Gargoyles: Obakemono

by Kabeiroi

A vengeful Yakuza leader sics his deadly Tengu demons on Elisa for sticking her nose where it didn't belong. And even though Elisa still hates them, Goliath is determined to keep her safe.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Head's up: I realize that the stories are all out of joint, but I'm trying to post as much as I have right now.

P.S: This is not Mommy Spike's

The Wyvern Clan (Goliath, Angela, Hudson, Bronx, Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington, Demona), Elisa Maza, Peter & Diane Maza, Matt Bluestone, Officer Morgan, Captain Chavez, Fox, Alex, David Xanatos, Owen Burnett, Cagney, Illuminati are © to Greg Weisman & Disney. Green Lantern (passing mention) is © to DC Comics. Awen, Father Grady, the hamsters Little Caesar & Mr. Peebles, Lou & Danny Delrosario, Brother K, Lord Koji Ikeda, Ryozo Takahashi, Yuka, Zenji, Setsuke, Kazuko, Tomoko, Ren, Dai, Hikotaro, Mafuyu are © Kara Senecal.

Takes place after Reawakenings 2 and shortly after Possessed. Elisa has finally been released from the hospital and is already investigating a murder linked to the Yakuza, who are guarded by fierce monsters.

GARGOYLES

Obakemono

By Kara Senecal

"There she is!"

Elisa tried to put on a bright smile as she stepped into the glaring neon lights of her office, but she was tired. The medicine she was taking was making her groggy and nauseous, and just the few small flights of stairs she had ascended had worn her out.

But she had given it a try and now she was here, smiling weakly in exhaustion and embarrassment as her stunned friends broke into applause. "Please, none of that."

"I didn't know you were coming back so soon!" Officer Morgan cried, grinning warmly as he grasped her hand. "My wife was gonna order a cake an' everything."

"Oh, don't let her go through the trouble for me!" Elisa said, feeling her cheeks grow a little hotter; she knew this was going to happen. She knew because that happened to all the cops who had been hurt on the line and survived it and came back--big old party, to celebrate their coworker's narrow escape from death. Yeah, there's something you wanted to do. Elisa had never been comfortable in those parties, and she had known she certainly wasn't going to be comfortable when her turn came around.

Especially now, because of what happened to her baby.

Still, she accepted the praise and blessings from the other officers and detectives and even the secretaries and the dispatchers with as much grace as her wounded heart would allow. She was ashamed by their attention, how they nattered on about her slight limp, or the stiffness in her body, but she didn't let them know.

A small crowd of people hovered around her like a fog as she carefully picked her way through the office, towards Capt. Chavez's office. Everyone was talking, asking her questions, and though Elisa was answering them, she hardly heard what they were saying. She spotted Matt Bluestone in the captain's office, standing before Maria Chavez's desk and he seemed to be arguing vehemently about something.

Elisa almost hesitated, and a hazy, unwelcomed memory slithered into her brain; most of that night was unclear to her now, but Elisa was certain she had said something scary to Matt. Asked him to do something insane, like killing the Gargoyles, because she, in her drug-induced confusion and fever and agony, truly believed the Gargoyles were at fault for her attack … and the loss of the baby.

Elisa bit back a cry and tried to keep her eyes from filling with tears; truth be told, she still wasn't certain she said all those things out of rage or if she actually meant them. Yes, part of her did blame Goliath and his clan for what happened. In fact, it blamed them for Derek's mutation, Demona's numerous attempts on Elisa's life, Broadway shooting--albeit accidentally--her in the back, having been transformed into a Gargoyle for one confusing and frightening night, getting knocked off over the edge of a dam, being abducted by Hunters, held at gunpoint by Quarrymen …

Everything.

Gently shooing away Morgan and the other officers, Elisa wound her way over to Chavez's office, lightly rapping the frosted glass with her knuckle. "Capt'n?"

Gasping in shock, Chavez's head whipped around, her eyes widening in disbelief as Elisa took a tentative step into the room. At the same time, Matt spun around, the rage draining from his face as he stared at Elisa, looking at first elated … then suddenly alarmed.

Maybe he had a right to be. Unconsciously, Elisa glanced briefly at her clothes; she was wearing slightly baggier, darker blue jeans, a long-sleeved white t-shirt, a big denim jacket, dark brown boots and had tied her hair back in a long braid.

Yes, this must have been something of a shock to Matt. She hardly ever wore anything like this.

But then, after what happened, her normal clothes were shredded and blood-soaked, and Elisa couldn't stand the thought of wearing anything even close to that. Soon, she hadn't been comfortable in anything, and had ripped her bedroom apart. Her mom had stopped by for a visit, and it was left up to Diane to pick out something decent for Elisa.

"Elisa!!" Chavez cried, darting around her desk and flinging her arms around Elisa's body, hugging her tight. "You're back? So early?"

"O-ow!" Flinching in pain, Elisa quickly but carefully unhooked Chavez's arms. "Sorry, Captain … stitches still hurt."

"Oh God, did I hurt you?" Momentarily worried, Chavez took a quick step back and looked Elisa over. "You all right?"

"Yeah, it's not bad." Swallowing hard, Elisa glanced over at Matt. "Hey Matt."

"Hey, partner." His eyes narrowed slightly. "I didn't think I'd see you back just yet."

Elisa shrugged. "I got sick of the apartment."

Hearing that, Chavez cocked her head at Elisa and arched an eyebrow. "'Apartment'? Elisa, your mom and dad said you'd be staying with them …"

"Yeah, but I decided I'd be okay back home." Strangely, Elisa was growing uncomfortable with the questions. "I was bugging them … they were bugging me …"

"Elisa," Chavez chided.

"No, really." Drawing in a steadying breath, Elisa glanced around the sparse office, looking for something to focus on. "I uh, thought I was better now, so I could get back to work."

Matt straightened. "You're kidding," he said, almost accusingly.

Chavez's mouth fell open and her eyes widened in horror as she cried, "Elisa, you just got through three surgeries! I don't think you're in any condition to be running around, climbing over fences and tackling perps!"

'Like I used to do,' Elisa thought regretfully. "C'mon, Capt'n, I can get around …"

"Hardly," Chavez snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I can't let you back for at least another month! I don't want you to get sick or hurt again."

Hurt again. Those words brought an unexpected snarl to Elisa's lips. "I can't get 'hurt again', Captain," she spat. "All I want is my job back."

"Elisa," Matt started imploringly.

Setting her jaw, Chavez shook her head. "Forget it, Maza; you can have a desk job, but I can't let you go out on patrols until your doctor gives the okay. Even then, I shouldn't be doing that!"

A desk job? Elisa's anger rankled through her; she didn't want a damned desk job! She wanted to go out there and catch somebody!!

Glancing between the two women, Matt braced himself, then quickly stepped in. "Uh, suggestion," he said, raising his hand for attention. "Just a thought; could Elisa help me on this case? I--I mean--" he stammered as Chavez's flashing eyes turned on him. "--Like a liaison. You know, she could help me look through the evidence and stuff … she doesn't have to rescue cats out of trees or stop jaywalkers or anything. Just help me piece things together."

Chavez stared at him unblinkingly for a moment. "There's a thought," she said finally.

Elisa silently exhaled; good. That was a step up from being chained to a desk all night.

Frowning once at Matt, Chavez turned and retreated back to her seat. "Hate to tell you, Detective, but the word from the government is our Task Force is a failure."

Matt nodded grimly. "Down the crapper."

Task Force? Elisa almost snorted at that; the Task Force for the Law Enforcement and Protection of Supernatural Beings was a failure? Big surprise there. Inside, Elisa always knew that the Task Force would never work out; anything with that long of a name was doomed to fail to begin with.

"So, we're being reassigned," Matt continued, reaching over and plucking a manila folder off of Chavez's desk. He waved it in front of Elisa's face. "Guess what I got?"

Curious, Elisa took the file from him and flipped open the cover, immediately coming face to face with a gruesome crime scene photo clipped to the initial report. She grimaced. "Whoa. Way to start off the day. What happened?"

Chavez signed as she sat down. "It looks like a hit," she began, looking up at Elisa seriously. "One of Tony Dracon's men."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Donny 'Crowbar' Delrosario."

"'Crowbar'?" Elisa echoed, looking at the captain incredulously. "Oh man, I don't even want to know … He was a new guy?"

"Yeah. We hardly know anything about him." Shaking her head, Chavez leaned back in her seat. "They say he did some enforcing work--break a few kneecaps here, crack a couple of skulls there--but we couldn't pin anything on him."

"And now he got capped," Matt grunted, dropping into a chair opposite Chavez. "And whoever did it, they weren't too gentle about it."

"He was on a date," Chavez went on as Elisa sat in the chair beside Matt. "His uncle's restaurant, La Brussola, down on Little Italy. Supposedly a hang-out for Dracon and his higher-ups for a long time."

"Yeah I know," Elisa murmured, studying another picture. "Who did it? And why they do it?"

Matt raised an eyebrow and shared a 'here-we-go' look with Captain Chavez.

Chavez glanced back at Elisa. "Well, we found a piece of paper with a Japanese letter on it. We're thinking Koji Ikeda's clan."

Elisa nearly froze at the words. Slowly, she lifted her head to meet Chavez's gaze. "Japanese mafia?"

"Yep. Yakuza."

That brought a certain chill to the room. Yakuza. God, no one wanted to mess with those guys. The Russians could be bad and Italians worse, and the Chinese Triads were no saints either, but Yakuza, particularly Koji Ikeda's guys … well, Elisa and her dad had a bunch of good friends who either disappeared or turned up dead and badly mutilated after messing with them.

Ikeda … Everyone in that room had seen how cops' faces had paled when that bastard's name was mentioned. Elisa's dad Peter used to snarl and then retreat into another room if a conversation turned to Koji Ikeda. He absolutely out and out refused to speak about the crime lord. Elisa had never heard the full story, but it had something to do with the murder of Dad's second partner.

Still, Elisa frowned; she didn't like guys who got away with everything.

"What we don't quite get right now …" Chavez was saying, gesturing for the folder to be returned, "is how Delrosario was killed. The medical examiner said at the scene it looked like somebody completely broke his spine in three spots, but we're not certain."

Elisa nodded, handing the folder back. "Where was that piece of paper found?"

"Just inside the doorway," Matt answered, then shook his head. "That's not what's starting to piss me off about this case, though. Delrosario and his girlfriend were at the restaurant at like three in the morning. There weren't any other customers and only Lou Delrosario--the uncle--and two waitresses were still there, cleaning up.

"They're all saying that three 'monster ninjas' busted in through the front door, and while two of them smashed the place up, a third knocked the girlfriend out of the way and beat Donny Delrosario to death. And supposedly, they were wicked fast, never spoke, hardly made a sound--"

"--Except for the smashing glass and furniture and bones," Chavez grunted.

"--Yeah, and killed Donny with a couple of punches or something, then were out the door." Sighing heavily, Matt shrugged, throwing his hands to the ceiling. "This's weird, even for me."

Elisa blinked, her eyes wide. "And that paper …?"

"That was found just inside the door," Matt said, frowning. "And ol' Uncle Lou couldn't remember if one of the … how'd be put it? The 'goddamned pajama-wearin' bastards'? … actually dropped it, or if one of the many Asian families that regularly visit might have dropped it."

"Oh man." Grimacing in disbelief and slight nausea, Elisa cupped her forehead in her hand. She thought for a moment. "Could I get a look at the crime scene, just to orient myself?"

Matt blinked, then glanced to Chavez for approval. Chavez shrugged. "Sure, I don't see why not. Just be careful."

"Okay. Thanks, Capt'n." Semi-relieved, Elisa stood and walked to the door, Matt trailing behind her and yanking on his overcoat, softly singing, "'Ev'rybody loves kung-fu figh-ting …'"

"Shuddup, Matt."

************************************************************************

AERIE BUILDING:

Goliath sat alone on his turret, his head propped on his fist as he thought, the last of his tears drying on his cheeks.

He missed Elisa, and it was destroying him.

For the first time in several nights, Goliath realized there was something wrong with him. Since those nights--they felt so long ago, like another thousand years had gone by!--when he lost his daughter because of that monstrous witch Oda, and then the following night, when an ill Elisa bitterly told him to leave and never return, Goliath had begun to fall apart. He started to spend less and less time with the clan, meeting with them only to brief them on missions, and even then, on patrol, he chose to go off by himself, a dangerous thing to do in this city. Brooklyn himself said that going on patrol without some kind of backup was basically suicide, and Goliath had thought darkly he'd welcome death if it meant the pain would stop.

His sleep was wracked with horrid dreams of monsters and Elisa. He was eating less, and dully noticed he had lost weight. His temper could be out of control at times, as many an emotionally scarred mugger would now attest. He would spend hours alone, just thinking. He was losing patience with Brooklyn, who really was trying his best but was overwhelmed and frustrated with Goliath. Hudson and even Xanatos had called Goliath on his dark attitude, but Goliath had dismissed them with a snarl. Angela was afraid to approach him, and he regularly turned his long lost sister Awen away, though she tried to help. Even Demona was disgusted with him.

Goliath blamed himself, and that outraged his clan to no end. They would rally around him and clamor that there was no way he could have stopped what happened. He knew they were right, but that desperate and vicious voice in the back of his mind wouldn't let him believe it.

Fox said he was depressed. Goliath wanted to strike her.

He tried to draw in a steadying breath and wipe away the damp patches on his cheeks just as heavy footsteps sounded on the tower stairs. He raised his head weakly, forcing an unconvincing smile on his face as the Rookie approached. "Hello Broadway."

"Hey, Goliath." Broadway didn't smile; his voice was full of worry. He vaulted up on the parapet beside Goliath, looking at his leader seriously. "Almost time to patrol … you didn't have anything to eat."

Goliath's eyes narrowed, and he looked away, to the glittering city that peered up at them through ragged clouds. "I … had no appetite."

"I'm not surprised," Broadway muttered. "Goliath, c'mon …"

"It really is none of your concern, Broadway."

"Like hell it isn't!" Frustrated, but knowing he had given it his best shot, Broadway stood, unfurling his wings. He glared at Goliath, who met his gaze evenly. Broadway began to open his mouth as if to roar at Goliath in fury, but suddenly, his shoulders slumped; he saw no point in trying.

Sighing heavily, Goliath turned away. "Has Sister arrived yet?"

"Awen? Yeah." Broadway rolled his eyes. "Goliath, you're going to have to talk to her about her ice cream addiction; she just cleaned out the last of the coconut ice cream last night, and we had like a freakin' drum!"

Goliath managed a faint grin at that; Awen hadn't exactly adjusted to the cuisine New York offered, but she quickly took to the ice cream. She had once mockingly gave a warning snarl as little Alex Xanatos inched towards a carton of ice cream she left on the counter, intending to snatch it away before she could finish it off.

Goliath stood, nodding. "I will mention it, Broadway, but it's hard to get between her and something she loves."

Broadway considered than, then chuckled. "I think we'll be all set as long as Angela doesn't take her by a Friendly's or anything."

Goliath smiled faintly again, and then they leapt off the tower together, unfurling their wings and gently drifting to the ground. Goliath dropped to the cobbled ground beside a fountain, spotting Awen perched there, reading a book, an empty carton of coconut ice cream sitting by her.

One of her long ears twitched as he landed to the ground, and Awen glanced up from her book, breaking into a grin. "Ah, Brother!"

"Good evening, Sister," Goliath returned, stooping just a bit so she could hug him around the neck. Lifting a brow ridge, he reached down and plucked the carton up between two claws. "Feasting again, I see?"

Her glittering emerald eyes narrowed just a bit, but she chuckled as he settled down beside her. "Blame it on Broadway and Angela," she said, turning to watch the pair wander off into a remote part of the garden. "I didn't exactly care for that sushi thing Broadway made, so he and Angela tried to make up for it."

"And thus, they created a monster," Goliath snorted, and Awen 'thwapped' him in the shoulder with her book.

Curious, Goliath held his hand out. "You seemed quite engrossed in this."

Awen nodded, handing him the book. "Beowulf."

"Ah yes." Goliath studied the cover, flipping it over to peruse the back. "I know of the tale."

"This is the complete story," Awen explained, flipping a long lock of black hair over her shoulder. "It's told a little differently, so it caught my attention."

Goliath nodded, not truly interested anymore. "And that other book …?"

"The Epic of Gilgamesh?" Awen asked, a small smile beginning to grow. "I liked it, actually. I … found it … interesting …?" Realizing he wasn't listening, Awen arched a brow ridge at him. "Particularly when Gilgamesh went to Canada …"

"Mmph."

"And met the Green Lantern …"

"Aye."

"Who was fishing for the Lake Champlain Monster…"

"Aye."

"GOLIATH!!!"

Startled, Goliath spun around to face his sister, surprised to see that her eyes were flaring red. "What, Sister, what is it?"

Disgusted, Awen turned away with a snarl. "You drifted off on me, Brother." Frowning, she gazed down at the cobblestones, her tail snapping irritably over the mortar. "Goliath … it might be a wise idea if you spoke to someone--"

"Oh no," Goliath snarled, leaping to his feet. He stalked a few feet away from Awen, keeping his back to her as he snarled, "I will not speak to your deacon friend, Awen!"

"He's a priest, Goliath, and his name is Daniel Grady!" Alarmed and angry, Awen stood up, scooping up the book Goliath had dropped and crossing the gap between them. She reached for his shoulder but Goliath growled, shaking her off.

"Goliath, you can't keep doing this to yourself!" Awen snapped, trailing him as he started towards the manor. "Goliath … Brother, what happened was not your fault--"

"Wasn't it?" Goliath spat, spinning around to glare at his sister with furious, glowing eyes. "I had promised Elisa I'd always protect her, and because of me, Oda had her monsters attack Elisa and tear her open--!"

Goliath's voice cracked, and, outraged and humiliated, he turned away, all of his hatred surging up through him.

Awen stood there before him, staring at him with an unreadable expression, hugging her book to her chest. Finally she blinked, as though waking from a dream, and she sighed, dropping her gaze. "You need to realize, Brother, that you are only capable of so much--"

"Elisa hates me--hates us--!"

