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 "Taking Apart Empires… Part 2."

Taking Apart Empires… Part 3

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

Yumen, Gansu Province, China

"I'm not sure on why all these redeployments are occurring," a colonel in the ranks of Khan's supermen said to his adjutant while looking over several orders and requests. Among them were the transfers of several normal Chinese units into border defense positions.

"Perhaps Khan feels ready to make his move elsewhere," the adjutant offered, "After all… can we fully trust the Chinese to help us replace the Illuminati?"

"Not in the long term," the colonel agreed with a nod, "but I had thought that the overall plan was to wait until we had enough supermen to essentially shut down the anti-Illuminati Chinese and Tibetan forces before moving on…"

"The only other possibility is that he is concerned about the gargoyle resistance," the adjutant added, "this 'Demona' character."

The colonel nodded, "a shame though he's cloaking so much of his command through the local anti-Illuminati offices in Tibet. Then we might know more about what is going on…"

"Perhaps the Illuminati have found a way to tap the communications," the adjutant told him, "they did build the base, after all."

The colonel nodded and looked down to his desk and the orders he had received. It was theoretically possible that the Illuminati had found a way to hack into their communications lines and got through the new codes that Khan had put in place. The problem with that is that for the moment, finding out would take some work.

"Lieutenant, do you think you could put together something to see if the Illuminati have hacked our communications somehow?" the colonel asked.

"I believe so," the adjutant commented, "The Illuminati retreated out of here quickly and we found a lot of their equipment intact. It may take a little while to jerry-rig something together, but I believe I can."

"Then get to it," the colonel answered, "Khan may be working on it at the base… but for the moment there hasn't been too much going on in this area… and it never hurts to take a little initiative."

"At once, sir," the adjutant answered with a saluted and then walked out.

The war against the Illuminati had gone well, as the Chinese people did rise up to support Khan in the efforts to oust the Illuminati. But the silence from Khan's fortress of late was something that was to be considered troubling. There were all sorts of reasons for why it was happening, but there hadn't been that much in the way of getting answers to the questions that were being asked.

0-0-0

Well outside the city in a small border post, the one who had been the real cause behind the confusion in Khan's empire was being sheltered inside a tent for the anti-Illuminati Chinese forces that were being assigned to replace the supermen forces. The mixed Chinese and Tibetan squad that had been assisting in moving the one causing the confusion for Khan's forces was presently in the process of trying to convince the local anti-Illuminati troops to accept the help being provided.

"We are to really trust this creature?" the local anti-Illuminati commander asked, "if it truly is a creature and not some artist's creation."

"We are trying to save China from rule from outsiders," the leader of the squad answered gesturing to the two stone forms, one female and one male, "if these were but carvings, we wouldn't have brought them along."

The local commander looked to the two forms. The male sort of looked like a male winged lion while the female looked like a demon in a tiara.

"And the female's grasp of the supernatural is quite amazing in and of itself," the squad leader answered, "She doesn't need weapons to take on the supermen. We would, and a coup on our part could give the Illuminati some indication that all is not well in Khan's domain and they could return…"

"That may not be an issue," the local commander commented, "Khan's men don't know… or don't suspect that we are no longer blindly following him and have, at times, been rather lax in their own security."

"Arrogance to the extreme," one of the Tibetans in squad, effectively being called 'Demona's support squad' by those that had met them so far, commented.

The local commander nodded, "and they've made mention of some secret mission that Khan sent his little sorceress on and that we might see some Illuminati guys flee our way to get away from her. My bet is that she performing some underhanded actions against them and preventing them from looking at China."

The members of the support squad looked to each other and then shrugged. If the Illuminati wasn't focused on them, that might play out to their favor, as they might very well have to fight Khan's supermen eventually. Though, for the moment, they were concerned that they were too strong at the present time to risk an outright uprising.

"Let Demona and her partner continue to whittle down Khan's forces," the squad leader said, "She is good at it… and the clan in Tibet that she is helping has promised to help as much as they can. While things are quiet… let's keep them quiet until we can win quickly and easily."

"Very well," the local commander answered, "but she will need to see how she does against the local garrison. Because I think Khan's local commander is paying more attention than what you've said the others have."

"Don't worry," the squad leader said confidently, "She is good… and we are recruiting for when things go south."

All he got was a nod.

