Volume #11: "Ark of Destruction"
A crowd of people assembled near the docks on the East River, milling about waiting for their fates. Their confusion was evident on their faces and in the tone of their voices. They, like everyone on Earth, were unsure of their final fate.

Just as their confusion reached a panicked fever pitch, they were approached by two figures. Two imposing figures.

Two Rokkans.

=Attention, humans. Follow the guides to the arks. They will take you from the planet.=

In a short period of time, the humans formed straight lines, trudging toward their futures.

A short distance from the docks, three of Earth's drafted defenders sat in hiding, watching the assembly as it formed the organized group. The great extraterrestrial holding the binoculars let out a loud sigh, turning away.

=Seven guards, two escorts. There are about three thousand humans there.=

The gargoyle next to Nokkar turned to him. "Why are we sitting here, then? Shouldn't we go in there and drag them out?"

=It is not that simple, Sir Griff. They chose to leave of their own free will. This is an unknown strategem to my people, the Rokkans have never done this kind of act before.=

"Nothing's wrong with a little bit of mercy, right?"

The third member of the group, the mute mutant Slash, looked over at Nokkar nervously. Nokkar shook his head.

=On the contrary, sir knight, the Rokkans showing mercy creates high suspicion in my mind.=

Above the scene of the mass exodus, four Rokkans stood around two lone humans, one an older man in black, the other a slim, dapper personal assistant in a neat suit. Both, however, were tied down.

Slowly, as if rousing from a great drug stupor, the older man awakened, seeing that his surroundings had not improved. He growled slightly under his breath.

"Our accommodations have declined."

"Not as much as your life will shortly." The female voice came from a door near the back of the room. The owner of the voice approached the two men slowly, menacingly, allowing her wings to create a shadow behind her.

The sight of the blue gargess wasn't the first time the older man recognized her. "Demona. How nice to see you again."

She chuckled. "Charmed, I'm sure. As always, a pompous bastard."

"Who's the bastard, Demona? I'm not the one trying to destroy the world!"

Demona laughed. "Destroy? Is that all you think of me, MacBeth?" She came nearly nose-to-nose with him. "I'll have you know, I'm trying to save my race. We need breathing room, you humans have roamed the planet long enough."

MacBeth sneered. "I see your time in Europe during the '40s didn't teach you much."

"And where the hell were you?"

Now MacBeth was shouting. "Fighting for my country, fighting against the evil forces that you have aligned yourself with! Face facts, all you're doing right now is repeating the mistakes your old friend Adolf taught you ..."

"SHUT UP!" Demona lashed out at the immortal human, slashing him across his face. However, at the same time she recoiled from the same blow.

MacBeth chuckled. Demona growled in pain, sprawled on the floor. The man tied up next to MacBeth, just rousing, turned to him and smiled.

"Admit it, you enjoyed that."

"I can't lie."

Demona's eyes glowed red. "Ohhhhh ... rot here for all I care! Your pathetic race will be destroyed soon enough anyway!" She stormed out of the room, escorted by her guards and sentries.

The crowd of humans was escorted toward the entrance passageway of a massive starship, parked in the water of the East River. Rokkans on each side of the passage guided the humans into the ship, like cattle. Possessions, suitcases, even children were cast aside in the rush to fill the starship. All the time, though, the Rokkans stood there, keeping order wherever they could.

Having come closer to the crowd to get a better look, the three Earth defenders watched over the proceedings with growing horror. Nokkar's seldom-emotional face showed a sadness he possibly had never shown before.

=I have seen this before.=

Griff looked over at the alien. "Where?"

=On this planet. During your Second World War.=

Griff shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know about that. Goliath pretty much plucked me out of the middle of the war, I don't know what happened later."

Nokkar turned away, rubbing his eyes. =It ... was called the Final Solution by Adolf Hitler.=

The name of the German dictator beought revulsion from Griff, as seemingly fresh memories of the Battle of Britain raced through Griff's head. "Hitler? What do the Nazis have to do with anything, not that it wouldn't surprise me."

=Near the end of the war, it was discovered that Germany was using much of its resources to systematically eliminate Jewish people in all the nations conquered by the Nazis. The Jews were sent willingly to their deaths by promises that they were going to be placed into camps and simply held. That ... was not the case.=

Griff's eyes began to glow. As did Slash's. "So, you mean ..."

=My suspicions on Rokkan mercy are not ... unfounded.=

The starship's sentry detail assembled around Demona, on one of the upper decks of the craft.

"Report."

=The humans here have been loaded into the ship. We are ready to begin.=

"Good. Leave and prepare for liftoff. I have one last bit of business to attend to."

The Rokkans ackowledged, turning and jumping off the deck, into the air.

Rising through the decks of the ship, Demona could not help herself from smiling. Maybe now, she reasoned, the curse would be lifted. She could barely hold back her emotions as she entered the bridge, where MacBeth and Vogel were being held.

Upon her entry, MacBeth scowled further. "What more can you do to me? I am helpless, I am your captive!"

She only chuckled. "This." Demona tapped into a control panel near where MacBeth was tied. Once finished, she picked up a microphone.

"Prepare for liftoff. Repeat, prepare for liftoff."

"I don't understand you, Demona. What good will this do you?"

She couldn't help herself, she only began laughing louder. "All the good in the world! Or rather ... all the good out of the world!"

