I really love this. We haven't seen Lexington have too many successful battles without using tech. Wolf is the most powerful of The Pack, but using his speed, he's outmaneuvering him. I'm fairly confident that this is the best we've seen Lexington fair in a fight. He's won some before, but they usually start and end quick, with surprise used to tip the scales in his favor and making sure the battle ends quick.
Here, he's practically playing with Wolf, getting his satisfaction. I'm only hesitant to say he's playing because I do think Wolf poses an actual challenge, and it's not a fight Lexington can just end real quick. He's confident, but that doesn't mean this was easy. He had to believe in himself.
And I like the idea that for some people, that feeling that's been fueling Lexington can be actually a hindrance. Our brains literally are not at full cognitive powers when we're very disregulated, so one would usually see someone perform less well.
But for Lexington, who I'm inclined to think of someone who always has his brain on and is plotting out all his moves, I think this has turned his brain off in a way that lets him fight in the moment instead of slowing himself down by trying to calculate where the battle is going. He's given in to reacting and not calculating. If this was going to work for any of the gargoyles, I think Lexington stands at the top of that list purely because I think he's the most likely one to get caught up in trying to think three steps ahead in the middle of a fight when you most need to just be present.
Like, for the narrative, I get that we need to see The Pack do poorly to justify their upgrades. But that's not satisfying enough. Lexington has either been practicing more, fights better when he's in a rage, or perhaps a bit of both.
Premise: The title just means it was Written after watching this episode. This piece is actually a prequel. Wolf and Fox's first meeting.
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Sick of his crew’s jabs, Wolf separated himself from the group of them and made his way around the bar. He would show them that he wasn’t incapable of picking up a woman, and he’d eyed the one that interested him: a tall, obviously natural redhead, her thick hair pulled back into a braid spilling out from under a bright red bandanna. The red should have clashed with the orange, but the tight red tank top under her black leather jacket pulled it together. But what had stood out the most to him was the large blue facial tattoo she had. It was centered over her right eye and looked like a blocky wolf head.. What Wolf wouldn’t be interested in that?
As Wolf came around the bar and reached her, he elbowed his way between the stools next to her, faced his body away from the bar, and leaned back against it so he was facing her directly, elbows propped on the table. Her eyes slid to him before her head turned. In this light, he couldn’t make out the color of her eyes, but they had a piercing quality, especially when they glared.
“Can I help you?” She had a low voice, for a woman. He liked that.
With a grin, he said, “I figured I should introduce myself, since it seems we’re both here often. I’m Wolf.” He accompanied that last sentence by jabbing a thumb back at himself, then lifted an eyebrow inquiringly.
The woman tilted her head to the side, assessing. It wasn’t so much that her expression softened, but it had become less hostile. “Fox.” She replied. “Which one of these crews are you here with then?”
Wolf twisted his body to point across the bar at his mates. They didn’t really stand out or anything. Just a group of men in biker leather, several with bandanas and a couple with cowboy hats. Fox looked and appeared distinctly unimpressed, her expression closing off. She was about to dismiss him.
It was time for a change in topic. “Nice ink.” He said, jerking his head to indicate the dog shape over her eye. Probably a fox it would seem. “That’s a ballsy spot to pick” he started, lifting his hand to touch his knuckle to the tattoo. The woman’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist with a whip-like force. The skin she grabbed stung for a moment, but he tensed his muscles to show her that she wasn’t stronger than him. He’d stopped moving his arm, but he didn’t let her push it back. It remained raised between them.
“Don't. Touch me.” The words were calm, but low and deadly, a distinct huskiness to her voice. He’d picked the right woman. If he was going to have to pick a lady, he’d done right. If she’d been a man, perhaps she could have been a match for him, but she wasn’t. He would show her that he was man enough for the both of them.
“Oh don’t be like that sweetheart.” He said, closing the space between them. She watched him like a snake. “I can make it real good for you” he grumbled, leaning in to her face and licking that inked spot.
What happened next occurred so quickly, he didn’t even have time to react. He wasn’t sure what exactly she managed to do, but he was pretty sure she used his own arm, still tensed to show her his strength, to launch herself up onto the bar and swing around behind him. Then an arm was around his neck. Pressure collapsed the air from his windpipe as it got crushed. Had she managed, that quickly, to get him into a rear naked choke? He just barely managed the thought before he felt his blood rush.