"The woman has gone through a terrible ordeal and needs someone to lash out at!" Awen cried, verging on exasperation. "She picked us."

Goliath glared at Awen. "She doesn't seem to detest you as much."

Grimacing, Awen shrugged with one shoulder. "Oh, she pretty much hates me now … I had a flower pot lobbed at my head the other night, remember?"

"I should have been there …"

At those words, Awen's hair bristled, her eyes flared and she bared her fangs at him. "Say that one more time, Little Brother, and I'll be forced to beat some sense into you."

Why couldn't Awen understand? How come neither Awen, nor anyone else in the clan understood why it hurt him so? It made Goliath sick to think about it and he turned away, struggling to breathe.

Behind him, he heard Awen shift uneasily. "I did blame myself, at first, when I found you all turned to stone," she murmured. "And then when I found my … my mate …"

Goliath hesitated, then glanced at her, over his shoulder. Awen didn't meet his gaze; she was staring at the ground, drawing in a ragged breath. "Then I started blaming everyone else … the Magus, the Princess, the Captain, Hakkon, every damned human I could find …"

Awen paused, then glanced up at Goliath. Remarkably, there were no tears in her eyes. "I had to keep telling myself that I couldn't have prevented that, and that I had to live with it. There were other concerns then too, there were people to protect. It always hurts, Brother, but senseless guilt is only to destroy you and your clan."

Goliath stared at her; part of him felt like there was an immense weight off of his shoulders and it was an incredible relief.

The other half of him was sick with disgust at his sister's inspirational.

Still, Goliath didn't know what to say, and he remained silent even as the clan began to regroup around them, talking calmly, acting more or less happy and completely ignorant of this gaping wound Goliath could feel in his chest.

Suddenly, he felt detached, and he quietly assigned tasks and patrol routes to his clan, hardly listening as Angela and Awen discussed stopping by that wretched herbalist's shop, as the Trio discussed how they could get out of another grueling training session so they could see a concert in the Park, as Hudson mentioned Bronx could use some exercise--otherwise, he was going to pick a fight with Alex's hamsters again.

Somehow, in the middle of all this, Goliath had an idea. Excusing himself from the clan, Goliath headed back into the castle, searching out either Xanatos or Fox.

He needed to place a phone call.

************************************************************************

Viewing the carnage around her, Elisa grimaced, unconsciously rubbing the stitches along her stomach. "Gross."

Not really hearing her, Matt frowned, rising out of his crouch and taking a step back, surveying the pools of blood that had splattered and dried across the restaurant floor. "I guess our hit man thingy was standing right about here," he said, positioning his body so it lined up with an uneven patch of brown blood on the ground, by the table. "And then …" Slowly, Matt raised his fist, bringing it down on the chair where Donny Delrosario died. " … The first punch. It was hard enough to crush his collarbone and shatter two of his upper vertebrae."

"That must have been one hell of a punch," Elisa said, stepping around the blood-drenched wooden chair.

Matt nodded, stepping back again. "Yeah. The forensics guys aren't totally certain just yet, but they said the punch would have so strong that it'd shatter five or six concrete blocks. And when the collarbone shattered--" Here, Matt briefly winced. "--Pieces of the bone flew through his body and cut through the esophagus."

"That explains the blood spray," Elisa agreed, grimacing again. She held her hand against her nose, not sure if she could actually smell the gore, or if it was only her imagination.

"Yeah … but that didn't kill him." Matt swung again at the empty chair. "They wanted him to see them hit him a second time, lower, in the center of his chest." Completing the swing, Matt shook his head. "Ribs snapped, the middle vertebrae split apart. His lungs started filling up with blood."

"Ugh." Elisa complete circling around the chair, reaching Matt's side.

"Really. But then, he was hit a third time, in the stomach, and that was what killed him." Narrowing his eyes at the chair, Matt folded his arms over his chest. "But the injuries Delrosario got, it was like he was hit by a damned freight truck. And the ninja-thing that killed him was supposedly only a little taller than him, and didn't look too muscular."

"But then again," Elisa added, turning to study the rest of the restaurant, "these things moved too fast for a good look."

For the most part, La Brussola was trashed. The restaurant had been turned completely upside down; the picture windows had huge, spider-webbing cracks, nearly all of the tables and chairs had been smashed and reduced to splinters, the flowery centerpieces had been crushed, bottles of wine lied in shatters on the scuffed wood floor, and the walls were pocked with what looked like claw marks. Even the ceiling fans hung askew.

A few cops still milled around, mostly guarding the crime scene from the curious and the morbid. A few last minute photographs were being snapped, just to make absolutely sure nothing was missed. Three CSI guys were poking around, quietly debating how fast these attackers had to have moved in order to destroy a restaurant in a few seconds.

Here, the investigation was wrapping up and moving on. Soon, it would be up to Uncle Lou--there, by the entrance, arguing with a rookie officer--to clean up the blood and destroyed furniture, replace his windows and lights, and try again.

Lou was a mess. Well, Elisa had never known this guy to be completely together, but now he was all but tearing chunks of his graying, disappearing hair out of his skull. The bags under his eyes had grown heavier, and he hadn't shaved in the last two days. He was pissed about his nephew and his restaurant. Mostly, though, it sounded like he was pissed about the restaurant.

"Well, why couldn't those bastards go and bust up The Tuscany Grille?!" Lou roared as Elisa approached, jabbing a thick finger in the general direction of the rival restaurant. "I got nothing to do with those ninja mother f--"

"Mr. Delrosario?" Elisa interrupted, drawing a withering glare from the elder man. She drew out her badge, presenting it to his beaky nose. "I'm Detective Maza … remember me?"

Lou Delrosario blinked, staring out her for a moment, slightly confounded. Suddenly, he straightened. "I remember you … you used to come here, lookin' for Dracon."

"Yep."

Lou snorted. "Well, the little creep hasn't been around here in a couple of months! Stopped comin' altogether … I bet he knew those things were after him!"

"It's a possibility," Elisa said, waving for the relieved rookie to take a break. "Can I ask you a few questions?"

"You're just gonna ask me the same questions that one over there asked." With his flabby chin, Lou pointed to a slightly bewildered-looking Matt. "Get the Cliff Notes from him."

"I just want to hear it from you," Elisa said, an edge rising to her voice. She really didn't want to be hanging around here any longer than she had to, and Lou was just slowing her down. "Just a few questions, Lou."

The elder man eyed her suspiciously, then sighed, his heavy shoulders slumping. "Okay, okay, shoot."

"Okay; these things that came in, you're certain they weren't human?"

"Certain. Dead certain."

Elisa hesitated, not sure she should ask the next question. It didn't seem right, but she had to be sure. "Did you see if they had wings?"

Matt, walking towards her, immediately froze in his steps. His eyes narrowed and he furiously hissed, "Elisa!" at her as Lou pondered that for a moment.

"Nope, didn't look like it," Lou replied, shaking his head.

"How about a tail?"

"No, no tail … it looked like they had bumps or ridges on their hands or something."

Elisa blinked. "Oh?" she asked, reaching for her notebook as Matt dug out his own.

Lou described it a bit better, saying these bumps looked like bits of pointed white granite. He didn't see anything like that on their faces, as they were mostly covered and the things were moving too fast to begin with, but he remembered, as he watched one of the things lunge for the cowering waitresses and then spring nimbly away, he had seen the black clothing tighten along its back, and strange bumps seemed to press through, following the length of the creature's spine.

"It was the damnedest thing," Lou said, watching them, making sure they were taking him seriously and didn't think he was completely batty. "It was one of those seconds where everything slows down and stops? It was jumping over a chair, and it turned and looked at me. That's when I saw these weird little bumps on its neck. It was so weird I kept lookin' and I saw that the bumps got bigger, and they went all the way down its back."

"Okay." Elisa wrote that down. "Did you see its eyes?"

"Yeah. Bright red, like a stop light."

"And these things weren't wearing shoes?" Matt asked.

Lou shook his head. "Nah, they had bare feet."

"Could you see if they … uh …" Uncertain, Elisa shared a questioning look with Matt. "Could you see if they had like three toes …?"

Lou glanced down at the floor, thinking. "Hmmm … Well, it looked like they had five like us, but, like I said, they were movin' so friggin' fast …" He blinked, looking back up at them. "I do know they had claws."

"Claws?" Matt echoed.

"Either that, or reeeeally long toenails."

"Did they have claws on their hands?"

"I think so." Frowning, Lou nodded to the walls behind the detectives. "Lookit my walls! I thought I was seein' things when they jumped up there and just hung there for a sec … I think they put those damned claws right in the plaster."

"Great," Elisa muttered, trying to picture what these things must look like. Unfortunately, all she could come up with was a Gargoyle.

She hesitated, then looked up at the man. "Mr. Delrosario, I don't want to upset you, but I need to ask this; do you have any idea who'd want your nephew dead?"

At that, Lou's eyes glazed over, and both Matt and Elisa took a hasty step back, not knowing if the chef was going to have a heart attack or blow up.

"Yeah, I know who friggin' did it!!" Lou roared, his face flushing a deep crimson. "It was that goddamned Ikeda guy! It had to be! Donny said those guys were messin' around his place, an-and …"

"Lou, easy!" Matt cried, reaching as if to catch the man. "Keep screaming like that and you're gonna have a stroke!"

Lou shot him such a dirty look Elisa was certain the paint started to peel off the walls. "Don't tell me to calm down, son!" Lou snapped viciously. "Look, somethin' happened and they say Dracon pissed off that Ikeda guy! You--okay, want the truth? Donny and some other guys went and did somethin', I dunno what--knocked over a fortune cookie stand, how the hell do I know? All I know is that Donny had to go and do somethin', and now--now he's dead!"

Tears suddenly cascaded from Lou's eyes and Elisa jerked back, almost horrified. "L-Lou!" she stammered, but he snarled at her, quickly wiping his tears away.

"He-he told me somethin' about it!" Lou spat, turning away from them so they couldn't see him weep. "He didn't want to tell me much 'cuz he didn't want me to get in trouble. He told me that, then the next night he comes with his chick for a bite and all of a sudden, those things bust in through my front door!! I saw them kill Donny, and then I thought they were going to kill his girlfriend, and my waitresses--I didn't give a shit about me! They just went after Donny …"

Lou's throat tightened and he was unable to say anything more. Oddly hurt, Elisa quietly backed away, and when the man was calm enough, Matt had a rookie drive Lou home. They stood together on the curb, watching the cruiser pulled away.

Matt sighed heavily. "Damn."

"You said it." Pain briefly flared along her stitches and Elisa hissed softly, laying a hand across the scars. "Shit … well … I guess we should talk to those waitresses and the girlfriend, make sure they saw the same thing that Lou did."

"Right." Shaking his head, Matt turned and gestured to his car. "Your chariot awaits."

"Real funny." Determined not to let Matt see her in pain, Elisa forced herself to walk calmly to the black Crown Vic, something that was a tad nicer than her own car, though she loathed to admit it.

And Matt wasn't such a bad driver either, but Elisa loathed admitting that as well.

*****

6:32 PM, FOLLOWING DAY:

With the collaborating reports from Donny Delrosario's girlfriend and the two waitresses from the restaurant, Matt and Elisa headed to the Ikeda estate on the outskirts of the city.

Matt was a little put off by this all; he felt like they had nothing to go on, and now they were off to see the reputed Lord of the Yakuza.

"What're we gonna say when we get there?" Matt demanded as he maneuvered through traffic. "'We don't have a warrant or evidence, but we just know you're hiding a bunch of karate monsters somewhere in your mansion?'"

Elisa had smiled thinly, but didn't reply.

Even though Elisa had seen the grand mansions when she was sent to Japan from Avalon, the Ikeda Mansion still took her breath away. She and Matt craned their necks, trying to see up over the high white, brick walls at the towering building, with its dark blue tiled roofs, red beams and opaque windows.

They arrived at the gates, and Matt was slightly unnerved by the pair of burly, Versaci-suited Japanese guards standing there. Matt and Elisa presented their badges, and, after conversing briefly with each other in Japanese, the men waved them through the tall black iron gates.

The cement driveway gave way to a huge stretch of white pebbles that crackled and ground under the tires. Delicate, twisting trees arched over the driveway and dotted the immaculately pruned lawn. Elisa could see another gate, leading into a Zen garden filled with carefully raked white sand and serene gray boulders. And as they drew closer, Elisa could see vines and flowers stretching out over one side of the mansion. There was a pond nearby, and several Japanese children in tidy school uniforms picked the water lilies and fed the massive koi goldfish.

Unexpected tears rose to Elisa's eyes, and she quickly wiped them away, not wanting to somebody like Ikeda to see; she couldn't help it. The building, the gardens, this all reminded of her of Ishimura, of the Gargoyles there …

… And Goliath …

"You okay?"

Elisa jumped at the voice. "Wh-what?"

Matt glanced at her as they pulled up before the mansion's front steps. "You turned white. You all right?"

"Um … yeah." Sighing, Elisa calmed herself and glanced up, seeing a young, handsome Japanese man in a business suit standing at the top of the steps. She blinked, for a second thinking that might have been Ikeda, but then realizing Ikeda was in his seventies. This guy didn't look much older than maybe thirty.

The Japanese man stood there, his hands tucked into his pockets. He regarded them calmly, not looking at all malicious or guarded. He didn't move as Elisa and Matt climbed out of their car, but he smiled as they ascended the steps.

"Detective Maza?" the man asked politely. "Detective Bluestone?"

When Elisa nodded, the man removed his hands from his pockets and held them straight at his sides. He smiled and bowed first to her, and then to Matt. "Detectives, I am Ryozo Takahashi. I am Lord Koji's nephew."

Elisa blinked, trying not to be impressed. "Hi."

"My uncle has been waiting for you." Straightening, Ryozo gestured to the tall polished wooden doors behind him. "He is in his study. Please, follow me."

Elisa and Matt did so, trailing Ryozo through the mansion, past a wide mix of old world Japan and modern day New York; a jade statue of a smiling goddess stood poised on a delicately carved table beside 56 inch wall mounted flat television. A young woman in a beautiful blue silk kimono was talking animatedly with a young man in an expensive suit and sunglasses. A child in school clothes was playfully plucking the strings of an immense instrument, a koto.

Seeing the strangers pass, the girl quickly leapt to her feet, the koto forgotten. She tried to smooth out her skirt and she smiled shyly as her eyes met Matt's.

Ryozo spotted the little girl and he grinned. "Detectives, this is my daughter, Yuka. Yuka-chan, these are police officers from the city."

Yuka polite bowed. "Hi," she said, straightening and sticking out her hand.

Unable to help herself, Elisa smiled and accepted the girl's tiny hand. "Hi. I'm Elisa."

"I'm Matt," Matt added, grasping Yuka's hand as she came upon him.

Yuka's grin grew a little wider.

At first, Elisa thought the little girl might have gotten a crush on Matt, but suddenly and to her horror, Yuka's opposite hand lashed out, catching Matt by the elbow. With a slight grunt of strain, Yuka flipped the stunned Matt Bluestone over her shoulder, smashing him brutally into the polished floor.

Ryozo's eyes flew open in horror as Matt landed with a yelp. "YUKA!!!" Ryozo cried as Elisa darted forward to retrieve her partner, who lay dazed and groaning on the ground.

Surprised, Yuka stared at her father. "What?"

Grimacing, Ryozo snatched the child up and hurried away, meeting the woman in the blue kimono, who had come running at the sound of the crash.

Grabbing Matt's arms, Elisa hauled him up right. "Oh my God, Matt! Are you okay?!"

Coughing hard, Matt grimaced and gingerly reached for his aching back. "Hey partner? Please tell me that a nine-year-old girl didn't just body slam me into the floor of her living room?!"

Elisa bit her lip, hanging somewhere between shock and a laughing fit. Not knowing what to say, she glanced to Ryozo on the other side of the room, whispering fiercely to his honestly confused daughter.

"B-but, Daddy," Yuka protested, letting the kimono woman gently take her by the hand. "Zenji-sama said that's what I should do when I see--"

"Since when do you listen to Zenji?!!" Ryozo hissed.

Watching them, Elisa began to frown as Ryozo sighed heavily, shaking his head and cupping Yuka's face. "I'll talk to Zenji-sama about that later. Just … don't do that again, honey, okay?"

Yuka's lower lip trembled. "Are you mad at me?"

Ryozo blinked. "Well … I'm not pleased." He hesitated, then glanced over at Elisa and Matt, who was making sure he hadn't broken any bones. "Why don't you apologize, Yuka-chan?"

Spinning around, Yuka gave Matt and Elisa a deep bow. "I'm sorry, Detectives!"

Still in stunned disbelief, all Matt could do was nod. Elisa managed a small smile. "That's okay, Yuka."

The woman in the kimono, trying her best to hide a huge grin, took Yuka by the hand again and, giving the detectives and Ryozo a slight bow, led the little girl out of the room.

Running a hand through his hair, Ryozo turned back to Elisa and Matt, giving them an exasperated shrug. "I am so sorry, Detectives; it's my fault for teaching her that!"

"You taught her that?" Matt repeated, rising unsteadily to his feet. "Mind if I ask why?"

Ryozo blinked, his dark eyes falling quickly to the floor. Setting his jaw, he tugged angrily at the hem of his jacket, trying to straighten it. "Her mother was murdered," he muttered, turning away. "I didn't want it to happen again, to Yuka."

"O-oh." Whoops.

As Elisa helped Matt up, she briefly furrowed her brow, trying to remember any cases about a murdered woman who was related to the Ikeda clan. None came to mind, and Elisa sighed, pushing the thoughts aside. As terrible as the death of a wife and mother may be, Elisa was supposed to be here asking about another murder.

She was supposed to be keeping a gang war from erupting.

Ryozo's attitude quickly darkened, and he muttered coldly for the detectives to follow him. His pace quickened, and Elisa found herself trotting to keep up.

Soon they reached the end of a long bare corridor. A sliding screen made of opaque rice paper and bamboo cut the corridor short, and two well-dressed guards stood there, their arms crossed over the chests, eyeing Matt and Elisa suspiciously.

Stopping before the guards, Ryozo said something in Japanese, waving them aside. Not hesitating for a second, both guards nodded and stepped aside, allowing Elisa and Matt to pass by.

