by Paul Nathans (Elyzhutch on AOL, I have to go on under Mom's name)

An Introduction: I'm new at this, so don't be surprised if this first attempt doesn't come through posted correctly, or isn't very good. As for the copyrights, I don't know if this is required or not, so I had better put it. The normal Gargoyles characters are the property of Disney (and since I've read other authors including Buena Vista Television, I suppose I had better put that, too) and Buena Vista Television. I read in one fanfic that many people make references to other people's characters, so I suppose its not infringing on copyrights if I make a few mentions of certain characters. However, just in case it is, Athena, Dr. Straussmore/Ares, Lazarus, Orpheus, the Shadow Clan, the Eclipse, Minerva, Gemini, Bio-Three/Shiva, Bio-Four/Lilith, Bio-Five/Thailog 2, and Athens Incorporated are the property of Ryan Stout (The three names before the last have hardly any chance of mention, since I don't know how "A Stitch In Time" will end.) Professor Scott S. Mercure, Venus, Jacob, Robert MacGregor, James MacGregor, Cassandra, Eric, Mistra, Bio-One, Bio-Two, the original Bio-Three, Bio-Four, and Bio- Five, and Bio-(Six)/Goliath 2, are the property of Scott S. Mercure. I probably won't include many, or maybe even any, of these names made by other authors, but I don't know, so I wrote them down just in case.

Acknowledgments and other Things: I would like to thank Ryan Stout for inspiring me to write this (my first fanfic), and for replying to the E-Mail messages I sent him (although he hasn't replied to all of them yet.) That's about it this time around, since I haven't typed anything yet and haven't gotten any compliments. As for the other things, I'M going to rate several stories, plus list the T.V. Episodes they fall between (the stories will be in parenthesis), or I think they fall between (* means not very good, ** means okay, *** means average, **** means Great!, ***** means Incredible!, and *****+ means the Absolute Greatest Gargoyles Fanfic I've read.)

Here's the ratings.

"LEADER OF THE PACK" ("THE BUTLER'S TALE")Haven't Read That One Yet) "METAMORPHOSIS" "THE MIRROR" ("OLD TIMES")***) "THE SILVER FALCON" "DOUBLE JEOPARDY" ("DARK PLACES") Haven't Read That One Yet) ("FULL MOON RISING")***) ("OLD SURPRISES, NEW FRIENDS")***) "UPGRADE" "PROTECTION" ("DEMONA'S LOVE REBORN")****) "THE CAGE" "THE PRICE" ("ATHENA")****) "AVALON, PART I" "AVALON, PART II" "AVALON, PART III" (I list all parts of multi-parter shows before or after the rated fanfic.) "GRIEF" ("RESURRECTIONS")****) "THE HOUND OF ULSTER" "MARK OF THE PANTHER" "PENDRAGON" ("TOIL AND TROUBLE")*****+) "EYE OF THE STORM" (MOTP and P I needed to list because they were listed in TAT.) "ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT" ("GEMINI")*****) ("GAMES")Haven't Read That One Yet) "FUTURE TENSE" "VENDETTAS" ("THE CHILD")****) ("GEMINI'S BAD DAY")Not done reading) "TURF" ("THE GAUNTLET")****) ("INSTINCTS")*****) ("EXISTENCE")Isn't Out Yet) "THE RECKONING" (Note: For multi-part fanfics I rate it altogether I'm just mentioning that now before I reach one.) "THE RECKONING" ("VISSI D' ARTE")***) "POSSESSION" "HUNTER'S MOON, PART I" "HUNTER'S MOON, PART II" "HUNTER'S MOON, PART III" ("MUTATIS MUTANDIS: EVERYTHING CHANGES")*****) ("IN QUESTA REGGIA")***) ("A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME")****) ("QUI TOLLIS PECCATA MUNDI")****) ("ALL'S WELL")Haven't Read That One Yet) "THE JOURNEY" "TO SERVE MANKIND" ("A STITCH IN TIME, PART I: THE BEGINNING OF THE END") ("A STITCH IN TIME: PART II: DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS") ("A STITCH IN TIME, PART III: FALL FROM GRACE") ("A STITCH IN TIME, PART IV: TO HELL AND BACK")***** so far) "GENERATIONS"

Now that the ratings are done, its time for the story. Also, if you didn't like the ratings, then tell me, even though I do think I have the right to have an opinion. And, this story takes place between the episodes "GENERATIONS" and "A BRONX TAIL." Oh well, enough chit chatting about various things. I'll say this again. Since I'm done with the chats, its time for the story.

"It's not someone's lifetime that's important. It's the day to day
concerns, the personal victories, and the celebration of life- and
love."
Terra
Final Fantasy III for Super Nintendo

"A gargoyle canna' no more stop protecting than breathing the air."
Hudson
"Reawakening" on Gargoyles

"THE SCISSION"

Goliath's Quote: "Gargoyles protect. It is their nature. To lose it is
to become corrupt, empty, lifeless. No matter what the danger, no
matter what happens, gargoyles must protect. Unfortunately,
protection has its dangers and choices as well. And when faced
with a threat to the people who we protect, and a threat to our
clan, who do we protect if we can only choose one? How, and
what might be the cost? Even though it is something I wish to
avoid, I fear my clan and I shall soon know."

November 18, 1996 A.D.
Somewhere in the universe

     Within, and yet without the universe, the time-stream pulsated, 
going ever forward, continuing onward, second by second. The
time stream was ever continuous, devoid of all objects. It was a
void of matter, but not the type that made of the universe. It was
even more of a void than the void beyond the edge of the universe.
     Until now.
     Trapped within the time-stream, forced to progress forward in
time, hanging suspended in the very fabric of the time void, was a
small medallion with an orange bird of flames emblazoned in it.
The emblem was finally registering it had no mind to guide it, and
had no choice but to stay still. But if it stayed still until the
beginning of the universe-
     Imprisoned inside the emblem, the evil wizard had been
imprisoned there since losing the Eye of Odin in a battle with a
certain lavender colored gargoyle. Eagerly realizing what would
happen, the mage allowed itself to fall asleep. In a matter of days,
the emblem would warp to the beginning of the universe. It would
melt in the explosion that gave life to the universe, freeing the
wizard. If he could just absorb the energies in the explosion, he
would be invincible.
     An evil laugh, sounding like the laugh of an old man, cackled
through the timestream for several seconds before fading away.

November 18, 1996 A.D.
A "deserted," mysterious house

     Demona bolted upright, screaming, from her afternoon nap.
Lately she hadn't cared much for controlling her company, and she
let her assistant Robyn take over (although she had some pretty
strong suspicions about who Robyn really was, but she wasn't
going to blow her cover by demanding she leave. If Robyn really
was who she thought she might be, Robyn might have very good
guesses as to her identity as well. She wouldn't take action unless
she was deliberately attacked.) But that was not her main worry
right now.
     Over the past week, she had taken to resting for the few hours
before she transformed into her natural form. Her sundial alarm
clock would wake her up two minutes before the sun set. That way
her human form probably wouldn't need rest in most of her daily
exertions. But it was four minutes before sunset. Demona turned
off her alarm clock almost subconsciously, while breathing heavily.
For the past week, ever since she had ended up betraying Angela
again, she had been having a constant nightmare. It involved a
huge crowd of humans firing at Angela. She would glide around
for several hours before being knocked to the ground. Then a
thermite grenade would be thrown on her, and she would be
caught in the exact center of the blast. When the explosion ended,
all that remained of her daughter would be ashes.
     But today, the dream was much worse. After the first painful
scene she had seen two scenes at once. One was a human with a
sledgehammer, shattering the stone statue of her daughter into
many pieces. Her daughter's expression contorted into extreme
pain as her face fell to the ground of the castle turret the gargoyles
slept on.
     The other was much worse. Angela's face was again contorted
into a painful way, but this time she was flesh, even though she
wasn't shattered, and she was constantly screaming in agony and
sobbing uncontrollably. This was what had awoken Demona from
her afternoon slumber.
     As the last rays of sunlight vanished below the horizon,
Demona decided what to do. She was going to visit her daughter,
but not be seen. She would just check in on her, then leave. Her
screams of pain began with her transformation.

Castle Wyvern
The top of the Eyrie Building

     At the same time, the last rays of sunshine on the gargoyle
statues perched on top of Castle Wyvern also vanished, and the
stone transformation began. At first, all that appeared were cracks
in the stone, but that soon changed. The cracks became more
frequent, until all the statues were covered with cracks. Then the
stone burst outward, and the gargoyles inside roared, stretching, as
their stone skin flew off them, landing in various places in the
castle courtyard and in other places.
     Several of them fell over the side of the Eyrie Building. And a
few of those several fell down around Quarryman leader John
Castaway, who was doing his weekly spy on where he supposed
the gargoyles lived. He grinned, and took out his portable phone,
ready to signal one of the armed choppers and backup in a truck.
He was also ready to order the rest of the Quarrymen to surround
the building. The evil monstrosities would not survive the night.

Two minutes later

     Demona neared the Eyrie Building, hoping that Xanatos didn't
have some sort of security system. She didn't want to be prevented
from even SEEING her own daughter. She quickly repositioned
herself, finding an air current strong enough to take her up even
higher. That was when she noticed a familiar van parked in front of
the Eyrie Building. She gasped, and dove downward. In thirty
seconds she had positioned herself on a balcony overlooking the
sidewalk. She was high enough so anyone who didn't look up and
who wasn't on the opposite side of the street would even see her
shadow. She knelt down and began to listen with interest.
     "Remember, I want you to coordinate both the chopper attacks
and the truck attacks together," spoke one of the men, who was
obviously a Quarryman. "Phone Pack Media studios and get Wolf
to come here. Jackal and Hyena cannot afford to be spared in their
international hunt for other gargoyle clans. And remember, I want
all our other groups to hide at these coordinations. 1-"
     The Quarryman was interrupted by a trash can being thrown at
him. He crashed to the ground, the wind knocked out of him.
Startled, Demona watched as three mean-looking teenagers
approached. Nearby cars, who had payed no attention to the
talking through the phone, screeched to a halt. She even heard one
of them radio the police.
     "Do you know how many times we've had to spend three
months in jail for illegal activities?" said one. "Twice." The three
teenagers began to advance. "We've heard about you- Querymen,
and we decided that with your weapons, we can perform as many
illegal activities as we want, and not get caught."
     This was becoming very interesting. Demona listened even
closer.

     John Castaway also was listening to what the teenagers said.
How weak did these punks think he was? As he watched, they
advanced. One picked up another trash can and prepared to shove
it over his head. Big mistake! The Quarryman leader picked up the
trash can on his stomach and hurled it at the teenager holding the
trash can. He was knocked to the ground, and the trash can the
punk was holding crashed on the head of the punk, pinning that
fool to the ground.
     The other two teenagers began to circle him. One charged at
him, the one behind him. John heard the footsteps and saw the
shadow. He flung his feet upwards and backwards, catching the
punk behind him in the chin. John rolled forward, throwing that kid
headfirst into the other charging teen. They both collapsed, and the
one who had gotten kicked in the chin fainted. That left one more.
     As expected, the teen charged. Castaway thrust forward, and
was met with a block. He responded with a kick in the head, but it
was his turn to be surprised. The teenager ducked, and punched
him in the stomach. Immediately afterwards, a trash can was
slammed down on John's head. The teenager who had gotten
pinned by the trash cans had gotten up, picked up one of the trash
cans, and had sneaked behind John and slammed it on his head.
     The Quarryman grunted in pain, but didn't collapse. Instead, he
picked up the trash can, threw it as far away as possible, and spin
kicked, nailing both of the two teens in the stomach. Another two
punches, one at each punk's face, and the two remaining teenagers
fell to the ground, unconscious.
     "Quarrymen weapons are not meant to be used for evil," 
muttered John, picking up his portable phone from where it had
fallen when he was first attacked with the trash can. "Don't they
know that?"
     As he prepared to call the Quarryman he was talking to before,
he noticed the line was still working. "Are you still on?" he asked
into the phone.
     "What just happened?" came the reply. "I heard some sounds
that sounded like a battle, but I didn't want to hang up in case you
needed to order help through the phone. I assume everything's
okay now?"
     "To answer your second question, yes," answered Castaway.
"The answer to the first question is that three teenagers just
attacked me, seeking to steal my weaponry. As for staying on the
phone, I believe you are very close to a promotion."
     "Thank you, sir," was the next reply.
     "Now, to return to our plan," continued John Castaway. "The 
coordinates are 14-" and he continued to list them.

     At the top of the Eyrie Building, inside Castle Wyvern,
Lexington slowly opened the door to Alexander's nursery. Inside
he saw Fox reading Alex a story, and silently closed the door. He
didn't want to disturb Alex when his mother was reading him a
story. 
     As he turned to leave, Xanatos silently opened the door to the
hall and walked into the office. The door slid shut behind him
automatically.
     "Hi, Xanatos," said Lexington, after turning around. "I was
wondering why you weren't in your office when I came here to the
nursery."
     "I was merely talking with Owen about another one of my
projects," replied the billionaire as he walked over to his desk and
sat down in the chair behind it. "It's something I expect completed
within the next few days."
     Lexington had begun to pay full attention as soon as he heard
the word "project." He and the rest of the clan had been living in
the castle again for almost two months now, and Xanatos hadn't
yet betrayed any of the clan members. However, he still had his
suspicions, as he was sure all the gargoyles did, Matt, and
especially Elisa. After all, Xanatos had mutated her brother from a
human into a hybrid consisting of four different creatures, a
panther, a bat, an eel, and one which Lexington couldn't remember
at the moment and didn't care about right now.
     "What kind of project?" asked the suspicious gargoyle.
     "Top secret," said Xanatos. "I assure you, it has nothing to do
with you or the rest of the clan."
     Lexington gave him his 'Yeah right!' look.
     The billionaire sighed. "Lexington, you and the others have
been here for almost two months now. If I had wanted to betray
you and the rest of the clan, I would have already done that. I have
50 Steel Clan robots remaining, I have anti-air defenses, and a
private army consisting of 200 troops. It used to be 275 troops,
but the number of casualties over the last two years and with some
of the troops leaving, their number has been reduced. Therefore, I
think you can see I don't want to enslave the clan or drive them
away."
     "I suppose so," said Lex. "But I still have my doubts about
what you just said, and what you've said before."
     "If it'll make you feel better I'll let you see the project," said
Xanatos.
     "Very well," Lexington conceded grudgingly. "But this better
not be a trap of yours. First you said top secret, then you said
you'd show me."
     "I said top secret but I never said you couldn't see it," answered 
Xanatos. "Follow me and I'll show you."
     Lexington nodded and followed Xanatos out of the room.

