Opposites Attract       Version 3.1
Jacob Stone (pen name)  opus@blarg.net

Okay, here it is!  The updated version of my story, with the corrected word
wrap and the repaired plot time line. (Thanks to Rene Fillion for filling me in on the rather large error!)

--Author note--
I wrote this using Microsoft Wordpad, and it's probably best read using it,
but other Microsoft things read it okay too.  DOS editor works, if all else'
fails.
	Well I finally did it.  I've been an avid fanfic reader for too long,
so I just decided to go and write this.  These two series are so
compatible, somebody had to do it.  I've had the idea for this for several
weeks, but had to stop for... uh, research.  Yeah, that's it, research.
Okay, so I just watched Sliders a few times.  
	Thanks to all you other fanfic writers out there who inspired me.
Thanks to Merlin Missy who has written the best cross-over yet! (including
mine!.  I have yet to read a fanfic that I didn't like.  Granted, there have been a few that I didn't understand, but I liked 'em anyway!
	Legal mumbo-jumbo:  All Gargoyles characters are property of Walt
Disney Pictures and Buena Vista.  The sliders and all it's characters and
stuff are property of St. Clare Entertainment and MCA Television Limited.
The three other characters were created by me, and are my property.
I'm not trying to infringe on anyone's rights or make any money, so don't
say I did.
	I didn't put in any references to The Professor sounding like MacBeth,
since John Rhys-Davies does the two voices so different.
	Just one more thing.  In the story I describe the sliding machine.
I'm not a real sliders fan, I've only seen about seven episodes.  This is
only my *opinion* of how the sliding machine works.  I don't know if they
explained how it worked in the series, so I just made this up.  Don't hold
it against me if it's explained wrong.
	Feel free to send Email, comments, corrections on plot(I think I
ironed them all out), cheese samplers, artwork, praise, flames, and whatever you feel like sending via email.
	For those of you who need a timeline, this happens about one week
after the Hunters Moon trilogy.
	And now on with the story!


	"Come on, come on!  I told you that the slide would be late tonight,
get up!  We must be off, the slide is in ten minutes," the professor barked
crossly to Quinn and Wade who were sleeping by the fire in their cave
residence.  "I, for one, do not want to be stuck here for the rest of my
life.  Just look at it.  Not a trace of civilization for miles around.
It's bad enough that there isn't a proper latrine anywhere on the planet!"
	Rembrandt laughed at the professors' griping and clapped him on the
back.  "What's wrong with this world? Just a little primitive, that's all.
Didn't you go camping when you were a kid?"
	"Mr. Brown, primitive would be luxurious compared to this!  This
place is beyond primitive, it's... primeval!  There are no cleaners, no
restaurants, not even any bloody taxis!  I haven't had a decent meal the
whole week we've been here!  I did go camping when I was a lad, and I
didn't much care for it.  Too many mosquitoes, chipmunks, and such for my
liking."
	Rembrandt grinned and turned to stare from their cave into the dark
forest surrounding.  "Well, suit yourself. It's kinda nice, real quite too.
But I really could go for a burger.  Eatin' berries and 'roughing it'
catches up with you, if you know what I mean."  The Cryin' man chuckled at
his little joke.  Arturo was not amused, he frowned and turned back towards
the others, fuming at their laziness.
	Wade looked up at the angry professor sleepily.  "You two are real
wimps, you know that?  This place is great! Just look around here.  There's
plenty of trees, the air is fresh, water is clean, and the sky is clear.
So what if the human race never developed, at least there're no dinosaurs
around here."  When they first landed on this world Wade knew that she
would enjoy it.  She had always loved camping, and this world was a total
land of wilderness.
	The professor looked at her crossly, brow furrowed and arms folded.
This world was too primitive for him.  He would have much preferred to have
landed on a world with a restaurant, hotel, and a dry cleaners.  After
eating a weeks worth of berries and that rabbit Rembrandt had caught, he
would have settled for a 7-11.  But there was nothing even remotely like
that on this world.  Apparently the human race had become extinct, or never
even evolved at all, either way the result was the same.  They were
surrounded by redwoods, wild animals, and foliage as far as the eye could
see.  It seemed that every world was tailor made to annoy him.
	There was one unusual aspect of this world, aside from the fact that
there were no human, that struck them immediately.  There was very little
game on this world.  For a place lacking intelligent life, one would expect
game animals to have thrived.
	"How much time left professor?"  Quinn had finally awoke.  After
running from dinosaurs, mobsters, prison guards, and finding his double
floating dead in a pool, he had finally gotten to a world that was calm.
A world where he could rest.  If he was forced to be stranded on a world,
he hoped that it would be as calm as this one.
	"Three minutes. Let's go over that way, there was some tall grass.
I don't want to land on any tree roots next world."  Sliding itself was not
that terrible, but the landings were harsh.  The worlds they visited were
radically different, but the one consistency was that the ground where they
landed was never soft.  And that's assuming that there was ground.  Several
times it had been water or quicksand.
	Rembrandt stopped in his tracks, raising his hand for silence.  He
spun quickly on his heel and stared towards the forest behind them.  After
a few seconds of uncomfortable silence he finally said something.  "You
guys hear that?"
	"Hear what?"  Quinn turned towards where he was looking, but could
not see or hear anything.
        "It sounded like a scream."
	"Mr. Brown, we have about twenty seconds on this world.  We simply
don't have time.  Besides, the last world seemed to prove that we should
stay out of matters where we have no quarrel."  The last thing the
professor wanted to do was get involved right now, he just wanted to
finally get off this world.
	The group moved off into a small clearing of grass that the professor
had deemed soft enough and activated the portal.  The now familiar swirling
ring of energy appeared as it always had, churning into nothingness a few
feet above the ground, beckoning them to their next stop.  They stood there,
pondering their chances of once again seeing their home.  Rembrandt was the
first one to jump through, followed by Wade, Quinn, and the professor last.

	She ran quickly through the trees, several times tripping on the tree
roots that had snaked up through the hard ground.  Although they were fast,
a gargoyle was built for flight, not prolonged running.  Her breath came in
ragged gasps and her eyes were wide with fear, stained crimson from the
endless tears.  She had been running for what seemed like hours.  Her
pursuers had given up for a time, but they came back, more intent than ever
to catch her.  The blue flesh of her feet was torn and blistered, pleading
for her to stop.  Every joint in her body felt as if it were on fire, but
she forced herself on.
	The trees around her only added to her problems. She had to weave in
and out of them, slowing her escape.  Her wings would catch on the branches
and force her to slow.  About a quarter mile further and she would reach
the small river that sliced its way through the forest.  With any luck it
might serve to mask her scent from the dogs, but the others would not lose
her as easily.  They were smarter than that.
	She mustered all her strength and forced her worn body to spawn
another burst of speed.  The river was within sight now, growing ever
larger as she neared.  In a single movement she gracefully opened her wings
and leapt the entire span of the waterway.  But she was too weak and her
wings too bruised for a graceful landing.  Her feet flew from under her,
slamming her thigh hard into a rock.  Her leg was throbbing with intense
pain, surely broken.
	It was then that she heard voices in the distance, like no voices
that she had ever heard before.  They sounded different, somehow softer
than the harsh ones with which she was familiar.  They were coming from a
short distance ahead.  She forced herself to her feet, bolts of pain
shooting through her bad leg.  All of this fleeing had exhausted her, but
something told her to go a little further.  She must find out who it is up
ahead.
	She clawed her way over a fallen tree and rolled gracelessly over the
log, every bone in her body aching simultaneously.  She could hear them
distinctly now, four of them.  One of them was grumbling about the wildlife
and another kept laughing.  A laugh was something she had not heard in a
very long time, and did not ever expect to hear again.  It gave her renewed
strength to move and she pulled herself to her feet.
	There was a huge gnarled tree between them that could conceal her
presence.  She limped slowly to the tree and leaned heavily against it,
taking the weight off of her leg.  The strangers were now only a short
distance opposite the tree from where she hid.  Slowly moving around the
trunk, she poked her head cautiously around to have a look.  Her eyes
widened at what was standing there.
	They were humans!  Four of them, three male and one female.  The
largest of them held a small silvery thing in his hands that seemed to glow
a dull red.  She could hear him counting down, and then he held it out in
front of him.
	There was a huge whooshing sound, as if all the air in the forest was
suddenly being drawn to one point in space.  A large ring appeared before
the strangers, churning and spinning.  She immediately thought of sorcery,
but she knew that human magic was too weak for something like this.  The
breath caught suddenly in her throat as one by one the strangers jumped
into the ring and disappeared.  She could see the trees on the other side
of the ring, but when the humans jumped they did not come out on the other
side, they simply vanished.
	"There she is! Over by that tree!"
	She spun quickly, forgetting all about the pain in her leg for the
moment.  They had found her and she had no where to go.  An arrow sprang
from the bow of the small red gargoyle who had loosed it at her.  She
quickly ducked and it lodged into the tree a few inches above her head.
He cursed and blew the reed whistle around his neck.  The whistle told the
others in the search party of her presence.
	There was nowhere to go now.  They had finally caught up with her,
and she could not outrun them now.  The others would be coming soon, and
she knew if she was caught that it would mean death.  Another arrow slammed
deep into the trunk above her.  The red gargoyle was loading another arrow;
he couldn't miss again.  She could hear the others crashing through the
underbrush.
	Then she realized that she might have one chance at escape.  Those
strangers had disappeared through that ring in the field.  She didn't know
where they went, but she knew it had to be better than where she was right
now.  She pushed off the tree with all her strength and limped toward the
portal swirling about ten feet away, just as the arrow stuck the tree,
imbedding its pointed head deep into the bark.  She was going to make it.
	"There! She's going for that...I don't know what it is."  The red
gargoyle was loading another arrow as the others burst from the trees.
"I can get her, now that she's in the open."
	Suddenly a loud roar from above reverberated through the night air,
shaking the leaves from their branches.  She chanced a look over her
shoulder to see a deep green male gargoyle with a snowy white mane swooping
towards her, eyes glowing fiercely.  Her jaw dropped and the color left her
face.  The Leader himself was coming to get her.
	She pushed her exhausted body on faster, the pain causing tears to
stream down her cheeks.  She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists so
tightly her knuckles turned white.  The Leader was now right behind her.
She closed her eyes, spread her tattered wings, and leapt for the ring,
feeling talons close on her shoulders.
	Her body could take no more.  She passed out as the two of them flew
through the portal, which closed behind them.
                                   * * *
Eyrie Building
November 15, 1996
5:45 a.m.

	Owen Burnett walked stiffly down the corridor, his face emotionless
as always.  But this belied what was really occupying his mind.  He was
actually very concerned, which was unusual for him.  A few minutes ago he
had received a very disturbing phone call from one of the many Xanatos
facilities in San Francisco.  At first he could not understand what was
supposedly happening because of the incompetent security guard, but
thankfully he had a video phone on which the security tapes were played.
	David Xanatos looked up from the paperwork he was busy with to see
Owen entering his office with a video cassette.  He had just sat down to
finish the business from the day before, and he already was about to be
interrupted.  But a diversion from mind numbing paperwork was welcomed.
	"Mr. Xanatos, this came from our installation in San Francisco.  I
believe you will find it most...interesting.  It was taken from the
security
camera on the guard tower about ten minutes ago."
	"Well, let's see it then." Xanatos pushed the papers aside and
rummaged through his desk drawer, coming up with an absurdly large remote
control.  Owen put the tape into the VCR across the room and turned down
the lights.  Xanatos started the tape soon after.
	The tape appeared to be a normal enough surveillance shot.  It showed
a parking lot, one car, and not much else.  Then the dust began to move,
hundreds of tiny tornadoes blew across the concrete wasteland.  A large,
swirling ring appeared about a foot above the ground and just hung there,
content to defy the laws of physics.  Nothing happened for a while, but
then a person fell out, tumbling to the ground.  Then another, and another,
and another.  The portal still hung there, floating in midair as the people
were brushing themselves off.
	"This is where it becomes interesting."  Owen cut in, as if having
four people fall out of nowhere was not interesting enough.
	Xanatos leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk, eyes fixed
on the screen.  The people on the tape turned quickly as two dark shapes
flew from the vortex and rolled across the lot.  They struck hard on the
base of the tower, causing the camera to become static, then refocus itself
and panned down toward the shapes on the ground.  Owen casually looked over
at his employer who was concentrating on the screen.
	As the two of them watched one of the shapes stood up shakily.  It's
back was to the camera, but the silhouette was unmistakable.  It was
obviously that of a male gargoyle.  A large male gargoyle.  A larger-than-
Goliath sized gargoyle.  The other could not be recognized on account of
the darkness and the fact that it had not moved since "arriving".  In the
background the group of four were gaping at the gargoyle before them.  One
of them appeared to be considering going over to the injured one, but the
others held back.
	The tape played on as the gargoyle scanned it's surroundings, seeming
almost as puzzled as the others that had come through the vortex.  It then
moved to the side of the other and flipped it on it's back harshly, using
only its tail.
	His eyes widened and he leaned even further forward, still transfixed
on the screen.  He recognized the creature.  He had seen it many times
before.
	"Demona."  Presently his composure returned and he turned to Owen.
"Do we have audio on this?"  The people were speaking, but Demona remained
silent, either unconscious or dead.  Which meant very little to an immortal
such as Demona.
	"No.  The camera seems to have been damaged from when the creature
landed.  None of the other cameras are close enough to pick up any of this."
	"What about that group, who are they?"
	"We are still working on that.  They do not seem to be involved with
Demona.  It appears they have never seen a gargoyle before."
	Xanatos rewound the tape and froze it where the things arrived.  He
could not see much, but he knew enough.  If Demona was involved then it was
dangerous.  Not only for his business, but for everyone.  It was puzzling,
though, that Demona did not kill the group of humans on sight, or destroy
the camera.  Surely she knew that someone would be watching her.  The way
she was acting was most unusual.  It was not like her to lie there from an
injury, her healing powers were sufficient to regenerate most any wound.
But that was not what interested him the most.  It was how they arrived
that was intriguing.  The vortex they came from appeared to be similar to
the Phoenix Gate.
	"You know more about magic than I do, what's that thing they're
coming from?  It's not the Phoenix Gate, but it must be something similar
if it can take Demona all they way from New York to San Francisco."
	"I've never seen any magic or sorcery like this.  If I were to guess,
I would have to say that this was created by science."  Owen took off his
glasses and polished them on his handkerchief.
	Xanatos suddenly seemed more interested in the vortex.  He stroked
his beard in thought.  "Science? I have the most advanced technology on the
planet, and the most brilliant scientists under my control.  If this portal
was created by science, not sorcery, then perhaps they could duplicate it.
But who could have created it?  Perhaps we should have a talk with them."
	"This is our weapons research facility, correct?" Owen nodded to his
employer. "Good. Send out the XCG, but I want them taken alive.  Deadly
force is not authorized, but that's not an excuse to let them escape.
Tranquilize Demona and whoever that is."  He pointed to the large gargoyle.
"The humans should not be too much for them to handle.  If they resist,
have them tranquilized too."
	"Yes, sir.  What would you have done with them after?"  Owen was
already fishing into his jacket for the cellular phone.
	Xanatos turned in his chair to the window, looking out over the
waking city.  "Bring them here, but do it discretely.  None of the
gargoyles are to find out about this, and especially not Detective Maza.  I
can't afford any mistakes on this one, Owen.  You will be handling it
personally.  Call the airfield and have them prepare a jet, you leave as
soon as it's ready."
	"Yes, sir." Owen turned and began to leave the office.
	"Owen?" He stopped and turned back to the office. "By the time you
return that other gargoyle will be a statue.  Make sure it does not get
chipped.  And fire that guard while you're there."  The office door clicked
shut behind him as he left, leaving Xanatos standing before the window
staring out over the city far below.  He smirked inwardly as he considered
the possibilities spread before him.