Sliding the screen door open, Ryozo stepped into the adjacent room, sparsely decorated save for a low wooden table, where an older man in a red silk kimono knelt. Seeing the man there, serenely stroking a purring bobtailed cat, sipping tea from a tiny cup made a jolt rip through Elisa. She stared at him in a mix of shock and anger, and he met her eyes coldly; Koji Ikeda did not seem the least bit troubled by her presence.

"Lord Koji," Ryozo said, bowing deeply to his uncle. "These are Detectives Elisa Maza and Mathew Bluestone, from the Twenty-Third Precinct."

Koji nodded, setting his decorative teacup down on the table before him. "Good afternoon," he said evenly.

"'Afternoon," Matt replied, but Elisa only mutely nodded, at a loss for words.

Glancing at her again, Koji smiled thinly. "Maza … your father wouldn't happen to be Peter Maza now, would it?"

Elisa fought the urge to belt the guy across the room. "Yes," she grated, struggling to keep her anger in check.

"Oh really?" Gently shooing his cat away, Koji stood, tightening the sash around his waist as he did so, giving Elisa and Matt a brief glimpse of his body, and Elisa felt her eyes widen for a moment; for a guy who was supposed to be in his seventies, Koji Ikeda was shockingly well-muscled.

"How is Mr. Maza now?" Koji asked, circling around the table to come face to face with Elisa. "Well, I hope?"

Elisa narrowed her eyes at him. "Fit as a fiddle."

"Ah, good." Chuckling, Koji turned to Matt. "Now, I was told you had some questions for me …?"

"Yeah, we do," Matt answered, reaching under his coat for his notepad. He began the drill, asking Koji if he knew Donny Delrosario, where he was two nights ago, where were his employees, so on and so forth. Elisa tried to pay attention, but something was nagging at her. She glanced away, her eyes roaming over the massive room. In a far corner stood an ornate Buddhist shrine, painted crimson and plated with gold leaf. A smiling gold Buddha sat in the center of the shrine, unperturbed by Koji's cat, who was sniffing around the edge of the shrine and butting her head against one of the statue's extended hands.

Turning her attention back to Koji and his nephew, Elisa crossed her arms over her chest, growing more and more irritated as Koji deftly avoided Matt's questions. They were getting no where, and Elisa had little patience for this man, this man that knew exactly what Matt was asking him, that had done something so bad that her father had to retire early.

"What's your connection to Tony Dracon?" Elisa spat, cutting a stunned Matt off.

Koji glanced at her, no emotion crossing his weathered face. "Tony Dracon? I have no … connections to him. To be truthful, I want nothing to do with him."

"Really?" Elisa snarled, shaking Matt off as he grabbed her by the shoulder, trying to stop her. "That's not what I've been hearing … Word on the street is you're looking to expand your enterprises. Your thugs have been spotted all over the city, pushing the other guys out. Are you looking to start a war, Ikeda?"

"Elisa, that's enough!" Matt shouted, grabbing her by both arms and yanking her back, away from Ikeda. "Get a grip!"

Standing beside Koji, Ryozo watched them in confusion. Koji, however, remained frighteningly cold.

"Do you know what a gai-jin is, Detective Maza?" Koji said, his voice threateningly quiet.

Surprised to hear him speak, Elisa ceased her struggles, turning to glare at him. "I really don't care, Ikeda--"

"You should. Call it a bit of a history lesson." Sweeping his robes up around him, Koji stepped closer to Elisa and Matt, driving them back towards the sliding door. "A gai-jin is an invader, an unwanted foreigner that has come into one's home. You, Detective, are a gai-jin." His eyes narrowed. "My ancestors used to destroy a gai-jin as soon as they saw one. I'm inclined to keep up the practice."

Elisa stared at him. "Are you threatening me?"

Koji smiled humorlessly. "Of course not; as I have said, it's just a history lesson."

Unnerved, Matt turned away, guiding Elisa back towards the door. "C'mon partner, we're done here."

"I'll have a guard show you out," Koji called after them, chuckling.

********

As soon as the door slid shut again, Koji's laughter died. His eyes flaring, he turned to Ryozo. "I want the woman dead."

Ryozo's jaw fell open. "D-dead?! Uncle, she is a police detective!"

"It's never stopped me from killing one before!" Koji snapped, storming back to his table. Kneeling on one of the plush pillows there, Koji snatched up his teacup. "I don't need this headache--first Peter Maza, now his blasted daughter!"

Swallowing hard, Ryozo shot a nervous look back towards the sliding door, as though afraid the detective was standing there, pressing her ear up against the paper and eavesdropping on them. "But, Uncle …"

Sighing in disgust, Koji glanced up at his nephew. "I do not know how you plan to rule this family if you don't have the stomach for killing." Shaking his head, he waved to the Buddha shrine in the far corner. "Send Zenji to do it."

Knowing that he couldn't disobey his uncle, Ryozo bit back a sigh, then bowed deeply before Koji. "Yes Uncle, it will be done."

Straightening, Ryozo quickly strode across the room. His uncle's cat mewed and sat back as Ryozo stood before the shrine, adjusting the red signet ring on his finger, then pressing the ring against a carved, gold-plated indentation on the roof of the shrine.

Promptly, the shrine unlocked, and the wall swung open, revealing a hidden room five times the size of Koji's study. Koji's cat scampered on ahead and, with a second's reluctance, Ryozo trailed the feline inside.

The beings that lived and trained in this room hardly paid any attention to Ryozo as he passed, and he hardly noticed them at all; he had grown up with Tengu demons, even trained with them. To him, they were no more out of place than that 56" TV in the living room.

Most of the Tengu demons were sparring, which wasn't a surprise; most of this room had been converted into a dojo solely for their use. Everything was built solidly and reinforced with steel to withstand the demons' claws and devastating strikes.

Winding through the array of exercise equipment, bookcases, tables and other furniture in the dojo, Ryozo found the small alcove where the eldest Tengu demon was meditating.

Stepping to the mouth of the alcove--and raising his eyebrow at the cat, that was lounging contentedly in the demon's lap--Ryozo bowed. "Zenji-sama."

At his name, the demon opened his eyes, smiling a fanged smile as his remarkably human-like eyes found Ryozo. "Hello, Ryozo. Please, come closer."

Smiling, Ryozo approached his old friend. "I have a mission for you, Zenji-sama."

"Oh?" One of Zenji's hands fell to the cat in his lap, his dark jade skin a stark contrast to the cat's white fur. The cat meowed and affectionately rubbed her cheek over the sharp, bony white protrusions on Zenji's knuckles.

"Yes; there is a police woman named Elisa Maza." Ryozo's voice faltered. "Uncle Koji wants her dead."

Zenji glanced at Ryozo, a lock of blue-tinged white hair curling into his eye. "I can hear the unease in your voice, Ryozo-san. You don't want us to do this?"

Ryozo grimaced, but he knew Zenji would have noticed; Zenji always noticed. "No … I'm afraid that will get us into too much trouble."

Zenji sighed heavily, nodding. "I understand. But your uncle is our shogun, and we all must do what he says."

Ryozo's shoulders slumped. "I'm not cut out for this. I can't be a Yakuza lord."

"I know. I brought that up with Lord Koji, but he wouldn't hear of it." Zenji glanced at Ryozo apologetically. "Ryozo-san, you are his only heir and he will choose no one else." Suddenly, Zenji smiled, and he reached out, gripping Ryozo's shoulder. "Don't worry; I--as well as all the Tengu demons here--will help you. I swear it."

Ryozo smiled faintly, then chuckled, clapping his hand over Zenji. "Thank you, Zenji-sama. Now, I suppose I should go." Standing, Ryozo bowed to Zenji, who nodded in return. Ryozo turned away, walking towards the mouth of the alcove when suddenly he remembered, and he glanced back at the Tengu demon that sat there, cross-legged, with a cat in his arms. "Oh, and by the way; thanks for telling Yuka to attack the detectives! She threw one of them right over her shoulder!"

Feigning surprise, Zenji burst out laughing, his many needle-like fangs glinting in the light of the window behind him. "Little Yuka did that?"

"I've never been so embarrassed in my life!"

Zenji hid his face in his hand, unable to stop his laughter. "I only said she should do that when a stranger tries to--! Ha!"

"Real funny." Shaking his head, but not hiding his grin, Ryozo started back for his uncle's study.

************************************************************************

Elisa felt whiskers brush against her cheek and she gasped, sitting bolt upright on her couch. Confused, she looked blearily about herself, trying to remember what had happen. She jumped when she felt tiny paws press into her leg and she glanced down in surprise, watching a concern Cagney help herself to a seat on Elisa's lap.

"What happen Cagney? I fell asleep?"

"Merr-wow!" Cagney replied, standing up on her hind legs and putting her front paws against Elisa's collarbone. Cagney peered into her face, meowing worriedly.

Amused, Elisa chuckled, stroking the cat's back with one hand as she wiped old tears away from her eyes with the other. "I'm okay … I think I forgot to take my medicine though."

Forgot to take her medicine, forgot to eat, forgot to wash up and change and go to bed … yeah, Elisa forgot quite a bit. She was so outraged at Koji Ikeda it had given her a pulsing migraine. Matt was worried, concerned for her and fearful that Koji Ikeda might send somebody to hurt her. It took a lot of convincing to get him to leave, and even then Elisa had to shove him out the door.

Her rage had turned into misery, and Elisa had cried helplessly for a good hour or so before falling asleep. She had that dream again, the one when she first met Goliath at the Aerie Building, when she had been so horrified at his appearance she took one step back too far and plummeted over the edge of the castle.

Only, this time, he stood there and stared in shock as she fell, not attempting to leap off the castle and swoop down and catch her. And the closer Elisa got to the ground, the more people she started to see. The people were turning into monsters, all screaming and reaching up with their spidery long arms to snatch her out of the air and … and …

A heavy knock cracked through the air, and again, Elisa jumped, startling Cagney right out of her lap. Unreasonably frightened, Elisa tried to stand and face the door, but she rose too quickly and her head fogged, growing heavy. Gasping, she fell back to the couch, one hand groping under her denim jacket for her gun. She was actually stunned to hid it was still there in her holster. She fell asleep wearing it. Boy, that was stupid.

The person at the door knocked insistently again, and it dawned on Elisa that she hadn't heard her intercom buzz. She didn't answer it, so who had let him into the apartment? Who was it at the door, anyways?

Swallowing hard, Elisa stood, her legs weak and shaky. She crept to the door the best she could, grabbing the handle to support herself. Biting her lower lip, she peered through the peephole, and gasped in disbelief.

"Macbeth?!" she cried.

Through the peephole, Elisa could see the ancient Scotsman grin. "'Evenin', Detective. Mind if I come in?"

"What do you want?"

"I'm jest checkin' in on ye. Now, are ye gonna let me in?"

Elisa growled; she knew they weren't enemies anymore, since Macbeth had given up hunting for Demona and now spent his time helping the …

But that didn't mean they were friends either!

A heavy sigh permeated the wooden door. "Elisa, please …"

'Elisa'? She blinked; since when did he call her by her first name?

Not knowing what else to do, Elisa sighed, then unlocked the door, opening it just wide enough for Macbeth to poke his head through.

Seeing her ashen skin and the drying tears on her face, Macbeth's cocky grin faded. "Are ye all right?"

"I'm fine," Elisa snorted.

"Truly? Ye look ill."

"Why are you here, Macbeth?"

Macbeth blinked, then hesitated, wincing slightly. "Goliath asked me t' check on ye--"

"Goliath?!!" A scream caught in her throat and, outraged, Elisa flung her weight against the door, pushing a startled Macbeth back out into the hall. "I told him, I don't want anything to do with him--!"

"Detective--!"

"--Or any of the rest of them, or Xanatos or-or even you!!" Planting one hand against his solid chest, Elisa tried to shove him back. "Get out!"

"Fer God's sake, Elisa, Goliath dinna mean for it t' happen!"

"I know, I KNOW!!! I just want to be alone! Just leave me …"

Her words began to slur and her body became heavy and cold. Unable to keep her head up, Elisa felt herself crumple to the floor, heard someone far away shout in horror.

It felt like hours before she woke up again, but only a few seconds had passed. Groaning in pain, Elisa lifted a shaking hand to massage her forehead, growing slowly aware that something was propping her upright.

"Better now, Detective?"

Stunned, Elisa's head snapped up, and she found herself staring into Macbeth's face. He was kneeling on the floor, one arm wrapped around her shoulders and cradling her against his chest.

Elisa felt a flush of shame and she tried to pull free of his embrace. "I'm-I'm okay …"

"When was th' last time ye ate?" Macbeth asked, completely ignoring her. He laid a gentle hand across her forehead. "Perhaps yer blood sugar is low."

Giving up, Elisa sighed, resting her head against his shoulder. "I don't remember … I forgot about my medicines …"

"Auc, ye need to get to bed." Slipping his free arm under her legs, Macbeth lifted her effortlessly off the ground and very carefully carried her into her bedroom.

Laying her on her bed, Macbeth began to search for the light switch. "Not t' sound boorish or anythin' of the sort, m'lady, but d'ye think ye can undress yerself?"

"I think so …"

Find the switch, Macbeth flipped it on. "And yer medicines?"

"I keep them in the kitchen, by the sink."

"Ah, good." Gesturing for her stay on her bed, Macbeth started back down the hall. "I'll get ye somethin' t' eat."

"I don't want--"

"Ye're gonna have somethin' t' eat!" Macbeth bellowed as he disappeared into the kitchen. "Don't try t' fight wit me ova this."

Something about his concern made Elisa laugh. "What about Cagney?"

"Donna worry yerself, I'll feed her."

This was something different; a couple of years ago they might have been at each other's throats, but now? Now the legendary Macbeth was in her kitchen, whipping up … something. Elisa hoped it wouldn't be something scary, like haggis.

She changed into one of her old nightgowns, but strangely this worn-out old thing seemed a tad revealing.

No sooner had Elisa decided to get her bathrobe did her bedroom door open a crack. Cagney scooted in as Macbeth not daring to look in, said, "I trust yer decent, Detective?"

"Um, yeah." Suddenly shy, Elisa sat back down on her bed, trying to make herself look as small as possible as Macbeth stepped in, a dish in one hand, a glass of juice in the other.

"I dinna know if ye had a tray," he said apologetically, setting the juice down on the nightstand.

"That's okay," Elisa murmured, accepting the dish and looking down at it quizzically. Tomato soup and toast.

Pulling the amber pill bottles out of his pocket, Macbeth sighed and helped himself to a seat beside her. "Ye should eat jest a little now …"

"This is good," Elisa assured him, taking a bite of toast as he studied the instructions on her medicine bottles. "Thanks."

"Yer welcomed." Macbeth shook his head. "Ye gotta take six o' these?"

"Yeah." As she ate, Elisa studied Macbeth out of the corner of her eye; he had taken his jacket off in the kitchen, and now Elisa could see the thick, ropey muscles of his arms, and how broad his shoulders were. He was powerfully built.

When she finished eating, Macbeth helped her sort out her medicines. He was silent as she took the pills, absently scratching Cagney behind the ears as he waited.

Finally he sighed. "They miss ye, Elisa."

Elisa bit back a grimace. "I know."

Macbeth glanced at her. "But ye won't speak t' them, will ye?"

"No. No I'm … not ready."

As Elisa settled in for the night, Macbeth helped her pull the covers over her body. "I'll stay, if ye like," he said. "I'll sleep on th' couch …"

"That really isn't necessary, Macbeth."

"Maybe, but I donna want ye to fall again."

Sighing, Elisa relented. "All right … but you'd better be gone by ten o'clock. My parents might stop by."

"Of course." He stepped back, and they lapsed into an awkward silence, watching each other uncertainly.

Finally, Macbeth spoke. "Would it be bold of me t' ask if ye'd like to have dinner some time?"

Surprised, Elisa blinked. "Dinner?"

"Aye. I think ye need t' talk t' someone, and I'm more than willin' to listen. Over dinner."

Elisa hesitated, mulling that over.

"All right," she said, nodding. "Over dinner."

Macbeth smiled. "Great."

************************************************************************

THE FOLLOWING NIGHT, 8:13 PM

BROTHER K'S HERBS & ORGANIC PRODUCTS:

Taking the list between his yellow-stained fingers, Brother K peered over the rim of his wire glasses. "Hmm … wormwood, chamomile, hibiscus, rose blossoms, peppermint leaves, spearmint leaves, orange blossoms, rowan, and poppy …" he raised his eyes to the pair of Gargoyles in his shop. "Sounds like somebody's pregnant."

From her seat on his counter, Awen shot him a mockingly dirty look. "Don't look at me!" she snorted, and Angela giggled.

Brother K glanced briefly at the rest of the list before gathering his nerve again. "How's your friend, the cop lady?" he asked softly.

Awen blinked, then turned to share a quizzical look with Angela. "Well …"

"She seems to be doing all right," Angela replied, sighing quietly. "She's working again, so I suppose that's a good sign."

"Yeah." Shrugging, Brother K nodded to the Gargoyles. "Hang on a sec, and I'll get some jars for this stuff."

Awen smiled. "Thank you, Brother K," she said, watching him go.

Angela glanced up at Awen. "Are you sure these are the right herbs we need, Aunt? I can't remember what the Princess told us on Avalon …"

Awen chuckled. "Aye, trust me, lass, this is exactly what we need. Wormwood tea should help calm Fox and her baby."

"And the chamomile will help her sleep," Angela agreed, leaning back against the counters.

"Aye …" Trailing off, Awen turned her gaze across the room, to the huge picture windows. Though Brother K had drawn the shades so she and Angela could come in without being seen, they could still see that cursed lot across the street, where Elisa had been attacked.

Angela tried not to even blink in the lot's direction, but she couldn't keep her eyes off of it. It sneered and taunted her, reminding her of the horrible thing that had happened to her best friend. Her best friend, who now despised all of them.

"I feel bad for Elisa," Angela murmured.

Awen nodded. "I know. We all do."

"I wish I could see her. It makes me so angry that she hates us--!"

Awen flinched at those words. "Angela … Elisa doesn't hate you--"

"Well it certainly seems like it!" Angela growled, ripping her gaze away from the dark lot. "She was telling Matt to kill us all a couple of weeks ago!"

