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The heat exited the coiled wires of the radiators and wafted out to fill the small grocery store, providing much relief to anyone who sought shelter from the bitter cold outside. Mr. Jaffe continued to manage the shop at night. The weather outside did not matter. For over thirty years he would take the late shift of his store along with the possibility of an employee and a few stockboys and girls. There was no telling when someone needed to come into the store to buy a last minute supply, usually coffee, or when they need to restock their shelves with cocoa and hot cereal. He had lost count of the times several people braved the weather in the past to buy over the counter medicine for their sick children. He had many reasons to keep the store open at night, even if it meant there was a high possibility he would be robbed.

Mr. Jaffe did not stare at the people on the other side of the counter as he opened his register. Staring made them nervous and more like to fire a bullet at him. He knew the standard procedure whenever his store was robbed. First he would raise his arms and wait for them to give the first order. The second thing he would do, and by their command, was to open the cash register and fill what ever he was given with the money inside, sometimes they would be empty handed and order him to fill a small paper bag. They would leave running and once they were gone he would call the police.

"Put some bubble gum in there too," one of the thieves commanded, the one aiming the blunt end of the gun at Gaffe’s forehead. Both men were dressed the same. Both wore thick pants an baggy coats. Their eyes peered through the holes cut out in his ski mask.

"Dude, what are you doing?" The other crook was wating at the entrance, keeping the lookout to see if anyone, especially a cop, would walk or drive by.

"I want some candy," the gunman never removed his gaze from the cash register. There as only a handful of money left. "Nothing wrong with that."

"We don’t need to hold him up any longer," the lookout backtracked to the nearest candy display and grabbed a few chocolate bars, packs of gum and a few containers of tick tacks. "This should be enough for your sweet tooth." Without removing his gaze from the entrance he slid the candy across the counter.

This was their first robbery, not just of him, but of any. He could tell by the nervous tone in the man standing watch and the clenched grip the gunman had on his weapon. Just because they were new at robbing store did not mean it was a good time to relax. There was a more likely chance the would shoot him. Jaffe did not comment and simply swept the candy into the bag.

"Get all in their old man," the gunman barked while Jaffe slid the bag towards him. "Now I want you to get down on the ground and put your hands over your head and stay there."

"Enough talk," the lookout ran towards the entrance. "We got the money and your candy. Let’s go."

Jaffe did not move an inch, even when he heard the second bells jingle. There was no telling if one of them would turn around and come in for a last minute detail they had over looked. It seldom happens with first timers, but he cannot be too safe and risk taking a chance. He kept to the floor until he heard the roar of a jungle cat.

"Thank you Matthew and your friends," Jaffe rose in time to see the gun sliding across the floor all the way towards the Swifer display. The gun man flying backwards following it. The bag containing the money and the candy were no longer in his hands. He rolled over onto his knees, hoping he could at least get back on to his feet.

Another roar was followed by a tall mahogany form galloping towards the fallen robber on muscular legs. The gargoyle swiped at the man, his claws were able to tear off the material covering his face without leaving any cuts or scrapes in his skin. His eyes were opaque with a soft white glow as he picked the robber up.

A second gargoyle bounded in after the male. She was shorter than him by a few inches and had a more slender frame. She had a head full of golden hair where the male had none. She was dressed in an outfit with a sleeveless black top and a skit made out a blue material, resembling the soft petals of a flower. Her horns strutted at her forward, aiming forward a few inches before taking a sharp turn and pointing backwards. She took one glance at her clan mate and after seeing he did not need any help she glanced over towards Jaffe.

"Duck tape is in aisle seven," Jaffe said to her.

"Thank you," whether she was checking to see if he was hurt or not did not matter. She turned around and ran towards the back of the store.

"I believe this belongs to you," the voice came from the front entrance. Standing at over seven feet in height the lavender gargoyle entered with the look-out draped over his shoulder like an article of clothing and held out the bag filled with the stolen money in his immense fist.

"Just put it on the counter," Jaffe instructed. "The police are going to need to go over it. All part of standard procedure."

"I see," the large gargoyle approached Jerry and dropped the second criminal down next to him. "No harm came to you, Jaffe?"

"No harm," Jaffe came out from around the counter with a roll of half used duct tape he kept with him for small emergencies when a quick repair was needed. "You didn’t hit that guy too hard?" He pointed at the unconscious man with his toe.

"I did not lay a talon upon him," the Goliath kept his somber scowl. "All I had to do was roar and he collapsed in front of me." He accepted the tape Jaffe.

"I don’t blame him," the shop keeper chuckled. "When I first saw you guys in action I felt afraid, and to tell the truth I was still afraid of you until Matthew became a weregoyle and showed me his new form."

"I almost frightened myself," the brown gargoyle used a the large piece he had cut off from the wheel and used it to wrap the gunman’s ankles while the female finished up tying down his wrists and the lager gargoyle held him down. "When I first looked into a mirror after my transformation or the first time."

"We got trouble," the female gargoyle had said once she had finished. Her eyes were staring past Jaffe and Jerry towards the entrance.

Jaffe looked over his shoulder and felt the same tense stillness he had felt when he was being robbed a few mints earlier. Two men, dressed completely in blue armor with hoods covering their faces were blocking the entrance. They were not holding onto their silver hammers. The weapon of choice of the Quarrymen were tucked securely into their belts.

"There is another door you can slip through," Jaffe whispered. "Its’ in the stock room."

"Thank you for your concern," the lavender gargoyle stood to his full height, but we do not run from our enemies like cowards."

"There is only two of them," Ceclia’s eyes were filled with a crimson light. The glow grew once the two quarrymen entered and two more were right behind them. "Four, but we can still fight them." She didn’t wait for the Quarrymen to grab their hammers and bounded forward on all fours. No sound escaped from her lips as she pounced on the one of the quarrymen.

The two males didn’t waste any time in reacting. As soon as Cecilia raced forward the two of them dropped to the ground and ran forward to the remaining three quarrymen. The mahogany gargoyle was able to pounce onto one while the hooded man only had his hand on the handle of his hammer. Goliath was not quite so lucky. The quarryman he had targeted had pulled his hammer out and anticipated the large gargoyle. When Goliath was only a few inches from his body he swiped at the clan leader, aiming for his head. Goliath dropped quickly barely missing being struck on the forehead. The electric shock was a the loud buzz of a nest of angry hornets in his ears and he felt burned from the electricity. He was certain his hair stood on end. He kept his eyes on the hammer above him and used his tail to lash out and trip the quarry man in front of him.

Goliath did not notice the fourth quarryman was about to descend upon him. Jaffe had seen the man team up with his group member who had the misfortune of fighting with the lavender giant. Without waiting a second further Gaffe made his way in front of the Quarryman and spread his arms to allow himself to block the onslaught by the armored man.

"Stand aside," the quarryman barked. He had still held the hammer high above his head, but it was no longer glowing with electricity.

"I’m not going to let you hurt them," Jaffe glanced over his shoulder to see out the others were doing. Cecilia had hers pinned down and removed the hood off the quarry member. She curled her talons into a rock hard fist and struck forward striking against the man’s nose and knocking him out. Jerry had managed to wrench the hammer away from the quarryman he was fighting and was struggling with him. "They city is growing wiser to them. Everyday more and more people are realizing that fact. It’s just those like you who won’t accept it." He made a swipe at the hammer only to be pushed away.

"Because we have seen through their lies," the tall quarry man pushed Jaffe aside and continued towards Goliath.

"No," Jaffe would have made an attempt to protect Goliath again if he hadn’t heard the explosion behind him. The loud sound was followed by the shattering of one of the pickle jars. Jaff just stared at the greeinsh yellow liquid dripping down along with a few pickles rolling of the edge for a brief second before he felt a searing pain in his chest. He stared down to see the front of his shirt covered in blood.

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The air was still peppered with the scent of gunsmoke. The metallic air could almost been tasted by the man wearing gold framed sunglasses and the round badge on his chest. The initials, H.A.M. were spray pained I red onto the glossy gold surface. He lowered his weapon once he was certain he had met his mark.

"Did you get him?" his accomplice asked from behind the wheel of their car. One hand had a firm grip on the steering wheel. The other held onto the smoking cigar. He took one long drag off it, inhaling it into his lungs and holding it for a few seconds before exhaling it through his nostrils.

"I’m pretty sure the bullet has met the target," he brought his sniper rifle back up and stared through the viewing lens. The struggle he had seen in the crashers a few minutes later was no longer there. Everyone had stopped fighting and crowded around the wounded shop keeper. "That is just painful to watch. Those quarrymen are working with the demons to help that human traitor."

"Is that why you left the Quarrymen?" the man behind the wheel asked.

"When we started to get soft on those who befriended the monsters I almost left," he tried to line the crashers up with one of the gargoyles. "It’s when the former human rule was announced I left."

