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 immediately after "Traps and Assassins".
Sleep
By SN/TVfan
Email: Sam_Nary
Khan's Base, Tibet
Khan stood quietly as he looked out over the mountains of Tibet as a pair of bombers flew overhead. He paid little attention to their specific make or model. They were planes built for China and came under his control as his units overran Chinese air bases or as Chinese pilots defected to his side to rid their country of the Illuminati. And for the moment, they had one mission, blowing up the cave that Demona had been using.
"You know that this won't kill her," his Second in Command said to him from slightly behind him, "Unless we are able to get our hands on Macbeth and convince him to join us, we cannot kill her."
"That can wait until we get to Britain," Khan answered, "After Demona is captured."
The second in command nodded nervously. Demona had defeated and killed Damien the night before. As a result, the clone of Demona that they had made to have a Y chromosome rather than an X chromosome was no longer capable of protecting the Illuminati base that they had commandeered. The changing of his gender from female to male in the lab was done to tell Damien apart from Demona more easily and would allow him to insure that Demona didn't do something like assault the base. Now, however, that wasn't an issue. Damien was dead and gone, and Demona's attack route was now clear. Marilyn was likely too far away to be called back, and her mission was just as important to Khan's future as Damien had been.
That led to the decision to send the bombers to blast away at the cave that Demona had been using. They couldn't kill Demona, but the bombs would kill all of the other gargoyles with her, and leaving her alone. She'd go into some rage at the destruction of 'her' clan and would assault the fortress on her own. Khan knew that her attack would do damage, but on her own, he knew he would have the forces to overwhelm her. Once she was unconscious or 'dead' and in their possession, they could place her in one of their cells. One specifically designed by the Illuminati to contain and control beings that used magic.
"However it goes," Khan continued, "she will be gone, and we will get the pleasure of torturing her mind."
"Of course," his second in command nodded, sensing that there was some personal want for vengeance against Demona.
It appeared as though Damien had been more than a key weapon to Khan. The second in command, however, didn't protest this all that much. Many people throughout history had desired vengeance for one wrong or another. And while the supermen had been made to be faster, stronger, and smarter than normal humans, it did not remove their ability to feel emotions, which was at the basis of all human life. And besides, they'd need to deal with Demona anyway.
"Also, make sure that we have plenty of men on roof tonight," Khan instructed, "I want to be ready for when Demona comes charging in too angry to realize the trap."
Khan's second in command nodded and said nothing for a moment as the sound of a great explosion echoed through the mountains. As the sound of this died down, Khan's second then spoke.
"All available units are already on their way, sir," Khan's second spoke, "we will be prepared."
"Excellent," Khan nodded and then went inside.
Somewhere in South Korea
Marilyn meanwhile was enjoying herself as she charged through a South Korean army base. Her mission to eliminate Illuminati officers that were in positions of power was going quite well. She had made her way through North Korea and was now making her way through South Korea. A trail of death and devastation followed her wherever she went, using the mirrors to move between locations quickly. It created a look as though the attacks were occurring simultaneously, which would surely give the Illuminati fits as whoever monitored their internal elections struggled to try and counter the loss of so many command members.
But countering her would be difficult, and it would be due to more than just her magic. She managed to make each assassination somewhat different from the others. One looked as though an office building had been gassed; another would look like a case of arson, and this one looked like some bizarre one 'man' assault. She was presently dressed in what would look like the robes worn by the Illuminati Councilmembers and was using rather direct tactics on the South Korean soldiers defending her target.
"Come out and face me coward!" she called out in a voice that sounded more masculine than she truly was, "your lackeys won't stop me."
A man rushed at her with his rifle ready, and a bayonet affixed to the end of the barrel. Marilyn caught the rifle by its barrel and twisted in a way to avoid the bayonet and delivered a kick to the man's chest. The blow knocked the man back, much to his surprise, and Marilyn then took full possession of his weapon. The soldier that rushed her was the first to taste the sting of his own weapon, and Marilyn continued her advance onward.
"Come on, big bad Illuminati man! You can't be afraid of one lone woman!" Marilyn taunted, "I'm sure you know I'm not a REAL member of your council!"
She kicked in the door to what was a South Korean army's mess hall and advanced inside. Crouching behind the main serving area and under a large mirror was the leading Illuminati member that she was there to kill. He was cowering for the moment, as most of his protection was dead by now, which likely meant that the Illuminati had lost soldiers that were under the direct employ of their organization in addition to 'innocents' who had simply been in the crossfire. Marilyn ignored that and advanced on the cowering Illuminati member.
"Come on, show a little bravery," Marilyn commented.
She raised the weapon she had confiscated and just about to fire when the man rose up, produced a pistol and fired two shots. One missed her, but only just. The other shot hit the gun that she was preparing to fire and knocked it out of her hands.
"You talk too much!" the Illuminatus commented and fired again.
This time, Marilyn was ready, and did a rolling dive to avoid the shots aimed at her. As she did so, she produced a throwing star, and as she landed on her feet again, she threw it at the man she had been assigned to kill. The man's eyes widened greatly as the small weapon approached him, and ultimately hit him in the neck. Marilyn calmly watched as the man fell to the ground gripping at the wound, frantically trying to stop the bleeding.
"I may talk too much…" Marilyn admitted, "But that is because I have the power to afford it. You're nothing but a petty administrator. Nothing in my league… and trust me, I've faced down people much more powerful then you."
She then quietly took the man's own gun and finished him off. Marilyn was then quick to dive back into the mirrors and continue on to her next target. It was a unique method of transportation, but Khan had been right that her fey magic allowed it, and in was enabling her to cover miles of territory in seconds. She also felt something that amounted to raw power coming from somewhere. It actually seemed to help her target the next Illuminati member in ways that she hadn't thought of earlier. That made her mission easier, and she was confident that soon, the Illuminati would be effectively destroyed, and Khan's ultimate victory assured.