Sunset

Demona and Wedrington both awakened with the setting of the sun as they always did. The two of them found their support squad standing opposite them inside a tent.

"Good evening," the squad leader said calmly, "are you ready for what will be your next major mission?"

"Where are we?" Demona asked in a low voice and with little real patience.

"Outside of Yumen city," the squad commander answered, "we've managed to secure the border posts through fake orders from Khan, but the supermen still control the city and they're on patrol there."

"I suppose that's where we're to go next," Wedrington said in a somewhat weary voice, as while he had done his best to learn to be the sort of warrior that Demona expected, but he was still not a warrior by nature. To a great extent, he was tired from all of these rapid missions that had both he and Demona going in largely alone.

"Into the city," the squad leader answered with a nod, "though my men and I would be glad to help… if we could be provided with silencer equipped weapons."

"Most of what we've taken from Khan… while good for a pitched battle aren't good for assassination," one of the other Chinese members of the squad added.

Demona gave a slow sigh and rubbed her head for a moment. She knew the overall mission that she and Wedrington had. Take apart Khan's army of supermen, spread throughout China to give the Anti-Illuminati Chinese some hope setting up a free China. In return, they agreed to let Je Lu and his clan have their home in China or Tibet, depending on where Je Lu decided to keep his clan. A lot of it struck her as the same old promises that she had heard time and time again, from Prince Malcom, from Princess Katherine, from Macbeth, from Xanatos, from Elisa Maza. Humans promising to protect and work with gargoyles, and while Demona had to admit she had played her own role in the events, there was some belief on her part that remained that felt that the promises were hollow. And once upon a time, Demona would quite willingly go to war with humanity over those feelings.

But things had changed since then, and she knew it. Xanatos had been mutated by Sevarius and if he betrayed the Manhattan Clan, he'd suffer the exact same fate. Demona had to painfully admit that Elisa Maza might not betray the clan, though the fact that she had been turned into a gargoyle by the Mage made that battle mute. Then there was Wedrington. He wasn't as big as Goliath, and he wasn't as strong as Goliath, and he wasn't a natural warrior, but he did listen to her. He gave her honest advice and let her vent out her anger. That had done more for Demona's 'redemption' than anything else, and she'd be willing to gamble that the Chinese wouldn't betray Je Lu for him.

She glanced over to him and saw his eyes somewhat downcast and one of his middle toes slowly pushing the rocks they were standing on around in a circular motion. He was clearly tired by the same sorts of hit and run missions that they had been running to take on the supermen soldiers.

"We cannot rest for a night or two? Regain our strength?" Demona asked carefully, surprised and how that question slipped out.

"I don't think so," the squad commander answered, "Khan's local garrison commander is paying a bit more attention that the ones we've tackled with previously. Giving him more time might lead to more trouble."

Demona sighed heavily. This was one of the things that were frustrating her. She wasn't supportive of Khan in any way, but got the sensation that she and Wedrington were being used to hunt down Khan's forces while the Chinese, who had the equipment to take on Khan's supermen did nothing. It reminded her too much of what she remembered from the past, but she managed keep herself from erupting in anger, if only to keep Wedrington by her side.

"And you cannot help us?" Demona asked barely hiding her disappointment.

"On many of these smaller missions we want to," the squad leader answered, "as Khan's soldiers haven't completely realized that we know what they're doing… but we're under orders not to. At least with regard making sure that the Illuminati doesn't get an opening to come back into China."

"We can manage, but we'd like to eat before we go," Wedrington spoke up putting a hand on Demona's shoulder.

"That's fine," the squad commander nodded.

Yumen

The adjutant calmly stepped into his private quarters in the building that the supermen had commandeered as their headquarters and prepared himself for the task he had volunteered for. There weren't too many ways that the Illuminati would have been able to hack into the systems that Khan had set up within China. Khan had never torn down and replaced the system that the Illuminati had originally built, but had simply changed the passwords and passcodes to use the system in China. If the Illuminati had hacked the system, all they had done was figured out the password.

"Thankfully their own system carries within it some means of defense against spying," the adjutant said to himself as he set a large role of paper down on the desk in his room, "I can use that as the backbone as a monitoring system… I'll just need a small signal catching/monitoring device that is hooked into the Illuminati's system."

