Khan

by TVfan

Created to serve the Illuminati, Khan Noonien Singh quickly proves himself smarter than them. His rebellion rapidly begins to consume the Illuminati Society and the world. But, with its origins in Tibet, it soon brings in the Tibetan clan, Japanese exiles, and ultimately Wedrington and Demona. (Transferred from the Gargoyles Fan Website, where I forgot my password and am SN)

25. Taking Apart Empires Part 1

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Various Victories and Other Wars."

Taking Apart Empires… Part 1

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

Khan's Former Base, Tibet

"Do we know who they are?" one of the Tibetan gargoyles asked as they saw the lights of a transport vehicle approached what had been Khan's base.

"According to what the Tibetans a command contingent from one of the superman units from China," Je Lu whispered, "they're coming here to get in contact with Khan."

"Who can't talk to them at the moment," a different Tibetan gave a bit of a snicker.

Je Lu scowled at the other gargoyle. The Tibetan Clan had been raised and educated to be polite, non-violent, and serious. They could not say they were non-violent after fighting to get into China and to where Khan's base had been, but Je Lu held some hope that they could retain some aspect of their past. Clearly some of the humor that they had overheard while on their way to find Demona had rubbed off on them. Je Lu retained the hope though, that things would be well and their clan would get its chance to be safe. For the moment that would require defending what was now their home.

The approaching vehicle was the standard unarmored transport vehicle. With the official fighting over, there was no reason to use a heavier vehicle, and that gave Je Lu and the Tibetans manning the base their shot against some of Khan's supermen. Khan's base still had a fully stocked arsenal and with Khan now in magically induced stasis, the Tibetan Clan could use them.

"So what are we to do with them?" the first Tibetan asked, "they will be close enough to try to open the doors soon."

Je Lu looked down the road to vehicle as it approached along the mountain road. It was getting closer and would soon either send a radio signal to open the doors to the base or would send a radio message to ask for the doors to be opened. But, when Demona had led the strike on Khan's base and took Khan down, she had also taken down the main power to the base. A few small generators had been brought in to power a few things, but they hadn't restored power to the entire base. The men driving the vehicle would soon learn that the door wouldn't open for them, or that they couldn't contact those who were supposed to open it. When that happened, they'd either turn around or radio for help. That would spoil a lot of the plans that were had for rebuilding the Tibetan clan's home and securing their future.

"If possible, we take them prisoner and Demona can put them into an entranced sleep when she returns," Je Lu commented and then looked over his shoulder to where Yama and Yoshi were crouching and readying an RPG that they had taken from the armory, "but we may have to accept that they will not survive the destruction of their vehicle."

The Tibetan gargoyles nodded and moved aside as Yama came forward with the weapon. The Japanese exile looked at the weapon with disapproval, but also knew that if things were done 'honorably' he would likely be gunned down before anything else happed.

"May some good come from this," Yama muttered under his breath and leaped onto the outer ledge and fired the RPG at the vehicle.

They followed the path of the rocket. They watched as the driver tried to slow the vehicle down. Its wheels stopped turning and the vehicle began to slide forward thanks to its own momentum alone. But it was unarmored and the rocket exploded in the engine-block making the vehicle tip forward and ultimately tipping forward. It soon landed with a crash on its roof.

"Now go!" Yama instructed, "They probably won't have the ability to get in contact with anybody right now, but we can't let them recover or get away!"

Je Lu and the two Tibetan gargoyles both nodded in agreement. They all soon leaped from the roof of the base to slowly glide down to the roadway near the upturned vehicle. Je Lu landed on one side of the flipped vehicle while the other two Tibetans on the other side of it. Yama landed beside him and moved to grab the outside of the door.

"Remember they may be disoriented, but given the strength they've demonstrated they likely AREN'T hurt," Yama warned and then ripped the door off, spinning as he did so.

Je Lu came forward and true to Yama's word, the superman inside was on his back in the vehicle, but was struggling with trying to get his gun out of his holster. He also wore a middle ranked officer's uniform. Je Lu grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him out. The man screamed in rage and once out of the vehicle thrust his legs up in a kick that forced Je Lu to let go and stagger back.

"Demon's pets!" the superman angrily roared as he rolled from his back and got into a crouching position, "You dark attack the capital of the Khanate?!"

The superman moved to draw his gun when he was suddenly hit in the head by the door that Yama had ripped off of the vehicle. That knocked the superman over and sent his gun flying away from him.

"We are her allies here, not pets," Yama spoke, "and the only real aggressor here is you."

Je Lu watched the superman spit out what looked like one of his teeth and glare angrily between Je Lu and Yama. He then yelled again and lunged to tackle Je Lu. Je Lu brought his fists down on the superman's back, but the superman still drove Je Lu off of the rove and sent both of them tumbling down the mountain. The two broke apart when they went over the edge of the road. Je Lu managed to catch himself and propel himself far enough away from the mountain to allow his fall to give him the momentum to catch a breeze and glide a short ways. The superman, however, kept rolling until he hit the road again at a lower level of the mountain after it went around the mountain as it went down the mountain. Once he stopped, the superman lay unmoving among several dislodged rocks.

Je Lu came down and landed beside the man. He found the superman's eyes closed, but he could hear the man's breaths.

"How is he?" Yama called down.

"He appears to be alive but unconscious," Je Lu answered, "I was about to check for any injuries."

Yama nodded, "The others got the other one. If that one can be moved, bring him back up and we'll hold them prisoner until Demona returns."

Je Lu nodded. Since their meeting with the anti-Illuminati officers of Tibet and China, his clan had agreed to remove Khan and his supermen from the equation. Doing so would hopefully give the humans the 'deed' that would allow them to live in peace. They would even be willing to remain in isolation in Tibet in Khan's old base if it meant peace and safety. Je Lu and much of his own clan remained at Khan's base with Yama as the 'combat' instructor. Shi La, Yoshi, and a couple more Tibetans went to Lhasa to serve not only as ambassadors for the clan but coordinate with the Tibetans in dealing with any of Khan's officers that came back trying to get orders, since Khan could no longer command them.

The key part of the mission for the moment was Demona and Wedrington. They had gone to confront the parts of the anti-Illuminati army that made up of supermen. Je Lu didn't know where they were exactly but they were surely cleaning up after the war that Khan had started and making sure that everyone would have peace.

Singapore City, Singapore

Marilyn quietly emerged from one of the exterior rearview mirrors of a parked car outside a major hotel in the city. The lights in it flickered brightly in the night and illuminated the area as brightly as anything one might see in daylight. For the moment things seemed quiet with no one on the street that could have seen her emerge and the traffic of the cars on the streets was too busy for anyone to notice.

"And here is where they hide," Marilyn mused to herself as she looked at the hotel.