Sub-basement 50
Four minutes later

     The elevator doors slowly slid open, revealing a short corridor
with a door of- Lexington's mouth opened as he saw it- pure
energy.
     The lights immediately changed from dim to bright as Xanatos
stepped out of the elevator. "Right this way, please," he said,
walking up to the door of energy.
     Xanatos pressed his finger on a small, normal looking set of
wall. "Checking blood vessels, bodily structures, memories, and
brainwaves," spoke a metallic voice. "Identified as David Xanatos.
Access allowed."
     The energy door vanished.
     "I would like the gargoyle nearby allowed in, please," said
Xanatos. "Do not prevent his entrance." Xanatos turned, then said
to Lexington. "This is the latest in identification doorways. It is
made of pure energy, and is impassable unless it chooses to allow
people through. It checks blood vessels, bodily structures, and
most importantly,  memories and brain waves. The latter two are
checked to determine whether the person wishing access is not a
clone or disguised as myself, Fox, or Owen using magic or other
means, if there are other means possible. Only I, Fox, and Owen
are allowed in, and if anyone else is to be allowed in, I have to give
permission each time. That should keep any thieves out."
     "If you have all this why did we have to go all the way to your
castle office to take that bullet elevator down here?" inquired Lex.
     "The more security, the better," said David, walking through
the door.
     Lexington followed, and as he passed the threshold, the hidden 
computer clicked and whirred. "Identified as gargoyle, Lexington,"
came the voice again. "You may proceed."
     Not making any comment, the gargoyle entered the room- and
his mouth dropped open again.
     He was standing on a narrow balcony overlooking a huge
room. He moved to the very edge, looking over the railing. What
seemed like at least two thousand meters below him, he saw the
floor. The ceiling was another five hundred meters above him. That
was impressive, but the most impressive thing was what he saw in
the room. 
     Looking down, he could see a cube of pure energy suspended
in the exact center of the room, both vertically and horizontally in
all directions. The cube was too far away to see what was in it,
because the room was also two thousand, five hundred feet across,
but he could just make out what looked like a robot floating in the
center. Directly across from him, on the far side of the room, he
could see what must be a two-hundred-foot-tall Steel Clan robot,
and what he estimated to be two fifty-foot-tall robots too. The two
smaller robots were on either side of the large one, and all three
were trapped inside a cube similar to the one the other robot was
in. However, this cube ended at the wall behind it, and the floor of
the large balcony below it. On a platform fifty feet below the
ceiling, Lex could faintly see another robot, slightly larger than a
normal-sized Steel Clan robot. But the most fascinating thing of all
was the computers. Huge computers were attached to the far wall,
and they seemed to have a ridiculous amount of wires attached to
both cubes. That was all Lexington needed to see to know
something big was going on.
     "I suppose you like it, don't you," said Xanatos. "Since Athena 
escaped, Athens Incorporated now has the Coldstone Virus and
my energy shield, plus the originals of the newest version of my
exo-frame, and my two advanced Steel Clan robots, and
Cyberbiotics has its robots, too, I realized I needed something
better to top the robotics market and win the company race. I
found out about the theft of the virus and the shield a week after
the theft, and since then I've been working on this." He gestured to
the robots in the room. "Let me explain."
     Xanatos pointed to the two fifty-foot tall robots on both sides
of the larger one. "Those two robots are the only members of the
Grand Clan. Like Athena they can think, feel, act, and are capable
of all human things. Their intelligence level is the same, too, and
they have secondary survival programming as well. However, I
made no attempt to hide the fact that they are robots. And they are
a lot stronger than Athena." He noticed Lexington glaring at him
and said "Don't worry, I don't intend to torture them like I did to
her." Then he continued. "They each create lasers through their
hands, and like the Bio Clan, their rockets are in their feet. Finally,
their defense level is so great that only a few weapons, all
incredibly strong, and including nuclear weaponry, can
harm them."
     "The 200 foot tall robot standing between the two Grand Clan
robots is called the Ultimax Penultimax," continued Xanatos. "The
Ultimax Penultimax is so named because it is what would be
considered to be the ultimate in robotics. Its totally invincible
against any type of non-nuclear weapon, and has an incredible
amount of hidden artillery. It is also an Athena type android, but its
intelligence has been increased to that of Thailog's. Besides this,
this robot also has the latest in liquid metal. Any parts of it can
wrinkle up like a shirt and form into different shapes, except the
head, the neck, and computer chips and technological gizmos
inside the robot. But what is probably the best part of all, besides
its having an incredible amount of strength, is the ability of the
liquid metal to, if it forms into a blaster or gun like part anywhere
on the body, it can fire any types of weaponry out of the "blasters,"
except nuclear weaponry."
     "The "robot" on the platform fifty feet below the ceiling is
actually not a robot, but the final version of my exo-frame. That
red, blue, and gold exo-frame has as much resistance to attacks as
my two Grand Clan robots, and is the same size as the Exo-Frame
2.0, the one Dr. Straussmore stole. Its is also composed of sheet
metal, and can reform at an incredible speed into other types of
objects, or extend parts of the machine, stretching them and
creating blasters. The sheet metal can change color too, making
this exo-frame a very effective weapon. As for the reforming into
different types of objects, even though it can "grow," it can only
"enlarge" and/or "extend" up to certain limits. Finally, the
exo-frame has the ability to pick up radio waves and broadcasted
signals not its own. In other words, it can intercept transmissions,
even though it is a rather difficult process."
     Lexington was becoming more interested by the second, but he
was also having more suspicions. Why use fighting robots to top
the robotics market? Nevertheless, he decided to let Xanatos
continue.
     "And, finally, there is Project Ultima," said Xanatos, pointing to
the robot slightly larger than a Steel Clan robot floating inside the
energy cube in the center of the room. "It is the highest I think
anyone would ever be able to achieve with robotics. That robot
you see may look like just a deluxe Steel Clan robot, but in reality
it is much, much more. It has all the capabilities of the two Grand
Clan robots, the Ultimax Penultimax robot, and the Exo-Frame
version 3.0. It is also thousands of times stronger and smarter,
smart enough that it can figure out how to manipulate atoms and
even smaller particles into doing what it wants them to do. That is
one of the exceptionally great things about Project Ultima.
Because it can manipulate atoms, and particles smaller or larger, it
can cast "magical spells." The other top achievement I made with
Project Ultima is its ability to be unharmed by nuclear weaponry,
which it can also use." 
     Lexington's eyes began to glow as soon as he said that. "Don't
worry, it won't ever use it," he quickly reassured the gargoyle. "It's
just there for show, and since it is an Athena type robot, it can't be
controlled or reprogrammed. That's basically it."
     Lexington calmed down. "Why do you have the four robots in
energy cubes?" he asked after a few seconds.
     "Once again, defensive purposes," replied the billionaire.
"These robots are far too valuable to be destroyed, and I needed
the robots placed in them so when I attempted to test the defenses
for the robots the resulting explosions wouldn't blow up the whole
building. That's probably the main reason."
     "I know that pure energy can contain any type of explosion,
except nuclear warfare I suppose, but if you have the energy cubes
for defenses, and the special door leading into this place, why do
you need such a large room?" asked Lex.
     "For yet even more defenses," was the answer from Xanatos.
"The walls surrounding this room, plus the floor and ceiling, are all
made out of the same materials used to make Project Ultima, so
they are immune to nuclear weaponry too. But I still decided to
take one last precaution, which is in the form of Coyote, Version
5.0."
     "With robots like the ones you have in here already, since you
told me they have great defensive skills themselves, who needs
Coyote?" inquired Lexington.
     "Indeed," said the multibillionaire. "Who needs Coyote? After
all, he's only a twenty foot tall robot." Xanatos opened a hidden
compartment in the railing and typed in a code on the various
colored buttons there. The whole wall slid to the side, while the
two platforms unlatched themselves from the wall and floated
forward, then downward, then forward again, stopping when they
were both below the platform that Xanatos and Lexington were
standing on. Behind the wall was pitch blackness, but in a few
seconds, bright lights switched on in the adjoining room, and
Lexington was once more startled. 
     However, this time he gasped, instead of allowing his mouth to
drop open.

Outside the Eyrie Building

     "Finally," said John Castaway as four Quarryman trucks pulled
up, two in front of his truck, and two behind. The backs of the
vans opened, and Quarrymen jumped out, running onto the
sidewalk while taking their hammers out of their belts. 
     John's portable phone beeped, and he took it out of his pocket,
turned it on, and put it to his ear.
     "The choppers are ready, sir, and the men are positioned at the
correct coordinates surrounding the building," spoke another of
the Quarrymen through the phone. "Shall we proceed?"
     "Without delay," ordered Castaway. "Attack now."
     "Yes, sir," was the reply. Then the Quarryman John was talking
to hung up.

     Demona decided she had seen and heard enough. She now
knew the location of the various Quarrymen, and she knew that
they were all in position. It was the perfect time for an attack,
starting with the Quarryman who was obviously the commander,
John Castaway. 'For someone who hides his face behind a mask he
doesn't make any efforts to keep his name a secret. Most everyone
who pays attention to social problems and actions knows his
name.' But it was time to stop thinking. It was time to attack.
     Letting loose her traditional battle cry she jumped down. As
expected, the Quarryman looked up. With lightning quick speed,
John Castaway whipped out his hammer and slammed her on the
side of the head with it, sending her down to the ground in pain.
     "This is even better than I had hoped," laughed John. "I've also
managed to find you too, Demon." He turned to face his
co-workers, who were charging to aid him. "Go help take down
the others," he ordered. "The Demon is mine."
     Demona suddenly knew who John Castaway really was. The
voice was slightly different, probably because he was speaking that
way purposefully. She screamed again and ripped off the
Quarryman's mask. Sure enough, it was the face of John Canmore
under the mask, with one difference. He obviously hadn't been
shaving below his nose, and had a small mustache growing there.
     "You thought you could mask your identity from me, didn't
you, Hunter!" she laughed. "It's time for another Hunter to bite the
dust. And this time it won't be simple elimination. I'll tear you to
pieces for attempting to attack my daughter."
     That's when the gargoyle heard the sound of sirens. She didn't
care. Gargoyles were also public knowledge now. Most of the
humans had fled their cars and raced away, but a few humans were
staying to watch. A quick spin around, and she had tripped the
Quarryman- and she realized her mistake.
     She grabbed John by the throat, pinning him to the ground and
kicking his hammer out of his hand as he lashed at her with it. She
received an electrical shock on her foot, and gritted her teeth, but
otherwise ignored it. With her tail she flicked the on switch on the
transmitter, then said to John , "Call your men off or I strangle you
now."
     "I can afford to sacrifice my own life to stop your evil race," the
Hunter spat, trying to shove the beast off him, even though his
efforts were futile. "Your kind is one of the greatest abominations
in the universe. You must perish. The attack choppers are even
now flying above Castle Wyvern, high enough so they look like
seven crossing helicopters on the way to an airport. In one minute,
they attack no matter what. It'll take them that long to position and
load their bombs."
     Several police cars screeched to a halt in front of the building.
The other Quarrymen were positioned in the doorway, and half
had already entered the building. When the police cars pulled up,
they tried to hide, but were spotted first. Matt Bluestone climbed
out of a familiar car, with Elisa on the other side.
     "This is the NYPD!" shouted Matt through a loudspeaker. "All
of you are under arrest! Including you, miss gargoyle!"
     Demona's answer was ripping half the staircase leading to the
porch in front of the Eyrie Building off the ground and hurling it at
a police car. The police nearby the car ran and jumped away,
ducking for cover as the well-aimed staircase smashed into the
engine of the car, causing an explosion, one which reverberated
throughout the night.
     That gave the immortal gargoyle an idea. She ripped up another
section of the stairs and threw it at another police car. More
officers scattered, and another explosion reverberated throughout
the city. John Canmore took this moment to attack, picking up his
hammer, so she used him for her next ammunition by grabbing him
by the collar of his shirt, taking his electrical hammer, and
throwing it at the correct angle so it would brush too
short-circuiting car parts.
     The policemen cleared away from all the cars, and all the way
to the other side of the street, while Demona and the Quarrymen
scattered to very far away from the building just in time to avoid a
loud and immensely destructive explosion which destroyed at least
fifty floors of the Eyrie Building, and when sparks from the
explosion hit the gas main, the next hundred floors were almost
totally decimated in another loud-as-thunder explosion.

