Disclaimer 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 nothing but the utmost respect for their creators is implied.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. Oh, and by the way, I have no grudges against internet organizations. That is not what this story is supposed to be implying.
This is dedicated to Ashly. Ashly, if you're reading this, I want my CD back. I thought maybe you'd give it back before school was over. For god's sake, Ashly, I went to a party and we weren't able to play Time Warp. We weren't able to play Time Warp! Are you trying to destroy my summer?
This story contains content which would be best appreciated if read by mature readers. So mature readers only please.

Previously, on Gargoyles:

Demona: "No! I wanted you to destroy the humans! Not give them the gift of being a Gargoyle!"
"The Mirror"

Vinnie: "I got a job in Japan."
Elisa: "Do you think we should tell him there are Gargoyles in Japan?"
"The Journey"

Goliath: "There's more. We found Gargoyles in London, Japan, and Guatemala."
"The Gathering, Part 1"

*****

Dominique Destine hadn't shown her face in Manhattan for a while. For the past two years, she had pretty much controlled Nightstone Ltd. from her bases in Vermont, Austin, Seattle, or Washington D.C. Unfortunately, she had some loose ends to tie up. She had had an epiphany over those two years. She had realized that her planned excursion from 96 was a bad idea. She didn't try genocide anymore. However much she couldn't stand humans, she wouldn't make them all pay. She had some human friends too. That didn't hold her to much loyalty, however.
She was set. She was immortal, rich, and led one of the most powerful businesses in the world. She could start a war, if she felt bored. She turned the desk chair around as there was a knock on the door, "Come," she commanded.
Doctor Anton Servarius, the most brilliant gene therapist and biologist to ever grace the Earth walked into her office.
"How is your research coming, my good doctor?" Domonique asked.
"There's been a slight mishap, and I-"
"Detail this . . . 'mishap.'"
"Well, one of the cryostasis pods had a leak, and it took a turn for the worse, I'm afraid. I'm having your men build another one. It's truly not my fault, and I'm having my scientists rushing to get back on schedule. We might be a little behind-"
"I want results, Doctor, not excuses. I'm throwing thousands of dollars at you for a reason, Servarius," said Domonique, with surprising calm and casualty, "You are beginning to outlive your usefulness to me, and you know what happens to useless people around here. Prove to me that I still need you, Anton, and you have your neck. Now leave me."
Servarius turned nervously, afraid that she might throw a knife into his back as he left. He quickly departed.
Domonique glanced out the window at the setting sun, and nonchalantly took off her shoes.

The green computer screen was the only thing that lit his face. He clicked and typed furiously. Finally, he found was he was looking for, and wrote it onto a CD. He removed the CD and put it in a case, then set it on top of the pile of dozens already there. He moved on, downloading every file he could.
Fin was an apt web-surfer. He had finally gotten into details about a year ago, and then went on the web, joining any club, cult, or organization that had anything to do with one thing: Gargoyles.
He was, perhaps, the only person in the world who belonged to the People for Interspecies Tolerance and the Quarrymen at the same time. He needed that access, only so that he could more efficiently get all available information on his idol. He'd gone into everything. There was a cult in Atlanta that believed that Gargoyles were Demons from Hell and that they had come as harbingers of Satan and the Apocalypse. Fin had been scheduled to join them for a little picnic, consisting mainly of a nicely flavoured kool-aid, but he had had a previous engagement. He belonged to newsgroups, and had even been on a Gargoyle sex chat. Apparently, he had been chatting with a Gargoyle from Australia named Demonwhore. He hardly believed that.
The internet was a gold mine of information, be it false or true. In fact, just tonight he had found a collection of spells concerning the summoning of Gargoyles from their stone imprisonment.
He had moved to Manhattan after his friend Vinnie had reported the sightings. It had taken a few weeks, but soon Fin had managed to defy his instincts; sleep during the day and stay awake at night. This doubled his chances of actually seeing one. He was sure he'd seen one before. He was trying to learn their names, and if he couldn't find one, he'd assign it.
There was Goliath, the most famous of them. Their leader, he had been named by Margot Yale and several other sources. He was the strongest, which is probably why he was leader. Then there was Yoda. He was the oldest of them, and was unanimously considered to be Goliath's mentor, that is how Fin named him. Next was Broadway, the hopeful actor who had ties with Fox Xanatos and wished to begin an acting career. He had been on the news and internet on several occasions. Then was Mars, whom Fin had named so because he found that in some lights, his skin looked the same colour as the surface of the planet Mars. Next, Goblin, the short, green one who Fin found resembled a goblin, and so had named him that. Then Rover, the Gargoyle dog. And last, but not least, was Angel. She was beautiful. Her figure was perfect, her grace unmatched in the air, her face simple, perfect, honest. She was wonderful. Fin wanted to meet her so much. He looked up on the wall, where dozens of drawings and newspaper clippings of her covered the entire wall.
He turned back to his computer. He knew that there was still more information waiting for him.