Tibet, Dusk
"We'll need to make a bigger move, tonight," Demona sighed heavily to Wedrington, Yama, Yoshi, Shi La, and Je Lu as they discussed the strategy they were to take.
The training missions for the Tibetan clan had gone relatively well and they had managed to ambush and confiscate small groups of either anti-Illuminati Chinese or Khan's supermen and take their supplies for their own use. It had been a fairly easy system, but things had recently changed. Earlier in the campaign, Khan had seemed to be willing to let make the raids, but more recently these training raids were becoming more of a nuisance for him and he had authorized Damien, the male clone of Demona, to launch some sort of ambush against them. The trap had failed, but it did represent a change in tactics on Khan's part. He was now taking them seriously.
"You're sure?" Je Lu wondered, "You say we're all making progress, but I am not quite sure we are ready."
"We don't have much choice," Demona sighed, "Damien's actions show that Khan is now coming after us directly…"
"It's why we moved 'our' cave to this mountain," Wedrington commented, "If Khan assaults the old one, or levels it with bombers all he'll do is waste his ammunition."
"Yes," Demona nodded, "but it'd only be a true 'waste' if he believes we're killed in whatever daylight attack he might have launched while we slept. If we resume the small raids, he'll learn that his daytime attack failed and will then carry out similar attacks throughout the region, hoping to uncover our base of operations."
"He can't do that!" Yama protested, "Tibet may not be as densely populated as New York or Japan… but there are still people here. If he starts leveling mountains… he could kill people that are not involved in the war."
"War isn't an honorable thing," Wedrington commented, "War is hell where each side does everything possible to win. Now, sometimes a side can stand up and fight for what is right, but wars tend to hurt everyone. The innocent along with the guilty."
"This would be one of those cases where it is important, though," Demona commented, "Damien said something about remaking the world… and given that Khan has robbed you of your home… I doubt he will be kinder to others."
"We know we must fight Khan," Yama nodded, "and stopping him would allow me to regain my honor… but I still must feel that I must warn you that we need more time to prepare."
"We do not have it," Demona sighed weakly, "if we lay low to train… Khan will get stronger and might negate the training… or he'd move, forcing us to trail him. And if we return to raiding his supply lines, he will know you survived his attacks…"
"What about you?" Yoshi wondered.
"Unless they had Macbeth flying the plane or firing the cannon, Demona can't truly die," Wedrington spoke for her, "they might even use some of that to try and get you angry to the point where you'd ignore reason and glide into a bigger trap."
"Then perhaps there is a way to use that to OUR advantage," Demona mused, "and by using a little good planning of our own."
"Go on," Yama encouraged her to continue.
Khan's Base
"She will be coming shortly," Khan spoke his instructions to a squad of Illuminati supermen on the roof of the fortress, "I do not want you to leave for anything."
"Yes, sir," was the near robotic answer.
"Remember that she is a sorceress, so if she's thinking, the first thing that you'll likely encounter will be something that will throw off your aim," Khan continued, "fog, mist, snow, dust, anything that would make it hard for you to see."
"We are ready for her, sir," said the commander of the squad told Khan, "she won't make it through us… at least not without alerting the rest of the men at your command, and thus insuring that she is overwhelmed and ends up our prisoner."
Khan nodded and looked out to where he 'knew' Demona's base to be. The immortal female had killed Damien, and Marilyn was for the moment indisposed. The base was fairly open to attack from a sorcerer or sorceress of Demona's power and skill. Without them, he knew he couldn't match her when it came to magic, but he figured he did have the numbers and the fact that Demona would be enraged at the loss of the other gargoyles to the point where she would operate without thinking.
"Good," Khan answered, "Because the success of our mission depends on you!"
With that, Khan then went inside, while the squad commander acknowledged the command. As he went inside, he was met by his second in command.
"How long do you think it will take before she arrives?" his second in command asked, "dealing with someone who is 'immortal' is not something I've ever thought possible… at least not until Demona became involved."
"She was likely stone when our bombers hit the mountain she had hollowed out," Khan commented, "it will take a little while for the magic of the spell that gave her the immortality she has to take full effect… then followed by the horror at seeing her 'clan' dead… Once she's reassembled, I doubt we'll have to wait long. But, this is something very few have had to deal with before. For the most part, the Illuminati only monitored Demona in the past… not engaged her… at least not directly anyway."
"So, we're all equally in the dark," Khan's second in command mused.
"Pretty much," Khan nodded, "but make sure everyone else on the base is on full alert. Demona will be arriving fairly soon."
"At once," Khan's second nodded.
Outside the fortress and at a fair distance, Demona had already arrived. But, because she had moved to a different 'cave' after the death of Damien, the Tibetan clan was still very much alive and she had no reason to be in a blind fury. If it weren't for the fact that Khan would expand the war if they returned to raiding his supply convoys, she wouldn't have even brought all of the Tibetans with her in preparation for a massive battle and endgame with Khan.
"It looks like they have a full squad on the roof," Yoshi commented, "not enough to beat all of us… but more than enough draw attention."
"Khan expects me to be in a rage," Demona commented, "as such, he's expecting one female gargoyle that isn't really thinking."
"Maybe so, but even with that failure, Khan is in a good position," Yoshi reminded her, "all those men need to do is fire of shots… and men will come rushing to the roof to fight us."
"Then it's a good thing we won't be attacking the roof," Demona commented, "Have you found the ground level entrance, Wedrington?"
The white lion-like gargoyle carefully moved around the side of the cliff and mountainside they were using to hide from any prying eyes. Once he was close enough, he answered.
"They have a large door on ground level, about ten feet from the corner on the northwest side of the fortress," Wedrington answered, "and based on the construction, I doubt anyone on the roof would see us if we were to approach it on foot… assuming there is enough snow here for you to summon a decent sized blizzard."