She had spent the last week traversing the rest of the Asian continent, stopping to sleep when she needed to, and trying to find the top ranked Illuminati men to be assassinated. However, unlike the past attempts where they had been found where they were supposed to be and then taken down, sometimes with a few low ranking members as well, she hadn't found the original targets. She ended up tearing through lower ranking Illuminati men or coworkers, and while she left a trail of murder and destruction, she did manage to learn that her targets had actually come here. Apparently there was some sort of conference that they had to either catch her or kill her. Marilyn actually felt that was even better than the earlier solution as it would allow her to get all of them together.

She had also rapidly found that the present conference was well thought out and was using some of the things that had survived from her previous raids. While there were few of them in which anyone had seen her emerge from the mirrors, it appeared that someone had figured it out. All the mirrors in the hotel were covered with cloth or painted over. In doing so, the surface caught no reflection as no light hit it. That left her on the outside the hotel and forced to rethink some of her strategies.

As Marilyn righted herself, she looked up to see the name of the hotel, and found that it had an English name. It likely dated back to Singapore's time as a British colony. As her eyes scanned the door, she then found two men dressed in black suits and looking very much like secret service type people. She also noticed the heavy vehicle traffic. They may not have noticed her arrival, but she also knew that if she decided to launch a direct attack on the hotel, she'd attract unnecessary attention.

"They may not be standard security, but I cannot let a battle cause trouble," Marilyn commented, "best to try a more discreet method."

Marilyn then began to quietly walk down the street. She'd find her way in, and then she'd make them pay and take out the surviving leaders of the Illuminati in Asia in single blow.

Inside the hotel in its main conference hall, the men and women that Marilyn was hunting sat around a long table.

"This hunter is female?" one asked.

"One of the security cameras from North Korea caught her," a female answered, "the police found it, but thankfully their equipment couldn't make her out in the gas she'd filled it with. Ours… meanwhile… was good enough to do so, even though the feed we got was second hand. It's the sorceress of Khan's! She is the one behind these attacks."

A lone man at the head of the table nodded. He looked like a high ranking holy man from India. There was a slight otherworldly look about his eyes, as though he was there and was not there at the same time.

"It is as I sensed," he spoke, "Khan is solidifying his hold on China while we are distracted with the election… and thus sent his witch to hunt us."

"The election is likely over," the first one who had spoken commented, a fairly defeated look on his face, "at least while that witch is hunting us, especially as she threatens to expose us to the rest of the world. The Russians are still trying to explain why they had an ICBM silo in a spot where no one thought there would be one. And they don't know…"

"We've got to stop her!" another man said forcefully, slamming his hands down, "Between Khan's victory in China and the Council's foolish exposure, invasion, and then defeat in the UK we've lost much our prestige and power. Shoot… several of my subordinates are too scared at the moment to truly carry out their orders."

"Which is why I've summoned you all together and why we are here," the Indian holy man answered, "Our enemy is a witch. Our only real way to confront her is with magic. Weapons might work… but given that the army in China failed against her, we must play to her game."

"How can we do what even the Council members could not?" the female asked.

"The Council Members tried a direct approach and heavily underestimated her," the Indian holy man answered, "There are rituals that can weaken her power and make her vulnerable… but they require cooperation to perform."

The gathered Illuminati members all looked to each other and then slowly nodded in agreement.

"How long will this take to do?" a man asked.

"The basic protection spells shouldn't take too long… the trap that will immobilize her will take longer though," the Indian holy man answered, "and both must begin immediately."

"Then let us start with the protection spell," a man at the far end of the table spoke.

Gyirong, Tibet

The town was small and was well within eyesight of what looked like a primitive border fortification. Khan's forces may have only just taken over China, but they had still put a lot of work into both protecting what he gained. The fortifications looked like they were dug right into the mountain, and Demona sighed heavily as she looked to them. On a personal level, she didn't like the idea of the Tibetan clan having to 'prove' their loyalty to the Tibetans or the Chinese just to live in their own home. Especially when on the odd occasion that Je Lu had even stated that his clan would accept living in isolation and away from humans if it would mean they would have peace.

But at the same time, she didn't think Khan's men would let them live in peace, and would eventually strike back at the clan in force if they weren't dealt with. She glanced over to Wedrington, who also eyed the fortifications carefully, and also knew that he was quite accepting of the 'prove yourself' mission they had been given.

"This one looks tougher than some of the other ones," Wedrington commented when he noticed the sky blue female looking to him, "Not the Maginot Line by any means but still strong enough to give any attacker second thoughts."

"Thankfully they're more focused on the border," Demona answered, "we should be able to get the drop on them… assuming the others haven't told them of the attacks…"

With that Demona turned her full attention to a couple of Tibetan soldiers who had been accompanying them and piloting the helicopter or vehicles needed to transport them from place to place. The trip to Gyirong had been made in a wooden cart that barely fit on the path that they took and both gargoyles had felt every jostle and jolt along the way. And all to take apart the superman units that were presently manning the border defenses. Occasionally they had a tank dung into one of the mountains to function as a fixed artillery piece, but these positions were all monitoring stations should anyone outside China was commanded to attack by the Illuminati.

So far no one had done that, but Demona also knew that taking on these positions would have two potential consequences. One would be that the Illuminati noticed the weakening of the fortifications around the borders and decide to attack to reassert their authority in China. The other would be Khan's supermen alerting the others to Demona and Wedrington taking down their smaller units and either setting a trap for them or sending men to figure out why Khan hadn't sent a strike team to reinforce them.

"We've been moving our own men into the positions, so the Illuminati will think it's only a changing of the guard," one of the soldiers answered, "they'll think Khan is preparing to strike elsewhere and not that we've realized that he's tricked us."

"They'll surely notice something," Wedrington commented to the soldier, "you're sure they won't come to a decision that you are weak?"

"I don't think so," the soldier answered, "and even if not… what are we to do? Side with you and let some other superman replace Khan."

Demona sighed heavily at that. Their mission was to take apart Khan's Empire with the implicit hope that a free China would also support and protect the Tibetan Clan and given them safety in their own home as well. If they succeeded in their mission, China would be free, but only free of Khan. There was no way of knowing what the Illuminati would do. Their fall in China had been due to Khan's forces augmenting the anti-Illuminati elements. If Khan's forces appeared weak, there would be nothing to stop the Illuminati from coming back, but if Khan's forces remained strong, there would be no peace for Je Lu's clan. It was a conundrum that Demona never really thought she'd be trying to solve before. Of course, the old Demona hadn't met Wedrington and come to recognize at least some of her mistakes thanks to him.

"Wedrington and I will go through their caves and lookout posts," Demona said to the soldier, "you and your men either hang back here… or talk with the locals and see if Khan's men did anything…"

"We can help," the soldier urged.

