March Suggestion Story- Lexington's Revival (Patreon)

Brought to you by a suggestion from Connercoon, voted for by my $5 and $10 patrons! Lexington & Gargoyles (c) Disney.

 

It was late, probably less than an hour before dawn as the Manhattan Clan flew into the safety of their home, the clock tower above the 23rd Precinct. Everyone was in a foul mood; an attempted raid against Thailog and the clan’s twisted cyborg clones had gone badly, forcing the clan’s leader Goliath to order a hasty retreat. What had been a simple mission to find information on Angela, Goliath’s daughter who had recently gone missing on a mission, had ended in the most humiliating defeat the clan had suffered in a long time. The only good thing that could be said is that everyone got out of it alive, if not unscathed.

“Good going, Lex,” Brooklyn muttered darkly, cradling his arm; he had been cut badly. The brick-red gargoyle shook his head as Broadway grabbed some bandages. “How’re we supposed to take down Thailog if we have to waste all our time saving you?”

Lexington glared at Brooklyn, but bowed his head, ashamed. He had been pinned down by his double in Thailog’s clan, whose robotic limbs made him easily four times as strong as the lithe and short original. “I said I was sorry! I was doing my part of the plan, trying to hack into their computer.”

“Yeah, Brooks, it’s not Lex’s fault he’s… y’know, not strong enough to beat off a souped-up cyborg,” Broadway said. The thickly built gargoyle had just finished wrapping up Brooklyn’s bloodied arm. 

“We’ve been doing this for years,” Brooklyn snapped. “I thought we were supposed to be better at this.” Brushing back some of his long white mane, he glared down at Lexington. “Or at least, I thought some of us were supposed to be better.”

“That’s enough,” Goliath growled. Taller and stronger than any of the other gargoyles, his gravelly voice alone was enough to silence any argument. Lexington, however, shrank in his shadow. Goliath’s broad-shouldered and musclebound physique dwarfed him entirely. “This argument will get us nowhere,” the clan leader said, turning his hard gaze away from Lexington. “We’ve had worse fights, and tomorrow, we’ll figure out what went wrong with cooler heads.”

“We already know what went wrong,” Brooklyn shot back. “Lexington can’t fight to save his life!”

“Hey!” Lexington felt more wounded at that than any other barbs Brooklyn had thrown his way. “What’s your problem? Just because Thailog knows where Angela is, it’s no reason to bite my head off.”

Brooklyn snarled, shoving at Lexington. “Y’know what, Lex? If you're ever in charge, you can be cool as you want. But one of our own is out there, and she expects her clan brothers to do their part!”

“Enough!” Goliath stepped inbetween the two, his thickly roped arms tensed and swelled dramatically as he lifted both Brooklyn and Lexington off the ground in each hand. “In case you’ve forgotten, Brooklyn, Angela is my daughter. You’re not the only one concerned for her safety!”

He let Brooklyn drop, who took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.

Lexington, however, was still dangling in Goliath’s grip. This was even worse; Goliath could handle him like a rag doll. He tried to avoid the clan leader’s stony glare as the larger gargoyle turned to him. “And Lexington, you let your guard down. Perhaps you got overconfident; you know you’re not a match for Thailog’s clan in physical combat. You have to do better.”

Lexington frown dropped as he looked down at the ground. “Sorry, Goliath.”

“It’s mere minutes to daybreak,” Goliath stated. “Get to your perches, all of you.”

Broadway looked crestfallen, patting his round middle. “Aw, we don’t have time for a snack?”

“Now, Broadway,” Goliath snapped.

Lexington avoided looking at Brooklyn, slinking off to his own perch. As he got into position, he could hear Goliath and Hudson, the elder of the clan, talking about the battle; and he heard his name mentioned.

“...I don’t understand how Lexington could… what is the human phrase, drop the ball? I’ve not seen him so easily taken down in a long time.”

“Ah, he was ne’er the strongest amongst us, was he, lad? He was bound to trip up somewhere.”

Lexington felt like he had been stabbed in the back. Hudson had never spoken so harshly about him before.

“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think, Hudson?”

“Lad, you wanted my opinion, I’m givin’ it. No one can be expected to win every fight. I’m not sayin’ we give up on Lexington. He’s got heart, but if he can’t even get out from under Thailog’s thumb without squirmin’ like a mouse caught up in a cat’s claws, well… maybe it’s best he not be put in so many dangerous missions. He’s been slippin’, not trainin’ with the others, wrapped up in his books and computers. I says he not be let out on missions until we can know he can hold his own again.”

