02x34 - Mark of the Panther

[bunniefuu]

GOLIATH: 1, 000 years ago, superstition and the sword ruled.

It was a time of darkness.

It was a world of fear.

It was the age of gargoyles.

Stone by day, warriors by night.

We were betrayed by the humans we had sworn to protect, frozen in stone by a magic spell for 1, 000 years.

Now, here in Manhattan,

the spell is broken and we live again.

We are Defenders of the Night.

We are gargoyles!

GOLIATH: Previously on Gargoyles...

MATT: Why did you keep me in the dark for so long?

ELISA: It's not that I didn't trust you.

I guess I just didn't want to share them.

It made me feel special.

Angela, I've told you before...

You and your rookery brothers and sisters must look on the whole clan as your parents.

That is the gargoyle way.

You never told me that you and Demona were once in love.

It doesn't matter anymore.

It matters to me, Father.

[PANTHER GROWLS]

[GROWLING]

[g*ns FIRE]

[BIRDS SCREECHING]

[ALL SCREAMING]

[GRUNTS] Where are we?

In big trouble!

[ALL SCREAMING]

[GRUNTS]

[WATER SPLASHES]

[GASPING]

[ALL PANTING]

Now, where are we?

I've never seen trees like those before.

[MONKEY SCREECHING]

[GROWLS]

Could be Africa. My Mom's ancestry is Nigerian, and we went there once.

You're lucky.

My father never wants to talk about himself, or my mother.

You have many mothers and fathers!

You're the child of the entire clan.

But you're my biological father!

[GASP]

Why would any hunter take an animal's skin, and leave the meat behind?

Poachers don't care about the meat.

They get rich selling the skin, teeth and claws.

Maybe that's why Avalon sent us, to stop this disgraceful thing.

DIANE: The Panther Queen was the most beautiful creature in the jungle.

Her fur was soft and shone with the blackness of a moonless sky.

Her claws were razor sharp, and her teeth huge and white.

But she was also very vain, and careless.

She mocked the hippo.

She mocked the crocodile.

And then she made the mistake of mocking Anansi the Spider.

Anansi wove a magic spell into his web that transformed the Panther Queen into a human female.

Gone were her beautiful black fur and sharp claws.

And when she opened her mouth to speak, she had no fangs, but puny little teeth.

The Panther Queen begged Anansi to return her to her proper form.

But he would not.

She threatened to k*ll the little spider.

Anansi just laughed at her.

Creatures such as he cannot die, he said.

But he agreed to change her back if she would build him a great city shaped like a giant web.

The Panther Queen knew she would need help, so she married the oba of the Hauka Tribe.

The oba was very good to her, and they had many strong sons and clever daughters.

But the Queen never forgot her true form, and longed to race through the night in her beautiful panther body.

In time, they built the city of Kara Digi.

Anansi was very pleased.

When the Panther Queen came to him, he wove a spell giving back her beautiful black fur, sharp claws, and shining teeth.

But Anansi had tricked the Queen.

For now she was lonely, and she missed her human children.

She asked Anansi to turn her children into panthers, so they could run with her through the dark nights.

The Queen showed him her broken heart and finally he agreed, but with a price.

The spider would let her have one and only one of her children, if she hunted for him.

So the Panther Queen hunted for Anansi and brought him food.

And Anansi became fat and happy.

The Panther Queen made her mark on her oldest son, who was the wisest, bravest and most handsome young man of the tribe.

But the selfish Anansi did not want to let his favorite subject leave.

The trickster told the Prince of his bargain with the Queen.

The Prince did not want to become a panther.

He asked if there was any way to escape this fate.

Anansi told the Prince to k*ll the Panther Queen.

The Prince was young and very angry. He hunted the Queen.

But when he found her, looking into her great, golden eyes, he remembered the sweet voice and gentle hands of his human mother, and realized that she had chosen him out of love.

He loved her, too, and could not bring her to harm.

So Anansi was forced to change the Prince into a panther.

Anansi was so furious, he banished all the humans from Kara Digi.

[LAUGHS] But that was foolish, because now he had no one to tend his needs.

And so the spider went hungry.

[ALL LAUGHING]

ANGELA: Is that woman the queen of this tribe?

Or is she their Magus?

Actually, Angela, that's my mother.

Come along, my child. Come, come, come.

It's time to go now. Come.

FARA MAKU: After the feast, we'll free the ceremonial panther in honor of the Panther Queen.

Well, Fara Maku, how did I do? I've been studying for months.

That was one of the best tellings I've ever heard.

You do us proud, Diane Maza.

ELISA: Especially for someone born and raised in New York City!

[GASPS] Elisa?

Oh, Elisa! Thank goodness you're all right!

Why did you just disappear?

We've been out of our minds with worry!

I'm sorry.

Would you like to explain what you are doing in Africa?

I'm, uh, here on a case.

Oh, please!

Why doesn't Elisa just tell her?

Elisa does not like to share her secrets.

But she should not keep this from her mother.

You're right.

Parents and children should always be able to discuss anything.

Nobody move!

[MONKEY SCREECHES]

Tea? What are you doing with these men?

Only what must be done, Fara Maku.

[GROWLS]

This pelt will bring many naira.

[GROWLING]

We've got to stop them.

We do not want anyone getting sh*t.

Give Elisa a chance.

We don't want any trouble.

Step away from the cage before someone gets hurt.

Is this what they've taught you in the big city, Tea?

Stay back!

You have no idea what happened to me in Abuja.

