pascal

a young man scrambles across the rooftop of a building. the rooftop was quite high, the building was over 70 floors tall, but vertigo was not a concern to him at that moment. for behind him, in hot pursuit was a beastly creature with a pug ugly face and stony skin. it had wings made of stone too but its really not surprising that it can't fly. so the creature chased on all fours like a hound, a very heavy sort of hound.

the young man was fast and he was easily putting some distance between them. but the creature had a way to gain the distance. it slowed down and lowered its body, as if coiling its limbs like a spring. then it launches forward with surprising power, hind legs stretched, wings spread out while in midair to catch the drift. the young man hears the course sound of stone upon stone as the wings snapped open. a gargoyle can't change directions mid-pounce, this is it, this is the moment he thought. his gauntlet crackled with blue energy as he spun around and swung his right gloved fist at the incoming gargoyle. instinctively, he shut his eyes while bracing himself, feet wide apart.

at that instant, energy surged from the building beneath him, through the conduits in his boots, upward through the conductors intricately laced around his well insulated bodysuit. at that same instant, a bolt of white lighting shoots downward and connects with his gauntlet the very same instant it also made contact with the hideous snarling face. there was a blinding flash, a blast of hot explosion, and a thunderous clap. shrapnels of stone and gravel blew apart in all directions. the young man was thrown back, bounced like a skipping stone across the rooftop and off it.

he fell freely for what seems like a long time, at an angle. onto the rooftop of a lower neighbouring building, he fell. the momentum must have been awesome as his body punched through the roof and the floor below it. it caused quite a commotion. fortunately, that building was old and mostly unoccupied.

he wasn't sure how long he was out but the moment he got around, galileo was standing over the him with an outstretched hand. the young man reached out and he noticed that his gauntlet was split open like a daisy, revealing his own hand. he flexed his fingers, nothing was broken, and let out a sigh of relief.

"that's the third glove you've broken this month", said gally as he grabbed hold of the hand and helped the young man up from the small crater. "good thing you had the absorber bandolier on too... otherwise, i'd be mopping you off the floor right now".

the young man hung around gally's shoulder. he was groggy and his ears were still ringing from the explosion but he grinned as if he could hear what his friend was saying. he asked, "wh-what about the gargoyle?"

"what gargoyle?", gally replied with a wink. "let's get out of here before the cops show up". gally flicked a switch on his belt, there was a hum followed by a slight sizzle before they both disappeared out of sight.