"Can ya believe it? I've almost made it to the docks in Tokyo, but Tokyo looks like it's seen the business end of a tornado. My bag's still a little heavy, but I still want to get this stuff safe. Kai was always guarding it, so I guess it's kinda special, y'know?

Hey, wait a minute, there's a guy over there with a boat. Hey!"

"What you want? I can't stay all day!"

"Mister ... I need your boat. I need to get to New York."

"Take a plane."

"But ... you don't understand! There are no planes! You're my last shot!"

GROWL!

"Oh God, they've found me. Let me on, mister, or we're both gonna die!"

"Oh, all right. Get in."

"I thought I'd be safe in the boat, but they're followin' us, can ya believe it? Oh sure, they're gargoyles. Yeah, right. They're nothin' like the ones that used to be in New York, at least they didn't fire guns at ya!"

"Will you shut up?"

BZAPPT!

"Okay, okay. Gotta get these guys before they get us, y'know?"

BEEP! GROWL!

"What is that thing?"

"It's a brainwave scrambler, can ya believe it? It's a neat little thing the place I work for has been working on for a while."

"Hey, I thought you said you were living with the Ishimura gargoyles!"

"Yeah, but they got some neat toys."

"We just lost a day at the dateline. But at least there's no more psycho alien gargoyles chasin' us, y'know?"

"What is that, some kind of journal or something?"

"Yeah. I decided I ought to keep one, in case I can't get to New York. That way, someone can mail the tape to my friends there, y'know?"

"Mail? Ha hahhaaha, who's gonna mail anything for you when the world's this crazy, huh?"

"I guess you have a point."

"Hey, you were talking about the Ishimura gargoyles having neat toys. What kind of toys?"

"OH not much, but they had this little thing. And there's a lot more too, including a little wristband thingie that could make you super fast, can ya believe it?"

"Super fast? And why didn't you take that with you instead of the brainwave scrambler?"

"Oh, one of the gargoyles took it a while ago. She and her mate are waiting for me in New York. Her mate's my best friend, can ya believe it?"

"Still crossin' the Pacific. The boat's starting to leak, I don't think we're going to make it to the Americas."

"Hey! HEY! The boat's leaking!"

"What?"

"You heard me, the boat's leaking! I think it took one shot too many!"

"Ahh, can ya believe it?"

WHOOSH!

"Hey, what gives?!"

"Just helping you out of distress, friend."

"Huh? Who's that?"

"You see? He doesn't appreciate us! Like most humans!"

"Whew, can ya believe it? Gargoyles! Hey, can ya help us out, we're tryin' to get to New York!"

"I don't know, it's going to be hard. The invasion force has been hard on our numbers here."

"Just do your best. Say, what's your name?"

"I am called Ka'auna."

"Sounds Hawaiian."

"It should be. Your boat's about to sink just shy of Honolulu."

"Met with the rest of Clan Honolulu, and they've offered to help, can ya believe it? They know the center of the invasion is in New York, so they kinda guessed I was on my way to offer help. We've got more allies!"

CRACK! GRRROWWLL!! ROOOOOOOAAAR!

"Oh good, they're wakin' up! Hey, guys!"

"Ahh, Vinnie. We're ready when you are."

"Ka'auna, are you sure this is wise? We are nowhere near prepared to face New York conditions, let alone a war zone."

"Please, Lili, I'm sure we'll be okay. Vinnie trusts us, don't you?"

"Heh ... oh yeah. How're we gettin' there, anyway?"

"It helps to have friends in high places. Come, we'll talk with our benefactors."

"Can ya believe it, their benefactors are the Bishop family. They've brought me to the center of the whole Bishop empire to meet with the current heir."

"Ka'auna, nice to see you, my friend. And you too, Lili. Who is this you've brought with you?"

"This is Vinnie, sir. He's just come from Japan, he's on his way to New York to fight the invasion."

"I see."

"Umm ... Mr. Bishop, sir ... we'd be appreciative if you would loan us transportation to New York. I've spoken with the rest of the clan, and Ka'auna and Lili have agreed to come with me to New York to offer their assistance."

"Can I be quite frank with you, Vinnie?"

"Sure."

"The reason why I host the gargoyles here is because I fear for them. Most humans don't even come close to understanding them like I do, like my family has for years. And now you're asking me to let you take Clan Honolulu's leader and his mate to the center of the Quarryman movement. I'm sorry, but I need more than your assurances that I can trust you."

"I see. Well, then ... let me show you this."

"Interesting. Who's this?"

"His name's Brooklyn. He's from New York, and up until a couple months ago, he was living in Japan with his mate, a Japanese gargoyle named Sata. And he happens to be my Friday night bar buddy. At least, until he went to New York."

"Interesting ... why would he want to go to New York?"

"Because his family's there. His Clan. Here, I have a picture their leader sent a couple of months ago."

"This does not look like a normal gargoyle."

"Who, Rosanna? No, she isn't, she's a hybrid. Her mother was human."

"I see. Well then, I believe I have no objections in your taking my clan to New York."

"Mr. Bishop set us up completely, can ya believe it? We're flyin' in a Lear jet nonstop to New York! Ka'auna and Lili are secured in the back, but they're going to hit stone sleep very fast now since we're headed into the sunrise, y'know?"

"Vinnie, can I ask you something?"

"Well ... sure, go ahead."

"When we do get to New York, how are we going to land? I mean, you said this invasion was worldwide, centering on New York, so do you think they will part to let us land?"

"Well ... I hadn't thought of that, really. I suppose we could bail if we have to."

"I see. What about Mr. Bishop's plane?"

"He knows it's a war zone, I think he's well aware that his plane might not come back."

CRINKLEELEINK! "Dang ... that's the problem with taling with gargoyles in a plane, you never know when they're gonna turn to stone."

"Mr. Vinnie? There's a call coming through from Mr. Bishop, you can take it on the cordless in the wall."

"Okay. Hello?"

"Vinnie ... how are ... my gargoyles?"

"They're fine, they're in stone right now. Geez, you sound awful, Mr. Bishop."

"The aliens ... they came through here after you left. They've ... destroyed everything."

"Oh no."

"Everything my family's built for years ... it's all gone. And Ka'auna and Lili are the last of the gargoyles left!"

"Oh God ... Mr. Bishop, I'm so sorry ..."

"No. Don't be sorry, Vinnie ... just ... stop the invasion. This is my last request of you. Stop the invasion at any cost."

BEEP!

"I promise, Mr. Bishop. No cost is too great now."

"The plane's out of fuel, we've got to ditch!"

"Hang on, Vinnie!"

WHOOSH!

"No we're not, Vinnie. We're going to make it, we're going to get back to Honolulu."

"No, we're not! We're gonna die, just like everybody in Honolulu!"

"What?!"

"You heard me, Lili. I got a call after you guys turned to stone this morning from Mr. Bishop. The aliens attacked just after we left, they wiped everyone out."

"No ..."

"Lili! Help me!"

"Ka'auna, don't move! I'll get 'em!"

BRZZAP!!

"KA'AUUUNAAAAAAAA!!"

FZZZT!

"It's too late, Lili, he's gone! We've got to get to this place!"

"(snf) What is that, a castle?"

"Exactly! It should be higher than anything here!"

"Wait, I see it! There!"

"There they are! Suppressing fire, everyone!"

Graeme, Liberty and Brooklyn rushed forward, weapons at the ready. On Rosanna's order, they began firing just over the retreating gargoyle and human, past them, toward the Rokkans pursuing them. Three shots took out two Rokkans, just as the gargoyle crashed to the stone floor of the battlement.

"They're down, bring 'em in!!"

Rosanna prepared her own weapon, firing once more into the night sky as the gargoyle and the human were brought inside. The human roused, though, and looked up to see his buddy standing over him.

"B ... Brooklyn!"

Brooklyn looked down at the human, suddenly recognizing him. "Vinnie?!"