"Don’t they realize that their souls had left them when they transformed," the driver brought the cigar back to his mouth and inhaled. "I probably would have joined if I had lived here. I only left DC to help Keith start up a division here."

"I’m probably doing a better job here with H.A.M than I have done with the Quarrymen," the man with the gun waited until the gargoyle within his sight got closer to the center.

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"Keep away from him," Lucius reached forward to swipe at the lavender claws as they came near the slumped over form of Jaffe. "Those large hands of yours could break a bone, and who knows what damage you are capable of with those claws."

"I was only going to carry him to the hospital," the glow had left the eyes of the clan leader along with the solid white color when the shot was heard.

"I am not going to allow one of you monsters to carry him," Lucius carefully guided Jaffe down to the floor. "you might keep up the pretense of caring for our species, but we will not take any chances.

"We would not risk any harm towards him," Goliath’s voice had a slight trace of a growl. "Are you so stubborn in your bias you are going to deny this man the proper treatment?"

"No," Lucius reached around Jaffe’s neck and began untying the to half of his shopkeeper apron. "This is why we are taking the risk and not fight you."

"Would you trust him with me," the weregoyle asked while making his way around the otherside of Darnel. Buck was standing guard in front of him and Jaffe with his hammer and full charge and Cal was still unconscious. "I’m a weregoyle, like your leader."

"I know you are but I can’t risk-" his words were cut off by a second shot. Instantly he flattened himself on the floor next to Jaffe, unfortunately the weregoyle did not react fast enough. The bullet had pierced through his arm.

"Jerry," the female gargoyle had grabbed onto the injured and cringing weregoyle.

"What the hell is going on out there?" Darnel was still in a corner.

"Darnel, I want you to find some gauze and try to stop the blood flow." Lucius rose to his feet. "Buck call an ambulance, and you monsters better get your friend out of here."

"He’s right, Goliath." The female lead the injured gargoyle towards the back of the store. "There will be ambulances and police cars. You won’t want to have to answer any questions and only the doctors at Wyvern has Jerry’s medical records."

Lucius didn’t wait to see how the conversation panned out and ran towards the entrance just as what appeared to be the end of a rifle being retracted into the passenger side of a black 1990 Ford Pinto . The Quarryman kicked the door open and ran towards the car just as the engine roared to life. He tried to make out the man in the passenger side and could only make out the sleek dark hair and the pair of golden sunglasses on his face. He ran after the car, knowing he would never catch up. He needed to get as much of the license plate into his head before there was to much distance between them.

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Dr. Jones’s focus was entirely on the wound of the mahogany brown weregoyle. He had been told to scrub up to treat a gunshot wound on one of the clan. He had just slipped the latex gloves onto his fleshly scrubbed hands when he had been informed the injured gargoyle was Jerry and the bullet was not in the body.

Jerry lain on the table with a glassy look to his eyes and a dopey grin on his face. His wings were slack underneath his body to keep them from interfering with the procedure. Their patient was given painkillers to help with the already present pain. He had refused anesthesia.

"Braver soul than me," Jones mentioned while he examined the entrance wound for any foreign objects and to make sure the bullet did not leave anything behind.

"I don’t need to be completely sedated," Jerry mumbled while Jones finished cleaning out the wound. "I can already feel the pain killers working and doing their stuff."

"Just don’t try anything," once the cleaning was done all he needed to do was stitch up the injury on both ends, the entrance and exit wound.

"Don’t worry. I’m don’t plan on moving for a long time." He closed his eyes.

Jones briefly glanced at the weregoyles expression and knew he would not hear any more conversation from Jerry. Good. Rest was what the former human needed.

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The waiting room clock was right above Goliath’s head. The constant ticking of the hands against the various numbers was easily picked up by the lavendergargoyle’s ears. He did not stir in the large seat he had chose to sit in. His elbows poked against his thigh’s while his large hands supported his head, made heavy with worry for both Jerry and Mr. Jaffe. he would occasionally glance to his right to where Cecilia was, lying back against the padded chair with a book in her hands. She was barely reading it. Goliath could tell she was too distracted from what had happened to be focused in the book. He doesn’t remember ever seeing her turn any pages. After a brief check up he would turn his face back to the gargoyle seated in front of him.

The orchid colored female did not sit straight up like Cecilia, nor did she lean forward like Goliath. She didn’t lean back with her ivory wings pressed against the back of the chair. She did not keep a pose for longer than thirty seconds and kept shifting about in her seat. Gloria would not allow Goliath to see her eyes, or perhaps she was allowing her chocolate brown hair to fall over her eyes unintently. He could imagine she was going through. He would be feeling the same if his Elisa was harmed.

"We have not heard anything yet?" the soft voice of the woman on his mind cut through the silence.She had long shed out of her work cloths hours before and slipped into something more comfortable, a white cotton pajama top clothed her upper half. An image of a green pea with a black eye was in the center of the top and dotted the matching pants. She held a tray in her hands containing three steaming mugs.

"Elisa," Goliath sat up at the sound of her voice. "You did not have to wake up."

"I wasn’t asleep," Elisa approached Gloria first and held out the tray in front of her. "I was in bed, but not asleep. I was reading while Rebecca was falling asleep on my bed. She insisted she couldn’t sleep."

"Thank you," Gloria whispered while sleeting one of the cups. Her voice did not sound the least bit weak.

"Is she asleep?" Goliath was about to stand up to give his wife a hand, but the look Elisa gave him told him she was able to hand the job without any help.

"She had just drifted off when I received the news."

"You didn’t have to do this," he could tell it was hot apple cider even before he had taken a cup. The steam carried the scent towards his nostrils. "You could have staid with her."

"And allow my husband to stay in the waiting room without something to drink?" Elisa shook her head while setting the tray out in front of Cecilia. "What kind of wife would I be?"

"Great news!" Dr. Jones entered through the double doors. He had recently removed the rubber gloves and face mask but still wore his medical scrubs and heed covering. "I have successfully cleaned the wound, stitched him up and placed a cast on his arm."

"He’s going to be fine," Gloria breathed a sigh of relief. "Can we see him?"

"I wish I could allow it," Jones shook his head. "Your husband is still in the operating room fast asleep."

"He’s asleep?" Gloria raised her brow ridged.

"That is good , right?" Cecilia asked

"It’s what he needs right now," Jones nodded. "I guess those painkillers were the PM formula of pain killers."

"Can I sleep with him?" Gloria formed a funny grin on her face, knowing she had asked a strange question.

"I’m sorry, but I’m not running a hotel. Your are going have to sleep in your own bed."

"That is one less thing to worry about," Goliath used his free hand to gently grab Elise’s shoulder. "We still haven’t heard anything about Gaffe?"

"The last we heard he was still in surgery," Elisa responded while brushing her fingers against Goliath’s arm. She knew Goliath was feeling guilty about Gaff being injured, but she was more worried about her partner. She knew Matt was going to stay up all night waiting for the phone to ring.

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Several papers occupied the desk of the man known only as Keith. They were spread out in a single layer, covering the top of the desk like a table cloth, giving Keith the opportunity to look over each one. His pale green eyes were transfixed to the papers, taking up his entire focus. He didn’t notice he had company until they were right in front of his desk.

"Sir," the man with the dark hair and gold framed sunglasses had both hands shoved into his pockets. "Are we intruding on an important matter?"

"No you are not," the leader of H.A.M’s New York division sat up. "I’m just going over the plans, goals and the lists."

"What about speeches for any upcoming rallies?" The driver asked. He had long ditched the cigar and was chewing on a piece of Orbit gum.

"The rough drafts are right here," He waved his hands over five papers.

"Sir-"

"Please," Keith grinned. "You do not he to call me by any title. Just call me Keith."

The driver shrugged. "Whatever you say, Keith. Maybe you should just focus on one assignment at a time. You don’t want to spread yourself thin."

"You are right," Keith chuckled dryly "I guess I’ m so excited that we are making some headway that I can’t focus on more than one thing at a time. It’s hard to decide on an order for the tasks to fall under."

"We don’t mind helping you get into order," Golden shades suggested.

"Thank you for your kindness, Kaitou but first things first. I am certain you came to me with some information?"

"We have shot one of the targets," Kaitou reported. "I was also able to get in a second shot on one of the gargoyles."

"Good," Keith laced his fingers together. "Were there any witnesses?"

"Only a single member of the Quarrymen."

"Ah those fools," The H.A.M leader leaned back in his chair and sighed wistfully. "How the mighty have fallen. I used to respect them, admired them for the good they we trying to do, how they have changed. Decided to go after only one kind of poison. Don’t understand that all of those monsters whether born in a lab, hatched from an egg, altered by science or magic, are all the same and those who have close relations with such monsters have been tainted. We can’t risk having the tainted folk spread the poison about, now can we?"

"No sir," Kaitou shook his head. "It was the reason why I had left the Quarrymen and joined up with you."

