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Previously on Gargoyles

"We are going to be taking over Dracon’s turf."

"I am not the leader. We all work for Briggs."~ Gosford

Briggs setting his Fedora on top of a bust of Dean Martin.

"Yvette? She gets everyting typed in time."

"Hello Davis. How are you feeling this afternoon? Most of them have started to clear up? That is good." ~Briggs (Gang Related)

"They are the prisons of four of those who tried to fight against Oberon. Each one caused suffering and pain to the mortals of the land where their stories are known."~Owen Burnet (Rejection)
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Darkness enveloped over the buildings making up  New York university. The shadows dancing over the buildings and cement paths were pierced by the glowing orange lights of the lamp posts and the dusty yellow light radiating down from the half moon that was cresting towards a waxing gibbous. The activity on the sidewalks had dwindled to a few groups of friends heading back to their dorms after a late dinner or out to see a movie The parking lots of the main campuses were empty. The vehicles had moved over to the homes of the professors and some of the students while the others had moved closer to the dorms.

It was dangerous to step out of the safety of the New York University dorm room and into the hall way at night during that time of the week. Even if it was meant for a run to the snack machines a person would be risking their vision and possibly their sanity.

"New York rules!" The battle cry of a dozen drunken frat boys echoed off the walls as the young naked males raced through the carpeted hallways wearing nothing but a pair of socks and sneakers. Their bodies, slick with sweat, were painted with bands of war paint, in school colors while they wore hats detailed to resemble bobcats. The head of the train held a small drum under his right arm and beat it with his left first while a few others waved around pendants.

"Whoo-whoo-whoo!" The twenty year old in the lead cried out. He was in the best physical shape of the group and barely had any noticeable hair on his body, save for his legs and a triangular patch on his chest. He was the wide receiver of the football team and the role of the leader was yield to him. "Buffalo hear our battle cry cause Buffalo you are going to die!"

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Even behind closed doors their obnoxious antics were heard. The students who received very few hours of sleep the night before from working on late night projects and studying and those who had to wake early the next morning had their level of annoyance increase by tenfold. The sleep deprived students bolted up from their beds muttering a strings of curses, and rolled over and try to get some rest.

Jodi Orbach was not one the tired. She was still dressed in the the high priced designer jeans that hugged her hips and a blouse from Bloomingdales she wore that morning. The only thing she had taken off were here two inch leather pumps and paced across the floor of her room bare-footed. The train of idiots seem not to affect her, as her mind was clearly somewhere else.

They did wrestle the blond-haired young man from dozing of at her desk. Bret Yale had the chair turned around and was cradling his head when his eyes fully closed and his head drooped. The stampede of idiots outside jolted him awake. He blinked at the sight of Jodi still wide awake and pacing, wondering why she wasn't even feeling the slightest bit tired.

"Jodi?" He mumbled the question. "Are you not the slightest bit tired?"

Jodi paused mid step, the words she had been repeating under breath were brought to a stop. "Bret?" She blinked at the sight of her boyfriend slouching in her chair. The gray tinted bags under his eyes, pink from bloodshot told her how tired he was. "Oh honey, you look like you are about to fall over. Why don't you crawl into my bed.?"

"Your bed?" He yawned the question as he tried to sit up.

"You are obviously too tired to drive to your place. I want you to to be safe, and I know you will be safe in my bed." She knew the reason why he was dead tired. He had been up since six for the past week, working on thesis papers and studying to get into medical school.

"What about you? Are you not the slightest bit tired?"

She smiled and shook her head. Her eyes were clean of any red lines and her complexion had yet to loose its natural glow. "I could stay awake for hours."

"How much coffee have you had today?" He kicked his shoes off as he stood up and approached her bed, shedding his jackets. Before he crawled into bed he shed his pants without much effort, as if the pair of khakis knew how tired he was and slid off his legs by themselves.

"None," she did not loose her grin. "I haven't had any coffee this morning."

"Do you have a test coming up?" He belly flopped onto the mattress and turned his head towards her. The softness of her pillow along with the lavender scented fragrance she sprays on her linens increased the Sandman's tenacious pull on his mind.

"I'm still rehearsing what I'm going to say at the Autumn Queen pageant." She cradled her hands against her chest and inhaled deeply. Most girls would dream of being Miss America, but not her. Ever since she was five she wanted to be the Autumn Queen. She and her family were standing near the curb as the Macy’s parade walked by and her father hoisted her on his shoulders, giving her enough height to see the parade clearly. She remembered seeing the beautiful Autumn queen on the float shaped like a cornucopia wave to the audience. She was beautiful and dressed in a gown of gold, orange and tan. She wanted to be that queen and ride on the float. The idea of the competition was one of the most important thing on her mind and she was even willing to change schools from Colombia to NYU so her family could help with the expenses of the pageant.

"That isn't for another weeks," Bret barely got out before his breathing slowed.

Jodi watched as her boyfriend slept. He looked so adorable sprawled out on her bed. "Heck with the speech," she whispered before she pulled down her pants. She could not resist her bed, not when it appeared so inviting to her.

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David Xanatos sat up in his king sized bed, bare back pressing against the cedar wood backrest. His lap was covered with layers of silk sheets, blanket and thickly padded comforter. He normally would have the quilted top rolled back but the dark blue material provided a contrast to the pale orange invitation on his lap.

He received the letter earlier that afternoon along with the rest of his mail and while he had filed the rest of his letter he still kept the invitation in his pocket. He kept studying the small card, his thumb rubbed against the raised letters and picture of the leaves on the corners. He had never been invited to participate as a judge for a contest before. Why now? Have they gone through all the high profile members in society? The final question that appeared in his mid was the most important. Would he want to?

"You have been staring at the same letter all day," The athletic form of pale skin like exquisite porcelain appeared out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a thick velvet robe, the color of fine burgundy whine. The soft, ribbon like belt encircled her waist, keeping it together but it did nothing to hide the curves of her breasts underneath.

"It had been on my mind a lot," Xanatos blinked at the sight of her. Her vibrant hair of firegold was pulled up and held secure by a towel wrapped around her head. Her face was covered with slick, pale, bluish-green cream. The dark blue grains imbedded in the make up looked like she opened up a box of bath salts too fast, the tiny grains jumping up from her ripping it and spraying her face.

"Oh no," Fox placed her hand against her terry cloth covered brow and faked a disappear, the effect was further enhanced by her chest heaving out, easily catching the full attention of her husband. "Is it a bill, or a notice telling us the castle had been repossessed."

Xanatos ignored most of her teasing, save for the movement of her chest, and held up the invite. "Its an invitation from the Autumn Queen Pageant committee."

Her fingers plucked the card out of his hand with a fluid movement. "An invitation to participate as a judge for the Autumn Queen pageant." Her right eyebrow raised slightly while her left eyebrow lowered. "So the city finally trusts you enough to judge something fairly."

He knew she was just making a joke, but a part of her words dug under his skin. Did they city trust him, even with the propaganda promoted by the quarrymen about how he was in the same league as the gargoyles. "I've been deciding if I want to participate."

Her mischievous smirk curled up even more. "You are telling me you don't want to look at a bunch of lovely women as the walk on by and smile just for you?"

"Why would I want to look at a bunch of bimbos when I have my intelligent and lovely wife by my side."

"Oh come on," she bumped her elbow into his shoulder. "If I were to judge a contest full of pretty boys I would easily take up the offer."

"I'm not too sure if I want to see a group of young women in their glamorous gowns full of sequins and their very tight and skimpy bathing suits."

"They don't wear bathing suits," she slid off the end of the bed, not noticing, or not caring the bottom of her robe was riding up, revealing a full and strong leg. "They wear fall business suits. The contest is open to those entering the fields of business and law, business, and law majors and those going to specific school of already mentioned trade. I wore this navy blue power suit, very binding. I felt my breasts were about to be shoved into my ribcage."

"You once participated?"

"Years ago before I decided to be an actress." She rolled her eyes as she sighed dreamily, trying to remember when she was a beauty contestant. "I came in second because the father of the winner bribed the judges and daddy was above that." Her smile faded. "It could be part of why we used to not get along as well."

"So you think I should take up the offer and be a judge?" Xanatos picked up the invitation.

"Its probably a once in the lifetime chance. I let you decide while I wash my face." She retreated back into the bathroom, leaving David the way she found him, the invitation still on his lap.

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Talons of an olive hue danced across one of the many keyboards in the computer/workshop, creating clicking sounds as the keys pressed down. The sound of his typing was not the only sound heard by Lexington. The soft hum of the computer was barely audible, weakened by the gentle sounds of an infant cooing, his typing and Broadway's chewing.

Lexington removed his gaze from the message board and cast them on his corpulent rookery brother as he continued to eat his liverwurst sandwich. Broadway kept on taking large bites, tearing through the bread, meat and cheese and crunching through the fried onion crispers and lettuce. In addition to the the loud biting the gargoyle also chewed loudly, mouth opening wide like a frogs for a second at several times.

If the chewing was not annoying enough the odor made it worse. He could smell the thick wheatey aroma of the bread, the greasy liverwurst was almost twice as over powering but not nearly annoying as the fried onion pieces Broadway piled high on top of his sandwich.

Lexington tried to concentrate but couldn’t. The sound had become worse, almost increasing with every new bite. He stared at the large gargoyle when Broadway smacked his greasy lips together, moaning about how good it tasted. The belch was the last straw.

"Do you mind?" He glared at the aqua hued gargoyle, causing him to pause in mid chew and give him a confused stare. Lexington had wondered how he didn’t get any crumbs on his new shirt, Black cotton with the word "Huggable," written in white. "Go chew over there." He pointed a thumb towards Jerry. "Unless Jerry doesn’t want you near him."

"He can be with me if he wants," Jerry shrugged while he did not remove his gaze from his infant daughter, nestled in her comfortable carrier strapped to Jerry’s chest. She was the same shade of mahogany as her father with thick horns similar in shape to the natural cockscomb hat of a jester and much smaller, surrounded by downy, pale blond hair, on her head. She had her mother's features except for her ears which were pointed and not fan-shaped. Her wings were folded across her back as she yawned.