"That part is easy," Demona answered, "I necessary I can just 'summon' snow to use and hurl into their eyes."
The others nodded in agreement to that. Demona continued to make sure that everyone was on the same page.
"But we will still have to move quickly," Demona reminded them, "I can only maintain the blizzard for a short while."
"We will hurry," Je Lu promised, "especially if it is to save China from this man."
The Tibetan gargoyles all nodded in agreement with their clan leader.
"For honor," Yama vowed.
Wedrington carefully reached out with one hand and took Demona's hand in his.
"To protect you… even if you don't truly need it," Wedrington told her.
"Then let's go!" Demona announced, and let out a loud and angry sounding battle cry to give Khan's men the impression that she was charging in on the red eye express.
On the roof, the squad guarding that area heard the roar and soon saw what appeared to be storm clouds rapidly forming.
"Here she comes!" the squad leader announced, "bring your goggles down. It looks like she's going to bring on the snow!"
The men rapidly obeyed the order as the clouds grew thicker and darker and then began to approach them. For them, they knew that the final battle was coming, and they were sure to be ready. They would not let a lone gargoyle beat them easily. They stood their ground as the wind picked up, and soon the first snowflakes began hitting them as the blizzard that had appeared grew stronger.
"Hold your fire until the optic sensors in the goggles can pinpoint her!" the squad leader commanded.
The men obeyed the order, and he heard no shots being fired. But the blizzard conditions were still blinding and tough to endure. Demona may be angry, but her skills in sorcery hadn't been weakened any. The blizzard was so strong that even the computerized pieces in their goggles couldn't make out much moving in the blizzard very well. And the wind was also tough to endure. One man, moving along the outer edge and looking for where Demona might come out of the sky to attack them, tripped on a portion of the roof and going over the side of the roof. The squad leader heard him scream, but the wind caught his parka and blew the man away from his comrades, who tried to rescue him.
"Be careful boys," the squad leader grumbled, "we don't want that to happen again. This blizzard is a thick one."
But then, almost as suddenly as it started, it stopped. The clouds cleared and the snow died away. This left them with an empty roof. The other men looked around in confusion, and it wasn't as if the squad leader wasn't stumped on that either.
"Maybe she couldn't see all that well in her own blizzard," one superman commented.
"Maybe," the squad leader answered, "she'll likely come around again."
Fortress Entranceway and Security Check-Point
Demona, however, had not gotten lost and overflown the fortress. She and the rest of the gargoyles in this group had approached the fort on the ground and forced open the main doors used to let vehicles go in and out of the fortress. The superman manning the check-point and in charge of opening and closing the door was caught completely by surprise and never got the chance to sound any alarm before Yoshi and Yama knocked him out. With a moment of quiet, they then moved to set up their next actions in the course of taking on Khan's supermen and getting to Khan, himself.
"Lock the doors," Demona to Yoshi, who had taken over the control panels that the guard had been using.
"Right," Yoshi nodded, and pressed a few buttons.
With that done, Demona thrust one hand into the panel, destroying the equipment. As she ripped her hand back out, a piece of the equipment was in her hand.
"There," Demona nodded, "no one can come in on the ground."
"So where will Khan be?" Shi La asked.
"Most likely near the command center and the communications areas of the base, allowing him to control his forces," Yama commented, "where that is, we'd need a map for…"
"Like this?" Wedrington asked from a different portion of the room.
They turned to see what looked like a layout for the floor they were on. Demona made her way over and quickly looked over the design. She then pointed to a room in the very center of the map that Wedrington had found.
"That is where we need to go," Demona spoke.
"The command center?" Je Lu wondered.
"No, the base's main power center," Demona answered, "someone is surely watching us on security camera images now. We destroy that and everything will go dark. Weapons… lights… computers… communications… everything. Once that is done, they won't be able to track what we are doing. THEN we go looking for Khan."
"I'd assume we're also to deal with any of his soldiers along the way?" Yama commented, "If they've already learned we didn't go into the trap that Khan set, they must be sending reinforcements down here."
"They probably are," Demona nodded, "but we do have some of their weapons and you have my skills to aid you all. We stay together; Khan can't easily overwhelm us with numbers."
"Okay then," Je Lu nodded, "lead the way. We'll follow you."
They moved quickly, down the hallway that according to the map would lead them to where the base's main power generators were. As they did so, they entered into a large room that had a large number of trucks, armored personnel carriers, and even a couple of helicopters. It was a garage and hanger for all of the vehicles in the base, and out of the corner of her eye, Demona noticed larger sets of doors that they could use to drive out. The room was not empty, however, and as they moved through, shocked cries and then shots rang out.
"Go on!" Yama called to Demona at the head of the group, "I will deal with their mechanics!"
Demona glanced back as the shots rang out and then moved as if to aid the Japanese exile. He, however, stopped her as she moved toward him. The others went on in to the main hallway that the map had specified, carrying the particle beam weapons and other firearms they had taken from their earlier raids. It wasn't something that gargoyles were commonly comfortable fighting with, and for Je Lu clan especially because they had been able to live in peace with their monks for so long that they hadn't seen 'war' before Demona came into their lives. She felt lucky to have persuaded them to use them for their own safety in this case, and figured she'd have to repay them in some way… to atone for leading the Illuminati and then Khan to them. Yama, however, was insistent that he didn't need the help.
"Go!" Yama urged as he drew a katana that Demona had earlier summoned for him, "they will need you more than me!"
Yama then moved further into the large garage area. There weren't many supermen there, and they were firing wildly from behind cover. And while they had appeared to be fearsome warriors in Khan's service, Yama guessed that rumors of an equally fearsome warrior or opponent had the same effect on them as it would on others. Their shots were aimed toward Demona, and they were doing their best not to end up on the receiving end of a lightning spell. He caught the closest as he tried to move to a better spot to fire from and to try and avoid a direct confrontation. Yama slashed through the gun that he had landed a sweeping kick that swung his body in a full three hundred sixty degree turn.