He quietly opened one drawer and pulled a lone wooden pencil from the drawer. On close inspection he found the pencil sharp and ready for use, said 'perfect' to it and was soon sketching the sort of device that he figured he'd need to build to perform the sort of monitoring tests that would be needed to make sure that the Illuminati hadn't hacked their system. It wasn't an impossible job and the adjutant had his confidence reinforced by the fact that all of the supermen were well versed in strategy and communications. Some, like Khan, were better than others, but all of them were good, and the adjutant of the Yumen garrison knew it.

"This will get us to the bottom of things," the adjutant spoke again to himself as he continued to sketch down what he would need.

0-0-0

Meanwhile the local commander was looking over recent reports that came across his desk. He knew of his adjutant's concerns and with regard to the big picture, he shared them. After all, Khan had maintained fairly close contact with units while they were chasing the Illuminati out of China and now they hadn't heard anything from him at all. The last communique had been to mention Marilyn's mission and the possible threat Demona now posed to the Khanate. It informed them of what was going on, but some updates here and there were to be expected, and they were to be expected from Khan, not the anti-Illuminati Chinese. However, none of the reports, that the commander looked to, had anything to do with Demona or even with Illuminati action outside China. In that sense, all was quiet and the commander was content to let things stay quiet. He'd take action when something went wrong, as that was about all he could do.

"Your men will get bored with nothing to do," came a feminine voice from the bed behind him.

The commander turned to see a lone woman laying sprawled out on his bed. She was fully dressed and lay there as more of a romantic companion than as woman of easy virtue. In fact the commander had actually saved the woman from an abusive husband when Khan's forces had taken the city and he had become smitten with her. He would have married her if his request for permission had been answered.

"They'll follow orders if they know what's good for them," the commander assured her, "and I'd think they do… my adjutant is even putting together an idea to figure out why our main communications have gone dead…"

"Then I wish him the best of luck," the woman gave a grateful smile, "but you should know that not all soldiers share the same devotion to duty… not every soldier is as good as you."

The commander could only give an uneasy smile.

Above Yumen

After a quick breakfast, Wedrington and Demona were quick to glide toward the city of Yumen where they had been told that Khan's forces had their headquarters. The immortal female had some concerns as the local units reported that the city garrison was fairly sizeable, so it wasn't as though it would be an easy target they could rush in one go. Communications would also make it impossible for them to siege the supermen into submission without truly bringing the anti-Illuminati Chinese in on their side full time.

"I think that's what the local commander said is the superman base," Wedrington pointed to what looked like an old industrial building.

Demona looked down to the building rising up from the earth and looking very much like a square from directly above. It had little in the way of exterior lighting, but both gargoyles could easily see through the darkness. Men were posted on the roof at all four corners of the building, but they all seemed to be looking down toward the street. None of them were looking up.

"I think they're watching to protect against car accidents or something," Wedrington commented.

"It's been a quiet garrison since the Illuminati were pushed out of China," Demona answered, "they likely haven't seen any action since they were assigned to look over things and things haven't gone far enough that Khan was able to begin truly ruling over the people here…"

The two began to turn in a half circle as if to head back toward the building and with both gargoyles looking at the armed guards on the roof. Both knew that they would have to storm it in order continue taking apart Khan's empire, and that Demona would have to do a lot of the work with her magic to make sure that the two of them were able to make it through the night in one piece. It was one of the things she didn't like, but for Wedrington, Demona agreed to put up with it. A part of her found it strange that she was being so willing to support human causes, but she tried to put the mission in a more gargoyle context. It carried the promise that Je Lu's clan would earn protection and the promise that she would gain more than simply a friend but a new potential mate. Demona remembered the Illuminati man's attempt at time travel and knew her future with Wedrington. And while Wedrington may have been born human, he had so far proven to be a good study at being a gargoyle. That alone gave Demona confidence in him, though her attraction came more from his willingness to give her a chance to truly explain herself without rejecting her outright.

"I have the one in the northeast corner," Demona instructed to Wedrington, "you take the one in the southwest corner. From there… try to get into buildings and use them to hide and gain distance…"

Wedrington looked to the sky blue female and nodded. He also noted headlights from a military truck coming in from the north. That had to be the local anti-Illuminati Chinese garrison and they were waiting for their chance to clean up what supermen escaped the two gargoyles. That gave Wedrington the assurance that their allies were in fact allies. Demona from time to time grumbled on the lack of effort from even their support squad in confronting Khan's supermen, but they were caught in a tough position. As far as everyone knew, the Illuminati were still at war with Khan and if a sudden civil war within Khan's China erupted, the Illuminati could easily move back in. They had to be sure that the removal of Khan's forces didn't attract Illuminati attention and that China's borders could remain safe. But, they were ready to help if absolutely need be, which to Wedrington gave them far more credit than Demona gave them.

