Disclaimer: This story is a rewrite. The main idea is not mine, it belongs to Buena Vista and its writer, Michael Reaves. Some of the lines said, maybe not be exactly what was said, so please don't expect it to be exact. Now, here we go.
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It was a lovely spring evening. I stood outside near the railing of the clock tower. I waited for the trio to come out, so we could go to a movie. A few minutes later, Brooklyn, Lexington, and Broadway appeared.
"Let's go. We don't want to be late," Broadway called. Before the four of us could jump off the railing, we heard our clan leader, Goliath call, "Wait." We turned around.
"I need one of you to go with me tonight," Goliath said, eyeing each of us in consideration. He pointed a talon at me.
"Jasmine, you'll come with me," Goliath commanded.
I nodded in agreement and Goliath and I glided off to a museum (Author's note: I don't know what museum it was. If anyone does know, please tell me) by following Elisa's car.
Once the museum closed, Goliath and I slipped inside. We watched Elisa from the shadows. While Elisa looked at herself in a full-length antique mirror, we heard what sounded like Demona's battle cry. Goliath and I followed Elisa as she hid behind a corner, then she shined her flashlight on Demona and said, "Hold it! Police!"
Demona said something I didn't quite catch, but Goliath and I appeared when Goliath said that we could stop her. The three of us chased Demona through the museum, then Central Park, where we let her get away, due to the fact that she's a gargoyle and couldn't take her to jail. At least, we prevented her from getting the mirror she was after.
Goliath and I returned to the clocktower and watched TV with Hudson, Bronx and the trio. Awhile later, Elisa came up.
"Well, Captain Chavez just confirmed it. Demona was a decoy. Thieves took the mirror while we were chasing her around the park," reported Elisa. I couldn't believe it. It was a trick?
"I should have expected such deviousness from her," Goliath replied.
"So, how bad is it? What can she do with an antique mirror?" Elisa questioned.
"It's not just a mirror lass," Hudson answered turning the TV off. "It's Tatiana’s Mirror. Tatiana, Queen of the Third Race."
"Third Race?" asked a confused Elisa. I didn't blame. I was bemused also. What was the Third Race?
"You know. Gargoyles, humans, and Oberon's children," explained Broadway.
"I thought everybody knew this," added Lexington.
"Yeah, that guy Shakespeare wrote a play about them. A Midsummer Night's Dream," Brooklyn put in.
"Scotsmen called them the fey folk. The Vikings called them dark elves. They are changelings, shapeshifters. Creatures of pure magic and their possessions like the mirror are vessels of great power," the lavender gargoyle explained to Elisa and me. I wondered if Genie was a part of the Third Race.
"Wait, wait, wait," Elisa said with a hint of laughter in her tone. "Shapeshifters, elves, fairies: you mean they're real?"
"As real as I am," Hudson confirmed. "If the stories be true."
"Do you think Genie is one of them?" Brooklyn asked me.
I really thought about it this time. Finally I replied, "Genie may be a shapeshifter and have magic, but I don't think he's a Child of Oberon."
Brooklyn sighed, "Hey, wouldn't it be great to be a shapeshifter?"
"We wouldn't have to hide. We could fit in anywhere," Lexington fantasized.
"We could find new friends. Maybe even love," Broadway put in.
"Be careful what you wish for lad," Hudson cautioned.
"Look, the main concern is getting the mirror back from Demona," Elisa said, getting back to the main topic.
"Elisa's right. No telling what Demona might have planned," Goliath agreed.
"Then, let's go get her," Brooklyn growled. I think Brooklyn has a grudge against Demona for some reason other than what she did to me, but he won't tell me. The other clan members won't tell me either. I guess I'm better off not knowing. Besides, what Demona did to me should be my grudge. But I don't hate Demona like Brooklyn does.
"Now, wait. First we need a plan," Goliath said thoughtfully.
"Right. But...Mirror or no mirror, Demona's no match for us together. We just have to wait until she makes her move," Elisa answered.
No sooner had she said this, then a green glow surrounded Elisa and she was lifted into the air.
"Elisa," cried a surprised Goliath.
As we watched, blinding flash filled the tower, causing us to look away. When it had passed, Elisa had become a gargoyle!
While the clan stood in shock, Goliath went over to Elisa and grasped the claw on one of her wings. She turned to Goliath, then smiled happily. She threw her arms around his neck.
"Goliath, this is wonderful. You've been changed into a gargoyle," Elisa said.
"What?" Goliath replied, confused.
The rest of us were confused, too. She had clearly been magically brainwashed of her human existence. I made a note not to get brainwashed like that. Magic or otherwise.
"We've always been gargoyles," Goliath said, looking at me to play along. I nodded, knowing I would do anything to help Elisa remember. "You're the one who's been changed. Probably by Demona and the Mirror."
"I've always been a gargoyle. I'd think I'd know if I wasn't," Elisa said in a confident, sharp tone. Goliath had a look of surprise and shock on his face.
All eight of us moved outside. Goliath decided to jog Elisa's memory.