"What is your problem?" The friendly grin Broadway held even when he was scarfing down his sandwich had faded, doing a complete 180 into a frown.

"My problem is you are standing over me while eating your smelly sandwich as loud as possible," Lex turned back to the Network message board and clicked on a a few links. "And I'm also sick of looking at your half chewed food. Could you keep your mouth closed?"

"I always eat like this," Broadway shoved the last of his sandwich into his mouth.

"You don’t usually chew right in my ear." Lexington grumbled as he read through the messages. "If you feel the need to belch again please turn around."

Broadway snorted through his nostrils with the full sound of a train releasing a little steam, but kept his mouth shut. He was not trying to be rude or annoying. All he wanted to do was see if there was any interesting messages in the Network. He couldn’t help it if he was still hungry, as much as he couldn’t help craving a liverwurst and onion crisper sandwich.

"Harvest Moon celebration?" Lexington's brow ridges rose as he read several similar messages all asking about the Harvest Moon celebration. "There is a gargoyle holiday that has gone unnoticed by the clan?"

"Why hasn’t Rayne told us?" Broadway leaned in to stare at the screen, hoping it would not further annoy Lexington.

"I don’t know," Lexington shrugged. "I guess we’ll ask her during the clan meeting." He hoped his hint was subtle enough for Broadway. Jerry would already be signaling to his corpulent brother to follow him. While the clan gathers for a meeting he will have enough facts either memorized or printed out.

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The over seven foot clan leader stared at the print out in his hands. He was with Elisa when Broadway had knocked on their door with the news they were going to have another clan meeting. He was in no mood to leave Elisa, but the mention of a holiday shared by the other clans, that went unnoticed by theirs called for immediate focus.

Lexington had printed out the pages he felt was necessary in explaining what the other clans were discussing. They each were different in a few ways, but there were a few similar themes that all of them had included.

"Its like the holiday of the first hunt," Goliath finally spoke after reading the print a for a few minutes. He glanced up, recognizing the familiar nods from most of the clan members, except for the weregoyles and Rayne. The three from Avalon smiled at the recognition of the name, but appeared to not have been too sure how the holiday was celebrated.

"The princess had told us it was an important holiday," Cecilia said while staring at the ground in slight embarrassment of not fully knowing. Her gray forehead formed a crease between her horns, curving up and the pointing forward, as she remembered the stories the princess had told her before they light of dawn would seal them in slumber. "She said it was about the hatchlings learning how to hunt meat, but didn’t tell us how they celebrated it. Tom did try to teach us, but he never specified a certain date."

"You have understood the basic concept of it," Goliath said, breathing in the same deep breath he always did when he was about to go into a long lecture or tell a story of the clan’s past. "When the hatchlings were very young we would take them out in a large group to the woods. While leaving someone behind to watch over them the rest of the clan would hunt. When they get a little older we take them out in groups with a few hunting parties, but tell them to stay behind until the clan makes the kill, a few more years and we allow them to make their first kill along with us, when they are adolescents we allow them to make their first kill on their own When they are ready to hunt on their own we have a whole new batch of hatchlings to carry into the woods."

"And then you make a feast out of what you had killed," Rayne finished. The orange female had been twisting the end of her tail, knowing they were going to ask her why she never brought up the holiday.

"Aye," His spiked brow ridges rose up at her. "Why didn’t you tell us about the Harvest Moon celebration?"

She let out a long sigh. Her long slender horns relaxed along with her chest "My clan did celebrate it, but instead of hunting we fished. I’m pretty sure it is the same for the St. Augustine clan. I didn’t bring it up in the past, because it looked like you don’t celebrate it and I didn’t want to seem imposing."

"You wouldn’t have been imposing," Lexington took her hand. "I’m pretty sure the rest of us would have enjoyed celebrating the holiday of your clan. We would of noticed how it was connected with The first hunt."

"How did your clan celebrate The Harvest Moon?" Goliath asked while smiling.

"Well it’s like The first hunt, but replace, hunt with fishing." Rayne folded the top half other dragonfly like wings over her shoulders while wrapping her stomach with her lower wings. "Before we went on our fishing expedition we picked wildflowers and leaves off bushes and plants that appeared interesting and made them into boughs and center pieces. We made sure there were plenty of extra wildflowers to weave into crowns for the females." She paused to rub the top her head, her talons ran throw her snowy hair. "While half the clan went fishing the other half stayed back to take care of the hatchlings that were still too young and gathered in a few vegetables from the garden. After we returned we cooked the vegetables and fish and baked fresh bread."

"There are plenty of vegetables in the garden we can use," Broadway spoke up," And I can bake a few loaves of bread and a few pies."

"There are plenty of wild flowers in the park," Marle added. "We can find the leaves we need from the castle garden."

"I have one question," Brooklyn brought up. He was sure the others would have thought about it as well, but many of them were a wash with ideas of preparations and excitement. "What are we going to do for the meat? Manhattan is not known for its hunting grounds, and I don’t want to eat anything from the East River, or the Hudson, or the shores near the city." He shuddered at the thought of the poisons the fish had absorbed through their skin.

The idea instantly clicked in Lexington's head. "Xanadu. Who says we can’t hunt a few nights early? Xanatos can have us shipped the day before while we are in our stone sleep. We hunt that night and refrigerate everything and we travel back the day of the harvest moon."

"And that night I can cook everything." Broadway grinned. "No wonder we keep saying you are a genius."

The smallest of the adults shrugged. "I only think of the ideas. I need friends to help carry them out." He smiled at his rookery brother, glad he had been forgiven for his earlier rude behavior.

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Most Barney’s franchises rolled to a swift close around nine thirty on the dot. The cappuccino makers hissed for the last time and the last bag of shiny beans was ground to a fine powder. The employees cleaned out the coffee grinders first while the pots and other machines cooled. Their soggy rags, scented like lemons, dug in to the crevices and swept out the damp grounds impacted deep. They had at least one manager to oversee their closing up, but none of them ever came across the man who owned that particular franchise. They had a few glimpses of the secretary or a few of the other employees who had the right ID

The young man with bright, orange hair knew there was a high possibility he would come across one of the coffee house employees as he opened the front of the restaurant with his key. If Gosford came across any he would show them his I.D. some people have recognized his look: bright hair spiked up from hair gel with a pair of neon green raver goggles across the top of his head. A face clean shaven except for the slender sole patch and the goatee, connected by a thin isthmus of peach fuzz. His hazel eyes caught a quick glance of the NO SMOKING sign painted on the glass and allowed the smoldering cigarette butt to fall from his mouth and stomped on it once.

He only came across two people dressed in the Barney’s uniform. The first time he fished his plastic I.D badge from his right pocket and held it up a few inches until they turned around and continued on her way. The second just took one look at his expensive suit and gave him an approving nod.

The young secretary in front of Brigg’s desk was actually typing and to Gosford’s surprise she had a decent speed. Her fingers flew across the keyboard instead of hunting and pecking. Her long black coils of over processed hair, contrasting with her pale pinkish peach skin, were kept out of her eyes by golden hair clips.

"I’m here," he spoke up, hoping to break her trance from typing. He was a bit surprised to see her this absorbed in her work. Usually she would be doing her hair, nails, or her make-up, or even possibly be reading a magazine instead of typing and making phone calls.

"He’s in his office," she removed one hand to point at the door behind her with her thumb. The long nail was painted a shimmering copper color and affixed with a gold star panted on the center.

He felt a small bit of annoyance pinching at the back of his head when she did not even bother to look up at him. "Are you going to introduce me?"

"I’m kind of busy here. I have to get this done before I leave."

Gosford wanted to lash out at her, but decided to hold it in. Why start a fight when he can complain to the boss and he can fire her. With his jaw clenched he waltzed right past her.

He did not expect his boss to have a guest. Gosford barely acknowledged the pale man dressed in black and marched straight up to Brian "Brigg’s" Briggston’s desk.

"You really need to fire that secretary you have out there," he kept his voice low as he placed his palms on the surface. "I didn’t know you had a guest because she didn’t tell me. I’m sorry if I may have interrupted something, but she was too busy finishing up the work she should have been doing during the day to announce me."

"She’s working on the assignment I gave her?" Briggs asked. The rotund man wore a dark purple fedora on top of his depilating head, matching the polyester suit he wore. With the gold chains hanging around his neck he looked more like a pimp than a mob boss.

"Only after she finished primping and reading."

"Don’t be too hard on her," Briggs wagged his finger back and forth. "Yvette is under a lot of stress with the upcoming Autumn Queen pageant."

Gosford glanced back at the door. "She thinks they will even let her enter? Do you have to be a law student or a business major? I don’t think she is even in collage and if she is then she must be majoring in being a bitch. She’s doing a good job."

"Enough," Briggs fist landed on top of the table. "She is a business major and that means she qualifies. She had been practicing on the questions the host may ask her and on her singing."

"She sings?"

"Like a songbird," Briggs chuckled. "She is not just going to enter. She is going to win." He pulled out a slip of paper from his top drawer. "These are the names of all the pageant contestants." He slid it towards his employee.

"How did you get this?" Gosford asked as he picked it up.

Briggs pressed his fingertips together. "Let us just say I have my ways."

The younger man said nothing as he went over the list. Next to each name there was their pageant title and address. Some of the names brought an amused snort out of him. "Yvette is miss Cornucopia?"

"It is better than some of the names. At least she is not Miss Family Gathering, or Miss Cashmere Sweater. " He nodded at his guest before he continued. "Let me tell you how Yvette is going to win. They do not know she and I are connected. I have been invited to be a judge."

"I see where this is going," Gosford smirked while readjusting the goggles on the top of his head. "Going to vote low for the others and give Yvette high ratings?"

"That will be part of the plan. It will be up to you and Davis to make sure the judges will give the other contestants low votes."

"Davis?"