When Yama had regained his footing, he noticed that the soldier he had kicked had been sent sprawling backward. He was about to move on to the next of Khan's soldiers in the garage when a couple of bullets whizzed past his face before hitting a parked truck. One of the supermen had changed targets. Yama was about to duck and move to try and set up his next move when a particle beam flew past him and into the armored personnel carrier that the superman was firing near. The resulting explosion sent the man flying and toppled the vehicle on its side. Ignoring the 'ouch' and the sound of the man hitting something else, Yama turned to see who had come to help him. He found that it was Yoshi.
"I must do this on my own, Yoshi," Yama answered.
"You won't survive on your own," Yoshi answered, "we all know you wish to restore your honor. To atone for the mistakes you made. It is the honorable thing to do, but I am still honor bound to serve Kai and his second… your mate, Sora."
Yama looked to him.
"Saving China from these supermen will restore your honor," Yoshi told him, "It is a battle worth fighting… but Sora would kill me if I let you get yourself killed to do that… and Kai… Kai would not respond well to news of your death either."
"Very well, then," Yama sighed, "For honor."
Yoshi nodded.
Khan's Main Command Center
Khan, meanwhile, was overlooking some of the reports that Marilyn had managed to send to him on the status of her quest against those Illuminati members standing for elections. She had dealt with those in Korea and Japan, and was actually now making her way into the eastern most parts of Russia.
"At least one mission is still going according to how they should go," Khan gave a sigh, when his second suddenly burst into the room.
Khan turned to see that the man was fairly nervous. This surprised him, as his second in command was not normally one to get nervous.
"What is it?" Khan asked, "has the Illuminati expanded the war in some way we do not already know of?"
"No, sir, it is worse than that!" his second stated, "It is Demona! She has attacked as you predicted… but in a different place and not alone!"
"What?!" Khan gasped.
He had expected an attack, but he had expected Demona to come in on the 'red eye express' with no thought process going on other than to attack and avenge the death of her clan and allies. A change in the location of the attack, or the lack of blinding rage in her attack could be excused, as Khan only had the files the Illuminati had on Demona to go on before. And those files commonly stated that Demona had rage issues in addition to being on a campaign of genocide against the entire human race. But the files could be either incomplete, or there had been some change in her life that had changed much of her temperament. But he was certain that he had killed the rest of the gargoyles that had been with her. She shouldn't be alone.
"She must have moved their roosting place after killing Damien, sir," his second answered, "For her clan still lives."
"Where is she?" Khan demanded.
"Presently on the first floor," his second answered, "I've made calls to all our units in the fortress to move to stop her on that floor."
"Can we call for reinforcements from outside the fort?" Khan inquired.
"Our radio man is in the process of doing that now, sir," his second replied, "but I don't know how long it will take for anti-Illuminati Chinese or Tibetan units to get here."
"Blast," Khan growled, "what is she going for…? Aside from me."
"The base's main power cells, sir," his second answered, "probably to put us in the dark. Remember not everyone in the base has night vision goggles."
The Base's Power Core
Making it to the base's power generators was fairly easy, as they seemed to have the element of surprise still in their favor, but Demona was certain that Khan's forces were catching on. Ganging up on one or two startled men as they came out of a door wasn't going to go on forever. That was proved as they made into the main control room for the power generators. Two men were there and armed with pistols. The first fired a round that caught one of the Tibetan clan in the hip and knocked her to the ground. Demona dispatched that superman with a lighting spell that carried enough power to send him flying through one of the walls. That, however, left Demona feeling a bit drained for the moment and the other superman was trying to finish what his partner started.
The second superman was not able to get a good shot off, as he had to duck under his 'flying' companion, and his shot harmlessly hit the far wall. Wedrington and Je Lu were quick to make their move on the other guard. Wedrington charged forward and landed a flying kick that knocked the superman to the ground and made him drop his gun. He was quick to recover, but Je Lu arrived in time to land a strong double blow to his shoulders and knocking the superman out.
"So… now we turn off their power?" one of the other Tibetan gargoyles asked.
"That'd only last as long as we can keep control of this room," Demona answered, "I'll need a moment to recharge a little and then we'll blow the generators up. Then the base will be without power and no one will be able to turn it back on."
"Might help in terms of dealing with a large number of Khan's soldiers," Wedrington commented.
"How?" Shi La asked from where she was checking on the wounded Tibetan gargoyle.
"Buildings are generally built to withstand forces coming from outside them," Wedrington answered, "normally things such as wind, excessive amounts of snow and rain, hail, and if armored, human weaponry… but for the most part they aren't protected against internal damage as well. Rust… age and decay… or in this case an internal explosion."
Demona caught on quickly, doing her best to hide an approving smile. Wedrington may not be a warrior by instinct, but he was quickly adapting.
"And if we take out not just the generators but some of the supports as well, a good portion of the building will come down as well," Demona answered, "hopefully it'll take out a good portion of Khan's army that is here and give us a large central 'pathway' to move through the base in."
"We'll need to get Lee back to Yama and Yoshi in their garage," Shi La commented in response.
By now, Demona had regained her strength and was turning the supermen's clothes into packets of C-four and was preparing to go into the area where the main generators were.
"We don't want to be here when the C-four goes off anyway," Demona nodded, "We'll all move back in a moment."
Demona then took the explosive packets that she'd conjured and went into the main area where the generators were.
Main Security Room
Khan and his second quickly moved into the main security center of the base to confront Demona's attack on the base. It was painfully obvious that the air raid on Demona's lair had failed and she was now launching her real attack to make sure Khan couldn't correct his mistake. It was a wise decision, and it made Khan mentally kick himself for how he had handled Demona's incursion into his plan. For the most part he had ignored her as being of little real threat. His second had warned him and Marilyn had warned him that to leave Demona alive for long was to invite trouble. Now he was paying for that arrogance.