"How did you first meet?" he asked
"I fell off a skyscraper and you glided down and caught me." Elisa answered. Apparently, she remembered meeting Goliath as they really did meet.
"Think. If you've always had wings, why did you need me to catch you?"
"I can't glide with these. Can I?"
"Yes, you can." Goliath took Elisa's arm and glided off the clocktower with her. The clan and I watched with wonder.
"Let's follow, but keep at a safe distance," Hudson suggested. The rest of us jumped off and followed.
We followed Goliath and Elisa around for about an hour. Afterwards, we all landed on a rooftop.
"Did you see? Everyone in Manhattan's been turned into a...a human!" cried Elisa in complete shock and horror.
Goliath repeated "no" several times while covering his eyes with one hand.
"Look!" exclaimed Hudson. He pointed to the Twin Towers. Seconds after we looked in that direction, there was the same flash of light that happened an hour ago.
"What was that?" asked Elisa.
"It could only be Demona," answered Hudson.
Goliath and the clan glided toward the building. As I followed, I heard Elisa call, "Wait." I expected her to be gliding after me, but she didn't. I guess she didn't quite pick up on the gliding yet.
As we got closer, we could see Demona with the Mirror and a fay. Hudson charged at Demona, but she pushed him off.
"You're too late this time, old solider!" Demona exclaimed with glee.
"You can't fight us all, lass," Hudson answered back as the rest of us landed.
Demona looked at the sleeping fay and said, "Curse you Puck. This is no time to sleep." She grabbed the fay, then threw the mirror off the roof and glided away.
"The Mirror!" cried Goliath.
We stood there in shock. Only Hudson reacted quickly enough to glide down and catch it. We glided after Demona and a minute later, Hudson joined us.
Looking down, I saw the whole city had been turned into gargoyles. Just like what happened to Elisa.
"Jasmine, you better check on the Castle of Lions," commanded Goliath, who was gliding next to me.
"Right," I agreed and glided off towards the quiet southeast part of the city. I reached the castle and stepped inside through one of the windows.
"Hello? Keith? Allura?" I called, hoping to hear someone.
"Jasmine? In here," called Lance, in a quiet tone. I followed the voice to the Lounge room and when I walked in, I saw just what I expected. The Voltron Force were gargoyles. Of course the males got used to it. It's happened before, but poor Allura had fainted when she saw herself. Also, the whole castle was not brainwashed, which was peculiar. After the force assured me that they would be all right, I headed back to the clan.
I found the clan on a rooftop. I landed and told everyone that the our friends were all right for the time and had clear memory of what happened.
"All right, we've got the Mirror, no what?" asked Brooklyn.
"That was one of Oberon's children with Demona. No doubt about it," added Hudson.
Goliath exhaled loudly as he said, "She called him...Puck."
"In Shakespeare's play, Puck was a harmless trickster," Elisa said.
"What happened below wasn't harmless," Goliath remarked. He walked to the edge of the roof. "We must continue our search for them." He jumped onto the ledge. Elisa looked down.
"I'll never get the hang of jumping off rooftops," she commented.
"I'll always be there to catch you." Goliath glided into the wind and turned to face Elisa.
"See? It's easy."
Just then, light shot out of the Mirror and struck Hudson, followed by Lexington, Brooklyn, Me, Broadway, and Goliath.
I was momentarily blinded, but my vision came back. When I looked around, I saw that the clan was human. I looked down at myself and saw that I was human, also. I was human again! I seemed to have remembered being a gargoyle, probably because I was born human. I would make sense why I remembered all this. I then noticed Brooklyn near Elisa and forgot about my thoughts for a moment. 'Gosh, Brooklyn looks good as a human,' I thought. 'His hair, his skin...'
As I walked to the group, I heard them saying that they've always been human. I knew this wasn't true. So did Elisa.
"You were never human. You've always been gargoyles," I spoke up in an insisted tone. I was reinforcing what Elisa had just said, but differently.
It must have sunk in with Lexington because he interjected with, "We had to have used wings, how else could we glide?"
"Elisa's right. We're supposed to be gargoyles and we're not. Everyone else should be human, but thanks to Demona and Puck, they're not," Goliath said, grasping the situation.
We moved down to the streets to find Demona. I felt a certain responsibility to the clan, probably the gargoyle desire to protect. In the whole city, Demona and I were the only ones in our true forms. Or was I? Was I really human or gargoyle? I wasn't sure anymore. The clan, Elisa, and I walked down the sidewalk, scaring all of Manhattan while we were at it.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" questioned Hudson.
"No doubt Demona did this to make us vulnerable to her attack," Goliath replied. "Our only chance is to keep the battle here on the ground. Where her wings will be of no use."
We ran to the outdoor cafe of Rockefeller Center. Once on the lower level, Hudson set the mirror down, which I noticed for the first time, was wrapped.
"Unwrap the mirror," Goliath asked. As Hudson did so, there was a beam of green light and Demona with a laser gun came through the mirror along with Puck. Demona let go of Puck and fired a laser blast at the clan. We all got out of the way. I rolled into the dark shadows of the cafe.