"That would be me," the third person in the room spoke up. Gosford fought to keep his mouth from dropping like a drawbridge at the sight of him. Davis had yet to remove his heavy dark jacket, but kept the sleeves rolled up to the middle of his arms, exposing white skin covered with brown, blotchy scabs. He was the same pale shade of scraped bone, with no sign of facial hair. He kept his fingernails trimmed, clean, and glossy with a thin coat of clear nail polish. High cheek bones stuck out over his long face, ending in a narrow chin. Gosford couldn’t tell if Davis was wearing lipstick or if his lips appeared that dark red compared to his complexion. Davis’s dark hair was shaved clean at the sides of is head and the bangs were scrunched up.

"I should have introduced the two of you much sooner," Briggs smiled sheepishly. "Gosford this is Davis. Davis this is Gosford."

"I kind of recognized you when you came in," Davis greeted as he took Gosford’s hand. He tried to wince at how soft and clammy the palm felt. "Preppy looking guy with bright hair and ravers goggles."

"Uh, yeah." Gosford blinked. The second he pulled away from the Goth he wanted to put his hand into his pocket to warm it up. He can’t remember the last time he had held onto a hand that was that cold and hard as steel.

"I think you two will get along," The large man chuckled. "Gosford I want you to drive Davis to the first address. Davis, you know what to do."

"Wait a sec," Gosford made the time out gesture with his hands. "My only order is to drive The Crow to the location and then sit back on my ass while he does all the work?"

"Does this bother you?" Briggs lowered his thick and wiry brows.

"I’m just used to doing a lot more. Am I just the getaway driver now? Doesn’t the new guy need any help?"

"He has certain skills, along with special gloves and shoes that help him climb buildings."

"I see," he turned around to face the Goth. Davis’s stoic expression had yet to change. "You are not going to mess with your hair and file your nails all night are you?"

"No." The response was clean and simple.

"I like you. Let me show you where I park."

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Davis was correct about not primping while on the job. During the drive he held the list of contestants in his boney hands, only to place it on his lap while he removed his jacket and shoes. It was the not because of the temperature of the car. Gosford kept the air on, not too high, but enough to give the vehicle a cool and relaxing temperature.

Gosford didn’t pay attention to his companions removal of the coat. He may have been too hot, but it was his own fault for wearing such a a heavy coat in the middle of September when the temperature had yet to drop. It wasn’t even officially fall yet. He kept his focus on the road and the signs, turning when they neared the correct paths. Davis did not speak much. He wouldn’t have minded a little bit of chatter, but he detested anyone who would talk his ears off.

The address Briggs had given them was the next block over, but Gosford wanted to park a few feet away for security reasons, and the fact the large gap between the SUV and Volkswagen beetle was just too tempting to pass up

"Parking here?" Davis asked as Gosford turned off the ignition. He did not want to question the other man’s decision but he wanted to be certain.

"It looks like it." Gosford stepped out, pausing only to check his pockets for change for the meter.

Davis blinked as he reached down to the floor and picked up the battered duffel bag next to his shoes.

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Gosford walked down the cool sidewalks, ignoring the stench that was stemming up through the gutters and hoping they did not appear to be too conspicuous wit him with his pair of eye-wear on his head and Davis following behind him, barefoot. He had slipped the goggles over his eyes. They were not the cheap plastic pair some people had assumed they were. They were actual night vision goggles. A pair similar to what he wore when he lead a group of thieves for Briggs.

"Is there an alley we can duck into?" Davis asked as the two of them approached the building of Miss Apple Orchard.

Gosford stepped between the pageant contestants building and the one next to it. There was an thin alley with barely enough room for a fire escape and a few trash cans. He grabbed the other man by the wrist and hauled him deep inside.

"Fifth floor?" Davis dropped the sack on the ground and began to unbutton his red shirt.

"Yeah," Gosford nodded while examining the metal platforms of the fire escape. "We don’t know how to get to her apartment." He turned to stare at the pale man with a look that told the world he was about to say something stupid and he knows it is stupid, but is going to say it any ways. "Unless you got bitten by a radioactive spider." Davis seemed to tense at the question, pausing midway in his undressing. "It was a stupid question. You were supposed to laugh at it." He shook his head wondering if the Goth had ever laughed.

His own humorous mood was drained from him when Davis had finished removing his shirt. He was expecting the rest of his body to be as white as his face and hands, but he was not awaiting the sight of more of the dark brown scabs. "Hey man. What happened to you?"

"I don’t want to talk about it," Davis replied coldly, not allowing his embarrassed emotion slip through his shield.

"Were you in a fight or an accident?"

He still didn’t want to talk about it, even if he did hear some concern in the other young man’s voice. He shoved the concern aside, blocking it as he undid his belt and unzipped his pants.

"You are not a leper are you?" Gosford stepped backwards, only pausing when he heard a hiss. He was tempted to turn around, but considered the sound to have been made by an angry cat.

"Not a leper. I just have a skin condition." He slipped his pants off.

"What the fuck?" Gosford couldn’t believe his associate was stripping, nor could he believe the Goth didn’t wear any underwear. After one look at the ghostly bottom, covered with a few more scabs he peeled his goggles off and slipped them into his pocket. It did little good. He could still see the pale form of Davis.

"I have to wear very little clothes in order to do my work," Davis explained as he opened up his bag. "I’m not naked if that is what ‘s bothering you."

"What are you wearing? a thong?" The answer to the question seemed quite obvious in his mind, but still it lessened the horror of the visual. "Maybe you should stick with the black. People are going to notice a man that looks like a Dalmatian climbing up the building." He felt the thick rubber material of goulashes against his skin. and turned around. He tried to avoid Davis’s thong and stared at the man’s gloves and boots.

"I am wearing black," Davis tried to smile as he held out his hands. The material of the gloves were comfortable, and flexible. Curved pieces of metal were sewn into the fingertips, like hooked claws. He turned his hands up, showing the suckers attached to his palms before holding out a foot. The materiel hugged to the contours of his feet, more like a second skin than a boot. A sharp metallic point like an ice pick protruded from the toes.

"So you are going to climb the walls," Gosford quickly caught on. "I don’t blame you." He grabbed onto the metal platform him and shook. The fire escape wobbled like a loose tooth, creaking which each shake. "I swear this is a building code violation."

"I was going to use my gloves and shoes any ways." The near naked man grabbed onto the wall, pressing his palms against the hard surface and used his fingers to dig the hooks in. He pulled himself up and jammed his feet in, the souls of his shoes were semi stiff, providing support for his body.

"Holy fucking shit. Where did Briggs find this guy?" He stepped back as he continued to watch Davis climb, not noticing the small group behind him until he felt the sharp edge of a knife against his thigh.

"Who is he?" the thick voice gurgling the question was like a pot of oatmeal boiling at slow simmer.

"Who are you?" Gosford reversed the question as he reached for his holster under his jacket. He wasn’t afraid of any punk who thought to ruff him, except when he turned around he didn’t see anyone. The sent of rotted meat brought his attention a few feet down where a child wearing a reddish brown cap of cloth glared back at him. He heard gangsters liked to recruit young members but this guy was ridiculously too young. By his height he had to be in the third grade at most.

"I ask," the child repeated in a voice too old for him and smacked the broadside of the knife against Gosford’s thigh.

Gosford ignored the slap of metal against his leg and studied his face. The young thug had large eyes the color of cream corn and lips like plump, plastic, cylinder shaped bags full of breakfast sausages. It’s thick bulbous nose was covered with a spider web of purplish red veins and had a pointed chin sporting a five-o clock shadow.

‘I’m a insensitive prick tonight,’ Gosford thought to himself. "I’m sorry for my reaction. I thought you were a kid."

The small man’s lips curled into a cruel smile. Donnae worry yer head. Most weaklings make that mistake."

"Weakling?" Gosford fought hard to keep from chuckling. "I think you heard way too much of that PC let’s-make-everyone-feel-better-by-telling-them-they-are-equal bullshit."

The smaller man’s face shifted into a scowl that made him even uglier. "Ye didnae answer my question. Who is yer friend?"

"He’s not really a friend. We just work together."

"What is he?" the ugly man asked.

"Who do they work for?" Another voice asked from behind, earning several hisses and grunts for him to remain silent.

"Shut up," the short man turned around. "I’m asking the questions." He turned around and reintroduced his knife to Gosford’s hip.

Gosford flinched when he felt the sharp metal against his skin. It did not cut through the flesh but it did tear through his pants. "Who the fuck do you work for? I want to know who to send the bill for my tailor to."

"Answer, or I’ll cut deeper."

The ginger-haired man slipped his gun out of the holster near his hip, but kept it under his jacket, concluded from their short man’s yellow eyes. "I don’t know what the fuck he is. This is the first night we are working together." He pulled the gun out and shoved the blunt end into the shorter man’s large nose. "Now remove your damn knife."

"Ye donnae know?" He lowered his arm, removing his weapon from the cut threads. The snub nose of the cold metal only inches from his skin. He could smell the elements melted together to create the weapon. There was lead, and iron. Enough to cause serious pain and possibly even death.

"I said I didn’t know. He could be some sort of natural mutation, or an experiment from one of those bioengineering labs."

"Experiment," the ugly man hissed through his teeth, saliva leaked through the gaps and coated his mouth. "Mortals making themselves stronger, deny their places as our servants."

"You need to stop that dark evil overlord attitude of yours.. You are not scaring anyone. Now I don’t know what other weapons you have on you, but right now you have a gun in your face. Either you get the fuck out of here, or I start blowing your fucking head off."

The nostrils of the smaller manned twitched as he sniffed loudly. A small flicker of fear danced across his pale yellow eyes before he turned around and scurried off towards the direction of his companions.

Gosford quickly slipped on his goggles when he heard the rhythm of several feet retreating and was only able to the last two as they scrambled on top of a dumpster and climbed over the fence. "A whole group of mini punks." He shook his head as he replaced his gun. It’s seems every gang needed their theme.

________________________________________________________________________

There were a few things the leader of the goblin gang did not appreciate. One of them was when mortals thought they were more superior than the third race, the second was when a mortal threatens him with a weapon made of iron. The third thing he hated was when he was used as a foot stool. The second he landed on the other side of the fence the rest of his men landed on top of his head and bounced off onto the ground.

"Ye bloody fools," he shouted when the last one jumped off him. He fought to pull up his red hood. "I am yer leader. Ye do not, I repeat do not use me as a stool."