"Right," Wedrington answered and then rolled into a dive, headed straight for the guard who was monitoring the street.

The dive was steep and that generated a fair amount of wind that Wedrington could feel ruffling both the fur that made up his mane and his feathered wings, but he managed to keep his wings straight so as not to cause a rustling noise that one of the guards would hear. The superman only looked up as Wedrington got close and the man's eyes widened in surprise.

"Surprise!" Wedrington announced as he caught the barrel of the superman's rifle with one hand and grabbed him by the shoulder with the other.

The superman tried to fight, and managed to actually swing his free hand to hit Wedrington in the shoulder. The blow had enough physical force that Wedrington was forced to let go of the superman, which proved to be a hollow victory for the superman. Once Wedrington let him go, the man fell three stories and landed on his back in the middle of the street. Wedrington leveled out with the man's gun and noticed that the superman was still breathing, but was clearly out of it.

"One down," Wedrington said to himself.

As Wedrington dove on his target, Demona dove on the guard on the other corner of the building. Unlike Wedrington, Demona had no qualms with dealing lethal damage to her target. It was a war and wars created fatalities for both sides, and Khan's men had surely dished out more death than even the humans could stand. Even Goliath knew that and would take measures to make sure the supermen wouldn't be a threat to anyone ever, and Demona privately feared at times that Wedrington's reluctance to take such steps would get him killed and cost her her future mate.

Demona's first move was an overhand slash with her talons out, which caught the superman across the face. These men were garrison troops and weren't fully equipped for combat, which gave Demona an advantage in her attack. The blow made him drop his gun and he screamed as he brought his hands up to assess the wounds Demona had delivered. Demona then pivoted in the air and aimed one hand at the next closest guard.

"Fulminis venite!" Demona cast the Archemage's go to lightning spell and sent that guard over the edge of the building before having to dive a way due to the maneuver she had made to cast the spell.

That left the last guard running toward the roof entry to the interior of the building. He had never seen any of the gargoyles personally before, but thanks to his programming he did know of them and that the blue female was extremely dangerous.

Inside

The Yumen garrison commander had actually begun to doze off when the intercom to his room suddenly buzzed to life. It made him jump and startled his lover beside him.

"What…?" the woman said nervously, "what's going on?"

"I do not know," the commander answered, "but don't worry, I'll find out…"

He managed to climb to his feet and walked over to a small silver colored panel on the wall next to his private desk. On that panel, there was a lone square shaped button that was flashing red, indicating that someone was trying to reach him over the facility's intercom.

"What is it?! What's going on?" the commander demanded as he pressed the button.

"Sir! We're under attack!" came the reply.

"Is it the Illuminati?" the commander cut the report off, "where are the Chinese troops?"

"It isn't the Illuminati! It's the gargoyle!" the reporting soldier answered, "Demontia… or…"

The commander blinked as the sound of electricity echoed through the intercom before a harsh and irritated feminine voice finished.

"My name is DEMONA!"

"You won't get away with this, gargoyle!" the commander vowed and shut the intercom off as he had no intention of arguing with a gargoyle witch.

"What's going on?" his lover asked, fear evident in her voice.

The commander did his best to try and stay calm, "A female gargoyle named Demona has been waging a private war against Khan for some time now. I can't say why… but she has been attacking our instillations and trying to bring down the future that Khan has promised for China."

The woman pulled the blankets up and around her, as if doing so would protect her.

"And now she's attacking us here," the commander said slowly and with some frustration, "but don't worry… I will do all that I can to defeat her."

0-0-0

The base's adjutant had just gotten a rough sketch of what his scanning device would look like, complete with antenna and computer equipment, and had a list of parts that he would need to put it together when the intercom to his room came to life with a frantic buzzing. He blinked and moved over to activate it. He found his commander on the other end of the line.

"Sir?" the adjutant spoke, "I have the parts list for the monitoring device. We can find out if the Illuminati have hacked our communications!"

"That'll have to wait!" the commander answered, "Demona's brought her war here! Arm yourself and get men to the roof! Drive her off!"