"Yeah, can ya believe it? Great t'see ya!"

"But ... how did you get here?"

Vinnie handed him a handheld tape recorder. "Listen to this, buddy. It's a long story, y'know?"

Graeme's order was quickly followed by his attack party. Nokkar, especially. Firing behind him, he fell back to a safer position in the alleyway, keeping constant fire between himself and the Rokkan patrol. Liberty was slower to respond, though she had Lina pulling on her, trying to keep the Rokkans at bay with some of her new magic skills.

"Come on, Libby, we gotta pull back!"

"No! I won't lose my shot!"

Graeme ran up behind Libery, grasping her shoulders. "I said fall back! Come on, Liberty, you won't be any good dead!"

Liberty finally nodded, firing off a couple more shots before turning around to assume a place in safer ground. Unfortunately, too slowly.

One of the patrollers, cognizant of the layout of the alley, fired up toward the upper walls of the brownstones framing the alley. The falling masonry became too much for the two gargoyles ... falling upon them, burying them in powdery stone.

"Hello."

The newcomer nodded, sitting down next to Ariana. "Rosanna told me I should come here and speak with you." She sighed sadly. "She told me of some similar circumstances we've both lived through."

"Similar circumstances?"

"Yes. We have both recently lost mates."

Ariana's eyes suddenly opened wider. "You're that new one, the Hawaiian."

The newcomer nodded, extending her hand. "I am Lili'uokolani, of Clan Honolulu. Please call me Lili, it's much easier to remember."

Ariana smiled. "Lili it is. I'm Ariana." Carefully, so as not to jostle the hatchling in her arms, Ariana reached for Lili's hand. "And this sleepy fellow is Solomon, my son."

Lili smiled, sadly. "I had an egg in Honolulu ... Ka'auna and I watched it every day, we couldn't wait for it to hatch."

"How long was it?"

"It had ... three months to go." Lili's face dropped. "To think that my child may be dead ..."

Ariana laid a comforting hand on Lili's shoulder, as the Hawaiian gargoyle let her emotions out.

The sounds of talons clicking against stone brought her attention from the book. She looked up, hoping to see someone who could make her forget.

Unfortunately, the one entering the library was the very one who was the cause of her current funk. Rain.

"Rosanna ..."

She abruptly dropped the book on a nearby shelf, hopping down from her stool. Rain saw her trying to leave. "Wait, Rosanna, I want to talk to you ..."

"About what?" Her eyes, both natural and artificial, flashed with frustration. "About how you've kept your secret for so long? How you kept it from me that your father is a protector of my bloodline?"

"Rosanna, I honestly didn't know ..." He reached for her forearm. She snatched it away from him, using the other hand to rake his face.

"Damn you, Rain!" She ran out of the library, away from him. Rain stood, shellshocked, holding on to the stool for support ... while Rosanna's blow hadn't been very strong, the shock of it was enough to throw off his balance. He sunk to the floor, crouching in a ball.

"God, Rosanna, I'm so sorry ..."

"Here's to Ishimura ... may she be long remembered."

"Hear hear!" Brooklyn and Vinnie laughed a bit before cocking their heads back, allowing the alcoholic beverage a passage into their throats. When they came up for air, Sata looked over at them, disbelieving what they were doing.

"I know it's been a few days, Vinnie-san ... but could you please show at least a little respect for the dead?!"

Vinnie looked at Brooklyn, then over at Sata. "Sorry, it's just it's been a while since I've seen you two, it just came out, y'know?"

"Give the man a break, Sata. He's been traveling for a while just to get here."

Sata walked up to Brooklyn ... more like stalked up. "And you, Brooklyn, simply encourage him!"

Vinnie replied to this by belching. Brooklyn simply looked up at his mate. "Well, geez, don't blame him, honey. If you want to blame anything ... blame the beer."

She clearly saw that her mate was not just drunk, he was inebriated. "Fine then. I'll blame the beer." Impulsively, she picked up Brooklyn's bottle.

"Uhh, Sata? What are you doing?"

"Since you two are so skillful at avoiding your problems with beer, I thought I would give it a try." She placed the bottle to her lips.

"Uh oh, I don't think she wants to do that."

Vinnie's comment brought agreement from Brooklyn, followed by a last attempt to get Sata to put the bottle down. Much too late, however; Sata pulled the bottle back, draining it.

"Ohh no ..."

The panic attack didn't last, however. Exactly two seconds after draining the bottle, she turned even greener than usual and spit out the contents of her mouth.

"What'd I tell ya?"

She simply growled, tossing the bottle aside. "How on earth can you stand to drink that swill?!"

Her mate sighed. "It's ... kind of an acquired taste."

"Oh, thank God you're home!" She rushed into his arms, barely leaving him enough time to clear the doorway before Nokkar came in.

"Yes, I'm here." He returned the embrace with equal vigor, as Slash came in the door, behind Nokkar. The giant alien seemed unaffected by the desperate show of affection Brianna was giving to her mate.

=Where is Rosanna? We have news.=

She broke away from Griff long enough to point down the hallway, then wrapped her arms around his neck once more. Nokkar nodded, motioning for Slash to follow him.

Once they were in the hallway, though, they came quickly upon Goliath. "Good evening, Nokkar. How was the attack this evening?"

=It did not go well at all. I must find Rosanna ... I fear we may have lost Graeme and Liberty. The Rokkans blasted down the alley around them.=

The older gargoyle's eyes widened. "Come with me, then. We can't lose any time, and we can't wait for my daughter."

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

"Me too, Liberty. I haven't been in this situation in a while, but I know it's not fun."

"I've never been in this situation."

"Don't worry, Liberty. We'll be rescued soon. Just hang on."

"Graeme, it hurts. My back hurts."

"My legs are being crushed, I'm not much better off."

"We aren't going to die, are we? I've been close to death once before."

"We're going to make it. We have to."

The only thing that alerted her to the presence behind her was his voice, speaking softly.

"I wanted to tell you, Rosanna."

She looked up at the speaker. Her eyes darkened a bit more. "Go away, Coyote. I don't want to speak to you."

"But you need to. The only way you'll ever pull yourself out of this funk and become a leader again is to speak with me. Please, Rosanna. Let's not keep repeating our mistakes."

She turned slightly away from the window. "Why couldn't you tell me?"

He approached her slowly. "It's not that I didn't want to ... it's that I couldn't. I would have been in serious trouble with Oberon's court had I told you."

Rosanna nodded, resignedly. "But why?"

Coyote sighed. "It's because Rain's existence absoultely cannot be known by the Court. If it were known that he were a halfling, he would be absorbed into the Court, and neither I nor Turqueza would have ever seen him again."

This brought another angry reaction from Rosanna. "And what about me, huh? When were you planning to let me in on the little secret? Three or four or twenty years on down the line, when I wind up fighting Oberon over my mate?!"

"No. When Rain destroyed the Sisters."

This stopped Rosanna cold. "What?!"

"I've seen it. I've lived it in my dreams thousands of times, Rosanna. It's Rain's destiny to confront and destroy the Weird Sisters."

Rosanna relaxed somewhat. "My God ..."

Coyote approached her slowly. "But he can't do it alone. He needs you. That's why he was brought here, guided here by way of Lina." He took one of Rosanna's hands in his own. "Please, Rosanna. He may not have told you the straight truth ... but he never lied when he showed his love for you."

"I know ... but you've got to hang on, Liberty. We'll be rescued anytime."

"I can't take this anymore! (sob) I don't want to die!"

"Don't panic, that's the best way to get killed. Keep it calm. Center your focus."

"I'll try."

"Do it for me, Liberty."

"All right. I'll do it for you."

Nokkar's direction allowed Goliath enough time to prepare to land with the unusually heavy load Nokkar's body gave him. He caught one last draft, slowly parachuting down into the ruined alleyway. Slash alighted and landed a short distance away.

"This does not look good. The rubble looks too heavy for anything to survive."