     "The city sure looks peaceful tonight," remarked Angela to
Broadway as they stood, side by side, just looking out over the
city.
     "Definitely," said Broadway. "It's nights like these that make
you appreciate the beauties of living- and the nice times I spend
with y-
     "Cutting in," interrupted Brooklyn as he walked onto the tower
roof, holding something behind his back. Angela sighed. 'Here they
go again,' she thought.
     Brooklyn walked up to Angela and her his hands. She gasped,
and smiled, picking up the beautiful blue pendant Brooklyn had
given her. "Thank you," she said, smiling. Broadway looked away
and crossed his arms.
     "Do you like it?" Brooklyn asked.
     "Yes, its wonderful, but-" she glanced at Broadway.
     "Oh man, what do I have to do to get your attention!"
remarked
Brooklyn half to himself. He turned away and stomped off down
the stairs. Broadway, who had turned around when hearing
Angela's comment watched him go.
     Angela slowly clasped the pendant around her neck. "This is a
wonderful clan," she said, a thought coming to her mind ,"I don't
understand how my mother doesn't understand this." A tear
appeared in her eye.
     Broadway walked up to her. He had already had enough
problems, along with Goliath, comforting her the previous week
after her betrayal by her mother. He didn't want to have to go
through that again.
     "Angela, I'm sorry about your mother, but-"
     Two incredibly loud explosions, the second one greater than the
first, cut him off and shook the whole skyscraper. A large group of
stones in the ages old tower, having been shaken by many
explosions before, buckled, and it began sliding forward. 
      Broadway grabbed Angela's hand and prepared to jump off the
tower, but lost his balance and crashed into the back of the tower,
slamming the back of his head against the parapet and falling into
unconsciousness.
     Angela grabbed onto Broadway's hand then, and she did
manage to take off into the air, pulling Broadway with her. She
soared over the edge of the castle to avoid the rubble that blasted
outward in all directions when the tower roof smashed into the
courtyard. But even that didn't work. A large piece of the shattered
tower top smashed into the back of her head. She slipped into
unconsciousness too, and both gargoyles plummeted down
towards the bottom of the skyscraper.

     Xanatos had just finished telling Lexington about the
2,450-foot-tall Coyote 5.0's new abilities, which included the
defensive strength, attacking strength, and intelligence (without the
free will part) of the Ultimax Penultimax robot. It had crouched
under the cube containing Project Ultima after Xanatos had
pointed out its leg capabilities, it took 50 large powerful engines
on each of Coyote's legs and 50 super-powerful engines on its jet
pack to lift it into the sky, Xanatos had told him, and come up in
front of the cube so Lexington could get a view of its arms, which
the robot had a bit of trouble stretching. According to the
billionaire, the size was necessary for Coyote to carry as many
blaster and gun turrets in his arms as he had wanted, plus have
every type of unfoldable construction equipment inside various
compartments in the body. The billionaire had remarked Coyote as
being "The ultimate worker robot." Then he had told Lex how he
had used up most all of the money he had invested in robotics to
make up everything in this room, including the walls and the
energy door, and commented about "If this doesn't beat
Cyberbiotics in robotics, I don't know what will?" Finally, the
billionaire had asked how Lexington liked what he had been shown
and told.
     Before he could answer, a series of rumblings had begun, and
the alarm voice he had heard once before when Alex had been
kidnapped spoke again, saying "Warning, a dangerous explosion
has damaged the building! Floors one through fifty severely
damaged! Floors fifty-one through one hundred fifty almost totally
decimated!" That was why both the gargoyle and the human were
now shooting upward in the bullet elevator, which they had
entered before.
     "Sub-basements one-through ten have also been severely
damaged," spoke the alarm voice. Xanatos unleashed another
series of curse words under his breath, but not as many as when he
had heard the damage before. Seconds later, the elevator opened,
and Xanatos stepped out into a network of passageways in the
castle.
     "I suggest we both get to the courtyard and see what in the
world just happened here!" exclaimed Xanatos, racing down the
hallway. Lexington swiftly pursued him, his mind only now
registering that the monthly explosion in the Eyrie Building was
long overdue already.
     Neither of them noticed the Quarryman slipping into the still
open bullet elevator.

     "Destructive monster!" shouted John Castaway/Canmore,
leaping on Demona and tackling her to the ground. The fires were
blocking them from being seen by any of the policemen, who
probably couldn't even cross the street right now. She twisted onto
her stomach and kicked the human off her.
     It was no surprise when the Hunter used his momentum to flip
backward and land on his feet. He took a hidden hammer out of his
pack, and charged her again. Demona sprung forward, headfirst,
and shoved Castaway backwards with her head. She knew how to
play with momentum, too, and when John hit the ground she
sprang off him and glided into the air.
     A few seconds later the Quarryman's hammer nailed her in the
back. She clutched it in pain before whirling around and grabbing it
by the handle, preventing it from falling. Seconds later the hammer
had been thrown towards its original owner, who dodged out of
the way and took cover behind a still untouched bush.
     "That's right, cower, you foolish human!" mocked Demona.
"Cower before your superior, you fool!"
     She turned around, and found a wind current that was able to
lift her above the blaze on the ground. As she did, she saw the
unconscious forms of her daughter and Broadway plummeting
toward the ground.
     "Angela!" cried Demona. She dove down and grabbed both of
the gargoyles, gliding to safety on another rooftop. The police
were too busy concentrating on forming up barricades around the
damaged part of the street that they didn't even notice her gliding
above them. She set Broadway down on a building far away from
the blaze, then picked up the still unconscious Angela and glided
away into the night.

The Eyrie Building, Castle Wyvern

     Xanatos and Lexington burst into the courtyard through the
doors to the Great Hall a few seconds before Goliath, Bronx,
Hudson, and Brooklyn arrived.
     They all stood for a few moments in shock, looking at the
damage. Xanatos noticed several helicopters that appeared to have
been crossing paths hovering above them. He had a pretty good
guess as to who caused an explosion in the building this time. He
walked over to a stone and moved it out of the way, then looked
through the hidden telescope there that was attached to a security
camera on the roof.
     Hudson was the first to speak, looking at the debris on the
courtyard. "Would someone like to tell me what just happened
here?" he inquired.
     Xanatos ignored the comment and hit the "zoom-in" button on
his telescope. Sure enough, the helicopters were Quarrymen
choppers. As he watched, missiles were finished being inserted in
one of the helicopters. He could see someone talking through one
of the helicopter's windows. Although he couldn't hear what the
Quarryman was saying, he knew how to mouth-read. The man was
shouting something to another chopper, saying something about
how he finally had the missiles ready, and he was ready to attack.
     "It looks like the tower we sleep on has been damaged," said
Brooklyn. Then he inhaled sharply. "Angela and Broadway were
on the tower! I hope they got out okay!"
     "WHAT!" roared Goliath. He immediately ran to the rubble and
began digging through it for any signs of Angela and/or Broadway.
     Xanatos also ignored these comments. He got an object that
looked like a portable phone out of his pocket and opened it,
dialing a number. Immediately two of the towers in the Eyrie
Building opened up, and two gun turrets rose out of them,
immediately taking aim at the helicopters.
     The billionaire unhooked the microphone from the "phone" and
spoke into it, aiming the antenna at the helicopters. "You are
trespassing!" spoke Xanatos into the microphone. "Leave now, or
prepare to be forced to leave."
     The response was four missiles being released from each
helicopter, heading straight for the castle.
     "Scatter!" commanded Goliath. The gargoyles and Xanatos
jumped out of the way, ducking into the building. The air-defense
blasters destroyed all of the missiles in midair in seconds, but each
gave off a loud booming noise.

     In the nursery, Alexander woke up, crying.
     Fox sighed. This was the second time Alex had woken up, and
also the second time a series of explosions started. The first series
of explosions had shaken the building, and Alexander had woken
up, crying that time, too. It had taken her until a minute ago to
soothe her baby back to sleep, and had waited until now to make
sure he was sound asleep. That was when the second series of
explosions began.
     "It's okay, Alex," she said giving him a nearby teddy bear. The
baby held it to his cheek and closed his eyes again, not as disturbed
as before since the building hadn't shook.
     Fox sighed again. If Alex's sleep wasn't interrupted within the
next five minutes, she would go see what the problem was this
time.

     Another round of missiles was dropped from the helicopters.
Those missiles were destroyed too. The air-defense-turrets then
took aim at the helicopters, attempting to blast them out of the
sky.
     "Keep it up," Xanatos ordered to the air-defense-turrets. "They
should get the picture soon enough, and should flee."
     "What seems to be the problem this time, sir?" asked Owen,
running into the Great Hall/Castle Office.
     "The monthly Eyrie Building battle," replied the multibillionaire.
"It's the Quarrymen this time, though. I just hope Athens
Incorporated's guns don't think we're aiming at them again. I
definitely don't need them interfering now."
     Goliath almost chuckled at those comments from where he was
standing. As he continued to watch the air-defense-turret versus
armed helicopter battle, he continued to hope Angela and
Broadway were fine.
     The castle guns managed to destroy the missile blasters on each
of the helicopters after several more shots. Defeated, the
helicopters turned around and flew away from the Eyrie Building,
ending the battle.
     "Finally," said Brooklyn.
     Bronx nodded in agreement and barked.

The roof of the north building of the World Trade Center
2 hours later

     Angela slowly opened her eyes, feeling the cool night air.
     She moved her legs, subconsciously feeling the need to move
around. She sat up, stretching her arms and looking around. Finally
she stood up and looked around.
     The next feeling she had was surprise. She was alone on a roof.
What was going on? Where was Broadway? How was she even
alive?
     "What- what happened?" she asked out loud.
     "I believe I can answer those questions," said a familiar voice. It
was coming to the side of her. Her eyes, still slightly blurry,
couldn't see anything when she looked, except for what looked like
someone standing on the roof with her. She had thought she had
seen someone before, but hadn't been sure. Finally, her eyes totally
refocused, and she saw who she already knew was standing there.
     "Mother?" she asked in disbelief.
     Demona smiled, a kind, slightly happy smile. "Yes," she said. "I
came in to check in on you at the castle, just to reassure myself
you were okay, and overheard John Castaway plotting to attack
the castle. I distracted him, and tried to get your attention by
hoping I could make you aware of the battle. When I saw you and
Broadway falling, I saved you both, and left Broadway on another
building."
     Angela tensed. "If you're trying to use me like you did before-"
     "Angela, please," said Demona. "Would I try something like
that again after it hurt you so much?"
     "I suppose not," Angela relaxed. "If you really cared about me."
     "Even if I didn't care about you, would I try using you again
since the clan knows how to counter that plan from their previous
experience with it?" asked Demona.
     Angela relaxed again. "Probably not."
     "I'm glad you understand that," said Demona. "I brought you
here to apologize for what happened last week. When I saved your
life I decided I had an opportunity too good to pass up. I AM very
sorry that I had to betray you before, but I thought, and still think,
that in order for this clan to survive, Goliath must understand the
humans are our enemies, or be dealt with."
     "You told me about what happened at Castle Wyvern with the
Captain of the Guard and Hakon, and you told me about the
Hunter, MacBeth, and your betrayal at Castle Moray," answered
Angela, "But are you absolutely positive MacBeth would have
betrayed you after he was so nice to you before? What if he wasn't
going to betray you, even though he said he was considering it?
Maybe he just said that to his son to teach him that wise kings do
have to consider certain options, no matter how hard they may 
be to go through with. I think you just thought MacBeth was
betraying you because of what had happened at Castle Wyvern."
     "Humans are all evil, I kn-" began Demona.
     However, Angela interrupted. "I met the Captain of the Guard's
ghost on the first mission Avalon sent Goliath, Elisa, Bronx, and I
on. Even though he didn't say it, I know what he meant from what
Goliath told me he said and from what he told all four of us.
Hakon destroyed the statues, and there was nothing the Captain
could do about it."
     "He could have been ly-" Demona started again.
     Again Angela didn't let her finish. "Besides, who was it who
came up with the plan to betray the castle to the Vikings in the first
place! If you hadn't come up with that plan or just not gone
through with it, would any of this have happened!?"
     "The humans would have shattered us anyway!" retorted
Demona. "I thought I was saving the clan when I did what I did! It
was only a matter of time before we would have been shattered
anyway!"
     Angela calmed down yet again. "Princess Katherine told me the
whole story about how she felt about the clan. She was scared of
us because of stories she had been told by her father as a child
when she was being teased. She also blamed the gargoyle who is
now Hudson for failing to save her father, and even though
Hudson did with your help and Goliath's help, she still wasn't able
to forget that one time. Just like your fear of the humans has
obviously grown over the centuries, her fear of gargoyles 
grew over the years. Then Goliath saved her life, and she realized
her fear of the gargoyles was unreasonable. She took the eggs to
her uncle's castle BECAUSE GOLIATH REQUESTED IT! She
named a boy Tom as the Guardian of the eggs too. She took the
eggs to Avalon with the Magus's help, and Tom stayed too. There
they stayed and grew older. The eggs hatched, me among them.
We were happy there, and lived a peaceful life. Even the Magus,
who was sometimes lonely, stayed, because after what he did to
Goliath's clan he owed it to him to tend the eggs, then later the
clan's children."
     This time Demona didn't interrupt, so Angela continued. "I
suppose you know the legend of time on Avalon," Demona
nodded, "or you would have asked me about that before. Around
48 years later in Avalon time, 1,000 in normal time,
Avalon was attacked. The Weird Sisters were part of the attackers,
and the Magus nearly sacrificed his life to stop them from
destroying us all. If not for the healing magic in the Hollow Hill 
of the Sleeping King, where he now rests until he is healed, he
probably would have perished."
     "The Weird Sisters!" cried Demona. "They helped me, or tried
to anyway! Why did they attack the eggs!"
     Angela braced herself. The truth was probably going to hit
Demona hard, but she knew she had to tell her everything about
why she was immortal.
     "Do you remember the Archmage?" she asked. Demona nodded
again. "Somehow he survived his supposed elimination in 985 A.D.
However that happened, he obviously allied himself with the Weird
Sisters and planned to take over Avalon to use it as a base of
operations to rule the world. The whole clan, me included, knows
about how he "helped" you and MacBeth, and figured the rest out.
The truth was he made you two immortal so you would be alive
when he was ready to attack Avalon."
     Demona continued to listen.
     "Do you remember when you and MacBeth got forced into
unconsciousness because of the Weird Sisters?" Demona nodded
yet again. "And do you remember the long period of
unconsciousness you were in?" Demona nodded for the fourth
time. "While you were unconscious the Weird Sisters controlled
your actions and your thoughts, except for a brief period when you
seemed to regain your senses, which you obviously don't
remember. They forced you to steal the Eye of Odin, the
Grimorum Arcanorum, and the Phoenix Gate from the Clock
Tower and give them to the Archmage!" Demona, who had been
listening with some interest to what Angela was telling her,
gasped. Help a human! And one more evil than the rest! How
could she have been doing that?!
     Angela was continuing. "That isn't all. The Archmage and the
Weird Sisters attacked Avalon, you and MacBeth with them."
Demona gasped in shock! She didn't like where this seemed to be
going. "Tom went to the real world and found Goliath, Elisa, 
and Bronx, and brought them to Avalon, because you and
MacBeth-" Angela paused, and Demona knew she was about to
say something that she didn't want Demona to know because it
would hurt her, but felt she had to tell her anyway, "-severely 
wounded most of the gargoyles. MacBeth didn't hurt very many,
but you nearly destroyed the whole clan."
     "WHAT!!!!!" screamed Demona. Her knees grew weak with
intense shock. Her mind desperately wanted to not believe what
she had just been told, but she knew it was true. ALL of it. She
screamed probably the loudest cry of anguish and pain she had
ever heard from anyone even herself, and collapsed to the roof of
the building, crying hysterically.
     All her miserable, lonely life- faintly she was aware Angela was
sitting down beside her, picking up her head, and cradling it in her
lap- hundreds of years, alone, imagining herself to be the last of her
kind, with no one to speak to or do anything with, 
those awful years when she had been hunted by the legacy of the
Hunters, had suffered, many times even wanted to perish, and
couldn't! All so she would be alive to attack her own clan's
children! Her clan's children!!!!! Her life had been twisted so she
would attack her clan's children!!!!!
     "Don't you understand, mother," said Angela. "Not all humans
are evil. Princess Katherine, who was old, and didn't know much
about fighting, singlehandedly stopped you on Avalon. If all
humans were evil, would she have risked her life to save the
Avalon Clan when she didn't even think she could win?"
     Demona didn't even care right now what Angela had just said
about Princess Katherine! She was too upset to. She was too- No!
She tensed slightly. She was not going to feel defenseless again!
But this was her daughter, not James MacGregor! She allowed
herself to continue to cry, even though she doubted she could
stop it if she wanted to. She continued to cry, and didn't care if she
felt weak anymore. How could she care about something as
unimportant as feeling weak. She continued to cry.