"You made the right decision," Katiou handed him one of the papers. "This is your next assignment, but wait till tomorrow to do it. you both need your rest, and I already have some people carrying on another assignment."

"Yes sir," shades folded the paper twice before slipping into his pocket and followed the driver out.

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The repetitious song of that damned bird jarred through Matt’s subconscious until it had ensnared the weregoyles mind and pulled it out of the blissful layers of slumber. Matt grumbled, reaching for his pillow under his head and placed it over his head and tried to weigh down over his ears, to try to block out that sound.

The annoying sound came through again, except it wasnt a bird. It was his cell phone. He had placed it on the night stand next to his side of the bed the night before.

"It’s your phone," Demona did not even bother open her eyes and rolled over to her other side.

"I have got to change that ring," Matt picked it up. "Bluestone."

The woman on the other end bounded like she had been crying."Hello Matt, it’s me Tiffany Miller."

"Tiffany," Matt sat up. Tiffany was Jaffe’s eldest daughter. She was close to Matt's age and they were were childhood friends. They even dated for a a year in highschool."What have they told you?"

"My father is dead," She began to break down again. Her words bubbled out in a weak tone "He died in the middle of surgery."

"Damn it," Matt ignored the sound of Dominique’s alarm. The buzzing sound was no wear as annoying as the sound of his ringtone "Tiffany, I’m sorry."

"It’s not your fault. Some bastard shot him with a sniper rifle. I knew as a close friend you would want to find out."

"Thank you for telling me," Matt said his farewell and hung up. He knew she was in no condition for long conversations. He would make it up to her later, buing her flowers and meeting her for lunch. The phone had barely touched the surface of the nightstand when Matt threw his head back and roared out in grief.

"My love," Demona was no longer laying down, but was sitting up. Her dark eyes were full of concern. "I have heard."

"All he was doing was trying to protect Goliath from the Quarrymen," the full gargoyle rage hadn’t left his voice. "Those bastards. I’m going to tear their throats out with my talons."

"Thye were not to blame," she scooted herself closer to his side. "I have heard the full report, the same as you. It wasn’t the Quarrymen. It was someone outside."

"Demona?" The glow had faded from his eyes. "You are telling me to not feel any anger towards the Quarrymen?"

"You can feel anger towards them , but do not plan your revenge against them. If you direct your full rage agaisnt them then the real men responsible will go unpunnished. That is not want you want?"

"No," he felt himself relax at her mere touch. Her fingers brushed against her skin and brushed down close to his wings. "The sun is going to rise soon. I will find out who did ths."

"And at night you can punish them," she reached up to brush her talons through his hair.

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Maria seldom drank coffee that had been brewed at full strenght. It meant she would have to use three spoons of sugar instead of the usual two and she would have to add some non dairy creamer, but because of how her day had started she was going to have to drink it at full strenght. The report that came into her hands was fresh from her boss and she had barely began thumbing through it when the phone calls began to start. The first one she answered was Matt Bluestone’s.

She had made it half way through the bitter mixture when they had both showed up in her office. Both were dressed and well groomed but had gray half circles under their eyes and appeared they had tasted something even more bitter than the coffee.

"Before we begin I want to offer my codolences, Bluestone. I know how this has to be for you, and if you wish to tkae a day off I understand." In a most urgent way Maria had hoped Matt would insist he work. She was going to need as many officers as possible.

"Thank you for your conern," Matt sounded like he was trying to force himself to speak softly. "I’ll feel better when I know the names of the ones responsible."

Maria nodded. "If only you are completely certain."

"More than certain."

"Here is your assignment," Chavez handed the manilla folder on the top of the stack over to Elisa. "One of the cases that was waiting for me in my office."

"The Halycon Renard center was bombed?" Elisa no longer appeared to be halfasleep. Her eyes had winded while she rea the report and she sat up at full height. "When did this happen?"

"Four hours ago," Chaves tapped the stack of folders. "There were two other bombings. One was at the history department at Columbia and the other was at the Teahouse theater."

"The children’s theater," Matt’s voice was stuck in his throat. "They were publicy known for their support of Gargoyles and P.I.T."

"Lennox Macduff works in the History department," Elisa pieced the clues together. "They are targeting gargoyle supporters." She stood out of her chair. "Derek, my children. There could be a bomb in the Labyrinth or at Wyvern."

"Several of the precincts have already sent bomb sniffing teams over to the Labyrinth and the Eyrie tower," Maria took another sip form her cup and shuddered. "Any place that has been known to supprot gargoyles are going to be swept and protected."

"What about Mr. Jaffe?" Matt asked. "Why are we not trying to solve his murder."

"Relax detective. He was not the only one shot last night. There were three other gunshot victims who had conections to P.I.T admitted to several hospitals last night. The good news is the other three have survived and will have an officer to watch over them aroundd the clock."

"And Jaffe’s case?" Matt’s eyes narrowed.

"Already sent both Cross and Gamble to investigate."

"Why are you not giving the case to Elisa and me?"

"It’s the same reason why she will not let us watch over the Labyrinth," Elia stared at the folder again. "I’d be too emotionaly involved, and I wouldn’t be able to concentrait fully."

"I need both of you to be at your 100 percent best," Maria nodded. "Well detectives daylight is burning, and I have more assignments to hand out."

"Let me know if you find anything about Jaffe," Matt was the first one to rise from his seat and held the door open for Elisa.

"You will be one of the ifrst people I call," Maria waited for the door to close before she stood up and took a short walk around her office. She only had a few minutes to burn before the next team would enter. She may have to drink a second cup of coffee.

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News travled fast for those who had the right connections. The employees and owners of the Teahouse theater were informed of the bombing as asked to have been interviewed. Everyone coonected with Colombia: the professors, dean, students and other employees were informed of the bombing. They had made phonecalls to their family and friends to inform them of what happened even before the news crew could set up their equpiment in front of the destruction.

The news did not sit well with Jon Canmore. He was informed of the bombing of the history division before he had even left his apartment. Macduff himself had called the Scotsman on his phone and explained what happened, pointing it out that it was the history deptartment that was bombed and all classes in that building were cancled for the day and so was their meeting.

"Hello?" Lucius’s voice came out smooth and clear on the other end of the phone. "May I ask who is speaking?" There was no emotion. If Lucius was feeling outraged about what had happened he did not show it. Jon wasn’t even sure if any of the quarryman had read the newspaper yet.

"Hello Lucius," Jon greeted in his buisness tone. He reached for one of his scones, not a biscuit, but an actual scone. His wife searched for recipes on the internet and baked some for him. They did not have any jam since Lorrie had bits of cranberries to the batter, just butter and a little honey. "I hope I didn’t wake you. You did have a trying evening the night before."

"Yeah, have you heard about the university?"

"I have the newspaper right before me," Jon answered, He set down the scone and wiped his fingers on his napkin before his fingers truned back to the front page. "I also recieved a call from Macduff. His office is closed because of the damage."

"You don’t think he was the reason?"

"I am most certain he was the reason. There is another anti gargoyle group out there. Normally I wouldn’t mind the competition, but these people are reckless and are going about it the wrong way."

"I always felt we shouldn’t have harmed the P.I.T members before your policy change."

"You have kept pointing out the fact that they could be educated," Jon smiled at the memory. He took anothr bite from his scone before he continued. "These people are worse than I was before my time at Elumore. Our goal is to protect the populace against gargoyle. We can’t protect the populace if we are harming them, now are we?"

"No sir."

"Good, because that is what we are going to do, by day we are going to watch over places populated by Gargoyle supporters, and by night we are going to hunt gargoyles."

"You want me to and few others to go to the P.I.T market?" Lucius had a bit of uncertainty in his voice.

"Yes, I want you and Darnel to go to the P.I.T market. Watch over the misguided fools, look out for anyone who might be apaprt of this organization and let me know who it is."

"Will do sir."

"Call me if anything suspicious crops up, and good job last night." He hung up and folded the newspaper in half. He could read more of it at work. He had to leave for work and as much as he wanted to learn about the mysterious group he had family to provide for, and they came first.

_________________________________________________________________________

Cool and collective, that was how Lucius wanted to appear to the people at the P.I.T market, running their shops and handing out flyers. He did not want to attract to much attention and had chosen to dress in a suit that would have fit casual day at work: A button down blue shirt made out of a simple poly-cotton blend and a pair of khaki pants. He kept his eyes sharp for anything strange and for Darnel. The other man was walking down the opposite direction in his search for anything that stood out like a sore thumb.

"Interesting," his eyes caught sight of a stand selling pewter jewlery. There were tiny gargoyles on silver chains, gargoyle faces made into tiny charm braclets and even small jewlery boxes made with tiny gargoyles set ontop of the lid. He examined each one. Those attached to the braclet had plump boides and cherubic faces, some even looked like the dog like gargoyle beast that lived with the clan. The ones on the necklace were larger and looked more like the other members of the clan with beaks and horns. The ones on the box were stretched out in firece and protective stances. "Quite exquisite handiwork, and it is amazing how you capture the details."