Brooklyn found that he seldom patrolled with Angela. His rookery brother, the broad-waisted Broadway, usually used up most of Angela's time, both on patrol and back at the castle. Brooklyn had given up most hope of wooing the only available femme Gargoyle around. He had managed to get over her, oddly enough. He found that he didn't really love her as much as he thought he had, he had only managed to convince himself he was because she was the first attractive female of his race he had seen in over a millennium. So most of that time was spent in cold stone sleep, he was still alive, he still dreamed. He had had a relationship back when Wyvern was still in Scotland, back in 994. They hadn't gone too far, and she had been killed in the massacre, along with all his other friends, brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers. All of them save his current clan, which consisted of a mere seven. But still, even though Brooklyn didn't want to have Angela, he still liked to be with her. She was a kind, understanding, and compassionate woman. Not to mention a fierce fighter. While he was taking care of a convenience store robbery, she had gone across the street and single-handedly thwarted a bank robbery.
She was a good and patient conversationalist, too. When they would glide and talk, they'd go over a lot of interesting subjects. For Angela, she would hear of the battles Brooklyn and his brethren had fought in 994, and heard of many good fighters which may very well be her aunts and uncles. For Brooklyn, he would find out precious facts of his rookery sisters and brothers still on Avalon, and fathomed how many of them he had tended for in the rookery. When the air currents plagued their hearing, they would shout "What"'s at each other and glide closer together.
Brooklyn couldn't understand Angela's need for parents. It must have been part of her human upbringing. She constantly referred to Goliath as "father" and Demona as "mother." He had never tagged those titles to anyone in the clan. He had a different system of life.
Angela was explaining the geography of Avalon when Brooklyn sadly interrupted her, "I think I hear some sirens," he announced, "Let's check it out."

Fin didn't like giving up precious hours working, but you have to make a living somehow. He had searched for months for a job that would help him in his ploy. So he was a photograph editor for the local newspaper. While the photographers got the pictures in to him, he'd develop them, and sometimes keep one for himself, if the subject of the photo had wings and a tail. He didn't have very many hours. It pretty much just bought him food. The computer was pieced together from junk he found, his home was a condemned building that hadn't been torn down yet, and he had hacked his way into internet service for free.
Tonight he was supposed to be off, but he had gotten a surprise call in. He didn't know what was going on.
His boss was the editor of the newspaper, Julie Anderson. She didn't like Fin. He knew it. She turned around as he entered with a look of distaste written clearly over her features, "Fin, I'm going to be blunt. We're letting you go."
Fin was a little taken aback, "Why?"
"Well," said Julie, "The janitorial staff reported that someone was in here at night. It was little things they notices. A chair not pushed in, a lamp left on, a pencil left out on a desk. Nothing really big, just that we had a nightly visitor. So we had security tapes installed. Fin, we saw you come in here and just sit looking at pictures for hours."
"What's wrong with that?" asked Fin.
"Nothing, really," replied Julie, getting out of her chair, "just that it's weird. But we also had cameras installed in the dark room."
Fin looked up wide-eyed, "Oh?"
"I thought that was blotches of development chemicals on the floor," said Julie, her voice dripping with disgust, "According to our tapes, and what you've been doing in there, it's semen."
Fin's face was a bright red, trying to hid the humiliating embarrassment.
"That's why I'm letting you off, Fin," said Julie, "And y'know, I hope someday you do meet this gargoyle woman. Then you'll realize just how out of your league she is, and just how pathetic you are."
"I shouldn't get fired for this!" shouted Fin, standing.
"Fin!" Julie yelled at him, "You're frigging whackin' off at work! For god's sake, you expect me to keep you on after this? You're a sicko, Fin. You get a stiff one from looking at pictures of women who aren't even your species!" she sat down again, adjusting her glasses, "Now get out, and don't come back looking for a job. Don't even try a newspaper in this whole town. The best job you'll ever get now is developing shots for some report on igloo sales up in Canada, and you'll be lucky to get that!"
With as much dignity as he could muster, however little he retained, he walked out the door. Of course, considering he had probably ejaculated most of his dignity in the dark room, he was still thoroughly pathetic.
Julie held her aching forehead as she hit the intercom, "Reberta, we need a new development guy," she announced, glancing at Fin's wistful look back at her, "Preferably one who isn't two bangs short of a kid molester."
Fin's features grew acidic and he gave Julie one last glare before he left her office, slamming the door behind him.

