All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of Spacebabie

by: Spacebabie

Email: LadyAndromeda@smstars.zzn.com

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Clan Verses Clan

The ship had been modified from when it was first used. The metal had been sprayed with different colored mists, coating it in red with dark blue wings and black fins on the tail and on it’s back.

Felicia stared at the ship and folded her arms in satisfaction. Thailog had chosen the desing of a shark merged with a stealth bomber for the craft but she had done the actual work. There were plenty of openings and hatches of entrance anywhere onto the ship, but they were well concealed and only those who knew how the ship operated would know where they were.

She did wonder why there were not much weapons. She had imagined Thailog’s main design would include several guns on the top of the sip, the front, on top of the wings and one attached to the tail. All that was installed in the ship was a s simple lazer canon on the tail. Two small lazer canons on the front of the ship and a missile under each wing. She shrugged, it was his design. If he wanted more firepower he should had written them into his designs.

________________________________________________________________________

She found him in his room alone, and typing up something onto his computer. She was wondering if he had heard her when he spoke. "Is there something you need?"

She ran her fingers through dyed reddish purple hair, cut slightly shorter than shoulder length. "Just checked on the aircraft, and it’s still big and shiny."

His dark talons continued typing. "Everything is coming along."

"Would you like me to call the others together for the meeting?"

"Please."

She tried to glance over his shoulder, but he blocked her view with his large frame. "Are you still trying to hack into Illuminati files?"

"Already done that," he smirked. "I have found enough of their files to provide enough use for me. I am modifying one of the discs you made for me with some of the information that I had found."

"I’ll try to keep them entertained while you finish."

Thailog waited until he heard the door close shut before he leaned back and examined his work. One thing Xanatos made sure he learned when he was programmed to always have a back up plan.

___________________________________________________________________________

The clone slipped the computer disk into a small pocket in his armor before he entered the large room where the gargoyles slept during the day. Chairs, and love seats were brought in. Seneca Sevarius sat in on the director style chair reading a Wired magazine. The other chair, one more suited for a pool deck was occupied by the mustard colored Ocelot. The feline like gargoyle’s eyes held a burning glare that seemed want to be taken out on Thailog, but instead where reserved for the young teenager. Seneca had noticed her glance once but instead of glaring back with her own cold silver eyes she just shrugged and returned her focus back to her magazine.

The two British gargoyles sat together on the bench like love seated. Waiting patiently for their leader while they sip on the cups of warm citrus flavored tea Felicia had provided. Jeremy sat in the white wicker seat. The deep purple gargoyle only sat up when Felicia sat down next to them, handing both males their beverage choices of beer and grape soda.

Winter carried a small Tupperware tray full of cheese filled celery sticks, deviled eggs, slices of apples and pears and golden brown pizza rolls. Sh paused in front of each person until they selected a few of the treats.The last person the snow leopard mutated served was Ocelot. Both female’s eyes met and they exchanged warm smiles.

Momar and Chi Lin sat on the small pile of cushins in front of the furniture. Unlike most of the clan the gray gargoyle from Jordan kept his wings unfolded. He wolfed down a few deviled eggs and fruit slices. He offered some a few to the pink female but she declined.

Only two members remained standing. The silver robot, Coldsteel had no need to sit and rest. He stood as motionless as usual, like he was still a statue made of a stone. The only male human land against on of the walls with his arms folded behind his head crown with thick chestnut colored waves. Reggie Leahs looked out of place with his deep navy blade denim jeans and silk black shirt.

The only members not in the room where Gawain and the chupacabras. Thailog had instructed the form of them to continue training and would speak with them once the main meeing was over.

Chi Lin was the first to notice that he had entered. Her large eyes brightened at the sight of her leader and mate. "My mate," She ran over to him and threw her arms around his chest. "I have been worried about you. You have been working so hard, for so long." She raised her hand to stroke his brow ridge.

"No, my dear." He grab her hand before his grazed his forehead. He sensed her disappoint met and rubbed his talon under her chin. "We will have more than enough time for that later." He stroked her long silky blue black strands while he spoke to his clan"The time we have been waiting for is finally upon us," Thailog spoke up. "All the work we have been doing has finally paid off. We have earned enough money to build the technology we need to take on Goliath’s clan. Reggie, the charts."

The human who remained standing nodded at Thailog’s command and approached the corner of the room where there was a large box and a folded up tripod. He unfolded the three metal legs before he placed one with a diagram of the ship onto it and pulled out a long wooden pointer.

"There are entrances to the aircraft located here and here," he struck the tip against the chart near the side windows of the cockpits. "Those aren’t the only ones there are one each side here.’ He tapped the tip on the middle of the ship on the right side and left. "And here, here, here and here." The end of his pointer struck the small diagram on the back of the ship, on top of the ship behind the fin and two on the bottom of the ship. "We will all be exiting the ship at the different points."

"The air craft has also been modified with an auto pilot and a bit of fire power," Thailog added.

"Could have used a bit more firepower," Felicia muttered under-breath and took a deviled egg.

"We have enough to take out Xanatos’s own cannons on his castle. The missles will be used as a last ditch effort. I don’t want to damage my castle too much." He noticed Vlad’s hand was raised. "You have a question Vlad?"

The bat like gargoyle nodded. "This castle you speak of, is this going to be our new home."

"It will be a fitting home for our clan. Think about it, wouldn’t it be nice to have a permanent place to live without anymore running."

"It would be nice," Coldsteel was the only other member that decided to stand for the entire meeting. "but what about my rookery sister’s child?"

"Their clan has children." The dark gargoyle felt a gentle tugging on his arm. He stared into the saddened eyes of his mate. "They have at least one hatchling and this Xanatos has a hatchling. We can’t hurt them."

His hand slowly raised and cradled her chin. "Do not worry, their children will become our children." His knuckle gently stroked against her throat. "We will be using the guns on the aircraft to take out Xanatos’s weapons before I switch it to autopilot and Gawain and I will glide out and land on the courtyard. Now," he pulled Chi Lin closer to his chest. "Are there any questions?"

"What kind of weapons will we be using?" Momar asked.

"Whatever is more comfortable for you. If you prefer a gun, a sword or a crossbow."

"What about the humans?" Ocelot hissed and pointed at Felicia and Seneca. "How will they manage to keep up with us? How could they take on members of our enemy’s clan?"

The clone ignored the snide tone, he knew what she was trying to say, but he did not want to call attention to it. "They will have special modified exosuits, like the one used by the human female member of the Pack."

"We only have one problem with the suits," Reggie said. "Only two are ready."

"We do not have to worry, Seneca is staying behind along with Chi Lin."

The teenager just shrugged while the Chinese gargoyle’s eyes turned up in disappointment. "Do you not think I’m a capable warrior my love?"

"You are more than capable," Thailog tucked brushed a few strands of her hair near her temples and tucked them behind her deer like ears. "But we need some to stay behind and watch the children."

"Our clan will have more children," she cooed while she brushed his forehead with the back of her knuckles in a gentle sweep. This time he did not try to stop her.

Ocelot’s glaring eyes darted towards the two human females before she reached out for the mutate’s hand. "Do you want to stay?"

Winter bent down onto her knees next to here. "Only if you want me to stay. Spring is no longer an infant and I trust Chi Lin completely."

"I want you to fight along by my side." She squeezed her mate’s hand. "This is how clan’s are. Some stay behind to watch the hatchlings even if they are not the biological mothers. Spring will be taken care of," her eyes glowed. "Even if one of them is an annoying human child."

"Don’t forget I used to be human."

Ocelot pulled her up and set her down into her lap. "You used to be one of them, but you are now something better." She ran her hand through Winter’s hair. "But if it upsets you I will stop referring to them as annoying."

Thailog cleared his throat, disrupting the moment between the female lovers. "I believe everything is settled. We will board the ship before dawn and those who remain awake during the day will pilot the air craft towards New York. The meeting is adjourned, you may go and do as you please, except for Houston and Coldsteel. I want to see the two of you in the hangar." He would speak with them after his small meeting with Gawain and the chupacabras.

_________________________________________________________________________

There had to be some kind of pride, a warm feeling in one’s chest when that person see the magmus opus of their loved one. Jeremy felt this sensation, causing his chest to swell up and radiate out to his limbs, causing them to tingle. The airship was breaking in size and structure. The human turned gargoyle could not tear his eyes away from it.

"She’s amazing," Jeremy gasped.

Thailog stared at the craft. The type of spray paint used still had the hard candy like shine, despite it had been dried for many hours. "She is like an artist."

"An artistic genius."

"She makes a good mate," Thailog turned around. "Coldsteel come here, I’m going to temporarily disable you."

The souled robot paused. "For how long?" Usually when he was disabled it was only for a few hours while he had his hard ware and software maintained and updated. He could not see or hear anything that was going on. For him it was like being trapped in a room full of darkness.

"Only for an hour," he reached into his pocket and pulled out the disc. "I just need to install this into you."

"Did Felicia make that?" Jeremy asked.

"Another form of her art work," Thailog unfolded the laptop and plugged it in.

Houston patted down his pants and felt a lump in his back right pocket. "She’s lovely, smart, brave, and good with here hands," he pulled out his pack of cigarettes with his lighter. "I’m a made man."

The clone ran wires from his computer and placed the ends into the robot. "You are not quite a man anymore, but you are right. You are a lucky man." He typed a few of the keys. The light in Coldsteel’s eyes flickered out and his arms hung slack at his sides, swing back and forth slightly.

"What about you?" Houston asked after he stuck a cigarette into his mouth. "Are you and Chi Lin a happy couple?"

"She is a lovely female," A CD rom drive popped out of Cold Steel’s chest. Thailog placed the disc inside and pushed it back into his chest. "A good warrior and from what I have seen of her in the nursery she will be a good mother."

"You don’t love her do you?"

A chuckle bubbled in his throat and rolled out of his mouth. "What gave you that idea?"

"You don’t really have the same bond with her as Felicia and I do," he took a small drag. " Nor the same bond as Vlad and Ursa have, or Winter and Ocelot."

"We need the children."

"So, she is just a brood mare to you?"

Thailog’s talons flew across the keyboard. "She is more than a brood mare, she is a temporary companion."

"She loves you!"

Thailog did not know why the other gargoyle snapped. "Then she won’t mind sharing me along with Delilah."

"You still have the hots for her? She flat out rejected you, not only that but she also replaced you."

"A simple mistake that could be corrected. A few nights after we licked our battle wounds clean we will take care of the Labyrinth. Delilah and the clones will be mine again."

"Along with their clan’s children?"

"Exactly."

Jeremy pulled the cigarette out of his mouth. "May I ask why are we going to need their children?"

"They’re needed for my clan," his eyes did not leave the screen. "My ultimate goal. The children will become part of the clan and we will raise them at such. A year or so after we concer both clans in New York we will attack Ocelot’s old clan. There are barely any adults and they will sooner surrender than risk more deaths. When the children are old enough we will take on the other clan’s one by one, killing only those who will resist. In the end there will only be one clan. My clan."

"Good plan, except for one little detail. You will be an old man when the one clan is formed. Hell, you probably be dead."

Thailog held up a talon. "Not quite, I will succeed where Xanatos had failed. I will find a way to become immortal."

"And then what will you do with your one clan?"

"Once I have every gargoyle under my rule we will take over the human world, first by using the Internet, then physical force."

"Sounds cliched," Houston shrugged. "But I have a feeling that it would suit you."

The dark gargoyle smirked. "I feel you know me a bit too well." He typed a few more keys. "There it is done." He removed the disc from Coldsteel before typing in the command that allowed the sold to regain control. "I hope it wasn’t too much trouble for you this time."

Coldsteel’s arms stretched out. "It didn’t seem to be that long this time." He pulled the wires out from his chest. "Should I go ahead and wait in the ship."

"No, go back inside." Thailog turned of his laptop and folded it back up. "Houston lets go."

The human turned gargoyle took one final inhalation from his cancer stick. The smoke streamed from his nostrils before he dropped it and stamped out the sparks, crushing it into the cement ground.

___________________________________________________________________________

The sky over Manhattan was nearly flawless. A bright blue canopy stretched from one end to the other, and seemed to be supported by the tallest of sky scrapers. There were only a few clouds, no bigger than cotton balls, imprinted in the canvas. There seemed to be nary a sign of bad weather ahead, but the forecasting wizards had predicted a thunder storm for the late afternoon.

It was the bad forecast that prevented Fox Xanatos from taking Alex and Charlie to the park. She could have taken them in the early afternoon, but she wasn’t sure when the clouds were going to form. If there wasn’t as much as on gray cloud with a single drop of rain she was going to call the news stations and give them a verbal chewing out.

The ex mercenary hated telling the boys the trip to the park was canceled and they had to stay home to play. They weren’t completely disappointed. Alex came up with a couple of great games for them to play with, including one called Hunter and Prey, and she was prey. The object of that particular game was for the hunting team to turn around and count to twenty while the prey ran. It was like hide and seek, but more reverse with several seekers and the prey wasn’t supposed to hide. They were constantly moving.

