Volume #6: "The Morning of the Gargoyle"
"Are you absolutely sure of this?"

Alexander Xanatos, owner of the massive Aerie building and guardian of the gargoyles who called it their home, leveled his gaze at Rose Maza suspiciously. The tears from the previous night's drama had yet to dry from her cheeks, yet she was asking him to do something dangerous and potentially foolhardy.

"Wake 'em up, Alex. We need surprise, and if Demona told them anything about the clan, they won't expect this." Her gaze was steady, level, not anxious or emotional at all.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Alexander turned to face the gathered gargoyles, raising his hands over his head and closing his eyes. Weird, arcane energies gathered about him, swirling and building in strength until they completely enveloped him. He looked toward the stone gargoyles and smiled, enigmatically.

"WAKE UP CALL!!!"

The focused energies blasted from the arms of the quarter-fae Xanatos, eddying and swirling about the gargoyles. Almost five seconds later, cracks formed on the stone surfaces, allowing their own eldritch energies to escape. Finally, the breathing, living gargoyles burst free of their stone shells, roaring into the sky.

The morning sky.

Samson was the first to say anything. "What gives?" He looked down to see Rose standing there. "What's going on?"

Rose giggled. "That's right, you've never seen me like this, have you? Well, get used to it fast. Everybody, gather around, I'll tell you why I just had Alexander wake you."

In the medlab, a stone gargoyle lay prone on an exam table, silent, unmoving. Beside him was the sleeping form of a human man, one Detective Steve Bluestone. He had been running entirely on adrenaline for the past two days since his father's violent demise, but he had finally collapsed in exhaustion, both physical and emotional.

A presence in the room roused him from slumber. Turning sleepily, he saw two human shadows looking in from the doorway. He yawned loudly.

"What's up?"

The two humans slowly walked into the room. The male figure, an older man, spoke. "We wanted to see Goliath. We heard what happened to him."

Recognition flashed. "Oh, now I remember. The Mazas." He stood up. "I'm sorry, we didn't meet formally. Detective Steve Bluestone, NYPD."

The older man shook Steve's hand briskly. "Peter Maza, NYPD retired. My daughter, Beth." Beth came up and shook Steve's hand, the turned to look at Goliath.

"Do you know him very well?"

Beth looked up at Steve. "We first met him when he and Elisa turned up in Arizona, on that quest of theirs. We didn't know then how serious they would be."

Steve nodded. "And what about Rose? How welcome was she into your family?"

Peter approached the table, settling next to his daughter. "Very. You have to understand, Steve, it didn't matter to us that her father was a gargoyle, we loved her all the same. We still do. She comes to see us whenever possible, and always brings dinner. Diane ... she loved Rose to death."

Steve placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss, sir. Rosanna told me about it."

Peter's countenance dropped. "First Elisa ... then Diane. And now I fear that Goliath may be the next of our family to die."

"... what do you think?"

The collected gargoyles discussed amongst themselves what Rose had just told them. Finally, it was Samson who spoke up.

"Let's do it."

Quickly, the other clanmembers chimed in.

Graeme: "I'm in."

Ariana: "Cool."

Broadway: "Lead the way."

Lexington: "I'm in, but let Cadillac stay behind."

Pontiac: "Where my mate goes, I go."

Griff: "That's what I'm here for."

Nokkar: =The Rokkan do not react very well to surprises. I will go.=

Slash nodding his head eagerly was finally what clinched Rose's decision. She turned to Alex, next to her. "Do it, Alex."

More mystic energies gathered about the industrialist, which finally climaxed in his incredible yell.

"ROSANNA, COME ON DOWN!"

Alex blasted the energy toward Rose, allowing the magic to course through and around the tailed human. She started going into convulsions, screaming loudly until the wings sprouted out of her back, stretching out against the clear morning sky. Her height increased, her skin changed colors, feet and hands turned into talons. Finally, Rosanna stood before the clan.

She was smiling.

"Let's kick some Rokkan butts."

The hovership circled close to the Aerie building, just out of eyeshot from the castle's occupants. Through binoculars, ancient eyes watched in amazement as gargoyles launched themselves from the parapets ... in broad daylight. He chuckled, lowering the binoculars and turning to the man beside him.

"Follow them. They will lead us there."

The pilot turned around to face his employer. "May I remind you, sir, that they've never been too receptive of your assistance."