As MacBeth watched in horror, Demona flipped a switch that opened every window panel in the ship. Including the bridge.

"Say hello to your intestines for me ... old friend." With that, she glided out one of the open bridge windows.

"It's moving! They're lifting off!"

Nokkar rose, tossing a device to Griff. =Contact the rest of the clan. We must act now. Slash, come with me.=

Nokkar ignited a jetpack in his armor, lifting off. Slash soon followed. Griff turned to the device in his hand, a video communication device, and tuning it until Rosanna's face appeared in the screen.

"Griff, what's up?"

"We have a situation. Are you familiar with the 'Final Solution' ...?"

The ship began to pick up speed as it ran its path through the East River. A shining silver ark, its side panels glistened under the streetlights around the dock area. Little did this exterior appearance show that every occupant of the ship was about to be killed in a vacuum.

Unless their saviors came to their rescue. As they did come to their rescue.

Nokkar and Slash found their way to the bridge, prying open a pilot hatchway and entering to find MacBeth and Vogel, still tied up in the cockpit.

MacBeth's first reaction, rather than revulsion, was relief.

"What are you waiting for? Get us out of here!"

=We have reinforcements coming. Help us free the occupants of the ship.=

Vogel rubbed his wrists as Slash untied them, muttering "You don't have to tell me twice."

=Demona, we have incoming Earth Forces.=

Her eyes glowed red. "Where?"

Her Rokkan escort pointed toward the darkened sky. Through the streetlights' haze, she could make out four silhouettes speeding toward the moving ark.

Although three of the silhouettes were unfamiliar to her, and one seemed too large to be true, the third made her roar with rage.

Rosanna.

"GET THEM! Stop them before they reach the ark!!"

"We do this right, people, or everybody on the ship's dead. Griff, Rain, take the left. Liberty, you're with me!"

The gargoyles split up, heading toward the escape hatches of the starship. With gargoyle talons as sharp and strong as crowbars, they ripped the hatches open, entering the ship.

What they saw horrified them. Humans, crowded into the bowels of the ship, like cattle. Some seemed to be sickly. At least twenty had been crushed to death. Those who were alive trembled with fear at the sight of the earth-born gargoyles.

Rosanna saw their fear, and climbed up one of the walls. "Attention, everybody! If you want to live, come with us! If you stay, you will die!"

Slowly, the humans came around to Rosanna's way of seeing things, filing toward the escape hatches and jumping out, into the river.

"Blow it! Blow it now!"

=That would not be wise. The blast could kill everyone within twenty miles.=

"To hell with the humans! Blow the ship!!" Demona snatched the controls away from her escort, savagely depressing a switch to self-destruct the starship.

An explosion from the rear of the ship created panic throughout the humans crowding their way to the escape hatches and trying to cheat their doom. Rosanna looked over at Liberty.

"What the hell's going on?!"

"The original plans for these arks was to destroy them as soon as they left Earth's atmosphere! I believe Demona may have hit the destrict mechanism prematurely!"

Rosanna gave a twisted look at Liberty. "No kidding. Let's get the hell out of here!!"

Griff and Rain nodded, acknowledging. They took off, out of their passage.

Liberty was the first out the other escape hatch, with Rosanna nearly behind her, until she heard the cries. She strained her eyes to look through the flames.

She saw the girl. Four, maybe five years old. Frightened out of her wits. And in the center of the flames.

"Hold on, sweetie, I'm coming!!" Rosanna nearly jumped into the flames until a black-gloved hand grabbed her forearm. She recognized him instantly.

"MacBeth? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was captured by the Rokkans, it's a long story. Let me get her, the flames won't hurt me as much as they will you!"

Rosanna nodded, allowing MacBeth to proceed. He calmly strolled through the flames, allowing the heat to sear through his clothes, but not burning them. The fire was causing him pain, though; Rosanna could hear his cries of agony.

Demona began writhing on the ground where she lay, the magical bond between herself and MacBeth as strong as ever. Her Rokkan escorts only stared in shock.

"Damn ... you ... MacBeth!"

When he came back to Rosanna, his clothes were charred, his coat nearly burned away. However, he held the child tightly in his arms, shielding her from the heat. He handed the girl to Rosanna.

"Take her and go! I have something I need to do here." MacBeth jogged back up to where he came from. Rosanna looked into the eyes of the little girl, the worried, crying eyes. Eyes that gave her hope.

"You'll be okay, honey."

MacBeth was relieved that everyone else in the bridge was gone. He supposed the alien and the mutant had taken Vogel away. He settled himself behind the controls of the alien craft, taking its stick firmly into his hands.

"Take the girl, Rosanna. Take the girl now!"

Rosanna tucked the little girl into a tight grip, cuddling her tightly. She crouched down, trying to produce enough kinetic energy in her leap to propel her away from the burning ark.

Finally, the leap was made. Her wings unfurled and met the heat of the surrounding air with a loud rustle. And Rosanna glided away from the destruction ...

The controls began flashing wildly. MacBeth widened his eyes.

"No! TOO SOON!!" He jumped out a convenient window hatch.

The blast wave staggered buildings all around the river. For two miles in every direction, loose panels flew away, glass shattered, humans were dragged by the wave into unwilling flight.

Rosanna felt herself catch in the wave, throwing her trajectory off. She closed her eyes, trying to keep herself from getting sick ...

And in one horrific moment, she felt herself drop the girl.

To Be Continued ...
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