She stopped walking just outside of Elisa’s room. She did not want to wake the female detective before the woman’s alarm went off. Elisa didn’t have to worry about the twins waking her. Like their father they slept as solid stone through out the day.

Fox crept along on her tip toes, making sure the carpet muffled the sound of every footstep that she made. As she passed by the window she glanced outside to see the perfect blue sky and pursed her lips. There is no sign of a storm anywhere at all.

She knew she could keep the game going for hours. It was always difficult for anyone to hunt down Fox of the Pack. Her feeling of triumph was shattered when she stepped around the corner and came face to face with her son.

"Uh, oh." her voiced came out in a surprised whispere. "Where is Charlie?" Her question was answered when she felt her right leg being tackled by a warm and giggly toddler. "They got me!"

"She’s ours!" Alex raced up to his mother and leaped. His body slammed into her chest, with just enough force for her to step back. His fingers sank into her shirt and he felt her arms wrap around him. "Now we’ll tickle her."

Fox was already chuckling. "Oh no, don’t tickle me, anything but that." She stared into her son’s light blue eyes and saw the mischievous glow in them. She shook her head despite her smile.

"Tickle!" Alex’s finger tips wiggled over his mother’s neck and shoulder. He heard Charlie repeated his command shortly before his mother’s giggling became even louder.

Fox didn’t feel the slight bit ticklish, but she laughed anyway. "I give up," she gasped between laughs while she slowly lowered herself to her knees. "I give up. You win, now please stop tickling."

"Okay," Charlie slid off and stood back up.

Alex paused in his tickling and frowned at his friend. "You are not supposed to stop when the prey says to."

"She said we won."

"That’s correct." Fox stood back up. "You won and I’m tired. I think all three of us could use a nap."

"You may be tired, but I’m not." Alex crossed his arms. "I don’t want a nap."

"Yeah, no nap," Charlie added and crossed his arms like his friend.

"When children get sleepy it means their bodies are growing," Fox explained. "You both have tall daddies."

"My Dada is tall," Charlie nodded.

"The reason why both of your daddies are tall is because when they were little boys they took plenty of naps."

"How come you’re tired?" Alex asked.

"Grown ups take naps because either we are getting old-"

"You are not old." Charlie interrupted.

"Thank you sweetie. Grown ups take naps because they are either getting old, are sick, or they didn’t get enough sleep the night before."

"If I take a nap I get to grow?"

"Yes you will." She grabbed Alex’s hand and held out her free hand for Charlie to place his in hers. She took both boys to their rooms and instructed them to take of their shoes and crawl into bed. Charlie immediately closed his eyes but Alex stared up at the ceiling .

"Fine," Fox said. "Owen will stand right outside of your room for a full hour. He will make sure you stay in bed for that time. You can either fall asleep or just stay there awake.

"I’ll just stay here then."

"Very well." She closed the door behind her. If Alex decided he was going to be a spoiled brat about then he was just going to be forced to boredom. She was tired and she was tired. Barely any time passed from the moment her head hit the pillow, and she fell asleep.

________________________________________________________________________

Elisa woke up feeling a weight on her legs. It was way too light to be Goliath, even too light to be Lexington. She moved her legs disrupting the small animal that decided to sleep on her lap.

"Sorry Cagney," Elisa murmured as she rolled over in bed. She did not feel like sleeping any more. She might as well get up and have breakfast and shower.

She would have liked to walk around the castle in just her pajamas but she didn’t want everyone to see her dressed in that outfit. She slipped into a pair of sweatpants and her faded Knicks shirt. She would make sure she was nice and clean before she changed into her T-shirt and jeans.

The kitchen in Wyvern was never completely empty. There was usually at least one person in the kitchen when Elisa entered. Jam sat at one of the tables with Macy in her arms. The young mother held the bottom of the bottle while the baby nursed on the other end. A half eaten gram cracker was layed out on a paper towel in front of them.

From inside the kitchen came shrill beeps of the microwave ending. Gloria was removing her hot pocket from it’s cardboard cooking sleeve.

"Hungry?" Elisa asked as she approached the refrigerator.

The weregoyle shrugged. "I couldn’t wait for dinner."

"I’m going to have my dinner right now. Chavez wants me to start my shift at seven." She reached inside the appliance and pulled out bowls full of various salads, macaroni, seafood, and garden. "I’ll just make my self a cold plate."

"Isn’t this break fast for you."

"Yeah, but I’m not in the mood for cereal or eggs." Elisa removed the lids from each tub and scooped out large portions and placed them onto the plate.

Gloria placed her snack on a plate and carried it along with a diet Pepsi. "I understand. There had been times when I woke up in the morning and wanted to start my day with a chicken pot pie."

"Are you pregnant?"

"Who’s pregnant?" Jam asked as they exited the kitchen. Macy had enough of milk and was holding a section of her cracker in each hand. Her mouth was lined with golden brown crumbs.

"No one is pregnant," Gloria took a seat at the table. "Jerry and I are going to wait a little more longer."

"Smart move."

Elisa stabbed the cream white glob of pasta, peas and dressing and left the fork suspended in the mix. "I thought you loved being a mother."

"Don’t get me wrong, I love Macy." Her daughter paused chewing at the sound of her name being mentioned and looked up at her mother. "She is the most important person in my life, but I don’t think I was ready to become another when I became pregnant. I still don’t think I’m ready."

"You are doing everything right," Elisa said before she took a bite of her macaroni salad.

"Elisa is right," Gloria added. "Macy is a happy and healthy infant and you and Frank are good parents."

"If anyone is a bad mother it would be me."

"You," Jam blinked. "Okay, why are you saying this?"

"The twins don’t turn to stone at dawn anymore. Today they were awake two full hours after the clan went to sleep. It was almost like they were trying to compete with each other on who can stay awake the longest."

"Why are they not turning to stone at dawn?"

Gloria lowered her soda can. "My guess it’s because they are half human. They only turn to stone during the day when they go to sleep."

"I have to find a way to make sure they go to sleep at dawn then." Elisa said.

"Why do you want to do that?" Jam asked. "It’s not like they are not getting enough sleep, not to mention they will grow faster if they are flesh longer."

"I don’t want them to grow faster. I’m perfectly happy with them aging at the normal gargoyle rate."

"You don’t mind the fact that if they age at half your speed they will be just starting highschool when you are retiring?" Asked Gloria.

"That really isn’t a problem."

"They will be going through their terrible twos for two years," Jam stated. "You remember what Alex and Charlie were like when they were two. Do you really want to go through that for two years?"

Elisa was silent for a few minutes. The only sounds that came from her were her chewing her food. "I’m not going to force them to stay awake all night, but I’m not going to make sure they stay awake all day. If they get tried they will get tired."

"You see, you are a good mother."

___________________________________________________________________________

The castle hallways were getting longer. No matter how much Fox ran the halls were extending. She needed to get out of the castle. All around her she heard the sounds of explosions.

"David! Alex!" she called out their names, but heard no one respond. "Owen, I need Puck!" She needed the trickster, she needed someone who could do magic. Even her mother would be welcome to help her find her son.

She closed her eyes and continued to run through the endless hallway. Despite how long it seemed she could hear the crunching of grass under her feet. She was outside. She could open her eyes, but when she raised her eyelids she wished she hadn’t. She was standing in the courtyard and faced the castle. It was completely engulfed in flames. Large objects were falling from the tallest tower. It took Fox only a few seconds before she realized they were gargoyles. Dead gargoyles were raining from the castle. Their bodies were burned and smeared with blood.

"No!" She fell to her knees. She didn’t know what else to do.

"I’m afraid so my dear," the dispatched voice sounded like it belonged to Goliath but it had an edge of malevolence. She stared up at the sky and saw a giant image of a gargoyle who resembled Goliath. His coloring was wrong. Instead of lavender he was shade of blue so dark he was almost black. His long hair was white like the moonlight and his eyes were the same color as blood. "You remember me don’t you Fox?"

"Thailog." She said his name, but she didn’t feel it. It just escaped her lips.

"Yes and as you may realize by now I have won. Goliath’s clan is no more and everything that belonged to Xanatos is now mine. That means you are mine." His eyelid lowered suggestivly as he reached out for her.

Fox tried crawl backwords on her hands and feet as she stared, aghast, at the clone. "No, no, no, noooooooooooooo!"

Fox bolted up with her hand on her chest. She felt the beat of her heart pounding faster than the rhythm of a couple of Congo drums. Her breath came out in short rapid gasps while a bead of moisture travel down her forehead down to her nose, dangle from the tip, and fall onto her sheets.

"It was just a nightmare," She ran her hand through her saturated bangs and slicked them back. It was a dream, yet it was so vivid. The last time she had a dream like that it came true, but they never were nightmares like the one she just had. She needed to find her husband.

The halfling didn’t bother to put her shoes back on, she didn’t even slip her feet into her slippers. She ran out of her room and nearly knocked Owen down.

The tall blond man stepped back and readjsuted the glasses that slipped down his face"May I ask what is the rush?"

Fox fought for control of her breath. She couldn’t let her bad dream panic her to the point of an anxiety attack."I need to find David."

The disguised fey arched an eyebrow. "May I inquire what this is about?"

"I had a nightmare, only it wasn’t at night, and it seemed real." She squeeze the fingers to her palms, trying to fore her shaking hands to steady themselves.

"How real?"

She clenched her hands. "As real as my other premonition dreams."

He sighed. "I thought as much. I need to know what you dreamed about."

"There was fire, explosions, dead gargoyles and Thailog."

"This could mean Thailog is finally going to make his presence known, except it won’t be because Mr. Xanatos had found him. Your husband is in his office in the Eyrie building. Do you want me to go with you to tell him?"

"No, I need you to watch Alex and cook dinner."

"I better get dinner started then. Alex has finally fell asleep."

She caught sight of her husband as he walked past a pair of white overall wearing painters coating the hallway wall in a shade of yellow that was the same color as butter. She hated the scent of paint. It made her dizzy and if she was around it too much she would get an headache. she held her breath as she raced passed them and entered her husband’s office.

"David we need to talk," she gasped as she closed and locked the door behind her.

David set down the file he was carrying and sighed. "That is never a good sigh. The speech that begins with ‘we need to talk.’"

"I had a nightmare."

"A nightmare?" Xanatos raised his eyebrows. "Is that all." He noticed the way Fox was struggling to breath, the color drained from her face and her eyes wide with fear. H e knew the only kind of dream that could scare her would be heavily detailed and very real to her. The kind that come true. "What did you dream of?"

"Thailog," she licked her lips. "I dreamed he was attacking the castle. There was the castle on fire and dying gargoyles everywhere. I called for you and you were not there." Tears streaming down her cheeks, she slid to the floor. "You were not there, and neither was Alex, and the way he leered at me." The tears in her eyes created a small burning cloud, blurring her vision. She couldn’t see her husband approach her and it wasn’t until she blinked them away did she see him bend down to her and wrap his arms around her.

"I’m sorry," he whispered into her ear. "I can’t imagine having a dream like you did. I’m sorry we haven’t found them yet, and I have been anticipating their attack. That is why I had the steel clan robots resembling Lexington built. It is why I have been stepping up security."

"We don’t know how much they have grown, we don’t know what kind of weapons they have."

"We have our own weapons, and one of the most secured buildings in the security. We will be able to get through this." He brushed a few of her tears. Seeing her small smile caused him to smile back at her. He was not going to let her see how worried he actually felt.

___________________________________________________________________________

Employees of the Eeyrie walked passed the two painters without a second thought. They did not pay any attention to them. They were just part of the scenery. Reggie was glad he came up with the idea, but Felicia seemed skeptical about the plan.

"Won’t they do a background check on us, or something?" Felicia had asked on their plane ride. Thailog instructed them to take flight out at dawn.

"Well of course they will these people are not idiots," Reggie reached for his wallet. "I created some fake ids and working permits for us." He opened his attaché he stored under the seat and pulled out small stack of papers.

She accepted them and read them over. The permit was to repaint one of the hallways on the top floor of the Eeyrie building. "This looks official, but are you sure it will work?"

"I’ve worked with these type before. They will just wave us through."

Felicia couldn’t believe how well it worked. No one was suspicious of them or even questioned their IDs. She knew the second part of the plan would result in them getting caught.

"I have to admit I’m not bad at this," Reggie stood back and admired his work. "When I was in highschool I worked for a small painting company. Mother didn’t want me to learn about the business until I was eighteen and she felt doing work like this would be good for my character."

"We are going to get caught," she hissed.

"No, we are not."

"When you switch clothes in the men’s room you will."

"Not unless Xanatos has camera’s installed in each stall. I’m pretty sure security doesn’t want to watch people going to the bathroom." He layed his roller brush down onto the tray. "If anyone asks, tell them I’m on break. Go ahead and give them some bullshit about unions or something." He grabbed the stained duffel that rested near the their work area and headed for the nearest men’s room.