The Eyrie Building

     The elevator doors stopped again, and a Quarryman stepped
out.
     Sub-level one and sub-level two had been damaged in the
explosion he had heard from in the Eyrie Building and he could see
the sky through them. It had taken him fifteen minutes to look
through each of the upper two evacuated basements, and forty-five
minutes to look through the huge labyrinth-like sub-level 3 and
sub-level 4. He had passed sub-level five, because John Castaway
had clambered down there, and he hadn't called yet. The floor to
sub-level six had been cracked, but not destroyed, so John had
broken that floor open with one of his grenades and was going
to investigate that too. When he was done he would call him, and
both Quarrymen were to call each other if they found anything to
steal.
     Sub-level seven looks like some sort of control room, realized
the Quarryman, whose name was Andy. He walked in and looked
around. His infra-red scanners behind his mask indicated that there
was an extremely complex sequence alarm tiles and an 
incredible amount of traps surrounding various places in the room.
Closer investigation proved that each computer had a place for
placing a hand, probably to check a blood-vessel pattern for
whether or not the computer(s) user should have access to the
program(s.)
     That was all useless security that he could easily get past.
Xanatos may have the technology capable of giving robots or
clones high enough an IQ to come up with incredible inventions,
but Andy could actually make incredible inventions himself.
Already he had designed himself a "stealth-suit" in which he could
make himself "invisible." He had brought another of his
achievements along on this search mission. One of the many
magnetic disks that he had changed and added advancements to 
make it into an "energy disk." The Quarryman engaged his
"invisibility" ability on his suit, just in case, and placed his "energy
disk" on one of the alarm tiles. A tremendous amount of electricity
burst through the room on all the alarm tiles before
they all shorted out. All the blood-vessel checking hand-switches in
the room short-circuited too. Excellent! He now could go on any
of the computers in the room, and if there were any codes to crack
in any of the programs, he could reprogram his "energy
disk" to seek and destroy the access code(s.)
     The Quarryman decided not to radio John Castaway, in case
the room had technology that could pick up radio waves. He
walked up to one of the computers and sat down in a chair in front
of it. Then he began to search through the files on the computer.
No access codes. Apparently David Xanatos had trusted his
security systems in the room well enough to decide on not making
any access code(s.) Or had he? He hadn't found any top secret
programs yet. Deciding not to waste time and to just eliminate the
codes, if there were any, now, he got up, walked over to where the
"energy disk" lay, picked it up, and walked back to the computer.
He made several adjustments to the commands on the disk, and
placed it on where he thought the CPU of the computer was
located. In a few seconds the CPU sparked, which led Andy to
believe there had been some codes. Not really caring about that
anymore, he continued his search. In a few seconds he found what
he was looking for. Sub-Level Projects, Completed and in the
Process of Completion.
     Andy began to look through the files and found quite a few
interesting things starting on Sub-Level 30. Sub-Level 30-Steel
Clan and Coyote: Version 1.0, Version 2.0, Version 3.0, Version
4.0, Version 4.01, and Version 4.10, Sub-Level 31-The Thailog 
Project, Gemini, Mutagen Formulas, and Bio Clan, Sub-Level
32-Coldstone, recently made Coldfire, recently made Coldsteel,
Sub-Level 33-Christine and Davida, Sub-Level 34-Project Athena,
Andy remembered hearing that name somewhere on television 
without the "Project" part added to it, Sub-Level 35-Lazarus and
Orpheus, Sub-Level 36, Bio-Clan Repair Level. This was getting
interesting reading. However, the Quarryman decided to check all
the folders before reading each one, just to see which one was the 
highest achievement, so he could start copying that one first in
case he was discovered and had to flee. He scrolled downward on
the screen, skipping any folders marked "Incomplete," until he
reached Sub-Level 46. He began to read the titles of the folders 
from there on again, because that folder, and the ones following it,
had names of achievements listed. Sub-Level 46-Project Stealth
Weapon, Sub-Level 47-Clay Clan, Sub-Level 48-Thailog 2,
Thailog X, and Test Clone, Sub-Level 49-Project "Robotic To 
Clone," Sub-Level 50-Coyote 5.0, Exo-Frame 3.0, Grand Clan,
Ultimax Penultimax, and Project Ultima.
     Sub-Level 50 was at the bottom of the scrolling window, and it
seemed to have some impressive names. Andy clicked on the folder
with the Sub-Level 50 description on it, and heard a clicking noise.
Blast it! The Quarryman knew what that click meant. Since he had
broken down all the access codes, most likely all being triple
encrypted, the files, if he accessed any full descriptions, would
immediately erase themselves to prevent copying. Andy reset the
commands on his "energy disk," hoping
he wasn't to late to stop the files from being erased. He knew it
took a few seconds for the erasing to start, all programs took a
while to start. Much to his relief, the clicking stopped almost
immediately after he gave the "energy disk" the new commands.
The folder opened, revealing what he hoped was all the contents of
the folder, with none erased. More short-circuiting sounds from
the computer's CPU told him the "energy disk" was done. All the
erasing programs in the computer had been erased.
     After skimming the file for a few minutes, Andrew found what
he was looking for, the blueprints for designing all of the creations
on Sub-Level 50. What he had seen in the brief description of what
would try to be achieved upon completion of the projects in 
the room intrigued him, so he skimmed the file until he reached the
bottom. What he read caused him to gasp in astonishment, he
realized he probably wouldn't be the only person to do that if the
projects on that level were revealed. He immediately decided to 
download all of that file, instead of just the design specs. He
wanted to show his co-workers what those projects could do
before copies of them were built. In another minute Andy had
inserted a disk in the computer and downloaded the information.
On second thought, he decided to download all the contents of the
computer onto the disk he had placed in the computer, and hoped
the disk had enough room. It did, so he didn't have to take out
another one. When the downloading was done, he took the disk
out of the computer, put it back in a pocket of his suit, picked up
his "energy disk," and reentered the bullet elevator, pressing the
button for Sub-Level 50.
     He knew about the energy shields on that level, and the energy
door, put his "energy disk," could absorb both the shields and the
door. Besides, it was running low on energy, and needed a
recharge. The disk could also disable all alarms on that level, so he
wasn't worried about that. What he was worried about was getting
past Coyote 5.0. That could be a big problem.
     The elevator continued to shoot downward. Andy had decided
against radioing John once he was in the elevator, because he
realized the Quarryman leader would probably tell him not to go
through with his plan, to steal all of the projects on Sub-Level 
50, not including Coyote 5.0. He had some idea of a plan on how
to at least damage the robot enough to knock it unconscious, but
he estimated it being highly unlikely he could capture or even
destroy the golden colossus. He read the elevator numbers that 
appeared above the door as each floor was passed, Sub-Level 39,
Sub-Level 44, Sub-Level 47, Sub-Level 49, Sub-Level 50. The
elevator stopped and the doors slid open. This elevator definitely
went fast!
     Still invisible, Andy walked up to the energy doorway. He
removed his "energy disk," gave it its new orders, and placed it on
the wall. After around thirty seconds the whole entire wall in front
of him short-circuited. Lights began to flash, indicating a alarm 
would flip on in seconds, but the wall continued to short-circuit,
shutting off the alarm lights and preventing the alarm signal from
going through. He just hoped Coyote didn't hear or notice that
from where it was supposedly stored. The electricity on the wall 
disappeared, but the energy inside the "energy disk" was all used
up. Like that mattered. The Quarryman took the "energy disk" off
the wall, set it to absorb, and placed it on the energy door.
     The result was incredible. As soon as the energy door began to
be absorbed more energy was generated from the door. The two
energy producing, one of which was currently absorbing, devices
crackled. Explosions rocked the door, but the energy wall still
remained. That was expected. Andrew lunged forward and quickly
typed in yet another command on his "disk." Instead of absorbing
energy, it began to redirect the energy from the door back into
itself. More explosions rocked the room as the energy door
resisted, but the "disk" was stronger because it was directing
energy, not maintaining it.
     After about thirty more seconds the energy door dissipated, and
the energy trying to form the door was redirected at itself. The
"disk" fell to the floor, and Andy moved to pick it up. He barely
had enough time to dodge the huge wall of fire that was blasted
through the doorway at him, and which also melted his "energy
disk." Andy realized Coyote was in the room across from him, so
he jumped inside and ducked to one side, pressing a button on his
suit that jammed all radio signals. Then he looked at the room,
which had totally reformed itself from the way it should have
been. The cube containing Project Ultima was in the storage room,
as was the Exo-Frame 3.0, the Grand Clan robots, and the Ultimax
Penultimax robot, the latter four on hovering platforms. He had
just enough time to see this before the wall in front of the storage 
room where Coyote should have been slid shut. Andy also realized
he hadn't needed to jump to the side, because he was invisible.
     "All right, intruder," spoke Coyote. "Show yourself."
     "A dramatic opening sentence, but a senseless one," said Andy,
not at all surprised to hear the voice of David Xanatos coming
from the robot. He had read about the robot's voice on the
document about Sub-Level 50. "Why do people like to be
dramatic, and why does it seem the same of robots?"
     "I'm sorry, but my master never thought anyone would ask me
that question, so I have no preprogrammed response to what you
said," said Coyote. "I believe I told something like this to a child
skilled in the arts of fighting. But I have no time to chat. Since
you're intruding, I'm afraid I'll have to prevent you from leaving
with any data you might have stolen from elsewhere in this
building. Once I have retrieved the data, I'll dispose of you outside
the building."
     "That's why you didn't try to radio anyone yet!" exclaimed
Andy. "You were afraid I'd hear you and run away!"
     "Correct," said Coyote. "I also know you jammed all radio
waves in this room, and before you ask why I'm not in my storage
room I'll tell you. I was being presented to someone, and there was
an emergency. When my master and his "guest" left he never 
told me to return to my storage room, so I stayed here."
     "I was going to ask that, so you may be as smart as me," said
Andy. "However, you can't see me, and you can't sense me with
any of your sensors. This suit I'm wearing makes sure of that."
     "I know that!" said Coyote. "But I can hear you!" After saying
that, the colossal robot aimed at the spot on the balcony where the
voice was coming from, and fired another wall of flames out of his
right arm cannon.
     Andy rolled out of the way and drew his particle beam gun
from his belt. He knew it wouldn't do much good, but he also
knew he might be able to trick the robot. He activated a rocket on
the bottom of the gun and pressed a button on his suit. He knew 
Coyote could see the gun, but he had hidden the rocket from view
behind his hands before making it invisible. He jumped away from
another stream of fire, gave the gun its commands, and let go of it.
It floated away and began to blast at the robot, dodging all return
blasts in a way as if Andy was still holding it.
     The ruse worked. Coyote 5.0 continued to blast at the gun,
while Andy began to look for a way to reopen the storage room
and steal the robots inside. He activated the scanners on his suit's
"eyes" and began to search the surrounding room, occasionally 
ducking his gun and racing towards the opposite end of the
balcony to avoid being cornered. He finally located a group of
buttons under the upper railing of the balcony near the doorway.
So he wouldn't be discovered, he reached into his pocket, adjusted 
another of his "energy disks" so it was invisible too, gave it
commands, and silently threw it at his gun. The gun turned
towards the approaching object it sensed, and the "disk" connected
to the blaster part of the gun, giving it orders with what to do with
the "disk." The "disk" was shot onto the railing, and seconds later
the railing short-circuited, destroying all alarms in the railing, all
blood-vessel analysis devices for the buttons and 
the railing, and it pressed the button(s) to open the storage room
before closing. Once the short-circuiting stopped, the "disk"
exploded, taking the open-and-shut button(s) along with it. The
Quarryman wondered if there was more than one button to open
and close the storage room as the railing stopped short-circuiting,
and the "energy disk" exploded at the same time.
     Coyote 5.0 had been starting to unfold cables from its cannon,
probably to wrap around where he thought the Quarryman was
and destroy the suit, making him visible. The machine actually
swore a few times before its cables came in contact where it
though Andy was. It found nothing. Swearing again, Coyote
smashed the gun and opened a cannon in his other arm, spraying
the room with a
sense-distortion beam. It was too widespread for Andy to dodge,
and he couldn't reach the door in time to dodge it there. Therefore,
he shut the "eyes" on his suit and waited until his suit's sensors told
him the beam was passing.
     After several seconds his suit's sensors told him the beam was
passing over him. Andy reopened his suit's "eyes," whipping
another particle gun from his belt, and firing straight ahead. His
senses began to distort, so he fell to the ground and rolled away,
watching as the blast from his gun headed towards the open
sense-distortion cannon. Coyote snapped the cannon shut, and
when the particle beam collided with the robot, Coyote remained
undamaged.
     Andrew wasted no time in activating all four rockets on his
gun. As soon as he did he typed in new commands on the side and
grabbed onto the top. The gun flew into the air and shot over the
railing, narrowly avoiding several shots from Coyote. The gun, 
with its passenger holding onto it, continued to avoid cables,
sense-distortion beams, blasts of flames, lasers, and swipes from
the robot's hands, while also continuing to head for the storage
room.
     After two minutes the Quarryman finally made it into the
storage room. He whipped out two "energy disks," gave them both
orders to redirect energies, and threw them one at a time, the first
aiming for the energy cube surrounding the two Grand Clan 
robots and the Ultimax Penultimax robot. As Fate would have it,
he actually misaimed the "disk" thrown at the cube surrounding
Project Ultima, and the "disk" shattered and exploded on the wall
behind it. Remembering a theory he had made up, he wondered if 
Fate did have a hand in preventing him from releasing Project
Ultima. Perhaps it wasn't fated to be released yet. Andy dismissed
the thought. What an absurd idea. It was simply bad aim. He then
noticed that the other "disk" had connected with the other energy 
cube, bending it and forcing it at itself. When the process was
done, the energy cube self-destructed, preventing it from being
reprogrammed to bring back the energy cube. Now to steal the
robots.
     A hard metal ball slammed into the back of his head, destroying
his gun in the process and knocking the Quarryman unconscious.
The Quarryman became visible immediately after he went into his
concussion, and before he could fall Coyote grabbed 
him and retracted the metal ball he had fired.
     "Now to take care of this intruder," said Coyote, hoping the
robots hadn't become conscious yet. He turned around and walked
toward the door with the intruder in his hand.