"Maybe, but if Khan's men spot you and then us and don't see you shooting at us, they could radio other supermen units that the anti-Illuminati Chinese and Tibetans are now also anti-Khan forces. It'd complicate things," Wedrington warned.

"The more we can keep this limited to 'Demona' making war on Khan's men, the better," Demona added.

The soldiers eyed them but then nodded, "very well then. Good luck."

Singapore City, Singapore

Meanwhile, Marilyn had made her way quietly through the streets. The city was massive and many parts of it were continually bathed in the electric lights, but Marilyn eventually did find an area that wasn't bathed in electric lights. It looked like a sort of slum, but Marilyn didn't care about that and in fact found it to be a good thing. With it being a poorer neighborhood, Marilyn could get to where she needed to be without attracting as much attention. Climbing up onto the roof of an old apartment building through some old fire escapes, Marilyn looked out to see the buildings that made up the city on the tiny nation. She couldn't tell which of the buildings housed the Illuminati meeting, but she was now in a position where she could get to them without attracting attention of the guards.

Marilyn then moved to stand the very edge of the building and prepared to channel a spell that would give her an additional advantage in getting to the hotel.

"Donec manibus tangere terram sine alis volare vespertilio," Marilyn cast the spell in Latin and felt her energy in magic wrap around her.

The first part of the transformation was fading of her clothing and it being replaced by brown fur. Her fingers lengthened greatly and a flap of skin soon formed between them. Then her face pushed forward into an almost foxlike muzzle. Marilyn was privately thankful her magic protected her from any pain and when the light of her magic faded, she stood on the edge of the building in the form of a flying fox, a Malaysian Flying Fox to be precise.

Unable to stand erect, Marilyn let herself fall forward and was soon flying through the air with the flap of her wings, just like any mundane bat would. Of course, experts would soon tell by her own behavior that something was odd, but casual observers probably wouldn't notice.

In the hotel rows of candles now lined the desk that the various Illuminati members were there for the conference. The Indian holy man had arranged them in a specific way to perform the spell that would be necessary to deal with Khan's assassin. Specially planted and grown lotus flowers were also placed in specific pattern around the room. The flowers grew from consecrated ground and seemed to glow with a seemingly otherworldly light. With the right incantations the specially arranged candles and lotus flowers there would mean that the assassin would run into something she couldn't stop.

"So how will this work?" an Illuminati officer from Saudi Arabia asked, "Is this a Hindu thing or…?"

"In many ways it can be," The Indian holy man answered, "the candles represent the inner fire with us all… or souls if you wish. The lotus flowers represent life. Using the old texts I brought with me, the spell will brighten the souls and reinforce the lives of those connected. As such we will be protected against anything Khan's assassin might do.

The Arab officer raised a slight eyebrow with some skepticism. Like nearly all the others, he was rather nervous over Marilyn's actions. She had defeated council members who were naturally strong in magic and had access to powerful talismans. She had also cut a swath through the Illuminati's higher ranks throughout Asia and a fairly large number of minor members had also been killed when they happened to be near the more highly ranking officer. Marilyn's reputation was one of near invincibility. He wasn't sure if increasing one's life force would really defeat Marilyn.

"You're sure?" the Arab officer asked, "she took on Council members and won. Are you sure she won't have enough strength to overpower your spell?"

The Indian holy man shook his head and gave a very confident smile, "with all of us, no she won't be able to overpower the spell. And once she cannot win, we can then do more to hammer away at her, either with weapons or magic… I'd prefer a magical solution since that seems to be her primary method of attack."

The Arab officer sighed. He had joined and rose through the Illuminati for scientific reasons, not magic, but he did have to admit that it worked well for those that knew how to use it. Marilyn had proved that all too easily and he hoped the Indian holy man who was leading this meeting knew what he was doing. He looked on as a man looking like he was of a lower Hindu caste approached the Indian holy man with a great book in his hands. Its cover was ornate and the title looked like it was written in the same form of Sanskrit that the Vedas were written in.

"All things are ready, my Lord," the man reported to the Indian holy man and presented the book to him.

"Good," the Indian holy man sad to the other man, who was apparently a servant as far as the Arab officer could see, "go and stand on guard outside the room. Do not enter until I call for you, understand?"

The servant bowed, "Yes, my lord."

The Arab officer watched as the servant turned and head out. The Indian holy man said nothing until he saw one of the two sets of wooden double doors open and close, indicating that the servant had left. Once he had left, the Indian holy man set the book down on the table and clapped his hands to attract their attention. As the holy man clapped, the conversations among other members ceased and eyes and heads slowly turned toward the holy man.

"Attention, ladies and gentlemen," the Indian holy man announced once he was certain that everyone was focused on him, "Everything is ready for the ceremony. Please move and STAND behind your seats."

"What if we can't stand?" asked one of the Turkmenistan officers that were part of the meeting.

The Indian holy man looked to him and noted the wheelchair. The man's fingers tapped nervously on the top of the wheels while the palm of his hand was pressed into the handle.

"You may sit," the Indian holy man spoke, "The spell has enough 'sentience' to understand if someone can stand or not… bit you are able, you MUST stand."

The gathered members soon gathered around the table and many even placed their hands on back of the chairs. As they did so, the Indian holy man opened the book. Once he came to the specific page that he was looking for, he stopped and set the book down. Reaching down to the table, he placed two gold rings on each hand. On each ring the name Vishnu was carved in Sanskrit. Once ready he raised his hands and spoke in an Ancient dialect of the native languages of India, though no one but the holy man knew the language.

"Oh Vishnu… preserver of life… I, your humble servant, ask for your favor to preserve my life and make it invincible," the Indian holy man spoke, "let the life force in this room burn and flow to the servant that wears your bands and follows your name!"

One of the Illuminati officers watched in great fascination as the book began to glow with the same pinkish light as the lotus flowers. At the same time the flames on the candles began to burn brighter, but for the moment the officer didn't feel any stronger, but strangely his focus seemed to move to the flickering light of the fire. He felt like a moth to a flame, but he could not look away. As he watched he thought he saw what looked like a skull flicker inside the flames, and then began to feel extraordinarily weak.

He gripped the chair, but couldn't take his eyes off of the candle. He had to look into it as he could. He watched as he grew weak in the knees, and then fell forward into the back of the chair, trying desperately to hold on. Then the strength in his hands began to wane. The officer tried desperately to hold on, but eventually his hands gave out and he fell onto the floor, getting a slight rug burn on his face as it slid on the back of the chair.

From his position, the Indian holy man kept his hands outstretched and watched as the spell activated and moved among the people there. The people there all had their focus on the candles closest to them and didn't take their eyes off of the candles. Unknown to them, wisps of smoke then came out of their mouths with each breath and gathered on the lotus flowers that were closest to them. The more 'smoke' that drifted onto the flowers, the brighter the glowing light surrounding the flowers became.