There was only one man inside the restroom washing his hands. He gave friendly nod to Reggie before he stepped out.

"The old being friendly to those who we think are bellow us," Reggie mused. "I actually miss doing that." He slipped into the stall and set is back down from inside he pulled out a neat folded up suit and hung it on the stall’s coat hook. After he removed his overalls and cap he slipped into the suit.

After he had changed into a new pair of shoes he picked up the duffel bag and turned it inside out. It’s new outerskin was black shiny canvas. Reggie slipped everything inside.

There was only one more thing for him to do. He approached the mirror with his head down and reached into the breast pocket of his suit. He pulled out a small fake goatee and a bottle of adhesive.

___________________________________________________________________________

Reggie kept to the shadows as he made his way through the hall ways in search of the break room. No one gave him a second glance. To the employees he was just another working class grunt, another suit.

The room was full of small round tables, brightly colored chairs, vending machines and small refrigerator full of specialty lunches in brown paper bags marked with the owner’s names. Reggie remembered when distraught employees came thundering into his office with the petty compliant of someone stealing their lunch. He wondered if Xanatos himself had to deal with such tedious tasks.

He selected a root beer from the machine and sat down at one of the empty tables. From inside his duffel bag he pulled out a sleek silver lap top. Wires plugged in, he turned it on and began typing in the code he needed to break into Wyvern’s security. He had hacked into Xanatos’ systems before and was aware some employees of Xanatos hacked into his mother’s business.

______________________________________________________________________

Twenty four hours earlier Felicia was in doubt of Reggie’s abilities. She couldn’t believe they were able to get into the Eeyrie and out without being noticed by anyone the day before.

"You are going to tell the others how you did all that," She said while they waited on top of the Golden Cup Bakery.

Reggie smiled smugly. "What can I say? I’m a master of subterfuge."

"It almost seems to easy."

"Sometimes when things are too easy, its a good thing," he checked the time on his Swatch. "What time is sunset again?"

"I think it will happen in a half hour." She pointed at the low hanging golden orb. "Any second it’s going to turn an orange so rich it will spill it’s juice and tint the sky pink and purple."

"That’s quite a way to phrase it, considering how you constantly dye your hair you should be an expert in the color spectrum. Last I heard from Thailog he said he said they would travel during the night and keep the ship on the ground during the day. Winter will be starting it up after she wakes up, and she usually wakes around three. If they kept the pace they said they would," he brought up his wrist again. "Then that would mean Winter should be arriving with it just about-"

"There she is," Felicia pointed at the approaching ship before clapped her hands and jumped. "There’s my baby, my Cherry Bomb!"

"Cherry Bomb?" Reggie removed his gaze from the craft’s arrival. "Our ship has a name?"

"Of course it has a name. All modes of transportation has a name."

"Yes, but that name?"

She narrowed her eyes. "What is wrong with Cherry Bomb?"

"It sounds like the name of porn star."

She reached up and cuffed him on the back of the head. "Only you would think of that. I built it, its my baby, so I named her that. Besides, I ran the name by Thailog and he doesn’t seem to mind."

The Cherry Bomb hovered over their heads a few minutes later. One of the doorways on the bottom opened up and a rope ladder un rolled itself down.

"All the high tech gadgetry put into this and we still have to use a rope ladder," Reggie commented as soon as he grabbed onto the bottom rungs.

"Just shut up and climb." Felicia swept up her foot and struck the end of toes against his backside. She waited until the businessman climbed up a few feet before she placed her foot onto the bottom rung and pushed herself up with her leg.

Winter was waiting for them. The snow leopard mute held out a hand for them and helped them into the up. "Is the virus in place?" She asked.

"Done and done," Reggie nodded.

"How’s she fly?" Felicia asked while stroking the interior of the ship. "How does my baby fly?"

"The Cherry Bomb is easy to handle." Winter smiled.

Reggie turned his head from one female to the next. "Are you telling me everyone knew the ship had a name except for me?"

The human female rolled her eyes. "I had to deal with him for the whole time."

"You poor thing," She embraced her. Her eyes widened when her belly came in contact with the human’s. "Have you told everyone yet?" She whispered.

"Not yet," Felicia stepped back. "Only Jeremy knows."

"Only Jeremy knows what?" Reggie asked

Winter ignored him. " Our mates are about to wake up."

The mutate pressed a button on the metal wall and rolled back to reveal the clan still in their stone shells. Both females walked over to their mates.

"Is anyone feeling the least bit giddy about tonight?" Reggie asked as he made his way over to Thailog. "It’s kind of like Christmas. You plan for it for a while and when it’s finally about to happen and your whole body is tingling." Both females continued to ignore him. They just glanced at each other before they returned their focus to their loved ones. "I guess it’s one of those secrets."

He turned back to Thailog when he heard the cracking stone of the clan slowly waking. The stone encased clan stepped roared to life sending a shower of stone fragments onto the humans and mutate and humans.

"Mi amore!" Ocelot cried out before sweeping Winter into her arms and holding onto her tight.

Felicia placed a kiss onto Jeremy’s mouth. "I heard she flew well."

Jeremy placed his hands onto hers. "Cherry Bomb flies like a dream." He wrapped his wings around his mate and pulled her close. He nuzzled his check against her throat while whispering something to her.

"The virus should be taking care of the security system in about thirty minutes," Reggie said. "Gives everyone enough time for a quick snack before we can attack."

The dark gargoyle nodded his head. "What about you? You and Felicia need to get into your suits."

"We already ate." The human nodded. "Felicia it’s time to suit up."

"My love, please becareful." Houston sad as the purple-haired woman kissed Reggie.

________________________________________________________________________

David Xanatos was not a happy man. As soon as the business day started that morning a low level employee in technical support called in with the report he found a virus. Xanatos thanked him, promised him a raise and instructed a team to work on the virus. Three hours later Owen reported they team had found out what kind of virus it was and when it was set to go off.

The billionaire gritted his teeth. "Do you have any idea how it got in here."

"Security is not quite sure how it managed to infiltrate the system." Owen pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Obvious someone had to sneak by security and install it while in the building."

"Go on." Xanatos laced his fingers

"I already have a team in Wyvern working on a pocket."

"Are there any available weapons for the clan?"

"There are plenty."

"We don’t know if they are going to attack just the castle, or the Labyrinth at the same time, or even the whole city. We don’t have enough time to take children and find someplace safe for them."

"You could take them to Avalon." Owen suggested

Xanatos pushed himself from his desk. "The only problem is I don’t know how to get to Avalon and you are forbidden, not to mention I don’t trust Oberon at all."

"Perfectly understandable."

"There is only one other option," Xanatos stood up. "Owen I need you to put protective barrier around the nursery. We will put all the children there."

It had been hours since they had the conversation and from the phone calls Xanatos received they were no closer to combating he virus. The pocket, or patch, had been set up and Owen was working to have it spread to protect as much of the technology as possible.

Several hours passed five and most of the employees went home for the day. A few members from tech support, and engineering decided to stay to try and fix the problem with the hope their pay checks would swell in size. He was going to increase their pay, not because they may eventually destroy the virus, but because they were willing to stay the hours and work that long.

He dialed Owen’s cell number. "Owen tell the am to go home. I don’t want to risk their lives by having them stay here while there is a battle going on."

"I’m right on it sir."

After he heard the click on the other end Xanatos rose form his chair. He needed to get to his castle. The clan had recently woken up and he needed to see if they understood what was going on. His own cell phone rang when he was about to enter the elevator to the castle. "Xanatos."

"Mr. Xanatos the virus has been activated," Owen’s voice came through on the other end.

Xanatos sighed. "How much has been lost?"

"All the phone lines and cameras sir. The computers are down as well as the cages in the dungeon."

"What about Dolph?"

"Jerry, Gloria, and Bronx are with him."

"Good," Xanatos rubbed his right temple. "How much has the patch protected?"

"The virus did not take out the electricity in entirely and only five robots, two of the tower lazer canons and your suit are un effected by the virus."

"Which robots?"

"I believe three of them are the Lexington type Steel Clan robots, I’m unsure about the other two."

"Have my suit ready, and tell Goliath it is time."

___________________________________________________________________________

The city lights from the surrounding buildings cast in a greenish yellow glow. The structure seemed to beckon the dark clone, calling out to him. Soon the battle will begin and it will be his castle, as well as it should be.

The supple tip of Thailog’s tail twitched as Cherry Bomb slowly floated closer to the building. They would not know they were arriving, the camera turned blind, keeping them from the vision of everyone in the castle.

"Are you sure they won’t see us?" Houston clicked on his lighter and brought the flame to his cigarette.

"The virus had taken care of everything," Thailog’s normally smooth as velvet voice had a tinge of smugness. "They won’t even know we are coming."

"They can look out the window."

The clone chuckled, his low laugh rippled through his throat. "The will be too busy trying to clear the virus to even bother to look outside." He pressed the button to the Cherry Bomb’s intercom. "Vlad, Ursa, You are up. Momar, I want you and Ocelot and Winter to prepare."

The two of them heard one of the side entrances hiss open. The two London gargoyles glided towards the castle armed with a flame thrower in the shape of a uzi and a long braided leather whip. As the neared the structure two stone floor paneling rolled back and steel canons rose up. Both canons shifted towards the direction of the gliding creatures and fired off long glowing bolts.

"I thought you said the virus had taken care of it," Jeremy barked.

Thailog pressed a few buttons and grabbed onto the controls. "They must have a pocket." His frown was replaced by a smirk. "Not much of a pocket. There are only two canons." He squeezed the trigger of the side of the steering wheel. The aircraft’s own lazer canons fired back.

"They must have their cameras working."

"I doubt it. Those canons are motion sensitive. They don’t know someone is watching what is going on the outside to fire."

"The more I here about Xanatos, the more I admire him."

"I know. You better go back with Felicia. After I send then next party you will be next."

"Mission accepted," Houston extracted the smoke from his mouth and stomped it out.

__________________________________________________________________________

Vlad made sure his body was directly over his mate. He was not going to allow one of those lazer blasts to strike upon his beloved Ursa. His bat like ears picked up the sound of the other lasers firing from the ship before she did. "Don’t worry love!" He shouted to her. "Our leader is taking care of the welcome wagon for us."

Ursa glided towards the nearest open window and climbed in side. Her talons curled around the handle of her whip before she even stepped onto the floor. "The coast is clear."

"And so the hunt begins," Vlad said as he crawled in after his mate. He turned to look at both ends of the hall. "Well there isn’t much to see. I wonder where everyone is." He hefted his flame thrower across his shoulder and walked down the carpeted pathway, followed by Ursa.

Ursa wondered how long it would take for them to find at least one member of their enemy. Her question was answered as soon as they stepped around the corner.

"I could have sworn I heard-" the brick red beaked gargoyle paused in both his sentence and footstep. Both his wings and the wings of the ice blue gargoyle with him were folded across their chest

"Well, what do we have ‘ere?" Ursa asked. She pulled the whip from her belt, causing the end to crack against the floor.

Vlad felt Ursa should take care the staring down. He would take care of what was approaching from behind. Maybe it was because it was his ears were larger than hers or maybe it was because the sound of where whip blocked the other sound behind. The rust colored gargoyle turn around to see two other gargoyles behind him. One was a willowy lavender female armed with an sharp ended spear, and the other was portly aqua colored male with a heavily spiked mace in his talons.

"I’ll tell you what we have," the fat gargoyle said. "We have two gargoyles who betrayed their clan."

"Brooklyn, Marle, well take care of these two, go and find the other who are attacking." The female said.

Ursa turned to see the other two gargoyles turning around and running. Their wings lifting up she could make out a coiled metal chain on the mail’s loincloth belt and the bat of the American sport, baseball, in the hand of the female.

Vlad never turned around. He kept his eyes on the large male as he came running towards him. He clutched onto the gun’s handle and pulled back the trigger as the mace was hefted down. He swung the blunt end of the gun up, blocking and mace and squeezed back to release the stream of flames.

His adversary roared out in pain before he pulled back and swung down again. Vlad knew brought his gun against the mace again. He knew he had to either knock the weapon out of the other male’s talons or wait until he became too tired to fight, and judging from his bulk Vlad knew it was going to take a long time to wear him out.

Ursa lashed her whip at the direction of the other female gargoyles arm. The lavender female dodged from the end of the whip. "You must be Angela," Ursa hissed as she pulled her weapon back, ready for another strike. "That would mean the fat one here is Broadway, or should it be Waybroad?"

Angela’s eyes lit up with blood red fury. "Don’t you say that about him." She was distracted long enough for the end Ursa’s whip to wrap around her ankle. The bear like gargoyle pulled, causing the Wyvern gargoyle to fall on her back. Angela snarled and swung the end of her spear out. The point knocked the other’ female’s shin.

