Volume #14: "Prodigals"
Her train of thought was disrupted as her companions joined her in her office, eight massive Rokkans.
=We await your command.=
Demona turned toward them. Her eyes began glowing.
"Attack. Now."
"Feeling at home yet, sis?"
Angela looked up to see Rosanna standing in the doorway, looking toward her. "I don't know. Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe I still feel a little badly for Demona."
Rosanna sighed. "Don't. Believe me, it will be much easier for all of us if you can forget about the last six years." She approached her older sister, wrapping an arm around Angela's shoulders. "Listen, I just want you to know how much we've missed you here. When you came back ... everything seemed right, you know?"
Angela smiled. "I think I do."
Rosanna continued. "I just want you to know that ... if I ever did anything to make you feel unwanted or unloved ... then I'm truly sorry."
The two sisters pulled into an embrace. Angela looked out the window, over Rosanna's shoulder ...
She saw the signal. Demona smiled evilly.
"NOW!"
"Sorry, dear sister. But it's your fault. You let your guard down."
Almost instantly, the Rokkans had swarmed upon the clan, two Rokkans fighting each earth gargoyle. To the Rokkans, it seemed that the battle should have been short.
But Earth's defenders did not fall as easily as they hoped.
To the attackers' surprise, they were smiling.
"Just like old times, Ari."
She nodded, handing one end of her bo staff to her brother. The siblings couldn't help it: they started laughing.
"BANZAIIIIII!!!"
Simultaneously, the two siblings leapt toward their attackers, the bo staff making contact with three attackers and sending them off the side of the castle. Though they knew the fall wouldn't hurt them once they unfurled their wings, the siblings figured they wouldn't come back.
That only left the one. Graeme snorted, "He's mine."
The two began grappling, only to finish when Graeme pulled the Rokkan's legs out from under him. Grinning all the way, Graeme rolled his conquered quarry off the wall.
"Any of these guys friends of yours?" Rain quipped.
"I am not sure I even have friends among ..."
Liberty stopped short when she saw him. A medium-sized Rokkan, pale skinned and haired, was among the five attackers.
He certainly was familiar. And the feeling was mutual, as his face took on an expression of shock. For wasn't this his mate ... the very female that was killed in MacBeth's attack?
=You ...=
Liberty set her jaw, narrowing her eyes. They glowed red.
"YOU!" She lunged toward him, scratching and clawing, hoping to hurt him as much as he had hurt her. She clawed at him relentlessly, the fight merging into the rest of the Rokkans and disrupting them.
This of course gave Rain a perfect opportunity, lunging at the attackers and finally knocking them out. With impunity, he picked them up and dropped them off the sides of the castle.
Liberty and her ex-mate continued struggling for a few moments more, until finally Liberty had gained the upper hand, kicking the male off of her and sending him spiralling off the side of the castle.
"I see the war hasn't forgotten to go on without us."
"How can you be so aloof? Those are our friends down there!"
"Relax, we're almost there. We'll join them and give 'em backup."
"And besides that, our aid from Avalon will help us ... immensely."
The five fliers entered the beam of a spotlight. In the light's warm glow, their complement and formation could finally be seen.
One gargoyle.
Three battle-suits.
And one human with no aid at all, gliding effortlessly.
"You're a sentimental fool, sister." The elder gargess smashed a foot into Rosanna's back. "Did you really think that all this emotional garbage would actually turn me away from our cause?"
"You're insane, Angela! Why are you doing this?!"
Angela grasped Rosanna's ears, pulling her head back. "Because I can, little sister. Because I can."
"Does that mean you'll do this to me, too?"
She turned around quickly, seeing her father standing there in the doorway. Broadway was there, too, blindly grasping the door jamb.
"Father ..."
"Your mother has corrupted you into this. Would you destroy everyone, everything you love just to serve your mother?"
She stood wide-eyed, the proverbial doe caught in the headlights. She stammered, unable to think of what to do next. Broadway sniffed, approaching her.
"Remember I told you that you were always welcome back? I didn't lie to you. We all miss you."
She suddenly began writhing. She staggered away from her mate, clutching her head like someone in trauma. Broadway held his ground, continuing to approach her.
"Try as you might, you can't forget us. You can't destroy us. You know it to be true in your heart." Broadway put out his arms, finally grasping Angela.
She trembled in his grasp, sweating profusely, almost like an addict coming down. She couldn't escape the grasp of the great blind gargoyle.
"We all love you, Angela." Broadway drew her closer. "I love you, Angela."
It was almost like a fog lifting from her mind. Her expression suddenly enlightened, her eyes stopped glowing red. She sighed loudly, then drew her breath in fast.
"I'm home. At last, I'm home!" Out of sheer joy, she kissed her mate.
The battle took its final turn in a most surprising way, though.
"Fire stream!"
A streak of fiery wrath showered down on the Rokkans from above. Looking to the sky, everyone saw the source: the diminutive female gargoyle, holding a stone in front of her.
Samson was the first to react. "Lina! Where the hell have you been?!"
"Long trip, tell ya about it later." She touched down, followed by three battlesuits and a strange man in a leather coat. "Where's Rosanna?"
"Don't know." He looked past her, toward her companions. "Who're they?"
"You know the Xanatoses, don't you? Well, they're all here now, and we brought help from Avalon, too!"
The jacketed man approached. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name's Coyote, please to meet you." He smirked.
Then suddenly she saw the cyborg. She smiled.
"Maybe ..." She pulled an ancient piece of parchment from one of her pockets, unfolding it before her.
Samson stood completely stiff. It was so sudden that Lina was taken by surprise.
"Yo, Sammie! You there?!"
Samson looked at her, cold and stiff. Before she could react, he picked her up with his cybernetic hand, tossing her aside. This act brought the attention of the other clanmembers, especially Ariana, who rushed over to him fastest.
"Samson, what happened?" She turned to see Demona behind him. "Oh, God, what did she do to you?"
"Only what should have been done in the beginning, child of Brooklyn. He belongs with me!"
Ariana screamed with her rage, speeding in to attack Demona. At the last moment, though, Samson gripped her by the scruff of her neck, pulling her away and tossing her into Lina and Coyote. She recovered, her rage building, her eyes now glowing crimson.
"Dammit, what did you do to him?!"
"Come to me, Samson. Come to your grandmother's side!" With those words, it became evident what had happened, as he silently approached the smaller blue gargess unquestioningly.
"No ..."
"He's mine, now." She turned to the other Rokkans. "Break off and regroup. We'll try this again some other night."
The other Rokkans took off. Ariana lunged one last time at Demona, only to be stopped by a laser blast from Samson. She collapsed into a ball.
"At least this defeat has some spoils. Come, Samson. Our destiny awaits!" She took to the sky, with Samson close behind her. Eventually the Rokkans and their allies were gone from the horizon.
At that moment, the clan came back to where Lina, Coyote and Ariana were. Ariana still had not risen from Samson's last blow.
The first one to speak was Angela: "My God, Demona has my son!"
David Xanatos, removing his helmet, came over to Angela and lay a hand upon her shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss, Angela. I feel it as much as you do."
Those who looked to Ariana saw her form begin to move, in slow, bouncing, sobbing motions. She finally came upright, screaming her rage impotently into the night air.
"I swear, that blue bitch is DEAD!"