"Thank you," the teenage girl said. She was dressed a denim skirt with a pink belt laced through the notches. A floral patterned dress with pearly buttons rested on top of a white blouse. Her light brown hair was swept up and held in place with bright pink hair clip. "Some of these took me hours to make."

"You didn’t make all of them did you?" She may have been a member of the opposite side of thebviewpoint, but he was still impressed. Anyone who could create such jewelry was extremly talented. "I’m quite floored by your talent."

"It wasn’t the only one," the girl smiled politely. Lucius took her to be either fourteen or fifteen. "Two others have also made some of the jewlery."

"These fine skills will help you get far," He looked over a necklace that was made out out of fine metal chain with tiny spheres of obsidian and the silhouette of the gargoyle leader dangling from the center. "Are they all gargoyle influenced."

"They are influenced but they don’t have an image of a gargoyle." She held out a metal chain with the pewter image of castle torret dangling form the center. "I was inspired by castle wvyern."

"Now that I know that you have personally made this one I am certain to buy it," he reached in his pocket for his wallet. "How much does that fine necklace cost?"

"Ten dollars." She had reached for a money form and the small metal lock box she was using to store the money she had recieved.

"You should be charging more for your hard work." He handed her the crisp ten dollar bill.

"Thank you, but I hardly recieve any of it. Most of the earnigns go straight towards P.I.T."

"I see," Lucius accepted the paper bag that contined his pruchase. "Have a good day."

He had only walked a few steps away from the jewlery stand when he noticed Darnel was heading straight form him carrying a pastry in each hand. His partner had chosen to dress even more casual: A pair of blue jeans sneakers and a Met’s shirt.

"These guys are pretty talented," Darnel handed one of the warm pastrys to Lucius. The other one was half eaten. "Good bakers too."

"Have you seen anything?" Lucius unwrapped the treat he was given. Dough had been sculpted to resemble a gargoyle and was baked golden brown and covered in a sryupy white glaze. "What does this taste like?"

"Like a glazed Krispe cream," Darnel took another bite of his baked good.

"That good?" Lucius took the head of his with a single bite. Darnel was not lying. The treat tasted like a fresh baked donut. "These poor misguided fools. It makes you want to protect them even more."

"Too bad I haven’t seen anything."

"More the pity," Lucius used a spare napkin to wipe up the glaze gathered at the corner of his mouth. He was tempted him to take another bite when Darnel grabbed his shoulder.

"I think I see something," he pointed towards the dapper man dressed in a tan suit. He appeared to have been in either his late twenties or early thirty’s. His dark hair was slicked back and tied into a tight pony tail. A pair of gold framed sunglasses rested above his nose.

"That could be him," he stared at the man as he kept walking towards one of the booths. A small paper bag dangled from his hand.

"Is that Katiou?" Darnel had placed the last of the pastry into his mouth. He had reembered being teamed up with the man in question in the past. That was before Jon was taken to Elumore. Afterwards Jon had changed his policy to not attack the gargoyle supporters. Kaitou rarely came to the meetings. He had forgoten the last one Kaitou had attended. "Looks lot like him."

"I think it is," Lucius felt his hand clench until it absorbed he heat from gargoyle shaped treat. He had remembered the last time he had seen the man. It had been five years since Katiou quit the Quarrymen over disgust of they way the direction had shifted to fighting only pure blooded gargoyles. "Doesn’t like the way we are hunting gargoyles. He decides to go around shooting and bombing gargoyle supporters."

"I don’t like what he is carrying. I doubt he’s bring lunch to one of the P.I.T. members."

"I’m going to talk to him," Lucios took another bite from the baked good. "I’ll see what he is up too."

"Should we both do it?"

Lucious shook his head. "Someone needs to make a anonymous phone call to the police." He strode forth, weaving through the crowd, walking as sat as he could while restringing himself form breaking into a full jog. It wasn’t long till he caught up to the man with the gold framed sunglasses.

His query had just left a booth and was walking towards Lucius. The paper bag was no longer in his hand.

"Katoui?" Lucius curled up his mouth into a fake grin and approached his query, weather Kati appeared to have recognize him did not reflect on his face. "Kaitou, its me, Lucius."

"Lucius," the other man paused when Lucius was right in front of him. "It has been a while."

"It’s been five years," Lucius gave the other man a friendly pat on the shoulder. "How have you been holding up? Still working for that pharmaceutical company?"

"I kind of broke away with them," Katiou glanced back over his shoulder and at his watch. "I really have to get going."

"Going to be late for your new job?" Lucius asked before taking another bite of his pastry. "Or are you going for an interview?"

"I own my own drug store," Katiou scowled at the sight of the gargoyle shaped snack in the other man’s hand. "I still have to get going." He tried to step around Lucious but the quarryman wouldn’t let him get by.

"Just left your shop for a lunch break. This is the last place I expected you to be, considering the way you have abandoned us five years ago."

"I could ask the same of you." He pointed at the snack. "Not only are you walling amonst the traitors but you are also purchasing items from the vendors."

"We got sent out here to understand how they operate in order that we can someday convince them they are wrong." He held up the half eaten treat. "I can’t help it if I get hungry on the job and feel the need to satisfy my sweet tooth."

"You have noticed why they look like?" Kaitour glared at the shape of the pastry

"Yeah. I like imagining I’m tearing one of those monsters apart as I eat it."

"I see," Katoui tried to side step him, but Lucius grabbed his shoulder. "I really have to go."

"You haven’t explained why you are here, or what happened to that paper bag you are carrying."

"I really don’t know what you are talking about," he began to pull out of Lucious’s grip but the Quarryman held fast.

"I know what you are walking about," Lucius releasing his hold on his snack and grabbed Kaitou's arm. "Why don’t we go find it. I’m sure it’s this way."

"No," the other man was pulling away with all his strength.

"Why don’t you want to look for it?" The quarryman’s voice began to rise. "What was inside it. Was it a bomb?."

"Let me go!"

"Everybody get out of here!" Lucius shouted as loud as he possibly could. "This man has planted a bomb!" He felt Katiou pry free and turned around to run after him. He had on ran a few feet when he had heard an explosion and grabbed the ground for cover.

Katiou only remained on the ground for a few seconds before he stood back up and ran off,only managing to place a little distance between himself and Lucius before the quarryman was able to tackle him.

"You son of a bitch." Lucius had the former quarryman pinned. "You did shoot that other man the other night."

"He was a traitor to our species," Katiou managed to mumble out between spitting out mouthfuls of mud. "The same as all the people here."

"You don’t care who you hurt? They might not be your cousin, your neighbor or your dentist, but they might be a friend of your neighbor, a relative of your dentist, or a neighbor of your cousin. Do you not care that you are hurting those you care about by hurting or even murdering those they care about?" He thought about the sweet teenager who sold him The necklace and couldn’t stand to see her sprawled out on the asphalt, covered with blood. It took all his willpower to keep him from punching Katiou.

________________________________________________________________

Three were several feelings tugging At Elisa from various angles, dividing the detective’s attention and focus. Elisa tried to focus on her assignment but her mind and heart had wandered towards the Labyrinth and to Wyvern. She couldn’t help worrying about her brother and his clan. At least half the city knows about gargoyles living beneath the street and looking after the homeless population, and most of the citizens know that Goliath and his clan had taken up residence at Castle Wyvern. If they knew then the bombers would also know.

Three physical diversions had also taken their fair share of her attention. All she had to eat that morning was a granola bar, a cup of fruit and a cup of coffee, and that was several hours ago. The hunger pains were gnawing at her stomach linen. Due to lack of sleep from the previous night she felt lethargic and on top of everything she felt a slight pain in her back. Another sign she hadn’t slept well.

"Looks like you can use this," Elisa looked up from the notepad she had been writing on. Matt was standing in front of her, waving a paper bag in front of her face. From the clear spots caused by grease and the scent of onions and cheese wafting towards her she could tell he had purchased something that wasn’t healthy, but it was going to take care of the empty space in her stomach.

"What greasy spoon did you buy those burgers from?"

"Not burgers," Matt grinned as she took the bag from him. "Chili cheese dogs with onion rings on the side." he held up another bag. "And home made brownies for dessert. I got from this place close by. I was talking with some of the foundation workers when we walked by the place. Even without my gargoyle sense of smell I could pick up the delicious aromas inside."

"Only you would consider this greasy food to have delicious aromas."

"I know it doesn’t compare to Broadway’s cooking," he motioned her to follow him to the front end of her farina where two sodas were placed on the hood. "But once in a while you crave something greasy and tasty."

"Food that can form it’s own oil slick on the surface?"

"Exactly."

"Well that solves one problem," Elisa set her food down next to her soda. "I still have a sore in my back."

"Sore, like a slight stiffness?"

"Pretty much."