"I told you, Elisa is traumatized. She needs time to recover and, like it or not, she also needs somebody she can blame." Awen's hands suddenly clenched into fists. "It's frustrating, I understand, but that's the way this works. Much as we all loathe it, we have to deal with it."

Angela sighed again, feeling her shoulders sag. She sensed Awen's eyes on her, but she didn't have the courage to meet her aunt's gaze. "Yes … I should know better. People grieve in different ways … this is Elisa's."

Out of the corner of her eye, Angela saw Awen reach for her, and she didn't turn away as the elder Gargoyle leaned forward, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "If what you and the others told me is true, then Elisa will return to you one night. It just takes time and patience."

Angela smiled weakly, but she shook her head. "Where did you learn all this?"

"From some people who have loads more patience than I do." Chuckling, Awen sat up. "Now, about that double-fudge ice cream you mentioned …?"

"Oh no you don't," Angela grumbled, smirking as Awen laughed.

The jangling of the front door's bells suddenly silenced their laughter. Startled, Angela spun around with a gasp, and Awen sat up ramrod straight, watching in disbelief as two well dressed Japanese men stepped into the shop.

Awen hissed. "That idiot forgot to lock the door again," she whispered fiercely.

Watching them, Angela realized that these men weren't the slightest bit stunned to see two female Gargoyles hanging around an herbalist's shop. Something about these humans made her nervous, and she felt her muscles tensing as one of them in a steel gray suit calmly approached them.

"Good evening," he said evenly. "This is the first time I've seen you here."

Growling slightly, Awen carefully slipped off of the counter, clamping a protective hand on Angela's shoulder. "Have we met, sir?"

The man opened his mouth to answer, but a stunned gasp behind them cut him short. Jumping in fright, Angela and the calmer gray-suited man turned to look. Awen briefly glanced behind the counter, her hard eyes fixed on the man in a navy blue suit who waited patiently by the front door.

In horrified disbelief, Brother K dropped all of the boxes and jars he had been carrying out of his storeroom. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

The Japanese man stared at him, his expression unreadable. "We came back to make you another offer."

Angela stiffened as she felt Awen's grip grow tighter on her shoulder. Her aunt growled again. "Such as?"

The gray-suited man didn't even blink in her direction. "I'm sorry, madam, but this doesn't concern you."

"Like hell it doesn't," Awen grated.

Angela shot a pleading glance to her aunt before looking back to a beet-red Brother K. "Brother, who are these men?"

Brother K snorted. "Yakuza," he spat. "They've been on my case for a while now. Argh, why couldn't it have been one of Dracon's mooks? They don't come in here tryin' to act like friggin' Jet Li."

"Jet Li's from China," the gray-suit said simply. His partner chuckled.

Infuriated, Brother K shot the men a seething look. "I ain't giving you money."

The smile disappeared on the gray-suited man's face. "You might like to reconsider that," he said, an unspoken threat clinging to his words.

Frowning, Brother K rolled his eyes heavenward. "Hmmm, lessee … thought about it. No."

Angela shuddered, certain she felt the air temperature drop several degrees as the men stared coldly at Brother K.

"Not a wise decision," the first man said quietly.

He reached under his jacket and Angela reacted, roaring and darting in between the man and Brother K, hearing Awen scream for her to stop. Brother K yelped in shock as the man ducked out of Angela's swing, his hand snapping out from under his coat and firmly planting a laser pistol against her temple.

Awen's eyes went blood red and she gave a skull-rattling shriek. She made only one step before the second man in the blue suit whipped out a much larger gun and trained it on her head.

Not looking at Awen, the gray-suited man hissed, "Call off your monsters, old man."

Angela's thoughts raced, fighting to remember what her father and mother told her, what Hudson and the Guardian taught her, what Awen was training her to do.

All she could think was that if she knocked this man away, the second still had time to fire, hitting her, Aunt Awen, Brother K, and the man in the gray suit as well. Or the first man might reflexively pull on the trigger, killing her, or, if the shot went wide, killing Brother K.

Angela did the best thing she could do at that moment; she stood still.

"Don't hurt her!" Awen snarled her voice both vicious and begging. She didn't make any attempts to bound forward and disarm the man, and Angela fought the urge to turn to her aunt and shoot her an exasperated look.

The man in the gray suit drew in a ragged breath. "If you don't want to wash her blood off of the walls, you'll back away."

The glow fading from her eyes, Awen straightened, raising her arms in surrender. "I've stopped! Let her go!"

"In a moment." Cocking the gun, the man took a wary step back. "Don't follow us."

"We won't," Awen said, making Angela's eyes widen in disbelief. "You have our word."

His eyes narrowing, the man backed away, continuing back until the man in the navy suit held open the front door, keeping his gun leveled on the trio. Once his partner was free, he followed him outside and allowed the door to swing shut, letting the bells ring harmoniously.

The door had hardly banged shut when Angela saw their only chance. She snarled and darting forward, the red glare blazing in her eyes again. "We can take them now--!"

"No, we won't!" Awen lunged across the shop, lashing out a hand and catching Angela's wrist. Heaving a relieved sigh, the elder Gargoyle pulled Angela into her arms and embraced her tightly, startling the Rookie. "That was too close for my comfort."

Behind the counter, Brother K groaned, sagging heavily against the shelves of catalogued spices. Rubbing his creased forehead hard, he glanced up at Angela and Awen. "Hey Awen, do me a favor?" he asked. "Don't come here anymore; trouble always seems to follow you."

************************************************************************

"You really didn't need to do this."

Macbeth shrugged as he reached for his beer glass. "I wanted to, Detective."

Elisa smiled, glancing down at her plate. "You can stop calling me that, y'know."

"Oh really? Th' first time I called ye 'Elisa', ye looked like ye were gonna rip th' beard right off me face."

She laughed, feeling her cheeks turn red. "It took me by surprise."

"I'll say so."

Elisa glanced back up at Macbeth as he waved for their waitress to bring them more drinks. It was strange how polite the man had been all night. Every now and then Elisa would feel the hairs rise on the back of her neck as she waited for Macbeth to whip out a gun or something.

Waiting until the waitress returned with their drinks and cleared away their plates, Elisa's eyes met Macbeth's and her smile faded. "All right, we've been beating around the bush all night long. Why do you want to talk about the Gargoyles?"

Macbeth didn't even blink at the question. He sighed heavily, glancing down to his frothing glass. "I had thought that once I put aside me vendetta with the clan, Elisa, that ye would start to trust me."

She snorted. "That takes a while."

He snorted in return. "So I noticed."

Arching an incredulous eyebrow at him, Elisa leaned back in her chair, sighing wearily. "I … I just … I'm angry."

"Aye?"

"It just pisses me off 'cuz I was really … excited? … about the baby. About … us." Her hand clenched for a minute as she fought to control her emotions. "I was so happy. My neighbor knitted these little baby booties, y'know? Angela made all sorts of blankets and a liner for the crib, and … and he made that crib."

"Who?"

"Him. Goliath …" The name caused a lump to form in her throat and Elisa quickly turned away so Macbeth couldn't see the glimmering tears in her eyes.

"Why did I think he was always going to be there?" she whispered. "I should have known that there would be times … but for some stupid reason, in my heart, I expected him to be there!"

Macbeth nodded, leaning forward as he listened intently. "I understand."

"And … those things …" An icy chill ran through her and Elisa bit her lip, feeling her chest suddenly constrict painfully tight.

Concerned, Macbeth reached across the table and caught her hand, crushing it comfortingly as he said, "Ye don't need to talk 'bout that jest yet, Elisa. I won't make ye."

Elisa nodded quickly, wiping away her tears before they could fall. Dragging in a ragged breath, she tried to keep speaking. "It was so bad, what happened. And all I could think was where was Goliath? Where were the others? They've always been there before, one way or another, they're always just gliding by and spotting trouble. And then that one goddamned night, they're no where to be found."

"Hmm. What 'bout the new lass, Awen?"

A bitter laugh wound out of Elisa's throat. "It's funny; when I was in the hospital, I started to think that I should have been blaming her instead of Goliath; I was going to the store to meet her, and because of her, I left my gun in the car …"

Her shoulders slumped. "But I was doing all that so I could bring her to the castle to meet Goliath again. Because of him, because of all those Gargoyles, once again my life is torn apart and turned upside down--if I had never met Goliath, never had this baby, then those--those things wouldn't have attacked me, right?"

"I s'pose."

"I--I just can't deal with it. I can't. I've tried, believe me, I've tried, but every time I think I can forgive Goliath and the Gargoyles … I get sick."

"Aye."

"I get so angry it makes me sick. I have to actually lay down and take some medicine because I just get so angry."

Macbeth didn't answer, didn't even nod. His gaze fell to the floor and he set his jaw, frowning pensively.

Elisa sat up a bit straighter. "What's wrong?"

At the sound of her voice, Macbeth's head snapped up, his eyes locking with hers. "Eh? Oh … I was jest thinking' about Demona … how she betrayed me. I know how ye feel, Elisa, truly I do; the only difference is, Demona really did betray me. And Goliath …" he shook his head. "Goliath would neva lift a talon to ye, and ye know that!"

Elisa grimaced, angry for being reminded and ashamed because she knew. "I--I know … I just need so time …"

"Auc, of course." He smiled. "Jest donna do what I did, an' wait a few hundred years t' get ova it."

He and Elisa laughed, and though a few people glanced their way in surprise and annoyance, Elisa didn't care; it had been a long, long time since she last laughed like that.

Macbeth insisted on paying their bill, which embarrassed Elisa a bit but she still found it charming. As they gathered their coats and walked to Macbeth's car, Elisa gave him a sidelong glance. "Macbeth …?"

"Aye, Elisa?"

"Why did Goliath ask you to check on me?"

Macbeth smirked and chuckled. "He wanted an 'unbiased' report," he replied. "He couldn't get a straight answer out of yer parents, an' yer partner Bluestone was afraid he'd be torn limb from limb if he said the wrong thing, so Goliath turned to me fer help."

Elisa smiled faintly. "Well, you're immortal and brave … I guess you were suited for the job."

*********

MEANWHILE:

Pulling the cowl of black silk away from her face, Setsuke knelt beside him. "Anything, Grandfather?"

"Not yet, child." Sighing, Zenji shook his head, blinking rapidly to correct his vision. "I should have known better than to send Kazuko in there …"

"Dai will get him out of there soon enough," Setsuke said, focusing her glowing eyes on the street below them. "She has little patience for Kazuko."

"And I have even less." Disgusted, the elder Tengu demon stood, turning away and leaving his cobalt colored granddaughter to take over sentry duty.

After receiving orders from Ryozo, Zenji set about selecting several of his best warriors, among them Setsuke, his granddaughter and whom he looked upon to lead the demon clan when he finally died. Alongside her was Dai, who specialized in archery, the massive Mafuyu, Hikotaro who specialized in nunchakus, Ren with her naginata, Tomoko with her sais and shruikens, and finally, ferocious Kazuko and his bo, who wanted to be Setsuke's mate and become the new leader of the Tengu demons.

Few liked Kazuko, but Zenji hoped that with more training and much more meditation, the young demon could become a great asset to his clan--maybe. Right now he was too brash and too fierce. He needed to be reined in some.

As Zenji paced across the building's gravel-strewn rooftop, two figures swathed entirely in black sprang out of the dark, leaping gracefully from roof to roof until they landed easily before him. They both bowed deeply, lowering their glowing eyes out of respect. "Sensei," they said in unison.

Zenji nodded. "Tomoko-chan, Hikotaro-san. What have you found?"

Straightening, both demons pulled their cowls away from their faces, revealing pretty bluish-gray Tomoko and young bronze-colored Hikotaro. Sweeping back her long black ponytail, Tomoko spoke first. "Sensei, we have studied all of the streets west of here, as you've asked. We've noted only two police cruisers in the last three hours there, and there are no buildings that the woman could hide in; they're all very heavily inhabited, and she wouldn't want to risk innocent lives."

Hikotaro nodded. "We checked access tunnels and sewers as well. The manhole covers are fitted securely and are too heavy for a woman of her stature to lift."

Zenji nodded again. "And any sign of Gargoyles?"

"No, Sensei," the pair replied.

"I trust you've searched thoroughly?"

"Yes, Sensei," they answered.

"Good." Out of the corner of his eye, Zenji saw two more bounding figures approach from the south: Mafuyu and Ren, back from having surveyed possible escape routes the policewoman might take. He turned to greet them, but before any words ever left his lips, Zenji was silenced by Setsuke's warning hiss.

"Dai and Kazuko better hurry!" she spat, glancing to Zenji with narrowed eyes. "That woman just came home!"

********

Kazuko growled softly as he picked through the desk drawer. "You would think a police woman would keep an agenda handy …"

"Keep your voice down, Kazuko-san!" Dai whispered harshly as she made careful note of the strange creatures in several photographs their target had kept in an album. "So it is true; the Maza woman is friends with Gargoyles."

"That's all we need--ah, here we are." Finding the date book, Kazuko unsnapped the leather-bound notebook, paging through it until he found that week's notes. "Doesn't seem to be anything very important here …"

"Doesn't matter, I think we found enough." Straightening the pages of the photo album, Dai returned the book to where she had found it flung under the bed. Making sure no bed sheets were wrinkled and all the trash in the wastebasket looked undisturbed, Dai crept for the bedroom door. "This is the police woman's home; we can slip in and kill her during the day, when everyone thinks she's asleep."

"Dai-chan, we should just kill the woman now!" Kazuko snorted, carefully rearranging the desk drawer and sliding it closed. "We don't need to go through this hassle--"

"--We'll do what Zenji-sama says!"

"Zenji-sama?! That old goat barely has the strength to lift his head up anymore!" Kazuko retorted furiously, trailing Dai out of the bedroom. "If he were really such a great sensei--"

A snarling yowl silenced Kazuko, and both Tengu demons instantly spun around, snapping into defensive stances as a sleek gray cat slunk out from behind the television set in the living room, eyeing them warningly.

Kazuko's eyes narrowed. "Damn cat--!"

"No!" Dai gasped, her hand flying out and catching Kazuko's shoulder. "We must not hurt cats!"

"This thing isn't powerful like the others back home," Kazuko retorted, though he didn't take another step closer to the furious cat.

"You don't know that, Kazuko-san," Dai growled, wrenching him back. "Who knows? It may come back as a vampire to destroy us all!"

"You're superstitious, Dai-chan," Kazuko snorted, reaching for the shoulder sheathe where he hid his dagger. "The only thing we have to worry about is this thing betraying our presence to the police woman!"

Dai's eyes flared and she hissed viciously, opening her fanged mouth to snap some insult when a murmur of voices suddenly echoed outside the apartment, in the hall.

Their eyes widening, Dai and Kazuko bolted, leaping silently away in a blur of light, carefully setting the skylight closed before racing away. By the time the Maza woman and her bearded friend got inside the apartment, Kazuko and Dai had already regrouped with the other demons across the street.

********

Checking his watch, Macbeth stepped out into the empty sidewalk, sighing quietly. As he walked to his car, he turned, craning his head up, trying to catch a glimpse of Elisa's skylights, illuminated by the pale gold glow of her lamps.

He was going to go home now. He was going to go to his massive, tomb-like, empty manor, and not turn on any lights. He'd call Goliath, or Owen, should the Gargoyle be out on patrol, leave his report on Elisa, then work himself to exhaustion in his training room, beating out his frustrations on the punching bag.

Macbeth should have seen this coming.

He'd never say this to anyone--especially not Goliath--and he could hardly believe that he felt this way at all. It had been so long … and then after Demona had duped him into falling in love with her in Paris …

Macbeth always thought the detective was quite lovely. She had a delicate, exotic look that belied her stubborn, ferocious nature. He had always admired the slight almond shape of her large eyes, the deep copper color of her skin.

The first time he met her, seeing her hobble up those steep tower steps on her crutches, Macbeth had been stunned, though he did well to hide it. He had been startled by her intense drive, scaling the treacherous stairway when it was obvious that she was injured and still weak. Then he had noticed her beauty, and her dedication to the stone statues that had loomed behind them.

But as the sun set, Macbeth had been forced to put his admiration aside, and return to business. He had a feeling that he would meet this woman again, though, and he knew it might not be on friendly terms.

And though that attraction was returning, Macbeth firmly told himself to forget it; he had no desire to hurt Goliath by meeting with Elisa.

Fishing out his keys from his overcoat, Macbeth started to step off the curb--and was promptly knocked backward, lifted straight off his feet.

Macbeth cried out in shock, feeling his chest ache where he had been struck solidly by an arm. Fighting to catch his breath, Macbeth lashed an arm out, but he shouted in pain again as a shadowy blur shot past him, and a heavy foot connected with his stomach, flinging him back into the wall of the Elisa's building.

"Olph!!" Macbeth slammed into the pavement, swearing as his cheek grated across the concrete, spilling blood everywhere. He tried to push himself upright, but he yelped again as a foot smashed into his head, pinning him down to the sidewalk.

Macbeth bared his teeth, ready to beat this cur senseless. He clenched a fist, but a huge, clawed hand slapped down over it, holding it down.

Macbeth blinked; the hand was most wrapped in black silk, but the knuckles were exposed. He could see white, bone-like spikes lining the knuckles.

Strange, alien growls pierced the air above him, and Macbeth froze, watching with enraged eyes as a cowled face bent down to meet his gaze. The creature's eyes glowed white, and again, Macbeth could see those odd spikes along its eyebrows.

"If you value your life," a hissing, gravelly voice snarled, "then you'll stay away from the policewoman."

With that, the face was gone, and the weight that was holding Macbeth down disappeared.

Macbeth snarled, leaping to his feet and spinning around, his eyes roaming the dimly lit street for his attackers.

To his rage, they had disappeared.

Macbeth waited a moment, straining his ears to pick up any odd noise over the breeze. Several minutes passed, and Macbeth slowly relaxed, now starting to feel bruises form where he had been kicked and punched.

Drawing in a steadying breath, Macbeth wiped blood away from his face, then quickly bent and retrieved his keys, unlocking his car and hopping in.