The metal grazed her flesh, tearing through the hair and skin. Her bear lke muzzle srank back into a snarl while the pain radiated out "You little spit fire," Ursa’s fist struck Angela’s face.

The lavender female reatliated with a quick swipe of her claws. The sharp tips met Ursas flesh and left three crimson lins on her arm. While Anglea’ glared met the enemie’s fiery gaze she wrapped her talons around her spear.

__________________________________________________________________________

The small shakes caused by the two working lazer canons caused the walls to rattle. Lexington raised his eyes from his lap top after each one. He promised Xanatos he would try to find some way to delete the virus form the system, but even he was having a difficult time. His large eyes glanced at Rayne, watching her pace back and forth. The two of them took a stand near the door to the nursery. They were the first line of defense for the children. The second line involved Puck and the third line was Fox and Elisa.

Rayne breathed out and continued pacing. "I haven’t felt like this since the night of the tornadoes in ninety eight. The whole clan had to stay inside the building." She noticed the way he continued to type. "Are you not afraid?

"Of course I’m afraid," Lexington said. "and part of me wishes we were searching for the enemy along with them. I can only imagine how bad Elisa feels."

"She would want to be with Goliath at a time like this," Rayne nodded.

Lex watched his mate continued to walk around in circles. Two long daggers were in her orange hands. Goliath had instructed cah member of the clan to select a weapon they would be most comfortable with. For a second Lex wondered if she might actually be afraid. Neither she nor her clan had to deal with Marauders, Vikings and other various barbarians.

The olive green gargoyle shook his head. How could he even think she would be afraid. She fought gangsters, werewolves, the Pack and even was made into a sex slave on a brothel ship. There is nothing his mate couldn’t handle.

"Lexington?" Her voice was low and she drew his name out slowly. "Do you hear that?"

Lex cocked his head to the side and strained to hear. The only sound he could pick up besides his own heartbeat and Rayne’s breathing were a low hissing and what sounded like a light rattle following the hisses. "What is that?" He closed the computer.

"I don’t know, and I don’t like it." She spun the handles of the knives in her talons. "I’m going to see what it is."

"Hold it," he stood up. "we both watched enough horror movies to know never to go off alone in search of a strange sound. I’m coming with you."

"Who is going to watch the nursery?"

"Having just one of us go and search for the source of the sound, and have whatever it is pick us off wont do the nursery any good."

The two of them entered the nearest hall. Roars and metal clanging each other echoed through the castle. The battle was going on and they couldn’t tell which side was winning.

Lexington was the first one to notice the shadows at the end of the hall. "Rayne!" He reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Rayne stared ahead and didn’t know what she was looking at first. She saw large round shadow that was the same shape as an avocado. The round shape was attached to a humanoid form. Two more large headed figures joined the first. "What are they?

"I don’t-" His eyes widened to their full width when he saw the creatures step form the shadows. They were all about the same height as Rayne. Their skin was a deeper shade of green than Lex. Their large red eyes were framed by spiky brows. A thin fuzzy stripe of course hair ran down the center of their heads. Their elbows ended in long ice pick like spurs and their hands were tipped in five finger talons.

The trio caught sight of the gargoyles and bared their flat teeth in a snarl.

"At least they don’t have fangs," Lexington said.

The beasts hissed and ran towards them, bounding on all fours at a surprisingly fast speed.. Lexington’s eyes lit up with a white illuminence and barreled forward. He leaped at the same time as one of them and the two met in embrace.

The other monsters aimed for Rayne. The orange gargoyle side stepped them, her body coming in contact with the wall and her arm shot out. The sharp end the knife struck the end of one of the beast’s spur and hacked it off. The third leaped onto her and dug it’s claws into her shoulder. Rayne cried out and shot her foot out. The point of her heel spur met the monster’s stomach, kicking it off of her.

________________________________________________________________________

They would have been faster if the ran forward on all fours, but Brooklyn knew it would have been difficult for Marle to run like that and carry a baseball bat. Goliath and Hudson were right in the idea Thailog’s clan would be armed, but Brooklyn was not one of best skilled in weapons, and he knew Marle wasn’t’ either. Demona pointed out the fact that he had the skill to use a chain like a whip and Marle decided she would have the best luck with a baseball bat.

"Did we do the right thing," he asked. "Running like that, and leaving Broadway and Angela with the animal twosome?"

"We might have been able to help them easily defeat them with four against two, but then two of us might have to face four of them, and while we would give them mercy we can’t be sure they would be as kind."

"Well speak of the devil," Brooklyn said and pointed at the nearest window. What look like one of Xanatos’s power suits, except it did not have the gargoyle shape, climb in through the window. It reminded him of the suit Samus Aran from Metroid wore, except the suit was black, gold, and eggplant purple.

Brooklyn pulled the chain like whip from his belt and lashed it forward. The end wrapped around the metal encased arm of the intruder. The metal suit wearing man turned around. His facial feature were easily seen behind the green glass. The diamond like eyes of Reggie Leahs narrowed at the gargoyle trying to pull him forward.

"Nice try," Reggie smirked. "But you are going to have to do better than that." He pulled his arm back. With his power suit enhanced abilities he was able to manage to drag Brooklyn forward.

Eyes slowly illuminating, Marle raced forward with the bat hefted high above her head. The small lazer attachment in the left arm of Reggie’s suit popped out and fired at the wooden weapon, splitting it in half.

Marle stared at the charred top of the portion of the bat she held onto. Snarling, she threw it at Reggie. The human didn’t duck away in time. The chunk of wood smashed into the glass shield, creating a spider web of opaque white cracks.

"Great shot," Brooklyn grunt and pulled himself backward. His strength combined with Reggie’s obstructed view caused the human to stumble foreword.

_________________________________________________________________________

Side by side the two female lovers raced forward on all fours. The Guatemalan gargoyle and the mutate arrived with Momar at the same time, and at the same time came across a green gargoyle with a sort and wide beak and dark honey colored hair and what Ocelot guessed to be the oldest member of the clan. The Gray gargoyle from Jordan decided to take them both on .

"And what if there is no one else to fight?" Ocelot asked before he leaped forward and aimed his lazer rifle at the enemy.

He wasn’t anticipating the beaked gargoyle to have a shot gun. The gargoyle leaped out of the way, narrowly missed taking the bullet into his chest. Instead the bullet shot a hole through his wing. "Come back and help." The cringe in his voice faded just as the sword in the old one swung down.

Ocelot admired his bravery and his fighting skills. She hoped he would pass them on when she came into season and he would be a breeding stud for her.

Winter was the first one to skid to a full stop when they had taken a turn and ended in a large room with a long table and cabinets full of expensive plates, wine glasses and champagne flutes. "I think we are in the dining hall."

Ocelot stood back up. "This will be our dining hall and kitchen." The cat like gargoyle admired the potted plants on the shelves and paintings and tapestries clinging to the walls. "It will be nice to eat here."

"I want to see the kitchen, but we have to fight the enemy."

"Do we have to fight?" The male voice behind them asked. "I would rather show you around the kitchen. I’m not much of a cook but there are a lot of good things to eat." The voice belonged to a bright red web winged gargoyle. The curved crest extending from his forehead kept his dark messy hair out of his eyes.

"Now is not the time for joking, Mercutio." the gray female standing next to him said. "We don’t know how dangerous they are." She tore her exasperated glare from the male. "A cat like gargoyle. You must be Ocelot." Her eyes widened when she studied Winter. "And a mutate with white fur and tan spots framed with black. You have to be Winter." Her spade tipped tail flickered nervously while she pulled her wooden staff closer to her.

Ocelot was ready for a battle. Her talons were already gripping onto the handles of her obsidian scimitars. She was not prepared for a member of Goliath’s clan to recognize them. "How do you know of us?"

"Fang told us all about you."

At the mention of the male mutate’s name Winter’s eyes softened with clear moisture forming in her eyes. "He is still alive?"

"Every night we were in the skiff he kept talking about you and his unborn child," the male, Mercutio said. "He wanted the quest to be over so he could rejoin you."

"Who are you," Ocelot asked. She did not like the way the conversation was headed. If they reminded her mate of her former love too much, Winter might put their relationship to the end.

"We are Cecilia and Mercutio of Avalon," Mercutio introduced. "We met your mate when he along with Thailog and a human mislead our clan and convinced our brother to join him."

"Our leader had to do whatever it took," Ocelot hissed. "This foolish clan believes in helping the humans."

"Gargoyles protect," Cecilia said. "And this clan protects the human citizens of the city."

"My old clan did not protect humans, the protected The Green."

"Why did you leave?"

"They allowed the land to be purchased by a human and they are letting humans get closer to the clan. The same kind of humans that killed my clan."

"You betrayed your clan by leaving," Mercutio pointed out. "You no longer protect anything or anyone. A gargoyle who doesn’t protect becomes corrupt."

The glow in the mustard yellow gargoyle’s eyes faded. "I protect my clan. I protect my mate." She waved at Winter with her hand.

"But she’s Fang’s mate." Cecilia blinked. "And she isn’t a..." Her brow ridge wrinkled while she was trying to rember the right term. "A lesbian."

Mercutio noticed their stares. "We have been watching some television. We have learned a few things."

Winter froze both Ocelot saying how she protected her and Cecilia calling her Fang’s mate. "I’m bisexual."

"She is no longer Fang’s mate," Ocelot said.

"Gargoyles mate for life."

Ocelot had enough the other female gargoyle’s voice. "She is not a gargoyle." She pounced forward. Her talons were stretched out as she landed on Cecilia, her talons sinking into her skin. The impact knocked the Avalon female backwards onto the floor, her staff flung form her hand. "She is a mutate." She wrapped her fingers around the gray throat and pulled her close to her face. "She is mine."

"Cecilia!" Mercutio’s friendly expression was instantly replaced with a snarl as his eyes took on the glow of the moon light. Despite the structure of his wings he was able to hold onto his knife and leap onto the Guatemalan’ gargoyles back. He brought the blade down onto her shoulder.

Winter snapped back into the present at the sight of the blde cutting through the mustard colored skin and her mate’s pain filled cry. "Get away from her!" A bolt of electricity leaped from her outstretched palm, and zeroed in on the red gargoyle.

The second the electricty struck Mercutio’s skin the web wing jumped up into the air and landed on one of the dining room chairs. It was notenough to break the chair, but the force of his weight caused the wood to crack.

Cecilia’s eyes flicked to the side and caught the iage of her injured brother before she both fists shot out. One struck Ocelot’s wing arm, forcing the limb back and the second met the gargoyle’s cheek.

___________________________________________________________________________

The sounds of the ongoing battle did not reach the ears of those in the dungeon. Even Bronx didn’t twitch his ears. The absence of the sounds of battle, not the battle itself, was what caused the beast to whine.

Jerry placed his pair of threes down onto the pile and stared at the four cards in his mahogany talons. "Anyone got any fives?"

"Go fish," Dolph barked. The werewolf kept his bright red hair combed back. He did not own a lot of cloths and was dressed in a faded green sweatshirt and pants.

The male weregoyle frowned. "Well you may not have any." He turned to Gloria. "Honey do you have any five’s?"

The orchid gargoyle didn’t respond. Her cards were laid out flat on her lap and her head was turned around, facing the direction of the stairs.

"She’s not even paying any attention." Said Dolph.

"Gloria?" Jerry reached out and touched his wife’s hand.

The brunette jumped, she reached for her cards to keep them from falling off her lap. "I’m sorry."

"It’s okay," Jerry smiled. "You are worried too."

"I hate being stuck down here, while everyone else is putting their life on the line."

"You know if you weren’t watching me you could be helping them." Dolph said.

Gloria glared at him. "And leave you here with no guards?"

The werewolf tapped at the bars. "These are not electronically sealed, just because you can’t see me doesn’t mean I can escape, and besides if you have me along with you I could help."

"Yeah right," Jerry grunted. "You would probably help them."

"I don’t even know these gargoyles. I know you and you kept me fed, you made sure I have plenty of blankets during the winter. When I get sick you give me medicine and orange juice. You guys take care of me even though I scared the populace. You could let me suffer, but you didn’t."

"But all those people," Gloria brought up. "The ones you ate."

Dolph cringed and shook his head. "Yuck, please I hate the taste of human flesh. I admit I scratched some up, but I never ate anyone. I only bit two people."

"And now they are werewolves too."

"And they are trying to make a difference. Think about it. If your clan gets killed what’s going to keep them from coming down here and trying to kill us?"

Bronx growled at the werewolf before he glanced at both Gloria and Jerry. The blue gargoyle beast let out another whine.

_________________________________________________________________________

Goliath bounded over the steps to the top of the tallest tower. He ordered the clan to split up into groups of two and spread across the castle. He couldn’t risk having everyone glide out to the whatever device was firing at the lazer canons and leave the clan’s children unprotected.