"I can fix that," Matt stood be hind and pulled her close to his chest. "Cross you arms and hold them against your chest." He waited for her to fold her arms before he grabbed her. "You might here pop." He leaned back, taking her with him. He may have not heard the small sound that Elisa heard, but by her gasp he could tell the realignment trick had worked.

"There was something going on," Elisa stepped away from him the second her feet touched the ground. She stood up straight, no longer able to feel the crick that had plagued her back earlier. "I can always rely on that classic trick."

"Better go over our clues while we eat," Matt sat down on the front bumper and pulled out a cardboard basket with a clear plastic lid. "What have you learned so for?"

"There was no disgruntled employees who made threats," Elisa sat next to him and fished out an onion ring. "There were no threats period. The bomb may have been placed in one of the men’s rooms."

"We already have a list of suspects from the security camera," Matt picked up his chili dog. "There were five people picked up that appear suspicious and are not regular employees. They also have some camera feed from outside. Turns out there was a car parked outside the building ten minutes before the bomb went off, a 1988 Taurus. None of the employees own such a car."

"Not the same car that one quarryman described."

"It's more likely they have more than one."

"I’m getting really nervous."

"I know," he wiped the corner of his mouth. "I already called Wyvern. Security has been tripled."

"I need to call Derek," she set her food down on the hood and reached for her phone. She was still dialing when Bluestone cell went off.

"Bluestone," Matt answered.

"Hello," Elisa didn’t even hear the other voice on the other end. "I really need to speak with Derek."

"Elisa?" Maggie greeted on the other end. "Derek can’t really speak with you. Here’s very busy with work down here."

"I understand Maggie," If the security measure were as increased down there as they were at Wyvern then she could imagine how busy her brother must be. "There is no chance I can speak with him? I really need to hear his voice."

"I’m sorry Elisa," Maggie’s own voice came out exhausted. She was certain the lioness mutate was hard at work both with her children and the labyrinth.

"I called because I am worried about the safety of you and the others."

"I understand. Ever since a few members of our community were kidnapped we have had cameras installed and asked more security measures added. Now that seems it’s not enough."

"We are going to find out these people are. Thank you for taking time to speak with me."

"I am thankful you gave me an opportunity to take break. I’ll have Derek call you when things are less chaotic down here."

"Thanks sis, Bye." She pressed the off button and lowered the phone. "I can’t speak with Derek. Too much is going on down in the Labyrinth."

"I just received a call from Chavez. There was a bombing at the P.I.T market."

"Damn it," Elisa slapped her phone onto her lap. She hated the fact the new anti gargoyle group was still two steps of her. It made her feel so helpless.

"The good news is a lot of people had the opportunity to get away and they caught the man who had placed the bomb."

"Do they know who he is?"

"They are bringing him as we speak. You are not going to believe who apprehended the guy and held him down until we arrived. It was two members of the quarrymen."

"Canmore’s instinct to protect the humans has moved him to send out his men to watch over everyone." She pulled out the box containing her hot dog and removed the lid.

__________________________________________________________________________

The car window was filled with the Lucous’ reflection as he used the comb he had carried to slick back his dark brown hair. He doesn’t like the idea of going gray, but he has no time to purchase some Grecian to dye his hair. He pulled up the corners of his mouth and checked to see if there was anything caught between his teeth.

"Never figure you for a metrosexual." Darnel was only standing a few feet away and didn’t seem bothered by the fact that he appeared to be sloppy.

"I am not a metrosexual," Lucius fixed the collar of his shirt before he stepped back. "I am far from it. There is a difference between being a metrosexual and not looking like a slob. Especially when you are about to appear on camera." He pointed to the general direction of Travis Marshall and a few camera men. All three of them were approaching the two Quarrymen.

"I see," Darnel wiped his mouth with tieback of his hand. "Got to make the organization look good in front of a live broadcast."

"Live or not we are representing the Quarrymen." Lucius turned around to smile at the cameraman.

"I am here live with the two men who had noticed the suspicious activity, alerting everyone at the market, and tackled the man responsible." Marshal spoke to the camera while he slowly approached Lucius. "How did you notice the man out of the crowd?"

"We recognized him because he was a former member of the Quarrymen," Lucius practically brought the microphone to his face. He remebered holding Kaitou down while Darnel ran around helping to assit the injured. He waited until the poilce arrived and arrested Kaitou to see how many had been injured. To his relief the young girl he bought jewlery from wasn't seriously hurt. She had a few screapes nad bruises from diving to the ground. There were only a few people carried away on stretchers. "He was quite intent in hunting down and killing gargoyles and still believe we should have attacked those who supported gargoyle rights."

"People like the members of P.I.T?" Marshall asked.

"Yes," Darnel answered. "He didn’t like the new direction we were taking, but he didn’t quit until Castaway had instructed we were not to harm those who used to be human."

"You were right in your assumption that it was a former member and was that enough to be suspicious of him?"

"Someone who hates gargoyles that bad seemed quite out of place at a P.I.T meeting," Luius took over and didn’t pause for a second. "He was also carrying a small paper bag. I told Darnel to call the authorities while I followed him, by the time that I caught up the bag was gone. I wasn’t sure of what was inside it until I held Katiou to the spot and that was when he became extremely nervous."

"I can understand why you may be suspicious," Marshall chuckled. "Although some could say the same for you."

"We had a feeling the P.I.T market might be a target," Lucius puffed out his chest. "and so did our leader. He knew those poor misguided innocents needed protection. That is why he sent us."

"Many people might not see you as protectors."

"In a way that is why The quarrymen were created. First to protect the people from gargoyles and now to protect them from all the terrors in the city."

________________________________________________________________

"I can understand why you may be suspicious," Marshall chuckled. "Although some could say the same for you." The vision of Travis Marshall occupied the television screen in the living room of Jon and Lorrie’s apartment.

"Aye," lime green talons careful held onto the glass stem of the martini glass. "Nobody does understand our true motives." Jon swirled the drink around before bringing the edge of the glass to his mouth.

"We had a feeling the P.I.T market might be a target," Lucius puffed out his chest. Looking quite proud for himself "and so did our leader. He knew those poor misguided innocents needed protection. That is why he sent us."

"Good job," the single digit claw of each wing were clasped over each other across Jon’s bare chest. He decided to slip out of his shirt an hour early before watching the news.

"Many people might not see you as protectors."

"Another misconception," Jon set his glass down on the arm of the couch while still holding on to it. His long hair of spun gold was free from the elastic he used to bind it in the ponytail he wore to the office.

"In a way that is why the quarrymen were created. First to protect the people from gargoyles and now to protect them from all the terrors in the city."

"That is what we are," the weregoyle turned the television off. "We are protectors. I am not going to stand around and let this group go and attack my former species." He tilted back his head and drained the remaining liquid form his glass, including the olive. He held the small fruit between his fangs while the concotion traveled down his throat, giving it a warm soothing sensation.

"Are you sure you are not angry with this group invading your territory?" Lorrie asked. She was dressed in  matching purple of lavender pajamas that shone as if it was made of satin. Hair the color of fine wine was tied back with a ribbon.

Jon shook his head while chewing and swallowing the olive. "That is far from the truth. I don’t mind the fact there are other groups who wish t’ hunt down those monsters. It’s when they attack my species and humans that they have crossed the line."

"Do you know who this other group is?" Lorrie sat down next to her husband.

"Lucius had said the found a H.A.M badge on them," Jon could not keep himself from snarling at that name. He had remembered his last encounter six months ago when Colin’s gliding lesson had a small mishap and the small quaterling had landed in the arms of the cofounder of the organization. "Ye remember the bastards?"

"The leader threatened to harm my son," Lorrie’s southern accent began to surface. Her true accent was not noticeable unless she was upset. "I knew you have told me they hated anything that wasn’t human, but I had no idea that they would go as far as attack and hurt those who disagree with their beliefs."

"They are like me," Jon sighed. "They are they was I used t’ be before I got the help that I needed."

"I don’t think you were ever that bad."

"I had once ordered my men and women to go around making violent threats against members of P.I.T who had made it publicly known they were members. I had instructed my men to knock over tables at the P.I.T market."

"You were still not as bad as those who shoot those poor people and set up bombs."

"I wonder if I was truly cured of my insanity." He tapped the edges of his toe talons against the floor. "If I had never transformed would I still hate those who used to be human, would I have deemed them lost because of something that wasn’t their fault? Would I be asking the leader of H.A.M t’ fight along my side. Would there even be a H.A.M? The members of that group may be like Katiou. All of them might have stayed with the Quarrymen."

"You have never bombed any organization and you have never ordered your men to snipe at people." She grabbed onto his hand. "There was a part of you that wanted to protect, even back then."

"Sometimes I wonder about this transformation. There is a part of me that wonders if it was a good thing, and then the most reasonable part of me convinces the rest that it wants. Those monsters and especially the Demon wants me to suffer and I shouldn’t listen to that other voice because it is the gargoyle part trying t' corrupt me."

