled computer, a few laser, a
elaborate looking scope and "Cryogenic unit?" she read. "Why do you have that
working?" Its display clearly showing the temperature inside to be -92oC.
"Do you remember how I told you when we caught up to Sevarius?" She nods.
"Goliath, the gargoyle leader, had forced him to make what he said was a cure. But we
couldn't trust him, so I've kept it in here." He shuffles a few things around on the desk
as she reads it.
"You haven't told the others, have you?" He shakes his head with his ears turned
down, still not looking at her.
"If it's a cure, it'll keep in there; if not, they won't have to worry about it. If
we can ever check, I'll have it for them." He sighs and holds up a finger.
She looks at him for a moment before understanding. "One? There's only
enough for one. And you don't want them to fight over it until you know it's safe?" He
nods.
After an uncomfortable pause, she asks, "What about the lightning? I saw you
use it in the alley and Fang was throwing it around earlier." She was about to say "... at
the old man," but she'd talk more about that later.
"I thought you'd remember that. It's more of Sevarius's tinkering. About an
hour before Derek and Xanatos came to GenUTech, Sevarius injected us with another
serum. It wasn't until our first fight with the gargoyles that the sparks flew. With
Derek's side of the story, I figured out that it was some electric eel DNA mutagen."
"Why'd he give you all that? So you could fight better?"
"Sevarius said it'd give us our strength to fly, though I'm sure he knew it'd let us
do this too." He makes a few sparks dance over a paw when she finishes that note. "The
time I escaped, I tried to fly, but I was too weak."
Laughing silently, he writes on. "It's a lot of trouble when I'm working. I always
have to ground myself with this wire and try to keep my cool." He takes a wire attached
to the floor and twines it around his tail. She titters a little.
Snatching up a coat hanger he'd put on a loop for a joke Fang didn't enjoy and
sits it on his head. He makes a few sparks crackle as he bends it first this way, then that
as he twirls his eyes.
She broke down laughing. "You're a TV. Here, gimme that." Toying with it,
she says, "What lousy reception you have down here. Only one channel... and it comes
in all fuzzy." She runs her hands through his fur teasingly.
"Why'd you provoke him? If he goes after Xanatos in that state, he's liable to get
himself killed" Maggie tells Fang.
Without an ounce of sincerity, Fang replies "Oh, and wouldn't that be a cryin'
shame."
Alone together, Maggie and Tara talk about Claw as she shows her the shelter
they've set up.
"I'm a little worried about Ja... Claw, Maggie." She says, nearly stumbling over
the name. If Claw didn't want to share it, then she wouldn't either. "Fang seems to
order him around too much. He has no self-esteem when Fang's around to bully him."
Maggie notices the slip, but only nods. "But you seem to have opened him up a
little. That's the first time I've seen him write a note."
"He... needed to get some things off his chest and I guess he felt safer telling...
someone who wasn't involved." she says slowly, not wanting to offend Maggie by
mistake.
"I think I understand. Derek and I have each other, but Fang doesn't listen to
Claw, as it were. We try and spend time with him, but we're all so busy down here with
our charges."
"Everybody needs a friend... and I don't think Fang qualifies."
"He wasn't so bad early on. But he likes the power he has and can't accept the
drawbacks. Likes it too much."
Back in the central hall, Fang swaggers over to Maggie. "Hey Maggie, can you come
over here? We found something I want you to look at." Claw nods nervously and puts a wing
around Tara, leading her to the side of the room.
Maggie points at the blasters they are carrying. "Where did you get those?"
"That's what I wanted to show you." He grabs her wrist and shoves her towards the
containment chamber. She growls.
As the other three confront Maggie, Claw slips Tara a note.
"GO!"
"No, I'm not leaving without you" she whispers.
"Must stay, make sure do nothing stupid," he writes quickly.
"I think it's too late for that." He hangs his head. "And," she says with a sly
grin, "I don't think I can find my way out without you."
"Hide. Don't let see you," he scribbles.
"James, you have to stop him. You have to know this isn't right." She puts her
hand on the large blaster he holds and looks into his eyes.
His ears hang low and his eyes show his regret.