"Where is Demona now?" Khan demanded of the security officer as he entered.
Such a battle would normally be done from the main war rooms, but since the fight was already inside the base, they wouldn't do much. The security room was the best option. From there, Khan could view what Demona was up to and coordinate things with his men in the base.
"They've just left the power generators," the security officer asked, "It looked like Demona was carrying some packet in to the generators, but I didn't have enough camera angles to see what it was."
"What did she do with them?" Khan's second questioned.
"From what I could see, she left them by the generators and then left for the main garage," the security officer answered, "I've redirected two of the squads ordered to block Demona's advance to move in, secure, and investigate what Demona left. They're just now arriving."
"Left?" Khan asked.
"Yes, Demona and the gargoyles with her have returned to the garage," the security officer answered when the sound of a great explosion rocked the base.
The sound made the security officer jump, but what made matters worse, was that the blast knocked out all electrical power to the base. Some emergency lights remained on, but they would only last for a couple hours. It was long enough for repair crews to repair the generators if they had a malfunction. The situation they had though was not that. They would surely have to replace the generators, which would take much more time.
"And things just got harder," Khan grumbled as he noticed that all of the security screens were now solid black. It was as if someone turned them all off.
Garage
In the garage, Demona looked back down the hallway that had taken them to the main generator. The blast had done what she and Wedrington had expected. Debris had been thrown down the hallway and even knocked over a couple of the trucks that had been in the hallway.
"I doubt that that has won the war," Yama commented as he and Yoshi approached.
They had succeeded in subduing the supermen in the garage while Demona's group had gone on to the power generator. Those soldiers were now either dead or tied up using bits and pieces of the vehicles in the garage to hold them together.
"Indeed," Demona nodded, "but not all of them will have night vision goggles and the effects of the blast have probably inflicted heavy casualties on them."
"So, what now?" Yoshi asked, "We all go after Khan?"
"We defeat his forces," Demona answered, "They do not all have to be killed… but it would be best to make sure they're properly secured… or grouped together after being knocked out so a more magical solution to the problem could be used more effectively."
"I will do what I can," Yama vowed.
"I would ask that you and Yoshi remain with Shi La to guard and care for Lee," Demona commented, "I cannot guarantee that there will be no injuries, and someone will need to guard the wounded."
Yama sighed and looked to the Tibetan clan's second, who was wounded in the fight to get to the power generator, and then looked to the other Tibetan gargoyles. None of them were fully ready to engage in such a battle in his mind, but that didn't matter. Khan had turned up the heat and they wouldn't have time to train them further. Hopefully, only a small number of Khan's men had night vision goggles, which would give the gargoyles a distinct advantage in near total darkness.
"I will defeat all who threaten them," Yama answered.
Demona nodded and turned to the rest, "we must move quickly. The explosion may have taken a fair number of Khan's men out, but there are likely still plenty of them.
Back near where the power generators were, one of the main scientist supermen pulled himself out of some of the rubble. He looked up at the damage the blast had done. It wasn't as big as it potentially could have been, but when the blast had gone off, it took out all of the supports on the bottom floor around where the power generators had been. The lack of support beneath them caused most of the floors above the location to droop straight down, including the lab he had been in. It didn't go completely through the building, but judging by the sounds that drifted down to the scientist, that those floors were not entirely stable. Anything that would do further damage there would bring those floors down as well.
"She's beating us…" the superman realized and then looked down the dark hallway, seeing nothing, "She has beaten us."
There were other men that had been working with him, but so far it appeared that they had been crushed by the rubble. To make matters worse, the scientist was also fairly certain that there were a fair number of soldiers that had also been killed and crushed by the falling debris. Now, the scientist, like all the supermen, was physically strong enough to fight a gargoyle one on one, and knew enough basic self-defense to avoid being easily beaten, but he had no weapon and no capability to see in the near blackness of what the base had become.
He managed to climb out of the rubble and slowly slid down to the floor. He would need to find a flight of stairs and get to the upper floors and potentially find Khan. He would need to know what Demona had just done to their base. His fumbling around in the dark did little good, as he was caught from behind by the gargoyles. Two of them grabbed him by the arms and twisted him around so that he was facing Demona, herself. He could only see the azure gargoyle because of the light coming off of her glowing eyes.
"Who are you?" Demona questioned.
"Shieen Vortem Lingh," the scientist said nervously, "Khan's science division member."
"You run their experiments?" a different gargoyle asked.
"No, I a merely a member of the staff," Shieen answered.
"Where is Khan?" Demona questioned.
"On the upper floors, most likely," Shieen answered, "most likely near the main security rooms and the command center."
Shieen struggled a little in nervously, but was unable to break free. His answers appeared to satisfy Demona for she stepped back. But then she began to say something in Latin and raised an arm toward him. Then, Shieen felt incredibly sleepy.
"Is he dead?" a Tibetan looked down at the man.
"No, merely asleep," Demona answered, "for quite a while."
"My Latin is a bit rusty, Demona," Wedrington commented, "but how long is your spell supposed to keep him asleep?"
"Hopefully forever," Demona answered, "I'll explain once Khan is either dead or in a similar sleep."
The Command Center
Khan managed to find the main command center and found it in much the same condition as the security center. It was totally dark and without power. He was only able to find it based on memory and touch to find the door. He privately wondered why the Illuminati hadn't engineered the supermen to have better senses in the sense of night-vision in addition to their strength, endurance, and obviously genius.
His second was presently searching for some way to get in touch the men under his command. So far, nothing had worked. Without power, the intercom was down and so were all the other means of communication. That left Khan searching for something that would work and his own stash of weapons. He eventually found a small crate containing particle beam pistols, and took a couple of them, but he could find no night-vision goggles.
"Sir?" came his second's voice after a few moments, "you in here?"