"I am here for you no matter what you feel inside," she leaned against him. "I do worry that sometimes you might make the wrong decision and that may risk you getting hurt."

"My angel," Jon brought her hand to his mouth and placed a small kiss on top of it. "I know this next desicion may sound risky, but it is one that I don’t feel any kind of confections. I will protect this city from the true monsters, whether they be gargoyle or members of H.A.M."

"I whole heartedly support this desicion." Her breath was soft against the side of his face before she placed a kiss on his cheek.

________________________________________________________________

Last nights news was still fresh on the mind of the H.A.M leader. After the interview with the Quarrymen, Marshal revealed some starling revelation to the crowd. While they were frisking Katiou he police had come across a small H.A.M badge in his pocket, and to put matters wore the fool had proudly admitted he was a member. At least he didn’t confess that the bombings and shootings were instructed by H.A.M.

It didn’t take long for Keith to figure out that people will be coming after him. The reports and police will be interviewing him and sear around his organization. Things were going to have to be kept low for a while. They will be going after targets, but the blushes will have to be shifted towards the main goal.

"Hello Sergi," The leader had grabbed his phone as son as he had woken up and carried it with him around his apartment. "You have heard about Katiou?"

"I heard he got caught."

"Not only did he got caught they found one of our buttons in his pocket. I am glad he is proud of us and what we hope to accomplish, but I wish he didn’t have it on him."

"Does anyone blame us?"

"I am certain many may thing that way even though nothing can be proven," he turned on his coffee and grabbed a loaf of bread. "The cops will be around and investigating. I am certain."

"Do not want me to come in today?"

"Only come if you wish to be assaulted by reporters and cops." He slid the bread in the toaster and rummaged through the cuborard in the search of a clean coffee cup. "I want you to call as many people as you can."

"I just have Sterm, Blip and Foot."

"Call them and inform them to lay low. There will be no more bombing and no more shooting down human traitors."

"What about the real threat?"

"Nobody will object to us hunting down the real monsters." Keith hung up on him and removed the butter and jelly from the fridge. He called two more people while he consumed his breakfast and called five more on his way downstairs to his office, only taking a break to shower.

________________________________________________________________

January 25, 2005

The leader of H.A.M had only started on his second cup of coffee when his secretary had paged him. "What is it?" He asked while he opened his packet of sugar and dumped the contents into his cup.

"There are a few detectives here to speak with you."

‘Time to act,’ Keith thought as he pouered the dark liquid into his cup. "Send them in." He didn’t turn around to greet the detectives even though he had heard the sound of his door opening.

"Mr Chase?" A deep voice addressed him. "My name is Detective Morgan and this is my partner Detective Remfeld."

"Come in." Keith did not make his voice sound cheery or overtly friendly. Cheery would sound suspicious and he wanted less suspicions placed on him. "Can I offer you gentlmen a cup of coffee?"

"We don’t need any coffe," the same voice had answered. "We just want to ask you a few questions about your organization."

"I see," Chase carried his cup back to his desk. "Please have a seat."

"Thank you," Morgan sat down along with his partner. "All the precints on the island are up in arms over the fecent bombings and four sniper shootings. We have apprehended one of the bombers. He was carrying around a H.A.M pin and said he was part of your organization."

"Did he say what his name was?"

"He said he went by the name of Kaitou."

"Ah yes," Keith rolled his eyes and sighed. "I know that individual particulary well. Always wore a pair ofsunglasses and never told me if Kaitou was his first or last name."

"We know your group had taken on a more sharp turn from the Quarrymen’s main objectives," Remfeld said. Unlike his partner he did not choose to wear a trenchcoat, just a fitted leather jacekt. "You are against everything that isn’t human?"

"Not everything," Keith cracked a faint smile. "We have nothing against animals. We are against monsters."

"Even though some of these so called monsters were once humans transformed agaisnt their will?" Morgan scowled.

"Once thier bodies had transformed they had lost their souls."

"You believe the task of getting rid of monsters must be achieved by any means possible?"

"By any legal means," Chase paused to take another sip from his cup. "Please don’t think we condone these bombings. We do feel these monster sympathisers have betrayed our species, but we don’t believe they should be harmed."

"What do the rest of the members of your party feel?"

"Many agree with me."

"None of them would make H.A.M into an actual crusade?"

"You mean that Kaitou might have taken the cause to an extreme?" Keith raised his eyebrows andnearly stood up. "I wouldn’t have been too surprised. Kaitou has always been a bit brash and after the recent meetings I have asked him to not do anything that I wouuldn’t do."

"You agree that some of your men and women might be pushing the envelope?"

"Two or possibly three," the leader of H.A.M shrugged. "I am going to have to emergency meting and warn them if they actually do attack a human, whether they are a deemed a traitor or not they will be expelled out of H.A.M."

"You wouldn’t mind if we looked around your office and meeting area?"

"Go right ahead." There was nothing for him to fear. All his assignements were in the hands of his men and they were being shredded. Anything else that might have betrayed him was either thrown out or burned.

___________________________________________________________________________

Three hours until sunset, that was when Jon had instructed the meeting was going to be. It was only for those who were already part of the quarrymen, not relatives or members of the Quarrymen support group, nor any new people who might want to join the organization.

Jon knew the meeting hall would not be filled. He did expect atleast thirty of his members to show. What he recieved was twentyfive. It was enough for him to get his message across. Those that didn’t make it will hear from those who had showed up.

"Welcome," Jon greeted, using his fake british accent he usually used when speaking with his quarrykmen. "I am sure you are wondering why I had asked for everyone to gather here this afternoon."

"It’s because of that group of pigs," one of his female members answered. Jon was certain it was Serena Wellington. "Those guys could hurt my uncle and his family, or my sister."

"They caused my cousin to break a leg," another person near the back shouted out.. "He was at the P.I.T market. He’s not a member or anything. He was just in the neighborhood and wanted to see what they were selling."

"My next door neighbor works at the Teahouse theater," a quarryman stood up. He was one of the more recent members to join. He was once part of the Quarrymen Support Group. "She is a friend of my mother. She could have been there when the bomb went off."

Jon nodded."They call themselves Humans Against Monstrosity." Just from the description of what h had been told and hte concern in the young’ mn’s eyes and tone of voice he knew what a good friend the theater worker was. Probably babysat the youngman in the past when his mother was in a pinch.

"What if there was children in that theater?" Someone asked. "What if there was children in the market?"

"This is the main reason why I called this meeting." Jon continued in his speech. "These people claim they are attacking monsters but in a way they are the monsters. They are almost as evil as those we have hunted. I have called you here to order you to stay on your toes. When you go off to hunt I want you to keep an eye out for H.A.M. If you see any possible members harrasing those who feel the monsters are not a threat stop them."

"How should we stop them?" A quarryman asked. He was responsed by a simple smack on the back of his head. "What was that for? I was just asking a question."

"You should aready know the anwer to that," the person sitting behind him aswered. "We use our hammers."

"No," Jon shook his head. "While they are just as bad as the gargoyles they are still hman. Use your hammers to remove their weapons. Hold them back if they try continue in their so callled mission and use your fists if they attack you." The quarrymen were already looking better in the public eye due to his men trying to save Jaffe's life and helping the P.I.T members after they were bobmed. If he could get the public on thier side he would be able to convince more of them the true intent of the gargoyles nature.

______________________________________________________________________

The chilling wind accompanied with the fresh January snowfall was unbearable to theh umans and a minor annoyance against the gargoyles. The tiny flecks instantly began to melt he second they have come in contact with the rock hard body of the leader of the clan. The sharp winds whipped past his hair and made his eyes burn as he glided after the stolen truck as fast as he could. There were two thieves inside who used the stolen vehicle to rob a bank and loaded up the back with as much money as they could find

He was not alone, gliding right behind him was the golden weregoyle, Matt and the small olive colored webwing, Lexington. Both males were as intent as their leader was as they fought agaisnt the elements to keep up and possibly glide past him in the hope they could catch up to the truck. There was a high likely chance that Lexinton would have been the first one to reach the truck.

They did not set off unarmed. Ever since the incident with the goblins at least one gargoyle per patrol party would carry a weapon along with them. Since the attack by ham the amount of weapons had increased. Matt still carried the heaving spiked mace he used when he and his mate hunted Quarrymen in the past attached to his belt. Lexinton had created a tiny crossbow that fit on an wrist band. The leather and copper band snapped across his wrist and located just a hairspreadth above his wing attachment. He carried the box of tiny arrows attached to his belt right over his left hip. Goliath was the only one who did not carry any form of weaponry. His foolish pride had kept him from using something other than his brute strenth, tail and claws. His was the same kind of pride and self assurance that kept the gargoyle from notcing the bright red mustange that was breaking speeding laws just to keep up with them.