	They had only been on this world for about five minutes and they
already had a pretty good idea that this was not their earth.  Also it
seemed that this was going to be one of their stranger visits.  None of
them had spoken yet, but they all were thinking the same thing; nothing.
Their minds seemed to have turned to putty.  Their mouths hung as they
stared.
	None of them had ever seen anything that could compare to the
creature that stood across the yard.  They could only see one of them
clearly, but it stood to reason that the other was similar in appearance.
The green one was standing now, wiping a bit of blood from a cut on its
head.  It stood about a foot taller than Quinn and much more muscular.
There were wickedly curved claws on its fingers and toes, much like the
ones on that Tyrannosaurus Rex.  It even seemed to be as viscous as the
'Rex.  A tail snaked from its backside.  But that's not what attracted
their attention.  They were gaping at the huge bat-like wings protruding
from its back.
	Rembrandt finally shook himself from his stare and attempted to break
the silence.  "Uh...You guys see that too?  I...I mean, I'm not going
crazy...am I?"  He turned from the creatures back to the others who were
still gaping at the creatures.
	"Yes Mr. Brown, we see them too.  As to you being crazy, well, that's
another matter."  The professor seemed the calmest of the group.  But he
was a scientist and was taking a scientific view of the situation.
	Quinn looked back over to the professor.  "But have you ever seen
anything like them?  They look amphibian, but they have hair, and they look
almost human.  Except for the wings and tail, and they're different
colored."
	"No.  Not even on any of the other worlds we have visited.  But I can
safely bet that none of the inhabitants of this world have seen anything
like them either.  They came through the portal after us."  The professor
stroked his beard in thought.  "But we saw no sign of anything like them on
that world.  They must have been in hiding.  Perhaps since there was no
sign of the human species, this is the dominant species of that Earth.
	"That one looks injured,  maybe we should help it."  Wade interrupted
his train of thought, pointing at the blue one.  "The other one seems to be
avoiding it."
	"I don't think that would be wise Ms. Wells.  We know absolutely
nothing about them, they probably know even less about us.  That's a
dangerous combination, not to mention those talons on their hands."
Arturo turned around and really surveyed where they were standing for the
first time.  "It appears that we have another problem as well.  We seem to
have landed in some sort of military installation, and it doesn't look like
we will be leaving anytime soon."

	"Are you sure we have to go out there?!"  The young soldier looked
up at his superior incredulously as he pulled on the gray helmet that
signified he was a member of the Xanatos Enterprises Elite Guard.
	"Those were our orders.  Must be real important too.  Came all the
way from the Big Chair in New York."  The sergeant knew that the man was
obviously scared.  Heck, he was too.  He just knew better than to let it
show.  "Burnett says we tranq the monsters first and then take the humans."
	"Yeah, yeah.  But I'd still feel better if I had my gun.  Does this
stuff even work anyway?"  Their red haired companion held the tranquilizer
vial up to the light and gave it a suspicious swish, watching the light
dance on the amber liquid.
	"No guns Jonesy, Burnett's orders.  He said anyone if there's
anything more than a bruise on 'em we all get canned."  The sergeant
snapped the vial into the tranquilizer gun and cocked it.  "The tranq's
supposed to bring down a rhino at thirty paces.  There's five of us and
only one of them to worry about.  The blue one's down for the count,
shouldn't be a problem."
	The brunette guard that was sitting in the back listening finally
decided to speak up.  She had recognized the blue creature upon first sight
of it.
	"So what?  From what I heard from my friend in the Eyrie, that thing
could take out a whole squad by itself.  We should call for reinforcements
and wait.  I'm not real eager to die."
	The sergeant turned angrily to her.  "You nuts?!  If Burnett finds
you chickened out he'll can both of us, or worse."  Every member of the
XCG, himself included, was afraid of Owen Burnett.  Even more so than David
Xanatos.
	The red haired guard clicked the chin strap on his helmet, carefully
so as not to catch his hair in it, and slid on his gloves.  "That guy
scares me.  He's always so deadpan, it's like he's possessed."  He couldn't
help but turn a smile
	"Cut the crap Jonesy.  He's coming here.  The guy may be a stoneface,
but he ain't stupid." The sergeant hissed to the red haired man.
	The guards checked the tranquilizer guns one last time and moved
toward the door.  They lowered their visors and waited for the order to
move out, some more apprehensively than others.  The sergeant silently
counted down and burst from the door, ready to meet whatever it was out
there.

	He stood up slowly and brushed off his wings, shaking his head to
clear the dust from his mane.  A smile crossed his small beak as he looked
down on the traitor his clan they been pursuing for so long.  "Mental note:
kill Avery."  He snorted.  How did Avery ever get to be the leader of the
Western Clan.  He couldn't even catch a simple rogue.
	But that could wait.  He glanced around, momentarily taken by
surprise by his surroundings.  "NO...no...this can't be!" He exclaimed.
There were structures around him, as well as cars and lights.  "Humans..."
he muttered.  These things were human belongings.  His dealings with humans
were not pleasant, to say the least.
	He shook his head and smoothed his mane with his hand.  This was
impossible!  There were humans here?!  No, he must be hallucinating.  He
had destroyed the human race long ago.  There could never be a survivor
from a race that didn't develop, he had seen to that.
	But there were humans here, no gargoyle could create anything like
these.  A gargoyle had wings; it needed no car.  Gargoyles were tough, they
didn't need rely on buildings to protect them from the elements.  This
would have to be dealt with.  He spun quickly to face the four humans
standing behind him, drawing his dagger as a maniacal grin spread across
his face.  He had covered about half the distance when his thoughts were
shattered by shouts in his direction.

	"Um, does anyone know what's happening?"  Wade asked slowly as the
four of them backed off slightly.  The had been watching the green creature
when it saw them.  Apparently it was as startled to see them as they were
to see it.  They watched as its eyes lit a brilliant white and it sneered
as it stalked towards them, brandishing a dagger.  Then a group of soldiers
burst from the building.  The scene was absolute pandemonium, and they had
only been here ten minutes.
	"I gave up trying to figure that out." Quinn said absently as he
watched the group fan out around the creature.  "I think we should get out
of here. Now."
	"Exactly what I was thinking, my dear boy."  The professor turned
and ran towards the gate.  The others were in no position to argue.  They
turned and ran for the gate as well.

	The sergeant looked away from their target to the group and swore
under his breath.  He had not counted on an escape attempt.  It put only a
slight change in their mission, but he disliked having to improvise on
orders, that usually led to a casualty or suspension.  They would simply
have to get the humans first.  Sure, it meant one less to help with the
creature, but from the way it had acted they had nothing to worry about.
	"Jonsey, get 'em!  Remember our orders!" he directed as the red
haired man nodded and swiftly ran towards the group.
	He had not noticed that the creature's attention was now focused
entirely on him.  It ran its tongue over its fangs as it timed the jump,
gripped the dagger tightly and sprang at the man.  The guard caught the
glint of sun off dagger's blade from the corner of his eye and spun
quickly, kicking the dagger out of his hand, but the gargoyle kept coming
at him.  It hit hard, talons sinking into his shoulders.  The two of them
grappled on the ground, each trying desperately to right themselves.  The
only thing keeping him from being crushed by this creature was the awkward
position he was in.  He raised his feet and threw the creature off.
	He managed to get to his feet, as did the creature.  Baring his flat
teeth in a manner similar to which creature was baring its fangs, he
reached for his tranquilizer, only to have it slapped from hands.  He
quickly hit it hard in the jaw with a right cross.  The creature's eyes
merely lit with a more violent white and it threw him to the ground,
pinning down his arms and legs.  He struggled as it raised a taloned hand
and grinned at him, ready to tear out his throat.
	Suddenly the creature threw itself off of him, howling in pain and
clutching at its back.  Its startled hand came back with several feathered
darts.  He smiled to his comrades and quickly moved to a safe distance,
retrieved his tranquilizer, while the drugs took effect.  He looked back
over his shoulder and saw Jonsey grappling with the large man in the
trenchcoat and the younger one.  He laughed and rolled his eyes.
	"Schultz, go help Jonesy."  He smiled at the youngest member of his
team and made a mental note to schedule hand to hand combat drills for his
troop.  They were getting too comfortable with their weapons and forgetting
how to fight.  He tagged the other creature with a dart and folded his
arms to watch the green one.
	His head was swimming.  Ever since that human had shot him he could
not clear his mind.  What's happening to me?, he thought to himself.
Tranquilizer! his brain flashed briefly.  He turned to run, but was fouled
by his own tail.  It seemed to have gone numb, as did his legs.  He
collapsed to the ground, the darkness of the unconscious creeping in from
the corners of his eyes like a silent panther, beckoning him to sleep.  He
wanted nothing more than to sleep, just drift off into that void.  But he
knew he couldn't do that.  That was how the tranquilizer worked.  If he 
could just resist long enough to escape.  His eyes flared white once more
and then shut as he slipped away into unconsciousness.
	The sergeant walked slowly toward the unconscious figure and kicked
it's tail, harder than necessary, even though it meant risking his job.
Perfect.  This thing was not as tough as Meier seemed to think, either that
or Xanatos needed new guards at the Eyrie.  They had dispatched this one
without a single casualty, except of course for his vest.  Fortunately it
was thick enough to stop the long talons.
	"Sir, we got the others.  They're inside, but we to had tranq 'em
all." the brunette guard reported.
	"So what, Burnett said we could if we had to." he grinned lopsidedly
at her, pointing to the creature at his feet.  "This thing taking out a
whole troop!?  You're nuts, Meier."
	That reminded him, he had to call back when the mission was
complete.  "Take the others back inside, I'll call and get our next
orders.  Leave the creatures here 'til the darts kick in full."
	As soon as the others had moved out of earshot he searched through
the many pouches on his belt for the cellular phone.  He dialed the number
he had received earlier and was answered by a flat voice.  He didn't even
have to ask who this was, it was clearly Owen Burnett.  No one else could
carry on a conversation in such an emotionless voice.
	"We got 'em Mister Burnett." he reported.
	"All of them?"  Owen rolled his eyes.  He had known as soon as the
phone rang that they had succeeded.  If they had failed they would be dead.
Demona would have seen to that swiftly.
	"Yeah, both the creatures and the others too.  The humans are tied up
in the barracks, but we left the creatures where we tranqed 'em.  No
casualties, for both sides.  What should we do with 'em, sir?
	Owen raised one eyebrow at the casualties.  That was very
uncharacteristic for Demona.  Both he and his employer had thought that
there would be at least one death.  It was even entirely possible that none
of them would have survived.  This was very strange.  Demona was far too
skilled as a warrior to let a group of simple commandos out do her, and
that huge gargoyle looked as though it could take on a whole team of guards
alone.  Even though it seemed that Demona was truly injured, the other
would surely make up for that.
	"Leave the humans tied up, do not let them out of your sight.  If
any of them escape you will have to personally answer to me.  Take," He
almost let the name 'Demona' slip out, "...the creatures and put them in
warehouse fourteen, but do not guard them.  Under no circumstances are your
men to open those doors unless I order it.  The installation has been
closed for the day.  If any workers show up they are not to be admitted.
I will be arriving in a matter of hours."
	The last thing they wanted was for one of the employees to get
curious and open the door.  Owen could see it clearly.  Someone would open
the door, see a statue, and in the process of examining it the statue would
be chipped or broken.  Or else they would find Demona in her human body
and, well... some of Xanatos Enterprises' employees don't have the most
*endearing* qualities.
	The sergeant was about to answer when the line clicked and went dead.
Bizarre orders.  Why would they take these creatures hostage, then just
leave them in a warehouse.  Not that they would be going anywhere for
hours, or however long the tranquilizer lasted on them.  Bizarre orders
indeed, but he would still have to carry them out.