Reaching over the front seats, Macbeth snagged his briefcase, hauling it up to the seat beside him. Unsnapping the case, Macbeth opened the false bottom, revealing two small laser pistols he had hidden there. Tucking those under his jacket, he returned the false bottom to the briefcase, then picked up an old, water-stained book he had left there. Thumbing through it, Macbeth found a picture, then read the caption underneath it.

Grimacing, Macbeth dropped the book back in the briefcase, then started the engine.

Looks like he wouldn't be going home after all.

************************************************************************

AERIE BUILDING:

"They weren't afraid of us …"

"They hardly noticed us …"

"They threatened Brother K--"

"They threatened Angela," Awen interrupted, drawing a slightly exasperated look from her niece. "That's what concerned me."

Brooklyn narrowed his eyes. "And they're supposed to be, what?"

"Yakuza," Angela replied, leaning against the turret a very angry Awen was now standing on, looking down on the city. "They said something about 'making an offer'."

"Some kind of protection racket, maybe," Broadway suggested, sliding an arm around Angela's shoulders in a comforting hug. "That's what Dracon tried … are you sure you're all right?"

Angela sighed. "I'm fine … I was just worried about Brother K."

"I suppose you should be," Goliath rumbled from where he leaned against the tower's wall, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes searching the clouds in the direction of Elisa's home. "If I've learned anything about …" He paused, searching for the term. " … Organized crime, then these people will surely retaliate."

"Yeah," Broadway said, nodding as Awen spoke up. "Aye, I agree. I will go and guard the store."

"I'll come along," Hudson offered, stepping around a bored Bronx as he spoke. "I 'aven't seen much action as of late."

Beside him, Lexington chuckled. "And there's nothing good on TV now, right?"

Hudson threw him a sour look. "Aye, that too."

Awen watched the elder Gargoyle with a look of surprise, but she quickly smiled. "Good. Shall we take Bronx?"

Hearing his name, the dog immediately perked up, giving a gruff "woof!" as he rolled off of his back, hopping to his feet and padding over to Awen and Hudson.

Hudson laughed wearily and gave Bronx a good scratch behind the ears. "Aye, well … ye need th' exercise, ye great lug."

Sighing, Goliath straightened. "Very well. We'll resume our patrols, and I'll check in on you. Be careful of these … Yakuza men, my friends. They seem to be quite fierce."

"That they are," a new voice behind him agreed, and the clan all yelped, spinning around in disbelief as a bloodied, disheveled Macbeth appeared in the tower doorway, giving them all a rueful smile.

"Macbeth?" Lexington gasped, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. "What happened to you?"

"I was attacked, laddie," Macbeth answered, giving a short, heavy sigh. "I was beaten down by demons, jest outside Detective Maza's home."

"Demons?" Goliath's heart froze and he felt his marrow turn to ice: demons, near Elisa?

"Is she all right?" he cried, his voice a little louder and sounding a little fiercer than he would have liked. The rest of the clan looked taken aback by his tone, but Macbeth didn't even flinch.

"Aye, aye, th' Detective is well," he said, reaching up to massage a bruise that was forming just above his right eye. "I stayed there till she left with th' Bluestone fellow. I followed 'em till they got t' th' police station. They should be safe fer th' time being."

"What were they?" Angela asked, her voice understandably worried. "Will they hurt Elisa?"

Macbeth hesitated, his old eyes meeting hers for a second. "They may," he said finally, frowning as Goliath stifled a growl. "They warned me t' stay away from 'er."

"What are they?" Brooklyn repeated.

Hesitating again, Macbeth shook his head and withdrew an old, well-worn book out of his overcoat pocket. "I nay got a good look at their faces, but I'm nearly certain I know what they are." Opening the book to a page he had marked, Macbeth turned and held the book out for Goliath. Goliath accepted the book, his eyes falling on a browning page with an engraved illustration. It showed several lithe humanoids leaping through a mountainous landscape, attacking men in heavy ornate armor.

'Samurais,' Goliath realized, surprised to see the look of terror on one man's face as he was knocked from his screaming horse. In the center was a demon, lunging with one clawed foot out, slamming it into the samurai's chest.

The demon had a human appearance, but Goliath could see that there were scales on the creature's cheeks, chin and forehead, running along the back of its neck and arms before disappearing under the demon's loose, cinched clothing. Twin rows of knobby, short white spikes arched over its forehead and down the length of its back, lining its knuckles as it drew back a fist. It was snarling, revealing hundreds of long, thin, sharp teeth.

Beneath the illustration was a caption. Goliath read it with growing dread:

"TENGU DEMON: The dragon-people of the mountains, Tengu demons are superb warriors and are often employed by shoguns and emperors to drive out invading armies. Neither evil nor good, Tengu demons are still ferocious, stubborn and loyal, and can be found serving several generations of noble families. The demons shown here are based on the creatures said to serve the IKEDA FAMILY of NAGANO, JAPAN."

"Why would they want to harm Elisa?" he nearly roared, his eyes flaring in rage. "What could she have done to them?"

Stunned, Macbeth took a quick step back, holding up his hand to calm the massive Gargoyle. "Easy now, Goliath! I think I know; th' detective mentioned she was investigatin' a crime that involved Koji

Ikeda--"

"Ikeda?" Startled, Goliath looked back to the book in his hands, at the caption.

"Aye, exactly what I thought," Macbeth said with a nod. "This Ikeda, they say 'e leads th' local Yakuza mob here in th' city. Elisa dinna say anything 'bout angerin' Ikeda, but this canna be a coincidence; first she investigates 'im, then these beasts appear an' tell me t' stay away."

Snarling, Goliath snapped the book closed. "Then we're going to have to protect her. Awen, Hudson, you take Bronx and guard your friend's store. The rest of you, I want you to come with me."

Sharing an uneasy look with Broadway and Lexington, Brooklyn stood up, clearing his throat nervously. "Uh … Goliath? I--I don't think that Elisa will … I--I don't think she'd want our help."

"It doesn't matter!" Unfurling his wings, Goliath vaulted up onto a turret. "We protect all, even those who may resist it--including Elisa!"

Without another word, Goliath launched himself off of the tower, catching an air current and sweeping towards the old clock tower.

************************************************************************

"Yes, I understand." Sighing, Zenji closed the tiny cell phone and handed it back to Setsuke. Shaking his head, he turned to his assembled warriors, all kneeling in the alley before him, awaiting their orders. "That was Ryozo-san. We have more orders; three of us are to go to an herbalist's shop and destroy it."

All nodded, save Kazuko, who hissed in disgust. "Now we are committing petty crimes for our master?"

His eyes flaring white, Zenji roared, lunging forward and lashing a hand out, catching Kazuko by the throat and brutally slamming the younger demon against a dumpster. Frightened, Kazuko tried to squirm free of Zenji's grasp as the master demon snarled, "It is not for you to question the orders of our lord! His family saved our people, and now the least we can do in return is obey his whim! DO YOU UNDERSTAND, KAZUKO?!!"

"I--I understand!" Kazuko choked, struggling to unhook Zenji's claws from his throat. "Forgive me, Sensei!"

Growling, Zenji shoved Kazuko away, flinging the younger demon to the ground. "You will learn obedience, Kazuko-san."

"Yes, Sensei," Kazuko rasped, quickly bowing before Zenji. "I will, Sensei!"

Zenji snorted at that, but he quickly directed his attention elsewhere. Studying his warriors, who had remained kneeling and never once flinched at the altercation.

"Hikotaro, Tomoko, Ren," he said, and the three demons immediately leapt to their feet, standing at attention. "You will go to Brother K's shop and destroy it. Do not kill anyone, and do not waste time. I want you all back here to help eliminate the policewoman."

The demons all bowed deeply. "Yes, Sensei," they chorused, then, drawing their cowls over their faces, promptly leapt away, fading into the darkness.

********

BROTHER K'S SHOP:

"Ye're gonna have t' tell 'em some time, lass."

"Never! I'd rather die than lose Goliath's trust."

Sitting on the roof of Brother K's shop, Hudson scanned the street below as best he could, as Bronx laid his head in Awen's lap, dozing as she scratched his ears.

Hudson shook his head. "Ye're livin' a lie."

"Oh, a lie?" Awen echoed, her voice filled with disgust. "Not like all those loving cutesy stories most of the clan told Goliath and Demona and the other children? About the anarchy and the demon worship and all that other shit?"

Hudson sighed heavily, turning to face her. "Times have changed, Awen lass."

"Hmph." A small, sardonic smile tugged briefly at Awen's lips. "Not much, Hudson lad. Not much."

"Goliath will nay be put off by it."

She shot him a glare, her emerald green eyes flashing dangerously. "You were."

She got him there.

Her stare lost its challenge and she sighed, looking down at Bronx as he rolled onto his back, begging for his belly to be rubbed. "Besides … it might be too soon."

"Auc, I s'pose ye're right." Hudson growled softly as he stood, walking over to her. "What with Elisa an' all …"

Awen's shoulders slumped. "It's tearing Goliath apart, and nothing I say or do lessens his pain any!"

"Nothin' any of us say helps." Hudson shook his head. "But, y'know, I understand how 'e feels."

Awen nodded. "So do I," she said softly.

Setting her jaw, she gently pushed a protesting Bronx aside and stood, ready to take over sentry duty. "Old friend …?"

"Aye?"

Awen hesitated, her back to Hudson. She didn't look at him as she asked, "What would they have named the baby?"

Hudson blinked, then a sad smile spread across his face. "They had agreed on Beatrice methinks … Goliath had been reading The Divine Comedy when he found out. He wanted t' name th' baby after Beatrice, th' angel. He an' Elisa thought that th' baby was an angel, comin' t' 'em. A miracle. They … they dinna think it was possible …"

For a long time, Awen didn't move. She only stood there, with her back to Hudson. She didn't speak. She looked almost like a statue, distant and cold.

Finally, Awen stepped forward, walking to the edge of the building and crouching down, watching the street intensely, her eyes hard and her mouth set in a tight line.

Not knowing what to say--or whether to say anything--Hudson silently settled beside Bronx, who was looking between Hudson and Awen, confused.

Gradually, Awen began to speak again, and their half-hearted conversation carried on for some time. Another hour ticked by and Hudson stood, groaning as his joints popped and cracked. "Auc, if these things donna show up tonight …"

"Aye," Awen wearily agreed, standing and stepping aside for her friend. "But better safe than sorry, eh?"

"True." Hudson glanced at her and smirked. "I bet th' lads are happy t' be outta yer sight."

Awen snorted and rolled her eyes, disgusted. "I've never seen a more lazy and defiant lot!"

"Ah now, they're good lads. They fight well."

"Aye, they fight well, but the training is supposed to make them fight better, teach them how to disarm attackers without hurting them, identify traps …" Awen stifled a laugh. "Angela's the only one who's able to keep up."

"Aye! Now that girl's got spirit!" Chuckling, Hudson turned to resume his post. No sooner had he bent down to crouch than his old eye, still fairly sharp and well trained to spot tracks, saw three figures dart out of the shadows across the street, making a beeline for the store.

Hudson sat bolt right up, gasping. "Awen--!"

"I see them!" She dropped down beside him, watching with growing alarm. She glanced at Hudson beside her, arching a brow ridge. "This might be tricky."

"Hmm …" Hudson pulled at his beard as he thought. Macbeth said these things were difficult to fight, so … "We should attack from th' air, not give 'em a chance t' strike at us … Bronx?"

Surprised to be called, Bronx trotted up to Hudson, cocking his head and whining softly.

"D'ye think ye can keep 'em down?"

Wagging his tail, excited for action, Bronx gave an affirmative yip.

Hudson nodded, then turned to Awen, who was watching all this with an amused smirk. He narrowed his eyes at her. "What?? Ye never had a conversation with a dog?"

Awen grinned and, choking back a laugh, held her hands up defensively. "Not one where the dog actually replies."

Considering that again, Hudson grinned, chuckling.

Spreading their wings, together they leapt off of the store, piercing the cool air with combined battle shrieks as they swept down to the street. The eerie, chilling howls caused the three slim creatures to skid to a halt, looking up at them in disbelief.

Hudson roared again as he angled his wings, rushing towards one of the taller figures, pulling back a fist and grinning as he saw the creature's white eyes widen in shock.

"Got ye now, ye little--" Hudson started, but he gasped in surprise as the creature ducked disappearing from his sight. It silently lashed one bronze-colored hand out, catching the tip of Hudson's tail and, with seemingly little effort, flung the old Gargoyle to the ground.

"Whoooaaa--hey!!" Hudson cried out, yelping as his whole body was yanked brutally out of the air and slammed to the cold, wet street, crushing the air out of his lungs.

Overhead, Awen twisted around in midair and gasped, her eyes flying open in horror and shock as she saw her friend lying there, dazed and struggling to catch his breath. Realizing what had happened, Awen's reddening eyes narrowed dangerously, and she shouted "Hudson!!" as she tried to redirect her body back to the street. With her attention solely on him, there was no way Awen could have seen the ninja racing up behind her, lunging into the air and thrusting a foot out, slamming it violently into Awen's ribs and knocking her straight out of the air.

A choked cry raced from Awen's throat as she fell, dropping out of the sky and hitting the ground too fast to catch herself. She crashed into a squat mailbox, knocking the whole thing over as she careened across the pavement, finally coming to a halt on the sidewalk, and didn't move.

His eyes flaring in rage and irritation, Hudson craned his head around, glaring at the demon that had him pinned to the ground. "Ye had better turn me loose an' clear outta here, if ye know what's good fer ye."

The black-swathed demon's glowing eyes narrowed, but he quickly stepped away, removing his foot from Hudson's back. "You should leave, old one; Tengu demons and Gargoyles are not enemies."

"Not enemies?" Hudson snorted, shoving himself to his feet. "Well, we canna be friends either; since when would one friend trounce another so badly?"

Out of the corner of his good eye, Hudson saw the third demon dart forward, running towards the front of the store, clearly ready to kick in the front door and rip the place apart. A searing roar rang out overhead and the demon gasped, backpedaling and looking up in disbelief at Bronx, who had climbed down the front of the building and now clung, upside down, to the brickwork just above the front entrance. He snarled threateningly at the demon who blinked, then snarled in return.

"Take your friends and go," the demon before Hudson said firmly. "We have work to do here."

Hudson's good eye narrowed. "An' what work would that be, friend?"

Behind Hudson, Awen laid slumped on the ground, unmoving. Suspicious, the demon that had so kindly introduced Awen to the sidewalk crept up to the fallen Gargoyle, her hands poised in the air for an attack.

The demon hadn't even gotten a foot close to Awen when the Gargoyle's tail whipped out, lashing across the demon's ankles. The creature yelped, tripping and leaping backwards as Awen's blood red eyes shot open. Snarling, Awen planted a hand on either side of her head, flexed her body and leapt smoothly up onto her arched feet.

Her hands lashing out, Awen snatched the fallen mailbox off of the street and raised it over her head, screaming monstrously as she slammed it over the stunned demon, sending letters and papers fluttering like snow.

The demon before Hudson jolted back in horror. "Tomoko-chan!!" he cried as his friend wheeled back, screaming and frantically tearing the crumpled mailbox off from over her head. Seeing his opening, Hudson balled a fist and whipped his arm out, striking the demon solidly across the chin. Though his knuckles screamed in pain, Hudson still smiled in satisfaction as the demon sailed through the air, crashing to the street.

Seeing Hudson and Awen fight back, Bronx roared and lunged, leaping off of the side of the building with his jaws wide open for the third demon's throat.

Prepared for his attack, the demon ducked, snarling cruelly as she lashed out a foot, kicking a yelping Bronx hard in the jaw.

As the demon called Tomoko dodged Awen's flashing claws, she managed to shoot the other demon a withering glare. "Ren! That was unnecessary!"

"So was attacking me when my back was turned!" Awen roared, lunging for the demon that lithely spun out of her grasp. "You have no honor!"

As Hudson warily circled his demon, it snorted, then sprang to its feet, its eyes glaring furiously. "I suppose you're right. Tomoko-chan?"

"We have no time for this, Hikotaro!" Ducking beneath Awen's swipe, the demoness tore across the street. "Hikotaro, Ren! Let's go!"

Growling once at Hudson, Hikotaro shot away from him, racing after Tomoko. The last one, Ren, balked, looking back at the store she was sent to destroy, then at each of the snarling Gargoyles that converged on her--particularly Bronx, who was not at all happy with the kick.

Clenching her fists, Ren hissed in frustration. "I will not forget this!" she bellowed, then suddenly leaped straight up, over Hudson's head, hitting the ground running. By the time Hudson had spun around, the three Tengu demons had disappeared the way they came.

Awen's hair bristled and she snarled in fury, straining her glowing eyes to follow the demons' paths. "Where'd they go?!"

"We'll find out soon enough!" Hudson vowed. He turned around, facing Bronx, who was already sniffing at the spot where Ren had stood. "Bronx! Track 'em, boy!"

Growling a fierce affirmative, Bronx charged across the street, barking wildly.

"'E's on th' scent!" Hudson shouted, racing after the dog, Awen right beside him.

They tore down the street, soon realizing that they would never be able to keep up. Spotting an SUV parked by the curb, Hudson pointed it out. Her tail lashing angrily through the air, Awen easily sprang to the vehicle's roof--Hudson needed a bit of a run up. Together, they leapt into the air, and Hudson cringed, hearing the SUV's alarm shriek beneath him as they fought for air currents.

Thankfully, a gust sprang up, buffeting them upwards until they found steadier drafts. Once in control, they swooped closer to the street, spotting Bronx as he snuffled at the base of a brownstone.

Hudson cursed loudly. "'E lost it, 'e lost th' scent!"

"No wait!" Coming to the same realization Bronx did, Awen pointed to the brownstone's roof. "I think they went up! They're going by rooftop!"

They circled impatiently overhead as Bronx fitted his talons into the old stone of the house, clawing his way up to the roof. No sooner did he reach the top than his eyes lit up and his ears pricked.

"There 'e goes!!" Hudson shouted as Bronx burst into a fit of barking, ripping over the rooftop and leaping onto another.