Few had noticed the pair of lavender arms who handed the child to the fireman out the burning building, or the crimson one who covered the child's mother's mouth with a wet cloth as it ushered her in the same direction.
Brooklyn tended to a burn on Angela's leg as they watched the firemen put out the last flames on the apartment building across the street from them.
Angela sighed, then cried out a moment as Brooklyn applied pressure with the while cloth he'd torn off a vendor canvas, "Sorry," he apologized, pulling it back.
"It's okay," said Angela, shifting uncomfortably, and just wincing when it hurt.
Brooklyn tied a good knot, "That should keep infection out until sun-up," he said.
"Thanks," said Angela, fingering her wound curiously, and snapping her hand away at the first sign of pain. She turned to her friend, "Let's check you over," she said.
"I got a little scrape on my wing," said Brooklyn with a nonchalant shrug, "Nothing I can't handle."
Angela gave a little smile, "Of course not."

Demona shouldered a laser blaster with sheer lack of enthusiasm. She sighed and spread her wings, then dove off the roof of Nightstone Ltd. headquarters in Manhattan. Her wings flared as they caught the wind and hoisted her higher into the night sky. She needed back on schedule. Servarius's cryostasis pod had leaked. It was useless to her now. His men were working to rebuild it. That could take weeks. She couldn't afford to lose that kind of time. And even if she simply had another stasis pod ready for her, it wouldn't do. She'd still be behind schedule. The entire operation could be ruined because of this one specimen, who was a few days behind. She needed a pod that would bring her back up on schedule, and if Servarius could mimic the design, ahead of it as well.
And so the most prominent picture that shot into her mind was her corporate rival, Golden Cup. Golden Cup was a scientific research centre with government funding. And since the government wanted to make sure that they could be on top of any situation that arose, this place was heavily funded.
Golden Cup had been prey to several attacks recently. The first was ColdStone, the gargoyle cyborg who had raided the building to download government defense files into his system. The more recent had been masterminded by Demona herself. She had gained a good dozen years of research with her one-hour raids on Golden Cup.
She smiled as the yellow logo came into focus in the distance and gave an extra little burst of speed.

Fin dejectedly kicked a pebble down the street. He walked up to it and kicked it again. He repeated this process for a while. A sound made him look up. It was a sound he's been studying for months, only wishing that it might fall upon his anticipating ears. Now it was much more full. It was a hollow sound. Like wings passing over air.
He looked up. It was a gargoyle. It was very close to the ground, just a few stories. Fin could tell by the body contours that it was female. He licked his lips, then checked his jacket for his camera. It was there. He ran after the figure gliding through the air like a manta ray through water.
Discarded newspapers flew up from his feet as his shoes padded rhythmically upon the cold concrete, and the crescent moon hung in the sky before him, seeming forever stationary as he raced after what he'd been dreaming of for what seemed his entire life.