Xanatos was going to meet him outside and the two of them will attack Thailog head on. He did not doubt the billionaire’s ability as a warrior. Even without his power suit the man was a capable fighter with his martial arts abilities. The last time the two battled a great enemy side by side was the battle with Oberon. The proved their mettle against the king of the fae. They could easily stand down against the clone and his clan.

The clan leader searched from where he stood on the tower and immediately saw the air ship. If he had the time and was into mechanics he would probably admire the ships’ construction. Lexington , Brooklyn and possibly even Xanatos would comment on the air craft’s sleek shark like shape, and polished shining coat. The vehicle just hovered at eye level with the courtyard of the castle and Goliath cold have worn it appeared to have been unmanned.

"Usurper," the word hissed out from an unfamiliar voice. Goliath turned around in time to a young emerald green gargoyle youth climbed on top of one of the battlements and leap down onto the flat top. "You mislead my rookery sister. You tried to take Goliath’s clan from him."

"I am Goliath," the large lavender gargoyle studied the youth. He was as tall as Broadway with the same physique as Matt. His large wings ended in a signal long claw, reminded Goliath of a scythe. His suppled tipped tail lashed rom side to side. A natraul flesh and spiny tiara kept his long pearly mane out of his almond shaped eyes.

"Liar!" the young gargoyle spat. "The real Goliath is battling your human friend." He pointed towards the ground of the courtyard.

Goliath’s eyes shifted towards the ground. Xanatos leaped backwards a foot, narrowly missing the blunt end of Thailog’s bazooka striking his the top of his head. "That is not Goliath. That is Thailog, a copy created from my blood. He is like me in physical appearance and voice only.

"Those are the lies you used to corrupt Angela and the clan with." the other gargoyle raced forward, with his sword unsheathed.

Goliath waited until he was almost upon him before he pulled out his own blade and brought up against the youth’s blocking him. "That is not a lie it is the truth. I am Goliath. Thailog lied to you."

"No!" he pulled his weapon away and swung it back, only to have his blade cross against the older gargoyles. "You are Thailog. You used a spell to change Goliath’s appearance and told his clan you were him."

Sweat beaded along Goliath’s brow-ridge. "Do not believe his lies. He corrupted you when he went to Avalon." His eyes widened at his own words.

The green gargoyle felt his enemy weaken slightly. He pulled away and brought the tip of the blade against the cross hairs of Goliath’s sword, knocking the blade out of his enemy’s hands.

Goliath ducked the other’s wing and rolled closer to his own sword, thankful it hadn’t fallen over the side. He grabbed the handle and turned around to only be knocked back down with the double kick delivered by the youth into his chest. Despite having the wind being knocked from his chest Goliath managed to turn around and swing his tail out.

The youth stumbled back briefly, but quickly regained his balance. Eye’s blazing the most brightest white he roared and leaped forward.

"Gawain stop!" Goliath held up a hand, hoping the youth from Avalon would paused. He was willing to raise his weapon in defense against the green gargoyle if he had to. Despite his eyes retaining their glow Gaiwan paused in his tracks. "We do not have to fight."

"You are just stalling."

"No I am not. What would Princess Katharine say if you were willing fight without the enemy saying his peace first?" The glow diminished from Gawain’s eyes. " Are you even aware of the battle going on inside. If you respect me, or who you believe to be truly Goliath would you want to see his clan destroyed?"

"Of course not, this is why I have to kill you."

"If you are onto the same side of the Wyvern clan then why are you fighting them?"

"I don’t want to se them hurt," Gawain shook his head. "But we have to fight them, to keep them attacking us. we are not going to kill them, just get them to stop. Once you are dead they will realize the truth."

"Thailog has ordered his clan to kill them."

The white radiance formed in Gawain’s eyes once again. "I knew this was a defense tatic. Goliath told us you would use it, along with more of your lies!" He rushed forward with all eight talons curled down.

Goliath stepped over the side, and spread his wings. He felt the warm up drafts curl under his wings, lifting him higher. He shifted his weight and spun around towards the tower. Gawain had also taken the battle to the air and glided straight towards him.

Goliath braced himself and brought his sword down against Gawain’s sword, only partly relieved his adversary brought the blade up to defend himself. Gawain brought the sword back and stuck forward and was blocked by Goliath’s blade once again.

Grunting in frustration Goliath shifted his wings and glided downward from his enemy. He was sure the youth was behind him. He dove down, plummeting towards the castle. He pulled his wings back and lifted up. He waited to hear his enemy’s wings change direction before he spun around and thrust his sword out. The blade tore through the center of the lavender gargoyle’s left wing.

Goliath’s cry of pain rose into a roar. Eyes burning white he glided forward as fast as he could and slammed into Gawain. The two of them crashed into the same stone tower they started the battle from.

"Treacherous fiend," Gawain kicked at Goliath’s stomach. His tail curled up and struck down against the side of his rugged face. The tail was not as perfectly smooth as Goliath had thought. It was covered with tiny cactus like barbs. He felt the tiny spines scratching the side of his jaw.

Goliath’s grip relaxed from the impact of the lashing to his face. After the inertia of his body crashing into Gawain’s had faded he was literally holding onto the youth. Jaw still stinging he swung out with his fist. His knuckles struck the cheek, under the eye.

The younger gargoyle kept his talons sunk into the stone. Only on foot an his tail were free. He stuck out with both limbs again, using every bit of strength he had to strike the other male in the chest and face as hard as he could. His upper lip curled into a satisfied sneer when he felt the talons of his enemy loosen enough to where the gargoyle fell from the tower.

Goliath spread his wings, allowing his appendages to from into a parachute. At the rate of his falling speed he could not depend on the updrafts to keep him in the sky. He did adjust his body to keep from landing on Xanatos and Thailog. He tried to keep his inured wing spread out, but the injury made it want to fold back. The compromise left it half out and Goliath spiraling around as he fell.

He landed on his left foot at an odd angle and gritted his teeth when he felt the pop in his ankle from his body falling over. Despite his pain he pulled himself to his feet, adjusting most of his weight so most of it was on the non injured ankle. He drew in deep rapid breaths while searching for Gawain. His eyes fell on Thailog and Xanatos.

The lazer kept in the arm cannon of Xanatos’s exist was torn off. The rest of the suit had seen bettered days. Every inch of the metal shell was covered in dings and thick and dark steaks of dirt created large tiger like stripes.

Thailog’s bazooka was in no shape to be firing. The snub end of the weapon was bent in an odd crooked from a powerful blow caused by Xanatos. If Thailog pulled back the trigger the best he could hope for would be shooting himself in the foot. The worst that could happen would the lazer rifle exploding in his talons, killing him and injuring Xanatos. Thailog decided to play it smart and only used the gun as a tool to block Xanatos’s attacks.

Xanatos held one arm held out and one hand raised, ready to deliver the cut with his other hand. he studied Thailog’s expression. The clone seemed to be anticipating his move. Both fighters shuffled their feet, moving in around in a wide circle. Xanatos stepped forward, his hand came down slicing through the air and stopping half way. Thailog’s talons were frozen in the position of trying to grab onto his arm when Xanatos twisted his body and delivered a round house kick towards the direction of Thailog’s hip.

The clone tried to jump away and nearly succeeded. The toe of the suit came in contact with his thigh instead, nearly tripping him. "I should have known you were going to pull a move like that. I know all of your moves."

"Not all of them," Xanatos’s muffled voice came out from under the masked helmet. "There a few new tricks I learned since you have emerged from your tank."

"That may be true but I can still guess." Thailog dove for Xanatos’s leg. The suited human made himself look like he was bending down to block when he leaped up. Thailog did not changed the direction of his attack and continued forward. He rolled under his enemy and whipped his tail up causing Xanatos to fall chest first onto the ground. "As you can see I can anticipate you every move." Thailog stood back up.

Xanatos rolled over onto his knees. "And in the same way I can read you. I was the one you instructed Sevarius not to only program you with my business and cunning intelligence but also every martial arts lesson I learned."

"We are equals in the mind."

"Not exactly. There are some things you have never been taught or programmed. You haven’t been taught to take responsibilities for your actions, nor any morals, or how to love. I made the mistake of not teaching you the same life lessons my own father taught me, and I regret it."

The crimson glow filled Thailog’s eyes. "You never had any use for them yourself."

"Maybe someday you learn to find use for them, like I did, but as for now..." Xanatos leaped forward. His legs slammed against the ground at different angles, like the movement of a skier. His body did not change positions abruptly . When Thailog tried to dodge Xanatos leaped down onto of him. Both fists held onto each other and he slammed them into his back, between the wings.

Goliath heard the roar of pain from his clone before he heard the battle cry of a young male gargoyle. He limped backwards, nearly tripping over his own tail as Gawain landed in front of him. His sword was still in his talons while Goliath had lost his own blade.

"I will not kill you if you admit the truth," Gawian pointed his blade at Goliath’s head.

"Why won’t you believe me when I say I’m Goliath?"

"Because the true Goliath knew the way to Avalon."

"That can not be the only reason. I have been to Avalon. I fought he Archmage while you were either injured or helping the princess and Elisa defend the castle. I know Tom and Katharine and the Magus. I know who you are."

"You pried the information out from Angela."

"And if an impostor can pry those facts from Angela then he could learn how to reach Avalon from her."

Gawain blinked twice. "But then that could mean.." His widened eyes filled with more light while his mouth twisted into a snarl. "You are trying to confuse me. The real Goliath said you would." He raised the sword high above his head. Goliath could see the intent for him to strike written in his face "The clan will thank me for this."

Goliath felt the rush of wind from the blade as it fell towards him. Using his tail as a crutch he fell backwards. His tail kept him from completely landing on the ground. The blade of Gawain’s sword passed over him, missing his flesh by a couple of inches. Goliath collapsed on the ground, landing on his knees first before he rolled away. He had to find some way to wrestle Gawain’s sword away from him.

"You don’t understand. Thailog wants to kill my clan," Goliath gasped as he tried to stand back up. "He’s going to kill your rookery sisters Angela and Cecilia and your brother, Mercutio."

The sword in Gawain’s hand slipped as his arm relaxed at the mention of his rookery siblings. "Cecilia and Mercutio are here?"

"They are defending the castle against Thailog’s clan. You are helping them attack the castle."

From a few feet away Thailog twisted his body. His tail managing to upset Xanatos enough for the billionaire to fall over and land on his side. The dark clone turned his head briefly. "Don’t listen to him! This is another one of his tricks!" He turned back face his enemy in time for Xanatos to kick the damaged gun.

"He’s right," Gawain panted. "This has to be one of your tricks." He raised his sword and charged forward.

________________________________________________________________________

The relaxing scent of talcum powder mixed with a lemon scented air freshener were ignored by Elisa as the detective continued to pace around the nursery. She would normally find the usual fragrances comforting, but not that night. She should be out there, fighting by Goliath’s side. She knew she wasn’t kept away from the battle because she was female, nor because she was human. It was because she was the mother of his infants and because he loved her.

She paused in front of the cribs of the youngest children. Macy and the twins were fast asleep under their warm blankets. "How can you sleep?" Elisa asked before another roar rippled through the walls.

"Their biological clocks," Kitty Masteron shrugged. "I know how you feel I wish I could be out there, using my claws and tail." She turned to where her husband stood. "But Owen doesn’t want me fighting."

The blond man folded his arms. "We are still unsure if you are pregnant or not, I don’t want to take any chances."

"I’m not pregnant," Fox squeezed onto the handbag she held onto. "I didn’t want to tell anyone, but there is a gun in here. It’s for just in case."

"Don’t say that," Elisa snapped. Her lids closed and she shook her head. "I don’t even want to think about it."

"We shouldn’t have to." Fox walked to the door, before she grabbed onto the handle she pulled the gun from her purse.

"Goliath ordered us to stay here."

"You keep forgetting, detective, I’m not part of Goliath’s clan. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to save my husband."

"Didn’t he tell you stay behind?"

Fox’s lips pulled up into a knowing smile. "David and I disobey our orders all the time." Her hand was on the handle but she didn’t move. Owen I think helping me take on the enemy falls under the category of protecting Alex."

"I understand," Owen nodded. "But if I’m out with you then Puck won’t be with Alex."

Alex rose to his feet. "Puck and I’ll be a team. We’ll just go help the neatest gargoyles and then return here."

"I don’t feel comfortable having you outside fighting a group of rouge gargoyles."

"Puck can create a defensive barrier around me and we will both use our magic. We’ll be invincible."

Owen held up a finger. "Not quite invincible, but I can make you that shield. If your mother allows us."

All eyes were on Fox. The strawberry blond chewed on her lower lip. "See if Lex and Rayne need help and then come back here. Jam, Kitty and Elisa will see if you are in shape enough to help another group, but no more than two."

"I’m coming too," Elisa said. "If Goliath gets angry I’ll tell him I am not disobeying his orders as clan member, but as his wife."

"Nice to see some of me is rubbing off of you, but you don’t have your gun."