=Nevertheless, we must know for sure. Otherwise, they are truly dead.=

Goliath nodded. "Let's start digging, then. Slash?"

The mute mutate nodded, digging into the rubble.

"Rosanna ... you're speaking to me now?"

She smiled. "Your dad told me the whole story. I know now."

"Know what?"

She sat down next to him. "Your destiny, Rain. I know what you were born to do." She leaned closer into him. "And I want to be a part of that destiny."

He brought his arm around her shoulders. "Really? How do I know that if I learn any more secrets, you won't ..."

She interrupted him in mid-thought with a kiss. "I don't care if you ever learn any more secrets. I'll live with them."

Now it was Rain's turn to smile. He brought her closer into his arms, finally knowing what reciprocated, unconditional love felt like.

"Keep ... focusing, Liberty. We'll ... be out in ... no time."

"I know this feeling, Graeme ... I'm close to death ... and so are you."

"No ..."

"Graeme, I have to say this ... please ... if I get to do nothing more ... in this life, I need ... to say this."

"Liberty ..."

"Ever since ... the night you caught me ... I knew we were ... meant to be together."

"Liberty ... the lack of oxygen ... I think it's getting to your ..."

"No, Graeme ... I don't think I've ever ... been thinking clearer."

"Well then ... I know now my feelings ... aren't just mine."

Slash was digging furiously through the bricks, trying to free the trapped gargoyles within the masonry prison. Goliath was digging with an equal amount of fury, hoping to free them. Nokkar, for the most part, had been trying to keep the rubble clear of the workspace.

=I see them! There!=

Goliath, then Slash, saw it. Four green fingers, which no doubt belonged to Graeme. Goliath desperately pulled more bricks away from the revealed body parts, until an entire hand could be seen.

"Help me!"

With no further prompting, Slash and Nokkar came to Goliath's side, pulling more rubble free as Goliath pulled on the hand. Slowly, the full form of Graeme could be seen, pulling free of the rocks. Panting, he breathlessly looked up at his rescuers.

"Liberty ... still in there ..."

=I see her.= Nokkar's yell was accompanied by his grasping a pale white hand, now sticking up from the rubble. Straining under the weight, Nokkar pulled on the hand, soon joined by Goliath and Slash digging her out.

Finally, the giant gargess had been pulled free. She rocked on her heels for a moment, then steadied herself.

"You came."

Goliath couldn't help but smile. "Of course. We wouldn't have left you there."

Liberty smiled, slightly. "Is Graeme out?"

"I'm right here, Liberty."

With a wobbly gait, Liberty made her way over to Graeme, collapsing next to him. As exhausted as they both were, they were still able to pull each other into a happy embrace, as Slash, Goliath and Nokkar looked on.

=Demona, come in.=

Demona's face appeared on the comm device. "Report, Thorn."

=The traitor and the Clan's second have been rescued. They're defenseless, out in the open.=

"No. When they die, they die as a clan. Come back, some of the eggs have hatched, we must welcome the hatchlings."

=But they're wide open!=

"That's enough, Thorn! Return!"

Thorn shimmered out of sight.

=You should have let me attack! They were vulnerable!=

Demona growled at Thorn. "You listen to me well, Thorn. I am your master, not the other way around. You follow my orders when I tell you to, understood?"

Thorn growled again. Demona leaped across the desk, swinging her talons into Thorn's face and sending the giant hybrid against the far wall.

"I said, is that UNDERSTOOD?!"

Panting, Thorn made her reply. =Yes ... my mistress.=

"Good. And let's never have this discussion again." Demona turned to Samson. "Are our forces in place?"

"They're ready whenever you are, grandmother." With those words, the sunrise came, turning Samson to stone. Thorn, as well, became a slumped statue against the far wall.

Demona underwent her painful metamorphosis into her human self, Dominique Destine, a name she didn't bother with anymore. She looked around the office, frowning.

"Very well, then. Come tomorrow night ... the Clan dies."

However, she hadn't thought she was hallucinating yet. But that changed entirely when she happened to look into the rookery, at the gargoyles in stone within the warm room. Thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her, she came in closer.

Ariana sat there, her arms cradled around a smaller gargoyle, her son Solomon. The Hawaiian newcomer Lili sat by her side, one hand on Ari's shoulder. Along a nearby wall stood Brooklyn and Sata ... sort of; Brooklyn was curled into a fetal position, his mate with a concerned hand on his shoulder. Pontiac was also there, curled up with her legs in her arms on an opposite wall.

But Rose's gaze centered on the hatchling in Ariana's arms, Solomon. For some reason, he seemed awfully ... old ... to have just hatched not two months before.

"I know. It's strange."

She turned on her heel to see David Xanatos entering the rookery. "Strange doesn't even begin to describe it, David. What's wrong with him?"

"If my guess is correct ..." He crouched down next to the statue Ariana had become, carefully looking over Solomon. "Yep, it is. He's his father's son, all right."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

David looked at her in shock. "You mean you didn't know? Samson's genes had some kind of mutation which made him ... well ... age fast."

"And now you think he's passed it along to Solomon?"

"It would be unfortunate ... but yes, I do think so." David stood back up, approaching the Wyvern leader.

"Unfortunate? How?"

He sighed. "There's no easy way to say this, really. Because he ages fast, Samson's life expectancy is about half as long as even a human's is. Truth be told, I'm surprised he's even lived this long."

Rose sucked in a gasp. "Oh no. That must mean ..."

"... that in essence, Samson's given his son a death sentence."

Now that he was in stone, standing in her office, she could see it clearly. His face was now much more lined. The lines around his eyes were more pronounced, as were the ones around his mouth.

She stood before him, trying to think of how he could be this old. It was impossible. Unless ... striding quickly, she went over to her desk and picked up the phone.

"Sevarius, I have a question for you."

"Ahh, that's what I always liked about you, Ms. Destine. Straight to the point, as always."

"Spare me your pleasantries. Just tell me you will answer my question!"

"All right, all right. What is it?"

"Are you familiar with my grandson, Samson?"

"Samson, Samson ... ahh yes, the son of your daughter and that big fat guy from David Xanatos' gargoyle clan ..."

"Get to the point, doctor."

"Yes, I know about him."

"All right. Now, in any of the times you encountered him, did you notice anything strange about him, something like ... he seemed too old?"

"Not really. Because that's not unusual. I do good work."

Had Dominique been in her gargoyle form, her eyes would have glowed with the savage roar she screamed through the phone. "YOU WHAT?!"

"My dear, I thought you knew ... the attack that injured Samson so badly that he needed the cybernetics also delivered a mutagen into his system. Nothing at all drastic, like the Labyrinth mutates, but a little subtle thing that would make him age faster. Makes him age faster than humans do, even."

Dominique stewed as she heard Sevarius chuckle over the phone. "He may look like a younger man, but he's probably only about thirteen!"

She screamed, slamming the phone down on its cradle. If Samson had indeed been mutated by some kind of Sevarius-generated hell, then there was no telling what could happen to the gargoyles down the line should the mutation spread. She looked up, trembling, looking up at her strapping grandson ... who she now knew was much younger than his body claimed.

Then in a flash of inspiration, she looked over at the other wall of the office, to where Thorn had been caught in stone sleep.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of it sooner?"

"I don't know how this could have happened. Really."

"Think your mom's got something to do with it?"

Angela closed her eyes. Tinges of regret, the result of her long-enforced slavery under the Obedient Child Spell, crossed her face. "I would certainly hope not. If there's anything that she values more than her vengeance against humans, it's her family. I doubt she would introduce anything into Samson that would make him age fast."

"But didn't you notice anything? I mean, for God's sake, you're his mother!"

"I know, I know!" The pain was showing now in Angela's voice, as its pitch and timbre rose in despair. "I tried to be blind to everything! Tried to keep it from him that I knew he was aging too fast ... maturing too fast ..."