"Demona?!" the adjutant gasped.

He had heard of the female gargoyle, but had figured that she was a target for Marilyn and that was who Khan's sorceress was battling. He didn't expect to be fighting the immortal Scottish female gargoyle, and the report from his commander immediately made him nervous. He could contend with her strength, as any superman could, but the adjutant's programming was more as an administrator than as a direct combatant and as such, he felt outclassed in being pitted against a female gargoyle that had a strong reputation for combat.

On the roof

On the roof, Demona and Wedrington had finished off the last of the guards that were on the roof and were preparing to go into the building. While there was plenty that Demona didn't like about how these missions had been arranged, she was confident as she knew that the supermen couldn't kill her and with Khan presently in an enchanted sleep, any attempt to secure her would lead to her release. She had some concern for Wedrington, as while he was picking up on the combat skills needed for a warrior, he was still mortal, but even with that concern, she figured that if she took the lead, he would be fine.

Wedrington, however, was more nervous as there was plenty that they couldn't easily predict.

"How many did the local anti-Illuminati commander say were here?" Wedrington asked as the two of them began to approach the roof entrance to the building.

"The local garrison should include one hundred combat troops and a further fifty support troops," Demona answered, "though how many of them are here at present is an unknown. They could have been transferred elsewhere in the area…"

Wedrington quietly followed for a moment and then came up with a question, "Isn't there a way you could put the supermen here to sleep? It'd make dealing with the ones here easier…"

"Outside of punching them?" Demona asked back, looking over her shoulder.

Wedrington nodded.

"With a sleep spell?" Demona asked.

"Like the one you used on Khan," Wedrington commented.

"That wouldn't work," Demona answered, "I'd have to cast the spell directly in order for it to work."

"What about something more… discreet," Wedrington asked, "I remember something from the news about odd occurrences in New York before the gargoyle clan was revealed there. Some of them included sightings of a blue female gargoyle, probably you…"

"Probably not at my best," Demona said slowly, "making bad choices continually…"

Wedrington nodded, "but this isn't about wiping out humanity. This is trying to save a people from a tyrant and we don't have to kill them or punch them all to do so."

Demona raised one brow ridge.

"Cast something that would make any that see you and hear your voice sleep," Wedrington finished when he got the sensation that she didn't fully understand what he was getting at.

That made Demona blink and she did catch on. Though, that plan only worked as well as it did because the people of New York didn't fully understand magic and let her scheme carry on. Only the blind, deaf, or those who simply didn't watch television weren't affected by it. She doubted Khan's supermen could be so easily duped, and such a scheme would surely affect the normal people as well.

"That wouldn't work," Demona gave a sigh, "Either I'd put the whole city to sleep or I wouldn't put enough people to sleep. If you have an idea… it'd need to be effective and one we can keep contained to this building."

Wedrington thought for a moment and finally snapped his fingers, "what if it's more like a knockout gas. Something that they use in crowd control or in anesthetics put people under. They could be knocked out and secured before they come to and then the better spell could be cast."

"That might actually work," Demona commented, "it may take a little more to contain things… but it might work."

"Then we should let the Chinese coming to support us of the idea," Wedrington commented.

Demona nodded, "Go. I will take the steps needed to contain the supermen here."

While Demona focused on the door to the roof entrance, Wedrington moved and leaped over the edge of the ceiling.

0-0-0

On the ground, anti-Illuminati troops were quick to set up a perimeter around the building that was the headquarters for Khan's supermen in Yumen. Thankfully few people came out to investigate the sounds of sporadic gunfire that the supermen had fired at Wedrington or Demona. They were easily turned back with the cover that some Illuminati commandos were trying to raid the headquarters and they were ordered to make sure they couldn't retreat.

"We have all the men that were knocked off the roof in the truck, sir," a private reported.

"Good," the officer in charge of those who had ridden from the border post to Yumen answered with a nod, "Do they live?"

"Yes," the private answered, "but they appear to be pretty badly beaten up."

"That make it easier to transport them," the officer answered and looked up to see a white winged lion-like shape came down closer to them. He managed to identify him as the English gargoyle known as Wedrington.

"Has Demona secured the building?" the officer asked him as he landed, briefly beating his wings to steady his landing.

"The roof is clear," Wedrington answered, "no one's charged out yet… so we're working on a way to put them to sleep before they can come out. It'd save us potential injury and save you collateral damage."

