Volume #24: "Return"

Rosanna looked up expectantly at Alexander Xanatos, her anxiousness hard to hide. Nervously, she tapped a talon against the floor of the medlab while the younger Xanatos looked over his handiwork: her new cybernetic facial implant.

"Everything looks all right. The implant's taking better than all of Samson's did. I'd like to have a second opinion, though."

Alexander disappeared for a moment, then returned shortly with his father in tow. "How does it look?"

David Xanatos came extremely close to Rosanna, looking over the seams and entry points of the implant. Experimentally, he tugged a bit on the implant, making sure it didn't pull free. This brought a painful reaction from Rosanna, though.

"Oww ..."

"Everything looks good, son. You've learned a lot from your old man, haven't you?"

"Enough." Alexander came back into the center of the lab. Rosanna stood up expectantly.

"Can I go back to the clan, now? I've been sitting here idle for what seems like an eternity!"

Alexander and David looked at each other, then back at Rosanna. "Sorry. I would feel better if we kept you here for just three days more. I want to make sure beyond all doubt that the implant won't be rejected."

Rosanna sat back down, grumbling. "All right." Her pout belied her words.

Rain had now joined Rosanna in the medlab, as he had every night since the operation. They sat together on the exam table, Rain with an arm around Rosanna's shoulders.

"They ... want to make sure that my body doesn't reject the implant."

Rain sighed. "Well, I guess they're doing what's best for you ..."

Rosanna turned sharply. "How the hell to they know what's best for me? I can't thrive in here! I need to be useful, needed. I can't just sit in here on my duff doing nothing!"

"Rosanna ... don't you remember what I told you before the operation? I told you, the Clan is well in hand, and that we need you to get better because you're no good dead."

She finally resigned, nodding. "I suppose. But ..." She pushed herself further into Rain's embrace. "I feel so useless here!"

Rain closed his arms around the vulnerable leader, trying to comfort her.

Finally she came up into a lit area, greeted by several Rokkan scientists and her grandson, Samson. Samson crossed the room to her.

"Greetings, grandmother."

"Spare the pleasantries, Samson. I need an update."

Samson nodded. "Very well. The project is progressing on schedule, grandmother. We're almost ready to introduce sample 2 into the environment."

"Excellent." She smiled, looking around. "And who is the donor?"

A Rokkan militiaman came forward, standing at attention before Demona. "I am."

Demona looked him over. "And why were you chosen?"

"The Earth gargoyles took my mate from me. More specifically ... Rosanna took my mate from me. I want my revenge."

Demona nodded. So Liberty was his mate. "I see. Very well then, let us proceed."

The Rokkan militiaman laid down on a table next to a small tank with some strange genetic material enclosed within it. Without changing his expression, the militiaman allowed the scientists around him to inject a large blade into his chest, extracting huge amounts of blood directly from his heart.

The blood travelled a stretched passage from the blade into the tank, where it mixed thoroughly with the genetic material within. And a bizarre glow began emanating from the mixed materials within.

"Thank you. That will be all." Demona's dismissal was the militiaman's cue to stand up, as the blade was extracted from his chest. He left the lab, still striding proudly. Demona turned her attention now to the tank, watching the materials within merge and combine. Her smile only grew wider.

As it happened, this night found the Clan's current leader Graeme fighting alongside Lina and Liberty. They gathered together near the upper battlements, springing into action to face the Rokkans. But something was wrong ...

"Concussion!"

Lina held the stone before her, but nothing was happening.

"Flare streamer!"

Still nothing. Liberty looked over to her, while fighting off an attacker.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know ... the stone won't answer me! Teleport!"

Still nothing. And much to Lina's chagrin, much too late as Liberty glided into her path ...

... and Lina's first attempt finally went off. The stone erupted a huge concussion wave, knocking Liberty senseless and into a death drop toward the street. Graeme saw what happened and immediately dove down after her. Lina floated above the scene, shellshocked.