There was a silent pause. Lexington was holding his breath, waiting, silently begging Goliath to stand up for him. He heard the clan leader sigh. “Perhaps you’re right. We need to find Angela. That’s more important than Lexington’s feelings.”

Lexington felt his heart sink into his stomach. He didn’t have long to let it stew, as the first rays of the rising sun fell upon him, turning him to stone until nightfall.

When Lexington awoke with a rush of energy, bursting out of his stone shell, he found he was one of the last to wake; only Bronx was shaking stone flakes off his back, and rushed inside, his ears picking up a commotion. Lexington followed after, only to see the clan surrounding Angela, safe and sound.

“Angela!”

Goliath’s daughter smiled, waving to him. “Lex! I was wondering where you went to.”

“I’m so happy to see you safe,” Broadway sighed, holding her close. “We thought Thailog had you. We would’ve gotten a better idea last night, if…” he began looking over at Lexington, but then shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. You’re back home, now.”

Lexington’s face fell. He was still getting the blame.

Goliath came to his daughter’s side, grinning with pride. “You’ve done well. We were about to head out for a patrol, but if you would rather stay here and rest…”

“Are you joking? I spent three days skulking around back alleys and hiding in warehouses during the day. I want to stretch out my wings,” Angela said, throwing an arm around Brooklyn and Broadway. “And be around my clan again.”

Goliath grinned, nodding. “Then we’ll patrol the city, re-united.” The rest of the clan began to head for the rooftops, but Goliath hung back, his broad-shouldered, muscular body blocking Lexington. “Not you; not tonight, Lexington.”

“What? Because of last night?” The smaller gargoyle sank down a bit. “But Goliath, it was only an accident, a flub. It won’t happen again!”

“I’m not barring you permanently; but you’ve been sliding. Take this opportunity to train. Get your head straight. When you think you’re ready to resume your duties, I’ll have you spar with Brooklyn,” Goliath explained.

“With- with Brooklyn? Why?”

“If you want him to respect you again, he should see that you’re a fighter on par with him.” Goliath rested his thick hand on Lexington’s narrow shoulder. “You’ve done great things, Lexington, but the humans have a saying- resting on your laurels. Take some time to get back in shape, and you will be back where you belong. I promise.”

Lexington was still glum, already feeling the weight from Goliath’s hand on his lithe body. “...Okay, Goliath.”

The clan leader nodded with a grunt, then launched himself from the clock tower’s parapets, taking to the sky, and leaving Lexington all alone. He took to skulking, browsing through the small library the clan kept and muttering to himself. “Stupid Brooklyn… one fight, and he acts like I’m a hatchling…” Lost in his frustration, a familiar book seemed to be calling to him. Glancing over, Lexington saw the Grimorum Arcanum, a powerful book of spells, all the way from the mystical isle of Avalon, that the Manhattan Clan had taken under their protection.

Looking over his shoulder, just in case, Lexington lifted the heavy, dusty tome from its podium, and flipped through the yellowed pages before spotting a spell that seemed practically made for his predicament.

“The Strength of Armies… huh. ‘Word of caution: to wield the strength of an army, one must consume the same as one.’ Hm. Broadway does that, already,” Lexington smirked to himself. If he was going to have to spar, it only made sense to give himself every advantage, right?

“Uh… Robur Exercitus, Volo Eam?” Lexington held his breath, waiting for… something, and when he finally had to exhale, he frowned. Nothing. He had seen the Grimorum in action before, it was usually instantaneous. Maybe he needed to add a reagent, draw a circle, or…

“Augh!” Lexington grabbed his middle, feeling an intense heat rising up. Light and warmth spread through his body, energy building up in every limb, then he felt it released. His body was stretched out in every direction. By the time it had passed, he stumbled, knocking a few books to the floor, then leaned against the wall until he could catch his breath, and survey what had happened. His arms and legs had built up with new, sinewy muscle, and he patted his chest, now harder and wider. 

“Huh…” He held up his well-defined, newly muscular arms up to the light, chuckling softly as he saw how his biceps bulged. Then, his grin slipped off. “Uh-oh,” he murmured, feeling a second wind coming as he braced himself. The same rush of power flew threw him, and the gargoyle gasped as he jumped up in height a few more inches. His body filled out more, limbs roped with brawny muscle. His chest was now pushing a few inches off his torso, a defined cleft cutting through his new pecs. His thighs swelled as he stood up to his new height, trying to steady himself.

