Gargoyles X TMNT: Shadows of New York

Chasing a Shadow

It was a different world, below. He couldn't help but feel the height of the skyscrapers pressing down on him, the towers looming above him. Scotland never did have trees, let alone towers, so frightfully huge. He felt like a feeble hatchling in the shadow of his elders. He felt like he drowned in their height, their mass. It felt much like being caught between two enormous cliffs, trapped at the bottom of a chasm with no way up. He wanted to sink his claws into stone, escape to the air, but there were people everywhere he looked.

The human had left him soon after they'd returned to the surface, and he was beginning to wish he hadn't. Shielded even as he was by this guise, it felt as thin and fragile as the bottom of a paper boat, drifting through the gutters of this cold and foreboding jungle of stone. It seemed only a matter of time before its waters eroded him and exposed him.

God, he felt so exposed down here.

Exposed, as well as hungry. He felt his stomach clench and grumble, regretting the long-lost franks he'd gorged on at the stadium. His brain still throbbed, his mouth still dry. Nausea nibbled at his throat, even as hunger nibbled at his stomach.

He stood at the corner, claws pulling that ratty, smelly blanket tighter over his caped wings, and he sighed. Just then, beyond the stink of the human clothes he wore, he smelled something heavenly. Something incredible. Something so far beyond anything he'd ever experienced, that he couldn't help but turn his head.

Idling next to him on the street, bleary-eyed and yawning, was a man astride what must have been a steel horse. His little brother knew the names of the machines in the new world, but they were still foreign to him. The man yawned and stretched, waiting at the red light, as the rumble of the engine shook open a stack of boxes behind him. The cardboard flap waved to him, beckoning. Inviting him closer.

He licked his lips. He found himself walking forward. "Excuse me, human?" He asked, voice soft and hopeful.

The dude on the bike looked over at him. And then his eyes seemed to climb the gargoyle's height with rising awe and dread. The man's mouth went dry, eyes boggled by the size of the homeless man who addressed him. Traffic rushed along in front of him, cutting off any odds he had of running away. "Uh... I-I don't have cash on me, man. I just started my shift, and I can't have a short balance. You gotta step away, guy."

"I wanted to ask about the food you have on the back of your... uh..." The gargoyle gestured to the cardboard boxes. The man's eyes bugged out of his head when he saw the enormous, kitchen-knife claws extend from the folds of the filthy blanket.

"Have it, man! It's yours! I quit!" The man squeaked as he lifted a hand and swept it off the back of his moped with a fearful shove! The light turned green, the cars honked and drivers swore as the man on the moped sped off, leaving crumpled boxes of this strange delicacy on the street.

"Oh!" The gargoyle was surprised by the human's friendliness. "Thank you!" He called. Ignoring the honking cars, he scooped up the boxes and retreated to the sidewalk. He sat down cross-legged, tail folding over his knee. He tugged the blanket over it, and opened the box. He peered curiously at it.

He lifted out a slice of pepperoni pizza. Sniffing it cautiously, he felt his mouth ache as it watered. Hungrily, he shoved it whole into his mouth, and in a moment he knew his world had changed forever. Mind blown by the cheesy, gooey, savory flavors of the sauce and the cheese, the delicate crust crunched between his enormous fangs. Handful after handful, box after box, he shoved more pizza into his mouth.

"Dragon's breath!" The gargoyle sighed, wiping cheese grease off of his chin. Years later, he would tell stories about the most delicious pizza he had ever had in his life. Tonight, he was less worried about his hunger and more worried about his clan.