She was unfortunately not quick enough to react when the stone carried out her second attempt. A long streamer of fire shot out from the stone, sending Lina in the opposite direction and slamming her against the side wall of the Castle. With a loud groan, she slid down the wall, falling unconscious at the base of the tower.

When she landed, the stone finally answered her third attempt, teleporting her into the medlab. Once there, she roused slightly as Rosanna and Rain jumped off the medlab table to her side.

"Lina! What happened?"

Lina's eyes flew open, as she looked at them both, then at the stone. She then started sobbing.

"The stone ... what's happened to the stone ...?"

"Come on, Liberty ... come on, wake up!"

He tried shaking the giant gargess awake, to no avail. He became more and more desperate as the ground approached faster. His wings were fully unfurled, every muscle straining to pull her up.

Finally, he came to a decision. Using his feet, he pulled Liberty's wings open, hoping just to slow them down enough not to kill them both.

And he suddenly found himself thanking his luck with all of his might as, just as her wings came open, they caught a strong updraft, pushing them back upward. At that moment, Liberty snapped awake.

"What happened ...?"

"I don't know. But we need to have a little chat with Lina."

"How long?"

"We are thirty seconds away from full incubation and resuscitation."

Demona nodded again, still smiling. She watched the countdown with growing anticipation.

The sounds of loud hissing signaled the end of the countdown. Demona stood upright, backing away from the tube. Samson joined her at her side, waiting for the opening.

"Incubation and resuscitation complete and successful."

The tube lifted off the floor, rotating until it was upright. With a loud motor sound, the top of the tube opened, its contents finally seen for what they were.

It was a female Rokkan. Or so it seemed. She was almost ten feet tall, her wings wrapped around her newly-formed nude body. Her eyes remained closed, but all in the room could see her breathing.

She lifted her face toward her masters, opening her eyes. At this point, though, Demona and Samson backed away, gasping in shock.

She had Rosanna's face.

Lina tried to reply through sniffling and sobbing, but was overcome for a moment. She recovered enough to blurt out, "The stone isn't working like it used to."

Graeme had managed somehow to carry Liberty into the now very crowded medlab, where Alexander was working on her injuries. Since Lina was there, he had begun questioning her about what had happened in the battle outside.

"And it's not working ... how?"

Lina sighed heavily, trying to regain control of her emotions. "The stone has a delayed reaction now to anything I ask it to do. Liberty wound up in the line of fire when it finally put out the concussion wave."

Graeme stood upright, his chin in his hand. "But why ...?"

"I believe I can answer that, Graeme." All eyes turned to see Owen walking into the medlab, approaching where Lina sat. He put out his hand, into which Lina placed the stone. Owen lifted his glasses, carefully looking over every side of the stone, then returning it to Lina.

"As I thought. There is a piece missing."

Lina looked up, shocked. She made her own careful scan over the stone's surface, finally finding the chip that had been taken out of the stone. "But why?"

"You were captured by Demona. More than likely, she took a small piece of the stone to harness a small part of its power. I would not begin to guess what she wanted to do with it."

Lina's tears began falling again. "But what am I going to do now? The stone is worse than useless, it's dangerous!"

Owen turned around to see Coyote entering the medlab. The two tricksters, one disguised and one exposed, looked at each other, then back at Lina.

"I think we have an idea." Owen motioned for Lina to follow them out. Just as they left, the entire Castle was rocked by a loud concussion blast.

Without thinking, the first one sprinting out of the lab was Rosanna, running nearly blindly, rushing toward the outside. Once she got there, however, the sight that greeted her filled her with horror.

There was a lone Rokkan there. A female. She held a shoulder-mounted weapon on her right shoulder. Her eyes glowed, not blue as the Rokkans' eyes did.

No, this female's eyes glowed purple.

As Rosanna focused her cybernetically enhanced vision toward the Rokkan, she gasped in shock and horror.

Her enemy ... was herself.