"Claw! Gimme a hand here." Fang calls out. Claw looks over, seeing him trying
to push Maggie into the large storage unit. Claw pats her hand reassuringly and points
for her to hide in one of the side rooms. Another glance over and he sees the others
forcing Maggie in at gunpoint. He gives her hand a final squeeze and walks over towards
the others, making a show of watching the rest of the crowd with the gun.
* Monday morning *
As Claw watches on, unsure what to do, Maggie pleads with him, "Claw, please.
I know you're afraid of Fang, but... help me."
From the side room nearby, Tara says, "He's only a big bully. Please, do
something. It's only going to keep getting worse."
He glances down at the keycard around his neck; the one he found to open the
storage unit.
"He doesn't care about anyone else now. But you do. You're not the monster
he's become... not to me."
He slips the keycard through the cell's reader, releasing Maggie. She kisses him
on the forehead before she runs off. "Thanks. I'll get help."
Claw turns to Tara and smiles. She nods and smiles, "You did the right..."
"What's goin' on here?" Fang screams as he recovers and looks around to see
Maggie gone and Derek dazed in the arms of the goons.
Claw turns quickly towards him, quivering. He mimes himself bravely fighting
Derek and losing. Covering her mouth, Tara tries her best not to laugh.
"Boy, are you askin' the wrong guy" Lou says as he and Chaz put Derek in the
cell.
Claw folds himself in his wings and Fang snatches the keycard from him.
"Gimme that."
"Hey hey! What about Maggie the Cat? Should we go after her?" Lou asks.
"What for? Where's she gonna go in broad daylight lookin' like that?" Fang
replies.
"James, don't let him find me. I... I..." For some reason, she can't get the image
of Mark, her assailant from the alley, out of her mind.
He folds his wings around her and strokes her hair as she cries into his chest.
In his search, Chaz walks into the room. "Hey Claw. Is there anyone in here?"
Claw glares at him and growls, his eyes glowing a rich blue and sparks flaring
around them. Chaz pales beneath the stare and runs out, so scared he didn't tell Fang for
fear of crossing Claw.
Alone again, he dries her tears away with a furry finger. He looks into her eyes
and smiles reassuringly.
"You... you have to stop him before someone gets hurt." He nods.
She stands with her back to his chest to read as he writes. "You should go."
"No. I'm not leaving you here."
Pulling at straws, he writes, "What about work? You'll get in trouble."
"Don't worry about that. They can do without me for a day."
"Please go. I..." She stops him short.
"He won't let you go and I'm not leaving you here. You have to stay to fix what
he's done."
"I don't think I'll have to. I think I know where Maggie went."
She looks at him. "Where?"
"To someone who'll always listen to her." He smiles.
While the others fight, Claw sneaks into the side room and hands Tara a note and
a small map he'd prepared. "Everything will be ok now. Follow the map and wait back
at my room until I get back. Lock the door. I don't want you to get hurt."
She hugs him close and nods. "Please be careful." She rushes up a short flight of
stairs and down the hallway.
Claw creeps back slowly to guard the passage. Hudson sweeps in with his sword
drawn as he sees him. Fearing Tara's discovery, but not wanting to hurt him, the mutate
releases the rifle and blasts his sword hand with lightning, forcing the old gargoyle to
drop his sword with a scream. Hudson glides past as Claw dodges him. Reacting in fear
for his friend, he throws another lance of lightning into Hudson's back. A second later,
Brooklyn crashes his elbow into Claw's back, knocking him down.
As Hudson rises from the ground, he sees Tara, who stopped at the screams, rush
to help Claw stand. "James, are you alright?" He smiles, looking to be sure she wasn't
hurt then hugs her tightly in his arms and wings.
Hudson walks over to the pair, wings draped as a cloak and arms folded across
his chest. "Good evening, lad. Aren't ye goin' to introduce us to your lovely friend
here?"
"Claw! Do something." Fang orders. "Come on, already. Do you want to be
weak like them?" Claw growls softly and shakes his head. He takes the rifle and
smashes it against the wall.
As the others put Fang into the cell and they run off his lackeys, Tara leans
against Claw's chest and smiles up at him. "You were wonderful, James."