XE Cargo Plane
9:53 p.m.
	Owen checked his watch and then fished into his pocket for his trusty
cellular phone.  With a practiced hand he dialed the number for David
Xanatos' desk.  It had been granted to him by Lady Titania, for use with
caring for her grandson.  Or at least that's how she justified reversing
part of Oberon's decree.  He was one of three people who had the number
for Xanatos's desk, the others being David Xanatos and his wife.  His call
was answered on the first ring.  Mr. Xanatos must be anxious, he mused.
	"Is everything going according to plan, Owen?"  Xanatos' sounded much
more excited than he would have liked.  He preferred to have a calm tone to
his voice, no matter what the situation.  But that's what he was; excited.
	"Yes, sir.  Demona and the other have been tranquilized, as have the
humans.  The other gargoyle will be stone of course, and Demona will be
human, but she will not awake before I return."
	"Excellent.  Call back when you have them." Xanatos hung up and
smiled wickedly to himself, steepling his fingers.  Ever since the
gargoyles arrival he had been forced to step up his military force.  His
XCG had once been able to handle all of his...0 needs.  They could rival
the National Guard, but now, with the gargoyles and his new experiments,
they had nearly been reduced to the level of cannon fodder.  But this group
had done their job according to plan.  He would have to arrange a promotion
for every member, not every soldier could go up against Demona and walk
away.  But that was fine by him.  As long as he had Demona under control
and whatever she had used to travel across the country in his possession.
Excellent.

XE Cargo Plane
Somewhere over California
10:09 p.m.
	Owen sat stiffly in his seat, fingers clicking away at the laptop
computer nestled in his lap.  Occasionally he would stop and glance out
the window.  There was nothing to see out there, except clouds, since they
were flying at a very high altitude.  Owen slid the trackball on the
computer and shut it off.
	He checked his watch and stood from his seat towards the front of the
modified cargo plane.  It was not the sort of thing that one would want to
be stuck in for a four hour cross-country flight.  It made him wish that he
still had control over his Fey magic any time he wanted.  He missed
floating through the air, walking was a poor substitute.  If he had his
powers back he would not be on this plane.  He would have simply snapped
his fingers and be in San Francisco without all this mucking about in
airports and planes.  Especially this plane.  It was not one of Xanatos
Enterprises best.  Mr. Xanatos must not have wanted to risk one of their
newer planes on this assignment.
	This flight was far too long for him.  Xanatos had sent him as soon
as the plane was ready, but had not waited for Owen to be.  Not that he
would have brought much with him, but it still would have been nice to be
able to prepare.  He looked down on his wrinkled suit and frowned at his
disheveled appearance.  He hated to have wrinkles in his clothes, they
made him feel dirty.  Well, as long as he was already dirty, he should just
check the equipment.
	Gathered far in the back of the plane was an assortment of various
kinds of equipment.  There was a mini-crane for loading the statue and a
heavily cushioned crate for the return flight.  There was a steel cage for
Demona, should she happen to wake somehow.  The tranquilizer should last
for the remainder of the flight, but with her they were taking no chances.
And just in case of trouble Owen had them load two Steel Clan robots.
	While he was surveying the equipment an electronic voice came across
the loudspeakers, made tinny by the small speakers.  "Mr. Burnett, we're
approaching the airfield.  If you would please take your seat."
	Owen quickly shut the clipboard and strapped himself back into the
seat as the plane began its descent.  Through the window he could clearly
see that they had broken through the cloud line.  Spread below him was the
suburbs of San Francisco, and the small airfield on the Xanatos property.
The ground rushed up quickly to meet the oncoming plane and the two met
with a soft thump.  He felt the jet slow and taxi towards one of the
warehouses, the engines slowly whining away to silence.
	Owen breathed a sigh of relief and quickly unbuckled the seatbelt.
He stood, smoothed his suit and brushed back his hair, and moved towards
the rear of the plane.  He quickly put on his standard stoic expression,
adjusted his glasses, and pressed the red button to open the big cargo
doors.  There was a slight hydraulic hiss as the doors swung open, flooding
the interior with sunlight.
	He carefully walked down the slanted ramp leading into the plane as
the pilot made his way inside to prepare the crate.  Out of the corner of
his eye he noticed that one of the guards was trembling slightly.  He, as
well as Xanatos, knew that Owen Burnett had a reputation.  Most of the
employees of the Eyrie Building would stop conversations abruptly when he
came near, several others would simply pale when he walked by.  Despite
what his face showed, he loved watching them squirm.
	But that would have to wait until later.  Xanatos seems to think
that this situation is very important.  Important enough to have to fend
for himself for hours.  He knew better than to disappoint his employer.
	"Sir, our 'guests' are ready to be taken aboard.  They're still
tranqed.  The creatures are in the warehouse.  No one opened it, as you
ordered." The sergeant reported, quivering slightly.
	"Excellent.  Take them aboard.  I will see to our 'guests' in the
warehouse."  To insure secrecy Xanatos had ordered Owen to move the statue
and Demona onto the plane alone.  Not even the pilot was to be allowed to
examine the cargo.  This was not his idea of a good assignment.  The guards
were the grunts, they should be doing this.
	The guard frowned.  Not even a 'thank you' or 'job well done'.  This
guy was just as stone faced as the others said, he thought silently.
Better not disappoint him.  He could fire any one of them.  He walked away
towards the barracks to get the prisoners, cursing under his breath.
	Owen walked stiffly to the huge warehouse, suppressing a thin smile
at the reaction of the sergeant.  Deep down within the ever so calm Owen
Burnett there was still the heart of a trickster.
	The warehouse loomed out of the flat landscape like some dark
obelisk, casting a long shadow in the morning sun.  Owen looked over his
shoulder slowly to make sure none of the guards were watching and then
continued on to the warehouse.  He searched through his jacket and brought
out another tranquilizer gun, just in case Demona was awake and not
feeling friendly.
	The keys on the electronic lock clicked in protest as he quickly
entered the code.  The doors shuddered and began to slide open slowly with
an electric whine.  Owen stood, tranquilizer at the ready, as the doors
finally creaked to a halt.  He breathed deep, exhaled, and stepped slowly
into the darkness.  The automated lights clicked themselves on slowly,
illuminating the warehouse and all its possessions.

	David Xanatos stood before the huge windows in his office, still
gazing down as the citizens of Manhattan went about their normal business.
He had attempted to finish the paperwork he had started before learning of
this situation, but that was impossible.  He just stood there, hands
clasped behind his back, waiting for Owen to call.
	He jumped at the sound of his office door opening.  He spun quickly
and was greeted with the startled expression of Fox.
	"Whoa, calm down David." she said to him, coming over and kissing him
softly.  He returned the gesture and the two of them sat down on his desk.
	"Sorry, I've been waiting for a call.  It's got me a little on edge."
He reached around and pulled her closer.
	"Owen, right?"  She snickered at the expression on his face and
decided she had better explain, or else he might think she had been spying
on him.  "I ran into him a few hours ago.  He said he was going to be
leaving to 'attend to business'."
	Blast it Owen, he though to himself.  Now he would have to explain
everything to her.  Not that he wanted to keep his wife in the dark, of
course.  He would just feel better knowing that the situation was under
control first.
	He was about to say something when the phone rang behind him.  It
shook him from his train of thought and nearly made him jump.  He released
Fox and pounced on the receiver, like a tiger killing its prey.  Fox rolled
her eyes as he quickly attempted to regain his composure.  She knew how he
hated to have his voice give him away.  He answered the phone on the third
ring.
	"Ah, Owen.  I trust everything is going according to plan."  When
dealing with important matters such as this, he did not waste time with
pleasantries.
	"I am sorry to say that I cannot agree, sir.  We have run into a
serious... problem."  Even from across the country and being bounced off
countless satellites, Owen's voice still managed to carry the same
emotionless tone.
	Xanatos merely raised one eyebrow.  "And this 'problem' would be?"
	Owen quickly looked over the situation in the warehouse and thought
about how he could describe it.
	"To put is simply, this isn't Demona."
	"WHAT?  But that's impossible.  Owen, we both watched that tape.  I
don't know of many other gargoyles that fit her profile.  There are only
two other female gargoyles in existence.  Delilah and Angela, and neither
could look like Demona, even if they wanted to."
	Fox eyed her husband suspiciously and sipped at her coffee.
Whatever it was that had angered him must be important.  He rarely would
blow up at Owen like this.  Then again, he rarely blew up at all.  At least
not when it came to business.
	Owen sighed deeply. "I don't understand it either, sir.  But the
facts remain obvious.  I am standing in the warehouse where I instructed
the guards to put the gargoyles, but there are *two* statues here.  Sir,
*both* gargoyles turned to stone."
	"Perhaps she freed herself from the spell that makes her human
during the day."  Xanatos seemed calmer when he knew what was going on.
	"That is not possible, sir.  As you know I, or rather Puck, placed
her under this spell.  Fey magic cannot be reversed by human magic, such
as the Grimorum.  It is simply too weak to counteract it.  Not even Demona
would have the magical strength needed to break the spell; she would need
another Fey to reverse it for her.   I do not know any others that would
be inclined to assist her either.  It is most likely that this is not
Demona."
	"Well, then who is it?" he asked impatiently.
	"I haven't the slightest idea, sir.  She is, in every physical
respect, Demona.  She is even wearing the characteristic gold headband and
bracelets."
	"Who is the other gargoyle?"
	"It is impossible to tell.  It is male, and very large.  About the
size of Goliath, I believe.  That is all I can discern.  The guards were
careless, he turned to stone laying on his stomach.  It would be too risky
to attempt righting the statue."
	"Hmm.  We'll just have to sort that out after sunset.  Continue as
planned, Owen."  He hung up quickly, not wanting to listen to Owen lecture
him on the safety of bringing unknown gargoyles into his possession.
Particularly unknown gargoyles with an uncanny resemblance to one of his
worst enemies.
	"What was that all about?"  Fox asked as he drew her close once
again.
	"Nothing important.  Just a change in plans."  He kissed her once on
the forehead and she pushed away to check on Alex.  She knew better than
to believe that this was nothing important.  She knew how much he hated it
when things did not go according to his plans.

New York
1:17 p.m.

	Demona calmly strode down the street towards the Eyrie Building,
eyes fixed hard on her target.  She walked quickly at an even pace,
briefcase dangling from her left arm.  The passerby's were forced to
sidestep from their paths as she walked down the middle of the sidewalk,
not bothering to slow or move to the side.
	She quickly ducked into a nearby coffee shop, placing her briefcase
on the table and checking her hair in the small compact she had.  Normally
she would not bother with such concerns, but as of now she was human.  She
grimaced at her appearance in the mirror, and at the spectacles resting on
her nose.  They made her nose itch, but they were all part of the disguise.
	No one in the city, especially not Xanatos, could be able to discern
her real identity.  Not only did she have to conceal her identity as Demona
from Xanatos, but she also could not afford to have anyone recognize her
as Dominique Destine.  This was the first time she had decided to use
secrecy and deception to accomplish her mission.  She had no choice when
she was breaking into the police station, since she was under a spell at
the time.  Of course, she had lied to Xanatos and others many times to get
what she wanted, but this was different.  This almost seemed like going to
extremes.
	Demona would have preferred a much more direct way of doing this, one
that involved her normal body, instead of her human one.  But that would
accomplish very little.  She had already gained entrance that way once too
often, and Xanatos had beefed up is security to prevent anything from
happening again.  He had even bricked up the secret passageway behind the
tapestry.
	She was wearing a shoulder length brown wig with her red hair shoved
up underneath, wire framed glasses, and special contact lenses to make her
eyes appear blue instead of their usual deep green.  She sighed and closed
the compact, stuffing it back into her briefcase.  This information had
better be worth all the trouble, she thought to herself.
	"Hey, lady.  This is a coffee shop, not a makeup parlor.  Either buy
somethin' or leave." a tall brown haired man demanded angrily, towering
over her.
	She surprised herself by keeping her cool.  Lesser things had set
her off and, before she assumed a more permanent human identity, they
frequently resulted fights.  Fortunately she had not been arrested.  But
she could no longer afford to take risks like that without the reputation
of Mademoiselle Destine suffering.  Instead she simply ordered a cinnamon
roll and a mocha.
	As much as she hated humans, she did have to admit that some of their
creations were delicious.  And it was appealing to have a human waiting on
her.  She had been planning for several days now and, when she was planning
her revenge, she usually neglected to eat.  No sense going in on an empty
stomach.  If she had other things on her mind she could make a mistake.