"Yes, have you had any luck in contacting anyone?" Khan asked.
"I found a set of walkie-talkie units that our individual units carry in the field," his second answered, "they run on batteries and have managed to communicate with those that have them."
"And?" Khan asked.
"At least half of our combat troops are either dead, wounded, or taken prisoner by Demona," his second answered, "though with all our other systems down, I haven't been able to confirm this."
Khan could only sigh as he soon felt a hand glance off of his shoulder as his second was trying to find him.
"I also managed to find you a spare pair of night-vision goggles," his second reported, "just to keep things in line."
"Thank you," Khan answered, "here's hoping we can hold out."
The Garage
"Yaaarrrrrrrrrrgh!" Yama roared as he brought his katana down and cleaving a superman commando in two.
Demona and the others had left to find Khan about five minutes ago, and so far things had been mostly quiet. It was only at the end of these five minutes that five commandos had come down from a different staircase, and were wearing night-vision goggles. Yoshi managed to pin them down with cover fire while Yama dealt with them at close quarters. The supermen, apparently used to modern warfare, thought Yoshi's shots to be the bigger threat and left themselves open to attack by Yama with his katana, a sword, and a weapon the armies of the world now only considered ceremonial.
"This could make things tough," Yoshi commented after Yama returned from dispatching the last of the supermen commandos.
"We will endure," Yama answered, "Shi La and Lee are safe. That is all that matters."
"And if they overwhelm us?" Yoshi asked.
"We resist as long as we can and give Demona the chance to win the battle," Yama replied, "and die with honor."
Yoshi only sighed and looked to the passageway that Demona had gone down. He hoped it wouldn't come to that. He had promised Kai and Sora that he would return Yama to them. While dying with honor for an honorable cause was something that was at the very heart of bushido, many of those principles had gone away. Yoshi knew that. Too much of it had been used to justify Japan's imperialist wars in the early to mid-twentieth century, and only the explosions of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki had stopped that. Yoshi agreed with those changes, and he couldn't bring himself to accept the line of thought that would not return Yama to Ishimura as a good thing.
"Hopefully it does not come to that," Yoshi said silently to himself.
With Demona's Group
The loss of power had brought about some good results and some bad ones. The lack of power gave the gargoyles a great advantage in terms of being able to see where they were going. The enclosed nature of the base, however, prevented them from using their wings, even with a large portion of the center of the base hollowed out. It ultimately left them spreading out to make sure every hallway was covered. Demona also gave the others instructions to make their way back to Yama and Yoshi if one of their group members was wounded. And the groups were thankfully large enough that if one was wounded, they could be taken to safety and the team could return to the overall mission.
"Do you think this will work out well?" Wedrington asked as they walked along.
"To be honest, no," Demona sighed, "I'd hope the ventilation system would provide enough of an airflow to glide in the center area that we 'hollowed out' but it doesn't we're having to take the long way."
"We're catching more of them this way," Wedrington commented as he checked a door they hadn't opened yet.
He was kicked back in surprise as the superman behind the door kicked him in the chest.
"I may not see you, but I can still hear you!" the man spoke firmly.
Shi La managed to slide forward and grab one of the man's arms and sling him into the hall as the man gestured after making his comment. She, along with Je Lu, was part of the team that was directly with Demona. Je Lu tripped him as he stumbled into the hallway. The man landed at Demona's feet. Demona merely kicked the man and sent him flying down the hall, where he finally landed unconscious.
"Yes… but the ones that have easy to catch have been unarmed or those without night-vision goggles," Demona replied, "Not exactly hard ones to take down. I'd feel more comfortable if some of the ones we've defeated were some of their main combat units."
Demona was unable to continue as the sound laser fire echoed elsewhere in the base and fairly nearby.
"And the fact that we don't know for sure how the others are doing as they move through the fortress only makes this worse," Demona then sighed.
"Remember, you're the one who felt this was necessary," Wedrington warned her.
"I do," Demona sighed again, "That doesn't mean I have to LIKE it."
Khan, also, wasn't too terribly fond of the situation he found his forces in. He had no electrical power and no means of contacting the rest of his army. In pure theory this might ultimately lead to reinforcements coming when his subordinate commands didn't receive instructions from him, BUT that would take a while, and given the amount of firing that he heard going on, he doubted very much they would arrive in time to save the base from Demona and the gargoyles she'd brought with her.
Given the surprise that Demona had gained in her initial attack, Khan was certain that she would come for him, and was rapidly moving things in his command area to wait for Demona's arrival. He had some night-vision goggles, a cache of weapons, and a battery powered walkie-talkie to keep him in contact with his second in command who was somewhere else in the base, trying hard to make sure that his supermen put up some fight.
"Sir, are you there?" came his second's voice.
"Yes, what is it?" Khan asked back into the walkie-talkie.
"More bad news, I'm afraid," Khan's second replied, "They appear to be everywhere in the base, sir. Like they've spread out."
"We could overpower some of their units and pick them apart, piece by piece!" Khan exclaimed, getting some hope for victory.
"Maybe, but it gets worse, sir," Khan's second answered, "They're armed and armed with our own weapons. Picking them off…"
The sounds of laser fire soon cut off his second's rely. Khan was about to call to him, but there was then the sound of something blunt striking something made of flesh and then the like went static. One of Demona's teams had caught his second… or killed him. Khan placed his walkie-talkie down and waited for the inevitable.
Yoshi looked on nervously as an ever increasing number of wounded and prisoners came back to where he was waiting with Yama. Khan's supermen did continue to make their way into the garage area trying to navigate the fortress in the darkness. Thankfully, the latest didn't have night vision goggles and he and Yama were able to ambush them. The bigger worry was the wounded that came back with some of the teams that Demona had sent to move through the base. Thankfully, none of the Tibetan gargoyles had been killed yet, but at the same time, some of the wounded appeared to be seriously hurt. They might make it to sunrise, but Yoshi didn't want to chance it.