"Sorry," a dog faced goblin screeched. He was the very same goblin who interrupted the Red Cap earlier. "We were in a hurry to get away from his gun."

"I donnae think he was going to shoot us," the leader placed his large pointed ear against the side of the fence.

"Then why did we run?" A third asked. His thick pelt of white fur covering most of his body contrasted against his bright green face.

"I wasn’t too sure. He had a scowl that didnae say he was bluffing. He may have shot me or he may not, but I doubted if he was going to shoot us after we ran. Which meant-" He tore his face away from the fence. "It meant ye didnae have to land on me head."

"Can you hear them?" Dog Face was the first to speak after he and the others uttered another string of apologies.

"The one who can change the color of his skin had returned." He placed his ear against the painted wood again, thankful they used lead in the paint and not iron. "They are talking about us, filthy mortals."

"Are we sure the experiment is a mortal?" A voice like pieces of rusty metal rubbing against each other asked.

The Red Cap did not tear his attention from the fence. "We will see about it. " His smile widened even further when he heard to a particular piece of the conversation. "How interesting. The experiment ruined someone’s dress."

The white-furred goblin waited for the laughter to die down before he spoke up. "Why?"

"Who cares. They are leaving." He pulled the dog faced goblin and another together. "Now you two will serve as a step ladder for me and the others. He climbed on top of them and felt them push him up, giving him the right amount of lift for him to leap on top of the fence. He clutched onto the top of the wood and peered into the alley.

"They are gone," He dropped on top of the dumpster and pushed himself off. Each step he took was with care to be as silent as possible, he didn’t want to have one of them forget something and double back for it, catching them by surprise. The red cap waited until the last of the goblins made it over the side and followed him towards where the mortals stood.

"Find something about them." He barked the order as he quickly went to inspect where the scabby human climbed. His thin fingers brushed over the claw marks, detecting faint aroma of iron. "Not one of us."

"I found something!" The furry goblin cried out in glee. His slick green fingers was holding onto a folded piece of paper like a pamphlet.

"Gimme!" The red cap snatched it out of his hands and immediately looked at the cover. It had a image of a woman dressed in a gold, orange and brown gown. With bright red leaf shaped barrettes pinned to her hair. "Well this should be a bit interestn’." He ran his tongue across his teeth as he held the pamphlet for the rest of them to see.

___________________________________________________________________________

Central Park was full of wild flowers in September. Patches of bright colors decorated the green grass like a quilt, attracting both bumble bees and children.

Jam was the first one home after her photography job and took the oldest three children in the castle to collect the flowers needed for Harvest Moon. She instructed the children to look out for bees and to not pick flowers that have been considered a prime picnic location for the striped insects.

Macy approached the small patch of tiny wildflowers. Each tiny violet center was surrounded by diminutive white flowers, resembling delicate lace. She carefully inspected the cluster like her mother instructed and grabbed onto a few and placed them on top of the stack of flowers in the basket her mother had given her. She had piled it with hand full of flowers, stacked high enough to where it nearly reached the handle of the basket. She tried to grab a handful from each variety but she wouldn’t be able to get a little something from everything.

"I think your finished," Jam smiled at her daughter as she picked up the basket. It wasn’t heavy for her to pick up, just bulky and awkward. "Come over here honey." Jam had brought a small blanket and cooler with her and set it up on a bare plain of grass. The cooler was full of small child sized sports bottles, each one filled with grape Kool-aid.

"I didn’t get all," Macy whimpered as she jogged over to her mother, leaving a wake of flowers spilling out of her basket behind her.

Jam couldn’t keep from laughing at what her daughter had said. "You can’t take all the flowers with you."

"Not all flowers," Macy set the basket down with a small jarring slam, not enough to spill all the flower, but enough to a loosen few. "All the kinds." She pointed at the flowers she had yet to visit.

"I see." She cupped her mouth with a megaphone shaped from her hands. "Charlie, Alex. Why don’t you go over there to pick some flowers? we don’t have any of that kind." She pointed at the clusters of flowers her daughter was pointing at earlier.

They boys were more picky about the flowers the picked, or they just were not relay caring and just grabbing a few random blossoms from each cluster. They stared up at where Jam was pointing and grabbed their baskets, each only containing half the amount Macy had in her’s, and approached the more distant groups.

"Thirsty?" Jam opened the cooler and pulled out two of the sports bottles, the second one was as twice a big and filled with ice tea.

"Thank you mommy," Macy accepted her bottle and flipped up the plastic nozzle without any difficulty.

Jam took a long drink from hers before she smiled at the boys. There was going to be plenty of flowers for the Harvest Moon celebration for both boughs and crowns, mostly thanks to her daughter. The flowers from the castle garden would be used for the centerpiece. The leaves were going to be a problem. Even in the park there was hardly any variation in color, all of them were still a fresh shade of green. They have picked a few leaves from the garden and placed them between newspapers and set a few books on top of them. after that they may spray paint them for the desired color.

"My head itches," Macy said as she scratched her forehead. The cloth headband was an impenetratable fortress for her fingernails and she pulled it up to scratch at offending itch.

"Macy, careful." Jam quickly pulled the cloth down, recovering her daughter’s spiked browridges. She had to keep her eyes on the three year old to make sure she didn’t expose any of her gargoyle features. She told her to keep her wings folded under her jacket and watched to make sure she didn’t try to spread them.

It wasn’t really fair to either her or the others. Alex and Charlie had it much easier. Charlie can leave the house without any disguises during the day and as long as Alex didn’t perform any spells he was in the clear.

It was the other children she worried about. Deidre and Holly would only have the same worries as Charlie and Ronnie would be able to cope as much as his mother, but Rebecca and Rowan had it even rougher. The twins begged to go with her and the others, but because of their more noticeable features Jam had to decline and they stayed, crying their eyes out, along with the youngest three children.

"Maybe we can develop some more of those holographic bracelets." She spoke to herself. It would be for the children, but not to be used all the time. The technology required for it was expensive.

She was wrestled from her thoughts when a young woman jogged by wearing a midriff revealing tank top, black spandex shorts and a pair of running shoes. She ran by them on the jogging path Her chestnut brown hair was tied back into a ponytail that bounced with each step On one side of her belt she kept a sports bottle, encased in a purple foam rubber cocoon and on the other side she wore a CD player clipped tightly to her belt. The head phones connected were placed over her ears.

Jam watched the woman until she was several feet away. She can’t remember the last item she wore spandex shorts and wondered if she would look good in them. Maybe she should buy a pair and give Frank a small treat when she went into the Eyrie gym.

___________________________________________________________________________

The female jogger kept the smooth pace she started, neither sprinting or slowing down. She didn’t need too may breaks, only pausing after three or four songs to drink some of her water before she resumed her jogging.

If she wanted to be fast she could, but she preferred to save her speed for her pair of tap shoes. She had been practicing her dance routine for the Autumn Queen pageant for weeks. She would have either danced or played the piano, but decided on dancing. She can’t remember the last time she had seen anyone tap dance for the pageant in years and decided to revive a lost art. Her legs will be well toned from all the jogging and practicing she did and knew the would look good in the small skirt and leotard costume she had selected for her act.

So caught up was she in her daydreams of the pageant she didn’t notice the thick tree root jutting out in the path. Her ankle slammed into the top of the root and she fell forward, feeling two jarring points of pain in her ankle: where she struck the root and where it bent back as she fell forward. More pain followed as she landed on her knees, elbows and hands, a burning pain where she felt the skin being scraped.

The female jogger quickly turned over. She could not believe they would plant a tree so close to the paths a root wound protrude through. She managed to turn around in time to see it being withdrawn. She blinked when she saw what she thought were toes at the end of the foot. Foot? Of course it was a foot, but it looked so much like a tree root or branch. It was a dark reddish brown in color with long grayish brown splotches.

She stared into the bushes, trying to see who tried to trip her. She found some movement, but all she could see was what looked like wind blowing through the plants. Whoever he or she was they were gone. Their identity no longer mattered, all that mattered was cleaning and dressing her wounds. She wasn’t going to have to do it alone. Already a lot of people were running towards her, including the woman with the three children gathering flowers.

_________________________________________________________________________

Margot Yale restrained herself from trying to pace near the front entrance of Makato Wok. It was not because her nephew’s girlfriend had yet to arrive, but it was because their table wasn’t even ready yet.

"Mommy, I’m hungry." Penelope squeezed her adoptive mother’s hand.

Margot’s cold, hard stare melted when she looked down at her daughter. The sight of her round face with sad brown eyes and a head full of dark curls could soften the hardest of hearts.

"Mommy?" Penelope pointed at the taxicab pulling up at the curb.

"That could be Jodi," Margot said while watching the yellow vehicle. Her answer came a few seconds later when the back door opened and Jodi stepped out. "It’s Jodi!" Penelope slipped out of Margot’s hands and jumped up and down.

"Penelope!" The young woman smiled from ear to ear as she approached to the two of them. She was careful to not let her mouth slip up and call her Penny. She will never be a mere Penny like Margot was never a Margie or Madge, a warning Bret gave her when she was first introduced to his aunt.

"You seem to be in good spirits," Margot smiled, the lateness of her table shortly forgotten.

"Penelope has that effect on people," she bent down to stare into the five year old’s eyes. "What’s that behind you?"

"What?" Penelope spun around.

Jodi was thankful the child was still young enough to fall for that trick. "Its a great, big, fuzzy bug!" She ran her fingers under Penelope’s arms, releasing squeals and giggles from the child.

"It’s not just that. You seem to have this glow about you."

The college student stood back up and brushed her braided pigtails behind her shoulders. "I had a great session with my spinning class, a refreshing shower and a massage."

Margot was the first to hear the creak of the door to the restaurant behind her. She spun around her heels and glared into the eyes of the host. The glare had the effect she wanted. He looked like he had just swallowed a bug.

"Yale, party of three?"

"That would be us," Margot made sure her voice was sharp as a knife.

"Your table is ready," he held the door open and waved them through.

"About time," Margot muttered and kept her icy stare fixed on the seating host. She could see tiny beads forming on his forehead. She made sure she was the last one to enter and as she passed by the host she could have sworn he jumped away from her.

