Gargoyles X TMNT: Shadows of New York

Friend or Foe

Elisa's finger trembled on the trigger.

The monster's pupilless eyes, with laserlike focus, seemed to zero in on this tiny movement, this whispering traitor to her fear. In return, her own dark eyes plucked the details of his mind with instinctive attention.

His tail hovered near his ankles. His wings were raised high. Somewhere, ancient human instincts told her what this was. It was a threat display. Like the raised hackles of a cat.

Was he afraid too?

She felt her elbows lock, refusing to obey her. Move. Move, damn you. She hissed to them. She had not heard or seen where the other ones had gone; the dog and the one with the sword. They were alone there, in the dusty skeletal shadow of the highrise's I-beam frame, surrounded by the shredded shrapnel of metal soldiers.

Exerting her will over her fear, logic wresting control from adrenaline's grip, she lowered the gun, pointing it down towards the dirt. "If you'd wanted to hurt me," She said quietly. "Something tells me you would have done it already."

Goliath's stomach turned and twinged, like a nervous snake in its burrow. A month ago. A thousand years ago. How much had changed? How much trust could he give to them again?

And yet...

Lower your claws. He snarled to that cynic in his head. Honor demands it. Do it.

With glacial measure, he slowly let his eyes fade down. His claws, almost reluctantly, came to rest at his sides. "You are wiser than most."

She still did not sheath that weapon. He still did not rise from his crouch.

"I take it these were not friends of yours." He tossed the question like a pebble into the water, as if testing her mind to see what lurked underneath.

"No." Elisa folded her sarcasm and tucked it away, her naked intent her best utility for such a delicate dance of words. "They aren't. The other creatures aren't anyone I know either."

"You came to their defense."

"I wasn't sure who to defend." She said, words tight.

"Nor was I." The creature replied. "But coming to their aid gives us commonality."

Elisa didn't scoff. But she didn't say anything to approve of his statement either. Her face was unreadable, unreachable. The resolute silver shield over her heart did not waver, even as the stone wall surrounding his did not yield.

"What are you?" She asked.

"Not your enemies." He replied evasively.

"You promise?" She lifted one eyebrow, a wary squint all that she gave. "Your word of honor?"

The monster seemed to choke on the sound of that word. Honor. He bared his teeth. "What do humans know of honor?"

Her lip twitched. Not with a laugh or a smile. With anger, like a suppressed snarl. "About as much as monsters do, I think."

"We are not monsters."

"If you aren't our enemies, and you aren't monsters, then I guess a better question is to ask who you are." She clicked the safety on her gun, tucking it back into her shoulder holster. Those hard, black eyes did not look away. They pierced his own dark gaze, bold and unflinching.

Goliath did not know what the click meant. But he knew what it meant to sheath a weapon. He returned the gesture, allowing himself to return to a relaxed posture. He lowered his wings, his tail grew still.

"By your kind, I am called Goliath."

-

The old one buried his claws in the brownstone brick, catching himself in their porous texture before he slid to the sidewalk far below. With the ease of a lizard scaling a tree, his claws pierced the stone and he ascended up the corner of the building. Shallower, thinner, a trail of clawmarks marked the passage left behind by his quarry.