	Quinn awoke to find himself in a small cell, laying on a hard stone
floor.  Wincing at the large bruise on the back of his neck, he slowly sat
up and looked around.  They appeared to be in some kind of dungeon,
literally.  The floor was made of granite stones and there was a small
window like one would expect in a castle.  But there was not just a simple
iron barred door.  There was a thick reinforced iron barred door with laser
sensors criss-crossing the entrance, and an electronic key-card lock and
security card slide.  They clearly were not going to get out that way.
	He pushed to his feet and noticed the others.  Wade was sitting on
the bench, apparently lost in thought.  The professor and Rembrandt were
laying sprawled out on the floor.  He quickly moved over towards the two of
them.
	"Don't bother Quinn, they're only unconscious.  I checked a couple
times already."  Wade didn't bother to look up.
	He checked for a pulse anyway and moved toward the bench after
finding one.  Wade leaned against his shoulder when he sat down next to
her.
	"It's weird, something like this always seems to happen.  Just a
few slides ago we were in a cage.  I hope this doesn't have anything to do
with 'times arrow'." she said with a slight laugh.
	"What *did* happen?  I remember trying to get that guy off the
professor, then he hit me with something and I must've blacked out." Quinn
said, rubbing the back of his neck.
	"Yeah, he pumped you full of something, a tranquilizer I think.  They
did the same to all of us.  I woke up here, you guys were still sleeping."
	"I wonder who did this.  Probably the people at that base we landed
on.  Has anyone come here yet?"
	"Yeah, a couple more of those goons and some big blond guy.  But
they seemed more interested in whatever is in that cell next to us.  They
kept saying the name 'Xanatos' too.  You heard of him?"
	"No, he probably isn't too well known in our world or doesn't exist
at all."  He stood up and went over towards the door to their prison.
	"Careful, they're electrified."  She had already brushed up against
them while trying to look into the other cell.  Fortunately they were not
lethal.
	Quinn left the door and went over to look out the tiny window.  It
too was reinforced with thick iron bars, but they were not electrified.  He
stood on one of the benches to look out, and to his surprise, a cloud
floating lazily by.  Apparently they were in some kind of a fortress.  They
were not going to get out that way either.
	He slumped his shoulders and finally asked the question he had been
dreading.  "Did they take the timer?"
	"Yeah.  They must have searched us."
	"Damn." he swore, pounding his fist on the wall.  "How much time was
left?"
	"Last I checked it was seventeen hours.  But I don't know how long
we were knocked out."
	"Well, we'd better start thinking of a way to get it back."  He came
back over and slumped onto the bench again.
	Their heads snapped up quickly at the sound of footsteps down the
hall.  The steps grew louder and soon there were two guards and a stiff
looking blonde man.  The three of them stood before the other cell, the
blonde man occasionally pausing to jot something down on the notepad he
held.
	"That's the guy.  He must be important, look how the guards follow
him around." Wade whispered to Quinn.
	"Then that's who we should be talking to."  He stood and moved as
close to the gars as he could without getting a shock.
	The blonde man looked over to their cell and then went back to his
notepad.  He finished whatever it was he was doing and moved to the other
cage, frowning at the others who had not regained consciousness.
	"Who are you?" Quinn asked forcefully.
	The man simply took out his notepad and began to write again.  Quinn
noticed that instead of scrawling something out, which was the common style
when writing on a pad, he printed with machine-like clarity.  He then
turned to leave.
	"Hey, why are you keeping us here?  You do know this is clearly
forbidden by the Constitution."  The guards exchanged glances at this, the
one with long red hair cracking a smile.  Clearly they were unimpressed.
Oh no, we're not in America, he thought to himself.
	The blonde haired man raised an eyebrow and turned back towards the
cage.  "Yes, according to the constitution this would be illegal.  However,
you do not seem to exist.  According to our research, it seems that there
are no records of anyone matching your descriptions.  The constitution is
not applicable to those who do not exist."  He managed to speak through
this without showing any emotion.  One would have expected some kind of
laugh or at least a smile.
	The man turned to leave again, but Quinn didn't try to stop him.  He
walked back down the hall, guards following in formation behind him.  It
was frustrating trying to disguise yourself on nearly every world.
	"Why didn't you ask him about the timer?"  Wade asked quietly, still
looking at the floor.
	"I don't think he's in charge.  It looks like he's just somebody's
lackey."  He walked back over and sat on one of the other benches.
	"So what can we do now?"
	"Nothing that I can think of.  We should probably wait until the
others wake up and then try to find out what happened to the timer."  He
stretched out on the bench and folded his hands behind his head.  So this
is what it's like to be in prison, he thought to himself.

	She was once again on her way to the Eyrie Building after the minor
change in plans at the coffee shop.  But there was still plenty of time to
finish and get out before sunset.  She could not afford to have the other
gargoyles learn of her presence.
	The clouds masked the castle high above as she gazed upward, standing
before the massive Eyrie Building.  She took a deep breath, exhaled, and
moved towards the entrance, cautiously looking for the ever present Owen
Burnett.
	Reaching into the pocket of her suit, in what she decided was a very
business like manner, she withdrew the Eyrie Building security card and
flashed it to the simpleton at the front desk.  She smiled wickedly to
herself.  The guard didn't even bother to look at the card.  The card,
name, and picture were all fake.
	She crossed the lobby and moved into one of the many cavernous
elevators lining the far wall.  Only a few seconds after she had pressed
the button, the car appeared and the doors slid open.  Perfect, she thought,
the car was completely empty.  No witnesses.  She pressed the button for
sub-basement two and the elevator began its descent.
	The car lurched to a halt and the indicator flashed her location as
sub-basement two, exactly as planned.  She stepped out into the dim hallway
and began to look for the guards lockers.  The halls were made of concrete
with a dull green stripe running along at about shoulder height.
Apparently Xanatos didn't feel the need to keep the lower basements as
appealing as the upper floors.  After all, the public has never been able
to set foot in this area.
	She passed the gyms, the swimming pool, and the weight room.  The
floor seemed to be totally dedicated to the training of the Xanatos
Corporate Guards.  What a waste of money, she thought savagely, recalling
the many times either she or Goliath's clan had mopped the floor with the
'mighty' XCG.  She kept walking until she reached the end of the hallway
and then slipped into the women's locker room unnoticed.
	A wicked smile cracked her lips as she shut the door behind her.  She
had timed her visit perfectly.  The entire locker room was deserted and
silent, save the dripping of the showers.  She ripped the glasses from her
face and tossed them into the briefcase.  Her red hair cascaded down over
her shoulders as she pulled off the brown wig.
	She quickly took off the business outfit she had worn, and began to
slip into the blue uniform of the XCG.  Thanks to meticulous planning, she
had everything she needed to convince most everybody in the building that
she was Jaimie Nelsen, Xanatos Corporate Guard.  That would be exceedingly
simple, since there actually is a Jaimie Nelsen, or rather there *had been*
a Jaimie Nelsen until she met Demona.
	She had followed her out of the Eyrie Building and killed her,
taking her uniform and every access code and card she possessed.  The Guard
had her listed as having a few days off, and Demona had called them shortly
after pretending to be Jaimie.  The fools didn't suspect a thing.  For all
they knew, Ms. Nelsen had simply decided to take a few days and rest.
	She had finished dressing in the tight blue outfit and was now
beginning to pull on the gray vest and belts.  She fit the helmet over the
long blonde wig she was now wearing and began to shift it around in
 annoyance.  These wigs were itchy.  It was a shame she could not simply
use the fake ID she had used to gain entrance, but that would attract
attention.  Besides, she needed the codes for computer access, which her
ID would not have allowed.
	When she finally had the helmet in a comfortable position, she struck
a pose before the full-length mirror on the wall.  She looked exactly like
a  Xanatos Corporate Guard.  The other personnel in the building would not
recognize her, unless they really questioned her that is.  If that did
happen, well, she would just have to wing it.
	She transferred all the contents of the briefcase into the backpack
that came with the guard outfit, and then carefully folded her suit into
the briefcase.  Using the stolen combination, she stowed the briefcase in
the guards locker.  There were several pictures lining the walls, most of
them were of Nelsen standing with another brunette guard.  Humans were such
sentimental fools.
	Then she noticed a handwritten letter laying on the floor of the
locker.  Apparently someone had shoved it through the small airvents on the
locker, probably one of the other guards.  With a practiced hand from
opening many envelops at Nightstone, she tore the envelope open at the end
and unfolded the letter.  It was addressed to Jaimie Nelsen from someone
named Lynitta Meier, and dated today.  It was only fitting that since she
was Jaimie now that she should be getting her mail.
	She quickly folded the letter and shoved it into her pocket as the
door swung open behind her.  Slamming the locker quickly, she bent down and
pretended to tie her shoe.  The other guard eyed her for a moment then went
to her own locker across the room.
	"Don't mind me, just gettin' my watch." the other guard called over
her shoulder.
	When the other guard had crossed the room and ducked behind the
lockers, Demona AKA Jaimie Nelsen, ducked out of the locker room and
continued her journey to the upper spires of the Eyrie Building.

Eyrie Building
2:03 p.m.
	The white doors parted and David Xanatos stepped casually through
into one of the many scientific laboratories in the Eyrie Building.  The
walls were lined with all sorts of machines and other scientific equipment,
giving a claustrophobic effect.  There was a group of techs standing in a
cluster at a table across the room, examining something, no doubt the
device he had taken from the trespassers.  He came over and stood behind
one of the techs, who was still fixed on his work, and looked on over his
shoulder.
	"Any progress?" he asked.
	The techs all jumped, several of them dropping their clipboards and
other scientific things.  I really should do that more often, he mused as
they gathered their things.  The one sitting at the table stood up and
smoothed down his lab apron.  He had a red collar, signifying him as the
chief lab director.
	"Not yet, sir.  We still can't figure out what makes it work."
	Xanatos raised an eyebrow.  "And what exactly is it supposed to do?"
	"Uh...we...don't really know...sir."  He held the clipboard nervously
between his hands, starting to sweat.  Xanatos was not the kind of man to
disappoint.
	"Mmhm.  Okay then, what do you think it is?"
	The tech tried to collect his thoughts.  He was somewhat insulted.
He was a man of science.  He did not *guess*, he *hypothesized*.  If he
could wait for more results he could come up with a better answer, but he
knew that Xanatos did not go by that rule.  He would want results as soon
as possible.
	"Well, it appears to be a remote control of some kind."
	"How so?"
	"Uh, it has the same kind of infra-red transmitters.  The basic
equipment is the same, and it seems to work the same."  He flipped the
timer over and slid the back off carefully.  "It even takes double-A
batteries."
	All the techs laughed at that, but Xanatos simply frowned.
	The tech coughed nervously and continued.  "The only real noticeable
difference is that this one is much more powerful."
	"If this is a remote control, then what does it activate?"
	"We're not sure.  But it's a safe bet that we're out of range."
	"I see.  Have you found out what it's counting down to."  Xanatos
pointed to the large red numbers on the front.
	"Not yet.  Who knows?  The end of the world, the detonation of a
bomb, maybe it's just telling someone's VCR to record."
	Xanatos rolled his eyes.  "Get back on it.  Inform me when you find
anything."  He turned to leave.  "I'll be in my office."

	The disguised Demona stepped out of the elevator on the eightieth
floor of the Eyrie Building and made her way to the computer security
station.  Her plan was proceeding flawlessly.  So far her only dealings
had been with low level employees, who didn't suspect a thing.
	She slid the stolen card through the lock and was rewarded with a
friendly beep.  The doors slid noiselessly open.  She smiled hugely when
she saw only one guard inside, sleeping in his chair.  This was too good
to be true.
	She quickly surveyed the room for a video camera, and found none.
Xanatos must think that a security station would be secure enough not to
need a camera.  She hefted a large wrench she found laying in the corner
and moved behind the slumbering guard.  With a single fluent motion she
swung the wrench.  It connected solidly with a satisfying crack, breaking
his neck before he could wake.
	She pulled the body from the chair and leaned it in the corner out
of sight.  Xanatos should really reconsider his hiring policy, she
reflected.  He only seemed to be hiring buffoons.  She knew that this was
probably going to be a one time deal, since he was sure to fire many of
his guards and take steps to more efficiently protect the inner sanctum of
his empire.
	Tossing her helmet and wig into the guards lap, she locked the door
and plopped down in the chair before the computer terminal.  The terminal
was connected to the mainframe computers in the basements where all the
information XanaCorp possessed was stored.  She pulled out a floppy disk
from the backpack she was wearing and slid it into the computer.
	Now she would find out if she had truly gotten her moneys worth on
this program.  It was designed by a computer hacker for Dominique Destine
and was rather pricy at five thousand dollars.  It supposedly would enable
her to tap into the Eyrie mainframes from her own computer without being
detected by security.  If it didn't work, then that hacker would be getting
a visit from Dominique Destine's alter ego.  Then again, he would be
getting that visit even if it did work.
	She leaned back into the chair and let the program begin to run its
course.  It supposedly would take about three hours for the program to
finish setting up the passwords and security bypasses needed for an
undetected access.  In the meantime she decided to keep amused by leafing
through some of XanaCorps private data.

	"Oh, my head."  The professor woke up moaning next to Rembrandt.  He
quickly shot to his feet and looked around.  "Agh, not again?!"
	"Sorry."  Quinn looked up from his bench and then reclined back
against the wall.
	"Don't tell me, they took the timer."  Both Wade and Quinn remained
silent, so the professor took that as a yes.  "A bloody nice way to wake
up." he grumbled.
	"He's never happy with any of the worlds we visit, is he?" Wade
whispered to Quinn.  The two of them snickered behind his back.
	"Oh shut up you two.  How long were we unconscious?"  He looked down
at the still unconscious Cryin' Man, then carefully pulled him to a corner
and leaned him up against the wall.  The two of them argued alot, but both
Quinn and Wade knew that they were good friends.
	Quinn shifted uncomfortably on the hard bench.  "We woke up about an
hour ago.  They must've hit you two with more than one dart."
	"Do you have any idea where we are?"  Arturo moved towards the bars,
then thought better of it, seeing the wires connecting at the base.
	"High up.  All I can see from that window is clouds."
	"One-hundred forty stories, actually."
	The three of them spun to see a tall dark man with a sharply trimmed
beard dressed in black standing before their cell, hands in his pockets.
He was half smiling at them.  There was a tall stoic blonde man standing
at the ready behind him.
	"Who the hell are you!?" the professor demanded angrily.  Owen's
eyebrow shot up at the harsh introduction.  One would practically have to
be living in a hole to not recognize David Xanatos.
	"David Xanatos.  You'll excuse me if I don't shake your hand;
electrified bars." he said calmly, flashing his grin.
	"Well, Mister Xanatos, why do you have us locked up?"  The professor
was clearly angered by this man's calm manner, especially when compared to
his fiery temper.
	"It's quite simple really.  For one, you were trespassing on my
property.  You also seem to be in possession of something very powerful,
possibly a weapon."  That was only a half truth, but it would do.
	"We didn't mean to trespass, we didn't know that it was your
property.  You didn't have to take *our* property either."  Wade stood up
and approached the bars.
	Something was nagging Quinn in the back of his mind.  "Wait, wait.
You said we were over one-hundred floors up?"  Xanatos nodded.  "I don't
recall seeing a skyscraper that large in San Francisco."  Or anywhere for
that matter, he thought.
	Xanatos flashed his trademark grin, and exchanged glances with Owen.
"Of course you didn't, this is New York."
	The sliders jaws dropped, the same thought running through their
minds.  If this was New York, then where would they land on their next
slide, assuming there was a next slide.  This obviously was not their
Earth.  If they did make it to the next world, how would they know if it's
theirs?  There are usually huge differences in the worlds, but some so
minuscule that they would have to be in San Francisco to find.  They didn't
know about the rest of the world to find out from anywhere else.
	"Welcome to the Eyrie Building."  Owen chimed in, sounding about as
excited as he ever became.
	"I have a few questions I would like you to answer."  Xanatos folded
his arms across his chest, becoming slightly impatient.
	The sliders looked at eachother then back to Xanatos.  "Oh, feel
free to talk about it amongst yourselves.  I'll be back in a few hours."
With that Xanatos turned and left, Owen following behind him.
	The three conscious sliders grouped under the window, waiting until
the guards and Xanatos were out of earshot.
	Quinn was the first one to speak.  "So, any ideas?"
	"I don't know, I mean this guy's clearly not stupid.  He's got the
timer, so we can't just break out of here."  Wade sat down looking
dejected.
	"Even if we could break out, where would we go?  You heard him, we're
one-hundred-forty stories up.
	"I don't think we can really talk about it freely," the professor
said in a low voice.  "If he's gone to all this trouble for security, then
he more than likely has this room bugged.  I'd wager that he is wants us to
talk."