No one but the holy man noticed this, and he watched them all begin to physically age rapidly. Hair turned gray and fell out or at least thinned and became brittle. Wrinkles formed as muscle mass began to weaken and slacken its grip on the skin, and then their faces and bodies seemed to lose weight and strength. As they aged they tried to keep their eyes focused on the candles, but the Indian holy man watched as their bodies began to shake as they grew weak in their legs. With a last gasp, the guests then fell to the floor, with soft thumps heard all around the table. The one who had been in a wheelchair was slumped back in the chair with his head to one side.

With that, the Indian holy man was ready for the next part of the spell. By now the glow from the lotus flowers far outshone either the candles or the electric lights in the room. The Indian holy man kept his hands raised as the rings now began to take on the same glow as the flowers, once at a full flow; he moved his hands so that each hand was over a flower. Then light from the flowers began to jump in flowing columns from flower to flower until it rushed into the rings and then into the Indian holy man, himself.

"And now we stand on equal levels, assassin," the Indian holy man said with a smile.

Gyirong, Tibet

The glide to the back entrances of the border defenses was easy and there was surprisingly little attention paid to either Demona or Wedrington. But then, it was assumed that since this lookout post was dug into the mountain any expected attack on 'them' would actually hit the town rather than the posts where the soldiers actually were. And since Khan had either deceived the people on the Tibet side of the border and had killed those that would oppose him, there wasn't any real instruction for them to keep lookouts posted to watch the Tibet side of the border.

"I don't think there are any heavy weapons," Wedrington commented, "at least I didn't see any hidden in the village."

"These mountains are remote and rougher than anything I've ever seen," Demona answered, "with few real roads and links through these mountains, massed artillery and heavy weapons would be overkill."

"So how do you want to handle this base?" Wedrington asked after a moment.

"I'll go in first," Demona answered, "You cover me… and be careful."

Wedrington nodded as the two landed on the small path that landed on the small path that led into the mountain. He then began to slowly follow the sky blue female into the base. Once inside, things grew darker for a moment as they were inside the mountain and outside the reach of the light of the moon and the stars above. However periodic electric lamps soon provided more than enough light for the two gargoyles to see. Eventually they came to a point where they found an intersecting hallway.

"This way," Demona whispered and pointed down that hallway and quickly moved toward it.

Wedrington moved slower, but did so to keep an eye out for any soldiers that might come up behind them. So far he didn't see anyone. They followed the hallway until it turned and there seemed to be the faint look of moonlight coming from around the corner. It had to be an opening to the outside, and there were voices coming from the room. Demona and Wedrington quickly pressed themselves against the wall and listened in for a few moments. The conversation sounded to be a complaint about routine duty about watching nothing.

As he watched toward Demona, Wedrington watched her look back to him and raise three talons. She then began to fold each finger down slowly. It was an unspoken communication and Wedrington did understand it and tensed his muscles, preparing spring forward. Then as she brought the last talon down, Demona whirled around the corner and rushed into the room with Wedrington following behind her.

They came in to find the two men seated. One was in a chair that was on a sort of rail that would allow him to move from side to side along the rail to better fire the machine gun that pointed out through the opening and down the mountain at anyone or anything that would be storming up it or around it. The other was seated near large stack of ammunition boxes. Neither was paying attention and both Wedrington and Demona got a clear shot move in. Demona got the first by the head and slammed it down into the stock of the machine gun and then the rock beneath it. Even with his helmet on, the superman was disoriented enough for Demona to get the time to snap his neck.

Wedrington lead with a strong punch to the one near the ammunition boxes. The blow had surprise and knocked him off his chair and into the ammunition boxes with a great crash. The superman lost his helmet in the blow and made more noise as tired to back to his feet only to get hit by a lightning spell from Demona that knocked him out.

"Don't be afraid to use lethal force," Demona warned, "This is not a 'patrol' back in New York. This is an outright war…"

Wedrington wanted to answer when machine gun bullets were fired through a wooden door that was near them. That left both of them taking cover, as cries of alarm rang through the base.

"Wonderful," Demona growled, "they're going to be swarming us now!"

Wedrington looked at the unconscious superman and then listened as the screams continued and soon the pounding of boots on the stone could be heard. He bent down and despite not liking to take lethal force; he dug for the soldier's pistol and took the belt off of him, just in the hopes that it would be carrying additional rounds for the pistol.

"Can you bring down the hallway we just came through?" Wedrington asked of Demona, "I don't think they did anything to strengthen their interior hallways and I doubt we have much choice now."

Demona glanced back to the hallway and at the room they were presently in and then turned back to Wedrington, "I can do one better, actually."

She then cast a basic teleportation spell and a large square block of the floor behind them disappeared from the floor and then reappeared in the passageway that they had left. It left a fairly deep pit where the stone had been, which would serve as a decent prison, and Wedrington tossed the unconscious superman into, though they still had to deal with whoever was in the next room before moving on.

In the town of Gyirong the men who had come with Demona and Wedrington were quick to check with the villagers and to make sure they hadn't been harmed by the war or by the supermen. For the most part they got more confused responses than anything else and in the end they didn't fully trust some of the questions.

"You say these supermen are against us?" one villager asked, "They promised they'd free us from the Illuminati and China."

"They and their master were deceivers," the leader of the Tibetan troops spoke, "they would free us from the Illuminati and Chinese tyranny, yes… but we'd ultimately trade one slave master for another."

"And does this… Demona offer?" another asked.

"A path to write our own futures," the leader of the Tibetan troops answered, "We may not win independence from China but we'd be able to at least govern ourselves. In that way… we'd truly be free."

"If you say so," the first said after a moment.

The leader of the Tibetan troops sighed and looked off toward the mountains around them and then the sky above them. Then after a few moments the sound of explosions erupted from the mountain above them. That turned nearly all eyes to the mountain where the border post was supposed to be. That had to be the beginning of Demona's move to deal with Khan's supermen.

"What do we do, sir?" one soldier asked to the Tibetan troop leader.

"Take a couple men and watch the outskirts of the city, just in case the Illuminati are trying something," the leader of the Tibetan troops responded, "the rest of you are with me. We'll make sure they can't escape."

"And what if it is the Illuminati?" one soldier asked.

"Keep your walkie-talkies ready," the leader of the Tibetan troops answered, "but do what you think is best to protect both Gyirong and your men."

The soldiers all saluted and soon broke up into the teams that would be on their way to two different missions. The troop leader and one squad were soon running up the narrow trail that lead to where the Illuminati border fortifications were. They had to hurdle large stones and small ones went over the ledge that the path was carved into. But, while the men were patriotic and had received some training from Khan's soldiers before the revelation that Khan had long betrayed them, they were still largely militia or raw recruits. Against any trained army, it wasn't likely that they'd hold out for long without serious support. Their only hope for the moment was that they would be providing aid to the gargoyles Demona and Wedrington. The troop leader had actually come to respect both of them since the work of taking apart Khan's empire began. They had performed quite well and that brought respect.