And he was on the ground. His head hurt, and his arms were twisted behind his back. He groaned and tried to readjust his arms as it was hurting his shoulders, but something was holding them in place. His eyes snapped open just in time to see tall shiny books step into his field of vision. The woman, Fox, crouched down in front of him, her heels coming off the floor and resting easily on the balls of her feet. The tip of a large knife touched down in the wood paneled floor and began to slowly turn. He raised his eyes to meet hers. They had a calm fury to them. He looked around. They were still in the bar, but no music was playing anymore, and it was empty.
Passing out from a choke hold like that shouldn’t render someone unconscious very long. How had she cleared out the bar like that.
“You know, I don’t have a problem with crime. Or criminals.” She grinned, though it was more of a barring of teeth. She very much resembled her namesake in this moment. Except, too calm. “But there are,” She pressed down on the turning blade, causing a curl of laminate to creep up like the shavings of a pencil. “certain behaviors, and acts, that I do have a problem with.” The blade stopped turning, and Wolf raised his eyes to hers. He wouldn’t say he was scared. She was impressive. Quick and fierce, but- the blade was suddenly at his neck. She pressed, and he felt the impulse to raise his chin, but that’s what she wanted. He wasn’t going to give in to such a petty stroke.
The knife cut in, drew blood. He could feel it slowly pressing into the flesh under his chin. He tried to stare her down for a moment, but her eyes showed nothing. She didn’t care. They were unflinching and unimpressed. She would keep this up, slowly, until the blade reached through his jaw to his tongue if he didn’t give in.
He snapped his head up, eyes now raised to the ceiling. “The men around here don’t assault and get away with it. Did you really think you were going to walk me out of here without an issue?”
Wolf scoffed, feeling that blade as his throat moved. “I had no interest in leaving here with you.” He growled.
“And you really expect me to believe that?” There was a hint of amusement to her voice now, but it didn’t suggest that she thought it was funny.
“You’re not actually my type lady. But some crews can’t seem to get around the idea of that.”
The blade eased up, and he felt blood trickle down his throat. Her expression had turned assessing. “So you were what? Putting on a show?” She had drawn her arm back and was now flipping the knife in her hand, repeatedly catching it easily by the hilt after each toss. He almost wanted to roll his eyes at the showing off.
“I suppose that’s one way to put it.” He replied with a shrug.
“You’re a homosexual.” It was a statement, but there was a slight lift of her eyebrow, as if she didn’t think he would actually admit it. It was a challenge almost. In her mind, he was either planning to force himself on her, or he was putting on a show to stay hidden in the closet. He didn’t really care for either assessment. Just because he’d hit on her didn’t mean he would have assaulted her even if he was interested. And it wasn’t about being in the closet. It was showing that he could manage just as well, if not better, than any other man regardless of his preferences. It was irrelevant that his crew didn’t know those preferences of course or that he suspected it would cause him more trouble than it was worth.
“Can’t say I’m a huge fan of that term, but it’s less wrong than you’d thought.” His eyes followed Fox’s face as she stood up. Without a word, she walked away from him.
Wolf was able to assess his situation of confinement and saw his hands were just tied behind his back around the base of one of the stools of the bar. It was awkward and wrenched his shoulder enough to hurt, but he made no sound of discomfort as he managed to stand and get his bound hands unlooped from the stool.
Once free of the stool, he scanned the bar for Fox. She was behind the bar and pouring out two shots. When she looked up and saw him, she put her knife on the bar top and slid it across it, hilt facing him. He took the few steps it took to be across the bar from her. He stared for a long moment at the blade. It was going to be awkward to grab it and cut himself free given the tied nature of his wrists, but it seems this was the only help Fox was going to give him in getting free of them.
She set a shot glass down in front of him and tipped her head back with the other. After he got himself free and put the knife back on the bar, he took the shot she’d put in front of him. After the burning liquid went down, she asked him, “Why are you hanging with a crew like that?” Her tone was derisive.
Wolf scoffed and sat on one of the stools. His body ached, and his head was hurting a bit. “What, you’d rather I ride with some sort of wussy group?”