18,000,000,000 B.C.
The Void

     The ball of flame burst into existence, and the Phoenix Gate
hurtled out. Once again all sounds coming from inside the gate
were prevented from coming forth, for the gate was no longer
floating aimlessly in time. But that didn't matter.
Eleven seconds until explosion-
The Archmage waited with barely contained anticipation. He
would have to time the energy absorption just right, or he would
be vaporized in the explosion that created the universe.
Ten-
Preparing magical energies-
Nine-
Holding them so they don't dissipate if they're fired too early and
bounce harmlessly off the inside of the gate-
Eight-
Seven-
Six-
Five-
Absorption energies created-
Four-
The Archmage grinned-
Three-
Two-
It was almost time-
One-
SHRA-BOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The Big Bang was as
incredible as it was thought to be, ripping
through The Void with incredible sounds and sending forth
degrees of heat quintillions of Kelvins high. The Phoenix Gate
blasted backward at the speed of thousands of light-years
per second, or so it seemed. At least, that's what the gluons that
composed the Phoenix Gate did as even those melted. In that one
trillisecond before the Archmage would have melted down totally,
even his gluons, he absorbed all the incomprehensible powers of
the Big Bang, reformed the Phoenix Gate, and warped forward in
time, ready to seek his vengeance on Goliath and Angela. As he
did, his maniacal laugh echoed through the explosion as it ended.

ADVERTISEMENT

November 18, 1996 A.D.
Sub-Level 50, The Eyrie Building

     To his eyes, this was all he could remember. For as long as he
could remember he had floated in semi-consciousness, standing on
a hard surface, dimly registering two smaller forms, one on each
side of him. But now it was different. Something within him 
whined to life, and he began to breathe, even though he didn't need
it. He was in a room, an extremely large room. But where. All he
knew was he was in an incredibly large room, and the blue "thing"
that he had been in for weeks was gone.
     His mind slowly began to comprehend that he could move now,
that he was almost fully conscious. Slowly, he took a step forward.
Then another. The feeling of movement was incredible. He felt so-
free.
     Directly ahead of him he noticed a colossal thing that was
probably a robot. It was gold in color, and appeared to have just
deposited something through a place blocking his view. He looked
to the left of himself and saw a lavender-gray robot that had to be
around fifty feet tall blinking. The lavender-gray robot looked real,
with flesh-type armor. It had short black hair and long wings, and
looked exactly like someone that seemed to be in his mind, except
the robot was a lot larger than the person whose name he couldn't
remember was. When he looked to the right he saw another
fifty-foot-tall robot that was red and gold. Its head was the only
gold part, and it had no eyes. What could have been a nose was
sticking out from the top of the head and headed downwards,
ending at the bottom at a slightly higher height. Two identical
pieces of red metal were attached to the near bottom of the "nose,"
presumably the robot's mouth. The red and gold robot had a
detachable whip like cannon from its face and neck, but no arms.
The wings were near the bottom of the robot, and it had two thin
legs and a firing cannon in the bottom of the main part of the body,
in front of the legs. It also had a blaster on its neck. That robot was
starting to move its legs.
     By this time his eyes had focused, so he once more examined
the three robots. The gold one looked like a normal robot, except
for its incredible size, and had two massive arms, two massive legs,
and several jet packs attached to its back. The face appeared to be
slightly triangular, but he was only seeing the robot's back, so he
didn't know the rest of the details of that particular robot. Once
again he looked at the lavender-gray robot, and saw it didn't look
any different from when he had seen it before. It looked like a
normal gargoyle, how did he know that word, except for his size. 
When he looked at the red and gold robot again, he saw nothing
different, and realized his eyes must have been focused enough to
see the two fifty-foot-tall robots clearly enough. Unfortunately, he
couldn't see himself.
     The gold colossus turned around, and he was able to see the
rest of the huge robot's details. Its face was like that of a coyote,
and in the middle of its forehead he could see a small spherical
object embedded in it. He could also faintly see a small thing 
that looked like a head inside the spherical object. The robot's feet
consisted of four claw-like toes on each foot, and each hand had
four claw-like fingers. He didn't see any weaponry on the colossus,
but he guessed there must be a lot of weapons secreted with the
huge robot.
     "Ah," said the robot. "I see that you have awoken."
     "Who- who am I?" he asked, having trouble figuring out how
to speak. He had just figured out a few words, but he didn't know
why he didn't know more.
     "You are Ultimax Penultimax," replied the gargantuan robot
facing him. "And you've awakened earlier than you were supposed
to."
     "What does that mean?" asked Ultimax Penultimax, deciding
the name didn't fit him well, since he didn't think himself to be very
important in any way.
     "You weren't supposed to awaken until tomorrow," said the
golden robot. "But since you're awake now, I suppose you had
better learn who you are. I am Coyote 5.0, but please call me
Coyote. I'll show you who you are and tell you what you're doing
here if you'd like."
     "I would," replied Ultimax Penultimax.
     "Very well," said Coyote 5.0. Part of his chest armor slid open,
revealing a mirror. Coyote walked closer so he could get a good
view. Ultimax Penultimax understood his name when he saw
himself. His head was red, with a section of black that his eyes, 
nose, and mouth were located in. A hundred or more tiny little
blasters were embedded in the black part of his head. He had black
ears too, and slightly darker red hair that could be distinguished
from the red part of his head. His neck was silver, with its thick 
bottom part being covered in gold. The rest of his body down to
where his legs started was gold, excluding the wings and hands.
His hands were multi-colored, a blend of dark pink, yellow, and
purple, but none of the colors overlapped each other. His wings
were white, and very large. He had them folded around himself
currently, but he knew if he spread them out, they would be very
large. His tail was gold, but at the end he could see it had the
ability to split into three blasters. His legs were also white, with
gray feet and toes. But the most astounding part of all was- he was
two hundred feet tall! He now understood his name.
     "As you can see, you are a very large robot," continued Coyote.
"You probably have no idea how much money it caused for my
master to build only you, but with the other projects in this room,
he's used up nearly all the money he invested in robotics."
     "How much money did he use making you?" inquired Ultimax
Penultimax.
     "Not as much money as he used on you," said Coyote. "I'm
extremely large, but I'm not as strong as you, I don't have liquid
metal capabilities, I don't have as good defense as you, and my
weapons aren't as good as yours. Nevertheless, I was expensive,
and I mean REALLY expensive to make!"
     "But why make me, if that's how I came into exis-" what was
that word, "existence?" asked the robot.
     "To top the robotics market," said Coyote 5.0. "The are usually
always races between companies. Food companies, video game
companies, most every type of business there is. My master, and
your creator, owns a multinational company named Xanatos
Enterprises, which is a Robotics and Genetics company. This
company has several rival companies, like Cyberbiotics, Athens
Incorporated, maybe even others. You, the other creations in this
room, and the experiments up to Sub-Level 46 is this company's
greatest attempt to top the robotics and the genetics market. He
put almost all his money into these five floors, especially this floor,
which he only had to use up a lot of money invested in robotics
for. You are one of his top creations."
     "And what's his top creation?" asked Ultimax Penultimax. His
intelligence was growing, and he was finding he knew more words
by the second. He also now knew how to use his liquid metal
capabilities, that a prison was behind his red forehead, that 
he had ten blasters lined up down his gold chest all the way to his
stomach, four of them on the sides of his v-shaped specially
armored gold section of his body over his lower neck, two blasters
on each side. And he also knew his hands were weapons, and
could blast energy by the tips of each finger opening up, or without
them opening up, the hands were detachable and could be
controlled with not attached to his body, and could form a proton
prison, whatever that meant.
     "This," said Coyote, motioning to a cube floating above his
mirror but in front of his chest. Ultimax Penultimax instinctively
knew what to do, and adjusted his sight to enhanced view. He
could now see the cube clearly, and what was in it, which was a 
thirteen-foot-tall robot. Its main body was dark gray, with many
elongated blasters in it, but its wings, which were spread out, and
its tail, were both dark purple. The robot was carrying a golden
halberd in its right hand, and it had black hair, darker
than the black hair of the robot on his left. The robot's face was
purple too, and it had a look of power on it, with strange eyes and
a mouth that almost seemed to be glowing. Ultimax Penultimax
checked the robot's abilities and nearly gasped in shock. The
robot was made out of material that could withstand nuclear
explosions, and could cause nuclear explosions as effortlessly as he
could blast a laser from one of his blasters. Not only that, the
robot, who he knew was named Project Ultima because that
information had apparently been inserted into him, had unlimited
nuclear firepower, had every other type of artillery under its
control, and because of its incredibly high intelligence level could 
rearrange atoms and particles both larger and smaller than atoms.
Absolutely incredible! His mind didn't even register the danger yet!
     Project Ultima rotated after Coyote opened a section of his
right arm and pressed a few keys on it. He could now see the
robot's back. In the dark gray part of Project Ultima's back was a
strange device. After resetting his checking abilities he realized that
the strange shape of the metal was to allow the wings to
snap off and move around by themselves, controlled by radio
waves from the main robot. Further investigation revealed the tail
could detach itself from the main body and move around by itself,
also controlled by radio waves from the main robot. That was a
clever way to give the robot extra weapons. Shots could be fired
from where the tail and wings were, but he was still puzzled as to
why the robot's back had a strange piece of equipment inside it.
Then he realized. In order to split an atom, thus creating a
nuclear explosion, something had to happen. There had to be a
nuclear generator inside that robot to produce the energy able to
fire a nuclear missile, or laser, or whatever form of nuclear 
energy would be released. The nuclear weaponry could only be
blasted from the golden halberd the robot was carrying, because
each nuclear turret needed a generator for it. The halberd could
move around by itself too, also controlled by radio waves from the 
main robot, but those same radio waves could carry the power
from the nuclear generator to the halberd when the robot wasn't
holding it. Ultimax Penultimax ended his investigation of the robot,
so Coyote turned the robot back around to its correct position.
     "That robot, Project Ultima, is my master's greatest work so
far, and probably will be his greatest," explained Coyote. "The
other great works I believe you should be introduced to shall be
shown to you now, then I shall explain why you and your two 
fellow robots," he indicated the two other robots, who were still a
bit dazed and wandering aimlessly around ,"have been awakened
now." Coyote shut his keyboard on his right arm and appeared to
concentrate. His mirror turned into a T.V. screen, showing five
rooms, but on the bottom one only a close-up of a large blue, red,
and gold robot was shown. "The upper picture is of Sub-Level 46,
the one below that is Sub-Level 47, etc. The close-up of Sub-Level
50 shows the armor on the platform above you." Ultimax
Penultimax looked up briefly at a small platform above him. "Do
you wish me to continue, or has your question been answered?"
     "Please continue," said Ultimax Penultimax. He doubted he'd
remember any of this, since he was barely awake, but at least he
could learn how to talk by listening to the various words used.
     So Coyote did, starting with the project on Sub-Level 46. And
as he talked, Andy, who had woken up at the jolt of the bullet
elevator, checked his pocket to make sure his "disk" had become
"invisible" when he had been knocked unconscious, found the disk
safe, radioed John Castaway and come to an agreement to steal as
much as he could from the Sub-Levels, then returned to Sub-Level
50 and walked to the door, listened with interest.