"This one appears to be a medicine truck!" Yama called to him as they'd begun to search the vehicles that were all parked in the garage.
"Is it fully stocked?" Yoshi asked as he quickly made his way to where his clan brother was.
"I hadn't gotten that far yet," Yama answered, "Hold on…"
Yoshi arrived in time to see Yama pull the door to a side-panel off of the vehicle to reveal medical supplies sitting inside the compartment.
"It is," Yama then finished.
Yoshi rushed forward and began to look over the supplies that would be needed to perform at least basic first aid and whatever would be needed to allow the wounded to holdout until daybreak.
"Get all the bandages, antibiotics, hydrogen peroxide, and so forth," Yoshi ordered, "the wounded will need them."
Yama was quick to follow Yoshi's order. The wounded that had been brought back looked like they had endured a lot just getting away from the fighting. To some extent, it pained him that he couldn't be there to help them and make sure they wouldn't face as much of the danger as they were presently facing, but at least, he figured, that they were also beating Khan's forces as well. The fact that Khan was losing was some consolation.
That feeling, however, soon ended as he and Yoshi began to head back toward where the wounded and the unconscious prisoners were. They heard the sound of conversation, but what was the frightening thing was the sound of the cocking of a gun. Another group of Khan's supermen had made their way down and had stumbled onto the wounded gargoyles.
"You're sure it's them?" one voice said.
"It has to be," another said, "what I tripped on wasn't an arm or a leg."
"Where is it?" the first asked.
"I don't know, yet," the second replied, "keep your shirt on!"
Yama set the supplies he had on the hood of a truck near him and rushed forward. He found two men on the edge of where the wounded gargoyles were. They had all gone quiet as they realized that the two supermen hadn't seen them or fully noticed where the Tibetans were. Drawing his weapon, Yama was not about to let the wounded gargoyles under his protection come to any harm. With a roar, he lunged forward and leaped into the air.
"There's one!" the second shouted, "I heard it!"
The first turned in the general direction, but still didn't see anything. He fired two shots from his gun, a normal handgun, sending bullets into the darkness. Yama heard them ricochet off of something behind him, but he wasn't about to stay still and figure out what. He brought his katana down in a firm swing and amputated the superman's arm at the elbow, letting the forearm, hand, and gun fall harmlessly to the floor. Yama then whirled a sweeping motion that delivered a kick that sent the first superman flying into his partner.
"You will not harm them!" Yama said firmly and waited for the supermen to prepare to attack him again.
The second man panicked completely and tried to flee while the first began to look for his gun. The second man didn't get far when he ran into a parked armored personnel carrier and then had Yoshi tackle him from behind, knocking him out. Yama finished off the first superman by grabbing him by the shoulders and then body slamming him back to the floor. The move almost looked like something out of a Judo tournament, but not quite. Once both supermen were unconscious, Yama looked up to make sure none of the injured and wounded Tibetan gargoyles were harmed further. They weren't, and they looked to him with some level of support.
"Thank you, Yama," one spoke, "I'm sure your honor should be restored for all you've done to protect us here."
"Perhaps," Yama answered, "we will need to survive this first."
Meanwhile, Demona's group continued to make decent progress toward where they figured Khan's command center would be. The sounds of battle continued to echo, but so far, that seemed to be quieting down. This meant that either the Tibetan gargoyles were now mopping up the remains of Khan's forces, or Khan's forces were wiping out the Tibetans and her group was all that remained. For the moment, Demona had no time to worry about that. Khan had to be defeated first.
They came to a large door that was shut completely. Based off of some guide maps they had come across along the way, they figured that it would have to be Khan's main center of power in the base… where he commanded his armies and followers from.
"And now to end this war," Demona said firmly and prepared to kick it in, only to have it explode in her face, and throwing all four gargoyles back.
She grunted in pain and slowly climbed to her feet only to have a non-projectile burst fly through her right wing. It thankfully missed the wing bones, but the membrane between them was badly torn up, and Demona roared with pain, trying to recover from the attack. She dove to one of the walls around the door frame while Wedrington, Je Lu, and Shi La dove for the other. She glanced to them to see that they were just as covered in splinters from the door as she was.
"You'll have to do that!" came a man's voice from inside the room, obviously Khan.
"You'll pay for what you've done here!" Demona answered back.
"Please, Demona, don't go all noble on me," Khan answered back and fired again, making sure Demona couldn't lean into the doorway, "we both know that you're just like me. Desiring global conquest to suit a particular political vision… but while you merely wished gargoyle rule and humanity's extinction… I have plans! Plans that will work!"
"Plans that involve driving gargoyles from their homes and starting a war that will surely kill more?" Demona questioned back, "You think I would stand by and let you do that?"
Demona then glanced to Wedrington and then continued.
"And besides, the data you have on me is no longer accurate," Demona answered, "I no longer wish humanity's destruction. I merely wish them to leave gargoyles alone!"
"Oh… and what might have caused that change of heart?" Khan taunted.
Demona glanced to Wedrington again.
"None of your business," she thought to herself, and then stuck one hand into the room and cast a small spell.
The spell generated a brilliant flash of light that operated like a flash grenade. It was more to disorient the target rather than do physical harm. The light was as bright as any bright sunlight, but in the enclosed space of the office, it was blinding. Wearing the night vision goggles, Khan was blinded by it and tore them off in response. He also groaned as he tried to clear his vision. The light in the room returned to pitch blackness before Khan's vision cleared from suddenly being blinded.
Demona then rushed into the room with a roar and lunged over the desk to tackle the disoriented Khan. The superman leader was still too 'out of it' to resist and Demona threw him against a wall before he could respond. The result of the move left him with no weapon and with Demona between him and his cache of weapons.
"That was cheating," Khan commented as he got up, looking around nervously as now without his night vision goggles, he couldn't see.