"They don't need to know I'm helping them, Vogel." The black-clad man sat back further in his seat. "I know she's with the Rokkans. They are going to find her. And when they do ..."

He pulled out an ancient weapon, a heavy broadsword bearing a family crest: MacBeth.

"... oblivion comes for me at last."

The human in the midst of the group put her hands high up into the air. With a glint in her eye, she recited the alien incantation.

"Yennit alis fresed

Yennit reouns gorret

Yennit friis larnit alorren!"

The energies which had built up from her hands shot out far and wide from the place she stood. All around her, the chiseled faces of her companions softened to those of Terran beings, all of which began to reduce in size, until they all matched the height of the woman in the center. Though they retained their unusual skin colors, they all appeared ... strangely human.

The lead alien applauded. =Well done, Demona. This will do nicely.=

Demona smiled. The reverie was interrupted, though, by the flashing of warning lights around them. The lead Rokkan directed one of his warriors to a panel.

=The gargoyles are attacking.=

Demona's eyes widened. "That's impossible! It's 10:30 in the morning!" She strode with purpose toward the panel where the younger Rokkan stood, and looked. Her eyes narrowed, her blood boiled.

The gargoyles were indeed attacking.

And the half-breed was at the point.

"Break off and attack! Lex, Samson, take the north, Graeme and Pontiac at the south. Broadway, Slash, back us up, Ariana, you're with me!"

The gargoyles glided to their attack points, weapons at the ready. Rosanna turned to her headset.

"Griff, Nokkar, are you set up back there?"

"Ready to go, Rosanna, just give the word."

Rosanna nodded, turning to Ariana. "On my signal, fire. All teams, on my signal, fire!"

Demona's face shone with aggression. She turned to her Rokkan allies.

"Two can play at this game!" She raised her arms, allowing the magic to gather at her command once more.

Two black helicopters hovered away from the action, watching and waiting for the signal to move. The left-hand chopper only differed from the other because of the feathered gargoyle hanging from its skids. He looked up at the pilot, waiting for his signal to move.

A laser blast from the side of the ship disrupted his train of thought, as it sailed just between the two gunships. The panicked calls of the pilots met his ears, through his headset.

"Back off, split up!"

=No. We stay here.=

Griff looked up at the other chopper, where his fellow warrior waited. "If we don't move, we're toast!"

=We stay here. We stay until Rosanna calls for us.=

Griff turned back away, grumbling, "But what bloody good will we be if they cook our arses before we get the signal?"

Rosanna paused for a moment, before she could give the signal. "Hold up! There's something opening up. Be prepared to move!"

Just as a laser volley sailed overhead, the hanger doors of the ship opened wide, allowing the attackers to pour forth. The sheer numbers of the defense force took Rosanna by surprise.

"Break off! Evasive action, take as many down as you can! Nokkar, Griff, get over here now!"

Now that the attackers approached closer, Rosanna got a good look at the Rokkans. Her eyes widened, in an expression of unadulterated horror.

The Rokkans were gargoyles. Giant ones. While she mumbled something to herself about "this explains a couple things," Rosanna was hit broadside be another attacker, what appeared to be a smaller Rokkan, in one of their uniforms. Rosanna rolled with the blow, recovering enough to see who the attacker was.

"Die, freak!"

Rosanna didn't even need to see the face to know who it was. Demona. The hybrid's eyes glowed red, as she zoomed in to counterattack her stepmother.

The gunships approached fast, coming into the midst of the killzone. Laser blasts flew all around, but this did nothing to faze Nokkar.

=Prepare to move, Sir Griff.=

"I've been ready." Griff cocked the weapon in his hands, releasing his grip on the chopper's skids and gliding at high speed into the fracas. Nokkar dropped out of a rescue hatch in the bottom of his gunship, igniting a personal jet and streaking into the fight, laser blazing.

On the north side, Samson and Lexington fought with an unknown fury, battling off the attacking Rokkans with a vengeance. Lex's speed was his main asset, zipping between the giants and making them collide in midair. Samson, on the other hand, used pure strength to fight the attack, pulling Rokkans off course and shooting down others with the laser cannon in his cybernetically enhanced left arm and hand.

Lex sped through two more Rokkans, watching with satisfaction as they rammed hard into each other and fell from the fight. He looked over at Samson, grinning.

"These guys aren't so tough!"