Xanatos's Normal Office
Floor 275 of the Eyrie Building

     "No sign of either Angela or Broadway," reported Xanatos. It
had been his suggestion to use Steel Clan robots to scan the city in
case the Quarrymen were waiting for the gargoyles to leave the
castle and were hiding behind buildings in various places. "But
we'll keep looking."
     "I hope they're not-" said Elisa. She and Matt had entered the
Eyrie Building after the firemen had taken care of the fires. She
had told Captain Maria Chavez she would investigate the explosion
with Matt since she was familiar was Xanatos. The 
police captain had agreed, and both had entered the building and
gone straight to the castle. They had found out what had
happened, and were now standing in Xanatos's normal office,
waiting for the Steel Clan Xanatos had sent out to search
the city to report back to them. They had been waiting for a long
time silently, and were starting to worry a lot more than before.
     "They can't be!" exclaimed Goliath. "They're out there
somewhere! They have to be out there!"
     Fox was holding Alexander in her arms, also silently watching
the screen. She had gone to ask Xanatos about what had
happened, still holding Alexander, David and Owen had filled her
in, so she was here too. And she noticed something on the bottom
of the viewscreen in the room, almost totally off the screen. The
others
noticed it too, but she was the first to react. "Down there!" she
cried.
     The viewscreen immediately switched to a picture of Broadway
just waking up. Goliath recognized the building. It was where
Hudson had chosen his name and where his tour of the city had
started those many nights ago.
     "Those are not our energy readings, sir," said Owen. "They're
outside readings."
     "I am aware of that," said Xanatos. "Let's have a Steel Clan
retrieve Broadway and find Angela. Its funny she's not with hi-
OH, HECK!!!!!"
     A familiar looking sky-cycle, one like Jason, Robyn, and John
Canmore had used, flew over the building, and its passenger
dropped off. It was a heavily armored man, presumably one of the
higher ranking members of the Quarrymen. But the man was
someone they all knew. It was the mutate Wolf!
     "I was wondering when he'd show up!" said Fox. "Since Jackal
and Hyena were working for the Quarrymen last time I saw them,
its no surprise Wolf is working for them too! Now what!"
     "Simple," said Xanatos. He turned to Owen. "Take the
helicopter. I'll release ten of my Steel Clan. That ought to save
Broadway's life! Once you get there you should be able to make
sure he'll be taken to safety!" Owen nodded and ran out of the
room, and Xanatos pushed some buttons on the viewscreen in
front of him.

     Broadway's eyes focused, and the first thing he saw was a
bazooka gun pointed at his head.
     He gasped and shoved the gun away, jumping up and quickly
clearing cobwebs from his head. Then he saw Wolf's face.
     "Good," said the mutate. "I was hoping to have some fun. I
didn't want to have to destroy you when you were defenseless. Its
not very much fun." Then he struck.
     Broadway ducked the punch, grabbed the mutate's fist, and
threw him over his head. The man/wolf landed on his back, but
was up again in a second, firing a bazooka shell straight at him.
Broadway ducked and charged forward, but was sent sprawling by 
an uppercut. He rolled over and tripped Wolf with his tail, then
pinned him to the roof.
     Wolf laughed, wrenched his left leg out from under Broadway's
left leg, and kicked him hard in the face. The gargoyle went flying,
landing at the edge of the roof, barely conscious.
     'Not again,' thought Broadway. 'And this time, it'll be
permanent.' But as Wolf approached to cut his throat, blast him, or
whatever he was planning to do, a laser beam slashed through the
night, smashing into Wolf's Quarryman suit and tearing through to 
his Coyote-faced chest armor. The member of the Pack was
thrown into the wall of the building, and Broadway looked up to
see ten Steel Clan robots hovering in front of the building and
slightly above the roof. The robots swooped straight at Wolf,
blasting at him with lasers, and missed him entirely.
     Wolf had rolled out of the way, and he now took his other
bazooka gun out of his belt, the one on his right side, and blasted
them both at the Steel Clan. The robots dodged the blast and
swooped at Wolf again. He jumped in the air, landing on one, spun
around, and swiped off its head before being electrocuted and
falling off. The headless robot's fuel tank sputtered before the
robot fell to the ground, exploding in the middle of the street
below.
     The werewolf came to his feet again and destroyed another
Steel Clan with his left bazooka gun by smashing clean through its
midsection. Yet another Steel Clan was destroyed by his right
bazooka gun, also by destroying its midsection. Wolf was forced 
to dodge a group of lasers, most of which bounced harmlessly off
his chest-armor, even though quite a few places showed burn
marks. What he wasn't prepared for was one of the robots
ramming him. He fell over the side of the building and just
managed to grab onto the edge. He executed a quick flip, which
successfully propelled him up onto the roof and on his feet. Two
more bazooka blasts, one from each gun, and two more Steel 
Clan robots exploded. One landed on the roof and aimed at him, so
the mutate charged it and punched it, his fist coming clear through
the robot and when it came out its back it had a mass of wires and
circuitry in it.
     However, the damage to this Steel Clan wasn't bad enough to
destroy it, because not enough of its insides had been shattered.
Broadway had recovered by now and was also charging Wolf.
Therefore, Wolf picked up the Steel Clan with a lot of its
midsection gone and slammed it down hard over Broadway, the
gargoyle's head going into the hole in the robot's chest. Then he
ripped off the head of the unfortunate robot and threw it at the
gargoyle's face. Broadway's arms were pinned because of the robot 
encasing him, so the head of the robot hit him. Broadway was
thrown backwards once again, and this time he really did fall into
unconsciousness again. Even worse, it was seconds before both
parts of the robot exploded, taking him with it.
     Another Steel Clan robot sacrificed itself by tearing the body of
its destroyed companion off Broadway and picking up the head
too. It was destroyed by a bazooka blast, which barely missed
Broadway, but before it perished, it hurled the two pieces of 
the destroyed Steel Clan at Wolf. Both the body and the head
exploded upon impact with Wolf, shattering his chest armor and
forcing the breath out of his lungs while he also crashed into the
wall again. The few pieces of the Steel Clan that remained smashed
into Wolf's chest, several of them cutting him and one of them
almost puncturing his lung.
     Wolf roared in pain and began to blast bazooka shots wildly,
tearing up sections of the roof and other buildings. He noticed the
remaining three Steel Clan had surrounded him. He fired more
bazooka shots at them, but they dodged and fired back, causing
rubble to rain down on his head. Wolf roared in pain again and
ripped off a large chunk of the roof off the roof, throwing it at one
of the Steel Clan robots. The robot blasted it to pieces, charged
down, spun around, and whacked Wolf in the side of the head with
its tail, knocking him into plain shot of a laser blast. Quick as
lightning, Wolf grabbed the tail of the Steel Clan that had whacked
him with it and threw it in the path of the laser. That Steel Clan
exploded, and several parts smashed into the one who had fired the
laser at him. Wolf was flung backwards yet another time, and
crashed into the wall once again. This time though, he wasn't
allowed to get up. The Steel Clan who had fired at him swooped at
him and rammed him through the wall. As he sailed, Wolf  noticed
the other of the two remaining Steel Clan robots was picking up
Broadway and taking off for the Eyrie Building, heading for a
helicopter that was coming this way. Then 
Wolf slammed through the whole building.
     The Steel Clan robot, reasoning Wolf, although he was still
conscious was too weak to fight, turned around to through him
back onto the building. Wolf allowed him to, but when he sailed
over the higher part of the roof he barely managed to execute a
flip, landing on his feet. He fired a signal flare with his right
bazooka straight up in the air, telling the Quarrymen hiding in and
around buildings surrounding the Eyrie Building he was on the trail
of a gargoyle. Then he boarded his sky-cycle, turned around, and
fired a missile from the front section of the sky-cycle. It connected
with the Steel Clan robot as it was coming over the rooftop, and
when it exploded, practically the whole rest of the 
rooftop did as well. Wolf ducked several flying Steel Clan parts,
activated the engines on his sky cycle, and took off after the fleeing
Steel Clan. He only had one more bazooka shell in his left
Bazooka, which was why he had used a missile before. He aimed
for the Steel Clan carrying Broadway-
     -and his Bazooka gun was destroyed by a blast of laser fire
coming from the helicopter. No, not coming from the helicopter,
coming from Owen Burnett, who was holding a small laser pistol
and was firing through the now open front window of the
helicopter. Owen obviously had the darn helicopter on autopilot,
because there was no one else in the helicopter. Who cared! Wolf
blasted a missile at the helicopter, and it exploded immediately
upon contact. The unconscious form of Owen Burnett, strangely 
unharmed, plummeted headfirst toward the ground. Wolf ignored
that strange happening too, not even caring if Owen hadn't been
totally burnt, which he should have been. He aimed his missile
cannon at the retreating Steel Clan again-
     -and this time was met with missile fire from the Eyrie
Building's anti-air defenses, which he barely had time to dodge. So
Xanatos really wanted to play rough, did he? Well he could too.
He ignored the Steel Clan robot and moved his ship around,
sending several missiles straight for the Eyrie Building. Each one
connected, smashing into the upper floors of the building and
causing incredible explosions. He was forced to move his sky-cycle
to the left to avoid a missile fired from the Eyrie
Building twice. The first missile he had to avoid crashed into an
empty building behind him, but the second one smashed right into
one of the top floors of the Sparta Tower, Athens Incorporated 
Headquarters.

     David Xanatos saw the missile hit the Sparta Tower, as did the
other humans and gargoyles with him. 'Great!' he thought,
clenching his fist. 'How much worse can this night get!'

The Sparta Tower
The Office of Athena Ares and Daniel Ares

     Athena leaned back in her chair, quietly reading a book. This
was a beautiful night, and business was proceeding perfectly. Just
minutes ago Athena and her husband Daniel Straussmore, alias
Daniel Ares, had concluded an interview with a man from a small
company in Newark that was running out of money and that was a 
Robotics Company. She and Ares had allowed that company to
join them, adding one more company to their already multinational
corporation. This was the type of night she had dreamed of.
     That was when the alarm klaxons went off, and the voice of
their central computer spoke. "Warning!" it said. "Detected gun
power-up at the Eyrie Building!"
     Ares had been reading a book too, but he instantly arose from
his chair. Athena's secondary survival programming began to
function as she leapt up from her chair too, and she took a battle
pose, staring at the Eyrie Building. She saw a missile being fired at
something, and a few seconds later, the something fired several
back. It then dodged two missiles, the second which came straight
for the window of the office building. Athena jumped over to Ares,
grabbed him, and smashed through the floor down into the large
office with all the plants in it seconds before the missile hit.
     The explosion was too high above them to damage much more
than the office and the ceiling of the room, but Athena had other
things to worry about. She thrust down her right elbow, attempting
to stop their fall. If she used her leg(s), it might damage the baby
she was carrying. The elbow absorbed most of the fall, smashing
into Ares's desk and shattering it. But that still didn't stop the fall.
As pain screamed through her body, they crashed through the floor
and through several employees before finally landing in the room
behind the main laboratory. More pain shot through Athena's
elbow, and the side of her head smashed into the floor of the
office, knocking her unconscious. As for Daniel Ares, Athena's
other arm kept him safe.
     Upon seeing Athena's current condition, something inside his
brain snapped. "Computer," he said coldly. "Return fire on the
Eyrie Building. Don't stop until the building has been totally
destroyed." Fearing for her life, Ares cradled Athena's head in 
his lap and just sat there, his only coherent thought was to save
Athena's life.

     The missiles blasted from the Athens Incorporated guns, again
and again, damaging the Eyrie Building severely. Whole floors
went up in flames, and several of the glass tiles holding Castle
Wyvern on top of the building shattered. Wolf laughed. He may 
not have won, but those blasted gargoyles wouldn't survive this.
He blasted more missiles of his own while dodging the missiles
blasted at him by the castle guns and any missiles that happened to
head his way from the Sparta Tower. But there were too many 
missiles being fired around. One smashed into the back of his
sky-cycle. Wolf jumped a millisecond before the missile hit and
sailed forward. He ended up smashing face-first into the edge of
one of the floors of the Eyrie Building, became unconscious, and
began to fall towards the ground.
     He landed in a dumpster, causing a lot of the garbage inside to
explode outwards. The nearby Quarrymen, who had been driving
up to the street with anti-air guns, scattered when they saw the
missiles. At least, they tried to.
     "This is the NYPD!" called Maria Chavez over a loudspeaker.
"You may or may not have anything to do with the explosions
here, but you are all under arrest until this case is closed!"
     Seeing all of the policemen by the Eyrie Building pointing their
guns at them, all the Quarrymen put their hands up.