___________________________________________________________________________

Jodi slid into the booth after Penelope and picked up her menu. She was in the mood for sushi, but she was also in the mood for the teriyaki chicken dish.

"Sorry we had to wait," Margot apologized as she un folded her menu. "They were supposed to have a table for us ready half an hour ago."

"I shouldn’t have been late," Jodi stared over her menu. Margot was too focused on her menu to notice Penelope sitting right next to her, staring at her small children’s menu in the same way as her mother. Her small package of crayons, a free gift from the resteraunt to use to color and play games in her menu, were still in their clear plastic case. "Like mother, like daughter."

The DA straightened in surprise and glanced at her daughter. Penelope looked so serious with her menu in her hands. "What would you like to eat?"

"Shrimp," the little girl didn’t look up.

"Knows what she wants too," Margot brushed her fines through the back of her daughter’s hair. "I’m thinking about having an appetizer. What about you?"

"Probably the sushi sampler," Jodi studied the menu item. It contained a single shrimp, octopus, eel and a roll of the following :tuna, salmon and mackerel. All her favorites.

"That does look good," Margot studied the appetizer section, trying to decide if she was going to go with the sushi or something else. "Is this spinning class of yours willing to sign on new members?"

"I’m in the intermediate class. You have to start with the beginner." She set down her menu and stared at the DA with a questioning look in her eyebrows. "Why?"

"I was thinking about joining a gym. I need some exorcise."

"You look great. A lot of my friends wants to know your secret for keeping your figure."

"They haven’t seen my cellulite," She turned towards the main entrees. "I also need some muscle tone. If it weren’t for my fat I’d be as skinny as Olive Oil."

Jodi snickered trying to imagine Margot that skinny. "Good thing you are not that skinny."

"I’d fall over," Margot laughed.

"Spinning is a good if you want tone your legs," Jodi brought the subject back around to the original topic. "I’ve been clocking in new record speed on my unicycle."

The corner of Margot’s mouth turned up into a weak and strange smile at the mention of Jodi’s unique hobby. She didn’t know anyone else in the city who could ride one and even if she did it wouldn’t be nearly as well as her nephew’s girlfriend. She had seen Jodi perform stunts she had only seen performed before in circuses.

"I hope you don’t practice in the park."

"I’m not stupid," Jodi almost used her annoyed at her mother tone of voice. "I usually practice on campus and yes I am aware of the stares I receive. I don’t care. Let them stare."

"It’s good you don’t let the opinions of others dictate how you act and think." Margot sat up and quickly shifted back into her cold heated DA image when the waitress came around.

"I’m Lily," The waitress was a young Asian woman who was dressed in a bright red kimono with a beige apron. Her glossy bluish black hair was styled into two buns on the top of her head. "I will be your waitress this afternoon." She set the glasses of water down "Can I interest you in something to drink and a appetizer?"

"I would like the sushi sampler and a diet pepsi," Jodi pointed out the item for her.

"I think I’ll share the takoyaki with my daughter," Margot requested. She never tried the fried octopus appetizer before, but it couldn’t be that much different than calamari. "I would like a glass of iced tea and a glass of milk for my daughter."

Lily scribbled their order downs while never loosing her exuberant smile. Margot’s icy stare did not appear to faze her.

Margot curtly thanked their waitress. "Are you going to thank her?" She smiled at her daughter.

"Thank you."

Margot waited for the grinning waitress to leave before she took a sip from her water. "The unicycle will be part of your talent for the pageant?"

"Everyone else will either be singing or dancing. I have an edge on them."

"I hope you have a careful edge," Margot’s tone became stern

"Keep it careful?" Jodi pushed back a stray crayon that rolled down towards her from the pile near Penelope. She watched as the crayon returned to the group before Penelope picked it up.

"You have heard about what had happened to some of the others?"

She nodded solemnly. "Bret told me about what happen to Apple Orchard’s dress."

"Did he tell you about what happened to Equinox in the park?"

"I heard one of the others got hurt," she blinked. "I didn’t know which one...or how badly."

"Minor abrasions on her palms, but they were deeper and wider on her knees and elbows. She had also broken her ankle."

Jodi studied the older woman’s face . "You don’t think it was an accident?"

"Equinox thought she saw a tree root but on a second look it appeared to have been a foot. Somebody is trying to sabotage the others."

Jodi felt worry wash over her. She was going to have to keep on her toes for the following two days, but another fear gripped her. What if any of the remaining pageant contestants were suspects. Did any one accuse her.

Margot seemed to have read her mind. "Don’t worry no one is accusing you. You have air tight alibis for both times when they were sabotaged. Bret was with you the night Apple Orchard’s dress was ruined and you had many witnesses to your location when Equinox had her accident."

She quickly finished her discussion when Lily returned with their drinks and  appetizers. She set their glasses down before she placed the two small plates down in front of both Margot and Penelope before she placed their still steaming takoyaki balls down in between them.

"Dipping sauce," she set a tiny bowl of reddish orange liquid next to their appetizers along with a empty bowl at the same time. "Or you can use the soy sauce." She plunked a small bottle of dark liquid down along with Jodi’s sushi.

"Look’s beautiful," Jodi complimented when she was given a another sauce bowl and a pair of chopsticks made of bright red polished wood.

"Arigoto," Margot nodded when she was given her chopsticks. They were not the cheap wooden set she had to break and rub together she normally received when she ordered out for Chinese food.

"And for your daughter." She set a pair of chopsticks with a rolled up piece of napkin in between them and a few rubber bands wrapped around them, keeping them bound. They were chopsticks easy enough for a beginner to use. "And you can keep them as a gift."

"Say thank you," Margot instructed when her daughter accepted the gift.

"Thank you," Penelope used the ends of her new gift to squeeze around one of the octopus balls before she picked it up and placed it on her plate.

__________________________________________________________________________

David Xanatos stood by the small orchestra pit where the musicians would play while the contestants would walk down the runway. He had to find where he would be sitting, but there was something he needed to do first.

"I love you Fox, but let me button my own shirt." He grunted as he undid the top button of his starched white shirt. If he was the only male judge in a tuxedo he was going to feel embarrassed. He loosened up his tie to the point where it wasn’t crushing his windpipe and traced his finger around the inside of his collar.

"Mr. David Xanatos," a warm and friendly voice spoke behind him. An attractive woman in her late thirties was dressed in a pale blue gown, contrasting slightly with her cocoa hued skin. "I am glad to see you here."

He shrugged. "No one seems to be focusing on us." He pointed towards the workmen checking on the lights reflecting down on them and a few others performing last minute check ups on the rows where the audience would be sitting.

"I understand. I just don’t know how many people here are anti gargoyles. I only know you and Stan Cunningham because yours sons are friends of Ruby." She resumed her grin. "And of course I know Travis Marshall."

"Looks like everyone had arrived," David said as he approached the long table set up for the judges. It was covered with a dark blue cloth with sharp hospital corner folds at the corners. Crystal clear pictures of ice water and drinking glasses were placed along with the name cards of the judges.

"It looks like I won’t be the only CEO amongst the judges," Ambrosia Leahs approached the two of them. She was wearing a pale green dress suit tight enough to constrict the size of her chest. Just the sight of her buttons pressing against her body all the way up her neck made Xanatos wince. Her hair was held in her usual bun and held with a round, gold barrette with three tiny emeralds. A matching emerald brooch garnished her right breast.

"Ambrosia Leahs," Xanatos smiled politely. "How has business been for you?"

"So polite to ask," her smile was more of a sneer. "You know we tend to compete at nearly every product."

"I believe you are crushing me in the home security division."

"Don’t be too smug," she half teased and half warned. "Soon I may be crushing you everywhere." She turned from him to the other woman who was staring at her the way a child would view the school yard bully. "And you are?"

Pearl felt like she had been reduced to the mere protozoa from her microscopic slides by the way Ambrosia addressed her. "I’m Dr. Pearl Callahan." She responded in a sharp and proud clip. She had her share of stuck up girls talking down to her before and she had quickly learned to regain her dignity.

"Dr. Callahan is one of the best biogenesis out there," David gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "She was a protégé for Dr. Sevarius."

"Really," Ambrosia’s tone of voice brightened. "I don’t know if you work for Xanatos or are freelance, but if you ever want to shop around for employment," she grabbed onto Pearl’s hand and placed a card advertising PrometheoTech into her palm. "Please give me a call." She continued her fake smile as she turned away from them and walked towards the other two judges.

Pearl stared at the card in her hand and blinked. "That woman...her hands were like ice."

"The temperature seems to drop whenever she is around," Xanatos agreed.

"Does she always appear so snobbish?"

"Only when she is out of her element. When she is at a business meeting or at her office she is a strict boss, and always an ice queen." He studied Ambrosia as she spoke with the others. He recognized the tan suit and dark blond and gray hair of Cunnihgham. The police commissioner was always grinning as if his teeth were too big for his mouth to completely cover them.

The second man was one he had never seen before. He look as if he was somewhere between thirty five and forty years in age and had a chubby build. His round head was covered with light brown hair that was thinning prematurely.

"Who is he?" Xanatos pointed at the mysterious man with a subtle nod of his head.

"He introduced himself as Brian Briggston. He’s a cooperate executive at the Mansion Desk Supply factory. They make pens, pencils, erasures, that sort of thin. He also owns a Barney’s restaurant."

"A young up and comer." Xanatos smirked.

"You don’t feel threatened do you?"

He shook his head. "Just someone I’d like to meet, but first I’m feeling a bit parched." He selected one of the sweating pictures of half melted ice water and poured himself and Pearl a couple of glasses.

_________________________________________________________________________.

Jodi didn’t allow any of the distractions to get to her, as far as she was concerned she was the only one in the room and when she looked into the mirror she didn’t see anyone, just her face covered with white strips stretched across the bridge of her nose, her forehead and and chin, and two smaller ones resting on the top of her high cheek bones. She never wore five of the pore strips at once, but she was tempted, especially after Bret had made a comment once about how they should just make a mask of that material that would cover the entire race.