Singapore City, Singapore

Marilyn landed on the roof of the hotel that she had passed earlier. It was the same hotel, and she got a strange 'sense' that something had happened there while she was in route to the hotel. As she landed, her earlier transformation rapidly reversed as soon as her wings hit the surface of the roof. Once she stood up, once again fully clothed, she looked around the roof for any possible tool or guards that she might not have seen while in the form of a bat. There was no one on the roof, and like all major skyscrapers many of its chief ventilation systems were on the roof.

As she looked over the roof she thought over what she was to do. She could fire bomb the building, but that worked best when started at the bottom or at least the ground floor of the building so that it would maximize casualties, and with no way to use mirrors to get in and heavily armed guards outside the building, such a direct approach would not work. She'd get caught and while she was confident she could deal with whatever comes at her as a result, she also knew that her targets could very well escape.

The only option she figured would work would be to go back to a tactic she had used earlier, gassing the building. Either she could filter gas into the building through the ventilation system or introduce a chemical into the hotel's water mains that would turn to a poison gas when water touched it. Then all she would need to do was get the building's main water control system or increase the pressure in the pipes that the pipes couldn't handle it. They would all work and kill everyone inside. While working out the idea, she approached a door that would give her access to the inside of the building.

She found the door open, but also found two armed men rushing up the stairs with the obvious intention of stopping her.

"Freeze," the armed guard commanded, and raised his assault rifle.

"If you say so," Marilyn smirked and raised her hands, but as she did so, she let a burst of emerald energy fly into the two guards.

Both guards were soon encased in thick layers of ice and couldn't move. They were essentially frozen. Marilyn only smiled and then began to move down the stairs toward the two frozen guards. As she approached them, she clenched her fist and punched each frozen guard. The result left nothing but a pile of ice chunks on the steps as the frozen guards shattered with each punch.

"How do you like that for frozen," Marilyn snickered and moved on.

As she continued down the stairs, she cast a small glamour spell that changed her he appearance so that she looked more like a male maintenance worker rather than as a woman in specialized commando gear.

The Indian holy man sat quietly as the active portion of the spell wore out. It had accomplished what he needed it to do, and now felt powerful enough to deal directly with Khan's assassin. With his power assured, he then saw in quiet meditation to think over what he would need to do with the assassin. She was powerful in sorcery as her previous actions had more than demonstrated, and part of him figured to drain her of her powers as well, but that would require beating her first in order to put her in a position where the previous spell would take effect, and on some level, the spell he had cast was not lethal. He could feel the life force within him and could even hear the questions of him within him. They would live with him as he destroyed Khan's magically powered assassin.

"Master!" a voice called.

The Indian holy man looked up from his meditation to see one of his own attendants come running. The man had a sword drawn and was practically panting as he came up. The Indian holy man slowly climbed to his feet. He approached the coming attendant.

"What is it?" the Indian holy man asked.

"The assassin has made it into building, master, some of the hired security guards have gone to deal with her," the attendant reported.

"It will be she who deals with them," the Indian holy man answered, "but if she thinks she will win in this little adventure, she is sorely mistaken."

The attendant only watched as the Indian holy man said a few words and then seemed to vanish into nothing and was then gone.

The spell that disguised her appearance allowed Marilyn to easily make her way to a public bathroom on one of the upper floors. The hotel was largely a high priced one and was not one that the causal tourist could easily afford, and its upper floor was dominated by a sort of casino and had a public bathroom on the floor so that guests of the hotel wouldn't need to go back to their rooms to use the bathroom if they needed to. Marilyn made her way into the restrooms to begin the first part of her mission in the hotel.

"No one here," Marilyn smiled and moved to where she could release the pellets of the chemical weapon into the water pipes that ran through the fire suppression systems. Once in the pipes, the pellets would react with the water and form a poison gas that would spread through the entire water system. From there it requires getting to the controls to the water system and activating the building's fire suppression system. The entire building would be gassed.

Marilyn raised one hand and the door to one of the stalls seemed to vanish and twisted and morphed to become a ladder that settled onto the floor at Marilyn's feet. Once it was there, Marilyn carefully climbed up the ladder and then reached up the white ceiling tile that was above her head. The tile was easily pushed up and pushed aside. Once away, the bronze water pipes were exposed. In the background, Marilyn even saw the T-joints where the pipes intersected to carry water from the main pipes to the sprinklers that periodically poked through the ceiling.

The sound of boots outside made Marilyn climb higher and to make her head and face hidden in the ceiling area and reinforced the illusion spell, just in case anyone came in while she readied the pellets. For a moment the door did open, but whoever looked in didn't look for long. Marilyn quickly produced the pellets that were to be mixed into the water main from the pouches they were in, which the illusion spell only hid.

"And so ends phase one," Marilyn said with a smile as she temporarily made the pellets intangible and phased them through the bronze wall of the pipe. Once the last pellet was inside the pipe, Marilyn could actually hear the hissing as the chemical in the pellet responded, "and onto phase two."

Gyirong, Tibet

Bullets flew through the air as Wedrington and Demona were both trapped in the one fortified machine gun nest that they had taken over. But their takeover of that room had alerted the others and now the supermen were filing into the adjacent room. Demona had rendered two unconscious through spells that had sent them flying against the walls of the cavern while Wedrington had managed to take down one with the gun that he had taken from the guard he knocked out. However, more continued to pour into the room they were trying to move to and kept spraying bullets into the doorway.

"Is it just me, or did some of our earlier missions in this go easier?" Wedrington asked as he ducked away after sending a couple of wild shots into the room and being met by a hail of gunfire.

"Those other missions allowed us to use our wings and come out of nowhere," Demona answered and then gave a very bitter growl, "this is different."

Demona pressed herself against the rock wall and did her best to get a look into the next room. None of these supermen were Macbeth, so they couldn't truly kill her, but that didn't mean that she wanted to be shot by one of them.

"Did you get any grenades off the soldier?" Demona asked.

Wedrington glanced over at the ground where he had tossed things that the soldier had had on him. There were a couple of them there. He sighed slightly and then tentatively moved to pick up one of them.

"There are only two, counting this one," Wedrington sighed as he pulled the pin, "So hopefully this gets a few of them."

Demona nodded as Wedrington then chucked the grenade into the room. Shortly after he released the weapon, a round came through the doorway and caught his hand before he could pull it back. Wedrington's roar of pain echoed through the fortress and drowned out the sound of the supermen yelling "grenade" and then the grenade's explosion. He tried to flex the hand, but the fingers on the wounded hand didn't respond and Wedrington cradled it for a moment in his other hand.