Fox leaned on the table and put her chin on top of her heads. “Do you really think you are the only guy of your persuasion to be like you? You must be awfully special.”
The mocking in her tone left him sneering. “Like you know of many like me.” He jeered.
“Oh I do.” She stood back up fully and grabbed their shot glasses which disappeared under the bar. “But I can tell you, they put up with the kind of behavior your tried tonight as well as I do. In fact, plenty of them would have made you disappear for that trick, no matter your tragic backstory.”
“It’s not tragic!” He growled, his hand slapping down on the table. “You totally overreacted.”
She laughed then. She had a good, husky laugh. He hated to admit it to himself, but he liked her. He liked that she hadn’t taken any shit. He felt almost ashamed to realize his response came from knowing that’s what his guys would have said. He ground his teeth until they ached to keep from feeling any further embarrassment.
“There could be a place for in a crew you actually belonged in… Wolf? Was it? But not if you keep that up. Believe me, it would be worth your while. Haven’t you wondered yet how this place emptied out so fast?”
Wolf harrumphed but nodded. “One of the first things I noticed.”
“I have influence Wolf. The people who matter, listen to me. Brute strength isn’t everything. Trust me, there are crews far worth being in than the pathetic circle you ride in.” She turned and headed toward a back doorway. Wolf saw the bar keep waiting for her there. Had he watched the whole thing? “Think about it.” She called after herself, leaving him alone in an empty bar as the lights turned off.
But it gave us some pretty neat visuals. A fun little action sequence where I'm pretty sure Goliath just played with him for a moment because, well, after the frustrations of all that, he's ready to get a little hunting in himself. lmao. But it doesn't take long. The fight is pretty short. XD
To add insult to injury, we get this interaction. Not only do we get this moment of The Pack's fame saving Lexington and Goliath in a vulnerable moment, but it facilitates a moment of our protagonists getting framed as evil. Not just seemingly monstrous to some humans, but actively monsters.
Lexington went about all this to seek out community, and not only does he get violently denied this, but he ends up a target of ostracization by children of the people he tried to connect with (humans, obviously not specifically The Pack).
It's a powerful moment. Community is being shown to be important to Lexington, and children are a very vital part of community. We saw him try to connect with Thomas in the pilot and the hope that came from the fact that he had wanted to approach them. And here he gets the total opposite. He's been through so much already that he responds with rage, but this, I think, is an important and incredibly painful moment for Lex.
Well, if The Pack was trying to see what the gargoyles could do... that was quite a display for them. Personally, I would reconsider pissing these guys off further, but also, I never would have wanted to try and take on mystical huge humanoid creatures on either myself to begin with. XD
The Thrill of the Hunt as the episode title obviously refers to The Pack wanting To Hunt the gargoyles. It's a fun little twist then that suddenly the turns have tabled. XD Now The Pack find themselves being picked off by the monsters they lured in, tracked down, and pursued.
Jackal and Hyena are very much presented in the series I think as supposedly slimy weasel-like characters. And I want to say they probably are, but Jackal is so valid for this. He's perhaps the smartest of the group so far. Without their numbers, it's pretty clear from everything they've seen that they cannot take Goliath and Lexington. What's more, they're not even doing this for any particular reason. He isn't being paid for it. It's not in his contract! He isn't even aware that this is probably an audition of sorts. He was just along for the ride because the rest were, and now they're 3v2 against inhumanely strong creatures of myth. Why the fuck would he stick around for it!!
Go Jackal!
The show may still be presenting him as a little coward with his comically animated scardy-face and the well composed Wolf and Fox trying to call him back, but really, they're the silly ones. XD
Wolf grabs Lexington up and away from Fox. Not because Lexington attempted to keep attacking her, but because Wolf is out for blood. As Goliath approaches though—and it looks like I failed to cap it—he just... lets Lexington go so he can face off with Goliath.
He sure is freaking sure of himself to want gleefully face off against the guy who had previously lifted him by one hand and plowed him right through a brick wall. What a glutton for punishment XD I will never understand him lmao
I should have waited a little bit longer XD These visuals are much better. A 5v2 that looks like a 5v8+(?). You got this Pack, if you can correctly spot the gargoyles in the dark. XD