"We can stop by my room and pick it up."

"You can also see if your cell phone is working," Jam finally spoke up. "Kitty’s is in the shop and I forgot to charge mine."

"Cell phones," Elisa’s jaw dropped. "Jalapena I can’t believe we forgot about them."

"We are not going to call the police are we?" Fox asked.

"No, we are calling the medical team and my brother. We are going to need them."

"Becareful," Kitty said. "We’ll watch the children."

"I’ll help with the babies," Charlie piped up. "I’ll protect them." The azure weregoyle child stood in front of the crib and stretched his wings. His arms reached out with the tips of his talons curled down.

Elisa stroked the top of the hatchling’s head. "I know you will."

________________________________________________________________________

The moss colored beast fell into the wall, but the force of the throw was not enough to knock the creature out. The chupacabra pulled itself up into a crouch. It swiped it’s arm across it’s blood caked nostrils in a gesture that was eerily simular to a human or gargoyle. It observed its enemy. The female gargoyle that tossed him against the wall with her tail was keeping one of his brothers at bay with her knife. She had lost the second blade. He could easily take her and free the world from another form of evil.

Rayne kept her lips pulled back as she panted. She ignored the pain in her bottom lip, split from the attack of the strange beasts. Her right arm, despite the bruises forming held onto her dagger. Her left arm could not hold onto a weapon even if she hadn’t lost her second blade. Her arm tingled was still numb with pain. She held her broken arm to her chest. Her white Orlando Magic shirt was stained with blood from the claw marks inflicted upon her chest. More blood oozed from her wings. Several of the monsters used their long sharp elbows to puncture holes in them.

Lexington was not faring any better. The smaller gargoyle had a puncture wound in his own thigh. Four long claw marks swept across his round head. His wings didn’t look like they were attached to his arms. The bleeding webbing hung loosley. The one on his right was attached to his arm by a thread and the left was torn completly. They were torn and cut of from his limbs by the beast’s sharp claws.

Even though Rayne knew here mate had to be in agony the smaller gargoyle was on top of the third beast, keeping it pinned down.

She heard the deep hissing coming at her from both directions. She knew they were going to attack her at the same time, using the raptor method of attack. She stood patiently, waiting for the minute when they would both leap at the same time. She would duck and roll to the side, leaving the green beasts to crash into each other.

The monster in front of her leaped and she dove for the carpet, ignoring the pain protesting through her limbs. She rolled over to the second beast and saw it was about to land on her. They jumped at two different times.

She didn’t expect that, nor did she expect a large bolt of white light to fire over her body and striking the beast. The force of the blast sent him back to the wall she threw him at earlier. The energy was much stronger than her tail. Cracks formed around the beast’s body while it slid, lifeless, to the ground.

"Who did that?" She turned around and saw the other beast. It’s large red eyes were no longer narrowed. They were wide with confusion. It held out it’s arms in front of it and was tapping at the air, except Rayne could have sworn she heard a sound that reminded of her a sliding glass door being tapped.

"I did that," the large pointy eared halfling floated down in front of her. Puck’s usual playful tone was almost as serious as his alter ego. "I hate having to kill it, but it was either it or you."

Rayne nodded. "Lexington!" She shoved Puck aside to see her mate raise the head of the beast he was fighting and slam into the ground one last time. "You didn’t kill that one did you?"

"No," Lex shook his head as he studied the creature under him. The beasts chest continued to swell and deflate. "It’s still breathing." he placed a hand over it’s chest. "And I can feel a heartbeat."

"Why is this one doing a mime act?" She pointed at the third monster, walking around in circles."

"I put it into a box," Alex Xanatos floated down in front of Lexington.

The small gargoyle smiled at his young friend briefly before he narrowed his eyes. "What is he doing out of the nursery? Charlie isn’t outside either is he?"

Puck held up his hands defensively. "Now don’t get your tail into a knot. I learned my lesson from last Halloween. I placed a protective bubble around our boy wizard. Nothing is going to get past it."

"Your wings," Alex pointed at the torn leather. "I have to heal."

"That is going to take a lot of healing spells and by the time you get both gargoyles healed you will be sawing logs."

"I have to heal his wings."

Lexington shook his head. "The sun will heal me."

"Puck can heal one and I can heal another."

"It may be tricky," Puck nodded. "But we can do it." The trickster floated over to Lexington’s left side. "This might sting." He grabbed the wing and pulled up, connecting the torn flesh with the limb. "Big injury that I see, big injury I shall make you flee."

Alex held onto Lex’s right wing and arm together. "Sorry if this hurts. Big injury that I see, big injury I make you flee. The wings was reattached, but there were still a few large bleeding holds between limb and skin. Alex repeated the spell, causing the wounds to close.

Puck brought his hand to his mouth and yawned. "Well now that everything is okay here we better get back to the nursery. Kitty and Jam can see if we can go back out."

Alex nodded his sleepy head. "What about their other boo boos?"

"The medical supply closet is right next to the nursery. I’m sure these mortals can take care of themselves."

"What about the beasts?" Rayne asked pointed at the imprisoned one and the unconscious one.

"I don’t think they are going anywhere," Puck said and floated towards the nursery.

_________________________________________________________________________

The metal abomination stood before them, it’s glass eyes unblinking as it processed what it saw. "Impressive new forms, brother, and very lucious new body, sister." It was no longer living flesh and blood like them, but it’s robotic voice stilled dripped with the oily lust he had when he was once a normal gargoyle.

The male gargoyle unfurled his pale orange wings from his black shoulders and kept them out at their full spread. Othello’s mouth curled into a scowl. "We knew you would return along with the rest of them."

"Of course I did," Coldsteel nodded, his eyes never leaving his rookery sister, his desire. "I came back not only to see Goliath writhe in agony," He took a step closer to them. "but also to reclaim what is mine."

The grayish blue female gargoyle stepped back before her eyes lit up with a violate luminance. "I was never yours." She leaned against her mate, her breasts touching his leather chest armor. "Othello is my mate."

"Othello? You have given your new flesh bodies names, and what is your name, sister?"

"I am called Desdemona, may it process through your wires before I rip them to shreds."

Othello blinked at what his mate had just said. "My love?"

She stared up into his crimson eyes, sparkling like rubies. "I mean what I said. If it means for me to destroy Iago for him to realize how much I detest them, then so be it."

"So you are going to destroy me?" Coldsteel cooked his head to the side in amusement. "How? With those weapons of yours?" He pointed at Desdemona's bow and quiver and Othello's halberd

Desdemona hissed and slid out of her lovers arms. She reached back and plucked an arrow from her quiver. Her eyes resumed their furious glow once more as she slid the arrow into the bow string and pulled back.

The arrow met it’s mark, striking against the metal shell of the ensouled robot. A small clink was heard when the stone head bounced of the metal and fell to the floor. Coldsteel turned his head to stare at where he was struck. "Very nice, sister, you managed to scratch my finish." His sound sensors detected the low rumble of a growl. He turned as Othello ran towards him with his halberd raised, and fired off a small laser bolt at the metal, nearly knocking it out.

The blond gargoyle stared at the ax shaped blade of his weapon. It’s edges were rendered black and smoke spiraled up. Dirty and burnt yes, damaged beyond repair? No. Othello’s eyes blazed the brilliant scarlet more suited to the female gargoyles and charged forward again.

Coldsteel ran forward himself. He ignored the arrows that bounced of him with musical chime like sound. "You may be truly alive, but you are forgetting one thing," long metallic flexible tendrils slithered out from his arms. "You can die again, while I’m immortal." his tentacles shot forward, snaking up their chests and winding around their necks.

The metal coiled around Othello’s throat, tightening and making it difficult to breath. He felt the halberd slip from his talons and clatter onto the floor. He couldn’t speak.

"Comfy brother?" Coldsteel’s voice was programmed to sneer. "I can’t believe you wanted to be flesh again. Unlike you I no longer feel pain."

"You can no longer fear," Desdemona snarled. "Even when you were alive you never felt a thing. Day and night you had a stone heart."

"I have feelings for you."

"If you truly loved me then you wouldn’t want to see me miserable, instead you would rather torture me."

"You care for him that much ," His tentacle tightened around the male gargoyle’s throat and curled up, raising him a foot above the floor. "Then my dear sister, it’s up to you if he lives then."

Her chest heaved softly as she watched her mate struggle for life. His arms grabbed onto his binding and held on weakly. Her amethyst orbs shifted to the monstrosity that was slowly killing him. His own grip on her was tight, but not as painful. "I want you to put him down."

"Very well," he lowered Othello till both black feet were on the ground. "Now if you want me to release him, then you must agree to come with me."

She lowered her lids and cringed, causing her whole body to shake. "I will join you if let him go," her lids raised half way. "And I will-" her mouth was frozen in place. She couldn’t believe what she saw floating behind her evil brother. "Oh praise the dragon."

"What are you babbling about?"" The question had just left his speaker when two bright red lazer fire struck his tentacles, slicing through them. He ignored the severed ends writhing around, shooting sparks and turned to see who attacked him.

The two robots remained in the air, their jetpacks continuing to shoot the flames that kept them aloft. One boor an uncanny resemblance to his sister and was covered in golden metal. The left arm was also aimed at him her hand outspread. He stared into the hole where the burning flame shot out and engulfed him.

Coldsteel jumped back, landing onto of his severed appendages. "You want me?" He turned around, his own rockets ignited. "Come and get me." He rose a few feet into the air and sifted his rockets, letting them propel him past his fully fleshed brother and sister.

Desdemona fell down on her knees net to her mate as she watched Coldstone and Coldfire rocket passed them, pursuing their treacherous brother. "They saved us my love," she swept Othello into her arms. "Our former avatar machines rescued us."

Othello coughed, trying to breath back the air he had lost "They rescued me from death." He paused to cough before gasping three deep breaths." They saved you from being his doxy."

She placed his head against her chest and ran her talons through his golden mane. "I would have come back to you my mate." She brought her hand back up and brushed her knuckles against his brow ridge. "I hate having to go with him, but for you, and I would have returned shortly. He would have fled or been destroyed when our brothers and sisters won this fight."

"The battle," Othello sat back up. "Come Desdemona, we can not remain here on our haunches."

"You need your rest."

He shook his head. "Nay, my neck may bruise, but the clan might be in worse shape."

___________________________________________________________________________

Felicia stared down at the broken lazer rifles on the gray stone floor, ripped off from the arm compartments of her exo suit. Her bazooka had already been swiped and threw away by the golden male gargoyle. She had told Thailog she wasn’t a fighter.

She wasn’t going to look like a coward either, yet she knew she must had appeared ridiculous, trying to defend herself against her adversary with only her firsts raised.

"You don’t have to do this," the male gargoyle said. "if you surrender we won’t hurt you."

"Don’t listen to him Felicia," Jeremy said before he leaped onto the wall, avoiding the counter strike by the azure gargoyle with the crimson mane. "Never give up." The female he fought still held onto her bazooka. She was the only one who still had her weapon. Jeremy may have lost his own spear, but he managed to deliver plenty of kicks and punches, his talons cut into her skin, spilling her blood. His tail, completely covered in tiny barbs left nicks into her cerulean flesh, but the wounds he had given to her minutes ago, had already started to heal.

"You filthy little human," Demona hissed as she brought the weight of the gun down towards Houston, barely missing him. the snub end of her bazooka struck his left wing, breaking the bone in the wing arm.

"I’m not human," Houston snarled. "I am a gargoyle like you."

"You little slime!" She will never forget what he did to her, how he touched her. "You will never be a true gargoyle. you won’t even fight me. Instead you run."

The insult paused the purple gargoyle long enough for her to slam her weapon into his side.

"Jeremy," Felicia gasped and reached out at Matt. Her clad hands grabbed on to his arm, not knowning what to do, kicked her foot up, the toe of the suit striking Matt’s arm. She heard the crack of the bone before the weregoyle’s feral roar.

"Matthew!" Demona cried out, not paying attention to Houston. Her adverted gaze shifted back to her enemy a second to late. Houston leaped onto her, one foot coming into contact with her bazooka. the weapon was loosed enough for him to swipe it from her clutches and turn it back to her. "Omae o korosu." With the nose of the gun shoved into her chest he pulled back on the trigger.

The blast tore through her chest, shooting out a part of her spine as it continued to the wall. Blood poured down from the gaping hole, soaking the bottom of her halter top and streaming down her skin. Demona’s eyes rolled back, showing nothing but milk white before her lids closed half way and she fell forward. Her lifeless body landing in the sticky red puddle of her own blood.

The roar booming out from Matt was strong enough to echo through the walls, disrupting a few loose stone pieces. His eyes were as bright as the sun, lighting up the whole room in a brilliant glow. His tail lashed under Felicia’s legs. He didn’t wait to watch her fall. He galloped towards Houston and leaped, both feet grabbing on to his thighs, talons tore through the purple skin.. Matt roared again, before he swiped the bazooka out of Jeremy’s hand in a single smack with his good arm.