12,000,000,000 B.C.
The center of a Quasar

     The ball of flame burst into existence not far from the
hyperactive Black Hole at the core of the enormous Quasar that
the ball appeared in. When the flames cleared, the Archmage
floated there. Before he would have his revenge on Goliath and
Angela, he wanted to experiment with his powers to find out their
limits. He already knew he could create a whole new universe, but
that would make him the Big Bang, and he would have to explode
to cause it. Besides, sorcery couldn't match science in that
particular case anyway, and the new universe would probably
collapse immediately after it fully formed, and the universe could
never form any life. It would just be a void of atoms. And he
definitely couldn't destroy the whole entire universe, because no
sooner would it begin to collapse, it would begin expanding again.
He would also have to sacrifice himself to start the collapse, which
wouldn't continue. That, and him knowing he was most likely even
stronger than the legendary Oberon, was all he knew of his new
powers. Now it was time to see what he could do.
     The Archmage willed that the Quasar explode, and was about
to start chanting when it did just that. The whole entire enormous
galaxy exploded with incomprehensible force and unimaginable
heat, its noise like a clap of thunder billions of times louder than
any normal clap of thunder. The Archmage was not harmed,
though. He laughed maniacally as the explosion ended. Such
incredible power. He was nearly all-powerful, and he realized
something even better. He had especially wanted revenge on
Angela, because if she hadn't attacked him while he was torturing
Goliath, his revenge would have soon been complete. He had
decided to give her a slow, extremely painful, elimination, but he
realized he could probably sustain her life for years before he
destroyed her in the most painful way he could think of. And all
those years he would torture her.
     The wizard clapped his hands, and he was floating outside an
enormous supercluster of quasars. Time for experiment two. He
now knew what gluons were, he knew that they were the very
fabric of the universe, that they made up eleptons, eleptons made
up quarks, quarks made up protons, electrons, and neutrons,
protons, electrons, and neutrons made up atoms, and atoms made
up everything except the particles that made them. His knowledge
had increased with his powers. Therefore, he willed a gluon to
split.
     Another tremendous explosion of incomprehensible heat,
energy, and sound tore through the silence of the universe. It was
even greater than the explosion that destroyed the Quasar, and
destroyed the whole entire Supercluster of Quasars. He could have
caused a gluon to split anywhere to see its destructive power when
it was destroyed, but he did it a the core of the center Quasar in
the
Supercluster of Quasars just to make it more dramatic. He began
to laugh again. There was no way he could lose! No way! And the
fading sound began.
     Cursing, the Archmage realized what was happening. The Big
Bang had its greatest energy during and after the explosion, but
only for a few minutes before the explosion completely ended. He
had absorbed that energy, and it had the same effect on him. The
fading sound stopped, and he realized he had just lost most his
power. Oh well, at least his power seemed to be twice that of the
legendary Oberon. He still couldn't lose anyway, though, so he
didn't need to worry. He pressed the Phoenix Gate from where it
was on the middle of his chest, and disappeared in a ball of flame,
which he willed to take him wherever Goliath was, for he was still
the greater threat.

November 18, 1996
The Eyrie Building

     Goliath had both Elisa and Matt enfolded safely in his wings,
while Lexington and Brooklyn were sheltering Xanatos, Fox, and
Alex. Hudson was covering Bronx, and they were all huddled near
the viewscreen on the wall, waiting for Athens Incorporated to
stop firing.
     "Obviously they're not going to stop," said Xanatos, "and
Broadway is now in the building with the Steel Clan according to
the viewscreen, so I think its time to activate the force field." As
soon as he finished talking, Xanatos took out his "phone," opened
it, and punched a code on the dials. Eight spherical objects floated
out of the ground through openings, once they opened, two from
each, and the upper four shot up to above the castle. The force
field was erected after four more missiles managed to hit the
building. The missiles continued to fire against the force field, but
for the time being, the building was safe.
     At least he hoped so. He stood up, Elisa and Matt getting up as
well.
     "That was some missile attack!" exclaimed Matt. "I wonder if
we should arrest them or just let them be, since we both know the
reason they attacked. They thought Xanatos was attacking them, I
bet, so they counterattacked."
     "And its not over yet, lads!" said Hudson, pointing to the
viewscreen. "Look!"
     They did, and saw what Hudson was talking about. Twenty-five
Shadows were flying towards them, with the Eclipse helicopter in
the middle. They began to descend towards the streets.
     "I bet they're trying to get in through the Sub-Levels which was
busted open by that explosion earlier tonight!" exclaimed Elisa.
     Xanatos shot her a look as if to say  I already knew that!' and
spoke into his "phone." "Coyote, this is Xanatos. Can you hear
me?"
     It took a few seconds for the communication to go through, but
after several seconds Coyote answered. "Yes, sir, I just finished
telling Ultimax Penultimax and the Grand Clan, if they were
listening, about your projects on Sub-Level 46 through Sub-
Level 50, themselves excluded, except what they were for."
     "They're awake!" cried Xanatos, surprised. "Never mind. Just
send the Grand Clan and the Ultimax Penultimax robot out of the
building. Athens Incorporated got hit by a stray missile which I
directed at a "Quarryman," and they're fighting back, hard. With
twenty-five Steel Clan out to search for Angela, nine destroyed,
and one somewhere in this building, I only have ten Steel Clan to
fight off missiles, twenty-five Shadow Clan, and the Eclipse
chopper. The force field is up, but Sub-Levels 1 through 6 have
been blown open by the explosion earlier, and the Shadows and
the Eclipse should be able to enter through there."
     "I shall see if I can convince the robots to do as you ask," came
Coyote's voice. "When I told them about who they were modeled
after and who several of the other projects were based on I told
them how a gargoyle is born to protect, and how they, in a sense,
are also gargoyles. I believe they may be able to be convinced."
     "Good," replied Xanatos. "Please try to get them outside as
quickly as possible!"
     "As you command, master," said Coyote. Then the
communication was severed.

The Sparta Tower

     Cassandra watched with glee as the Shadow Clan robots and
the Eclipse helicopter flew towards the Eyrie Building. Xanatos
probably expected them to go under the force field by going
through the damaged Sub-Level, but she had a totally different 
plan in mind. They were going to go straight down to the
foundation of the Eyrie Building and destroy it. The whole building
would topple into the force field, and would be held up 
by it. She would then command the robots to blast into the main
building and seek and capture Xanatos and Fox. Ares had ordered
her to launch the Shadows and the Eclipse if need be, and it was
necessary.
     She sat in front of Central's main computer console, watching
the movements of the Shadows and the Eclipse as they drew ever
closer to the Eyrie Building. No doubt the police would investigate
the tower, but Athena and Ares could probably keep any
information away from the police they wanted to. Besides, they'd
probably just tell them the truth, it was self-defense, and show
them their weapons permits. Besides, she doubted anyone knew
who was firing the weapons, since most people were out in mobs
searching for gargoyles to eliminate. The Shadows and the Eclipse
flew over the building directly across from the Eyrie Building and
swooped downward toward the shattered street. The police, who
were busy walking Quarrymen towards the nearest 
station, since their cars had obviously been demolished somehow,
noticed the robots. Several gasped, while a group of policemen
agreed to start searching for who had started the missile firing in
the first place. Intrigued, Cassandra halted the Shadows and 
the Eclipse and listened.
     After several minutes, a dark-skinned officer with black hair, a
mustache, and a beard dragged a body out of a dumpster, saying,
"It looks like its our old pal Wolf who had started all the missile
firing by attacking the Eyrie Building."
     "So, he'll just get bailed out of jail again, Morgan," complained
another officer.
     "Not this time," said the officer Cassy now knew was named
Morgan. "He's not getting bailed out anymore. People just don't
get bailed out of jail for starting armed weapon firing, and even
though he's done something to his body, he's still subject to law.
Let's drag this guy away from here and take him away to the
nearest station like the others are doing with the Quarrymen, then
find out where the other missiles are coming from and quite firmly
tell whoever's using the weapons to stop."
     Cassandra screamed and slammed her fist down on a typing key
on the control panel, not even noticing it said "TERMINATE ALL
OPPOSITION." Cassy's section of the main computer console
keyboard were very direct and straightforward, with one typing
key for nearly every command. She shattered that particular typing
key too with the force of slamming her fist down in annoyance,
preventing the command from being withdrawn. Then she dialed
the code on Ares's keyboard that ordered Central to find 
him and make contact with him. Cassy would have to tell Ares that
it wasn't Xanatos's fault, and that wasn't hard, but she was very
annoyed at not being able to direct or be in a fight. She loved the
exhilaration of battle, and now it was being deprived from her. 
Central beeped, telling her it had made contact with Ares, and she
began to tell him the good, and to her, bad, news.

     Much to Xanatos's amazement, the missiles stopped being fired.
Suspicious as to whether they wanted him to withdraw the force
field, but knowing that he would never know if they had truly
stopped if he didn't withdraw the force field, he typed in another 
code on his "phone," and the floating orbs that maintained the
energy field stopped working, the tubes they had come out of
opened, the orbs reentered the tubes, and the tubes shut again.
     "I believe that settles that Quarryman attack," said Xanatos
after a few minutes of waiting to see if Athens Incorporated
reopened fire at the Eyrie Building. "Shall we join the Steel Clan in
their search for Angela?"

The World Trade Center

     Angela looked down at the hysterically sobbing form of her
mother again. She had been trying for the last half hour to think of
something to say to her mother, but she couldn't think of anything.
But she couldn't see her mother in this much pain either, and she
didn't understand what could have gotten Demona so upset. She
knew her mother had hated her suffering, and had blamed it on the
humans, so why- Of course. When her mother had started crying
she had forgotten that Demona had heard she had attacked her
own clan's children. And she noticed something else, too. Demona
was getting too worn out to continue crying. In a few seconds she
was only weakly sobbing. She got up, and fell into her daughter's
arms, though, crying, "What have I done!"
     "It's not your fault, mother," comforted Angela. "You were
asleep, and a different you, a you made by the Archmage. The real
you never did all those things. The real you was asleep inside your
own body, unconscious."
     "And if that other me ever comes back, I'll destroy it," said
Demona, her eyes glowing. Then she appeared to calm down, and
she stopped sobbing. "I don't want to dwell on that subject
anymore. How about having a nice glide together?"
     "Yes, let's," agreed Angela. She stood up and helped her
mother up. Both of them then walked over to the edge of the
building and jumped off.

     Mother and daughter glided together over the city streets
below, watching cars drive by, people walk to and from offices,
and some just having a good time. They swooped closer towards
the streets, then up again before they were noticed. They soared
above clouds, looking down at the bright lights below them, and
soared even higher, higher than the Eyrie Building. They swooped
downwards and upwards, adding some drama to their gliding.
     Angela enjoyed the wind in her face, blowing her hair around.
But she had something else that was making her happier. She
might have actually started to help her mother change by telling her
how Princess Katherine, Tom, and the Magus had protected her
and her rookery siblings. Part of her was telling her she was going
to be betrayed again, but she knew it wasn't true. She knew
Demona cared for her, and after how upset she had seemed when
she had admitted the truth a week ago, she knew Demona was not
going to betray her again.
     The two gargoyles dove down through a cloud, spun around,
and alighted on the Empire State Building, facing the Eyrie
Building, the hair of both gargoyles blowing in the breeze.
     "Can't you appreciate the pleasures of life, and not always dwell
on vengeance?" asked Angela.
     "That's what I'm doing," replied Demona. "It's been a long time
since I've truly felt happy. When Goliath and what was left of his
clan awoke, that one night I spent with him was not truly happy,
because I was worried about whether I would have to become his
enemy. When I talked to you in the prison cell those days I was
captured from June into the first week of September, the days you
guarded me, I was worried that you wouldn't join my new clan,
that you wouldn't understand how evil humanity really is. When I
flew with you a week ago I was worried you would think my
betrayal of you was for the wrong reason. Each time I've felt happy
since 1994, it hasn't been totally, because there was always some
worry within me. This is the first time in 1,002 years I've truly felt
happy."
     "What about with MacBeth, and James MacGregor?" inquired
Angela. She had heard about James MacGregor, but her mind had
wandered at the first mention of Demona, and she had missed most
of the story. She had thought she heard something about her father
saying to Daniel Straussmore/Ares that maybe they should
continue this discussion elsewhere after Ares mentioned a part she
had missed. She could remember Daniel pointing out she wasn't
listening very well, and so they didn't need to move. Angela had
asked Goliath about what she had missed later, and Goliath had 
promised to tell her later, but hadn't yet. She was still waiting for
an answer, and was on the verge of asking again.
     "With MacBeth I was worried he would betray me, which he
did, and with James MacGregor, even though I viewed him as the
human superior, one part of me was worried he would turn out to
be like all other humans, the evil ones," answered Demona. "He
didn't, but if you heard his story you'll know he was shot. All of my
nearly happy times since the Wyvern Massacre ended with
someone choosing to go against me, except with James, who was
shot." Demona's tone had become slightly sad, but after she
finished talking about James her face went back to its relaxed way
it had been in before James was mentioned.
     Mother and daughter stood there for a long time, not saying
anything, and letting the wind continue to blow their hair.

     It took a while for the Shadow Clan and the Eclipse chopper to
register their new command, since it had been cut off as it had been
issued. Finally both the robots and the chopper decided that the
command had been cut off by accident, and to obey it. The 
Eclipse and the Shadows spun around and blasted at the policemen
and news reporters, who immediately fled the opposite way the
police taking the Quarrymen and Wolf had gone, hoping to force
the robots and the chopper to split up, giving them a greater
chance of survival.
     But the robots and the helicopter's commands were to terminate
all opposition, in other words, destroy the Eyrie Building and
everyone who lived there. At least the police and other humans
were gone. The destroyed street was completely deserted now, and 
humans had long since evacuated the streets nearby the Eyrie
Building, not wishing to be caught in stray blasts. Excellent. The
Shadows and the Eclipse had all the streets surrounding the Eyrie
Building, the buildings around it most likely, and the building itself
to attack. The robots swooped downwards, heading for the
Sub-Levels. No opposition had been launched yet, so they were
ready for traps or sudden attacks.
     They weren't ready for what did attack them.