That same moonlight was falling upon Brooklyn and Angela. It was nearing midnight. They were considering heading home for the night. Angela sighed. It was nights like this, when she was gliding and the moon was so bright, making the water look like it was covered with a sheet of diamonds, that she missed Avalon and her night glides with Gabriel. The more she thought about it, the more she looked at the water, the more she missed it. She had to admit, Manhattan was a riot. There was stuff to do here, there was interesting people around, but she just missed her old friends on the magical island. A single tear coursed down her cheek, and was lost in the wind. She quickly backhanded any remnants of the water from her face. She didn't want Brooklyn to see her like this.
A figure moved along the air currents below her. She flapped upwards.
Brooklyn flapped once he saw her do it.
"What?" he asked.
"My mother," she pointed.
Brooklyn's mind raced. He looked around, "It looks like she's headed for Golden Cup. Go back to the castle and get reinforcements."
Angela was a little taken aback, "But I-"
"I'll keep an eye on her for now," said Brooklyn, "You go back to the castle." He looked back when she hesitated, "That's an order."
Angela's eyes narrowed. Brooklyn quickly looked away.
"As you command, Sir," she added acidly.
Brooklyn winced, but noted with satisfaction that she glided away. He couldn't ask her to battle her mother. Not only would that pose a serious loophole in their plans, but he just wouldn't do that to Angela. He tucked his wings and swooped down after Demona. He kept a safe distance, he only wanted to watch her. She alighted on the roof of Golden Cup.
Brooklyn ducked behind a building as she checked back behind her. She quickly attached a small device to the skylight and hacked it open. She dove in.
Brooklyn swooped after her. He examined the small box on the side of the rooftop. He had no idea what it was. He thought about his options. He could go in and take care of her now, or wait for Angela.
He thought some more.
Logically, she would already be stealing whatever she came for. So he was just letting her get farther away while he sat there. So, in all goodness, it was best for him to go in right now. He slipped in the same way she had.
A few minutes later, Angela arrived with her reinforcements. Goliath and Lexington were all she'd found.
She glared disapprovingly at the rooftop's absence of Brooklyn.
"Are you sure it was her?" asked Goliath for the nth time.
Angela rolled her time for the nth time, "For the tenth time, Father, yes, it was her."
Lexington whistled from his position by the skylight, "Whoa, this is high-tech stuff," he said, pointing to the small box Demona had tagged on earlier.
"What is it?" asked Goliath, kneeling down beside him.
"Basically, it's a radio," said Lex, "I think that the security systems are on radiowave frequencies. Whenever someone opens a door, the alarm sends a signal to the main system, which activates security parameters. This," here he pointed to the box, "broadcasts local radio stations and picks up anything in so much of a radius to match that wavelength. It's kind of like putting sound through a prism. The system will get the signal, it just won't recognize it."
"So we can go through here without tripping the alarm?" Angela pointed to the skylight.
Lex shrugged, "Hopefully," he said, and hopped in.
Angela was satisfied, and went in after him. Goliath had to open the next skylight to fit in, but also followed.
No sooner had they both entered when a steel shield slapped shut over the skylight.

Actually, they didn't trip the alarm. Although since they didn't have this information, they were still in a pretty wry mood (and who's to say that if they had this information they wouldn't be?).
No, it had nothing to do with them. It did, however, have something to do with something that happened just a few minutes before.

Several Minutes Ago

Fin stopped dead in his tracks. More. His head spun as he gazed up at the twin silhouettes hovering several stories up. They appeared to be conversing. It was just before one of them glided off that he recognized it. His Angel.
Instantly his mind was completely lost to the other one he'd chased to Golden Cup, all of his focus was on one thing: the lavender creature who floated on the air currents like a dandelion seed. She was too good for the sky she flew in. She was better than it. If only the sky ever realized this, Fin thought, It would shrivel up and die from depression.
He ran after her. He ran, and continued to run, continually faster and faster, whipping up the same discarded newspapers he had before, and making a steadily faster beat than he had.
"If ever all the strength I'll ever have," Fin whispered, "don't fail me now."
But it was all in vain. The dark, faded silhouette vanished beyond the clouds and he lost sight of her.
He promptly fell down on the sidewalk and wept pitifully. And I mean pitifully. A kindergarten student crying over a scraped knee would have turned away in disgust had he seen this epitome of pathetic mourning. He was very vocal about it. He had lost both gargoyles.
He sat there crying vocally and pitifully for a while until his eyes caught not one, not even two, but three, three gargoyle silhouettes gliding near-silently over the rooftops. Back towards Golden Cup.
Fin jumped up. His mourning was forgotten. He vaulted back towards Golden Cup as his little mind did a few calculations. There were the three he was chasing, the one the Angel (the most beautiful creature in the world who was too good for the skies she flew in, the land she walked on, and the water she swam in) had left, and the one who had initially led him to Golden Cup. Five!! Right? Right. FIVE!! Even in his mind were the exclamation marks, and upper-class casing, and the italics.
He came to the from entrance. Locked. He looked around. He grabbed a loose block of concrete and walked up to the door, slowly. After all, he was carrying a loose block of concrete. He quickly smashed the window, opened the door from the inside, and walked in. Very promptly, the door was blocked by a large steel shield.