Jodi did not know which one to peel off first but decided to remove the ones on her cheeks. She peeled quickly, cringing slightly at the sting before crumpling them into small paper wads and throwing them into the small wastebasket set near her chair. She peeled of the strips on her forehead and chin, followed by the one on her nose. The pain was brief and despite the small white bits of paper like material stuck to various places on her face she felt very clean.

"That did not look like it felt good," the red head next to her plugged in her curling iron.

"It was only brief," Jodi was thankful each vanity area came with a sink. She squirted a dollop of facial cleanser into damp hands and used the lather to scrub the garbage off her face.

"Just be glad you didn’t get a bikini wax," Red said as she spritzed on liquid gel through her hair.

Jodi turned towards her, eyebrows raised in shock. "You didn’t get a bikini wax for the pageant did you?"

The other young woman shook her head and laughed. "Oh no. I’m not getting waxed down there if I’m strutting around in a gown and a suit." Her fingers brushed over her deep gold satin gown. Only she and a few others were in their pageant gowns. "I have gotten it done in the past for last spring break and last summer."

"I can’t imagine anyone doing that to their bodies." Jodi stared down at the gown she was wearing. It was made of a light shimmery material and a shade of gold so pale it was almost white.

The red head nodded. "I just got my legs done for tonight. I was just pointing out there was worse pain out there."

"Like plucking my eyebrows," Jodi swept the cotton ball across her face before she picked up her tweezers. She took a deep breath and plucked the straggly hairs that stuck out the most from the rest of her brows.

Jodi glanced once over to the Red head next to her when she smelled the heated scent of sculpting gel and watched as she pulled the iron from her hair, releasing the long coil. Jodi knew she was going to have to take care of some last minute details at the pageant dressing room, besides changing into her gown and putting on her make up, but she took care of the rest a few days before. A few hours before Brett drove her to the pageant she had heir hair styled into a French twist with a few stray pieces styled into the same spiral curls as the red head. Jodi imagined herself walking down the runways, the lights shining down on her chestnut brown hair.

A small knock to the main door silenced the women.

"Are yous ladies decent in there?" A young man with a heavy local accent asked.

The woman with the phone glared at the door as she struggled to pull up the zipper in her back. "Some of us are just slipping into our dresses."

"Uh sorry. I just have to inform Miss Golden Leaf her Aunt Karen needs to see her."

The red head quickly un plugged her curling iron. "I wonder what she could want."

"I hope it won’t take too long," Jodi blended in the foundation beneath her collar line. "We are about to begin soon."

"Just have to slip on my shoes and reapply my lipstick." She smiled warmly at Jodi before slipped out of her seat.

___________________________________________________________________________

"She this a way," Davis pointed towards the hall way. "I asked her to wait near the pay phones." The Goth had dressed in the clothing of one of the security guards he and Gosford both managed to knock out. Upon Gosford’s suggestion he had darkened his skin to a faded tan. His hair was still as black as burnt toast. Nothing could be done about that.

"I hope she didn’t get lost," Autumn leaf sighed. "She is like that fish who can’t remember anything when it comes to directions."

"I have a cousin like that," Davis chuckled "She said something about wanting to give you a good luck charm."

"She tends to that also."

Davis grinned as he followed her. The vapid girl had no idea the surprise that was waiting for her. It was Gosford’s idea to take on the security guards and his idea to fetch one of the contestants and lead her to him where they will knock her out and stuff her someplace. That would make four contestants they had sabotaged and increased a win for Yvette. Davis didn’t’ mind the fact he had to be the one to single out Golden Leaf. It meant he had to walk behind her and that was a view he would have paid to see.

"Experiment," the dry crackling voice came out from the mens room. The door was opened a crack, giving whoever it was on the other end a good view of the halls without anyone seeing them.

Davis heard the dry voice as they passed by the facilities and turned towards the mens room just as the door opened and three things exploded out. They were all no taller than four feet and had hideous faces. The one that landed right behind him had a green face with a long floppy nose and was covered in thick, white fur.

"Shit!" Davis backed up, nearly knocking into Autumn Leaf. "Gosford!"

"What’s going on?" The red-haired woman turned around. Her curiosity was instantly replaced with fear. She didn’t know what the little creatures were. Each one was different. The was a furry one with a green face. One that looked like a emaciated anthropomorphic dog with no hair. The third was dressed heavily in denim and had large bat-shaped ears and a mouth that nearly took up the bottom half of his face. "What the hell are those things?"

Davis gritted his teeth. The little creeps Gosford told him about were not going to mess up their assignment. "Don’t mess with our turf." He didn’t remove his eyes from them as he gently nudged Autumn Leaf forward. "Find your Aunt and take her to safety."

"We are not interested in the female," the one with the dog face said.

"Speak for yourself," Bat Ears shoved him aside and strutted up to the humans. "She’s beautiful. Hey baby, ever done it with an immortal?" He grinned, exposing several rows of tiny sharp teeth while wiggling his large ears.

The woman stared at them wide eyed, her whole body shaking but her head was shaking the most, her wavy red tresses tossing form side to side. "This can’t be happening!" She shrieked before she turned around and r ran, stumbling over her own heels in desperation to get out of there.

"Don’t run!" Bat ears called after her. "I promise I don’t bite."

"Idiot!" The furry goblin struck him on the top of his head with a fat green fist. "We have a job."

"He’s getting away," Dogface gave them both a sour look before he ran after Davis on all fours.

Briggs was going to be pissed and Davis knew he was going to direct his anger at him and Gosford and not at the gang of creepy midgets who deserve his wrath. They were the ones who scared the girl off, unless they frightened her to the point she was going to drop out. It was the best he could hope for.

_________________________________________________________________________

Gosford was still waiting for him near the phones when he ran up. The man with bright colored hair stared at him in confusement, and had his arms folded across his chest.

"Where were you when I called you?" Davis shouted.

"What is going on?" Gosford asked. "Golden Leaf ran by here, noticed her aunt was gone and kept on running."

"Your friends are back," he pointed at the three goblins closing in on him.

Gosford felt his jaw drop when he saw what was chasing after the pale man. All three of them were about to close in on him but the dog like goblin was an inch away from biting his leg.

Gosford waited until the were running past him when he jumped out from the area and tackled the dog like goblin. The force of his jump sent them sliding into the wall .

Dog face snarled at his attacker while staring at the Goth. Their quarry was turning the corner with no intention of stopping. "Don’t stand there and help me. Get that experiment." He snarled at the other two goblins who quickly leaped over Gosford and resumed the chase.

"You guys have reached a new record for pissing me off," Gosford growled. "I don’t know what the fuck your problem is but you are not just fucking with me, but you are fucking with Briggs."

The goblin just laughed. "You mortals are quite amusing with your pathetic threats."

Gosford quickly pulled the gun from his holster. He knew he was going to have to use his gun sooner or later. "You may not know it, but I’m already tired of that shit!" He didn’t waste a second releasing a bullet into the goblin’s chest. The metal pierced through the soft skin and dug deep into it’s internal organs before it exploded out of the back, leaving a bright reddish orange stain on the wall. The iron in the bullet was enough to snuff out it’s immortality.

___________________________________________________________________________

The music from the orchestra on the other side the stage rose in volume with each announcement of the contestants. The silk screen blocking of most of the catwalks of the backstage from the main stage changed in tint as the over head light’s shining on it slowly shifted in color from golden orange to rosy pink to purple.

Davis clutched onto the metal floor of the cat walk. His face was against the metal, absorbing the coolness into the skin. With Gosford’s help he managed to shake the creeps and he was able to get away. He had lost them by the time he climbed the catwalk but he didn’t stop until he was in the middle of the path. He needed to catch his breath.

Why were they after him? It didn’t seem to make sense. Gosford had told him about the small discussion he had with the beasts, how they wanted to know what he was. They kept calling him an experiment. It was true he was a test subject. It was a good way to make easy cash ad it kept the Animal rights activists off the companies asses. He had no idea he was going to gain chameleon like abilities.

Davis slowly sat up, ignoring the various itches he felt throughout his body. That was another problem. Besides giving him the ability to change color he also gained a skin problem. It was constantly dry and irritated. He had scratched and rubbed many wounds on his body, but still his skin itched. He sought out various anti itch and moisturizing creams. He eventually had to go back to the labs and requested to solely test out possible anti allergy pills and salves.

"Miss Harvest Moon!" Travis Marshall called out on the other side of the screen. His voice, heighten by the microphone, echoed through the rafters. Harvest Moon was the fifth name called out in the first competition. The women just had to walk out in their evening gowns.

"Harvest Moon," Davis mumbled the name. Marshall had already called out Cashmere Sweater and Apple Orchard, along with South Migration and Hay Ride.

"Miss Back To School."

That was the sixth name called out and another name unfamiliar to Davis’s ears. He had to wonder where some of these women get the ideas for their names from. He hated having to stay until the last name was called, but he had to make sure Gold Leaf was scared off.

"Miss Cornucopia." Marshall did not loose any pitch, nor did he skip a beat.

"Yvette," Davis sat up even straighter. Their girl was strutting across the runway while the judges were scoring her. Briggs had told him and Gosford they won’t always be tens for Yvette, but there will be nothing lower than a seven. It was to hopefully shake off some suspicion.

Davis listened intently as the following names were rattled off: Pumpkin Patch, Family Gathering and Equinox. He smirked when Equinox’s name was called out and imagined she was limping across the stage with her cane and dressed in a gown long enough to cover her scabbed knees and sleeves that covered her elbows.

"And Finally Miss Crisp Breeze."

"Finally?" Davis slowly stood up. Did he hear right? Did Marshall call out the last name as the final one?

"The judges are now marking down their scores. The women will be back, after they changed into their business wear."

Davis closed his eyes as he felt the pressure filter out of him. The little bastards didn’t butcher the main plan after all. Gold Leaf was probably too traumatized to concentrate on the contest, possibly wondering if more of the little freaks were going to pop out and scare her. He could thank them, if not for the fact they wanted him dead.

___________________________________________________________________________

There was a time when Goliath hated to do a chore for Xanatos and even flat out refused, but that was before the clock tower was destroyed and he and the rest of the clan had to move in with the billionaire in their ancestral home.