Awen shot Hudson a cautious look as they trailed the eager Bronx. "Old friend, if we catch up with them, they're not going to be happy, and they will retaliate--and I don't need to point out they'll fight with everything they've got if it comes to that …?"

"Strange t' hear ye worry 'bout that!" Hudson said, chuckling as Awen glared at him. "We used t' boast that ye were one o' our best warriors!"

"Aye--BUT THAT WAS BEFORE WE STARTED FIGHTING NINJAS!!!!"

Hudson laughed, and he opened his mouth to reply … but all of his smart remarks died on his lips as the gleaming tower rose into view. Recognizing it, Hudson stared at it, feeling the color drain from his cheeks and his heart plunge to the bottom of his stomach.

Seeing the horrified look upon his face, Awen jolted, stunned. "Hudson?"

"Th--that's th' clock tower--th' police station!" Hudson cried, lashing out a talon to point it out to Awen. "These things--they came fer Elisa!!"

************************************************************************

"Yes … Yes, we will do it, Lord Ikeda." Zenji listened for a moment longer, waiting until his shogun hung up. He stood there, his eyes falling to the ground, his shoulders heaving in a deep sigh.

Stabbing the 'POWER' button with his claw, Zenji turned the cell phone off, then turned to Setsuke who stood beside him, watching him worriedly.

He stared at her sadly, and she blinked. "Grandfather?"

Shaking his head, Zenji handed her the cell phone, watching numbly as she checked to be sure it was completely off before hiding it within her clothes: as with every mission, Zenji had reported in his location and status to Ryozo Takahashi and receive further orders from Koji Ikeda.

This time, however, Ikeda himself answered, momentarily stunning Zenji; he had not carried a conversation with the corrupt shogun for several years now.

Zenji's suspicions were confirmed when Lord Ikeda ordered the hit on the policewoman take place that very night--not during the day, not at the woman's home, which would be easier. No, Ikeda wanted another flashy, violent attack, and he wanted to use this to cow the police into obedience, once again.

Zenji didn't want to do it that way. He didn't even want to kill the policewoman, but he had his orders and he knew that he could not disobey them. If he did, what would happen to his clan? What would Koji Ikeda order his men to do to Setsuke? The thought was unbearable.

Drawing in a hissing breath between his fangs, Zenji looked Setsuke squarely in the eye. "The hit will take place tonight, as soon as the others return. Tell everyone to prepare."

Setsuke nodded, but she made no move to carry out his orders. She could see the conflict within him, and any doubts he had she felt herself. After all, she would become the next leader of the Tengu demons.

"I wish we didn't have to do this," she whispered.

Zenji frowned, but he knew that she could tell it was forced. "We have no choice, child."

"I know Grandfather. I know."

She bowed slightly, and Zenji nodded, dismissing her. As Setsuke moved through the access tunnel, gruffly ordering her warriors to attention, Zenji glanced up through the steel grate that yawned up to the bustling sidewalk above them. He could see the softly glowing clock tower, now rebuilt and completely functioning.

His heart sank, but he forced himself to shake it off. Reaching behind him, Zenji pulled his cowl over his face.

He fleetingly prayed that neither he, nor Setsuke, or any of the demons in their clan, would be forced to commit such crimes for their shoguns ever again.

*********

"Ready Matt?"

"Yeah I--oh damn, wait a minute." Frowning, Matt patted the pockets of his trench coat, then rolled his eyes heavenward, snarling. "I left my friggin' notebook in the car. Hang on."

Elisa nodded as she settled into a chair, holding one hand to the stitches beneath her shirt. "Okay, but hurry up, before Chavez gets back."

"Yeah, yeah." A little annoyed at his forgetfulness, Matt raced out of the captain's office, dodging rookie cops and seasoned veterans who were just starting to haul in that night's cache of thieves and punks.

Rushing down the stairs, Matt darted out through the front doors, trotting down the stairs and craning his neck, spotting his car parked nearby.

He had hardly reached the bottom step when he yelped in a panic, feeling a heavy, strong hand clamp down on his elbow and yank him backwards. Swearing, Matt wrenched his arm free and spun around, raising a fist and wondering who in the hell would be so stupid as to attack a cop right outside a police station.

"Whoa, easy Detective!" Macbeth cried, leaping backwards, just out of Matt's range. "I'm not lookin' fer a fight!"

"Wh--Macbeth? What the hell are you doing here?"

Shifting uneasily in his armor and long overcoat, Macbeth leaned forward, lowering his voice. "Bluestone, Koji Ikeda's sent some demons t' kill Elisa, and maybe ye as well. I came t' warn ye--" With a slight nod of his head, Macbeth gestured to the library behind him. "--An' I dinna come alone."

His eyes widening, Matt quickly glanced up to the library rooftop to confirm this. There he saw the red form of Brooklyn quickly peering down at them, but Matt made no move to get the Gargoyle's attention.

Slowly straightening, Matt exhaled heavily. "Shit. We'd better get inside."

"Aye," Macbeth said, and turned to follow Matt back up the steps.

*******

"They're heading in," Brooklyn reported, not moving from his half crouch on the sloping roof. "But I don't see any of those Tengu demon things yet."

"Just because we cannot see them, we shouldn't assume they aren't there," Goliath said. He growled quietly, pacing slightly as he waited. He knew his restlessness was annoying the blazes out of Angela and the Trio, but that mattered little. Goliath could not contain his impatience and anxiety; more likely than not, he and Elisa would come face to face as he and the clan fought off the demons, and while he was not frightened of the prospect, it certainly worried him that he was unable to predict Elisa's reaction.

"Hey, hey!" Brooklyn cried and, alarmed, Goliath spun around.

"What is it?" he asked as he leapt for his second-in-command's side, with Angela, Lexington, and Broadway all hot on his heels.

"It's Bronx!" Brooklyn exclaimed, pointing to the bluish-gray creature that was now scrambling down the side of a restaurant across the street.

"Yeah, and Hudson and Awen!" Broadway said. He jabbed a claw at the two winged shapes that were rapidly approaching the clock tower.

Goliath felt his blood run cold. "What are they doing here?"

As they watched, Bronx hopped to the ground, growling viciously and unintentionally terrifying several humans who had been passing by. Putting his muzzle to the pavement he sniffed, prowling about in a circle, wandering almost pointlessly until he came to the curb. He froze there, not a muscle twitching, his head poised over an access tunnel grating that led to the subways.

Suddenly, Bronx snarled.

Without warning the heavy metal grating shot off, rocketing dozens of feet into the air and knocking Bronx back with a yalp.

No sooner did the grating clatter back to earth did eight black-clothed creatures spring out of the tunnel, the glow of their white eyes reflecting off the blades of their weapons. Not making a sound, they surged forward, racing, springing, leaping across the street, knocking stunned humans aside and causing cars and trucks to scream to a halt.

Hearing the ruckus, Matt Bluestone and Macbeth wheeled around, a disbelieving cry winding out from Matt's throat as a pair of demons barreled them over, flinging them to the ground as several more bounded into the police station.

"NO!!" Goliath roared, his words swallowed up in a howling scream. He lunged off the side of the library, catching a weak gust of wind and rushing to the front of the station. Flinging his arms up to shield his face, Goliath swallowed a snarl of pain as he smashed through the doors, splintering wood and shattering glass.

He hit the ground hard, skidding across the debris-strewn tile and crashing into an opposite wall. In shock, four demons halfway up a flight of stairs stopped, all wheeling around to stare at him, baffled. Their eyes met his, and Goliath heard himself snarl savagely.

The demon at the head of the pack, the one with twin swords strapped to her back, narrowed her eyes challengingly at him, then turned and shot up the stairs in a streak of dark light, her friends all following, fairly ricocheting off of the walls and actually racing up the banisters.

Goliath roared, dropping to all fours and tearing after them, catching up to one and slamming his arm across the demon's chest, knocking him out of the air and sending him tumbling crazily down the stairway.

Battering another demon aside, Goliath reached the top of the stairs, feeling his heart thundering, panicked, deep within his chest. Leaping for the top landing, he saw the last two demons charge through a door that Goliath instinctively knew led to Elisa's office. There was a young police officer there in the doorway, having come at the sound of screaming and crashing. He looked up in horror as the lead demon leapt up, one hand reaching behind her for her sword as the opposite swept out, striking his throat, and causing him to crumple to the floor, unconscious.

His eyes widening in shock, Goliath lunged, roaring insanely. The second demon jerked around, pivoting on one foot and snapping its leg out, slamming its clawed foot into Goliath's cheek, throwing the massive Gargoyle into a wall and drawing blood.

Blinded, Goliath roared again, ducking his head in case of another strike. He swept his tail out, feeling the tip connect with silk. His eyes shooting open, Goliath bared his fangs at the demon and wrapped his tail around the creature's ankle, brutally whipping the demon end over end into the air.

Goliath was already up and into the office when the demon slammed to the ground. He looked about him wildly, seeing people running in every direction and shrieking in terror. The last demon seemed to be everywhere, springing easily from here to there, never giving the armed police officers there a chance to take aim.

Then, Goliath saw her. Her, Elisa, rushing out of another office to see what was going on, her face white but contorted in anger.

As soon as she appeared, the demon landed on a desk, flinging papers everywhere. It wheeled around and spotted her.

"Elisa, take cover!!" Goliath bellowed, tearing through the office, flinging swivel chairs and huge, heavy desks aside as the Tengu demon shot forward, cleaving its sword around in an arch. Elisa saw where the thing was headed and, for a moment, her eyes widened in stark fear.

"ELISA!!!" Goliath screamed.

His voice seemed to jar her awake. Crying out in fright, Elisa dove aside, throwing herself to the ground as the demon lunged, sweeping her sword downward, missing Elisa but smoothly cleaving a tall filing cabinet in half, sending sparks across the room.

Realizing in terror that he'd never be able to reach Elisa in time, Goliath skidded to a halt, just before a messy desk. Slapping the computer aside, Goliath hooked his talons into the metal and, with a slight snarl of strain, hefted the desk up, overhead. Gritting his fangs, Goliath summoned all of his strength and threw the desk completely across the room at the demon, fighting back a roar that would have alerted her.

Somehow, the demon detected what he was doing and she reeled around, her eyes shooting open in horror. Still she didn't move, instead standing her ground, roaring as she slashed her sword through the desk, letting each half fall neatly on either side of her.

The demon distracted, Elisa saw her chance and shoved herself to her feet, running as hard as she could through the chaos of the office though the dive she took had hurt her badly.

Seeing her approach, Goliath forgot everything he had worried about and just raced to her, sweeping her up in arms and tearing out of that office, knocking aside the demons who were recovering in the hallway.

Elisa never protested once, but she gasped when she saw the Tengu demons in the hall. "Goliath, who are they?!"

"They're Tengu demons, sent by Koji Ikeda!" Goliath bellowed, using his wing to slap a demon back against the wall. "They came to kill you!"

Hearing that, Elisa stiffened in his arms. She stared at him in disbelief, but said not a word.

Racing back out into the street, Goliath gasped, ducking aside as a yelping Broadway was sent flying by yet another Tengu demon, crashing into the front steps of the police station.

There were four more demons out in the street, all taking turns fighting with the clan--and by the looks of it, the demons were winning.

Goliath hesitated, then looked down at Elisa, in his arms.

He had forgotten how much he missed holding her. "I must get you away, to safety."

"Where?!" Elisa shouted, her voice enraged as Goliath broke into a run. "Where am I gonna go? Where is it safe?!"

Good question. Goliath craned his neck up, looking for a ledge or window low enough for him to leap up on and then catch an air current, hopefully gliding far away from here. He didn't have time to climb up the side of a building; the Tengu demons could leap right up and tear him down.

Wait! There; that restaurant up the street … Goliath remembered it had a veranda. It was close to the ground. He could reach it in one leap, then climb to the roof. That ought to give him enough time to become airborne and get Elisa safely out of the demons' reach.

Goliath hadn't gotten far when a chorus of shouts and roars rang out behind him, a warning; the Tengu demons had seen him flee with Elisa, and they all abandoned their battles with the clan and were now chasing the pair down the street.

Suddenly, red hot, razor sharp pain ripped into the back of Goliath's left arm and his leg. He roared in shocked agony, staggering and tripping, slamming hard to the pavement and sending a startled Elisa rolling.

"What the devil--?" Hissing in pain, Goliath rolled onto his side, reaching up and gingerly pulling free one of the several sharp, metal objects that had been lodged into his flesh.

Blinking in disbelief, Goliath held the serrated disk up to the light: shruikens.Razor throwing stars.

"Oh, no …" Elisa hissed, slowly rising to her knees as the demons approached, converging around them. Goliath snarled, rapidly tearing the shruikens out of his skin. "I will not let them harm you!"

"Of course you won't," Elisa said savagely as the Tengu demons formed a circle around them, pausing.

One of them, the master demon, stepped forward, carefully approaching Goliath as the huge Gargoyle growled warningly.

"I am sorry, Gargoyle," it said as Goliath slowly stood, carefully testing the strength in his leg. "But you must leave; Tengu demons and Gargoyles have no issue with one another, and I do not wish to change that."

Goliath clenched a fist. "You cannot harm Elisa! She has done you no wrong!"

"No, but she has insulted Lord Koji Ikeda," the demon replied, to which Elisa recoiled in disgust, snarling, "That little slimeball …"

"You cannot have her," Goliath said defiantly.

The demon blinked. "Very well. But then I cannot allow you to leave here alive."

Goliath tensed.

An ear splitting shriek split the night and both Goliath and the demon snapped their heads skyward, the master demon snarling in rage as six Gargoyles plummeted out of the night, slamming their arched feet into the demons' heads.

As Brooklyn hit the ground and turned to menacingly face the master demon, a black car screamed to a halt beside them. Barking furiously, Bronx wiggled out through an open window as Matt and Macbeth leapt out, their guns drawn.

"I'm gonna cram that arrogance right down your throat," Brooklyn snarled.

The demon didn't even blink. "It won't be easy."

******

Even as Angela watched, standing right there, the demon called Dai spun around, whipping her bow off from over her head and reaching behind her for an arrow. Even as Angela started to rush forward, Dai took aim and let the arrow fly, narrowly whistling past Angela's cheek.

Angela gasped and jerked away, even though she knew, somehow, that Dai hadn't been aiming for her. A sickening thud and a loud stream of swears and curses told her she was right.

Angela spun around, crying out in horror when she saw Macbeth behind her, his shoulder pinned to a wall with Dai's arrow. A thick stream of blood cascaded down his jacket, and a pain spasm ripped through his arm, causing him to drop his gun.

Spitting out another curse, Macbeth glared at her. "What d'ye think ye're doin', lass? Start fightin'!"

Angela didn't need to be told twice. Snarling in rage, she spun around, lunging for Dai as the demon fitted another arrow.

"Beast!" Angela roared, her claws sweeping out, snapping the arrow shaft in half.

"That's the pot calling the kettle black!" Dai retorted, her fist lashing out and striking Angela in the temple while her foot snapped up, connecting with Angela's ribs.

"Argh!" Winded and losing her balance, Angela threw her body to the side, spinning out of Dai's reach, at the same time catching the demon's wrist and wrenching it aside.

Dai snarled in shock, ducking to twist out of Angela's grasp but, at the same time, not maintaining her grip on her bow.

Not releasing Dai for a second, Angela leapt back, yanking Dai to the ground and giving Angela a clear shot for the bow. She caught the bow at its leather grip, tearing it out of the demon's hand and, with a snap of her arm, hooked the polished wood under Dai's chin.

With a shrieking howl Angela flung her weight back, pressing the bow so hard against Dai's throat that the demon choked. For a second, Angela grinned, feeling Dai's strength weaken; she won! She had managed to disarm the Tengu demon and now …

Her smile faded as she realized how vicious and dishonorable this attack was … and as she remembered where she had learned that maneuver …

… From Demona.

Swallowing hard, Angela released her hold on Dai's arm and quickly pulled the bow free from the demon's throat. She backed off, watching with shame as Dai choked and coughed, fighting to breathe.

Oh gods … what had she done?

*****

"Easy now, Awen!"

"Do you want this damned thing out or not?!"

Macbeth opened his mouth to retort, but an agonized cry came out instead as Awen leaned heavily on his shoulder, trying to figure out just how deep the arrow had gone through his shoulder.

"I'm startin' t' think it went in all th' way," Macbeth said sarcastically.

Awen shot him a withering glare. "Aye, and I can't pull it out. I'm going to have to snap the end off."

"Hurry then!" Macbeth snapped, watching the battling demons and Gargoyles around them worriedly. "Yer friends need help!"

"Okay, hold about …" Carefully leaning on Macbeth's injured shoulder, Awen grabbed the arrow shaft. "All right, on three."

"Er, Awen!"

"One--"

"Awen!!"

"Two--"

"AWEN!!! BEHIND YOU!!!"

No sooner had Macbeth howled this than a massive shadow draped over the pair of them. Her eyes widening in fright, Awen gasped and instantly ducked, yelping as she heard a huge fist smash into the wall where her head had been only a second ago.

Dropping to the ground, Awen shot aside, piercing the air with a challenging scream as she turned to face her attacker.

As soon as she saw the size of the hulking, mute Mafuyu, Awen's roar instantly died. She and the massive Tengu demon, easily four times her size, stared at each other, Awen in open-mouthed shock and Mafuyu in curiosity.

Without warning, Mafuyu's arm shot out like a missile, hardly giving Awen time to react. She roared in fright and ducked--then shrieked in agony as Mafuyu's hand clamped down around her long black hair.

"OW!! Hey!" Slapping both of her clawed hands over his, Awen held Mafuyu's hand to the top of her head and spun around under his arm, twisting his wrist around in a painful direction.

Mafuyu snorted in surprised pain, instantly releasing his grip on Awen's scalp. As he jerked away, Awen pivoted on one leg, roaring as she kicked Mafuyu hard in the gut. The Tengu demon staggered back, but his eyes seemed to flare in rage.

"Come on, big boy," Awen hissed, charging forward and lunging, thrusting a leg out.

Snorting again, Mafuyu simply hopped to the side, his speed belying his size. Before Awen could unfurl her wings and catch herself, Mafuyu's clawed hand lashed out, ripping through the bandages on her left leg, tearing open the old wound.