“Okay, okay,” he nodded, looking himself over. Only Goliath could be bigger than him, now. “This is what I’m talking about,” he said, as he held out his arms, letting his burgeoning flanks surge out at the sides almost as far as his wings. Then, he felt his limbs tense again. “There’s more…?”

Clenching his teeth, heavy muscle surged out from his body, pecs keeping his chin firmly pressed into their cleft with each breath as Lexington looked down at his own mustard yellow scales, rippling and stretched taut over his new mass. Neither arm would be resting against his sides ever again given the sheer width of his lats, the gargoyle now easily as wide as he was tall, if not wider. No neck was visible anymore, swallowed up by his chest and the rolling mountain range of his trapezius, terminating in shoulders that could have been mistaken for shields. His frame tapered toward the waist, slimming slightly as it reached legs just thick enough to strike some balance with his considerably overburdened torso. If not for the fact his back bulged out behind him his swollen chest might have sent him toppling forward. His tail swished about as he steadied himself, panting from the effort.

“Woah…” Lexington’s jaw dropped as he flexed his arm, biceps growing larger than his head. His smile was just as big as he felt the rock hard flesh under his fingers as he held his own chest, a tidal wave of muscle forcing his fingers apart as he tensed his chest, jostling his beefy arm. “I could get used to this.”

He then felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and once again braced himself. “Okay, come on, if I get much more muscle on me, I don’t know if I can bend my arms…” he screwed his eyes shut, tensed his limbs… then, nothing. The sharp pain continued, and his stomach growled. It took Lexington a moment longer to realize he was actually just hungry. Extremely hungry; starving, even.

Lumbering into the kitchen, his massive, pillar-like thighs rolling off one another, he tore into Broadway’s personal stash for the fattiest cuts of meat, pizzas, ice cream, hot dogs, and every other snack the heavyset gargoyle had been specifically warned by Goliath not to eat. Devouring every scrap of the smorgasbord, Lexington made a quick mental note to offer to replace all of it, then moved to the main fridge, shovelling any bit of food he could get his hands on, just to make the aching feeling of hunger pass; it was like feeding five of himself. Maybe somewhere in his vast musculature, the spell had added a second stomach. 

By the time he chomped on a single apple, the last edible thing he could find, Lexington was panting from his gluttonous rampage, cradling the mother of all food-babies as he had to tearfully bid farewell to his brick-like abs, now replaced by a round gut packed tighter than a spandex shirt on Broadway. Even his limbs seemed larger, if that was possible. Taking a few staggering steps, the gargoyle sank to the floor, and dozed off. He was only napping for a few minutes before he woke up, feeling twitchy. Unimaginable strength still surged through him, and he had to test it. Looking around the clock tower, a smirk slowly crossed his face as an idea dawned on him.

Towards the end of the night, Goliath led the clan back into the tower, keeping Brooklyn close. “...you can’t continue to be mad at Lexington. He’s not done anything to spite you, and regardless of who your mate is, he’s still your clan-brother. Just… try to go easy on him when he spars with you.”

Before Brooklyn could respond, one of the Clock Tower’s massive gears, three times Goliath’s size, was thrown from the tower’s rafters, embedding itself in the stone floor with a deafening crash. The clan leapt into action, bearing their claws as they braced themselves for a fight, only for Goliath to falter as he saw who had thrown the gear. “...Lexington?”

The massive gargoyle landed with a heavy thud, now looming over the rest of his clan; if not by height, then his sheer mass. Brushing aside Broadway, Lexington lumbered towards Brooklyn, thighs thicker than the red gargoyle’s waist rolling off one another as he approached, blocking out the light. His shoulders reached out farther than Brooklyn’s wingspan, a mountain range with his head at the peak. With his chest jutting out like a cliff, Lexington had to lean forward just to see Brooklyn. With a toothy grin, he swung an arm like a steel girder around Brooklyn, instantly pinning the smaller gargoyle between a peaked bicep like an oversized melon and a sheer wall of a tank-like middle, leaving him squirming helplessly.

“Welcome back,” Lexington rumbled. “You ready for our sparring match, Brooklyn?”