	"We should be ready for these 'questions' he will ask when he comes
back."  Xanatos clicked off the speaker on his desk disgustedly.  He hadn't
expected them to find the bug so quickly.  They hadn't given any important
information yet either.  All he had been able to discern was the names of
each.  But since he only had their first names he could do nothing.
	He steepled his fingers and pondered what to do next.
	"What would you like done now, sir?"  Owen's voice broke through his
thoughts.
	"Give them something to eat.  Nothing like prison food, though.  They
may be prisoners, but they wont answer any questions if I treat them as
such.  After sunset we can move them from the cells to more comfortable
quarters."  Owen nodded and then left the office.   The clock in his office
read two-fifty-three, slightly more than two hours to sunset.
	He was not really comfortable leaving them in the cell, but he had no
choice.  Leaving them in that uncomfortable place would make them stubborn
and uncooperative, but he had to be sure that they were in no way involved
with Demona.  For that he would have to wait for sunset.  He was also
looking forward to finding out who the other gargoyle was.  They hadn't
been able to recognize it because it turned to stone on it's stomach.  But
that also would have to wait until sunset, which was fast approaching.

	Demona sat slumped in the chair of the silent security office, lazily
twining a strand of her red hair around her finger as she read through the
files.  She knew they were boring, but there might be something to give her
company an edge on Xanacorp.
	So far she had not found anything of significance.  Xanatos was
planning to spend several thousand on a new nursery for Alexander.  Fox had
bought a new hang-glider and spent hundreds of dollars on survival gear.
The Steel Clan was going to be given a major overhaul soon, along with the
Xanatos Exo-frame.  Nothing interesting.
	The program had been running for just over an hour and was nowhere near completion.  She sighed and shifted uncomfortably in the chair.  Like it or not, she would have to stay until the program ran its course.  There was to be a narrow margin for error since it would end almost at sunset.
	Not that this would be a real problem, if worse came to worst she
could simply use her gargoyle wings to fly from a window.  It was much
easier for a gargoyle to escape the Eyrie than break in.
	She leaned forward, resting her head on her forearms.  She had just
finished the information he had on MacBeth.  Nothing that she didn't know,
of course.  She knew all she needed; that he had betrayed her and wants to
kill her.
	She sat straight up in the chair as she came across the file on
Angela.  She spaced out for a moment, thinking of her daughter.  Angela
would frequently occupy her thoughts.  She knew that Angela would probably
never leave her father, but that did not mean that she would kill her.
Demona's face twisted at the thought of Goliath.  She had yet to make him
pay for the death of the clan, and now he had stolen her only daughter and
brainwashed her.  She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists at the
thought.  "Oh, he will pay.  I will make sure of that."

	The keys jangled noisily in the lock as the guard unlocked the door
over the keylocks.  He then proceeded to make his way through the myriad of
security precautions.  He slid the keycard through the lock, then punched
in the ID code for the electricity, and then he unlocked the heavy iron
door.
	Finally the door swung open noiselessly on well oiled hinges.  Owen
Burnett came through wheeling a small cart before him with four plates
with silver covers, four glasses, and a bottle of apple cider along with
utensils and napkins.  The Xanatos's had given up alcohol while Fox was
pregnant, but after Alexander was born they had never gotten back into the
habit of drinking.
	Owen looked at the man who had been unconscious when he first came.
"Ah, I see you have finally come around.  Enjoy your meal."
	He left the cart just on the inside of the door and then left, the
guards re-locking it behind him.  "When you are finished, the guards will
remove the cart and flatware."  He gave them all a steely look, then
stiffly strode down the hall.
	"Great, now we're waiters too!"  One of the guards threw his hands
up, his long red hair hanging out from his helmet in a pony tail swishing
slightly.
	"Geez, that guy's creepy."  Rembrandt said as he watched Owen walk
down the hall.
	"You don't know the half of it."  The comical guard said over his
shoulder to Rembrandt.  "No matter what happens, he's always like that.  It
could be the damn apocalypse and he wouldn't even break a sweat!"
	"You're not paid to talk!  Return to your post, and remain silent."
Owen's voice boomed over the loudspeaker.  The guard muttered something
about 'Big Brother' and then turned back to his post.
	The professor stood up from his bench and walked to the food cart.
"Well, shall we see what kind of slop they serve here?"
	"You're not actually going to eat any of that are you?"  Wade looked
at the professor incredulously.  After the way they had been treated she
could not even think of eating anything here.
	He looked over his shoulder at her.  "Miss Wells, I haven't eaten
for more that twenty-four hours.  Besides, this has to be more appetizing
than the cuisine of our last world."  He did have a point.  Berries and
things did get tiresome when that was your only food source.
	He lifted the silver platter and his eyes went wide.  "Gad!  Real
food!" he exclaimed.  Spread before them were four plates, each with a
generous portion of turkey breast, a heaping lump of mashed potatoes,
stuffing, and a sourdough roll.  Obviously not what they were expecting.
	"What is this, the Thanksgiving world?" Rembrandt asked as he took
one of the plates.
	"Mm.  Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Mister Brown.  It's
delicious." the professor said between bites.
	"Who's complaining?" the Cryin' Man said seriously.
	Wade watched as the others ate their meals.  It did look delicious,
she had to admit.  In the end her hunger won out and she too grabbed a
plate.
	Soon all four of them were enjoying the best meal they had eaten in
the last week, despite their predicament.

	Xanatos leaned back in his chair, eyeing his 'guests' through the
video cam as they ate their meals.  As of yet they hadn't revealed anything
of significance.  However he was puzzled with how they kept referring to
different 'worlds'.  That was what he needed to find out.
	He glanced at his clock and sighed.  About one hour to sunset.  That
was when all the pieces would come together, and the deception would
begin.  He would have to be more careful about how he handled this
situation, what with the public up in arms even after a solid week of no
gargoyle sightings.  Both he and Goliath had agreed to keep them in the
castle for two weeks, to let the cauldron of fear brewing far below them
cool.
	If any of the clan discovered them, then there would be serious
complications.  He needed to talk to those people, and it seemed that they
would be more cooperative after this meal.  It certainly made them talk to
the guards more, which was not exactly a good thing.  He didn't pay them to
talk.
	But the clan would have serious questions, or maybe accusations, if
they found him holding prisoners.  On top of that, gargoyle prisoners. 
Which was odd too.  Even while stone, gargoyles were rarely prisoners of
anyone.  But he had two of them; Demona, the fiercest gargoyle alive, and
one he had never seen before, yet appeared very intimidating.  He looked
as if he might be from Goliath's clan; he was certainly Scottish.
	And then there was Detective Maza.  She always seemed to be popping
up in his affairs.  He almost wondered why he gave her security clearance
to the castle.  But he still owed Goliath a debt.  He knew that their
feelings for eachother went much deeper than mere friendship, and that
Goliath would be REALLY angry if Xanatos would no longer let her come to
the castle.  And an angry Goliath is a very bad thing, he reflected.
	Elisa had never forgiven him for what happened to Derrick Maza
either.  If she were to get word of this, then she would have some leverage
against him.  He knew that if it came to a court contest that he would
surely win, but there would be no way to settle out of court, as he
preferred.  Maza was not the kind of person you could throw money at and
would go away.  She wanted him to go down.
	Ah, but these problems would be best dealt with when they came.  And
if it didn't turn out the way he was expecting...well, spilled milk.  There
were other pet projects he was working on.  He stood from his desk and
watched the sun slowly sink down towards the horizon, the Xanatos grin
plastered on his face.

	Demona sighed as she looked at her watch.  Only five minutes to
sundown and the program was just finishing.  That left her with barely
enough time to get down to the guards' lockers, let alone escape the
building.  I'll just have to do this the hard way, she thought to herself.
Escaping the Eyrie wouldn't be difficult, not in her gargoyle body.  She
would just have to hope that Xanatos didn't find her security bypasses.
	After pulling the disk from the computer she rebooted to hide her
tracks.  Suddenly she was hit with a wave of pain.  She tumbled to her
knees, clutching her stomach.  It felt like she was being torn apart.  Her
eyes flared red and she screamed an inhuman scream as she felt her back
stretch into wings.  Two of her fingers fused together and they stretched
into talons.  She felt her feet burst from the guard boots and her round
human ears stretch.  The guards vest burst at the seems as she finished her
transformation into her now larger body.
	Using the chair for help, she pulled herself up to a standing
position and smoothed her tussled hair.  She carefully sliced the blue
guard uniform off with a razor sharp talon and let it fall to her feet.
While she was reaching down to pull the torn uniform off her feet she
noticed the folded white letter she had taken from the guards locker.  When
the other guard had come in she had stowed it away and forgotten about it.
	She carefully unfolded the small letter and began to read over it,
curious since it was addressed to her.  At first it appeared to be just a
letter between friends and she thought of crumpling it, but her curiosity
made her read on.  She read slowly, eyes widening as she finished.  Her
eyes lit brighter than ever and she crushed the letter so tightly she drew
blood from her own hands.
	"Xanatos..." she muttered, flinging the guard uniform and letter into
the waste-basket, which rocked crazily at its new tenants.
	Her rage now possessing her, she kicked the locked steel door clear
off its hinges and sent it flying across the hallway, smashing the poor
fellow talking to a secretary.  She leapt through the door and landed the
secretary a viscous uppercut, sending her sprawling back five feet.  She
roared in her feral scream, now completely insane with anger.  "XANATOS!!..."

	Elisa Maza walked slowly up the steps leading to the tower where
Goliath likes to sleep.  This was her favorite time of day, which seemed a
little odd, she reflected.  If she had really thought about it two years
ago, her favorite time of day would have been sunrise, when her shift was
over and she could simply go to sleep.
	She sighed and continued up the steps.  She honestly could not
remember what her life had been like before she fell off that castle.  Her
eyes closed as she paused on the steps, briefly in the arms of Goliath as
the two of them glided slowly towards the lower roof of the building.  Then
hanging on his neck as he pulled the two of them up the side.
	She snapped out of her trance and stepped from the stairwell onto the
roof of the tower.  Her hand found its way around Goliath's stony arm as
she sat down on the bulwark beside him.  The sun's rays slowly faded from
his form and began to slip away behind the horizon.  She quickly planted a
kiss on his cheek and stepped a few feet back.
	The sun dipped out of sight, leaving Goliath's shadowed form encased
in darkness for a few short seconds.  He roared loudly, sending a hail of
stones showering the area.  "I love that sound..." she thought to herself.
Below her she could hear the others awaking.
	Goliath hopped down from the edge and smiled.  "Elisa!  A sight worth
waking to." he said as he wrapped his wings around her, drawing her close.
	She pushed herself up and kissed him softly on the lips, leaning her
head against his chest.  He put his head on her hair, enjoying the time
they had together.
	"Lovebirds."  Brooklyn muttered as sat on the ledge below, watching
their proud leader conquered by a small human.
	"Leave them alone."  Angela feigned anger as she punched him in the
arm.  He just grinned back at her.  She rolled her eyes and shoved him off
the parapet where they were sitting.  She turned back to watch her father,
but felt a hand catch her shoulder.  She fell backwards head-over-heels,
catching the wind as she opened her wings to see Brooklyn hanging on the
side of the castle just below where she was sitting.  He laughed and soared
off after her.
	"Lovebirds."  Lexington muttered under his breath while he made his
way inside to his computer.

	"Maybe I should get locked in here sometime.  This stuff looked
better than what I cook."  The red haired guard smiled at the four of them
as he wheeled the cart from the cell.  Between the four of them they had
eaten the entire cart, even the whole bottle of cider.
	"That guard's not so bad.  But something about that blonde guy's
buggin' me."  Rembrandt said as he reclined on the wooden bench.
	"Yeah, but remember they're the ones keeping us here." Wade pointed
out to the Cryin' man, whose smile diminished at the thought.
	"Guys, look who's back."  Quinn pointed to the doorway.  Xanatos and
his lackey were standing there, looking into the cell next to theirs.
	"Ah, I trust your meal was satisfactory?" Xanatos inquired politely.
	"Delicious.  Now will you let us out of here?" the professor demanded
angrily, even though he was serious about his critique of the food.
	"In due time."  Xanatos turned his attention back to the neighboring
cell as the two guards took positions behind him.
	"What are you waiting for?" Quinn asked, leaning forward on the bench.
	Owen shrugged.  "Sunset."
	"Why?" Quinn asked incredulously.
	That proves it, Xanatos thought to himself.  They could not be allies
of a gargoyle without knowing about its stone hibernation.  He knew that
already, but he was not going to take any chances.  He didn't answer
Quinn's question.
	The sliders exchanged puzzled looks as they observed Xanatos.  They
paused and looked around while the sound of crumbling stone filled the room.
All four of them sat bolt upright when two roars reverberated throughout
the cells, echoing down the hallway.  They saw both Xanatos and his lackey
smile.  One of the guards paled and ran, but the red haired one stood his
ground, grinning like an idiot.