"How will you do that?" the private asked curiously.

"A spell, I believe," Wedrington answered, "it would have the effect of a general anesthetic that surgeons use to put people under. Though, Demona will need you to maintain the perimeter you have so that she can make sure that no one but Khan's followers get knocked out."

"That we can do easily," the officer answered, "though you'd best get to our truck before someone sees you."

0-0-0

On the roof, Demona focused on the things that needed to be done before anything else could be done to carry out the plan. First was sealing the door to the roof entrance and make sure that no one could get in or out though those doors. Once it was sealed, she'd need to cast an energy shield to hold the agent that would put the supermen to sleep around the building and preventing them from getting out. Given her power in magic thanks to the Mage's training and her link to Macbeth, Demona had no fear of lacking power or even ingredients for the spells. The only thing that truly concerned her was time and to remember the right terms and conditions for the spells required.

Inside

"I don't like this," the woman said nervously as the base's commander tried to comfort her, "Can't we flee?"

"From two gargoyles?" the commander asked back, "From the files we liberated from the Illuminati, we know that Demona is dangerous, but that doesn't mean she is invincible. My men will take care of her and her threat to the Khanate will end."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

The commander gently kissed her forehead. He didn't like seeing her nervous and was determined to comfort her to the best degree that he was able.

"I am sure," he said, "My adjutant is smart. He'll get her and things will calm down."

0-0-0

His adjutant, however, was finding that things weren't as good as what the commander expected. They had arrived at the top of the stairs that would lead to the roof to find the door shut and a strange green glow wrapped around it. One superman rushed to kick it, and the blow hit him with such an electric shock that the man was thrown back into the crowd of other supermen. The adjutant struggled to climb out from under the others as they also tried to recover from the impact.

"She's sealed the door," the adjutant said slowly, "what is she up to?"

"She's trying to hold us in for something!" one superman answered and fired his weapon at the closed door.

The bullets hit the same wall of energy that revealed a shimmer of emerald light, like a rock striking a pond, and actually came back at them. The adjutant managed to throw himself down but two of the others weren't as fortunate, and he looked over his shoulder to see both men fall backward with bullet wounds in their chests.

"What do we do?" one of the surviving men asked.

"All we can do is go out at the ground level and scale the outside of building," the adjutant answered.

"But we don't have rope!" a different superman pointed out.

The adjutant sighed.

Outside

Demona smiled to herself as she heard the sounds of the superman assault on the shielded door. It was a small spell that would seal the door and prevent serious attacks, though she was gambling that the supermen wouldn't know that its duration would be limited. A prolonged assault would wear the barrier down and allow the supermen out onto the roof, but so far that wasn't the case, and it seemed as though they were going to go outside and try to scale the building. That would give her a little time, which she couldn't waste.

She was soon in the air and glided up and in a semicircle until she was hovering directly above the industrial building that the supermen had made into their headquarters in Yumen. The winds weren't strong, but she did manage, and soon spread her arms wide and gathered her strength. Once ready, Demona began to chant in Latin.

"Air hardens to form a wall until the clock strikes the dawn!" Demona chanted and let spell fly from her fingers and spread into a green colored energy dome.

Demona remained in place as the dome surrounded the building and began to sink toward the ground. It was at this time that she noticed the anti-Illuminati Chinese presence on the ground. They had surrounded the building and were engaged in containing the supermen or at least watching her. There didn't seem to be any civilian action being taken against them, which Demona hoped would allow her and Wedrington to leave the area without any trouble.

"And now for the last bit," Demona mused and prepared to cast a spell that would teleport several bricks from other buildings in the area and turn them into opened knockout gas canisters.

0-0-0

On the ground, the anti-Illuminati troops only watched the energy field surround the industrial building. It glowed with a greenish color and was something that seemed to shimmer with energy. They weren't fully versed with regard to magic and much of it went over their heads, but for the moment, it seemed to keep Khan's supermen contained and they weren't about to complain.

"Strange," one man spoke as he saw a series of flashes of light inside the dome that now surrounded the building, "how does it work…?"

"Don't know," another commented, his voice holding a similar level of awe, "but it is working. Can't complain."

They continued to watch after the flashes inside the dome, and then watched as what looked like a cloud began to form inside the dome. The cloud was thick and seemed to obscure everything and made it impossible for the anti-Illuminati troops to look inside. To them it looked like a gas attack.