That panther's going to die, and if necessary, -so will every panther in the jungle! -[GROANS]

Ah, let's get rid of them all. We don't want no witnesses.

[GROWLS]

[GASPS]

[GROWLING]

It was you!

[GROWLING]

[g*n FIRES]

Now we're even.

[g*n FIRES]

No!

Deal with them. That panther is mine!

[MONKEY SCREECHES]

Say bye-bye.

GOLIATH: Bye-bye.

Ahh!

[SCREAMING]

Going somewhere?

[BRONX GROWLS]

[GRUNTS]

ELISA: Easy. You don't wanna anger my friends, do you?

No, ma'am. Not at all.

You know these monsters?

They aren't monsters, Mom.

They're my friends, Goliath, Angela, and this guy is Bronx.

Your friends?

And how long have you been keeping this secret?

[STAMMERING] No, that's not important now.

Didn't we just see your friend turn into a panther?

I don't know what I'm seeing!

I thought the legend was just that, a story.

GOLIATH: Most legends contain a seed of truth.

True or not, we need to protect Fara Maku from that Tea person.

[GRUNTS]

Angela's right. You better go back to the village, Mom.

While you go chasing an armed woman and a wounded panther through the jungle at night?

I don't think so.

[g*n COCKING]

[PANTHER CRIES]

Fara Maku!

I loved you once, but for what you did to me, you won't live through this night!

[SCREAMING]

No one dies tonight, poacher!

No! He's getting away!

GOLIATH: Stop struggling! You will not escape!

[GRUNTING]

[SCREAMING]

[PANTHER GROWLS]

[GASPS]

[GASPS]

[SCREAMING] [SNARLS]

[GASPS] Look, over there.

She must have caught Fara Maku's scent.

How will we track them in there?

We'll use our secret w*apon.

[SNIFFING]

Are you sure he knows what he's doing?

[GASPS]

The Spider Gates of Kara Digi.

I can't believe they're real.

Then again, reality's gotten awfully strange, lately.

[SNIFFS]

[WHINES]

They must have taken different paths.

The four of you go that way.

Take my Mom with you. She'll be safer that way.

And who will look after you?

I can do that myself now.

I don't need looking after.

Of course not.

-[GROWLS] -Bronx, no!

[GROWLS]

Hold still. You're only making it worse.

[GASPS]

[ALL STRUGGLING]

There! There's one of them!

Diane, no!

[DIANE GASPS]

[GRUNTS]

ANGELA: Ready? Now push!

DIANE: Can't you fly us out of here?

Even if I had room to spread my wings, I can only glide.

Hold on to me.

Spiders! Why did it have to be spiders?

ELISA: Aw, yuck. I hate spiders.

I'm just glad my Mom didn't see us get caught in that web-trap.

I'd never hear the end of it.

You're lucky.

I wish Goliath would talk to me the way your mother talks to you.

No, you don't. She always wants more.

More time, more details, more... Honesty.

And you think that's a bad thing?

Angela, she's your daughter?

Biologically, yes.

But gargoyle hatchlings belong to the whole clan.

She is demanding special treatment from me, but I cannot favor one hatchling over the others.

All children demand special treatment at times.

It's natural.

And Angela is the only hatchling with you.

[CHUCKLES EVILLY]

Yes, I know...

Company is coming!

[GROANS]

Now it ends!

[SCREAMING]

[BRONX GROWLING]

[GRUNTS]

Why are you hunting Fara Maku?

Ask him. He knows.

I loved you.

Loved me? The day I left for Abuja, I was att*cked by a panther.

I wasn't hurt, but it marked me.

Living in the big city was hard, full of frustration.

And every time I got angry, I turned into a panther!

Love. Your love made me a freak!

A half-animal with no hope of a normal life!

Your life was here with me.

I loved you! I couldn't let you go.

That's not love, Fara. That's selfishness.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

Wait a second. You marked Tea, but who marked you?

Who transformed you into a were-panther?

ANANSI: I did.

[GASPS]

Anansi!

Why did you mark Fara Maku?

He came to me, storyteller.

He believed in the legends, and hunted until he found me.

So that he could make the old bargain, change them both into panthers and keep his love by his side.

Then it's you I'll destroy!

[GASPS]

I should never have marked you, Tea.

Anansi, free her from the panther curse.

I will serve you for the rest of my life.

Oh, yes, you will. All of you.

Fara, hunting alone has made Anansi this fat.

Imagine what seven hunters might do!

Dream on, spider-man!

[GRUNTS]

[GASPS]

[YELLING] No!

[SNARLS]

Fara!

[EVIL LAUGHTER]

You will all serve me, you puny creatures!

Cut the webbing! He's too fat to fight us on the ground!

No! Stop!

ANANSI: I will spin you wishes, give you treasures beyond counting!

Your gifts always come with a price, trickster!

[ROARS]

Diane, the spear!

[GRUNTS]

[ANANSI SCREAMS]

With Anansi gone, we cannot break the spell.

How can I ever atone for this?

I, too, must atone for the poachers, and the panthers I helped them destroy.

Maybe we can use our curse to protect this jungle.

And maybe that's penance enough for us both.

Your quick thinking helped us defeat Anansi.

I am proud of you.

My daughter.

Oh, Father!

Magical creatures, these friends of yours.

Mom... I should have told you.

Elisa, if love is about growing closer, then it's also about letting go.

Okay, but don't let go just yet.

My friends and I are on a quest, and we'll have to leave soon.

So while they sleep, let me tell you the whole story.

DIANE: There aren't any more spiders in it, are there?

ELISA: [LAUGHS] No.