"Ah!!" Blinded by the agony, Awen slammed to the ground, feeling her spasming leg give out beneath her. Unable to stand, Awen collapsed, swallowing a shrieking curse and clamping her hand over the bleeding wound.

Off to the side, Macbeth's voice cracked out at her. "Awen, incomin'!!"

No sooner had he said that then Awen felt two callused hands snatching her by the shoulders, sending a bolt of terror through her. As she roared and thrashed in his grip, Mafuyu wheeled her around and raced forward, driving her towards a brick wall.

"Oh, BLOODY HELL!!!" Gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut, Awen held her breath, summoning every ounce of strength in her. With a grating scream she lashed her bad leg out, hooking her talons into the brick. Letting Mafuyu's grip support her, Awen raced up the wall, just far enough that Mafuyu couldn't reach.

Slipping free of his fingers, Awen clenched her fists and vaulted off the wall, flipping back, over the huge demon's head, tucking her legs in towards her chest, though it made her feel like vomiting. As she tumbled through the air, Awen forced her eyes open and roared, thrusting both feet out and striking Mafuyu squarely in the shoulders, sending him slamming into the wall.

Awen crashed to the pavement, the wind knocked out of her again. Wheezing, she fought to sit up, clutching her bloody leg, glancing up as Mafuyu peeled himself off the brick wall, brushing dust away from his garment.

Awen's eyes shot open; that maneuver should have cracked Mafuyu's skull wide open. If he could shake that off …

"Ohhhhh … blast."

******

Seeing Goliath battle with the master demon, trying his damnedest to shield a weakened Elisa behind him, Hudson rushed forward, unsheathing his sword as a battle roar ripped from his throat.

To his utter shock, the slim, waif-like demon Setsuke stepped before him, arching a knobby eyebrow as she held her katana at her side.

Surprised, Hudson skidded to a halt. He narrowed his eyes at her, then at her weapon and snorted; that thing looked about as thick as the tip of his little claw.

Smirking, Hudson raised his hefty sword a fraction. "Sorry lass, I donna 'ave time fer this."

Setsuke's eyes glinted furiously as she gracefully lifted a slender arm, reaching behind her back for the twin katana strapped there. Wielding both once, she dipped her body slightly in a stance that looked more ceremonial than defensive or anything.

Hudson made the mistake of blinking and suddenly, Setsuke was gone, leaping straight into the air. Her katanas screamed through the air, the sheen of the razor sharp blade dazzling Hudson and he gasped, leaping backwards and fling his sword up to shield himself. Steel shrieked against steel and bright red sparks showered down on Hudson as Setsuke parried his sword away, her blows making the old bones in Hudson's arm rattle.

She hit the ground and, before Hudson could even feint a move, she was airborne again, side-leaping away and striking the side of a restaurant. Launching herself off of the building, Setsuke gave a screaming howl and, holding her katanas out before her, threw herself into a flip, reminding Hudson of those huge buzz saws he had seen on one of those "This Old House" shows.

"Geh!" Ducking his head, Hudson dove for the ground, rolling frantically out of the way as Setsuke landed, slamming both long blades straight through the cement.

With a slight snort of annoyance, Setsuke yanked the katanas out of the ground, neither one even chipped by the hard pavement.

"Auc, c'mon …" Hudson growled, shoving himself to his feet. More than a little irritated now, Hudson charged her, drawing his sword back over his head and roaring wildly.

Setsuke didn't even take a step back. Wielding her swords again, she swung one upwards, using the flat edge of the katana to deflect Hudson's blow. With the other sword, Setsuke drove the hilt against Hudson's sword, effectively trapping it in a scissor-like grip. Hudson tried, but even with all the strength he still had, it was impossible to pry his sword loose.

"Hiyah!!" Spinning around, as graceful as any ballerina, Setsuke flung her weight against her katanas, ripping Hudson's sword out of his grasp. He watched agape as his sword spun clumsily through the air before clattering to the sidewalk.

Setsuke blinked, glancing at him, the cowl around her face making her expression impossible to read. Well aware that he was unarmed, Hudson nevertheless snarled and balled his fists, crouching in a pounce. "C'mon then, lass," he challenged.

For several long seconds, Setsuke didn't move. When she did, she stepped backwards, slowly retreating until she stood beside Hudson's fallen blade. Slipping her bare, clawed toes under the hilt, Setsuke kicked the sword up, towards Hudson.

The old Gargoyle watched her in disbelief, reaching out with one hand to catch his sword. Not understanding, Hudson stared at her questioningly.

Setsuke didn't flinch. "I won't fight an unarmed opponent," she said clearly, her voice firm.

Hudson was momentarily taken aback by the sound of her voice. He hadn't expected her to speak, and she sounded so young.

Still, he grinned and, with the tip of his sword, he saluted her. "Ye're more honorable than most, lassie. Let's continue, eh?"

******

With his brain rattling around in his skull like a ball bearing in a paint can, Brooklyn reared back, trying his hardest to grasp the fact he had just gotten whipped by this dorky looking demon. Brooklyn had taken one step towards the demon master when this one, Kazuko, shot out of nowhere, planting his foot hard in Brooklyn's head.

Brooklyn's vision momentarily blurred and he hissed, grabbing his head in both hands, as though that would make the spinning stop. He bared his fangs in irritation as Kazuko chuckled, idly swinging his bo--a long wooden staff--back and forth. "This is boring."

"Then go somewhere else," Brooklyn shot, hiding a wince as he tasted blood trickling over his beak. "I know some good Japanese restaurants around here. Maybe you could grab some sushi--hopefully ingest some blowfish toxin."

"Heh." Kazuko grinned smugly beneath his mask. "I've got a better idea; call off your clan. This fighting is wasting my time, and I'd bet you're not looking forward to getting your ass kicked."

Brooklyn's eyes flared a brilliant white, and it was all he could do to keep himself from going berserk. "You're full of shit," he spat vehemently, slowly circling to the side while his eyes darted over Kazuko's shoulder. Behind the demon, Matt Bluestone was trying his best to keep his gun trained on the demoness called Ren. Already shockingly fast and crafty, Ren had bounded out of Matt's reach early on, crouching to the sidewalk and withdrawing several long pieces of wood from beneath her tunic. She rapidly screwed the pieces together, and at first, Brooklyn assumed that she too had a bo … until he saw the huge, can-opener shaped blade at the tip. A naginata.

Needless to say, Matt wasn't doing too well against that thing, and he already had two long gashes slicing across his chest, leaving a river of blood. He needed help, but right now, Brooklyn was cornered. If he tried to duck past Kazuko, Brooklyn knew he wouldn't make it more than two steps before Kazuko pounded the ever-living crap out of him.

Man. Lex wasn't kidding when he said these guys put "The Matrix" to shame.

"You sound scared," Kazuko said coolly.

That brought Brooklyn back to reality. "Listen, ass wipe …"

"What are you going to do?" Kazuko snorted, leaning casually on his staff. "Toss a few pathetic cracks out at me, try to feint an attack, just to circle around and attack from behind. Please." He rolled his eyes. "I see it all the time."

As Kazuko spoke, Brooklyn saw what Matt was doing, and forced himself to hide any reaction; Matt had realized Ren tended to leap in the air, arcing over his head and striking him with her naginata as he turned. As Ren turned for her next lunge, Matt shrugged off his trench coat and gathered it up in his hands, like a net.

Swinging around, Ren lowered the spear at her side and lunged again, her rattling battle cry echoing up and down the street. Matt gritted his teeth and ducked, swearing as the tip of the naginata caught his shoulder, tearing open a new wound.

"Son of a--!!!" Spinning around, Matt whipped his jacket out, catching Ren around the head as she dropped to the ground. Startled, Ren gave a muffled yelp as Matt violently wrenched his coat backwards, yanking her off her feet and flinging her across the ground.

Brooklyn saw his chance and took it.

"Rargh!!" Snapping open his wings, Brooklyn lunged, thrusting a foot out to Kazuko's chest. The demon's eyebrows arched incredulously as he snatched up his staff, holding it across his chest to block Brooklyn's strike.

Unable to brace Brooklyn's weight, Kazuko leaned back, his eyes glaring angrily. He opened his mouth to roar but instead squawked in horror as a careening Ren smashed into his legs, knocking him flat on his ass.

Stunned for only a second, Kazuko leapt swiftly to his feet, and was promptly introduced to Brooklyn's fist. The demon's head snapped back, sending him sailing through the air like Brooklyn had simply tossed aside a rag doll.

Letting the demon crash to earth again, Brooklyn snarled, pausing to spit blood onto the street. "Loser."

******

Broadway was fighting the demon Tomoko, and he was not having a good time.

Tomoko was practically a razor-sharp whirling dervish; armed to the nines with loads of shruikens and a pair of three-pronged daggers called sais, the already speedy Tomoko was slicing Broadway up like he was a side of Kobe beef. Every time he lunged for her, Tomoko struck with a sai. If Broadway tried to charge her from the sides or behind, the Tengu demon would wheel around and fling a handful of those serrated blades at him, and those things hurt like hell.

Tomoko was advancing on him aggressively, driving Broadway back behind the café where the demons had trapped Goliath and Elisa. There was little room for him to move, and he knew he was rapidly running out of options.

"Listen lady, I'm telling you to back off!" Broadway roared as Tomoko growled, spinning those daggers nimbly over her claws before raising one over her head and held another out at her abdomen, the tip pointed at him.

Great, now Broadway couldn't charge her; he'd get impaled on one sai and get stabbed through the skull with the other.

"Last chance!" Broadway shouted, stalling for time, his mind racing for ideas. And, damn it all, he couldn't think of anything.

Tired of waiting for him to attack, Tomoko shrieked, darting forward with both sais still poised. Stunned, Broadway reared back, lashing his tail out at the demoness' head.

"Huh!" Leaping into the air like a coiled spring, Tomoko wielded both sais over her body, driving the twin daggers straight down into Broadway's snapping tail.

"WAHHH!!!" Horrified, Broadway shot away, yelping as he felt Tomoko rip the sais out of his tail. Bewildered, Broadway vaulted a dumpster, landing with a huge crash behind it. He grabbed his bloody, swollen tail in both hands, biting his lower lip hard as lightning bolts seemed to rip up and down his spine.

A hiss jolted him back to attention. Momentarily forgetting his throbbing wound, Broadway risked a peek around the corner of the dumpster. He spotted Tomoko there at the mouth of the little alleyway, standing in a half pounce as she watched the demon leader fight Goliath, waiting for a chance to slip in and take Goliath by surprise.

"You …" His eyes glowing in rage, Broadway planted his hands against the dumpster. Digging his toe claws into the ground, Broadway threw his weight against the oversized bin, forcing the rusty old wheels to creak forward.

At first, the dumpster moved agonizingly slowly, but with another good shove, Broadway sent it rolling. He raced along behind it, pushing it faster until it thundered up the alley. Tomoko, so engrossed in watching Goliath and the older demon fight, didn't notice the rumbling until it was too late.

Spinning around, Tomoko's eyes nearly shot out of her head, and she had just enough time to cry, "No!!" before the dumpster slammed into her, sending her rocketing into a neighboring building.

Broadway slid to a halt, huffing, watching as Tomoko, dazed and visibly bleeding, pried herself out from between the dumpster and the brick wall. Losing her footing, she collapsed, coughing hoarsely.

Sucking in a ragged breath, Tomoko shot Broadway a searing glare as she rose shakily to her feet.

Not even blinking, she held her hand up for him to see. Held firmly between each of her fingers was a gleaming silver shruiken.

Broadway's jaw fell open in disbelief. Whoa … this one wasn't about to give up.

And all Broadway had done was make her madder.

*******

Of all the Gargoyles there, Lexington was surprised to find that he was having the easiest time fighting the demons. This one, Hikotaro, was as strong and fast as all the others and was unnervingly well trained with nunchakus, but the worst Lex had suffered thus far were some large black bruises, the kind that went to the bone.

Lexington hadn't landed a solid punch on the taller demon yet, but he certainly had this guy in a tizzy; Lex kept running and dodging and ducking between Hikotaro's legs--unfortunately, Hikotaro wasn't stupid enough to swing a nunchak down that way. Dammit.

Skidding around behind Hikotaro again, Lexington shot a look around him, wincing as he watched Broadway and Brooklyn get knocked around. Hudson was still struggling against the demoness with the two katanas, even though Bronx had ran to help. Angela was hurt, and worse yet, didn't look as though she had the confidence to finish the fight with the demon. Matt and a wounded Macbeth, having pried himself off of the wall, were trying to tackle that one huge ninja demon, giving a hobbling Awen a chance to strike a good blow and knock the sucker out.

And then there was Goliath, bleeding profusely from shruiken wounds and claw marks, doing his best to shield Elisa, though she didn't want help from him or any of the other Gargoyles. At the same time though, she was staying behind Goliath, watching fearfully as he fought the eldest demon of the pack.

"Aha!"

"Yagh!!!" A howling pain ripped through his jaw, sending bright orange stars blinding Lexington's eyes as one end of a nunchak slammed into his jaw, rocking him back off of his feet.

Not good, very stupid!! Rapidly rubbing his jaw--and trying to pop it back into place--Lex sprang backward, struggling to see through the sparks on his retinas as Hikotaro lunged again, spinning those nunchaks around on his claws.

'How does he do that?' Lexington thought. Snarling in fury, Lex shot forward, ducking under Hikotaro's swing and snapping his tail forward, knocking a nunchak free of Hikotaro's grasp--and by the feel of it, knocking a few vertebrae loose from Lexington's tail as well.

Hikotaro snarled, started to pivot on one foot to face Lexington again, but his glowing eyes spotted Goliath fighting the chief demon nearby. Goliath had the chief demon by the throat, holding him at arm's length and stepping away from Elisa, whom he had been trying to protect.

There was just enough room for Hikotaro to dart in and kill Elisa.

Realizing where that demon was looking, Lexington gasped in horror. "Oh, man!" Looking about him frantically, Lexington's eyes caught the glint of the fallen nunchaku's chain.

Not knowing what else to do, Lex snatched the weapon up, swinging it around over his head and, roaring, letting it fly.

The weapon wrapped itself around the demon's legs, locking them together. Stunned, Hikotaro yelped, feeling his body pitched forward like a toppling tree.

Amazed that he had caught the demon, Lexington lunged, landing on Hikotaro's shoulders, causing the demon to crash even harder into the pavement. Not letting Hikotaro realize what had happened, Lexington roared and drove his fist into the Tengu demon's head, knocking the creature out.

"Jeez." Exhausted, Lexington heaved a breath and stepped off of the still demon, scanning the fray to see who needed his help the most.

Before Lexington could pick, a clawed hand shot out of the dark behind him, closing around his throat. Lex gave a strangled yelp as a snarling Hikotaro tossed him aside.

"Never turn your back on an enemy!" Hikotaro spat as Lexington twisted his body around in midair, landing on his feet.

He snorted wearily. "Now he tells me …"

******

Hearing Hikotaro crash to the street behind him, Zenji spun around, a shrieking hiss winding out of his throat; no! His warriors, defeated?! How could this be?!!

Outraged, Zenji turned back on the giant Gargoyle he had backed into a corner. The policewoman was crouched behind the massive creature, an arm wrapped around her stomach, her face contorted in fear and fury.

Zenji drew in a sharp breath. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to kill the woman. He didn't want to do it, but Lord Ikeda would punish the Tengu demons if Zenji failed.

Zenji couldn't allow that.

He snarled and raked his blood stained claws through the air. "Stand aside!"

"I will not!" the Gargoyle, Goliath, bellowed. "What you are doing is wrong!"

"You have no say in what is wrong or right!" Zenji shouted, his glaring eyes falling to the Maza woman. Pale and sweating, she met his gaze defiantly, but there was something in her eyes that made Zenji hesitate.

He tried to shake himself out of it; he had his family and the rest of the demons to think about! He had to protect Setsuke! Zenji would not fail his granddaughter, he will not!

"You serve a criminal, and you know it!" Goliath roared, his wings flaring out to box Maza away from Zenji. "You are no better than he is! You have no honor!"

At the Gargoyle's words, ice seemed to rip through Zenji's heart. He jerked back, his eyes wide in horror; how dare the Gargoyle say such a thing!

When Zenji did not attack, Goliath's glowing eyes faded and he stood, drawing his wings in only slightly. Elisa Maza warily stood, wincing in pain as she did so.

"I know of your kind, the Tengu demons," Goliath said, gazing at Zenji levelly. "You have a valued code of honor, but you are knowingly breaching it."

Zenji growled, his mind racing for reasons. "I serve the Ikeda clan without question!"

"Your ancestors did, and that was before they turned to crime like Lord Koji has," Goliath countered.

"I must protect my family! If I fail, Lord Ikeda will--"

"Protect your family?" Goliath echoed, a growl rising in his throat. "From Ikeda? Friend, your family will never be safe from this man as long as you obey his every whim! You live in fear, and there is no honor in that!"

Everything Goliath said rang true, and Zenji knew it. Everything Goliath said, Zenji had thought about before, and had debated with himself over it.

Koji Ikeda had no honor. He was evil. Tengu demons did not serve men like him.

No … no, Tengu demons didn't serve Koji Ikeda. He treated them like slaves and terrorized them, and Zenji had accepted it.

No, no more.

But where would they go?

Sighing in defeat, Zenji straightened, reaching up and pulling the cowl away from his face. As he turned to his warriors and the fierce Gargoyles, Zenji suddenly felt a thousand years old. "Setsuke-chan, my students! Stand down."

As soon as the words left his mouth, every demon froze, their heads turning to Zenji to stare at him in disbelief. The Gargoyles looked amongst themselves questioningly, but did not continue their fight.

Setsuke was the first to bow, dropping to her knee before Hudson and laying her swords cross-wise at his feet. Soon Tomoko, Ren, Mafuyu, Hikotaro, and Dai took suit, kneeling before their opponents and laying their weapons on the ground.

Only Kazuko remained standing, confusion and rage evident on his masked face. He spun around, his eyes shooting open and his voice grating in rage as he shouted, "Sensei!!"

Zenji bared his fangs at the sound of the younger demon's voice. "Do as you're told, Kazuko!" Zenji snapped, his eyes flaring threateningly.