"Jeremy!" Felicia rose to her feet.

"Felicia run." Houston tried to push the larger gargoyle off his body but even with a broken arm Matt held on tight.

The human female shook her head. "I can’t leave you."

"Do it for me, for the baby, for all of us," he grabbed onto the detective’s chest, feeling blood surround his own claws. He stared into the infuriated face of his enemy and snarled. His growl did not end until he saw his beloved leave, riding on the rockets on the back of her suit. "Now for you to join your mate." His tail lashed up and whipped against the back of Matt’s thigh.

"Bastard!" The weregoyle roared and jumped back down for a brief second before he leaped against the former criminal. His weight, nearly toppled the both of them over. His bronze wings warped around Houston’s body, the claws locking on Houston’s shoulders. With his good arm, Matt grabbed onto Houston’s head. His claws sank into the skin. He used ever bit of strength he had in the limb pulled it to the side, breaking the spine.

Matt fell down along with Houston’s lifeless form, his golden body landing on top of the corpse. He rolled off, and pulled himself closer to the body of his mate. "I’m sorry my love." he tried to choke out, but his sobs dominated his throat. He pulled her to his chest and held her while slowly rocking. She was immortal, he knew that, but the that fatal shot caused her some pain and for an hour she will be dead, and that was an hour too long.

________________________________________________________________________

Cecilia swept her hand across her mouth, feeling the wrath sticky sensation of spilled blood from her nostrils. The rest of her face did not fare much better. The left side of her jaw was covered in black and bluish gray splotches. Her golden silky waves that were normally kept brush back past her wings were tangled and soaked with sweat and blood from the three diagonal nails racing up her left wing arm.. Three more crimson slash marks spread across her chest, leaving her black top in tatters and more blood, trickling down her exposed breasts.

A wicked gleam sparkled in Ocelot’s feline like eyes. She had her head cocked to the side. Her lips pulled back into a smile, making it seem like she was admiring the gray gargoyle’s decline.

Cecilia could not think about humbling her self and find a way to keep covered, not with her clan at stake, her rookery brother still being used a pawn by the dark leader. Her talons curled around the thickness of her staff even tighter. It had struck the ground and the enemy’s blades several times, even managing to chip of some of the stone on one and breaking the other in half. The staff could not take much more, a few more strikes and it would crack down the center, splintering the weapon into halves.

"You fight well little one," Ocelot complimented, her knife wielding hand held high." But you should know better the fact you can’t win."

"I have to," the other female panted. "I can not let my brother stay with you." her eyes lit up crimson at the end of her words. With a low hissing snarl she stormed forward and brought the end of her staff down. Ocelot wielded the end of her blade up, the broken edged knife counterstriking against the blunt end. The dry cracking of wood and the cold shattering of stone reached the ears of both females as they stared at their ruined weapons. The obsidian fell apart in Ocelot’s hand, dark shiny pieces landing on the ground.

The fracture in the staff ran long and deep, but it didn’t completely separate the weapon into two pieces. Cecilia took advantage of the confusion and swung her staff up, the blunt end striking the renegade gargoyle under neath the chin and knocking her back a few inches. The second strike completed the crack, reducing the once useful weapon into mere kindling.

Ocelot’s chuckle was not pleasant, her Cheshire cat smile brought fear to the younger gargoyle’s heart. The malicious giggle was replaced with a cold hard snarl before the cat like gargoyle pounced.

Cecilia splayed out her own talons ready to counterstrike the enemy. She had to knock her out, keep her from fighting any further, and see how Mercutio was faring.

She did not expect to see the silver knife with the leather bound handle fly through the air and bury into the mustard colored neck of her enemy. Ocelot’s eyes widened while her growl was caught in her throat, gurgling in a wet and disturbing sound. Blood trickled out of her mouth before she toppled to the ground.

"Mercutio?" She spun around to see the webbing flat on his back, the snow leopard mutate keeping his arms and wings pinned to the floor, but leaving his tail to lash widely. The image of her rookery brother throwing the knife with his tail registered in her mind.

"My mate," Winter’s voice bit with the icy coldness of the season that bore her name. "You killed her!" The edges of her claws were highlighted with glowing sparks. More small silvers of electricity danced and slithered along her arm down to her wrist, building into a nebula of burning energy.

Cecilia’s eyes lit up with ruby illuminences as her feral battle cry escaped her throat. The gray gargoyle raced on all fours to her brother’s aid, pausing only momentarily to grab one of the fallen dinging room chairs and smashed it on top of the mutate’s head. Winter stood in place for a few seconds before she fell over to the side.

The red gargoyle crawled up to his hands and knees, and shook his head. His pointed crest flopped over the opposite direction. "Bummer."

She gently reached out and took his hand into her own. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I feel some tingly burns," Mercutio blinked. "Yes, that’s the best way I could call it, and my head hurts." He reached up, talons brushing against his forehead and feeling his broken crest. "Oh no, this doesn’t look good."

"Dr. Jones has said it’s made of cartilage. It will heal with a day’s rest." He tried to push it back up, trying to get it to flop towards the back of his head. "Stop that!"

"It won’t heal properly if it’s not in place." His eyes lowered from his crest back to her and widened at the display of her exposed breasts. "Cecilia?"

"It does not mater if my chest is not concealed, we have to find Gaiwan. He’s here somewhere."

"Not your breasts," he tore off the toga part of his outfit, separating the cloth from his belt. "Well it is your berates, but not in the context you might think." He handed the cloth to her. "They’re bleeding."

"Thank you," She wrapped the swath around her chest and breached behind to tied to her back. "We can’t just leave Winter."

"I didn’t mean to kill the other female," Mercutio shook his head. "I just couldn’t let her hurt you."

"You did what you had to do. One of us has to stay and watch Winter in case she wakes, and to make sure she’s safe."

"You don’t have to," Jerry’s voice brought their attention to him and the deep blue beast standing next to him. "Bronx and I’ll watch over her."

"What about Gloria?" Cecilia asked. "Is she watching the werewolf by herself?"

"Dolph is helping, don’t ask why." The mahogany gargoyle shoved some of the cocked over chairs aside and made his way to the mutate. "Go and find your rookery brother."

_________________________________________________________________________

Broadway stared at the severed weapon in his hands for a mere second. The spiked ball of the mace rested in the pudgy palm of one hand while he clutched on the handle in the other.

"Bit of shame now is it?" Vlad chuckled. "You are standing here defenseless, while my weapon is still good." he raised his gun. The mace not even leaving a dent on it. The only damage to fiery weapon was the end of it’s handle being cut off. "Not much damage at all."

Broadway took the opportunity of the distracted London gargoyle to his advantage. Carefully holding onto the spike ball he pulled his arm back and threw it at the other gargoyle.

"Shit," Vlad noticed the weapon too late, but tried to duck. The sharp spikes of the weapon struck the side of his temple, Nicking his skin. "You fat bastard." He aimed the gun at the aqua gargoyle and pulled the trigger, the long tangle of flame curled out of the end.

Broadway humped back. The flame singing the bottom of his wings. He was burned on his chest, right shoulder and arm, small aqua blisters appearing as bubbles.

"I wonder how long it will take to burn the fat from your body?" Vlad shifted on his feet, prepared to shoot at him again. "I suppose it will drip from your pours in oily rancid drops and make a large greasy puddle on the floor." He watched as Broadway kept walking back, a smile forming on his face when the other gargoyle backed into the wall. "What are you going to do now? Fight me off with this stick?"

The cougar like roar reached his ears before he felt the warm female body pounce onto his back. "I had enough of you insults," Angela hissed. "Did you call you own brothers and sisters by such names?" She sank her talons into the backs of his wings and pulled down, dislodging feathers along the way.

Vlad roared out in pain while swinging his body around and loosening the female gargoyle. He swung his gun against Angela’s head with such force to knock her against the wall. The lavender gargoyle slid to the ground and remained motionless.

"Sorry I let her get away love," Ursa picked herself off the ground, the whip unsnarled. "It looks like I have myself another weapon." She picked up the spear.

"It’s all right pet," Vlad smirked. "We’ll make short work of-" his large ears shifted at the sound of what may be a panting dog, or wolf. He turned to see a large reddish brown wolf bounding towards him. "What the bloody hell?" He ignored the gargoyle and brought the weapon down on the wolf’s shoulders. Despite the pain the beast experienced he was able to clamp his jaws down on Vlad’s arm.

The wolf was not alone, racing behind him on all fours was an orchid colored female gargoyle. The gargoyle raced past the wolf and bat like gargoyle and pounced on Ursa.

Broadway blinked at the image of the werewolf sinking it’s teeth and claws into Vlad. The werewolf was the clan’s prisoner, why was he helping them? The ear splitting cry of a mountain lion in heartremoved his gaze from the fighting males towards Gloria and the bear like gargoyle. The crimson glow in Gloria’s eyes grew brighter, illuminating the entire hall. The weregoyle retaliated with a swipe of her talons. Her tail lashed back, spraying blood onto the floor. A few feet away was the split end, severed off.

Dolph himself was probably getting wounded as well. Broadway stared down at his own body. Along with the blistering second degree burns he had a few bruises from where Vlad slammed the end of the gun against his body, but Angela was not moving. Her body remained where it was, unmoving. Broadway could see her chest still moving.

Glowing white radiance filled his eyes while his mouth curled back in a snarl, revealing a set of sharp fangs. The pale turquoise gargoyle reached down and picked up the mace handle he had dropped. If he tried to attack Vlad instead of trying to get away from him Angela would still be conscious.

"This is for Angela!" The portly gargoyle threw the handle at the back of Vale’s head. The broken wooden handle met it’s mark, it bounced of the back of the Londoner’s skull. Roaring, Broadway wrenched the bat like gargoyle from out of the wolf’s claws. "You should have stayed with your clan." He threw him against the wall, hoping he would end up in the same stated as his mate. Broadway growled when Vlad tried to stand back up. He wrapped his plump talons around Vlads neck and forced his head into the wall. He pulled him back and slammed again, and again.

"Vlad!" From her place on the floor Ursa roared out. She could not move with both Gloria and werewolf keeping her down.

"Broadway stop!" The crimson light had left Gloria’s eyes. "Killing him won’t wake up Angela."

The light slowly drained from Broadway’s vision. His arms slackened and he stared down at the gargoyle in his arms. "It’s too late."

"No," tears streamed down Ursa’s muzzle. She lowered her head and cried for nearly a minute. "You fat blighter!" Still crying, her eyes lit up. "Your mate isn’t dead, but I will kill-"her moistened eyes widened at the sight of what was behind the turquoise gargoyle. "Reggie."

"Reggie?" Broadway turned around in time for a metal covered fist to slam into his face. The man in the exo suit marched past him towards the wolf and female weregoyle. Dolph growled before he leaped onto the suited man.

"Down boy," Reggie threw him on to Gloria. "We have to go."

"I need my revenge," Ursa hissed.

Reggie reached down and grabbed her. "Those who live to run away, get to plan a sweet payback." grabbing onto the bear like gargoyle in his arms he raced through the hall, heading towards the nearest window while ignoring her protests.

The auburn wolf growled at the direction the human and British gargoyle had fled. A strange bark like sound escaped his muzzle before he reached down to help Gloria.

"Thank you Dolph," the weregoyle smiled briefly at him. "Should we try to go after them?"

Broadway shook his head and bent down over Angela. "We need to get her to the clan’s emergency room." He scooped her limp, form and cradled her close to his chest. "We could all need some first aid ourselves."

________________________________________________________________________

Talons the shade of darker bluish black than the nigh sky over Manhattan sank into the metal shell of Xanatos’s exosquad. Thailog plowed forward, slamming the businessman into the stone wall of the castle. "Do you have an other tricks old man?" Thailog shoved him into the wall again. "Or have you run out of clever ideas." He shoved him again, bending the rocket thrusters on the suits back.

"My well is far from dry," Xanatos’s voice came from the other side of the mask. One arm slid behind his back, grabbing the end of his suit’s tail. "There are some new modifications to my suit you don’t know about. His arm wiped forward, the metal tail removed from the back. The struck Thailog’s hip, causing the gargoyle to jump back in shock and pain. Xanatos leaped and pounced on the gargoyle, causing him to fall backwards.

"Nice try," Thailog’s voice oozed with toxins. He reached up, grabbing onto Xanatos arms he hefted the suited businessman backwards over his head. "But you are going to have to try harder."

Xanatos rolled over ready for the counter attack, but Thailog wasn’t staring at him. Instead the clone was looking at the sky above. Xanatos looked up in time to see two large object plummeting to the ground. He and the clone rolled out of the way of the disabled Coldstone and Colder robot’s landing around them.

"Coldsteel?" Thailog asked as he searched the sky for the souled silver robot.

"As usual I am the superior model," Coldsteel said. His metal tentacles slithered back into his body. "Do you need any help with this human?"