"Wedrington?!" Demona gasped.

"Grrrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh," Wedrington groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth, "I'm practically useless till tomorrow night. They got the hand good… All I got is the pistol… but I think I only have two shots left."

Demona gave growl and then noticed that the shooting had stopped for a moment. She peaked into the next room to find that the grenade had done some damage. There was a great deal of dust and most of the men that were in the room were either coughing or lying on the ground. This is finally what got Demona to take advantage of the situation. She rushed forward into the other room. She caught both men coughing and trying to get the dust out of their eyes by an arm and literally slung them against the stone walls of the room. These blows finally disoriented them enough to allow Wedrington to enter and knock them out with a swift kick.

The victory was somewhat short lived as handful of shots soon came down the hallway with the bullets chipping stone away as they ricocheted off of the walls. Wedrington dashed to one corner, consciously protecting the wounded hand while Demona moved to another.

"How many more do you think there are?" Wedrington asked, somewhat nervously.

Demona glanced to the ones that lay unconscious, wounded, or dead on the floor of the area they were in. There were a fair number of them now after their attempts to keep them pinned in the other room, though she didn't know how much Khan's men had dug into the mountain. They could have tunneled enough to support a couple of squads of troops or a whole platoon. Or if it was something like some of the science fiction movies that the female trio and their male counterparts watched with Angela, their numbers could be much greater. She simply didn't know, and figured that now was not time to frighten an answer out of a wounded man that was too hurt to do anything.

That left them in a tough position, as Demona figured it would only be a matter of time before the soldiers tossed in grenades and then followed shooting. Just as they had largely done to advance from the first room into the room they were in now. Demona glanced to Wedrington and saw that he was still clutching at his wounded hand and sighed. If the supermen attacked, she would survive, but he wouldn't.

"Wedrington… move back along the wall and…" Demona began to instruct the white lion-like gargoyle.

She was cut off when there was a new series of explosions and gunfire that came from a different portion of the caves. Demona thought she heard the words betrayer and traitor be creamed in Tibetan and in Chinese over the shots. It lasted briefly before things drifted into an eerie silence.

"I think we were just rescued," Wedrington said weakly as the sounds of boots touching stone echoed through the caves.

"Demona, is that you down there?" a voice asked a few moments later, and it belonged to the man that had been leading the squad that was to be taking over the manning of the cave fortifications that Khan's men had hollowed out.

"It is us," Wedrington answered, "Did you get them all?"

The squad leader then made his way into the room and looked to both gargoyles.

"It's good to see you're both well," the squad leader said, "and I believe we did get them all. Did you take any prisoners at all…or…?"

"I was not aware you wanted prisoners," Demona commented.

"In general we don't," the squad leader answered, "beyond answering a few questions we'll deliver them to your base where they can await the sleep spell."

Demona managed a nod. She really didn't care about Khan's supermen either, but so far these Tibetan officers had not betrayed their promise to protect Je Lu's clan. She didn't like having to 'prove herself' to them, but if they stayed honest, she'd let it go… as that was what Wedrington would want. There was a brief silence when the squad leader turned to Wedrington and then gasped.

"You're wounded!" he gasped in surprise.

"They got me in the hand," Wedrington managed a pained wince, doing a poor job of trying to hide the pain he still felt. "If you have something to wrap it, I should be fine until dawn…"

"It'll be weeks to heal a wound like that, at the fastest," the squad leader argued.

"For a human, maybe," Demona interjected, "but he is a gargoyle and he will heal when the sun rises for the day. And that will mean we will need to wait until tomorrow night to keep taking apart Khan's gains."

The squad leader nodded.

Singapore City, Singapore

Marilyn made it to the basement area of the building with relative ease. Soldiers did pass her by as she made her way through the halls and to the elevators, but they ultimately ran by her, as if they were unable to recognize that Khan's assassin was right in front of them. She smiled confidently at that, felling that she had only one last step before a major part of the Illuminati would be destroyed in one fell swoop. Soldiers and recruits and various minor members serving in minor reserve and guardian roles would all be killed by the attack. And even some minor members who knew little of what was going on would join their masters in death. The masters, the higher and mid-ranked members that could take over the Council roles would also go and they were the chief targets.

"And now to finish them all off," Marilyn said confidently as she entered the room that controlled the entire building's water systems.

The room was small and cramped and was filled with various pipes and valves. Some controlled the water to each floor of the building. All the valves were turned to the right indicating that they were on. Marilyn smiled at this and then turned to the side walls where she finally found a large computer panel. The panel was made up of a series of buttons that were connected to a computer system that could allow for the water flow to individual rooms where as the valves on the pipes could only control the water flow on an individual floor. She found the button that controlled the fire sprinklers, and saw that the system was on but would only activate if smoke detectors found smoke.

"That'll easily be fixed," Marilyn thought to herself, "but first things first."

She then snapped her fingers and the door to the room warped and changed. It soon became a gas mask and dropped to the floor. Marilyn was quick to fit it to her face and tightened the other straps around her head to hold the mask on her. Once the mask was on, she returned to the panel that controlled the fire suppression system.

"And time to bring them down," Marilyn announced vocally and pressed the button. The result started as a gurgling sound in the pipes as they began to run water, but soon a great hissing sound drowned out all of it. The hissing was the pouring of the gas into the building. She could even see it in the basement levels, but thanks to the gas mask, she was perfectly fine. The gas drifted down in a green mist. It was enough to kill the Illuminati members and Marilyn walked quietly in to the mist and prepared to make her exit.

Meanwhile, the Indian holy man waited quietly on the roof of the building. He'd gotten the sense that something was about to happen and that the assassin was behind it. In theory he knew he could have responded directly, but the assassin had proved in such situations, so he decided on an ambush. She would most likely come up to the roof where she could more easily use her magic to escape as whatever attack she made would attract some attention on the ground level. This was confirmed to him when he noticed a gas beginning to be vented out through the buildings ventilation system. He could tell it was lethal and had done its job inside the building, but now the natural ventilation was beginning to remove it… though it'd take time for that to be completely done.

"Predictable as ever, assassin," the Indian holy man thought to himself, "but the lives you seek to truly end are with me."

It was at that moment that the door opened and a lone woman in commando gear walked out. She wore a gas mask but the Indian holy man was sure she had a confident smile on her face as she didn't even bother to look toward his hiding place on the roof of the roof entrance. Channeling the life force energies within him, the Indian holy man summoned a talwar sword into his hand and leaped into the air and prepared to deliver a powerful slash that would cleave the assassin in two. The assassin, however, seemed to respond as he got close, possibly seeing his shadow below her and managed to just barely avoid the blow.