And that brings us back to a few minutes later from several minutes ago.
Demona was dragging the new and improved Cryo-Lock 9000 when she noticed all the steel shields slamming shut. She was familiar with these. They slammed shut over ever window, door, ventilation duct. Practically anything and everything someone could use to escape. She also noted, with ironic horror, that the door slammed over certain storage compartments. Such as the storage compartments for the (new and improved) Cryo-Lock 9000's. The door of which her pod was halfway out of. With extra exertion, she tried to quickly drag it out of the storage area, but to no avail. The steel door slammed shut in front of her, nicely slicing the pod in two, and sending Demona sprawling on the floor.
"Shit!" she cursed. Either one of two things had occurred. A - Her radio interruption device ran out of batteries and B - Some dumbass amateurs had decided to raid the same night she had.
"Demona!"
Demona glanced up from her sitting position to see Brooklyn on a catwalk above her. She sighed dejectedly.
B.

Goliath and Angela turned slowly to Lexington, who was standing a few feet away, making sure to avert his eyes.
"What did you do?" demanded Angela.
"Nothing!" Lexington said, holding his hands up defensively.
Goliath growled, "We must find Demona and Brooklyn. Quickly!"
A laser blast caused Angela to jump, "I think they're that way," she pointed in the direction it had come from.
The three followed the path of the noise to arrive on a catwalk. Below them, Brooklyn and Demona were duking it out.
"You fool!" Demona cried, missing Brooklyn with a laser blast, "You set off the alarm. We're both trapped in here! Soon the police will be swarming the place. I'm sure you're happy."
"I came in the same way you did!" Brooklyn shouted back, ducking behind some pipework.
"Impossible!" Demona claimed, "My entry was flawless." And it was, but why would Brooklyn be lying. Her mind raced. Could she have been so unlucky as to have a third party in the building? She aimed her gun at Brooklyn and fired. It harmlessly deflected off the pipes.
As if her thoughts were cueing the entries, Goliath, Lexington, and Angela made their presence known from the catwalk above.
"Demona!" Goliath cried, accompanying his cry with a deep-throated growl, "We have you outnumbered! Surrender."
"And be stuck in the labyrinth for a few months?" asked Demona, "Ha!" she aimed her laser at the catwalk, "I doubt that." The blast connected with the centre of the catwalk, making it wobble dangerously. Another shot to a chain detached the catwalk from the ceiling, and it fell down. Brooklyn narrowly dodged as the catwalk sent up sparks on the steel floor and two lavender heaps rolled out onto the main floor. Demond took the momentary lapse to her advantage and dove over a railing.