"Gas?" the first spoke in a puzzled voice.

"Yes, gas," came the voice of the officer in charge of the anti-Illuminati troops that were deployed, "according to the white gargoyle, it's supposed to be a knockout gas. Once they're out cold the gas is supposed to dissipate."

"Only knockout gas?" the second soldier asked.

"Like what a surgeon would use for anesthetic," the officer nodded, "I'm not sure there is any international law against it since it doesn't carry lethal effects and that similar gasses are tolerated for crowd control purposes."

The two soldiers only shrugged and watched.

Inside

The adjutant coughed as a cloud of gas seemed to fill the building. Men were dropping into a deep slumber all around him, and he could actually hear them snoring. Those who weren't asleep had only managed because they could either hold their breath or were in rooms where the gas wasn't that thick yet. The adjutant had managed by holding his breath and tried to get to a locker room for something, but the headquarters was a garrison post more intended to defend against a riotous mob, not an actual attack. If it were a true military base, gas masks might be available, but it wasn't a true base. They didn't have the equipment to protect themselves from gas attacks, and that left all of them vulnerable to whatever knockout gas that Demona was using.

As the adjutant struggled along a hallway he saw the commander come out of his bedroom, coughing hard.

"What's… offff – offfff – offffffff … this… offfff – offfff… gas?" the commander asked, "my… offfffff – offfffff – offfffff – offffffff… wife…"

With that the commander then collapsed and fell the floor. The adjutant only coughed when he heard the steady breaths of his commander sleeping on the floor. He had been rendered to the same condition as the soldiers that he commanded, and the adjutant was afraid of what would happen to him. He coughed and trudged slowly forward, but eventually he too fell to the ground in a drug induced slumber.

Outside

Demona came in for a landing as the shield and cloud of knockout gas began to dissipate. The anti-Illuminati troops were quick to move in as it did so. She was greeted by the officer in charge and Wedrington as he emerged from the truck that the soldiers had ridden to Yumen in.

"Well… you did a very good job," the officer said to Demona as she caped her wings, "a superman base silenced without any casualties on our side."

"Thank you," Demona answered a low tone, and one that carried the unsaid message of, "you could have done more."

"And minimal casualties over all," Wedrington added.

"Their sleep will still need to be enchanted," Demona said to him, her tone immediately softer, "they will eventually wake up again."

"Can you do that?" the officer asked.

Demona's eyes narrowed on the officer, but she did nod. To her surprise the man gave a sigh of relief and patted her on the arm.

"That's a relief," the officer spoke, "I don't know how much you know about this whole mess with Khan… and the Illuminati… but with what you've done here for us… I'm glad you're on our side in all this. That you're for a free China."

"China is of no concern to me," Demona gave a low growl; "my concern is the safety of the Tibetan gargoyle clan and their home. It just so happens that I need to fight your war in order to get them some hope of safety."

The officer blinked and then shrugged, "all the same… it is good to have you with us. Khan revealed the Illuminati to us and promised us freedom from them… and we bought his promises completely."

Demona glanced to Wedrington and then back to the officer as he scratched the back of his head, and looked rather nervous.

"And then came all the reports that said that Khan had no intention of freeing China," the officer continued, "that he would have us trade Illuminati rule for his."

"That was his goal and the goal his supermen still follow," Demona answered.

"And left us in a tight spot," the officer admitted, "if we go all out against Khan… the Illuminati will notice and find some way to intervene again. I wish we could do more… but Khan built his empire well and toppling it won't be easy."

That made Demona pause for a moment, and much of her concerns regarding the anti-Illuminati Chinese had been that they were using her for their own ends. But with Wedrington there, she didn't totally shut the officer out, as she knew that Wedrington would want her to at least hear him out. And the officer seemed almost afraid of the overall situation. It was as if he feared being defeated by Khan or that they might defeat Khan only to be enslaved by the Illuminati again. It wasn't something that Demona really expected.

"Perhaps when Khan's forces are weaker we can put his forces down quickly," Demona offered, trying to be diplomatic.

"Perhaps," the officer nodded, "and even if your cause isn't a free China… hopefully there will be a day were we can fight in the open and on the same side for freedom. Be it China's or gargoyles'."

"Perhaps," Demona found herself agreeing as another chapter in taking apart Khan's empire came to a close.

The End…