And Marilyn had seen his shadow and rolled away, just in the nick of time. In fact just as she hit the ground she heard the clang of the sword hitting the rooftop with enough force that penetrated a full centimeter into the rooftop. She rolled and managed to get back to her feet to see what looked like a high ranking priest of the Hindu religion readying a saber-like weapon. There were three lines seemed to be grooved into the top side of the blade and ending after going about nine tenths of the way down the blade. At that point the point straightened to meet the curving bottom part of the blade. The handle appeared to make what looked like a cross where the blade met the handle, and was rather exquisitely decorated, but there was no hand guard on it.

"Well…" Marilyn said after a moment, "I was beginning to think this mission was a little too easy… but I suppose a misplaced bodyguard with a sword should be fun to deal with…"

"You are mistaken, assassin," the Indian holy man replied, "I am no bodyguard."

He then raised his free hand and three great snakes, all resembling cobras, made of fire burst from his hand. One caught her belt, which immediately caught fire, another caught her gas mask, which also caught fire, and the third caught her shoulder guard before she could fully respond. She managed to get the burning equipment off of her before she caught fire, but Marilyn did cringe in pain as the flames did nick her fingers. The flaming snakes then returned to sit in a coiled position around the hand of they had burst from.

"I am Rama and one of the last remaining 'leaders' of the Illuminati," the Indian holy man stated, "and unlike the others… I possess the skills to defeat you, assassin."

"You're running out of leaders, Rama," Marilyn commented, "and running out of tricks."

The Indian holy man, now identified as Rama only watched as Marilyn snapped her fingers and the snakes of flame suddenly turned to ice and then fell to the ground. In the time he looked to see his conjured snakes freeze, Marilyn then rushed forward and landed a kick to his chest that sent him flying back and knocked his sword from his hands. He landed hard against the edge of the building and the corner of the ledge actually dug into his spine, making him give a pained grunt.

"And now I will finish you and continue to disassemble the Illuminati's secret empire… as their leaders and guards simply vanish…" Marilyn smiled confidently at him.

Rama could hear the life forces of the others rage at that line. They may not be in their bodies anymore, but Rama could still feel and hear their consciousness within him. They weren't about to let the assassin kill him and neither would he. In agreement with the others, their will joined with his and formed a sort of golden glow around him. Marilyn tried to hit him with a lightning spell, but it bounced harmlessly off the aura that was around him. The aura then helped lift Rama into the air and he actually smirked as Marilyn's smile vanished and her eyes widened.

"That's not…" Marilyn commented, "None of your council members were that powerful in sorcery…"

"What makes you think I'm alone?" Rama shot back and then dove down on Marilyn, "I am the Illuminati in Asia… I am the leadership that will save our order's planned future!"

Marilyn was a bit perplexed as to what Rama had said. He was the only one there and he was nowhere near as powerful as he presently seemed to look. If Rama really was that strong, he would have been a council member, and Marilyn would have fought him during the war in China. But Rama wasn't that strong in sorcery, yet he looked like he was now, and he gave Marilyn no room to fully prepare a counter.

Rama only remained in the air for a few moments and then dove down on Marilyn with great speed. He then made contact with Marilyn's shoulders. The blow hit with great force, and Marilyn managed to shield herself in her own powers, but strangely Marilyn seemed to feel her powers weaken, at least a little. Though the roof couldn't handle the force from the blow, there was a great crash. The rooftop splintered and then with a great crashing noise when Rama pushed Marilyn through it.

From there, they began to through floor after floor of the building. Boards and beams shattered. Pipes creaked as their bodies hit them, and then broke with a great 'ping' as the pipes couldn't support their weight. There was the sharp crack and snap as electrical wires as they went through them. Rugs in each room they went through ripped with a great 'sssshhhhrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipp' noise. Had Marilyn not already gassed the building there would have been screams of horror, but the building had been gassed and there was thus no screams that were heard.

"The lives of those you sought to end lie with and within me," Rama said confidently, "in that sense WE are one…"

They kept going until, by chance, they finally stopped in what looked like a long conference room. The poison gas had by now been removed by the building's ventilation system and that gave Marilyn a clear look at the room that they were in. It was a long room dominated by a long table at which several people were seated. The people were all slumped over as though dead and actually positioned in the chairs. Marilyn also noticed that every face was extremely aged, as though they had aged rapidly and then passed on. Her gas didn't even kill them.

"These are the Illuminati leaders in Asia!" Marilyn stated in surprise.

"Yes," Rama answered as the glow around him began to match the lotus flowers, which were still glowing, "but they are not gone. They are with me. And together we have survived and will destroy you!"

With that Rama then waved his hand and threw Marilyn about the room. He felt stronger here, close to where he had performed the ceremony and whatever magic he lost in driving Marilyn through the building was back and then some. Marilyn, meanwhile, grunted with every blow as she hit a wall or the ceiling. The blows had been enough to crack the plaster of the walls, and as Marilyn was thrown about, she began to feel the sense of being senseless. She was becoming disoriented and she knew it.

"Eventually he's going to get tired of playing with me," Marilyn realized.

She had to do something quickly and eventually noticed that Rama was being extremely careful not to hit the table on which the candles and the lotus flowers were sitting. She hit high up on the walls or she hit the floor, not the table. Eventually she was thrown and let go by Rama. She hit the wall, hard, and then landed hard on the floor. She sat there, partially disoriented and almost thought that she could see three of Rama walking toward her.

"And so the might assassin falls," Rama commented.

"Or sees your weakness," Marilyn said weakly and then said in Latin, "Incaendo!"

A small ball of flame formed in Marilyn's hand and then flew off. It bounced off the glow of energy around Rama, and while that energy also weakened the fireball, it didn't totally dissipate the energy. The fireball landed, seemingly harmlessly, on a portion of the table where the flowers and candles weren't. For the moment, the fire smoldered on the tablecloth, but showed no sign that it was going to burn out. If Marilyn could hold out just a little while longer and hold Rama's attention, her plan would work.

Rama steadily approached Marilyn. His energies had protected him from the fireball and while it hadn't dissipated, for the moment the fire wasn't a concern. He'd finish her off and move on from there. The fact that she was in commando gear would even reinforce the story he would tell the police. He first lifted Marilyn up by the neck.

"I will admit, assassin," Rama commented, "you've done quite a lot to break the Illuminati. Khan either choose well or grew you well. You've gone on a rampage that removed much of our leadership…"

Rama then threw a strong punch to Marilyn's stomach, knocking the wind out of her and making her gasp for breath.

"But now you've faced one who understands magic to a degree that the others you've killed did not," Rama finished and punched Marilyn again, this time right in the sternum. That blow made Marilyn's heart flutter, due to the compression, and she felt two ribs actually break under the blow. "And with that, you've fallen… broken… and defeated."