The older sister looked at the hatchling once again. "I swore he was too young to take a mate. And the day I left, I cursed Ariana. Oh God, why did I do such cruel things to my own clan?"

The two sisters huddled together, in the midst of the stone gargoyles in the rookery.

Thorn seemed relatively sedate during Demona's announcement, acknowledging the instructions with a brief =Yes, my mistress.=

"What's happening, grandmother?"

"Samson ..." Demona approached the young man ... though he looked more middle-aged now. "My dear grandson, it has come to my attention that you carry a mutagen in your genes, one which makes you age faster than normal. If it makes it into further generations ... it could mean the end of our race as we know it."

Samson seemed taken aback. "But I don't want to die."

Demona smiled in reassurance at Samson. "Not to worry, my grandson. I have an idea which could possibly eliminate the mutation. An idea which involves you ..."

Demona motioned across the room, toward the hybrid standing there. "... and Thorn."

Suddenly, the roars were pierced by Ariana's scream. All eyes in the rookery turned toward her, as she revealed herself to be holding a much larger hatchling than what Solomon should have been. In human terms, he could have been mistaken for a six year old.

"What's happening?! What's going on?!"

Rosanna and Angela came over to Ariana, trying to console her. "It's his father's genes, Ari. They caused this. But it's a lot more accelerated in Solomon, for some reason."

"His father's ... oh no." Ariana's face crunched in sorrow, as the realization hit her. The sad scene was suddenly interrupted by Owen Burnett and Alexander Xanatos entering the room. The younger Xanatos immediately approached the mother and hatchling.

"You were right, Owen."

Owen's normally stone face raised an eyebrow, in an almost obviously Puck-ish manner. "Of course, am I ever wrong?"

"True." Alexander took the hatchling into his arms, approaching the majordomo. Ariana, just now realizing that her hatchling had been taken away from her, suddenly jumped to her feet, eyes glowing bright red, lips curled into a snarl.

"And just what exactly are you doing with my son?!"

Alexander looked deeply into Ariana's eyes, turning around, cradling Solomon close to him. "If my guess is right, Ariana ... we're going to save his life."

Demona faced down her creation, alone in the elder gargess' office. Demona was now starting to get frustrated and angry, as her calm explanations of the situation to Thorn had apparently fallen upon deaf ears.

"I want you ... and Samson ... to produce a child. Can it get any simpler?!"

=But I hate him. He's a weakling ...=

The smaller gargess lashed out at the Rokkan hybrid again. "Now listen to me, Thorn. I've tolerated this insubordination long enough, I'll have no more of it! You owe your existence to me. Don't make me regret creating you."

=And what are you going to do about it?!=

A low growl appeared in Demona's voice. "I will destroy you if you disobey me on this, Thorn. All I have to do is take away your heart."

=My ... heart?=

Demona sat back down behind her desk. "Your heart, Thorn. At the center of your being is a small chip of a magical stone of immense power. Its origin comes directly from Avalon. The only reason you have life right now is because that stone is part of you."

Demona stood up again, her eyes glowing. "So help me, Thorn, if you disobey this order I am giving you right now ... I will take the stone away and destroy you."

"Owen, if you would ... the Puck's services are required. Teach me, professor."

Owen's mouth opened. Without moving his lips, the happy voice of the Puck echoed through the room, yelling "I THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER ASK!!" A flash of light later, Owen had been replaced by his alter ego, laughing.

"Nice to see you after so long, teacher."

"Yeah, you gotta let me out more often ... the scenery changes have been quite the improvement." Puck turned to the other fae trickster next to him, high-fiving Coyote. "My man, how's it been?"

"It's been. Nice to see you, too."

Puck's gaze went past Coyote, past Beth as well, centering on the magical gargess Lina, standing there a little bewildered by the scene. He leaped over to her side.

"Well there, sweetheart ... I don't believe we've been properly introduced."

Lina couldn't help but giggle. Alexander stood there, tapping his foot impatiently during Puck's display. But at this point, his impatience became too much.

"If you don't mind, Puck ... we have a life to save here."

Puck sighed, rolling his eyes. Holding up his hand to his mouth, he softly muttered to Lina, "Boy, they grow up so fast, and they lose their patience faster!" Lina couldn't resist giggling to this comment, as well.

"All right, I'm ready." Puck leaped back over to where he had been standing as Owen. His face took on as serious an expression as the Puck could realistically muster.

"All right. Now, the problem here is," Alexander motioned toward Solomon, "his father had a mutant gene in his bloodline, which causes accelerated aging. Somehow, the youngster on the table here inherited that gene in spades. His aging is so fast, he might not live through the year."

"So you wanna return his aging to normal, huh? Piece o' cake, especially with the amount of magical force you have assembled here. Let's see here ... two fae tricksters, one halfling, and two mortal sorceresses trained in the Way ... one more than the other."

"Wait, what about this?" Lina tossed her Avalon stone over to Puck, who looked at it with glee.

"Yeah ... this might be good, too." He placed the stone on Solomon's forehead. "Great, works as a fine focal point. All right, everybody join hands."

The magic-users standing around the table formed a circle with their hands. Puck nodded.

"All right. Now, everyone focus all of your energy, all your magic ability on Lina's little rock sitting there on the boy's head. You might feel a bit drained after this is done, but believe me, the results will be worth it."

"I certainly hope so."

Alexander's comment was not lost on Puck. "Watch and learn, o ye of little faith. Now focus, everyone."

All eyes rested on the stone, the concentration level increasing instantly as soon as they all began staring. Soon, the magicians' eyes emitted an otherworldly glow. Puck finally broke the intense silence.

"Now I'll begin the incantation. Carry it around the circle, for the only way we can make this work is to make sure it's an unbroken incantation, okay? I'll begin."

Everyone nodded, half-listening, their gazes locked on the stone. Puck's voice began to take on a deep echo as he began the incantation.

Alexander, without prompting, picked up the incantation.

While not too familiar with Avalonian incantations, Lina picked up the chant with ease.

Another sorceress unfamiliar with incantation magic, Beth Maza kept her part of the incantation as well as she could.

The incantation now came around to Coyote. Though he usually made his chants in Hopi, he knew that in order for the spell to work it had to stay in the same language all around the circle. Uncomfortably, he continued the incantation ... in English.

Puck smiled. The magic intensified throughout the room ... then suddenly a huge flash came forth from the stone on Solomon's head. The room was completely bathed in light for a moment, then returned to normal.

Slowly, the participants in the spell came back around. They all looked upon Solomon, still lying upon the table.

Still apparently the same age. Alexander looked up at his teacher, questioningly.

"You want to know if the spell worked?" Puck passed a hand slowly over the sleeping hatchling's head. He then smiled widely. "Congratulations, folks. It worked!"

"Who is it?"

=It's me, Samson.=

He looked up, and was instantly stunned by the sight which greeted him. Thorn stood in the doorway ... but not in the normal militia uniform she usually wore. Rather, it appeared she was in a bathrobe. This made a question cross Samson's face.

"Thorn? What's going on?"

She slowly crossed the room, approaching the desk with what approximated to a seductive walk. This made more questions pop up in Samson's mind.

=You've been working and fighting too hard. You need to relax ... and I'm here to help you.=

Now she was coming around the desk. Samson was fighting mightily to keep his impulses under control ... as it was pretty obvious what Thorn wanted.

=Relax, Samson. Let your instincts guide you.= She slowly untied the robe.

At about this time, Samson could hold himself back no longer. He nearly leaped out of the chair he had been sitting in, his lustful impulses taking over. The gargoyle and the much larger hybrid wrestled around on the floor in a passionate clinch.

Then just as suddenly as it had started ... it stopped short. Samson had successfuly freed Thorn from the confines of the robe, but other thoughts were taking hold in his mind, blocking his instincts.

... the mating flight ...

=Samson? What's wrong?=

... Ariana's joy ...

=Samson?=

... laying her egg ...