Fin was quite surprised to see a gargoyle swoop down to alight before him. His surprise was replaced with awe. As she turned around to face him, he received the full fury of her beauty. She was of turquoise complexion, which appeared near-white with the light that shone through the windows. Her hair was of flaming orange, and her wings were inlined with a dark, dark magenta. He wished the sky would be that colour. Her body was perfectly dimensioned. She had a thin, muscular build. Long, strong legs which ended in that perfect talon. Her tail was sinuous behind her, swaying to and fro like an eel. She had a perfect hourglass figure. A washboard stomach between perfect hips and sumptuous breasts. And then her face. Perfectly smooth, rising up to feirce ridges, falling to the smooth point of her chin.
And then there was the laser cannon aimed directly at his forehead. His eyes fell upon this last. And when they did he jumped in surprise.
Demona sighed, "You are such an idot," she told him, "it was you that set off the alarm, wasn't it?"
He just gaped at her. She was the most truly awesome creature he had ever seen in his life.
She squinted in contempt, "Shut your mouth, dickhead," she said. She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into the shadows as the four clanners peered over the railing to look for her.
"Just stay and watch her, huh?" they heard Angela scold Brooklyn.
"She might have gotten away," Brooklyn replied.
"Uhh . . . Brooklyn . . . She did get away," Lexington pointed out.
"Who asked you, short stuff?"
"Short stuff!"
A short argument involving the jumbled shouting back and forth from the three ensued for a few moments.
"Enough," Demona could hardly hear Goliath say it.
The argument ensued nevertheless.
"Enough!" Goliath shouted with a low growl.
Silence was immediate.
"As you can all probably assume on you own, this fighting isn't getting us anywhere closer to Demona," said Goliath, "We'll split into groups of two. Angela, you're with me. You two go together." Although Demona couldn't see it, she assumed (correctly) that he was gesturing to Brooklyn and Lexington.
"He started it," she wasn't sure who said this. She assumed Lexington.
"Not now," said Goliath.
Demona glared at the pitiful creature in her hand that was looking over her in awe, "Come with me, I might need you," she whispered, and with him still at her mercy, stole away into the darkness.

Angela was upset. Angry-upset. First, Brooklyn had "ordered" her back, then Goliath had chosen her to accompany him in their search for Demona. She was getting the message, whether or not it was there. All of them thought she couldn't handle Demona. She rehearsed different ways she would present this to Goliath.
The way it came out was pitifully not like what she had rehearsed, "You think I can't handle her, don't you?" It had been much more dramatic in her mind.
"What?" asked Goliath.
"You don't think I can handle Demona, do you?" asked Angela, putting her hands on her hips.
He sighed, "Angela, this really isn't the time," he said.
"Actually, I think it's the perfect time," she replied, stopping in the air.
Goliath turned around, "Angela, do you think maybe we could discuss this back at the castle, once this is over and done with?"
"I want to discuss it now," Angela commanded.
Goliath sighed, "Angela, we will discuss this later, that's an order," he said. He regretted it the moment he did.
"An order?" she demanded.
"Angela, I won't give you special treatment over the rest of the clan," Goliath explained, "Now I consider you as good a fighter as any other of the clan. Angela, I don't even think I can handle Demona. But we'll finish this later. Right now we have a job to do," he glided further down the corridor.