Samson was about to agree as he blasted another one, but at that moment, a Rokkan grabbed Samson's head from behind, gripping into his artificial eye. The next few moments were torture for Lex, as he watched the Rokkan pull the cyberimplant free from its flesh-and-bone moorings.

Samson let out a primal scream of pain. Lex rushed over to catch the unconscious gargoyle, grabbing Samson with his legs and pulling him to safety. He clicked on his radio.

"Rosanna, Samson's down. He's in major cyber trauma. I'm taking him back to the Aerie building."

"Go, Lex. Broadway's going with you."

Lex acknowledged, turning around and heading back to the castle. Feeling himself lose his grip, he yelled for his rookery brother.

"BROADWAY! GET OVER HERE!"

The blind gargoyle came to his rookery brother's side, grasping the unconscious Samson in both his arms. Lex let out a sigh of relief.

"Geez, Broadway, he's almost as heavy as you are."

"Oh, ha ha, very funny. Let's get my son home." Broadway followed Lex into the morning air.

A sudden laser blast caught Broadway square in his back, and he began to fall to earth. Lex went into a nosedive, trying to direct Broadway's fall toward something closer to them than the pavement. Alighting on a rooftop, Lex guided his brother in.

"Where are we, Lex?"

"Don't know. You were hit pretty hard, we're on a convenient rooftop."

Broadway sniffed. Something very familiar in the air ... a fragrance ... orchids ...

"We're at Nightstone."

Lex looked up at his rookery brother. "Are you sure?"

"I can smell her, Lex. I can smell Angela here."

The dark-haired woman sat behind her desk, taking phone calls for the absent CEO of Nightstone Unlimited, Dominique Destine. She scribbled notes on a pad for a moment.

"All right, Mr. Gates, I'll let my mother know you called. She'll be quite excited about this deal, I'm sure." She hung up. Just as she did, though, the doors opened violently. She stood up, angry.

"What is this? This is a private office, get ..."

Suddenly she saw what the commotion was. Two gargoyles walked through the now-destroyed doors, carrying a third. She paid no attention to her doors now.

"How is this possible?" She looked down at her watch. "It's 11:15 in the morning!"

The shorter gargoyle looked up at the bigger one. "I think it's a mistake, bro. This isn't her."

The woman approached carefully. The bigger gargoyle took in a deep breath through his nose, smiling when he smelled something that satisfied him.

"Angela. It is you. Come and help me, our son has been injured."

The shorter one looked at the woman sideways. "Angela?!"

"Broadway. Lexington." She walked up to Broadway, cold-cocking him and making him drop Samson.

"What was that for?"

"Who the HELL do you think you are, bursting in on me like this?! Don't come to me just because one of your clan is injured. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I am not your mate anymore, Broadway. Gather your things and get out of here before I call security and have you removed forcibly. And believe me, Nightstone security can make your life very miserable."

Broadway's face crossed into an anger that Lex had never seen before. He stood over his fallen son, facing down the woman.

"You listen to me, Angela. I was shot down over here by folks working with your mother, the same guys who decided to make a jigsaw puzzle out of our son." Broadway suddenly grabbed Angela by her shoulders, turning her forcibly to face her injured son. "Now, are you going to help us, or are you going to watch your son ... our son ... bleed to death in your office?!"

Rosanna heard conflicting reports from all around the attack zone, as she listened into her headset carefully.

"Rosanna, Pontiac's down. I'm going back to the castle with her!"

"Ack --"

"Rosanna, we have to pull out, there's just too many of them!"

Rosanna looked over at Ariana, struggling with another four attackers trying to capture her. Three laser blasts from Rosanna later, they were off and falling. Ariana looked over at Rosanna, who quickly signaled her with a hand across her neck.

"Pull out! Everyone pull out and regroup. Back to the castle!"

She watched as her clan pulled out of the attack. Ariana glided up to the side of her brother, carrying the injured Pontiac. Satisfied that everyone was gone, Rosanna turned back to check on the Rokkans.

Most of them had returned to their home base. Rosanna nodded.

"We'll be back."

She turned to leave ...

Demona watched the abomination turn back to the castle. Levelling her weapon, she aimed carefully through the gunsight, gently squeezing the trigger.

"Farewell, Rosanna. May you decay slowly and painfully."

A particle blast caught Rosanna squarely between her wings, in the center of her back. Her spine curved in the wrong direction, as she screamed and dropped like a rock, finally splashing down into the East River.

The bubbles came up for a short time.

Then they stopped.

To Be Continued ...
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