Disclaimer: The characters in the story are not mine, save for the thugs. Note to you readers: Dislike this particular story of the plotline, if you will. I admit, when I looked back over it a while after writing it, I thought that I must have been crazy when I started it, so I'm not too crazy about this story myself, but it's part of the storyline, so here goes.
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I headed for a pay phone, put some change in it and dialed the number for the Amsterdam Café. I made a reservation for two people using Destine to identify it. I then called Nightstone Unlimited, to arrange for Dominique Destine to meet someone for lunch. I gave the secretary the name of the café and the time, then hung up, and headed back to the Eyrie Building to put on some shoes and my cloak.
At one o’clock, I stood in front of the Amsterdam Café, waiting for Dominique. I spotted her coming up the sidewalk. She didn’t look happy at being called to meet someone who didn’t leave her name. But I did it for a reason. I saw Dominique look up, see me at the entrance, and run the rest of the way up the walk, where she wrapped her arms around me in a hug.
“Jasmine, you're human. But… how?” Dominique exclaimed.
“Let’s go in and I’ll explain everything,” I answered.
We walked inside and I said, “Destine, table for two,” to a waiter. He nodded and led us to a reserved table.
“Why did you use my last name?” Dominique whispered after the waiter left.
“Can’t a daughter use her mother’s last name?” I shrugged.
Dominique looked shocked for a moment, then smiled. “Jasmine Destine,” she murmured. “It sounds beautiful. Now, how can you be human?”
“Well, it all started last night…” I began. I told Dominique about Puck and Alex’s favor to me, purposefully leaving out the part about Elisa. I didn't need Demona attacking Elisa out of jealousy. I told about the favor’s details and the events leading up to now.
“So you’re a gargoyle at night, but you can be human or gargoyle at sunrise.”
“That’s right.”
“This is great. Let’s go shopping while it’s still daylight.”
We left the restaurant, boarded a bus, and headed for the Upper West Side, where we shopped for hours. I bought something for everyone in the clan, as well as something for the Xanatos family, Owen, and Matt. I even ran into Kayla, a half-human, half-gargoyle, who was a friend of the clan. I told her about the favor done to me. Kayla said she would see me at the castle. Later, Dominique left for her company and I boarded a bus to go back to the café.
I headed back home at seven o’ clock, so I could change without anyone seeing me. As I walked through an alley, an arm shot out of the darkness and grabbed my arm. Turning my head, I saw a punk with three other punks behind him.
“Let me go,” I growled. “You’ll be sorry if you don’t.”
“Give us your money,” the punk holding me demanded.
“Not on my life,” I spat.
“Have it your way.”
Before he could to anything, a voice rang out, “Unhand her! And I mean now!” Then a shot flew through the air and detonated a trash can.
“I repeat. Let her go!” the voice demanded. The punk did so and he and his pals ran off.
“Are you all right?’ the voice asked.
“Yes, thank you. Who are you?”
“Can’t you tell from my voice?”
I thought hard. The voice did sound familiar. Where have I heard it? Suddenly, it hit me. Could it be? Only one way to find out.
“Are you Darkwing Duck?”
Blue smoke erupted in front of me. “I am the terror that flaps in the night. I am the jailer who throws away the key. I…am Darkwiiiiing Duck!” I was correct! The smoke cleared and there he stood!
“And who are you, my fair maiden?” asked Darkwing.
“You don’t know me?”
Darkwing studied my face thoughtfully. Then his face lit up.
“You’re Princess Jasmine from Aladdin!”
“Yes, I am.”
“I liked you performance in the movie. Especially your spirit.”
“I liked your cartoon show. You were great!”
“Yeah… well,” Darkwing was actually blushing.
I looked at the sky and saw that the sun was almost gone! I was going to change soon. But I couldn’t do it now. Not here!
“I…I have to go,” I said nervously.
“Why? We just met.”
“It’s almost nightfall.”
“What happens at nightfall?”
I hesitated. Should I tell him? What would he say? I decided to take the plunge.
“Just watch. You’ll see.” I took my cloak and shoes off and set them in a bag. I looked at the sky and it had just turned midnight blue.
I gritted my teeth as my hands changed into talons and my skin changed color. My wings sprouted from my back and my tail grew out of it’s tail hole in my pants. My legs grew further apart and clawed. My eyes glowed white, as I stretched and let out a jaguar scream. I looked at my friend and saw him look at me in shock and fright. I folded my wings, so to appear less frightening.
“Darkwing, it’s all right. It’s me. Jasmine,” I said to calm him down.
“What…are you?” came the reply.
“A gargoyle. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you. I mean, I didn’t want to scare you.”
“You didn’t scare me. Just startled me. I’ve seen weirder things.”
I let out my breath that I didn’t even know I was holding. Okay, so he didn’t seem to think that my changing into a gargoyle was weird.
I realized then that the clan was probably worrying about me. I needed to go back to assure them that I was okay and tell them about last night.
“I need to go home. Maybe you and I could see each other another time,” I suggested.
“Of course, but I’ll come to see you. Just tell me where you live.”
I pointed to the Eyrie Building in the distance. “There. In the castle at the top.”
“Okay. See you another time,” Darkwing promised, vanishing in a puff of smoke.
I grabbed the shopping bag with my tail and started to climb up the wall. Then, I let go and glided toward the castle. As I glided, I felt like the world was perfect. I did barrel rolls, spirals, and dives. I landed in the courtyard, where the clan was, after performing a perfect flip.
“Where have you been? We searched the whole castle and we couldn’t find you,” demanded Brooklyn.
I told everyone about last night, what happened at sunrise and all the way to present. I passed out the gifts, while I explained.
After everyone accepted my story, they asked me questions, as we headed inside the castle to watch television, take care of Rose, and have supper.