	She yawned and stiffly stretched her back.  Not even her stone sleep
could relieve the aches she was feeling.  She paled as she looked around
the room.  That was what hit her first.  She was in a room!  Gargoyles did
not make anything like this.  Humans!  She spun quickly to see four humans
standing in an archway.  Then her jaw dropped several inches at the other
gargoyle in the room with her.  It was The Leader.
	He leaned against the wall and scratched his head, slowly letting
conscious thought return to his mind.  Then the fact that there was a wall
registered somewhere deep in his head.  "No, no, not again..." His eyes
widened as he took in his surroundings.  "This can't be happening!"
	He spun, eyes blazing at a cough behind him.  There were four humans
standing there, but his mind only registered one.  His hand grasped air as
he tried to draw his dagger.  Blast, the humans must have taken it!
	"XANATOS!!"  He bellowed and leapt at the doorway behind which
Xanatos was standing.
	Xanatos simply took a step back, eyebrows nearly into his hairline.
The red haired guard also stepped back, grin fading to a modest smile.
Owen Burnett eyed him suspiciously.  "I knew I should have used guards that
had seen a gargoyle before" Xanatos mused.
	The Leader hit the bars with all his force, but was thrown back as
electricity coursed through his body.  Xanatos had not diminished the power
to this cage as he had done to the cage containing the humans.  He landed
hard in the corner, some of his hair singed from the voltage.  He knew it
was electricity, he simply had not felt it for decades.
	"How the hell did this gargoyle know my name!?" Xanatos thought to
himself.  This clearly was not Demona, so the big gargoyle could not have
gotten it from her.  She would have said something to him by now.  Infact,
this gargoyle was simply cowering in the corner as the mutate Maggie had
done when he first saw her.
	"Who are you?" Xanatos asked as calmly as he could.
	"As if you don't know!?  I may have been denied my revenge on you
personally many years ago, but make no mistake, I will kill you Xanatos."
The Leader moved his taloned finger and pointed it menacingly at Xanatos.
	Before he could say a work, the big gargoyle smashed his way through
the wall and flew off into the city, leaving the Demona look alike,
cowering in the corner still.
	"How the hell did he do that!?" Xanatos exclaimed, eyes wide and
voice edging on panic.  "That wall was reinforced granite and steel!  Not
even Goliath could have broken through that!"  Heck, not even his exo frame
could penetrate a wall like that.
	He paused as he regained his composure.  "Inform the guards and ready
the Steel Clan.  Move her to the last cell.  I will be in my office."
	"Understood sir." Owen answered briskly, cellular phone at the ready.

	"What was that?!"  Rembrandt shot to his feet, as did the other
sliders when their cell was filled with a booming roar and an electric
sizzle.  There was a distinctly inhuman voice coming from the neighboring
cell.  Then they heard a resounding crash of breaking stone.
	Whatever had happened, it was clearly enough to shake this Mr.
Xanatos.  He was obviously near panic.  But who wouldn't be?  He had just
received a death threat from something very powerful, and most likely not
human.  They watched as he walked swiftly by, hands in his pocket.
	"Guys, look!"  Quinn said, almost pressed against the bars.
	They watched as several guards drug the blue creature roughly across
the floor and threw her into the cell opposite theirs.  The door to the
cell clanked shut and the guards all ran down the hallway, leaving them
alone.
	"Wasn't that one of them that we say before?" Wade asked, obviously
concerned since she wanted to help it before.
	"Yeah, and it didn't look too happy.  Wonder what they did to it?"
Rembrandt asked as he looked across the hall into the cell.  It was slumped
in the corner, wings folded around it, concealing it from everyone.
	"Hey!  Are you alright?"  Wade asked, getting as close to the bars as
she could without getting shocked.  She realized how stupid a question that
was, since the creature was obviously not alright.  "No, it's not a
creature" she told herself.  She had to stop thinking of it that way.
	She unfolded her wings briefly and looked out through tear reddened
eyes at the human, then folded them back into her protective cocoon.  This
one was one of the four that she had followed, and now they were prisoners
too.  Something deep down told her that these humans could be trusted, but
she didn't want to talk right now.  She was too depressed.  And too scared.

	"Okay, spread out."  Brooklyn directed to Angela and Lexington from
behind the corner.  Lexington took up a position to watch for trouble,
while Angela moved forward silently and crouched behind the counter.
	"I'll distract him.  You get it." she hissed to Brooklyn.
	"Hey, I'm the second in command.  I give the orders."  She stared
into his eyes and smiled.  He quickly folded.  "Okay, we'll do it your way."
	She nodded swiftly and dove behind the next counter.  Taking a deep
breath, she stood up and walked across the room unnoticed.
	Broadway reached high into the cupboard in the kitchen of Castle
Wyvern and withdrew a large plate.  He put it on the counter and was
surprised as he turned to come face to face with Angela.
	"Oh, uh, hi Angela." he managed, cheerful as always.
	"Hi Broadway.  Can you help me with the refrigerator door.  It's
stuck." she said with a smile.
	"No problem!"  He flexed his biceps and grinned at her.  He could
understand the problem.  When they had first arrived at the castle Broadway
had gotten himself trapped in the 'fridge when Brooklyn shut the door on
him.  It had taken both Brooklyn and Lexington to open it, and they had
gotten into allot of trouble with Xanatos and Goliath.
	He moved over to the door and spat on his hands.  She rolled her eyes
at his macho act, then gave the thumbs up to Brooklyn, who was behind the
counter straining to control his laughter.
	Broadway strained against the heavy iron door, pulling as hard as he
could, and it finally gave way with a gush of cool air.  He wondered how
the human cooks managed.
	"Okay, it's open.  What do you need to get...Angela?"  He turned
around to ask what she wanted, but she was not there.
	"Huh?  Where'd she go?"  He shrugged and shut the door to the
freezer, turning back to the cupboard.
	The three of them ran up the stairs to the towers of the castle
laughing the whole way.  They heard Broadway bellow from down in the
kitchen, but it only made them laugh harder.
	"Okay, who took my pizza!?" Broadway roared.  Then he realized it.
Practical joke.  Angela and Brooklyn must have taken it.  He shut off the
oven and charged up the stairs after the pizza thieves.
	Elisa and Goliath watched the younger clan members from their perch,
laughing as Broadway came pounding out of the castle after them.
	"Angela seems to be adapting to Manhattan life."  Elisa said, resting
her head against his arm.
	"Yes, a little too well..." Goliath replied as he watched the three
of them soar away from Broadway.
	The three of them set down on one of the neighboring towers, Broadway
landing behind them.  He feigned anger, but in the end his stomach won out.
He sat down with the rest of them and ate his share of the pizza.
	Every gargoyle snapped from what they were doing when a resounding
crash echoed across the courtyard.  Goliath stood tall and scanned for the
source of the interruption while Elisa drew her gun.  After the explosion
there was nothing but silence.
	"Father, what was that?" Angela asked as she and the others alighted
beside them.
	"I do not know, but we had best find out."  The five gargoyles took
to the air to find the cause, leaving Elisa standing alone on the tower
watching them soar away.
	"Well, I guess I'm on my own." she said to no one in particular as
she holstered her gun.  "I'd wager Xanatos knows something about this."
She quickly moved down the steps and towards Xanatos's office.

	Alexander bounced up and down on his fathers muscular knee, cooing
with delight at the motion.  Xanatos beamed proudly as Alex gurgled happily.
He knew that he should be working on the more pressing matter, but all the
thinking had given him a headache.  He found that his mind would easily
clear when he was with Alex.
	He set Alex in the crib beside his desk and handed the baby his
favorite teddy-bear, at which he burbled all the more.  "What would
Goliath think if he saw this?" Xanatos thought to himself.  He had only
seen Xanatos's business side.  How would he react if he saw him like this?
Only about a month ago he had been number one on Goliath's hate list.  Now,
although Goliath still harbored some distrust, they were getting along
better than they ever had.
	Xanatos sat back in his chair, trying to fit the top over the bottle,
leaving Alex to play with his toys.  He froze, bottle in hand, eyes wide.
He turned his head slowly back towards the crib, looking for Alex, but he
wasn't there.  A quiet laugh came from above, and he looked up to see Alex
floating about eight feet above his desk.  He quickly pulled the baby out
of the air and set him back in the crib.
	"I'm really going to have a talk with Owen." he laughed with a
mixture of pride and fear.
	Xanatos was bent over, giving Alex his baby bottle, when the doors
to his office parted.  He snapped up to see Owen come flying through and
hit the huge office window with a sickening crunch.  His majordomo was
laying in the corner unmoving, unconscious if not dead.
	He was about to rush to Owen and check his pulse, when all his
thoughts were interrupted with an earsplitting screech.  He immediately
plucked Alexander from his crib and the two of them crouched behind the
large desk.  "Oh God, not now.  Please, not now!" he thought to himself,
eyes closed in prayer.  There was only one creature he knew capable of
making a sound like that.  Demona.

	"Hey guys!  I think I found something!" Lexington called out, hanging
on the side of the castle.
	Brooklyn, Broadway, and Angela came gliding over when he called.  The
three of them landed on the ramparts above and leaned far over the edge. 
	"I don't see anything."  Broadway said gruffly, squinting his eyes,
wanting to get back to that pizza.
	Lex rolled his eyes.  "Well maybe if you came down here..." he said
sarcastically to the big gargoyle, who shot him a testy glance.
	The three of them climbed down the vertical wall, heedless of the
fact that they were over fifteen-hundred feet up.  Their claws sunk deep
into the wall like a hot knife through butter, letting them move as easily
as if they were on level ground.
	They righted themselves and clung to the wall beside Lex as he
pointed out his findings.  There was a gaping hole in the wall, about the
size that a very large gargoyle would leave if he couldn't find an exit.
Suspicious.  What was even more suspicious was that a large piece of metal
had been welded over the inside, keeping them from learning what was
inside.  Even the small window a distance down the wall had been welded
over.  More suspicious yet.
	"So what, it's just a hole." Broadway said, annoyed that he had to
climb down to see this hole on an empty stomach.
	Brooklyn rolled his eyes at Broadway.  "Broadway, we came to find
what caused an explosion.  And what do explosions leave?"  He let Broadway
answer that question for himself.
	"Oh.  Sorry." the green gargoyle returned sheepishly.
	"Why didn't they use stone to fix this?  Every time Xanatos's castle
gets blown up, he rebuilds it the same way as it was before." Brooklyn
wondered, rubbing his beak in thought.
	Lex experimentally tried to dig his claws into the metal, instead
only leaving a dent.  "Whoever covered it up used something strong.  You
don't use this stuff when you cover up a hole, you use it to keep a
gargoyle out.  Somebody doesn't want us to look in there."
	"What could have done this?" Angela asked as she felt the rough edges
of the masonry around the hole.
	"I don't know.  But whatever it is, it's big." Brooklyn said in his
best Second-in-command tone of voice.
	"You mean *was* big.  Unless it could fly, it fell down there, with
the stone from the wall."  Broadway pointed to the ground far below.  There
were now a few police cars pulling up to the scene.  He didn't want to
think of what could be below them.  Not much could survive a fall like this
in one piece.
	"We should go tell Elisa.  She's a cop, she could go find out what
happened." Angela suggested.  The others shrugged in agreement and the
began the short climb to the castle ledge.

	The four of them sat on the bench, occasionally glancing at the
weeping blue gargoyle in the opposite cell.  They had been sitting in
quietly for more than ten minutes, none sure how to break the silence.  No
matter what they said, the gargoyle would not answer.
	"I wonder if it can talk." the professor whispered to himself.
	"*She*, not *it*." Wade hissed angrily.
	"I can talk."  The four of them jumped at the unexpected voice.  They
looked up to see the blue gargoyle, eyes red from tears, huddled in the
corner.  She had pulled her wings away from her face.  They were staring at
her, only now getting their first good look at her.  She was a teal blue
with incredible red hair and was adorned in somewhat tarnished gold.
	"Who are you?" Wade asked cautiously.
	"My kind have no names, only the leaders have them." the blue
gargoyle answered cautiously.  It was obvious that she was as scared as
they were.  That seemed odd, since she appeared able to dispatch any of
them with considerable ease.
	"Your kind?  You mean there's more like you?"  Rembrandt's eyes were
wide with the thought.
	"Yes." she answered simply, drawing her knees up to her chest, tears
once again forming in the corner of her eyes.
	"What *is* your kind?" the professor blurted out, drawing angry looks
from the others.  "What?" he shrugged at them.
	She gave them a suspicious look.  These humans had never seen a
gargoyle before.  "We are gargoyles."
	All of them, the blue gargoyle included, spun at a grating sound on
their small window.  The metal creaked softly and four small dents appeared.
	"What was that?" Wade breathed silently.
	The gargoyle's eyes widened and she jumped to her feet.  "Gargoyles!"
	"What?", all four of them asked at once.
	"Those are gargoyle talons, I recognize the sound.  My kind have much
better hearing than humans."  She was staring at the small window while
they stared at her.  Apparently she had forgotten whatever it was that was
making her cry.
	"Can you hear anything else?" Quinn asked, now staring at the window.
	"I can hear voices.  They're right outside!"
	Almost without thinking the sliders pounded on the metal covering,
trying to get the attention of whoever was out there.  They soon were
forced to stop, nursing their bruised hands.
	Then three resounding bangs answered theirs.  Rembrandt shrugged and
banged once more on the metal.  The whole slab of metal covering the
windows came off the frame with a crash and flew across their cell,
bouncing off the cell bars.
Rembrandt stood there, dumbfounded.  "I...I just tapped once!"