__________________________________________________________________________

Thank goodness for insulated suits. If the quarryman armor did not have a self heating feature Cal would have balked about going on patrol that night. There was a small part in him that would have agreed to go out anyway, just to keep Castaway from yelling at him. He was aware that he was not the most physically strong, the most intelligent, nor the bravest. Cal knew he was the weakest link and he hated feeling like a wimp. He was going to prove he wasn’t pathetic.

"Don’t allow yourself to waver," Roscoe was positioned at the end of the building they haddecided to use a look out. Their hover cycles were parked right behind them. "We need to focus on the city. I don’t need your attention to wander now, Cal."

"My mind is not wavering," Cal spoke with a sharp tone. "I am just getting myself in the proper mood. I am more than determined tonight."

"Determined?" Roscoe voice had a condensing edge. "Determined not to faint, determined not screw up?"

"I am determined to actually bag a gargoyle tonight." He slammed a fist into hte open palm of his hand.

"You sound like a hunter who wants to kill a deer and mount the head on his wall as a trophy."

"Don’t laugh," Cal’s eyes had never left city. He searched in desperation for any sign of a gargoyle. He will find them before Roscoe did. He turned his attention towards his right and at the intersection where a truck sped through, nearly risking itself to be hit by oncoming traffic. That wasn’t what caught his attention. The speeding gargoyles prompted him to leap onboard his hover cycle.

"Where do you think your going?" Roscoe asked

"I don’t know about you, but I’m going to hunt down some gargoyles." His hands grasped onto the handles and his foot pressed down on the pedal. He didn’t look behind him to see if Roscoe was following or not.

________________________________________________________________

Goliath was right. There was no doubt that the small web winged gargoyle would surpass him and Matt as he glided ahead of them and appeared to have been gliding right above the rear end of the truck. Goliath knew what Lexington had planned. The small gargoyle was going to keep in the air until he had made it the cab and would descend in front of the windshield. It was a standard procedure when they were chasing after a vehicle. The fastest member of the patrol group would glide in front of the windshield or grab onto the hood in the hopes the vehicle would slow down and stop. Then the other members in the group would reach in through the windows.

Goliath separated from Matt as soon as they had begun to descend. The top of the truck was only a few inches below both gargoyles. The wergoyle didn’t need to have Goliath inform him to take the passenger side as they began to gain speed. It was just common knowledge. Goliath stared ahead of the truck and saw that Lexington was nearing the cab. It will be over soon.

A shift in the soft leather stretched out between the hollow bones in the wings and Goliath was gliding further away of the track towards the left direction. He knew he was going to atlas have some berth in case the vehicle would accidentally skid out of control. He was not looking forward to having it spin around and slam him head on..

The screeching sound of tires skidding along the asphalt brought pause to the lavender gargoyle as his wings tried to frees in mid air. The truck had slight skidded before it began to slow down.

Goliath did not wait long before he glided straight for the truck. His eyes were illuminated seconds before his talons sank into the metal of truck’s door. He refrained from growling while his claws cut through the glass, leaving long white scratches in the glass. He managed to swipe against the glass twice before it shattered into tiny pieces.

"Get the gun!" the driver’s eyes grew as wide as golf balls. "Get the gun, get the gun, get the gun." He turned around to see what was taking his partner so long only to witness the other robber being dragged out of the car by a golden gargoyle.

Goliath only let loose one roar before he reached in and garbed the human by the front of his jacket. He continued to growl and snarl while pulling him through the window.

"Don’t hurt me," The robber begged while he kept his eyes closed. He had shut his eyes after staring into the brilliant whites of Goliath.

"I am not going to hurt you," Goliath growled and threw the thief down infront of Lexington. One look at the smaller yet still as threatening gargoyle in front of him and the thief would think twice before crawling away. "As long as you do as instructed."

"Anything."

"You and your friend are going to run to the nearest cop, the nearest police car, or the nearest precinct," Goliath crossed his arms. He kept his eyes illuminated as he instructed the criminal. "You are going to confess your crime and while you are in jail you are going to think about getting a new line of work. You will never commit another crime in my city." He leaned down until his nose nearly touched the nose of the criminal. "Unless you want to face me again. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do."

"Now get out of here," Goliath made sure he had roared out the last part. He had achieved the desired effect. The criminal had forced himself to stand back up and run off down the direction he had been driving towards. His partner was right behind him.

"Looks like it didn’t take much for you to convince him," Goliath grinned at the golden weregoyle as he approached the two of them.

"Just a little growling and he was willing to do anything I asked him," Matt returned the grin.

"We should get back to Wyvern. It’s about time you retire for the even-"

"They are aiming right for us!" Lexington’s shout cut the leader off. The other two gargoyles did not have time to react before gunfire was heard around them. The bullets flew by, coming in close to hitting the small gargoyle. One struck the ground at an odd angle, coming within a few inches from striking Bluestone in the foot.

The clan leader turned to where the weapons were firing from. Three men stood around a parked pinto. All three were armed with different guns and were trying to shoot a thet three gargoyles.

"Behind the tru-" Goliath didn’t finish. He was cut off in midsentence when one of the bullets pierced through his shoulder, it cut through his skin and went through the bone. Pain radiated out through the points of entry and exit while Goliath roared out.

"Goliath!" Both Lexington and Matt had almost cried out in unison. Another bullet nicked the bottom of Matt’s left wing and a third missed Lexington’s thigh by a centimeter.

"Truck." Goliath used his uninjured arm to push Matt towards the truck they had stopped. "Get behind the truck."

Goliath did not have to repeat him self. Matt had already began to move towards he truck after the first nudge and Lexington had scampered after him as soon as he mentioned the vehicle. Three or four more bullets shot past them with only one piercing the web wing gargoyle in the middle of his tail. The whole attack only last for a few seconds but there was noticeable damage. All three of them had been wounded.

"Goliath?" Matt had just stared at his wing where he was struck before he examined the bleeding wound in Goliath’s arm.

"I’ll be fine," Goliath tried not to think about where e was shot, nor the pain that had gripped his arm. " Stone sleep will cue those wound."

"Is there an exit wound?" Matt peeled off his wifebeater shirt and scrunched it into a ball of white cloth.

"Aye," Goliath did not pay attention to his injured as Matt applied pressure to the wound. He stared at the bottom of Matt’s left wing where liquid, a darker shade of red than the leathery lining, slowly dripped down onto the asphalt. "What about you and Lexington?"

"They got me in the tail," the olive green gargoyle grabbed onto the middle of his tail. Blood leaked through the thin gaps between his talons. "I’m more concerned about your shoulder, Goliath. Are you going to even be able to glide home?"

"My wings are fine," Goliath answered. "Bluestone’s wings are injured."

"It’s nothing major," Matt said. "I have heard you once were able to glide with a huge hole in your wing."

"Who are these guys?" Lexington peered around the cab of the truck. "They certainly are not Quarrymen."

"It’s not their style. They don’t usually follow us around in their car and just start shooting at us."

"That car is familiar," Goliath only remembered color from his brief glance. "Black in color and it’s a Ford Pinto?"

"That’ what it looks like."

"Possibly an early nineties model?" Goliath did not know much about cars, Unlike Elisa. He could not tell the make and model by the look. When he had heard the description of cars from his wife’s reports he could only tell by the color and the numbers on the licensee plate and any kind of decoration that may have been included.

"Looks like it," the web wing asked while reaching down for his arrow box. "Why would you want to know?"

"It sounds like the car that one quarryman chased down. It was mentioned on the knews. One of the men who had shot Jaffe was inside it." Goliath almost wished he hadn’t mentioned the name of their slain friend. Matt growled as soon as he heard the name.

"Don’t do anything rash," Lexington had heard the weregoyle’s growling at the same time as his leader. "They are approaching us." The arrow he had selected was the size of a bobypin at length and was as thin as a toothpick. They would not be strong enough to kill anyone unless they had struck a strategic point. There were tipped in ion, fitting for any possible member of the third race they might come across.

________________________________________________________________

The man addressed as Sergi by the H.A.M. leader, lead the other two as they slowly approached the truck where the monsters where hiding from them. the fact the winged beasts had fled from them gave Sergi a bit more confidence. He had never gone against the gargoyles before. He had only helped set up a bomb at the Teahouse theater and pulled the trigger on another gargoyle supporter. He knows he is not a good a shot as Katiou. If he was he would have sent another traitor straight to the fiery depths of hell. At least he was a better shot than the others. He was able to wound the lager purple gargoyle with his weapon. It made up for the bullets he had wasted. He was the only one who carried the clip gun. the others were given .357 Magnum Revolvers and all three of them had two packs of back ups.

"I see one," the only female of the group had whispered. Sure enough sego could see the small green gargoyle peeping around the truck.

"Aim for the head," Sergi had raised his gun and pulled back on the trigger. The blast from his gun was accompanied by the loud explosions from the other two guns. too his disgust they were not able to hit anything. The small gargoyle had ducked in time and peered out at them again. "Keep shooting." He was ready to pull the trigger again and would have if he hadn’t felt the sudden sharp pain in his right arm that almost caused him to drop his gun.