The times have changed. Xanatos made good on his word and never used the clan for any of his scheming. Xanatos was able to plan hostile takeovers, but they were perfectly legal in the business sense.

The favor Xanatos asked him was to watch over the Autumn Queen Pageant from outside. It was almost last minute as the half the clan was preparing for their hunting trip up north.

"I wonder what they are hunting," Frank asked as he stretched out on his back. The bright green gargoyle found stakeouts to be the most boring of clan duties. He borrowed Rayne’s Gameboy advance and played a few rounds of Tetris before Goliath asked him to turn it off.

Goliath was more than eager to share some of the clan’s history. "When we took the hatchlings out to teach them how to hunt we found a variety of animals. Deer, rabbit, boar and numerous game birds."

"There is plenty of deer and rabbits upstate," Matt kept his eyes focused on the ground. The four of them took places on different sides of the building. "I don’t know about boar. As for birds I just think there are ducks and geese, but there is also plenty of fish."

"Yanno I never tried goose before," Frank rolled over and searched the ground for any trouble. He saw nothing and rolled back. "Does it taste anything like duck?"

"It is a lot like duck," Gloria made up the fourth member of the group. Jerry was the only weregoyle to go on the hunting trip. "Just as tender and sweet. My mother has a great recipe for goose with white whine. I’m going to ask if I can borrow it when I see her tomorrow."

_____________________________________________________________________

"Miss Harvest Moon!" The middle aged man held out his hand towards the stage as Jodi walked out in a wheat colored tweed suit. A belt of black leather was wrapped around her waist, locked neatly, but no too tightly by a curved crescent moon shaped buckle. The top buttons of her jacket were not done, permitting the audience and the judges to see her golden yellow blouse.

The lack of a scarf around her neck caught Xanatos’s attention more than Harvest Moon’s smooth walk across the floor. Most of the contestants wore a scarf around their necks and a couple wore them around their waist as a belt. He hated the look of the silk scarves as a fashion accessory. He had to give Harvest Moon a nine.

He held up his card showing his score to the people in the booth high above the audience. The would calculate into a computer where the would be added together.

Xanatos could not help to look over to the judge on his right. Briggston held up a similar card, but the number he held was a four? A four? Did he have such high standards?

"Miss Cornucopia." Marshall called out the next name. The contestants would not be coming out in the same order all the time.

Xanatos’s tan face blanched at the sight of not one, but two scarfs on Cornucopias business outfit. It was not bad enough her suit was bright yellow in color, but she wore bright red scarf around her neck and a black scarf around her middle.

He quickly scribbled down a five and held it up. His curiosity got the better of him and he peered to his right. The nine on Briggston’s card caused his dark eyebrows to rise an inch, but he reigned in his emotion. There goes his theory for the other man having high standards. He could have sworn the man next to him gave the same young woman a high score in the first event and everyone else had awarded scores of seven or lower.

The billionaire quickly grabbed one of the napkin’s and his pen. There was something dubious going on underfoot. Either Cornucopia works for Briggston, or her father had paid him to give her a high score. He had to get a message out to the other judges, unfortunately he wont be able to reach Ambrosia. The cold blooded woman was sitting on Briggston’s right side. He would be able to reach Pearl and Cunnighham. If Cornucopia did win the three of them could speak with the pageant organizers.

___________________________________________________________________________

When Gosford and Davis took the uniforms of the guards, they took everything: the flashlights, the weapons and the keys. The large rings of keys weighed down one half of Davis’s belt with the holster maintaining the balance. He thought the gaurd's gun was more impressive than the little child's toy he carried, but refilled it with the bullets Briggs gave him. He was afraid all the weight was going to give him plumbers pants syndrome at first. One of the keys was for the side exit.

"Now either I can go to the police and report the little freaks, or I can go home, take a shower, lotion up, and get some sleep." Both options were more than appealing. He could go to the police. Nobody knows what he truly looked like and with a shift of his coloration he could change his appearance, even his ethnicity.

He stepped out and into the alley, his large shoe landing in something soft and and pink. When he lifted his shoe, part of the gunk stuck to the sole while the rest seemed to stretch from the ground "Nice."

"I told the spriggan to not spit it out until we return to home," the answer came from a gravely voice Davis did not recognize. "It’s a pity ye are gonna die wi filthy shoes." The leader of the goblins raced forward with his knife raised high over his head. The blade pointing towards Davis’s stomach.

________________________________________________________________________

The unforgiving beams of light washed over Jodi’s body. She could feel her skin tighten while crystal droplets of sweat streaked down her forehead and arms. It was not just the heat of the lights or her nerves causing her to sweat like that. The constant pedaling of her legs increased the amount of perspiration. Thank God she chose a pair of sneakers and a leotard with a simple stitched on skirt as her costume. She would have fainted in anything else.

She had heard a few gasps from the crowd when Marshall had read her event out loud and if she was in the audience she would have wondered if she had heard the reporter right. She couldn't remember the last time someone rode out on a unicycle for their act.

Jodi had started her talent by racing out and riding around in perfect circles before she increased her speed and lend over to the right, her body was only a foot above the ground while pedaling around in tight circles. She added perfect spins, holding her arms out while she almost felt herself getting dizzy.

She saved her most difficult trick for last. She pedaled her unicycle to one end before turning around and bicycling towards the center at a top speed. Using every strength in her legs she managed to make the cycle jump up a few feet and spun in the air before landing and continuing to move. She rode back to the center before jumping off and grabbing the seat. With her had still clutching onto the vinyl she bowed.

__________________________________________________________________________

"Not again," Davis leaped away, but did not entirely miss being struck, the blade slid through the side of his jacket and cut through his shirt and skin. It wasn't deep but he felt the blood already begging to bead around the wound. He backed away from him, not looking where he was going and fell backwards over two other goblin like beings.

"Careful," The indigo goblin with greasy long hair down to the back of his feet said. He had feathers and leather cords worked into his slick mane with dreadlock like knots. He had a few leaves tied in along with the pull tabs of soda cans, shoe laces and cigarette buts.

"You better watch were you are going." The bright green one smiled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. Unlike the blue one he was bald and covered with bright red button like bumps. He reminded Davis of a peyote cactus. Like the blue one he was dressed in cloths made out of rags and scraps.

"You don’t understand," Davis quickly scrambled to his feet and backed away form them. "I didn’t want to be like this. I needed the money." He felt steam from behind him and turned around to see two more goblins trying to block his path.

"You were paid to be an experiment?" The grayish brown goblin asked, his voice was as dry as dead wood. His whole body looked as if it was made out of wood with branch like knobs, ending in leaf shaped tufts of hair on his head. His shriveled face developed even more wrinkles over his nose.

"I wasn’t paid to be a freak," Davis stared into Woodface’s hollow eyes and the glowing yellow eyes of the pale yellowish orange goblin. He was slick and slimy as a newborn child. "It was just to try out a few drugs for science. I had no idea I was going to have this skin."

"You don’t want your skin?" Redcap asked while waving his knife around. The tip was still stained with Davis’s blood. "Then let us take it."

Davis didn’t have to hear the threat to know the small gang of freaks were not going to let him live. He saw it in their insane grins and their eyes, wide with a homicidal desire. There were two things the altered human could do that would result in a high chance of him getting killed.

He decided on the third option and pulled his gun out of his holster and aimed at the nearest goblin. He didn’t give them time to react and squeezed the trigger the second it was extracted. The bullet struck the building an inch away from the green goblin’s skin.

Four of them scrambled from the where he fired his gun while the green one fell down and grabbed his side. The area around where the bullet knicked his thick flesh had become dark gray and dried out.

___________________________________________________________________________

The gunfire from one of the alleys ended the conversation. The four gargoyles rose to their feet and turned towards Frank.

"There is someone with a gun down there." the beaked weregoyle looked over the side. "There are four others trying to get away from him and I think he has shot someone."

"Why didn’t you tell us something was happening?" Gloria asked as she and Matt leaped over the side.

"I just looked a second ago," he held up his arms in frustration. "There was nothing there."

Goliath glared at him, ready to lecture him on not taking the eyes away from his protectorate for a mere second, but decided it had to wait until after they returned to the castle. He exhaled loudly through his nostrils as he dove down to the alley.

Frank was ready to let out a sigh of relief, but knew Goliath was going to speak to him sometime later. He pushed it out of his mind as he spread his wings and joined the others.

The alley wasn’t too narrow for Frank and the others to spread their wings to their full span.

The emerald green gargoyle glided straight for the gunman, only to slow down for a non threatening landing when he saw he was in uniform and had Security written on his hat in yellow.

"Sorry," Frank held up his hands as he gave the guard a sheepish smile. He wasn’t sure if the man was that pale because it was his natraul skin tone, or if he was frightened by him.

"First goblins and now gargoyles?" The guard groaned.

"Goblins?" Frank’s question was answered shortly after he had asked. He felt a small weight tackling on the back, but before he had the opportunity to remove it the creature had ran long claws down his back, right in the center between his wings.

"Son of a bitch!" Frank spun around and threw the creature on the ground. He briefly studied it, taking in the long hair, blue skin and how it opened it’s eyes a mere second after it struck the pavement.

The goblin hissed as it flipped over onto it’s feet. It immediately raced over to Frank, it’s long ivory white claws, six inches long, facing out.

Frank waited until it was inches away from him before he lashed his tail out, tip swept under the blue creature’s large feet and caused him to trip again. It didn’t even land on the ground . Frank punted, kicked it up into the air and brought his fist up as it descended down. His knuckles sending him flying up a few inches and into the path of the guard’s third bullet.

The bullet pierced through the goblins forehead and out the back end. A large piece of scull covered in flesh and hair of the scalp shot out, followed by a large squirt of blood and and tiny, gray bits of a sponge like material.

Gloria did not allow the sound of the third bullet to bother her as she danced around the slick orange goblin. It leaped around her, leaving clear sticky puddles to dry on the ground.

He hissed and leaped forward, not at the orchid hued gargoyle, but by her. As he anticipated her to try and grab onto him, but he slipped out of her clutches.