=Samson, you're starting to scare me ...=

... IT WOULD HAVE HATCHED BY NOW!!

Samson's face went from shock to bewilderment to despair in a matter of moments. He let out a primal scream, the conflicting thoughts in his mind driving him mad as he sped out of the room, leaving a completely confused and equally as naked Thorn on the floor of his office.

"Really? I think that qualifies as the understatement of the ages. 'Completely out of control' would be a more accurate description."

=Why should you worry? Your safety is assured, thanks to my government.=

"'Your government?!' You ally yourself with a gargoyle neo-Hitler, and claim that your government can ensure our safety? Well, please excuse me if your assurances seem hollow, my friend."

"Gentlemen ..."

SNARL!

"Oh sure, posture all you like. When the time comes, you'll be facing defeat, believe me."

"SILENCE! ...

"Now, as civilized beings, let us return to the point of this exercise. It is time to evaluate our interestes and reorganize our support structures. And that, firstly, means coming into contact with the hybrid."

"Are you sure? She shouldn't know too much about us, it could become dangerous."

"We're already in danger, gentlemen. This will not compound our peril any, as I feel that there is no reason why she shouldn't know of our presence in her life."

"Fine, then. Somehow, we must lure her to us."

=Leave that to me.=

He pulled out a handheld radio he carried with him all the time, keying it on. "General Chavez, come in."

"Chavez here. What's happening, Bluestone?"

"I've arrived at the Aerie Building. What now?"

"Wait for Rosanna to meet you. She'll let you know where we go from here."

"Following her lead, General?"

A stony silence greeted that question, followed by the quiet voice of Maria Chavez. "I really am out of my league here, Steve. I'm used to street crime, not fighting for my life against aliens."

"What makes you think this is Rosanna's league, either?"

"Just wait for her and stow the questions. Out."

A nasty expression crossed Bluestone's face as he shoved the radio back in his pocket. Allowing his hands to follow suit, he leaned against the car, awaiting the gargoyle leader's arrival.

He wasn't waiting long.

The assembled beings in the Great Hall of high Castle Wyvern looked to Rosanna. Many of them looked at her with sadness in their eyes.

"Nothing yet, Rosanna."

She approached the group, who had assembled around the seeming-last survivors of the world's gargoyle clans. Anxiously, Vinnie, Brianna, Griff and Lili sat around a table, quiet and nervous.

"We're going to keep trying, folks. We've got to find more reinforcements somehow."

Graeme, arm-in-arm with Liberty, interjected a comment into the conversation. "We know that the Rokkans have been moving around the world, though. What more can we do? We're just one clan, and not very much of one, at that."

Rosanna scanned the faces in the crowd, humn gargoyle and fae, the weight of Graeme's words falling upon her full force. Back in the day of gargoyle clans, they would have numbered in the hundreds. Now they were but a shadow of what a true Clan should have been.

Rosanna nodded. "Very well, then." She turned to Alexander Xanatos, one of her closest human friends. "Make any and all preparations you have to, Alex. Just bring us some backup. We need it desperately."

Alex's eyes became frightful. He turned to Owen Burnett at his side, the stiff, unmoved majordomo who held within him the fae trickster Puck. "What must I do to prepare?"

"Follow me, sir. We must purify the vessel of the magic before allowing more magic through it." Alex, along with his parents, solemnly followed Owen down a corridor. Rosanna at that moment chose to look at her watch.

"Oh no, I'm late. Graeme, send the parties out. I need to coordinate with General Chavez' human attack parties."

Graeme nodded curtly. "You heard her folks, move out!"

The room quickly emptied, leaving Rosanna alone with her Avalonian lover, Rain. He looked at her with fear building in his eyes.

"Be careful, Rosanna. This night does not bode well, I have this weird feeling that something very bad is going to happen."

Rosanna sighed, looking down. Her eye was suddenly caught by a glint of light from the pendant that he had given her at Solstice. She smiled, looking back up at him.

"I'm not worried, Rain. I've got a piece of you here, I'll be safe."

This made Rain smile, at last. He embraced her before turning to leave with his defense party. She in turn headed toward the top battlement.

She didn't make it to the top, however.

"What the hell ..." She looked down to see Steve Bluestone with her, in similar straits. "Steve, what's going on?"

"Dunno ... but something tells me my dad's work is about to catch up with us."

The lights suddenly came up ... revealing them to be in a room with nine men, all obscured in shadow somehow, despite the lights in the room. The leader of the group, or so he seemed to be the leader, sat at the head of the table, at the opposite end from where Rosanna and Bluestone were rousing.

"Evaluation?"

Rosanna narrowed her eyes, letting them shimmer with a red glow for a moment.

"She is too unpredictable. We cannot count on her allegiance."

"Who ever asked me for an alleigance?!" She snarled at the group. One of them, a giant by his appearance, stood up and approached her.

Then his eyes could be seen to glow. Blue. And he unfurled his wings.

"Rokkans ... and humans ... together?!"

=You are right, she cannot be trusted.=

"Trusted by who? Just who exactly do you people think you are?!"

The man at the head of the table stood up quickly. "You're not cleared for that ... Rosanna."

Now she growled louder, and would have lashed out at the leader had the Rokkan not been standing there. "How do you know my name, traitor?!"

"We know everything that goes on anywhere in the world, Rosanna. You think you have your secrets, but we know them all!"

She turned to face Steve Bluestone again. "Steve, what's going on? You said something about your father's work ..."

"And now the son of Bluestone comes to take his father's place. Come forth, boy."

Steve looked fit to be tied. "You Illuminati punks ... you can take my father's seat and SHOVE IT!"

A heated discussion started around the table after Steve's insult. He smiled, knowing he'd riled the old boys up.

"That's right, you murdering scum, I'm not going to be your little monkey. I will have blood for blood!"

Steve at that point pulled his service pistol out of his coat. Just as quickly, the Rokkan had pulled a weapon of his own, firing at Steve and knocking the pistol clear of his hand.

"Take them away. They're not ready to know their place in the grand scheme."

Another guard came behind them, stabbing them quickly with handheld sedative darts. Just as quickly as they had started their respective furious tirades, they were knocked into unconsciousness.

"Where are we now?"

"Some kind of holding cell. Looks like we're waiting for our fates."

Steve scoffed. "Typical. Of course, I shouldn't be too surprised, after all, they didn't even give my father the benefit of a trial before they blew him to smithereens."

"We didn't kill your father, Steve."

A third man's voice suddenly pierced through the darkness, as he came into view, just on the other side of the bars from the captives. He wore a robe and an obscuring hood.

"Then who did?"

"Certain interests within the Society felt that Bluestone was a threat, and pushed to have him eliminated. Others felt he was beyond use. I voted to keep him alive. We voted to let him live by only one vote ... but someone decided to overrule us."

"Gee, there's an understatement. Somebody overruled you by blowing a midtown Manhattan nursing home nearly to hell!"

"But you have to know it wasn't me." The hooded figure finally allowed his hood to be pulled back, revealing a balding man in his 70s, wearing square-framed glasses. A man who Steve instantly recognized.

"Uncle Martin?"

This made Rosanna jump. "UNCLE?!"

Steve sighed. "Rosanna, allow me to introduce Martin Hacker, my dad's best friend from his FBI days. I always thought you two were too close ... guess I know why."

Hacker nodded. "Listen to me, I know already how they're going to rule. They're preparing to kill you both."

Rosanna's eyes flew open, horrified. "But why?! Don't they know about the invasion?!"

"Yes, we do. Because we allowed the Rokkans to come. Remember the big guy who approached you in the boardroom? He's our Number 3 man, has been for nearly eleven years. We've been preparing for the Rokkans' arrival for that long.

"But at the same time, some of us have been preparing resistance to the invasion. Like me."

Before either of the captives could react, Hacker had opened up the cell. "Now hurry, you don't want them to catch you. There's an elevator at the end of this corridor. Take this key and don't look back!"