	Xanatos could hear Demona stalking into the room, talons clicking
softly on the tiled floor.  He couldn't help but wonder which one this was.
Was it the real thing, or the one he had captured?  What he was more
worried about was Alexander.  He could not let Demona find him.  Even if it
meant sacrificing himself.
	He carefully wrapped Alexander in his blanket and kissed him on the
cheek.  The crib slid noiselessly across the floor as he pulled it behind
the desk, gently setting Alex into the center.  He slid the crib into the
hollow of the desk, then rolled his chair in front, concealing the baby.
	Taking a deep breath, he drew the laser pistol from his desk drawer
and armed it, praying that it was enough to stop Demona.
	"Where are you Xanatos!?", Demona called.  She was obviously angry
about something, which was not at all unusual for her.
	He stood up beside his desk, laser concealed behind his back.  It was
surprising that she was unarmed.  She could usually be seen with her laser
rifle, which she had stolen from him.  Ah well, at least it gave him some
advantage in what seemed to be a hopeless battle.
	He put on his best grin.  "Ah, Demona.  Always a pleasure."
	Her eyes flared a bright red, brighter than he had ever seen before.
It scared him.  And she knew it.  "I should kill you where you stand!"
	"And what have I done to deserve this?" he asked as calm as he could
manage, sweaty palms gripping the laser tighter.
	"As if you didn't know!  You have defiled me!  Robbed me of my own
identity!" she raged, stalking closer with ever word.
	He merely raised a questioning eyebrow, his grin fading.  "What is
she talking about!?" he wondered to himself.
	"Don't play innocent with me Xanatos." she spat.  "I know about your
little *test* in San Francisco."
	Then it dawned on him.  She somehow knew about the duplicate Demona
he had captured on his property.  But how?  And how could he make her
listen?
	"There's been a...misunderstanding, Demona.  If you'll just let me
explain-"  She cut him off with a vicious snarl.
	"EXPLAIN!?  What is there to explain!?"  She clenched her fists,
drawing blood.  "You made another clone, of me!" she said through gritted
teeth.  This was the last straw.  She had nearly lost it when she saw
Delilah, but this was too much.
	"No, really, Demona.  I think you should listen to wh-"
	He barely had time to raise the laser before she leapt at him.  In
desperation he shot, catching her in the chest and throwing her back ten
feet.  She hit the floor hard and lay there silently, not breathing.
	"No, she's faking this" he thought to himself.  Some sucker shot was
not going to take down Demona.  Not even his computer targeted Steel Clan
could take her down.  He readied himself as she stirred, rubbing her head.
Almost as if she was uninjured, she leapt up and slapped the laser from his
hand, sending it clattering off the wall.  Her fangs glistened white as a
smile crept across her face.
	He backed away, trying to lead her from the desk.  As good as he was
with hand to hand combat, he would be no match for her.  MacBeth was the
only person he knew that was Demona's equal in combat.  As he dropped into
a fighting stance, disaster struck.  Alexander cried.
	Demona's eyes immediately died down and she looked at Xanatos, lips
peeled back in an almost demonic smile.  She turned towards the desk and
all the color drained from Xanatos's face.  In a desperate attempt he
jumped towards her, trying to make her forget Alex.  She slapped him into
the wall with her tail almost without even thinking.  He tried to stand,
but was greeted with an amazing pain in his left leg.
	Xanatos watched in horror as she slid the desk back, revealing a
yellow crib containing Alexander.  She bent down, wicked grin still
plastered on her face, and withdrew Alex from his nest of toys and
blankets.  She held him in the crook of her arms, in a mock of how Fox
would hold him.
	"Alex!" Xanatos cried out in fear, trying to get to his feet.  But
the pain prevented him from moving.
	"Well, well, Xanatos.  It seems that I have found a better way to
exact my revenge."  She held the baby before her face, wrinkling her nose.
"Human children are so *ugly*." she said disgustedly.  Alexander began to
cry.

	"Hey, help me with this Rembrandt."  Quinn grunted as he and
Rembrandt struggled to move the heavy wooden bench towards the window.  It
took some time and alot of exertion, but they finally managed to drag it
across the wooden floor.
	"Okay, I'm going up."  Wade hopped to on the bench, now at eye level
with the window.  She immediately was met with a red face, obviously not
that of a human, and a shock of white hair.  It took her by surprise and
she yelped.
	"Hey, sorry." it said to her, smiling.
	"Uh, it's alright." she said nervously, at a loss for words.  This
gargoyle didn't seem to be any kind of threat, but she was still nervous.
	"So... do you guys need help gettin' out...er something."  Now he was
the one at a loss for words.  When he had heard the banging, he had figured
that there was one of Xanatos's crazy projects, or some kind of clone like
Thailog.  He had not even entertained the possibility of humans.  He must
be holding them prisoner.
	"Um, if you can." Wade answered apprehensively.
	He turned away from the window, but then his face appeared again.
"Uh, who are you guys anyway?"
	"I'm Wade.  This is Quinn, Rembrandt, and...The Professor."  She
pointed to each of them in turn, but was not really sure how to introduce
the professor.  The three of them knew had always called him "professor"
 but were not really sure how to introduce him.  She was pretty sure that
this gargoyle was not interested in knowing he was "Professor Maximillion
Arturo".  It was simpler her way.
	"Who are you?" she asked, knowing that the other gargoyle had said
that their kind didn't have names.
	"I'm Brooklyn." he said simply, his face once again disappearing from
the window.  He found himself thinking of Gilligans Island.
	"Where's he goin'?" Rembrandt asked as she hopped down off the bench.
	His question was answered when an echoing crash came from the cell
where the other gargoyle had broken out.  A large slab of metal, now
twisted and mangled, bounced out into the hallway, punching into the
opposite wall.
	"Amazing!" whispered the professor.
	The four of them listened as the gargoyles climbed through the
opening into the abandoned cell.  They could hear the talons sink into the
stone floor and click softly as the walked in.  Four distinct shadows could
be seen projected on the wall from the city's night lights.  One was tall
and obviously female, another was big and appeared to be overweight, one
was very small, and the last seemed to be the one that Wade had talked to.
	They watched as the shadows came closer, tails and wings swaying,
spread against the wall by the lights outside.  Then all four stopped, not
one of them moving.  The shadows became more pronounced, as if there was
some new light source for them to feed on.  A low growl rode on the night
air circulating through the room.
	"Demona." Brooklyn said flatly, staring at the blue gargoyle in the
cell.  All four of them had apparently forgotten about the human captives.
The sliders watched as the four gargoyles opened the iron door, which was
unlocked and the electricity shut off, and stepped into the hallway.  Each
one of them swallowed as these powerful creatures came before their cell.
But they were ignored.  The gargoyle's backs were to them and they were
focused on the other gargoyle.
	"What are you doing here mother?" Angela asked nervously.  She was
on edge since the last time the two of them met it was not on the best of
circumstances.
	The gargoyle in the cell screwed up her face.  "Mother?" she asked,
puzzled by the way these gargoyles seemed to know her.
	"Don't play dumb Demona.  Why are you here?"  Brooklyn's voice was
harsh and his eyes lit.  He had still never forgiven Demona for what she
had tricked him into doing.
	"Look, I don't know who you are or why you think you know me.  But I
don't know who you are or who this *Demona* person is." she pleaded.
	Brooklyn felt like blurting out "You're lying", but he couldn't.  He
believed her, which surprised even himself.  She's fooling you, just like
she did when you took the Grimorum, he kept telling himself.  But there
was something about her that was completely sincere, something very un-
Demona.  Just by looking at the others he knew that they saw it too.
	He motioned the others away from the cell and they moved down the
hall a distance.  They spoke in hushed tones, so Demona could not hear.
	"I don't think that was Demona." Lex said, eyes down the hall.
	"It wasn't."  Angela hung her head.  This gargoyle seemed to be so
normal, so pleasant that she almost wished that this was her mother.  That
by some miracle she had changed.  Feeling Brooklyn's hand on her shoulder,
she looked up at him briefly, then returned her gaze to the floor.
	"Then who was it?" Broadway asked slowly.
	"Another one of Xanatos's clones."  Brooklyn had released Angela, who
was standing a distance away lost in thought, and had his fists clenched.
	"I don't think that's it either." Lex answered slowly, drawing stares
from the others.  "All the clones, both from Xanatos and Thailog, have had
really weird coloring.  If he cloned Demona, then she would be different
colored, not the same as the real one."
	The four of them stood bolt upright at the hostile click of automatic
weapons cocking behind them.

	Xanatos rolled to his stomach, pain lancing through his broken leg,
trying to reach the laser gun a few yards away.  She saw his target and
kicked it to the opposite side of the room, laughing bitterly.
	"Oh, I'm *sorry* Xanatos.  Here."  She held Alex by the shoulders
just out of his reach, laughing as he tried to reach his son.  She knew
that if she did kill Alex, and she would, that Xanatos would personally see
to her death.  But that meant little to an immortal, she told herself.
	"Demona!  Drop the kid!"
	She spun quickly, still holding the baby, and smiled broadly.  This
was the exact opposite of her normal reaction.
	"Ah Maza, come to join the party, have we?" she asked sarcastically.
	"Just put Alex down."  She cocked the hammer on her pistol.  This was
bad.  Demona was enjoying herself, and that only happened when she thought
she could win.  She would shoot if Demona gave her cause to, but she
couldn't as long as she had Alex.
	Xanatos's had never been happier to see Detective Maza in all his
life.  But that hope quickly dwindled.
	"And why should I do that, human?  He's such a sweet baby." she
countered sarcastically.
	"Oh man, why do I always get into things like this?" Elisa thought,
mentally kicking herself since it was her own fault.  "Come on Alex, just
zap her or something." she mused.  But Alex only seemed to do these things
around the Xanatos's or Puck.
	Xanatos's face filled with horror as Demona retrieved his laser
pistol and put it to the crying Alex's chest.  He opened his mouth to say
something, but was paralyzed with fear.  He looked to Detective Maza, who
seemed just as horrified as he was.  Although she barely knew Alex, she
still felt responsible.
	"Goliath where are you?" she groaned.
	"Your Goliath can't save you now, human.  Drop your gun."  The
detective quivered for a second, but didn't lower her gun.
	"You wouldn't, Demona.  Not even you would kill a baby."  She watched
as Demona rolled her eyes.
	"Really, human?  Xanatos was thinking the same thing." she sneered at
Elisa, who gave a defeated look.  She clicked on the safety and dropped the
gun to her feet.
	Demona chuckled to herself.  "Good choice.  Too bad the fate of this
brat is still the same."
	She turned away from them, Alex still balanced in the crook of her
arms crying.  Xanatos looked to Elisa with a 'please-help' look plastered
on his face.  She had never seen him like this.  She didn't want Demona to
get away with this, but rushing her unarmed just seemed a little risky.
But whatever she was thinking was pushed aside, and she ran at Demona,
catching her in the small of the back.  Unfortunately not hard enough.
	She doubled over, still holding Alex, and grabbed Elisa by her jacket
collar, hoisting her up to eye level with one hand.
	"You will regret that, human." she growled softly and threw Elisa as
if she were a rag doll over to Xanatos.  She hit the wall hard and fell
beside Xanatos.
	Demona raised the laser and fired at the huge window, shattering it
into dust.  The wind rushed into the room, blowing through Demona's red
hair, making her look all the more terrifying.  She grinned broadly and
held Alex out the window, only two talons pinned through his clothes
keeping him from the one hundred-plus story fall.
	"Shall we see if your son can fly, Xanatos?" she purred wickedly.
	"Alex..!"  Xanatos pulled harder, dragging himself across the floor
to Demona.
	"Pitiful." she muttered, watching him crawl across the floor.
	"Sir!" she spun to see Owen charging her, but he was dispatched with
a smooth backhanded slap.  He sail across the office into the wall.
	"Do you think you can stop me?!" she raged, eyes glowing red once
again.  Xanatos watched, unable to do a thing, as she was balancing his son
on her arm.
	"Perhaps not." Owen said, coming as close to a smile as he possibly
could.  There was a flash of green light and, in Owen's place, a white
haired elf floated, grinning at her.
	"PUCK!"
	"Oh, you remember me?  How nice."  His grin broadened.  Perhaps this
could be fun afterall.
	"Of course I remember you.  If I could, I would rip out you throat."
she growled.
	Puck's grin faltered, then reappeared.  "Oh, come on.  I gave you a
gift, you should be thanking me."
	"Thank you!?-" she snarled at the sprite.
	He cut her off before she could finish.  "Why, you're welcome Demona!
And here I thought you were ungrateful."
	Her eyes lit, her anger now focused on the white haired elf, floating
and grinning like an idiot.  Why not kill two birds with one stone, she
thought to herself.  She could always gloat over Xanatos some other time.
	"Take one last look at your *precious* son, Xanatos." she said
sarcastically, balancing Alex in the palm of her hand.  Xanatos watched,
eyes wide, and tried to say something, but the words were not there.
	With a flip of her wrist, Demona let Alex fall through the open
window.  She laughed maniacally as Elisa slumped against the wall, head
buried in her hands, not wanting to see this.
	"PUCK!!" Xanatos yelled to the elf, who was floating there, gaping at
Demona.  Not even he could believe that she had actually done that.  Sure,
he knew that she was evil, but this was beyond evil.
	"Back in a flash!" he said semi-cheerfully, disappearing in a flash
of green light.
	
	Puck reappeared outside the Eyrie Building, matching Alexander's
speed towards the ground, now at about the eightieth floor.  The baby
seemed remarkably calm, not even crying.
	"Okay Alex, just like I showed you!" he said to the little baby.  He
cooed in response and his fall began to slow, then stop altogether.  Soon
the two of them were floating side by side, hanging in midair at the fifty-
third floor of the Eyrie Building.
	"Good!  You've been practicing, haven't you?  If only we could get
your mommy to do this." he chuckled, remembering how he tried to get Fox
to practice her powers.  She refused of course, but that didn't mean that
she was off the hook.
	Puck turned from the floating baby to the building beside them.
There was a young executive in a red business dress staring at them, coffee
mug clenched in her hand and mouth hanging agape.
	Puck smiled cheerfully and waved.  In response she promptly dropped
her coffee mug and passed out on the floor.
	"Perhaps we should be getting back to the castle Alex."  He knew that
Oberon and Titania would not be pleased with him lingering in mid-air over
New York, although it was fun.
	Puck took Alex in his arms and the two vanished with a green flash
of Fey magic.