Rama then backhanded Marilyn across the face sending her flying, feeling the others within her enjoy the power he felt over her. It actually made him ignore that fact that the smoldering on the table cloth was now an open flame and moving toward the lotus flowers. The assassin had been too much of a threat to them, and they felt helpless before her attacks. Now, the situation was reversed, and Rama could feel their wish to relish in the victory. Rama summoned his talwar again and raised it above his head.

"Any last words?" Rama asked as he raised the sword.

Marilyn slowly pointed to the table and said weakly, "I win."

Rama only blinked in surprise and then turned to look the table and watched in horror as the fire that Marilyn had weakly sent at him, the fire he had thought was weakened to the point where it was not a threat, was just reaching one of the lotus flowers.

"No!" Rama shouted and reached out with hand as that lotus flower caught fire. From there, the results were simultaneous. All of the other flowers caught fire and began to burn along with Rama himself. The spell had relied on the candles to keep the life force burning within him, but it all depended on the lotus flowers to stay intact and preserve the life force on this plane. Without them, none of it was possible, and now the lotus flowers were burning, and Rama felt the pain of each and every flower as he dropped the talwar and gripped himself.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rama gave a pained howl as the fires consumed him and he fell onto his back as the fires on the table grew more serious.

Marilyn wanted to get up, but felt too weak and too pained, and she could hear sirens in the distance. She couldn't leave, but her present attire would only raise suspicion and might bring Illuminati people outside of Asia to her. She managed a different illusion spell, making her look like a hotel employee and altered her look so that no one would recognize her face. Once done, the only thing Marilyn could do was collapse and lay on the ground as the fire began to spread along the table and the floor around Rama.

Smoke began to fill the room, and even with a hole in the ceiling that went all the way up to the roof and the buildings ventilation systems still working, there was enough that most people would not be able to breathe in it unless they were close to the ground. The thing that Marilyn had the most to fear was the flames, as they were spreading and were beginning to burn toward her. If she was healthy, she could easily escape, but Rama had given her quite a beating and if she wasn't rescued soon the fire would finish her off. There were sirens approaching, as someone outside had surely noticed the gas attack, or when Marilyn triggered the fire suppression system to begin the attack an automatic call went to the fire department.

"A shame the attack I made ultimately ate though the controls and systems and water won't be coming down anytime soon… not until the pipes fully burst under the pressure," Marilyn thought before she finally blacked out.

The first to arrive were police officers. They received calls from passersby on the street that there were screams coming from inside the hotel, and one even came from a security man reporting what sounded like gas. The station had tried to warn the security people to stay out of the building, but they argued on rescuing persons of importance and as the officers entered they found the security men dead on the floor.

"What could have done this?" the first officer asked nervously, as he looked down at the dead security men and then to the front desk where one man was draped over the counter in the same condition, "a nerve gas?"

"I don't know," the second officer spoke as he took a few hesitant steps, "but… do you smell something burning…?"

The first officer took a few hesitant sniffs and then looked up. To his surprise and horror, he could smell something faintly burning, but what caught his attention was smoke drifting out through the door frame of a nearby conference room.

"We got fire and chemical and first aid, on the way right?" the officer asked and moved to the door.

"The fire department is on the way, should they have chemical gear?" the second officer asked.

"They might need it, given what we were told about the attack," the first officer answered, as he reached the door and touched the back of his hand to the door, it was warm, but not yet hot. He pushed the door open to be met with a wall of smoke coming out of the room. He then rapidly backed off, coughing as he did so, "and we also got an open flame!"

"Fire?" the second asked.

"Get a fire extinguisher," the first answered, "and make sure the fire department hurries."

"Yes, sir," the second officer then turned to a walkie-talkie that was strapped to his shoulder.

By this time following officers arrived with fire extinguishers that they had found in the lobby area. They quickly saluted the first officer.

"We need to get the fire out… or at least start to," the first officer stated, "Stay low! I will open the door and you are to hit the flames that are the closest to the door!"

The other officers nodded in acknowledgement of the order and waited for the first officer to open the door again. The first officer crouched low and pushed the door open. Again smoke began to pour out of the room, but the following officers, who were further back, managed to get a look in. One looked rather green and very nearly threw up. The first officer soon recognized it, as the fire was burning several people seated at a long table, and it was the burning of human flesh that they smelled. Though the bodies were all slumped over as the other bodies they'd seen in the lobby were.

"Go!" the first officer yelled loudly, "we can't let the fire spread!"

The following officers nodded and began firing their portable fire extinguishers at the flames that were closest to them. They coughed as they battled the smoke and tried to stay as low as possible. The use of the fire extinguishers didn't lessen the smoke that much and only just got the fire under control near the door. The first officer held the door open to allow for another place for excess smoke to leave and to give the officers an easy escape if they needed to catch their breath. Eventually they all came out as their fire extinguishers were empty and weren't intended to deal with the flames as thick as they were.

"How soon are the firemen going to get here?" one officer asked, "We're going to need them… desperately…"

"Yes," the first officer nodded, "to save the building."

"No, to save a hotel worker," the third officer spoke, "she's slumped against a far wall… Not sure how she survived the gas attack… but we can see her breathing…"

The first officer's eyes widened in surprise as he heard additional sirens approaching. That had to be the firemen. They were finally arriving.

"How close are the flames to her?" the first officer asked.

"Close… not at her, but close, we don't have much time," the third officer answered.

The first officer heard a truck stop outside the building with its sirens still going. The firemen had arrived, but it would take them time to get things ready. They had to move quickly.

"Hold the door open," the first officer spoke and rushed in.

The smoke was thick and the flames were slowly beginning to try and burn back into the areas where the officers had cleared, but things had cleared a little. He barely made out a woman lying against the wall of the room. The flames were close and closing, but she was alive. She could make out that she was breathing, albeit weakly. He rushed into the flames, ignoring the heat and the burning sensation that went through the legs of his pants and boots, hoping that by moving quickly, he'd avoid fully catching fire. He was successful in this, but he did have to stop and cough as he reached the woman.

"Don't worry, miss, I'll get you out of here," the officer said to the unconscious woman and then carefully lifted her up.

The officer then rushed out with the woman in his arms. He couldn't move as quickly and he soon felt his pants begin to smolder and burn his legs, but he managed to power through the pain in order to carry the woman out of the room. He was met by the firemen who were just getting their hoses through the doorway.

"Is that a live one…?" the first fireman asked.

"The only live one," the officer answered as he made his way toward the door, "the rest appear to have been killed in the first attack… by the gas…"

"Best to get her out then, ambulance should be on its way as well," the fireman answered.

The policeman nodded and carried the woman out, not knowing that he'd just saved the woman who had launched the attack in the first place… the attack designed to take apart the Illuminati's leadership.

To Be Continued…