Hacker hurriedly pressed a small key into Rosanna's palm. She looked the small piece of metal over carefully, then looked back up at Hacker.

"Thank you."

"No time, just go!"

Rosanna pulled Steve Bluestone behind her, running down the corridor. As promised, at the end was an elevator waiting for them. They quickly made their way into the car, turning to the control panel.

There were no buttons. Just a keyhole.

Rosanna and Steve looked at each other questioningly. Shrugging, Rosanna plugged the key into the hole, turning it to the right. The doors of the elevator closed with a soft "whoosh," and the car started a slow trip down the shaft.

The Illuminati's top men came back into the meeting room, their hoods drawn tightly over their heads. This included Martin Hacker, hurriedly coming into the room, looking behind him, then pulling the hood of his robe over his head once more ... the hood of a robe which signified him as the leader of the Illuminati.

"What is it?!"

Steve could only point, shocked speechless. Crumpled up in a back corner of the elevator was a mummified body, dressed in a dapper pinstriped suit. The remnants of a full, snow-white head of hair and a mustache could be seen on the head of the corpse. Rosanna crouched down, taking a closer look at the body.

"Hm ... wondered what had happened to him. Now I know for sure where we are."

Steve had now regained the use of language. "Where?"

"We're in the Hotel Cabal. We never left New York!" Rosanna motioned toward the body. "My father told me of the incident with him and your father at the Hotel Cabal, including their leaving Mace Malone to aimlessly wander the halls, trying to find the exit. If I'm not mistaken, that's Mace right there."

Steve's eyes widened. "What are we going to do?!"

"Your dad never told you about this? I'm surprised." Rosanna approached the front of the elevator, just as the doors opened to the street. "The only escape from this torture house is to have a key. That's what Hacker gave us."

Rosanna pulled the key out of the elevator panel, handing it to Steve and heading back out into the street. Steve looked at her, shocked.

"What now?!"

The elevator doors began to close again. Rosanna quickly pulled Bluestone out of the elevator, before he could be closed into it again.

"Well ... where were we? Ah yes ... let's get together with General Chavez, like we were supposed to do this evening."

Steve smiled, finally, jumping up on Rosanna's back and allowing her to carry him up the side wall of the mysterious hotel to find an updraft.

The secretary general, a middle-aged woman from South Korea, leaned into the microphone. "The assembly recognizes Dominique Destine."

A nervous rustle moved its way through the world leaders as Demona took her place at the podium, accompanied by two gigantic Rokkan bodyguards flanking her. She cleared her throat, scanning the faces in the crowd.

"Ambassadors, leaders of the governments of Earth ... I wish to address you this evening to discuss the terms of your full surrender to the Rokkan. I would first ask you to look at the positives of such a surrender before the negatives."

"Listen good, folks. As we speak, Demona is addressing the ambassadors to the United Nations, more than likely demanding Earth's surrender. But we're gonna do some party crashing of our own."

The others looked at each other, then back at Rosanna. Graeme looked at his leader intently. "Make the call, Rosanna, we're all with you."

Rosanna nodded. "All right, then. We're going to take five parties and completely circle the UN building. Team one will be myself, Rain, Griff, Lex and Pontiac, our mission is to enter the assembly and disrupt the surrender proceedings.

"Team two will be led by Graeme, with Liberty, Brooklyn, Sata and the Canmores, you guys are going to attack the escort party for Demona.

"Team three will be led by Goliath, with Lina, Lili, Dodge and Angela, your objective is cutting off power to the building.

"Team four will be led by Mustang, with Coyote, Turqueza, Buick, Nudnik and the other Quarrymen, your objective is barricading the building, to make sure nobody gets out other than human diplomats.

"Team five is Ariana, Broadway, Slash, Nokkar, and the human resistance. I've already contacted General Chavez, she's waiting for you there. You guys are the backup ... in case we don't make it out, you come in after us. Got it, everyone?"

The rustle through the clanmembers was a dull roar through the high winds of the evening, all in acknowledgement. Rosanna nodded, satisfied.

"Good. Form up and move out!"

Demona looked around the human assembly with contempt. It took all of her strength to keep her lip from curling in disgust. Suddenly, a courageous diplomat, a gentleman whose nameplate identified him as coming from Austria, angrily rose to his feet.

"You demand us to give up our planet! That is cruelty in itself, demoness!"

Demona motioned to one of her escorts. The giant Rokkan leaped out from where he had been stationed, using his right hand to pick up the young, brash diplomat by his head. When the man had finally fallen silent, the Rokkan released his grip, letting the Austrian fall back into his chair gasping for breath.

"You are out of order."

"Anxious?"

He looked over at her, and now she could clearly see it. His eyes were as wide as those of a deer in the headlights. "Aren't you? I'm petrified."

Rosanna sighed, coming closer to his side. "It's only natural. However, there are certain times when you have to push down your fear. And this is one of those times. We have to stand tall and together, Rain, otherwise we're dead."

Rain nodded slowly in agreement. "Now that you put it that way, it makes sense." He caught an updraft, raising himself further toward the building. Rosanna followed closely in formation, as did the rest of the party.

Impulsively, Rosanna turned herself to face Rain as they glided toward the building. "Believe me, Rain, there is nothing I'd rather do than not do this, but if we have any chance of surviving, this has to be done."

She put a hand out to stroke his face lightly. "If we ever have any chance of being together, Rain ... this has to be done."

"So tell me, son ... how long have you two been an item?"

Graeme's eyes flew wide open. "What? How did you ..."

"A father knows, Graeme-chan," Sata's voice drifted up to the earshot of the males. "You have the same look on your face that your father had when he courted me."

"And the same goes for Liberty."

This finally brought Liberty's attention to the conversation. Brooklyn flashed her a big grin. "Relax, Libby, me and Sata couldn't be happier for you two."

Graeme now turned to face her. "Liberty, what say after this whole thing's over with we run away from my parents?"

Finally Liberty chuckled, enjoying Graeme's seeming embarrassment.

"The assembly is now open to debate on the proposal by Ms. Destine. We must consider our actions carefully, ladies and gentlemen, for the vote we take next will dictate the course of Earth's fate."

The assembly did not take long to voice opinions. None of them in favor. In fact, a huge throng of voices rose in opposition to the Rokkan demands.

Demona turned her face down and shook her head. "I had hoped it would not come to this ..." She pulled out an alien weapon, leaping to the top of the podium and firmly planting the business end on the top of the secretary general's head.

"What are you doing?!"

"Forcing your hand, madame secretary." Demona turned to the assembly, now shocked into silence by the show of aggression. "I have tried to play the diplomatic game with you fools, but it's apparent you have no sense of self-preservation! Give us what we want ... this planet ... or we lay waste to this whole city, nay, this whole world!"

"Go. NOW!"

One of the females among them, who appeared to be their leader, started barking orders. "Get the diplomats out of here! MOVE!"

The rest of the gargoyles took their cue, guiding the diplomats toward the exits as quickly as they could. The leader then turned to face Demona.

"All right, Demmy ... you're mine!"

"Split up! Liberty with me!"

The group split quickly, guiding themselves around to come on either side of the escort party. Graeme was lucky enough to tackle a Rokkan caught unawares before landing.

Liberty touched down before a familiar-looking Rokkan ... to her. Her eyes narrowed as she came to recognize the male before her ... the webbed fingers on his right hand being the giveaway.

"Now I get my chance for revenge!"

The Rokkan snarled at Liberty, grinning. =Mine as well, dead woman!=

The two former mates growled, leaping for each other's throats.

"Would it help if I shed some light on the subject?"

Goliath looked at the smaller Avalon gargess. "Wouldn't hurt, I suppose."

Lina nodded, closing her eyes and focusing her energies centrally, the way Beth had been teaching her for weeks. Slowly, she reached into one of her pouches, grasping to the stone she still kept with her. A soft eldritch glow could be seen for a short moment, before Lina opened her eyes once again.