     The roof of the building directly across from the Eyrie Building
slid open, and the Ultimax Penultimax robot, along with the two
Grand Clan robots, flew out of the "building." It was really one
huge room, which served as a secret elevator out of the
Sub-Levels for Xanatos. The elevator had been created large in
size when it was made, because Xanatos had knew he might have
to make large robots and/or genetic things, and it didn't hurt to be
prepared. Coyote had told him that.
     Coyote. He had convinced all three of them to help protect the
building, telling them that if they wanted to prove they weren't just
robots, but were gargoyles, they would have to protect. And since
the building needed protection, that would be one example of what
a gargoyle would do. That's why the three robots were defending
the Eyrie Building.
     "Get below the robots and the helicopter and force them above
the building, then as far away from it as possible," ordered Ultimax
Penultimax. "We don't want to damage any people or other
buildings, and we want the robots and helicopter away from the
Eyrie Building too. Once we've gotten them far enough away, we'll
defeat them, and, if necessary, destroy them."
     "That sounds like a- whatever that word is- to me, I think," said
the lavender-gray Grand Clan robot, who was just learning to
speak and had taken the name Uranus. Uranus had instinctively
known he was modeled after the philosopher gargoyle Goliath, 
and Uranus was supposed to be wise, so.
     "The word is plan, I think," said the red-and-gold Grand Clan
robot, who was also learning to speak, and had named himself
Hades, since he had an incredible number of weapons. Ultimax
Penultimax had more weapons than Hades, but had a better name
in mind. He was thinking of naming himself Apollo.
     "Then let's move it!" said Ultimax Penultimax. "Oh, and until I
decide whether to keep the name, my code name is Apollo!" Then
the 200-foot-tall robot jumped off the roof, activating the rockets
in his feet at the same time. Uranus and Hades activated the
rockets in the bottoms of their feet too, and followed.
     Ultimax Penultimax/Apollo threw himself below the Shadows
and the Eclipse, scrunching himself up so he wouldn't damage any
buildings, since the street below was definitely not 200 feet wide.
Lasers blasted forth from the eight guns on his chest, and where his
stomach would be if he was a human, and successfully eliminated
four Shadows, the rest of which managed to dodge, along with the
helicopter. Uranus and Hades also swooped below the Shadows
and the Eclipse, but above Apollo, and began to fire at them too,
but none of the enemy attackers showed any sign of retreat.
Instead, the Shadows and the helicopter, seemingly invulnerable to
lasers, swooped down and fired back. And Apollo couldn't get in
any hits with his specialized lasers from his chest cannons, because
the Shadows apparently had put up some sort of sensor that told 
them when the "new" type of laser was heading their way.
     The Eclipse finally reverted to missiles, and began to fire them
almost constantly. Apollo knew he couldn't be damaged by the
missiles, so he made no effort to block them, but if they were
strong enough they could damage Uranus and Hades. Apollo 
chose that moment to release a group of missiles of his own, and
when the enemy robots and helicopter dodged, Hades swooped
upwards and rammed ten Shadows with his legs. He continued to
fly upwards, forcing the Shadows along with him too, and
puncturing holes in their chests. Uranus also charged upwards,
blasting an incredibly strong beam of ionized air at five more of the
Shadows. It didn't damage them, but it pushed them upward,
higher than the roof of the Eyrie Building, before the ionized 
energy exploded.
     Apollo clapped his hands, after which he slowly brought them
apart. Electricity was crackling between both of his hands. He
aimed at the six remaining Shadows, who were grouping up to
charge, and clapped his hands again. The electricity disconnected 
from his hands and arced up, shoving the Shadows upwards to the
same height as the other fifteen Shadows, and where Hades was
being blasted by laser fire from the ten Shadows who had broken
free from him. The others joined them, and soon Hades was being
attacked from all sides by lasers. As for Apollo and Uranus, they
dodged another missile sent at them by the Eclipse, and Uranus
whirled around, throwing it upwards to the same height as the
Shadows and Hades with his tail. Uranus and Apollo followed, 
and soon were above the roof of the Eyrie Building.
     Uranus sent another blast of laser energy at the Shadows,
shoving several of them backwards towards southern New York.
Hades was in the process of completing a sideways barrel roll,
slicing off the head of one of the Shadows, while Apollo let his red 
forehead flip open and released a group of missiles from hidden
weapon compartments that were revealed. The Shadows scattered
into two groups, both of which were shoved towards southern
New York by more energy blasts from Uranus. Hades flipped
forwards and upside down, the back of his "nose" opened, and a
missile flew out. He flipped forwards again and fired another
missile, this one from the bottom of his main body. The Eclipse
avoided both, but it too was shoved towards southern New York
by a punch from Apollo, which almost destroyed the helicopter
too. Uranus, Hades, and Apollo followed after the enemy robots
and helicopter once again.

     Goliath, who was carrying Elisa, Brooklyn, who was carrying
Matt, Lexington, and Hudson, who was carrying Bronx, jumped
off the main tower of Castle Wyvern and glided over the wall,
ready to search the city for Angela. Xanatos had said he would join 
them as soon as Broadway was brought up to him and
recuperated. Then Xanatos would put on his Exo-Frame, and he
and Broadway would try to find them and join them, maybe with
Fox too.
     They glided over the city for several minutes, occasionally
hearing sounds that seemed to come from low clouds a few yards
above and in front of them. The clouds had drifted in over the last
hour, and were slowly dissipating. Eventually they passed below
the mysterious cloud, and the sounds seemed to be coming from
behind them. Goliath realized it was probably another news
helicopter looking for gargoyles to take photos of, or record
sightings of them.
     "This way," commanded Goliath, motioning to the left as best
as he could without dropping Elisa, and heading that way too.
Brooklyn and the others followed, having no idea where to look,
but following their leader.
     "This may be a stupid suggestion, but if twenty-five Steel Clan
robots can't find Angela, exactly how are we supposed to find
her?" inquired Matt.
     "She has to be somewhere in this city," said Goliath. "Maybe
the Steel Clan just haven't found her yet. This is a large city, with
five boroughs. She's out there somewhere, I know it."
     "I still want to know how Broadway ended up on a building far
from the Eyrie Building," said Elisa. "I don't think a falling tower
could throw him that far. Something else is going on."
     "Do you think the Quarrymen got her?" asked Brooklyn.
     "They couldn't have!" exclaimed Goliath, his eyes glowing.
"She's out there somewhere, alive!"
     "I hope so, Goliath," replied Elisa. "But we may have to start
facing the obvious."
     "Aye, lad," said Hudson. "As much as it pains me to say it,
Elisa may be right. Angela could have glided to safety with
Broadway, then gotten captured. Wolf could have been flying back
to get Broadway too when we saw him."
     "Uh, this may be a hunch, but I think you guys should look at
this and tell me if it has anything to do with tonight's problem,"
said Lexington, pointing back to the cloud that the mysterious
noises had come from above. The clan looked, including Matt and 
Elisa, and saw a damaged Shadow Clan robot that had apparently
fallen out of the cloud. In seconds, it flew back up through the
cloud, blasting a laser as it did.
     "I don't think its a hunch," said Brooklyn. "I know its the truth.
I think its time to pay a visit to our friends at Athens
Incorporated."

A deserted building in far north Manhattan

     The ball of flame burst into existence once again, and the
Archmage stepped out, hoping to be close to where Goliath was.
As he left the portal, it shut silently as usual. Then he gaped.
     He had known that the humans in the world had become greatly
advanced in their technology, but he hadn't been expecting a city as
large as this. It was large enough to be a city-state. But that wasn't
the most amazing part. There were incredible lights in all
directions, towers higher than he had ever seen in his life. This was
an amazing place.
     Taking his mind off the sights, he waved his hand and a silvery
disk appeared. "Find Goliath the gargoyle," he ordered, just in case
there were humans named Goliath, although he doubted it. The
disk shot away.
     Finally. His revenge was beginning again.

Athens Incorporated Headquarters

     "Come on, Athena!" urged Daniel Ares. "You can pull
through!"
     Dr. Daniel Straussmore/Ares, Gemini, Lazarus, Cassandra, and
Eric stood around Athena. Ares was still cradling her head in his
lap, and hadn't moved except to order Central to stop all missile
firing. Gemini, Lazarus, Cassandra, and Eric had joined him, while
Orpheus peered in the door, being too big to fit in.
     "Come on!" urged Ares again. He didn't know if she heard him
or not, but this time her eyelids fluttered open, and she attempted
to move.
     "D-Daniel-" she said weakly. "What- happened?"
     Daniel immediately smiled, and helped her up. "It wasn't
Xanatos," he said, immensely relieved she wasn't hurt. "He was
firing at someone else, or at least that's what Cassandra said."
     "Or he could have made it look like he was firing at someone
else," put in Athena. She let go of Daniel and attempted to stand
herself. He had a little trouble at first, but finally managed to after
being steadied several times.
     Ares had told Gemini, Lazarus, Cassandra, and Eric what had
happened when they had entered the room, and Orpheus had
overheard what he had told them. Cassandra had told him she had
heard his command to Central to attack the Eyrie Building, and
had pitched in herself, which was how she had found out what
seemed to have really happened. Now Daniel wanted to know
where the Shadow Clan robots and the Eclipse chopper were,
which Cassy had said she had used to pitch in.
     But before he could ask his question Central spoke. "Seven
figures approaching Athens Incorporated," it said. "Four of them
gargoyle shaped, one of them gargoyle-dog shaped, and two
human shaped. Aiming defensive cannons."
     "Keep defensive systems running, but do not shoot unless
you're told to," said Daniel. To Athena he said, "It may be
Goliath's clan."

The Eyrie Building

     A Steel Clan robot walked into Xanatos's office and dropped
Broadway on the floor, then stood still.
     "Finally," said Xanatos. "Now I can get out of here and help
search for Angela. Fox, are you coming?"
     "You bet," said Fox, handing Alexander to Owen. "Owen,
please go to the nursery and make sure he stays safe," she said to
him, then turned back to Xanatos. "I'm not missing seeing an up
close performance of our new robots. If they're out in the city still
too, I want an up close view."
     Xanatos turned to the Steel Clan robot. "Stay here until
Broadway recuperates," he ordered. "Then get the rest of the Steel
Clan to come help us, and type Broadway an explanation of what's
going on on my computer. That way he should come too. We're 
going to find Angela, I'll make sure of it! I didn't let the gargoyles
return here only to let them fend for themselves!"

Sub-Level 50

     "Are you absolutely certain this is going to work?" asked John
Castaway to his employee Andy.
     "Would I have spent a long time reviewing this plan with you,
and going over it another time if I wasn't sure it was going to
work," said Andy. "I could probably do it myself anyway, but I
took the elevator up to bring you down here because you wanted 
to cover me."
     "Fine!" retorted John. "Let's get this over with!"
     Andy adjusted his suit so he was invisible again, and walked
into the room. Sure enough, Coyote was standing guard, but he
wasn't even aiming for what Coyote was guarding. He adjusted his
magnetic gloves and boots to make sure that they were working,
then ran to the side, faced the wall, and began to climb it. He
hadn't been able to do this last time because Coyote already had
known he was on Sub-Level 50, and using his magnetic gloves and
boots would have taken too long to get to his quarry. Coyote
probably would have nailed him, which he had done anyway.
Once he was sure the gloves and boots were working right, he
began to run up the wall, ready to cross the ceiling and end up on
the platform with the Exo-Frame 3.0. That was his new quarry, 
since he couldn't get Project Ultima without his "energy disks"
being seen, and probably blasted to bits. The cube was too far
away to reach without the Exo-Frame, and if he used an "energy
disk," Coyote would know he was back in the room, and would
most likely find him again and throw him out. But that wasn't
going to happen.
     In a few minutes he had climbed the wall, crossed the ceiling,
and climbed down the other wall, ending up behind and slightly to
the side of the platform containing the Exo-Frame. He switched on
the scanners on his suit's "eyes" and checked the wall for a hidden
passage leading directly to the platform. He found one. It led to
some sort of large elevator, the same one he had seen the Ultimax
Penultimax robot and the two Grand Clan robots exit through.
That was when he had entered the elevator, called John, told him
his plan, picked him up, brought him down to Sub-Level 50, and
reviewed the plan again. In order for his plan to work he needed
Coyote to think he was Xanatos long enough for him to reprogram
the robot. Grinning, he placed an "energy disk" on the door, giving
it new commands first. The door short-circuited, but it opened at
the same time, canceling out that noise. As the door slid open
Andy took out another "energy disk," gave it its commands, and
placed it on the Exo-Frame. Any alarm systems to prevent people
who weren't supposed to enter the Exo-Frame from entering short-
circuited as the door finished to open, drowning out that
short-circuiting noise too. All three of the noises stopped as the
door finished opening, and Andy continued his plan, stepping back
to the door and running forward as loud as he could. He wrenched
open the back of the Exo-Frame, slipped in, and shut it from the
inside with a tongue switch. Now for phase two of the plan.
     As expected, Coyote had heard the door opening and the
footsteps, plus the Exo-Frame opening and closing, but the
Exo-Frame had blocked his view of who had made the noises.
Therefore, Coyote assumed it was Xanatos, and said, "An
unexpected development in tonight's activities, I presume?"
     "Indeed," said Andy, pressing another button with his tongue.
Coyote gasped in surprise when he heard Andy's voice, but was
immediately silent as the radio transmission signal Andy had
pressed shut him down. Andy made a few adjustments with more
tongue switches, and turned Coyote back on.
     "And for what purpose have I been reprogrammed for?" asked
Coyote, who now regarded the Quarrymen as his masters. He was
a real robot, and his thoughts were only what had been
programmed into him. And right now, he had been reprogrammed 
to serve only the Quarrymen.
     John Castaway stepped into the room. "Take us to Sub-Levels
46 through 49," he commanded. "Andy told me there are items
that could help us there. But leave Project Ultima alone." Andy's
mouth opened in shock, but Castaway continued. "I don't want a
robot with free will and super-intelligence, who might want to
make its own goals. I want newborn clones and mindless robots.
The clones will be easy to convince to see things my way, the
truth, that gargoyles are evil. Then you will take us all up to the 
surface, and we're going to hunt down and exterminate every last
gargoyle!"

     Apollo dodged another blast from a Shadow Clan robot, and
fired back. The Shadow Clan robot dodged. Blast! They had been
battling for minutes, and no one had managed to successfully hurt
anyone more than a few torn places in the Shadows. If only there
was some way-
     That's when the answer came to him! He was made of liquid
metal. He could do more than just swinging his tail and using his
other body parts and normal weaponry to attack. Hades, who had
no arms or a tail, had managed to severely damage ten Shadows on
the way to this battle zone by using his body parts, but couldn't
damage anymore of the enemy with body parts and/or weaponry. It
was the same for Uranus. But he hoped his liquid metal, and, he
corrected himself, the special ability of his tail, which he had
forgotten, would turn the tide of the battle.
     Apollo grinned and kicked at one of the Shadows. It dodged, as
he expected