"No different than you using your supermen to attack a clan of gargoyles that was no threat to you," Demona answered and stood her ground, "no different than you using bits of my past against me when that past no longer matters."
Khan responded to the sound and charged Demona. To her surprise, he caught her around the waist and drove her back into the desk. She gave a pained grunt as the edge of the desk her spine.
"I'm sure those you've wronged feel otherwise," Khan answered.
He then delivered a crossing punch that knocked Demona's tiara off of her head. Khan was about to throw another blind punch when another gargoyle tackled him. He sound found himself staring into Wedrington's glowing white eyes.
"You will not harm her!" Wedrington growled and then kneed Khan in the gut.
The blow sent Khan staggering back as Wedrington didn't fully hold his grip on the superman leader. Khan tried to recover, but was hit in the chest by a lightening spell which threw him against a wall and knocked him out.
"I had him," Demona answered.
"I'm sure," Wedrington nodded, "I just wished to help you…"
Demona was quiet for a moment and then sighed. It had been so long since she had been in any real relationship with anyone. On some level the last real lover she had had was Goliath. She had been using the original Thailog as part of her own schemes to one-up Goliath and then clung to him because Thailog behaved in a way she expected from a 'true' gargoyle. But Thailog betrayed her and made it clear that he was using her and thought of her less then she had truly thought of him.
Her relationship with Wedrington was essentially starting things over, and the fact that he was a transformed human would probably add its own complications. Gargoyle instincts weren't entirely identical to human instincts.
"I know," Demona nodded with a sigh, "we should check on the others… and take Khan to them."
Wedrington nodded as Je Lu and Shi La came in to help remove Khan's unconscious form.
Garage, Later
Demona returned to the garage to find it filled with captured supermen. All were tied up and some were still unconscious as Je Lu tossed Khan's unconscious form with them. They were also quick to notice the wounded Tibetan gargoyles being looked after by Yama and Yoshi. The other Tibetan teams were also doing their best to help, though a few came to make their reports to Demona and Je Lu.
"We've got them all," a male, named Han Di, reported, "I regret that some others of Khan's supermen were killed in the fighting…"
"That is unavoidable in these situations," Demona told him, "sadly."
"Did Khan's supermen kill anyone?" Je Lu asked.
"Thanks to Yama and Yoshi, know," Han Di answered, "Yama, apparently fought bravely against a great number of foes to protect those that had been injured."
"That is good," Shi La replied, "very good."
"Yes," Wedrington agreed, "in the meantime, what will we do with Khan and the others? We can't just leave them… and I wouldn't think that executing them as they are is right."
Demona looked over to the large numbers of supermen that they had captured. They couldn't execute them, and it was also likely that they couldn't hold Khan's base forever. Someone would eventually retake it, and they didn't have some hidden prison to send them to, outside of the Illuminati, but Demona would never consider partnering with them.
"There is only one thing that might work," Demona commented, "if we make sure that our wounded are clearly separated from them."
"Magic?" Wedrington asked.
"The Grimorum contained a spell the Magus used to put my clan to sleep after the castle was sacked by the Vikings," Demona answered, "And Merlin supposedly used an enchanted sleep to keep Arthur alive for years on Avalon. The only other possible option would be some form of cryogenics, which to my knowledge aren't advanced enough to safely preserve them… and even if the technology was there, we don't have it, and even if we did, we'd still need to guard it."
"Will it work?" Wedrington wondered as the others began making sure that the wounded were not in a position where they could be hurt.
"It will hold them until a more suitable punishment can be procured," Demona answered.
"We're ready," Han Di reported to her.
Demona then focused firmly on the supermen prisoners, including Khan. Most were still unconscious, and those that were awake were firmly restrained firmly. She stepped toward them and raised her arms to begin the spell. The spell was done in Latin and followed the traditional imperative order that European magic was based on.
"Sleep in suspension until light stands still," Demona commanded and a strong green glow surrounded her fists as the spell began to be cast.
Once cast, all of the supermen were in a sound and deep sleep.
"There," Demona sighed, "nothing will wake them until light stands still."
"Which is impossible," Wedrington commented, "Light is always moving."
Demona nodded.
The End…
Epilogue…
Far into the Future… Exact Year Unknown
Khan awoke to find himself in a strange medical center. He was greeted by a human male in a blue uniform checking on him and most of the other supermen.
"Where… where am I?" Khan asked.
"In sick-bay," the man in the uniform answered him as he approached.
Khan noticed a strange spear/arrow head like insignia on the man's chest, but couldn't recognize it.
"We found your ship adrift and all of you in some sort of suspended animation," the man continued, "its life support was failing so we brought you aboard."
"To save me?" Khan inquired.
"Partially, but also to investigate," the man answered, "Your ship carried some Earth insignias from several centuries ago… unfortunately we can't access any more information on you until we can get your name and where you were headed. The computers on your ship are not compatible with the main computers here on the Enterprise."
"And where is… the Enterprise headed?" Khan asked as some of his followers began to revive.
"Right now to a Federation star-base," the man answered, "We're doing Warp 4 right now to get there and should arrive within a few hours."
"I see," Khan answered.
"If you'll excuse me, the Captain will want to know you're awake," the man in the uniform spoke.
He then walked off. Khan was then approached by his second in command.
"What do you make of that?" Khan asked him quietly.
"I'm not sure," his second replied, "I was conscious when Demona cast her spell… she said, in Latin, that we were to sleep until light stood still."
"Does light stand still?" Khan inquired.
"Not technically," his second answered, "BUT to anything travelling at the speed of light or faster, it would seem to be standing still because at that speed time is technically meaningless… as time itself only moves at the speed of light."
"So… this 'warp' must be a speed reference to the speed of light," Khan mused.
"Yes," his second nodded, "so what do we do?"
"We take over this ship," Khan answered, "and figure out a way to return to Earth. We have a score to settle with Demona…"