	"Okay monster, turn around real slow"
	The four gargoyles did as they were directed and were met with five
guards, one with noticeable red hair.  The gargoyles exchanged glances,
each one in turn lighting their eyes.  Four on five, not a problem.
	Brooklyn lashed out with his talons, slapping the rifle from the
guards hand.  He reeled back nursing his broken hand as Brooklyn spun,
catching him in the head with this tail, knocking him out.  Broadway spun,
coiling his tail around one guards gun and pulled it from his hand,
crushing it with a menacing growl.
	Lexington bopped a guard on the head, laying him out cold on the
floor.  He ducked quickly as a guard came flying overhead, launched by
Brooklyn who shrugged at him.  Broadway dropped another guard beside the
other two.  Three down, two to go.  The three of them stood and watched
Angela chase down the last guard.
	Almost as quickly as the battle had begun it was over.  Four of the
five guards were unconscious and their guns had been destroyed.  Angela
walked calmly to the others, the red haired guard squirming as she held him
one handed by the neck of his uniform a foot off the ground.  She dropped
him before the cell with the gargoyle.
	"Open it." she growled, eyes masked in red.
	"Cheerfully!" he replied without hesitation.  He slid the keycard
through the slot, punched in the code, and unlocked the door.  He yelped in
surprise as Angela lifted him again, setting him before the other cell.
He repeated the process and both cages were open.  She tossed the guard
back over with the others.
	The four humans came out of their cage eagerly, in awe of the battle
they had just witnessed.  But the Demona-like gargoyle seemed hesitant.
It took her a few seconds to come out, as if she were afraid of something.
	"Thanks." Wade said to the gargoyles after they were out.
	The four gargoyles beamed at this.  They were not accustomed to being
thanked.  Normally the people that they rescued would run away screaming
about monsters.  It felt good.
	"You're welcome."  Brooklyn cleared his throat.  "Um, we should get
out of here, before more of Xanatos's goons show up."  He gestured for the
others to follow him.
	"Where can we take them, Brooklyn?" Angela whispered to him.
	"I don't know."  He would liked to have taken them away from the
castle, but he didn't think that they would be able to fly while carrying
any of them.  Besides, where could we go, he thought to himself.  It's not
like we could go back to the clock tower.  "This place is about as safe as
they'll get.  I think they should meet Goliath."
	She wavered a bit.  "Are you sure?  I mean, she looks just like
Demona.  Who knows how he'll react."
	"I know, but there's nowhere else." he breathed.  He knew that she
wanted to protect her father, so did he, but there was nowhere else to take
them.  He had thought about The Labyrinth, but Talon would never accept
this gargoyle, and the clones would not want to her to stay there.
	They emerged into the courtyard, expecting to be swarmed with Xanatos
guards, but it was empty.  They had just released people that Xanatos had
obviously gone to alot of trouble to keep from escaping, and now they were
going to get away without a fight?
	"I don't like this." Broadway said, surveying the courtyard.
	"Yeah, where is everybody?"  Brooklyn looked back at the door they
had emerged from, but there were no guards giving chase.
	"I don't get it, we must've triggered some kind of alarm." Lex said,
scratching his head.
	"Something must have happened, not even Owen is here. Come on!" 
Angela ran across the yard, headed for the television room.  Something was
wrong, she could feel it.  The others followed her, leaving the blue
gargoyle and the humans standing in the courtyard alone.
	"It seems we've been abandoned." the professor announced to the
others.  There was not a sign of life in the whole place, aside from them
of course.
	"I think we should just wait for them to come back." Wade suggested.
"We don't know anything about this place.  And this Xanatos guy must be a
real weirdo if he puts a castle on top of a skyscraper.  You're not
leaving too, are you?" she asked the blue gargoyle that was standing with
them.
	She hung her head.  "Where could I go?" she said remorsefully. 
There wasn't anywhere she could go.  These surroundings were very
unfamiliar to her, and she was willing to bet that all humans were not
this friendly.  Besides, she didn't want to leave.  For the first time in
her life she had found people, gargoyle and human, that were welcoming her.

	Angela cautiously opened the door to the television room, but there
was no one there.  Not even Bronx.  Hudson would not leave his television
for something trivial, and it must be serious if they brought Bronx along
for the ride.
	She stepped back into the hall with Broadway, where Brooklyn and Lex
came running up to her.  "We checked the library, he's not there."
	"Not even Bronx was in here."
	"I think we should go talk to Xanatos." Lex suggested.  All four of
them agreed on that.  They ran down the hall towards Xanatos's office.

	Demona turned back from the window to her captives.  This had turned
out much better than she had anticipated.  She had merely come to gain
access to XanaCorp's computers, and now she had both Xanatos and Detective
Maza in her clutches.
	She pricked up her ears at the sound of heavy footfalls coming
towards the office.  She recognized them as gargoyle footsteps.  Really
angry gargoyle footsteps.  It must be Goliath.  She was not willing to go
up against the combined forces of his clan and Xanatos.
	"It seems that I must be going.  But I will be back." she called out,
leaping into the night air, screeching in triumph as she flew off.
	Just seconds after she flew off Goliath, Hudson, and Bronx burst
through the doors.  Each of them looked incredibly mad, even Bronx.  His
anger faded as he saw Elisa leaning against the wall, staring at the floor.
	"Elisa!  Are you injured!?"  He rushed to her side, helping her to
stand.  She holstered her gun and leaned on his arm.
	"I'm fine." she said softly, looking at Xanatos sitting on the floor,
clenching his fist.
	"What happened?" he asked, taking in the destruction around the room.
	Bronx growled as he snuffled around Xanatos's desk.  "Demona was
here." Hudson announced, sheathing his sword.
	"Yeah.  She took Alex."  Elisa pushed away from Goliath and knelt
beside Xanatos.  He just looked at her, helpless for the first time in his
life.  He didn't like the feeling.
	"He's gone." he said quietly.
	"You mean..." Goliath began.  Elisa nodded.
	There was a flash of green and they all turned to see Puck sitting on
the desk, holding Alex.  "He flies very well, if I do say so myself.  You
must be very proud, dad."  Even through all this, Puck had remained
cheerful.
	Alex gurgled happily as Puck released him into Xanatos's arms.  He
held the baby tightly, seeming to be on the verge of tears.
	Puck stepped back and flashed back into Owen, adjusting his tie.  He
pulled the ever present cellular phone from his pocket, said a few words, 
then stowed it away again.
	Goliath and Elisa stood side by side before the broken window,
watching the city far below.  Elisa sighed, thinking about everything that
had happened tonight.  "I can't believe she did this."
	"She will not get away with it, I assure you." he said, clenching his
fist.  "One way or another, we will stop her."
	Both of them turned to see Angela and The Trio run into the room.
Their eyes were fixed on the damage around the room, and a battered Xanatos
sitting against the wall holding Alex.
	Angela joined them at the window.  She didn't even have to ask who
did this, she knew.  "Why did she do this?" she asked, her voice shaky.  
	"I don't know" Goliath answered softly.  He knew that she didn't like
to talk about this.
	"Oh geez, how am I going to explain this to Fox?!" Xanatos asked,
drawing a few chuckles from the others.
	The three of them watched as some of Xanatos's guards helped him into
a stretcher, then race him away to the infirmary.  Owen walked out,
carrying Alex off to his nursery, still as emotionless as ever.  Elisa
found herself wondering how it was that someone like Owen could really be a
trickster like Puck.
	"Um, Goliath?"  Goliath turned to see Brooklyn behind him, looking
nervous.  "We found, uh, something you should see, in the courtyard."  He
knew that this was not the best time to bring this to Goliath's attention,
but he would have found out for himself soon enough.
	He growled softly.  "Very well.  Come."  He left the office with
Elisa by his side, the others trailing behind.  They all walked silently
towards the courtyard, Angela and The Trio looking nervously at Goliath.
No one could predict how he would react to this.
	All of them stopped immediately after stepping onto the yard.  Elisa
drew her gun while Hudson drew his sword and Bronx growled menacingly.
Goliath's eyes lit like a fire, his wings flew off his shoulders, and it
looked like he was about to charge.  His anger boiled over and he let loose
an incredible roar.  "DEMONA!"
	The blue gargoyle who had been sitting on the lip of the stone rail
snapped her head up, staring at the other gargoyles.  Her eyes were fixed
on the huge gray-violet male who was obviously very angry.  Even he thought
that she was this mythical "Demona" person.  Who was this anyway?  The
others seemed to hate her with a passion.
	She stood, wings on her shoulders, eyeing him nervously.  Her gaze
was fixed on him, and she didn't even notice the older gargoyle with the
huge sword and the human with the gun aimed at her.  She stumbled back,
almost falling as he charged at her, but then Angela held him back.
	"Father, wait!  That's not Demona!" she pleaded desperately.
	He stopped his charge, but didn't seem to believe her.  She put
herself between him and the other gargoyle.  "We found her in the castle
dungeon with some humans.  I've talked to her, and she's not my mother."
	He looked down at her.  "You are sure of this?!"
	"Yes.  Just talk to her, you'll see."  She stepped out of his way.
	He ran her words through his mind over and over again, considering
what she had said.  This gargoyle was not acting like Demona at all.  She
even seemed to be afraid of him.  No, it is a ruse, he thought.  As much as
he wanted to believe that this was not Demona, he couldn't.
	He stepped slowly towards her and she backed up in response.  Demona
would not back down.  She turned to glide off, but she looked back
hesitantly.  "Please, wait!  Who are you?"
	She turned back and looked at him strangely.  Now she remembered him.
He was one of the gargoyles that had been turned to stone by that human
wizard.  Goliath, was it?  But they were gone!
	"I, I don't have a name." she said softly, watching him.  His eyes
dimmed to their normal deep brown and he folded his wings again.
	Elisa turned to Angela.  "You're right.  That isn't Demona."
	"Don't be too sure, lass.  She could be playing us fer fools."
Hudson kept his sword at the ready.
	"She's too calm for Demona.  So the big question is, who is she?"
Elisa looked to the others, who shrugged in response.

	"I believe we can explain that, my dear."  She turned to see a man in
a trenchcoat, flanked by a young woman, and two other men.
	"Who're you?" she asked, getting irritated with all this.
	"They're the people that were in the dungeon." Angela whispered.
	"Professor Maximillion Arturo.  This is Wade Wells, Quinn Mallory,
and Rembrandt Brown."  The four of them moved over to the group.
	"You can explain who she is?" Elisa asked slowly.
	"Yeah." the tall brown haired man answered.  "She's not this Demona
person you think she is.  The rest takes a while to explain."
	"Then we shall listen."  Goliath motioned for them to follow him into
the Great Hall.  All of them moved into the hall, leaving Angela and the
other gargoyle alone in the courtyard.
	"Are you going to come?" Angela asked quietly, moving towards her.
	She looked nervously at Angela.  From what she had seen so far, she
knew that Angela could be trusted.  But she had no reason to trust this
other gargoyle.  "I don't know." she said to the stone ground.
	Angela put her hand on her shoulder.   "You can trust us.  My father
doesn't want to hurt you, he's just...confused."
	She looked into Angela's eyes, then returned her gaze to the floor.
Where else could she go?  "I trust you." she said softly.  The two of them
walked side by side to the Great Hall.

	He flew high above the city, gazing down at the myriad of lights
illuminating the night.  He had not seen this place for decades, and he had
hoped that he would never have to see it again.  Being in Xanatos's
possession, having to survive in this place living like a weasel, eating
from trash cans.
	Never again, he thought to himself.  I can simply remove the humans
the same way I did before.  Perhaps this would be fun afterall.  He had not
had humans to torment and hunt for a very long time.  Too bad he was going
to have to do away with every last one of them.	
	He reached into his satchel and withdrew a shiny green and gold
amulet.  It's so simple, just a few words and there will be no more humans
left on the planet.  He gazed into the Phoenix Gate, watching his
reflection.  Yes, then once again I will be in control of everything.
	"Deflegrate muri tempe et intervallia!" he called out, thinking of
where he wanted to be.  He closed his eyes to shield them from the fires of
time.  But nothing happened.
	He cautiously opened one eye, only to find himself in the same place
as before.  I must have spoken the incantation wrong, he thought.
	"Deflegrate muri tempe et intervallia!" he called out once again,
leaving his eyes open this time.  Still nothing.  He poked the gate with a
talon, turning it over and over in his hands.  It was undamaged, not even a
scratch on it.
	"Deflegrate muri tempe et intervallia?"  More nothing.
	He stuffed it back into his satchel disgusted.  Xanatos must have
done this, he thought to himself.  He must have taken it while I slept and
replaced it with a phony.  Perhaps I should pay him a visit.
	He swung his course around and headed back to the castle.

	"Wait, let me get this straight.  You're from another Earth?"
	"No, well, not exactly.  We're from a parallel Earth.  It's in a
universe roughly askew of this one." Quinn explained again.  Elisa rubbed
her temples.  This was giving her a headache.  It was just like when she
was trying to understand Goliath's time travel in London.
	"And there's more than one of these other worlds?"
	"Thousands, millions, who knows how many!?  We haven't even landed
back on our Earth yet." Rembrandt exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
	The only one in the room that seemed to be understanding what they
were saying was Lex.  He would listen, pop in with a question, then listen
more.  The others seemed to have gotten the idea that they were from
another Earth, but still didn't understand how.
	"When do you go to another world?" Lex asked eagerly.  He would love
to see whatever it was that let them do this.
	Wade shrugged.  "Whenever the timer tells us to.  But Xanatos took
it.  If we don't get it back we'll be stranded on this world."
	Goliath snarled.  "I knew that he could not be trusted.  He claims to
be in our debt, yet does nothing to alter his behavior.  We will help you
get your timer back."  The others agreed with him, and the sliders
brightened at this.  Perhaps they would get home afterall.
	"Um, does anyone know where they're keeping it?"  They all swung
around to look at Brooklyn, each of them shaking their heads.
	"Let's check Xanatos's office." Broadway suggested.
	The others left the room, leaving Goliath and the other gargoyle
alone together.  He once again found himself staring at her.  In a way she
was his angel of the night reincarnated.  She acted like his Angel once
had, when she was younger.  He knew that there would never be anything
between them, but still...  No, he told himself, shaking from his dream.
She is not your Angel, but she is not Demona either.
	She turned to look back at him from the window where she stood.  She
knew that this gargoyle that they were mistaking her for must have meant
something to him.  She had picked that up from the other gargoyles hesitant
reactions, and from listening to Brooklyn and Angela.
	"What are you looking for?" he asked, coming to stand behind her.
	"I'm just looking out there.  This world is so different from the one
I come from."  She found herself gazing at him, as he had been doing to her.
	"What was your world like?"
	"There is nothing like this.  There are no humans in that world."
She decided that it was better not to tell him about the other that Xanatos
had brought here.  These were the first gargoyle that welcomed her into
their clan.  If they found out about her mate, then she might be