Fin looked at her with eyes that hadn't blinked for ten minutes. She was so beautiful. He thought it over in his mind, turning the concept over and over again, looking at it through different angles. They all seemed fine.
"Can you do magic?" he asked her. He wanted to punch himself for saying it. He sounded like some five-year-old.
She turned on him, but for some reason, didn't want him dead, "Yes," she answered.
Fin felt a sudden rush. He swallowed. He thought it over again and again. It was flawless. It was perfect. He swallowed again. He was about to move his infatuation to a new, dangerous level. He licked his dry lips, and asked the question he'd been dying to ask all night. He had nothing to lose anymore. Everything was on the table, and he was about to go for it all. He asked.
Demona blinked. She was completely taken aback. This was not what she'd expected from him. She didn't know what to think of him anymore. She turned on him, "You what?"
He repeated.
Demona blinked again, "I'm sorry?"
"I want to be like you," said Fin, "I want to be a gargoyle. Can you make me one?"
She could. Her more recent studies into sorcery allowed for this. She could change him right now. She shook her head. She couldn't believe she was thinking this, "Completely out of the question," she said.
"You are up against four other gargoyles," said Fin, "no matter how good you are, you can't possible beat four others. It might not even up the odds, but it would certainly strengthen us."
"Me," said Demona, "there is no us. I despise humans. I don't want them to know the greatness of being gargoyles."
"I despise humans too," Fin persisted, "I never should have been one. I hate this form, I want a new one, and you can give it to me. Please. I am begging you."
He made a point. She was doomed now. The clan was in teams of two. A sudden thought occurred to her. She smiled and turned, "All right," she said.
Fin blinked, "Go ahead," he said, "I'm ready."
"Of course you are," she said, she pulled an octagonal diamond out of her belt and extended her hand with the diamond in it.. She began to chant in latin. Fin couldn't understand her, just that there was a green aura floating around her body. She said, "Confero signum vitiosum in corpus vir."
She made a series of hand gestures, and the aura around her shot into Fin.
He felt a sudden pain. All over his body. He cried out and almost fell, but caught himself on a pipe. He then felt the changes. First it was his hands. His pinky went numb and shrank back into his hands. Then his skin changed colour. It went into a greyish colour. He gasped as he grew. His shirt was torn apart as his muscles expanded beneath it. Wings erupted from his back, destroying the jacket, and a tail whipped out from his lower back. Then a surge of pain came from his forehead as horns grew from them. Talons exploded from his shoes, and then the pain faded. He smiled as he looked over his new body. He flexed his arms. His biceps bulged to tear his shirt.
He moved his wings experimentally. Flaring them out then retracting them, "You won't regret this . . ."
"Demona," she filled in the blank, "And you are . . ."
"Fin," he replied, "Finneus Osborne."
"Well, Fin," she said, "You've just made a very valuable ally. Now let's make our escape."
Demona led him away down the corridor. She came to a steel window, "Now you get on that side."
Fin got on the side she'd indicated. Demona grabbed the steel by one side, and gestured for him to do the same, "On three," she said, "One . . . two . . . three."
They both pulled at it with all their effort. Beads of sweat gathered on Fin's forehead, but the steel was giving way. He grunted a smile as it finally came loose and flew down the corridor
"Down there!"
Fin and Demona looked up to see Lexington and Brooklyn leaning over the railing of an upper level. They both vaulted off and spread their wings to glide down at them.
Demona shot at Lexington, and picked him off like a fly. He fell in a heap on the steel window they had just discarded.
Claws bared, Brooklyn careened at Demona.
However, something intercepted him and flung him to the ground. Brooklyn found himself staring up into the grey face of a gargoyle he'd never seen before. This one was bigger than him, and was beating him, "What the . . ."
Fin got up and threw him against the wall.
"Well done," said Demona, "Here," she gestured out the window, as police began to arrive, "Let me take you somewhere."
"Actually," said Fin, "I've got something to do first." He hopped out of the window. At first he didn't know how to use his wings, but soon he found them, and he caught the wind with them. He found the going fairly slow at first, until he got the knack. Demona followed at a distance. She had some morbid curiousity to see what he had to do.

Goliath alighted by the broken window. He turned at the sound of a groan, "Lexington!"
Lexington had a large burn near his kidney area, "I'm okay," he assured them, "I'm not sure about him, though," he pointed to Brooklyn.
Angela looked out the window, "The police are here, we should leave, quickly."
"Here," Goliath handed Lex to her.
"I cam glide," Lex wriggled free.
Goliath picked up Brooklyn, "Don't exert yourself. Angela, take him."
Lex resigned and climbed into Angela's arms, "Don't get too used to this," he told her.
"Don't worry, I won't," she said.
They took to the skies and jumped out the window.

The lights went out.
Julie gasped for a moment.
"What's wrong?" the man on the other end of the phone asked.
"Nothing, the power just went out," Julie replied, and continued chatting with him.
However, there was a figure moving about her house. It was unarmed, but it didn't need any armament. It tread silently through the house. Looking at the pictures, examining the rooms.
Had Julie known this, she would never had stayed in her bedroom.
A hand cupped around her mouth.

Demona watched the grey gargoyle glide through the air and alight beside her, "I'm glad I've found a new ally. You do realize how unworthy humanity is, don't you?"
"I've lived through humanity," Fin replied, "I know just how unworthy they are."
"Congratulations," said Demona, "you just passed a great barrier of ignorance. Good night, Fin."
"Good night, Demona."
The sun rose.

The light filtered through the open window of Julie Anderson.
"Julie?" the phone asked, "Julie?"
The voice fell upon deaf ears. She was slumped over the end of her bed, her arms supported loosely by the floor, and a pool of blood was beneath them.
A great threat had been born tonight.