A powerful beam of light now shone from her eyes, directed at any point that Lina looked directly at. Goliath nodded.

"Lead the way, Lina."

"Turqueza, take the Quarrymen with you and stand by the door." Mustang then turned to Coyote. "Do your thing, magic man."

Coyote grinned, as he watched Turqueza, the Quarrymen and the two doggoyles rush toward the main entrance, engaging the three Rokkans holding watch. Coyote brought himself to a floating position, spreading out his arms and beginning a Hopi incantation.

When he was done, the entire building was held under a shield of fae magic.

Footsteps behind her drew her attention away from the battle. She turned behind her to see a human man approaching.

"Still waiting?"

"I cannot do much more, Vinnie." She leaned against the stones again. "What of Alexander and Beth?"

"They're still preparing, can ya believe it? They've been in the library for six days, now."

Brianna nodded. "I don't know much about magic beyond what I was able to glean from Una, but they must be preparing for something massive."

"I certainly wish they would tell us what, y'know? It's getting kinda lonely for us non-magical types."

"Same way you did. Through the windows." Rosanna narrowed her own glowing eyes, one natural and one cybernetic, at the blue gargess. "There is no way in hell that we will allow this surrender to go through!"

"Oh, it will go through, freak. Take her!"

Demona's two bodyguards ran toward the smaller hybrid, talons extended. Rosanna leaped to avoid them, leaving them to Rain and Griff. She continued her rush toward Demona, fangs and talons bared, eyes glowing brightly. Demona parried quickly, but Rosanna righted herself in mid-leap, turning herself to face the immortal blue gargess.

"You don't have any idea how far the odds are stacked against you, Rosanna. I have the upper hand!"

"Great! Then you can talk to MINE!" Rosanna swung an open-handed blow, landing it on Demona's face and sending her flying.

But Liberty's determination was all that was keeping her upright. By far, she had taken the worse blows in the fight. She wiped blood away from her mouth, letting out a primal roar and lunging for the Rokkan again.

He avoided her lunge with ease, slamming her to the pavement. She landed with a loud grunt. She was clearly having trouble getting back up.

=Time to die!=

The Rokkan drew his fists over his head, aiming toward the fallen gargess' face. He would have been successful in his blow, had it not been for the flying green streak that tackled him before he could land it.

Graeme screamed, pummeling blow after blow into the Rokkan, his adrenaline and his fear for Liberty taking control of his actions. He laid a brutal beating into the larger fighter, who could do little more than block the barrage, and then could not block it any longer.

Eventually, the only thing that stopped Graeme, even as his face and forearms became caked with the alien's blood, was Liberty's calming touch on his arm.

"Graeme! Stop it, he's dead!"

Breathing heavily, Graeme finally came down from his rush, bringing his arms harmlessly to his sides. He turned to Liberty ... battered and bruised, but much to his relief, alive.

"He would ... have killed you. I couldn't let him."

"He's killed me once before, Graeme. He will not kill anyone else, ever again."

Graeme now turned his full attention to LIberty, concern in his eyes. "Are you okay, Libby? I came as soon as I could ..."

"I know you did. Thank you."

Overcome with relief, Graeme could do no more than embrace the giant gargess tightly.

"Any word?"

Ariana approached the general. "Not yet." The rest of the humans gathered around the landed gargoyles, mutate and alien. "We were hoping you had something."

Chavez shook her head. "Nothing. We can't be sitting here forever."

"Don't count Rosanna out yet, General. If she says wait for the word, we wait. I believe in her."

Chavez nodded. "Well then, we wait some more." She turned back to her anxious troops, trying to calm them. Ariana turned to her troops, trying to accomplish the same.

Mustang's question was quickly answered by Coyote. "Yes, I do. The diplomats!"

Mustang rushed to where Coyote's shield was parting to escort the human diplomats from the building, even as they avoided the fighting around them. The Rokkans tried to stop their egress, only to be stopped by more Earth allies. Finally, Mustang motioned to Coyote to close the shield again.

"They're all out!"

The strain of the spell on Lina was beginning to show. She was sweating profusely, and the light beams emanating from her eyes were not as bright as they had been when she had first produced them. Goliath placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Keep strong, Lina. We'll make it."

=No you won't, Goliath!=

The entire party turned quickly to see who was behind them ... a huge party of Rokkans.

And at the point as their commander ... the hybrid clone Thorn.

"Lina, go and complete the mission. We will deal with this ... forgery."

Lina rushed further down the corridors as Goliath and the rest of the party turned to face Thorn and her Rokkan company, eyes glowing.

Lexington's advisement fell upon the nearly-listening ears of his mate as she dealt with the assault of another Rokkan. Finally, once she had pushed the attacker off, she turned to her mate.

"We won't be able to abort, Lex. Rosanna's too involved!"

All eyes in the room centered now on Rosanna and Demona, still grappling on the floor where once world policy decisions had been made. Rosanna now seemed to have the upper hand, pulling her tail around to grasp Demona by the throat.

"Only a matter of time, bitch!"

Demona snarled, kicking the gargoyle leader off of her.

"Okay, now how did Rosanna say to do this ... oh yeah!" Lina fiddled with a few controls on the package, until she finally had it set. Carefully, she pressed the red button on its side.

A digital display started counting down.

2:00
1:59
1:58
1:57
1:56

Lina pushed the microphone of her radio headset to her mouth. "Charge is set. Evacuate!" She quickly turned tail and ran away from the newly ticking bomb.

Brooklyn's call finally brought Graeme and Liberty out of their embrace, turning and running from the building, along with Sata and the Canmores, having freshly finished their battles.

"Just received word, the countdown's started!"

Chavez nodded, putting her bullhorn up to her lips. "ALL RIGHT PEOPLE, WE HAVE TO MOVE IT BACK AWAY FROM THE BUILDING! MOVE, WE HAVE LESS THAN TWO MINUTES UNLESS YOU WANT TO DIE LIKE A ROKKAN!"

The humans acknowledged, pushing their lines back. Ariana and her party followed close behind.

"Carry 'em if you have to! Let's MOVE!"

Mustang got a running start, leaping away. Lili and Dodge, each carrying a Quarryman, scrambled away quickly. Buick and Nudnik weren't far behind, as was the last Quarryman.

Goliath nodded, turning to his party. "Pull out! Now!"

Thorn seemed bewildered, as the fight quickly ended with the gargoyles' retreat. Finally, she screamed after the retreating heroes.

=What's going on?!=

Goliath could only chuckle as he ran out of the basement.

And now Rosanna smiled. "Bye bye, blue bitch!"

Rosanna leaped out the nearest window. Demona screamed into the empty room.

Rosanna glided away from the wreckage, looking behind her. Tears formed in her eyes ... it was a shame that such a major part of the city had to be sacrificed, but her tears were of joy, for she hoped much of the invasion force had been stopped.

She looked down at the ground, seeing the Clan having reassembled near the staging point for the human resistance, and directed her path to take her over to them. The cheers were very loud even high in the air, and they only became happier as she approached closer. Wildly happy, the Clan circled her and embraced her as wholly as they could. She went through a line of happy friends, greeting their embraces with hers at every turn.

And finally, the line ended at Rain. Overcome with his emotions, he opened his arms to her, catching her as she came to him in a run. With all of the relief she felt, she could think of nothing more she could do but bring herself and Rain into a passionate embrace, followed by a happy kiss.

The cheers rang louder.

There's a party raging somewhere in the world
You've got to serve your country, gotta service your girl
You're all enlisted in the Armies of the Night! -- from "Everything Louder than Everything Else" (J. Steinman), performed by Meat Loaf.

They were wrong.

Small pebbles began rolling away from the apex of the rubble pile. Suddenly, a blue hand found purchase into the night air, pushing more shattered masonry away, until a hole had been made, one wide enough to allow Demona through. She climbed fully out of the hole she now had dug, standing on wobbly legs and surveying the damage around her.