Gloria spun around and tried to grab onto his leg with her tail but even as the split end curled around the goblin, he managed to slip from her, leaving the end of her tail coated in his slick ooze.

Her eyes became illuminated as he tried to pounce on him. The little beast didn’t move he just stood there as she landed on him. She hoped her weight would have been enough to hold him, but he still managed to slip from her.

There was only one idea she had left and hoped the goblin was smug enough to think she was going to try to pounce on him again. She jumped onto the building next to the pageant theater and vaulted to the ground near the slick goblin. She glared at the goblin before she tackled him. He was still too confident. Like before she weighed him down, but before he tried to wiggle always she pushed her claws down on his arms and his feet. It felt like tearing through a clam, but she heard a few hisses from the creature’s mouth as she curled her talons deep into his flesh.

The flash of light against the metal knife of the lead goblin lured Goliath to him. The Red Cap knew there were gargoyles in the city, but they were not their quarry, not the target they wanted. They had to kill all the experiments. All the human like creatures enhanced by science.

"Leave gargoyle," the Red Cap grunted as he swiped the knife in a semi circle in front of him. "I have no quarrels wi yer kind, now leave me be."

"You were attacking this man," Goliath kept his eye’s on the goblin leader’s knife. The tip of it had already tasted blood and it was thirsty for more. The telling cap, stained to a dark reddish brown by many soakings in blood, informed him what kind of goblin he was against.

"He’s an experiment. He stands in our way of taking over the world."

The clan leader knew not to underestimate his fore, nor to provoke him, but he can’t believe a small group of goblins were going to take over the entire planet. "You and your friends are going to be able to take on the entire planet and all the human armies within?"

"Oberon and his ilk are home. He will not interfere. The rest of us are free."

"You won’t be for long," Goliath pointed at the rest of the goblins. The wooden one was walking strangely away from Matt while holding onto his head. The slippery goblin tore away from Gloria, long cuts traveled down his body and leaked a mixture of blood, puss, and ooze. The green one was still weak, but he was back on his feet and clutching onto his side. The dark blue goblin was dead, laying in a puddle of his own blood.

The Redcap stared at his wounded comrades and then into the glowing eyes of the gargoyles. "Retreat!" He barked the order to his men be for he swung the blade at Goliath , causing the large gargoyle to jump back. He glanced at his men and turned around to race after them.

"We are just going to allow them to leave?" Gloria asked still feeling the sticky and slick moisture of the slippery being’s blood on her talons.

"What are these things?" Frank kicked the corpse of the blue creature. The body rolled over to it’s side. The goblin’s dark hair, soaked with it’s own blood had concealed the fatal wound.

"Goblins," Goliath answered while he stared at the dead body. "Their leader was a Redcap. We wouldn’t have been able to kill them without a weapon of iron."

"Or a weapon that was an alloy with iron," Matt added. "Maybe we need to start carrying arms."

__________________________________________________________________________

Of all the times to have a craving for a cigarette and he was standing right below a no smoking sign. Gosford stared up the familiar symbol of the white cancer stick with a thin steam of smoke, sliced through by a crimson slash. His formed a sneer while he, absent mindedly, searched through his pockets.

"It’s filthy habit and you know it," the pale man limped up to him, chest still heaving from his recent escape. "There were more of those bastards out in the alley. I blew the brains out of one of them."

"Good for you," Gosford gave him a mock applause. "I killed the dog. Whatever these things are they are not immune to bullets."

"You are not going to believe what saved me. I ran off after killing this blue one with dirty hair. There are four gargoyles wrestling with the others."

"Those things are everywhere," his fingers brushed against a small package inside the pocket. It felt to small to be a packet of cigarettes but he pulled it out. He stared at the package of Wrigley's spearmint he had extracted. The mint gum wasn’t much but it would have to do in a substitute for his cigarettes.

"Those things saved my life." The sound of light applause brought his attention to the screen separated the two disguised gangsters from the stage. "What did I miss?"

"Miss Equinox was crowned Miss Congeniality."

"Not quite over is it?"

"Yvette and some other chick are the final two."

"Look’s like our hard work is paying off." Davis cradled his head with his arms. It wasn’t the most relaxing pose, but it kept his hands from scratching his skin.

"And now the moment you have been waiting for," Marshall’s voice carried out through the screen. Davis brought a finger to his mouth and hissed while Gosford nodded and slowed down the rate of his gum chewing. "The runner up is Miss Cornucopia. That mean’s the Autumn Queen of 2003 is Miss Harvest Moon!"

The roaring applause from the audience was only as loud as rain against the window to Gosford’s ear. His jaw had dropped. The piece of gum he had been chewing on fell to the ground.

"Shit," Davis stared at the screen, knowing Briggs is going to want a word with them, and he was going to be pissed.

_________________________________________________________________________

Jodi felt her heart stop the second she heard the name of the runner up. It wasn’t her name.

"That mean’s the Autum Queen of 2003 is Miss Harvest Moon!" Marshall read the name for the paper he held while three women surrounded the pageant winner. The first placed a silver plated crown topped with cubic zirconias on top of her head. The second pinned glittering leaves of red and gold to the sides of her head and the third set a sash made of shimmery material around her waist.

She couldn’t believe it. She was Miss Harvest Moon. She will be at openings of donut shops and sales at Bloomingdales. She would be the one who would oversee the halloween dance and ride on her own float during the Thanksgiving parade where she will inspire a future Miss Autumn Queen.

Tears of liquid crystal leaked from the corners of he eyes as she hugged the runner up and turned to the crowd. Bret was standing up in the front of the crowd yelling his head off in joy.

One of the judges seemed angry she had won, or maybe his face was sunburned. She never got a good look at it before. The ice queen on his right applauded politely while the other three were grinning.

__________________________________________________________________________

The rotting stench of the sewers was long ignored by the bat ear goblin. How the Mictlan  did they manage to not kill the experiment and end up having Baskerville murdered instead?

"It’s all your fault you know," the white furry goblin kicked a tin can, empty except for the tiny dried out bits of food clinging to the metal, around  the area that served as their home. Killing the color changing experiment would have been easy, much easier than attempting to kill the cat like gargoyles that lived further down the empty tunnels under the city.

"Don’t tell Redcap," Bat Ears did not look up.

"Don’t tell me what?" the Scottish goblin tumbled into their hovel. He was followed by the others. The green one was still limping before he sat down on  a pile or rags.

"Lousy gargoyles," the slimy goblin rubbed his arms and legs, the cuts he had endeared earlier had long healed.

"You are healed," Wood face told him.

"It still hurts."

"We would have gotten the experiment," Furry pointed at Bat Ears. "But he had to lust after one of the females and Baskerville was murdered by iron."

Recap glared at the sulking goblin. "We lost the Wichtlein." He quickly clenched his jaw and spread his arms. "After the Kostchichie has healed we will return to our native lands. We group wi our kind. When the lords come lookin' fer us we will be ready fer them."

_______________________________________________________________________

The clan managed to bring down two deer on their hunting trip, along with several rabbits and ducks. Cecilia managed to kill a goose while Rayne, Mercutio and Hudson caught several fish. The deer were cut up, cleaned and sealed in several, giant Zip lock bags and placed into the cooler that was placed in the back of the airship.

After they returned the next day Owen and several employees removed the stone gargoyles from the ship and set them in the courtyard and carried  three quarters of the hunted animals into the walk in freezer, including the goose. Owen figured it would have been perfect for the December feasts along with some of the venison and turkey.

Owen defrosted several fish, ducks, rabbits and a few stakes of the deer meat. He and Broadway would be cooking the meat that very night along with the vegetables the clan would bring in that night form the garden. He did have enough time to gather a few tomatoes, cucumbers. carrots and radishes and a head of lettuce to make into a salad and with the time remaining he would bake a few loaves of bread.

The second Broadway woke up he joined the disguised Fae in the kitchen and began lining cooking sheets with foil and placed a few rabbits in the large oval pot used for roasts. Like an artist with a pallet and brush he swept on sauces and bastes and shook and sprinkled several herbs and spices over the different meat dishes.

Elisa and Gloria also contributed to the cooking. Gloria did not bring one but several recipes from her mother. She had prepared several of the ducks and a few of the fish before Broadway placed them into the oven and Elisa began to chop the other vegetables as the clan brought them in.

With the extra help Owen was able to prepare the pies for later. He selected the fruit: apples, cherries, and blueberries and set them aside on the counter while he combined the ingredients needed for the crust

"Owen," Goliath stood in the entrance of the kitchen. "We need to talk."

"What has Alex done now?" Owen gave the dough one last roll with the pin before he set it aside and approached the clan leader. He had his sleeves pulled up to his elbows and hands coated in flower and tiny bits of dough. A streak of flour decorated his left cheek and he had to clean his glasses several times.

"This is not about Alex. This is about the third race."

A single eyebrow rose above the frames of Owen’s glasses. "All members of Oberons court is at Avalon as we speak."

"However, some of them do visit."

"When they have permission," Owen nodded in agreement.

"Including the goblins?"

Owen blinked and quickly removed his glasses. "Any particular kind of goblin? Hobs are still on Avalon." He quickly wiped the lenses with his tie before placing them back on his face. A white hand print was clearly seen on his tie.

"They all looked different, but the leader was a Redcap."

"A Redcap," Owen repeated, looking bewildered. "Most of the goblins are part of the banished, also known as the dark ones and the unseelie. Those have been cast out of the court and are not welcome on Avalon. Those who are against Oberon. We have a few names for them including the banished, the dark ones and the unseelie."

"Like the four sealed in interlocking prisons?"

"Likes the ones in Fox's dream."

"How many are there?"

"More than you want to know." He sniffed the air. The cooking food moistened the inside of his mouth and made his stomach grumble. "I have to finish with the meal." He ducked back into the kitchen. The look in his eyes were an open invite for Goliath to discuss the Dark Ones with him at another time.

Goliath inhaled the different fragrances and glanced at Elisa as she fished the turnips out of the pot and set them into the bowl for mashing. She looked so beautiful in his eyes and couldn’t wait to see her wearing her flower crown. He will speak with Owen another night about the goblins, but that night was devoted to the Harvest moon.