Stunned, Kazuko jerked back at Zenji's tone. For a moment, he and Zenji stared at each other, not a word spoken. Slowly, Kazuko's eyes narrowed in anger, but he dropped his bo without another word.

"You're doing the right thing," Goliath said as Zenji turned to face him again. "There is honor in defying your master, when it concerns your family."

"Setsuke is the only family I have left," Zenji said, his voice oddly weary. He gestured to his granddaughter nearby, and she quickly stood, drawing her cowl away from her face. "Her parents failed Lord Koji, and … and I will not allow any harm to befall her or the others."

Setsuke nodded, her lips set in a hard line. "My grandfather and I never wanted to harm your friend. We were only obeying orders."

"No longer," Zenji said. Turning to Elisa, Zenji held his arms at his sides and bowed deeply. "No member of our clan will threaten you ever again, Elisa Maza. My deepest apologies."

"WHAT?!!" Kazuko exploded, causing heads to swing in his direction. Outraged, Kazuko jabbed a claw at Zenji. "You stupid old fool!! We had her right where we wanted her, and now you're calling us off?!!"

"Hold your tongue, Kazuko!" Zenji roared, but even as he spoke, he knew he was too late. Kazuko was shooting forward, roaring as he lunged for the policewoman.

Detective Maza cried out in shock, suddenly ducking past Goliath and racing for the street. Kazuko snarled as he wheeled around, lashing a hand out to grab her arm as she ran past.

"Kazuko, stop!!" Zenji cried as Setsuke roared in alarm, but neither one were able to react in time.

"NO!!!" His eyes blazing, Goliath spun around, his tail snapping out like a whip, the tip cracking loudly across Kazuko's ankles, sweeping his feet out from under him and sending him crashing chin first into the pavement.

"Restrain him!" Hudson shouted and instantly Zenji, Goliath, and Setsuke surged forward, snarling and baring their fangs, closing in around the dazed Kazuko.

Maddened, Zenji pounced on the fallen demon, taking him roughly by the shoulder and yanking him upright, onto his knees. "Kazuko, you idiot! This is insubordination! This--"

"Enough of your speeches, old man!!" Wrenching his arm free of Zenji's grasp, Kazuko roared, one hand flying for his belt.

Realizing too late what he was doing, Zenji gasped in horror, tried to jerk out of the way and hold up an arm to block Kazuko's attack, but Kazuko was much younger and much, much faster. Kazuko roared insanely as he tore the dagger from his belt, driving it deep into Zenji's stomach, causing the elder demon to double over in agony.

"I will not dishonor my family!!" Kazuko shrieked, kicking Zenji off of the blade. Zenji felt his body fall helplessly to the ground, his cold hands struggling to reach up and clamp themselves over the ragged, bloody wound as Kazuko bounded away, kicking aside Brooklyn and vaulting up over Mafuyu before finally disappearing over the rooftops.

"GRANDFATHER!!!" Setsuke screamed. She dove for Zenji as he fell, her sturdy arms catching his body and her hand covering his, becoming soaked with blood.

Goliath reached her side, his eyes wide with a barely restrained panic. "Is he--?"

"He's hurt bad!" Easing Zenji to the pavement, Setsuke spun around. "Mafuyu! Guard my grandfather!" Her eyes flaring white, Setsuke yanked her cowl over her head. "I'm going to kill him!!"

"S-Setsuke … n-no!" Zenji choked, raising his bloody hand to the hazy form beside him.

She paid him no heed, only snatching up her katanas before racing down the street, leaving a shrieking war cry in her wake.

Zenji opened his mouth to cry for his granddaughter again, but he gagged, tasting a river of blood. His body gave a violent spasm, and though Mafuyu and the other demons and Gargoyles gathered around him, struggling to stop the bleeding, they couldn't stop the black haze slipping over Zenji's eyes.

Zenji coughed explosively, blood spraying from his mouth. His body grew heavy and numb, and with another choke and gasp, Zenji's eyes rolled back into his head, and he grew still.

********

If Elisa kept running, she was sure she would throw up.

Huffing, she slowed down, one hand catching a chain link fence as she sagged against it, hissing in pain and rubbing the stitches on her stomach and chest.

Ikeda … that son of a bitch! She hadn't done anything to him, and he sicced those ninja things on her. Elisa gritted her teeth; when she got her hands on him, she was going to beat him so bad his damned ancestors would feel it.

Gradually, her stomach ceased to churn and she stood up straighter, still sucking in breaths. She glanced over her shoulder, back up the way she had come. Wow, even hurt like this, Elisa still managed to cover a good distance …

"Hey …" Not sure she actually saw it, Elisa blinked, turning to look across the street at the darkened store. She started in horror when she read the sign: "BROTHER K'S HERBS & ORGANIC PRODUCTS."

"No …" Her whispered plea seemed to choke her as Elisa braced herself, turning around to face the parking lot behind her.

The lot was dimly lit, with a few clustered cars here and there. A discarded newspaper skittered across the cracked pavement, spinning past the huge dark stain that lingered there still.

Elisa's vision blurred and her heart hammered even more fiercely, but she found herself numbed to the pain. Biting her lower lip, she hooked her fingers in the chain link, gazing through the fence to the place where she lost her baby.

The police tape was gone now, the debris and broken glass cleared away. There were no bloody footprints or eviscerated monster bodies spotting the lot, but that stain, right there, where she had lain and where her blood had pooled around her body, remained.

An unwanted memory flashed past Elisa's eyes, chilling her as she remembered how she had weakly reached for the blood-covered, shrieking infant in the monster's arms. At the time, Elisa hadn't known what was really happening but at the same time understood. She remembered screaming and pleading and sobbing as the beast tucked the baby against its leathery chest and bounded away.

Those few seconds between when the monsters had fled and when Brother K and Awen reached Elisa's side was the loneliest moment in Elisa's life. Her baby was stolen, and Goliath was not there.

"Not there, should have been there, not there …" Elisa whispered, echoing the delirious chant she had said that night as she wept in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Not there, none of them were. Not Goliath, not Angela, no one. None of her friends. None of her protectors.

Of all the times to not be there to help … to protect …

Goliath had sworn an oath to her.

And he broke it.

Elisa's fingers tightened on the chain link fence; why was she so confused about this? She wanted to hate Goliath for not rescuing the baby, and she wanted to hate all the Gargoyles for making her life so dangerous and complicated.

And yet, at the same time? She couldn't.

The longer Elisa gazed at the spot where her child was literally ripped away from her, the worse the agony became. Squeezing her eyes shut, Elisa turned away.

As she turned away from the lot, Elisa had only a split second to see the clawed hand as it shot of the dark, catching her roughly by the bicep and spinning her around. Stunned, Elisa froze, her mouth falling open in horror as she saw Kazuko tower over her, hissing as he raised a dagger over his head, blood running from the tip and dripping on his tunic.

Elisa wanted to pull herself free of the monster's hold, to punch it or scream for help--but she was rooted to the spot, suddenly too terrified to move.

As the curved dagger tore the air for her heart, a howling scream ripped through the air. Elisa heard herself cry out in fright as Goliath slammed to the street behind Kazuko, his hand lashing out and catching the demon by the back of his neck.

Kazuko started to shout something as his hand slipped, sliding away from Elisa's arm. He tried to twist out of Goliath's grip, to no avail. His eyes wild and his fangs flashing in the dark, Goliath planted his opposite hand atop Kazuko's skull and wrenched it violently aside.

A crack like snapping branches pierced the night, and Kazuko's body sagged limply, his head dropping to his chest and hanging at a grotesque angle. The dagger slipped from his fingers and clattered loudly to the cement at Elisa's feet.

Gritting his fangs, Goliath snorted and flung Kazuko aside, not even blinking as the demon's body thudded to the ground and rolled several feet, coming to rest in a gutter.

Elisa flinched back, shocked by what she had just seen. Swallowing a foul taste in her throat, Elisa looked up at the massive Gargoyle that stood there quietly in the shadows, watching her with glowing eyes.

Together, they turned and gazed at the parking lot, at the huge black stain that mocked and tortured them.

Elisa's hands clenched at her sides. "You should have been there," she murmured.

Goliath nodded once. "Yes," he said, his voice cold and flat.

"You promised me …"

"I did," Goliath said sharply, glancing at her once. "I made a promise to protect you when I could. That night I could not. It tears at me every second that I am awake, knowing that I could never have reached you in time."

Disgusted, Elisa glared at him, angrily aware that her eyes were brimming with tears. "Then why? Why were you there all those other times? All those times when I didn't need your help, you were right there. You and the others--I couldn't have stopped those things alone!"

"Elisa, wait--I was only trying to protect you and the city--"

"This city has protectors Goliath; they carry badges and are called 'cops'!"

That one looked like it hurt. Goliath's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Elisa--!"

"No! I'm so sick of everything that's going on! I can't do this anymore, Goliath, and I want you to stop coming near me--!"

"No, Elisa Maza, listen to me!" Goliath roared, his eyes flaring and his wings snapping open, arching over his back. "You cannot go on blaming me or my clan for what has happened to you these past years! You made the decision to become a part of our lives--you made that decision consciously! You cannot place blame solely on us--and it is not my fault that a sorceress took our child! OUR child, Elisa! Her loss has been as great an agony to me as it has been to you!"

Elisa's eyes widened and she stared at Goliath in shock; he hadn't raised his voice to her in years.

It … it hurt.

And it made her furious.

Before Elisa could fire off a retort, a ragged groan cut her short. Gasping in disbelief, she spun around, a cry catching in her throat as she watched Kazuko's body heft itself up on its elbows, slowly easing itself up onto its knees.

His head still hanging strangely from his neck, Kazuko choked, snarling, "Kiiiiiilllll …. Yoooouuuu …."

Horrified, Elisa backed away from the demon. "You …" She shot an accusing glare at Goliath, who regarded this all quite calmly. "You didn't kill it!"

Goliath didn't reply. He only crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

As Kazuko rose shakily to one foot, a soft metallic sigh wafted over the breeze. A flash of light, an ear-splitting "TWANG!" and suddenly, Kazuko's head tumbled off of his body, rolling away a few feet and leaving behind a trail of reddish purple blood.

As Kazuko's body slumped to the pavement for the final time, a creature calmly stepped out of the shadows in front of Brother K's store. Shaking excess blood off of her katana, Setsuke carefully wiped the blade clean on a piece of black silk.

Sheathing the katana, Setsuke gazed at Elisa and Goliath silently, then bowed deeply. "Elisa-sama, Goliath-sama. Forgive me."

Goliath only nodded and gave the Tengu demon a slight bow of his own. When Elisa couldn't find the words to reply, Setsuke's shoulders heaved and she looked down at the corpse at her feet. "I had to do it. He killed my grandfather. It is just our way."

Pausing to pull the cowl from her face, Setsuke sighed heavily. "My demons will come to retrieve Kazuko's body. Once they have returned home, I shall call off the hit."

Elisa straightened at that. "Won't Ikeda punish you for that?"

The faintest white glow tinged Setsuke's eyes as she growled. "I have no fear of Ikeda any more. Once again, Elisa-sama, I'm sorry."

Quickly wrenching her cowl over her head again, Setsuke sprang away, leaping back into the shadows and disappearing.

Elisa hardly had time to register what happened when Goliath drew in a breath, snarling softly. Not wanting to, Elisa still looked up at him. His face was hard, but she could see the sorrow in Goliath's eyes.

"I'll leave you be, my Elisa," he said softly. "But when you want to return to us, we will be waiting with open arms."

Bowing once to Elisa, Goliath turned and walked away, going up to an antiques store and easily scaling the side. Reaching the roof, he leapt into the air, unfurling his wings and gliding away, never looking back.

Tears dripped over Elisa's bronze skin and, drawing in a shuddering breath, she glanced once to the parking lot, then turned away, walking back up the street to the police station.

*****************************************************************************

IKEDA COMPOUND, THE FOLLOWING MORNING:

The police were coming.

And that Maza woman was coming.

The Tengu demons had failed.

No, they hadn't failed … they had rebelled.

Koji Ikeda was furious at this, but his nephew, Ryozo Takahashi, was secretly glad. The loss of Zenji had grieved Ryozo, but the demon's disappearance had caused his granddaughter Setsuke to take his place, and she wasn't going to kept under Koji's thumb anymore.

Kneeling in his study, Koji grimaced, one gnarled hand probing the deep cuts Setsuke's claws had given him early that morning. The demons had returned at two that morning, and Setsuke stood boldly before Koji, telling him that she and the other demons would not kill the Maza woman, and declaring that Koji had no power over them anymore.

Koji had been outraged and attacked Setsuke, but not even those anti-aging treatments the Illuminati had given him had helped Koji; Setsuke royally trounced him. And though her fury threatened to destroy the crime lord, Setsuke held back, knowing there would be no honor in killing him.

That's why Ryozo was here now with Koji, in Koji's study.

Ryozo watched his kneeling uncle and frantically shook his head. "You don't have to do this, Koji-sama!"

"Yes I do," Koji said quietly, his voice hoarse and gravelly. He looked like he had aged a hundred years right before Ryozo. "There is no honor in being captured by the police. They will destroy our family, Ryozo-san, and we will be disgraced. They will learn all of our secrets, and I cannot have that."

Reaching forward, Koji Ikeda lifted up the Ikeda family's honor sword, an ornate katana hundreds of years old and still sharper than any razor. As he drew the sword from its sheathe, Ryozo felt his chest constrict. "U-Uncle …"

"You will make a good Yakuza lord, I think," Koji said as he inspected the blade. "I have seen how you negotiate with others. You can avert many wars."

Knowing what was about to happen, and yet not wanting to believe it, Koji shook his head again. "No. Not like this."

"Goodbye, nephew." Wielding the katana around, Koji planted the tip on the right side of his abdomen. Without a second's hesitation, the old man plunged the sword into his stomach, slashing a horizontal line across his torso before finally driving the katana completely through his body.

"Oh God!" Horrified, Ryozo clapped a hand over his mouth, trying to stop the gorge he felt rising in his throat as Koji Ikeda, Lord of the Yakuza, collapsed to the floor, still clutching the handle of his honor sword.

For a long time, Ryozo couldn't move. He stared at his uncle, at the man's half-lidded eyes, at the blood that was slowly seeping out across the floor.

It was some time before Ryozo felt eyes on him. Numbed, he glanced up at the hidden wall, which had been slid open. Setsuke stood there, beautiful as ever in her short green kimono. She stared at Koji's body passively, her shining black eyes slowly traveling up to meet Ryozo's.

She said only one word. "Seppuku."

Swallowing hard, Ryozo tried to speak. His voice cracked, and he drew in a steadying breath, struggling to calm himself. "Y-yes. Ritual suicide."

Setsuke blinked, then sighed quietly, stepping out of her dojo and crossing the study to Ryozo. She opened her arms to him and, grateful, Ryozo collapsed into her embrace.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

"Don't. Don't be." When he was sure he was able to stand up, Ryozo drew away from Setsuke, his shoulders sagging. "He chose it."

"I know. But he was your family."

"Yeah … and yours? Have you heard anything about Zenji?"

Setsuke visibly swallowed and her body stiffened under Ryozo's hands. "He must be on his way to Nagano by now. I hope he's all right; he was hurt badly."

Hearing her say the city's name made Ryozo's fingers clench around the sleeves of her kimono. "And … and you'll be taking your demons there too?"

Setsuke's eyes fell away from his, to the floor tiles not yet stained by blood. "I was planning to originally …"

"Don't go." Desperate, Ryozo reached up and clutched at a lock of Setsuke's long white hair. "You don't have to go."

"I …" Drawing in a sharp breath through her teeth, Setsuke stepped away from Ryozo. "I'll think about it."

"Please, think about it," Ryozo begged, his ears finally starting to hear commotion out in the halls. People were waking up, seeing the police cars pull into the compound. He had to go. "If you want to go, okay, but I don't want you to leave because of what Koji's done. I'm … I'm in charge now, and I'd never treat you or the other Tengu demons like he did."

Setsuke hesitated, considering his words. "Well, I do have one request, Ryozo."

"Anything, Setsuke."

"I need you to formally call off the hit on Elisa Maza."

"Done!" Ryozo smiled. "I guess you should hide; it sounds like the police are here."

"All right." Grinning, Setsuke turned and sprinted to her dojo, careful not to step in any of Koji's blood.

Suddenly, she had no intention of going anywhere.

************************************************************************

AERIE TOWER, THAT NIGHT:

Perched on the battlements, Goliath propped his chin on his hand as he thought about what had happened the previous night, what he had said to Elisa and what she had said to him.

Hudson and Angela thought that might have been a step forward. Awen remained silent.

Either way, Goliath felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off of him. He still grieved and he still missed Elisa, but he had spoken to her, told her how he felt …

… And now he didn't blame himself anymore.

And perhaps, in time, Elisa would stop blaming him as well. And then she'd come home.

"Goliath?"

Surprised to hear the voice, Goliath looked over his shoulder. "Broadway?"

"And Angela," she answered as they stepped through the tower hatch. The pair glanced at each other questioningly before Broadway spoke up again. "Uh, we saw you up here again … You okay?"

Goliath shrugged. "Better than I have been. I … was just thinking."

Concerned, Angela vaulted up on the battalion beside her father. "Are you sure? Elisa … she didn't …?"

"No, she didn't say anything," Goliath replied, his eyes falling to the city below them. "In fact, I feel as though we resolved some of our conflicts."

Angela's eyes lit up. "Oh?"

"Aye, but it will still take some time." Drawing in a breath, Goliath stood, glancing at Broadway. "Don't you have a lesson with Hudson and Awen tonight?"

"Huh? Oh … yeah." Broadway's ears drooped and he looked at Goliath pleadingly. "Help me?"

Chuckling, Goliath waved the request away. "Unfortunately, I can't. But, I would be grateful if you gave Sister a message?"

Surprised, Broadway blinked, glancing once to an equally curious Angela. "Uh, okay. What?"

"Tell her that she was right. She'll understand." Grinning, Goliath turned and vaulted off of the tower, catching an updraft and sweeping away from the castle.

He had work to do.

THE END