"I think I have everything under control here," Thailog did not notice Xanatos opening a small compartment on the middle of his suit’s waist. "Unless young Gaiwan needs help with the impostor you might want to go back inside the castle to see if anyone else needs help."

"I can have my mate," Coldsteel said.

"I have a few friends for you to play with," Xanatos pressed the button. All three of them turned towards the direction of the sound of stone grinding against stone. The stone panel slid up into the castle revealing a small storage chamber. "The same chamber also held the cold duo and my suit."

"The pocket," Thailog hissed. He wasn’t quite sure what he was seeing. The three robots inside the chamber had the same slick silver metal coating as the regular members of the steel clan, but that was the only thing they had in common. They were nearly half the size of the large robots and instead of large bat shaped wings, modeled after Goliath they were thin metal attached tooth wrists and stretched down to the ankle. The wings of a web wing, like the small gargoyle named Lexington and his clone, Brentwood.

"You modled robots after the clan’s genius?" Thailog smirked. "He may be intelligent, but he is not much of a fighter, even Brentwood was the weakest of my old clan."

"They may not be as physically strong as their clan brothers," Xanatos said. "But there is an advantage they have over the others." Another button was pressed and the eyes of the three robots lit up. "Steel Lex’s attack!" Xanatos pointed at Coldsteel. The rockets on the backs of the three smaller robots ignited, propelling their small forms forward, heading straight for the only other machine in the sky.

"They are quick, I’ll give them that." Thailog nodded. "But as much as I would love to watch Coldsteel make short work of them I would rather finish things here with you."

"That could be obliged," Xanatos snapped the tail whip forward, the metal coiling around Thailog’s arm, creating small bleeding lash marks.

Snarling Thailog jumped backwards and turned around. The dark clone dropped to all fours and raced along the ground to where he lost his bazooka. He reached for it, only to have the large metalic foot of the exosuit crush down on the gun.

"I decided to take your advice and try harder," Xanatos said.

"You are getting better," Thailog spun around, his tail dragging along the ground in a round sideswipe. The triumph that surged through him when his tail came into contact with Xanatos’s foot was only fleeting. The exos suited millionaire toppled backwards, but quickly regained his footing. "But I still end up getting what I want." Thailog pounced forward and grabbed onto the weapon. "I am impressed by your footwork though."

"Training with my wife has paid off," Xanatos held up his arms to block the attack from when the gargoyle punched on him, striking the gun against his head. The metal mask was loosed from the rest of the suit.

Thailog clutched the metallic shell in his talons and slid it off. "I want to see your face," he hissed while staring at his reflection in rich brown eyes. Xanatos’s face was slick with a thin coat of perspiration and his hair was a sable disheveled mop. He grabbed the handle of the gun and twisted it loose from the metal body. He tore off the covering of the gun handle revealing a nine inch blade." When I do this." Clutching the handle, he shoved it into the armored chest. The force of his strength along with the sharpness of the blade cut through the metal and pierced the tenderness inside.

Xanatos’s cry of pain traveled through the air towards Goliath’s ears, but as much as he felt the instinct to turn his head he knew the second his guard was down the young warrior would try to strike him again with is sword.

"Your human friend is hurt," Gawian’s eyes shifted to the other battle. "Are you not even going to show any emotion, or are you truly heartless?"

"I want to assist him," Goliath’s whole chest heaved as he sighed. "but as soon as my back is turned you will strike me."

"I am not a petty coward."

"If you are really on my, or the one who you believe is Goliath’s side, then why are going to allow him to kill his friend?"

Gawain shook his head. "That is your friend, not Goliath’s. Goliath told me that he is almost as evil as you."

Both gargoyles turned to see Xanatos curled on his knees, one hand on his chest, and the other holding onto the metal whip, Thailog held onto his knife firmly, ready to strike again.

Gunfire made them all pause. Thailog’s eyes widened and stood motionless, unblinking as the bullet shoveled it’s way through his side and exiting out at a low angle from his hip, and continuing through the courtyard ground.

"Goliath," Gawain shook his head in disbelief. Both he and Goliath looked up at the wall in front of them, ignoring the Lexington robot that was entangled in severed tentacles falling in front of them. The warm summer wind teased the flipped up red bangs of Fox Xanatos. Her blue eyes were narrowed coldly as she lowered the still smoking pistol.

The halfings name was frozen on Goliath’s tongue. A surge of emotions impeded his ability to speak. The only sound stirring through the heavy night were the lazer fire and metal cleaning against each other of the robots above the castle.

Coldsteel’s hands were full with legs and gun tipped tail of one of the Lex robots. His severed tentacles flailing as they slowly grew back to their original length. The first robot was still on the ground trying to loosen off its bindings, but the third was no where to be seen.

The third Lexington robot spun out from the corner, speeding through the sky at berzerker mode, its razor sharp edges already out. The rockets on Coldsteel’s back fired at full blast, but it was not enough to raise the ensouled robot out of the way. The buzz saw like machine carved its way through the waist, creating small fireworks display of sparks.

The light behind the glass eyes flickered out before both halves of the robot feel to the ground. The bottom half clanging against one of the battlements, loosening a large stone chunk, adding more to the debris falling to where Gawain stood.

The lavender gargoyle did not know has long the white maned youth was. He cringed as he hobbled on his sprang. "Gawain!" He propelled himself forward on his good foot, slamming into the younger gargoyles body and shoving him out of the way. He felt the weight of Coldsteel’s legs and the stone from the castle Land on his own legs. His pain filled roar was cut off by Coldsteel’s upper half striking the side of his head. The pain of the impact was felt only momentarily before he was plunged into a sea of darkness.

The Lexington robot managed to break out of the Coldsteel’s talons, but only seconds before the impact. The small robot land on the feet and tail of the Avalonian gargoyle before it bounced back to its feet.

Gawain winced from the blow, but didn’t feel anything was broken. He rolled back to his feet and retrieved his fallen sword. "This ends here." He shoved the metal debris off the gargoyle. "You may have defeated Goliath, but I’m not going to allow you to see another night." Another small explosion broke through the air as he hefted his sword. He ducked down, hoping to escape the second bullet, but it was too late. The small nub of metal shot through his wrist. The sword landed on the ground. "Who did this?" His eyes illuminated whith a white hot glaze as he searched for the woman with the blue fox head tattoo over her eye. He did not expect to see Elisa glaring at him. Another gun in her hands.

"Step away from my husband." Elisa growled. "I don’t want to break your rookery brother and sisters’ hearts, but the next shot will be on the chest."

"You don’t understand," Gawain ignored the blood trickling down his hand. "This isn’t Goliath. It’s Thailog. He changed the coloring on himself and Goliath. You have been with a false lover." He reached for his sword with his good arm. "Once he’s dead you will see."

"Brother, stop!" The voice made the young warriors skin crawl, yet warm his heart with a familiarity he hadn’t felt since he left his island home.

"Elisa don’t shoot him," another voice he hadn’t heard in while joined the first. A voiced belonging to someone he once loved and still holds dearly in his heart. The green gargoyle turned around to see the slate gray blond female and red wed wing male enter the courtyard. Both were covered with scrapes and bruises. His rookery sister had a white cloth wrapped around her chest and the male’s triangular browcrest was flopped over in the opposite direction.

"Cecilia, Mercutio?" Gawain's voice trembled. "You really are here?"

Cecilia nodded and pointed at the unconscious form of the clan leader. "That is the real Goliath. We overheard two members of Thailog’s clan discussing their plans on how they were deceiving us."

Mercutio was too afraid to nod. "We tried to save you."

The young warrior closed his eyes. "That was why you followed me on the skiff, and the waters of Avalon took us to different locations."

"Where we needed to be, we need to get the others into the medical room."

"Golai-" he shook his head. "Thailog’s clan was trying to kill you. He would have killed me too once it was over." Eyelids lifted, revealing glowing orbs. "The real Thailog."

Bluish black talons reached for the metal covering of his loincloth belt. Thailog held his breath and reached with his last bit of strength to press the button. "Plan B," he choked before falling on his back.

Mint green lights took life in the eyes of Coldsteel. The robot’s head raised and the ends of the tentacles curled over and gripped the ground, rolling the machine half over onto it’s chest. The severed robot raced forward, crawling along it’s hands and tentacles to Thailog’s body. The coiling appendages wrapped around the slackened body and pulled him closer to it’s cold hard torso. The small rockets on the back of the half were still intact and spurtterd off brilliant orange flames, enough to carry both machine and wounded body.They both escalated above the castle, high into the sky and veered right.

The green youth stared at the spectacle in disbelief. "He’s escaping." He frowned when he noticed they weren’t the only two that have escaped. "The ship is gone." He lowered his head, wracked with shame on who he stood beside on the battlefield. He did not notice the hand on his shoulders at first, not until he felt five fingers ending in the sharp talons of a gargoyle. "Cecilia?"

The blond female nodded. "They are gone."

"I betrayed everyone," his own talons curled into fists. "I’m a traitor."

"You are not, you were deceived. We all were."

He kept his back to her and shook his head. He was unworthy of looking her in the eyes. "I should have listened when Goliath, the real Goliath told me you were here, but my stubborn pride refused to let me listen. I’m not worthy on being a part of any clan."

"Don’t say that," Mercutio stepped forward. "They will understand. I mean we did win."

"Aye we did," Cecilia nodded. "But we now have to take care of the rest of the clan. You need healing yourself, Gawain."

___________________________________________________________________________

The hours had been long for Dr. Jones and dawn was still two more hours away. Jones led his team attending to the clan’s and their enemies injuries. There were handful that were pronounced to be dead on arrival including the cerulean female gargoyle, Demona, but her husband assured the doctor it was only temporary. Only temporary?

"Where she was shot was bigger," the golden gargoyle spoke softly while cradling his arm.

He wasn’t the only one with a broken arm. The bright orange female gargoyle, Rayne had also fractured her arm during the battle. The rest of the clan received injuries just as severe, Brooklyn’s beak was struck by Leahs with enough for to brake the bone, leaving the brick red gargoyle to have his jaw wired shut. The other beaked gargoyle, Frank was stabbed in his right thigh, and broke his shin bone. Broadway had several first and second degree burns and even a couple of third degrees. Lexington’s wings were attached to his arms when he entered Wyvern’s ER, but there were still some deep cuts and gashes. It wasn’t hard to stitch the thin membrane together, but it was near imposible to wrap bandages over them without putting the web wing gargoyle in a full body cast.

"Can’t you just tape gauze pads over them?" The small gargoyle asked hoping he wouldn’t look like the gargoyle equivalent of the mummy.

"Sorry, but this is the only way," Nurse Bryant said as she rolled around the roller bandage over his arm, down over his wing, under his leg and back up again.

The ones with the most severe injures were placed in a different room. Both Angela , Goliath and one of the still living chupacabre’s were unconscious when they were carried in and immediately were placed into beds and hooked up to EKG’s and IV’s. All three of them had their heads wrapped in soft gauze bandages. An X-ray showed Goliath’s legs had fractured bones and were encased in casts. The hole sliced into his wing was stitched up.

David was removed from his suit and placed onto the operating table. Jones and his team searched to discover how deep the knife penetrated into David’s chest before they closed the wound.

Once the most serious injuries were taken care of Jones worked down, dressing Broadway’s burns, stitching up Frank’s thigh and placing a cast around his ankle, wrapping Mercutio’s head in gauze tight enough to keep his crest pointing to the back of his head, placing Matt’, Rayne, and Gaiwan’s arm in slings, and sewing back on the severed end of Gloria’s tail despite the weregoyle’s protest her tail would regrow back the next night as good as new.

"I need a damp sponge," Jones sighed. He still had to tend to the smaller wounds, the cuts, swelling, sprangs and bruises. It would take less than an a hour, but he was close to dropping. He accepted the cool damp softness of the cleanser and wiped it against his brown and face.

________________________________________________________________________

The upper-half of the bisected robot continued chugging through the sky, not slowing down until it reached the copper plated statue long turned green. It slowly descended, heading towards the small pill shaped vessel docked near the stand of Lady Liberty.

Two doors slowly opened, exposing an opening large enough for the wounded gargoyle and machine. The silver tentacles set the gargoyle down in a clear coffin shaped chamber. Once the door to the chamber shut with a hiss the severed half slithered closer to the front of the ship. Wires snaked out, slithered to the controls and inserted themselves into several different openings. The dashboard came to life and glowed a soft eerie shade of pale green. Smaller lights on the board flickered in blue, red and gold hues.

Small mechanical arms, thinner than chicken bones came to life inside the chamber, a glowing beam passed over Thailog’s body, stopping over his bullet wound and other injures before completing the sweep. The tiny robot appendages zeroed in on the wounds, trying to treat him to the best of their capabilities.

The dark clones breathed weakly in his slumber. he did not feel, nor know what was being done to his body, nor did he feel the small craft he was in traveling at a high speed towards the Caribbean.