It bubbled deep from within her. And could not help but be let out. Her eyes glowed as she cocked her head back into the night, her scream evolving into a savage roar.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

She would soon prove them oh so wrong.

Demona closed her eyes, crossing her arms before her and focusing her energies into herself, concentrating the magical energy around her as much as she could handle. Her face crossed in pain and anger combined, as she gritted her teeth and grunted her command.

"Return!"

As soon as she had forced out the word, an outline shimmered before her, ultimately forming into the giant hybrid Thorn. She was battered and bruised, but otherwise alive.

=What happened?=

Demona's eyes had not stopped glowing. "Rosanna and the Clan. That's what happened. We must return to the mother ship, now."

Thorn nodded curtly, escorting her mistress up the side of a nearby convenient building and launching themselves into the night air.

"How is it possible? She had a whole building fall on her!"

Lexington narrowed his eyes, allowing his cybernetic upgrades help him. "Demona?"

Pontiac nodded. "And someone who looks a lot like Thorn."

Lex suddenly growled. "Demona I know is immortal. Whatever the cause for Thorn, we've got to tell Rosanna. She'll definitely want to know."

Rosanna had risen to her feet in shock upon hearing the news. Lexington and Pontiac nodded.

"Looks like they may be going back to regroup for something. Something big."

Rosanna nodded. "I see."

David Xanatos, having just walked into the room, nodded. "So we'll have to come up with something bigger, then, won't we Rosanna?"

"Exactly." She came around the desk toward the older man. "I hope when the time comes, Alexander is ready."

The elder Xanatos nodded. "So do I."

Beth snapped him out of his study. "You said he's done this before? Did he need this much preparation?"

Owen shook his head. "He only summoned individuals last time. This will be summoning a throng. It takes a lot of purification, whereas a simple incantation by the Puck had done the job the first time."

Owen finally approached the young man, his eyes only half-seeing as he remained in his self-purifying trance. "Remember, Alexander. You have done this before ... you can do it again."

The Puck had long ago given up trying to entertain the young man Alexander, who seemed more focused on his lessons than ever. He knew, when it was lesson time, the young man was straight to business.

That didn't stop Puck from trying to lighten the mood, though.

"So, you wanna learn interdimensional teleportation, eh?" Puck hung himself upside down, almost nose to nose with his charge. "D'you have any idea how difficult it's gonna be?"

"I'm ready for any challenge, teacher. I want to learn it."

Puck sighed. "Oh, all right. Here, watch and learn." The fae trickster hung himself just hovering off the ground, closing his eyes and focusing his energies. With a voice as deep as the ages, he began his incantation.

A typically Puckish grin came across the fae's face as he opened his eyes, allowing his eldritch energies passage into the center of the room. When the lights cleared, though, there was a third person in the room.

It was a tall Asian woman, in a fighting stance. Almost too late, she stopped herself from letting fly with three throwing blades she held between her fingers. Now realizing she was in ... a teenager's bedroom? ... she relaxed a bit, then became a bit more annoyed.

"Oh great, now what the hell happened?!"

Alexander started grinning, simply from seeing the outfit this woman was wearing ... a tight spandex aerobic outfit with a bare midriff, and a leather jacket. Her tight shirt sported the image of a yin-yan impaled by a knife. She wore a dagger on her right leg, a headband with a similarly colored yin-yan, and long, pointed jade earrings.

And a badge on her coat.

"Like it, Alex?"

Alex could only grin wider. The woman turned around, seeing a strange man floating in the air behind her, and immediately reached for her dagger, putting it up to Puck's throat.

"All right, magic man, where am I and what did you do with that poor girl?!"

Puck started sweating slightly. But only slightly ... a quick snap of his fingers, and the woman was gone.

"Whoa, that was close ... she likes to use a lot of iron in that knife of hers." Another big grin appeared on the Puck's face, having migrated there from Alexander's upon the woman's disappearance.

"Okay, what was the point of bringing my favorite comic book character to life?"

"The point, m'boy," began Puck, "is that you can draw guests from any plane of reality. Even a fictional world is a plane of reality, my friend, for what one person considers fiction, his creation certainly considers fact."

Puck came back down to the ground. "You try it. Remember that movie we saw the other night? I seem to recall you took a liking to that pilot ..."

"Puuuuck!" Alexander blushed.

"No need to be shy, Alex. 'Sonly natural." Puck pulled Alexander into the middle of the room. "You try it. Try to draw her from the movie into the real world."

"Okay, I'll try." Alexander focused himself, as Puck had taught him. Taking a deep breath, he looked up into the ceiling and began an incantation of his own.

The energy flew out of Alexander, focusing into another female outline near a far wall of the room. The outline finally took better form, into a taller, blonde woman in a flightsuit.

"How can this be ..." She turned to face Alexander and Puck. "Where am I? If this is some kind of Qu'lanth trick ..."

"No tricks, Commander. And you don't know how much of a thrill it is for me to meet you." Alexander approached her, hand extended. "Alexander Xanatos."

Hesitantly, the woman accepted the handshake. "Krystle Jacobs. Nice to meet you, Alexander. Sorry if I seem a bit rude, but I've been fighting a really hard war."

"I know all about it."

Puck loudly yawned. "If you don't mind, Alex, I'd like to get on with the lesson, here."

"Huh? Oh, yeah ..." He turned back to Cdr. Jacobs. "Sorry to cut this so short, but I'm in the middle of my lessons."

Krystle raised an eyebrow. "What kind of lesson?"

Puck winked, grinning. "Magic." With that, a snap of his fingers and Krystle Jacobs was gone.

"Okay, I get it."

"You do, huh?" Puck leaned himself up against a wall. "Prove it, then. Summon someone blindly."

Alexander blinked. "Blindly?"

"You heard me, Alex. Someone at random. From any plane, pick one. To give ya a hint, though, it helps if you have a particular template on who you want before casting."

Alexander nearly nodded again when he noticed a gargoyle walking along the passage behind Puck. Impulsively, he rushed into the doorway, calling out to the walker.

"Hey, Rosanna! Wanna see something cool?"

Rosanna turned around. Normally, she didn't take interest in Alexander's magic lessons, and in fact had been warned by both of her parents to steer clear of them (no doubt because the last time one of them had interfered, Elisa had wound up as part of the filling of a giant pie), she couldn't resist the call of coolness.

"Lead the way, Alex."

Rosanna jogged into the room behind Alexander, heeding Puck's warning to keep behind him. After making sure she was clear, Puck turned to his student and nodded slowly.

Alexander smiled, raising his arms, his focus newly in place, and closing his eyes.

More eldritch energies formed around Alexander, finally coalescing within the teenage boy. The magic light suddenly shot itself out of Alex and toward the center of the room.

Rosanna stood behind the Puck, spellbound, as the spell produced results. Results that she liked, for the newcomer ...

... was a gargoyle. The light faded to reveal a tall, green, beaked gargess, in garb similar to that which Brooklyn chose to wear nowadays. She looked around the room, sensing familiarity.

"Hmm ... Castle Wyvern. Interesting." She turned around and looked at Alexander, Puck and Rosanna. "Alexander Xanatos ... well, you're sure different than mine, aren't you?"

Alexander's eyes went wide. "There's more of me?"

Puck nodded. "It is always possible to have multiple copies of one person on multiple planes ... but no one plane usually has multiple copies of one person, Alex."

"The Puck ... don't tell me I've walked in on one of your infamous magic lessons."

Puck grinned. "Sadly, yes, you have, stranger."

The gargess stroked her chin, suddenly noticing the younger gargess standing behind Puck. "Well, here at least is one person I don't know." The gargess extended her arm to Rosanna. "Greetings, young one. I'm Eddie, leader of Clan Winslow."

Rosanna looked up at the gargess. Now she came fully out from behind the Puck, clasping Eddie's arm warrior-style. "I'm Rosanna, of Clan Manhattan."