"Sir?" his driver stared at him in shock. "They have their own weapons."

"I know," Sergi reached over to his right arm and pulled out a slender metal stick. "They got me with one of thier projecitles." He gritted his teeth when he had pulled it free. The end that was imbedded in his flesh was shaped like the head of an arrow.

The female member of the group emptied her gun of her last two bullets and the driver fired once.

"Back to the car," Sergi instructed as he turned around. "Don’t waste any more bullets." He was the last to run, making sure the others had atom to get away. He almost stopped in his tracks when a nether arrow fired past them, missing the woman by a mere inch.

________________________________________________________________

"I got one of them," Lexington lowered his arm and stepped back to their makeshift shelter. "I almost got another."

"Don’t want to waste your arrows," Matt kept the balled up shirt pressed against Goliath. The material that was once an off white color had become half red. "We still don’t know how many bullets they have. One of them has a clip gun and the other two pistols. That should equal about twenty two. We don’t know if they are carrying any spares."

"I have about ten more arrows," Lexington checked the case he had carried. "You do have a point. How is Goliath?"

"I’m still able to answer," Goliath’s whole left arm felt limp. He could barely feel the pressure applied by Bluestone. "We are going to have to find away to get out of here."

"The best bet is to run towards the nearest alley," Lexington replied. "Or possibly the end of the block. I don’t think we are that far. I can keep them back long enough for you two to get out of here."

"I don’t like the idea of just leaving you here."

Matt stared down the street. A few cars were parked with people just watching them. Several people on the street had ran off. The necessary turn was only a few feet away. All three of the could make fit if they ran fast enough

"We have to get you to he medical ward," Matt grabbed Goliath around his uninjured arm. They stood up but didn’t move. What was approaching them had stopped Matt in his tracks" Two quarrymen, armed only with their usual hammers had spotted them.

"Not these guys," Lexington sighed as the quarrymen ran up to them. Lexington aimed his crossbow at them and was about to fire when Matt leaped forward.

The golden gargoyle pulled out his mace as the two humans drew near and brought up the spike tipped weapon as soon as the hammer came down. Matt swung up and pulled it away for a few seconds before he swung around and tried to keep the end of the Quarryman’s weapon from striking against him.

"I hate having to waste my arrow," Lexington fired a bolt at the second quarryman with the hope it would pierce through the armor. It may not have gone all the way through but it had caused some pain as the armored human cringed and his grip relaxed on the handle.

Goliath took up the ooputunity and used his feet to kickoff against the injured human’s feet. it wasn’t enough to trip him, although it was enough to cause him to let go of his hammer. Weakly, Goliath used his tail to grab onto the angle and pull the weapon closer to him and was about to grab it when the Quarryman grabbed his good arm.

The roar exited Lexington’s throat before the web wing leaped forward and landed on the Quarryman’s back.

The other Quarryman fought with a ferrous valor that Matt had never seen in any one of them, except for Jon. The weregoyle could feel beads of sweat develop on his body as he fought against the human. The quarryman even leaped into the air as he tried to score a single blow with his hammer. The man may have determination but Matt’s will to survive so he could rescue his leader was even stronger. So strong was the will he did pay attention to where the battle was taking them.

The sound of bullets being fired brought the golden weregoyle to pause for a few second. He didn’t forget about the people with the guns. He just didn’t know how far onto the sidewalk the two of them had gone.

The scream of pain from the Quarryman did take Matt by surprise . The weregoyle had dropped his mace the second his foe had dropped his hammer and grabbed his arm in pain. Another shot was heard and Matt grabbed onto the injured man and pulled him back towards the truck.

"Roscoe!" The injured quarryman cried out in pain. "Roscoe."

"Cal!" The struggling Quarryman managed to push Lexington of him. "What happened."

"They shot him," Matt’s eyes lit up. "They shot him because I was in view. They don’t care if they hurt humans if it means they might be able to kill a gargoyle."

"Who shot him?" The Quarryman placed on hand on top of the other in the Time Out sign.

"They did," Lexinton pointed toward the truck.

Roscoe crept behind the cab of the truck and stared. "That looks like the car Lucius described. The one Katiou used. Those idiots." He pointed towards Goliath. "Give me my hammer."

"Why should we?" Lexington glared.

"So I can knock their guns out of their hands." Roscoe grabbed onto the handle of the hammer and raced out of the hiding area.The small sting he felt from the smaller gargoyle’s cross bow wa no longer felt by him.

"What is he doing?" Matt wished he had another cloth to apply pressure to the other man’s wound.

"He’s running after the gunmen," Lexington had peered around the corner. He watched as the four who fired at them had climbed back into their car. "The gunmen are entering their car. they started the engine and are slowly backing up." He contined to recite the play by play action of their enemies. The Taurus was backing up and trying to turn on the street. "Now they are Turing around. The quarryman is still running after them."

"Hopefully he will be able to memorize the numbers on the licensee plate." Matt stared up at the sound of leather against the wind and saw a second patrol team nearing them.

"Why are you helping me?" Cal asked.

"We were fighting fairly and you wouldn’t risk hurting the innocent to shoot me," Matt explained as he squeezed his tail even tighter.

"Are you are a weregoyle?" Cal didn’t even turn to look at the approaching gargoyles. "I should have known you were the same species as Castaway."

Matt nodded. He could hear the sirens and hoped the clan would help them with Goliath bofore the ambulance arrives to take care of the injured quarryman.

________________________________________________________________

Luckily for the two Quarrymen, Cal had a common blood type. The had started Cal on a transfusion as soon as had arived at the hospital and the doctors were able to repair the wound. The bone was broken in several places. He was going to be in a cast for nearly two months.

Roscoe had waited until he had received the news about Cal before he called Castaway’s office.

"Hello, Castaway here here." His boss used his pseudo last name when h was hunting with the yrrymen or wa in his office at the Quarryman head quarrters. If Roscoe had called him at his office at PrometheoTech he would have heard Jon using his real name

"hello sir," Roscoe answered. He tried not to allow his emotions take control of him. "I’m calling from the hospital."

"What happened?"

"While battling with one of the monsters Cal was shot."

"Shot by who andwhat?" Castaway’s voice grew concerned. "How is he?"

"By a gun sir. I am not certain about the type of gun. He’s being wheeled to his own room as we speak. He had to receive a transfusion and received a cast."

"Now they are carrying guns?"

"It wasn’t them. It was from three humans who had sent an ambush for the gargoyles we were tracking. I may not be certain, but I think it was by H.A.M."

"Humans Against Monstrosity," Jon growled out the name. "If they knew what I was they would have attacked our organization sooner."

"I doubt they were aiming for him, not that it matters."

"The fact they could have hurt another innocent human with their reckless hunting makes them a threat. We have two enemies now. The Gargoyles, and them."

________________________________________________________________

Elisa had thought she was fighting a lossing battle with the twins earlier that evening. Both of them had requested to see their father, depsite her firm nos. It got to the point where they stood on top of Rowans bed and shouted the same pharased over and over: "We want to see daddy!"

Elisa had flat out refused. She tried not to loose her tempter, but got to the point where she told them no at the top of her lungs followed by the order for them to go to bed. Both Re and Ro responded with a tantrum mixed with crying, screams, growls and punding their fists against the bed.

"They can see him tomorrow," Elisa mumbled toherself as she opened the door to Goliath’s bed.

"Elisa," Goliath sat up at the sound of the door knob turning. He was propped up at the end of the bed and by several large pillows. His injured arm was wrapped in a cast and placed into a sling.

"That is bit of an injury you hve there big guy," she approached his bed. "I heard everything from Matt and Lerxington." She had visited them first.

"How are they?"

"Matt recieved some stitaches depsite his porest that his wings will be good as new tomorow," Elisa exlained. She remebered the look on her partner’s face. "And Dr Jones is perfecting his tail cast sling techniue."

Goliath nodded. "They both will be healed tomorrow." He stared at his injured shoulder. "As I will be. What about the injured Quarryman?"

"As far as I know he has been rushed to Manhattan general and having the bullet removed from his arm." She sat down on the edge of his bed. "I’m just glad to see that this is only the worse injury you have."

"I am thankful as well."

"I’m going to make sure the twins are asleep and come back. Is there anyting you would like??"

"I just want to look at your beautiful faces before you get too tired." He reached out to brush the side of her face.

"I slip into that nightgown and bathrobe you like," she stood back up and aproached the door. She wanted to ask him one thing. To stop the patrols, to stay at the castle until she and the rest of her fellow officers can apprehend every member of H.A.M. She will wait to ask him the question the next night after he and the rest of the clan had waken up, tonight she was going to fulfill his request and even fall asleep in the chair next to his bed so he could watch her until he turned to stone.