"I don't think I could've done it if it weren't for you. I don't think I had it in me."
"It's always been there." Turning to face him, she strokes a hand over his chest.
"The heart of a good man beats inside your chest." She grins and nuzzles into his chest.
"It's only a little buried under this lovely fur coat of yours." He strokes her hair and
snugs her close.
She sighs softly. "You'd best go join your friends. They need you to stand by
them right now. I'll be alright without my big hero-kitty for a little while." She gives
him a little shove with a giggle. "Go get'em, tiger."
A little unsure if he's wanted with them, he walks slowly to join Derek and
Maggie. When Maggie nods to him and Tara smiles, he stands proudly beside the others.
Derek and Brooklyn reluctantly accept their roles as leader and agree to search for their
missing friends. Together they begin to clean up the mess and to calm the residents.
Derek looks around. "But what're we going to do with him?" He points to Fang inside
the cell. "We can't keep him in there forever. Not even he deserves that."
Claw taps his shoulder and pulls the notepad from his belt. "I have an idea."
Derek stares blankly at the note, not even registering the words.
Maggie smiles. "I think there's going to be some changes around here."
"What're we doing up here?" she asks once they're on the rooftop. "You said
you were going to take me home."
He nods and looks up at the clear night sky and the soft glow of the crescent
moon. She rests her back against him and sighs. "It's lovely, isn't it?" Another nod and
a long silence both savoured. In the dim light, she could almost believe...
"Are we going back into the tunnels to take me home? This is pretty far from my
place and I..." the memory of the attack fresh in her mind "...I don't want to travel the
streets alone."
She can feel the soft rumble of his chest almost like a laugh. He points to both
of them and makes a flapping bird with his hands.
"Fly me? But what about your wing?" He smiles and gives her a thumbs-up.
"Ok then. I trust you. But watch the turbulence, captain." He gives a sharp salute.
Cradling her in his strong arms, he holds her close as he walks to the ledge. She
looks into his amber eyes and wraps her arms around his neck. She rests her head against
his and whispers sweetly in his ear, "If you drop me, I'll kill you." To this he merely
winked and leapt off the building.
The cool wind chills Tara and she clings to Claw's warm fur. After a few
moments, she draws enough courage to look to the city below and the stars above. "How
beautiful. It's like swimming in a sea of stars." He nods and, a few minutes later, she
adds "James... You're lucky you can do this every night." After a short pause, he smiles
and nods.
They glided across the city, winging smoothly past building and over Central
Park. Passing by the shore, he points across to the Statue of Liberty. Stifling a yawn, she
says, "Next trip, James. It's getting late and I've got to work tomorrow."
After sneaking in through the fire escape, she hugs him. "Thanks for bringing me
home. I really loved the flight, even though I never got a bag of salted peanuts." He
grins and taps her nose.
He writes, "I'm glad you liked it. I'm sorry your first visit to the Labyrinth was so
bad. It's not like that every day..." he flips to another sheet "stuff like that only happens
about once a week." He grins down to her.
"It's alright, James. I'm glad I was there for you. You were great."
"It'll be better next time you come... if you'd like to visit..." here he writes an 'm'
which he quickly scratches out "...us again."
She leans into his chest and smiles up to him. "Of course I'll visit again."
He gives her a strong hug. "Thanks. I'd better go; you need your rest. I'll... drop
by sometime this week-end, if that's ok?" That finished off his little pad of paper.
He smiles and turns to open the window to the fire escape. But she grabs onto his
shoulders as he leans down. "Not so fast, tiger. You're not getting off the hook that
easily."
A little confused, he turns back and looks at her curiously.
"After all that happened this week-end," she says with a hint of fear in her voice,
"I... I'd feel a little better if you stayed here tonight."
He nods softly, smiles comfortingly and gives her a gentle hug. He glances at the
couch and takes the blanket and pillow he used before from the linen closet. Again
stopping him, she grins. "Not tonight, you're too fuzzy to go to waste." Tugging at his
arm, she begins to lead him to her room.
The flurry of pantomime that followed would astound the greatest of mimes.