The laser shattered the display window of a store that had swords, shields and other weapons. The weapons fell out of the window and onto the cafe floor. Goliath picked up a sword and shield while Brooklyn grabbed a mace, Lexington grabbed an ax and Broadway got a long handled ax.
"I would know you no matter what your form, Goliath," Demona said in a harsh, evil tone. She fired at Goliath, who deflected it with the shield. Demona glanced at Hudson and the trio.
"Take care of them, Puck," she ordered.
"As you wish," Puck said. He flew out the trio's reach, then chanted, "Humans love a battle hearty, so does Puck. Come on, let's party." With that he turned Broadway's ax into a giant sunflower, Lexington's ax into a buzz saw and Brooklyn's mace flew into a umbrella with him still holding on to it. He also turned the concrete Hudson was standing on into tar.
While Puck watched, Bronx came running up behind, still a doggoyle. Puck whirled around. "Let's improve your looks," Puck said turning Bronx into a fierce dog. "Oops. Should have tried a Chihuahua."
Puck ran with Bronx close behind. Puck cut the sunflower from it's base with one very quick leg kick. The sunflower's stem caught itself in the buzz saw as it fell. Brooklyn got out of the umbrella and joined the other two in the battle. Hudson was still stuck.
Demona had Goliath by the neck and had lifted him off the ground. "Now, to end this farce," she said, obviously taking great joy in this. The trio wouldn't be able to stop Demona from killing Goliath in time. It was up to me.
Crying, "NO!", I tackled Demona, releasing Goliath from her grasp. Demona and I tussled against one another, and then Demona threw me to the ground. I hit the ground face first.
I recovered and saw the trio had tackled Demona and had her pinned. I stood up and went over to Hudson. I held out a hand. He grabbed it and I tugged, while he pulled. Finally, Hudson was free. He got hold of an empty garbage can and quietly sneaked up behind Puck, who had Bronx in front of him. Puck soon found himself trapped in a can.
"Party's over," Brooklyn declared.
Using the mirror, the clan, Puck, Demona, and I were transported to the top of the Twin Towers. Demona was in chains.
"It ends now...Puck," Goliath said. "Change everybody back to the way they were before Demona summoned you. Do it and you win your freedom." I wanted to say that Puck shouldn't change me back into a gargoyle, but another part of me told me to keep quiet. And I did, though I don't know why I listened to that part of me.
"It will be my pleasure," Puck answered. "but afterwards, I'm going to need a very long nap. First the humans I'll attend." Magic from Puck flashed at the Mirror, then off the rod of the Twin Towers behind him. Beams flashed across the city. Puck looked behind him at Elisa and grinned. Magic struck Elisa and she was human once again.
Goliath helped her to her feet and they stood there together, hand in hand for a brief moment. Magic then hit Goliath, sending him flying back towards us.
"Then the gargoyles will I mend," continued Puck, as the clan was changed back. "It is effort you commend. Free Puck. Let him homeward wend." He floated in front of Goliath, who broke the chains that bonded him.
"You're fee," Goliath said. Puck flew to where Demona was, grabbed her by the chains and flew into the mirror with Demona. The mirror disappeared in a flash of light.
The eight of us returned to the clocktower. Once we were back, we mildly discussed what happened.
As I fastened on my amulet, Brooklyn and I discussed our previous adventure by ourselves.
"Jasmine, may I ask you a couple of questions?" Brooklyn asked.
"Go ahead," I said smiling.
"Do you think you're related to Goliath?" Brooklyn asked, startling me.
"Why do you ask?"
"Just because your skin is so close to his," answered Brooklyn.
"I might be related. But it's probably just a coincidence."
"Okay, next question. I think you were beautiful as a human. I think I'm in love with you. What about you?"
I was surprised. Brooklyn loved me? Well, I certainly couldn't lie to him. After all, he admitted his true feelings to me. And I couldn't see Aladdin ever again.
"I thought you looked good as a human," I answered. "I think I love you, too." There, I had said it, and it felt good.
"Sunrise is coming. We need some rest," Goliath interrupted.
"I'll be watching the tower today," I informed Goliath. He nodded and the clan poised on the rail. Goliath faced Elisa.
"Elisa? I..." Goliath started.
"Yeah, I know. You're as relieved as I am that things are back to normal," Elisa interrupted.
"That's not what I was going to say-," Goliath began again, but Elisa put a hand over his mouth as he turned to stone.
"I know, but that's the way it is," Elisa finished. Elisa looked at me. I was standing in the doorway.
"Do you think he knows-," Elisa said, her voice trailing off as she looked back at the stone clan leader.
"Yes, I think he knows how you feel about him," I answered.
Elisa then left the clocktower to go home and get some sleep. I watched her leave, then went inside to sort of my thoughts of why I didn't say I wanted to stay human, my possibly love toward Brooklyn, and the whole mirror incident as well as getting some sleep.
Next story: A Gargoyle Christmas.
