Previously:
"You knew, all along." she said, amazed, "It was you last night."
"Of course I knew, I can recognize you no matter what you look like, and I can recognize danger too. Let's get outta here." Chris replied and they ran to a safer place.
"If you knew, why did you act like you didn't?" Kyra asked when they got to safety. "Or at least tell me you knew."
"I had a feeling it was something you didn't want Micheal or anyone else knowing about." Chris answered.
"Micheal already knows, he's partly responsible for it." Kyra told him.

When Kyra went to see Chris, he gave her a gold locket, visible proof to Micheal that Kyra would never leave Chris.

Kyra: "...those words keep ringing in my head, 'The truth's inside but hidden well, within Demona's heart it dwells'..."

Goliath found Angela and Kyra tied up and in the open.
Kyra shouted, "Run, it's a trap, you'll be killed!" Goliath shook his head.
"I won't leave you two." he said and promptly freed them of the chains. Demona and Micheal came in. "You! I should have known you two were behind all this!" Goliath exclaimed.
"I told you it was a trap." Kyra mumbled.
"Stay here, I don't want you two hurt." Goliath told her and Angela. Kyra was worried about him. She knew what was going to happen, so far very little about the plan had changed. In fact, it seemed only one part had...

While Goliath was fending off Demona, Micheal sneaked around and attacked Kyra.
"Kyra, look out!" Angela's warning came too late. Kyra jumped away, but Micheal slashed her with a knife.
Kyra screamed in pain, and fell to the floor, bleeding terribly. Goliath stopped fighting just long enough to see her on the ground. He finished the fight immediately, throwing Demona into a wall, to make her retreat, Micheal followed. Elisa came in with Brooklyn minutes later.
"Oh my gosh, what happened?" she exclaimed, looking at Kyra's blood.
"Goliath was busy fighting off Demona, I didn't see Micheal come around until it was too late." Angela explained, "He just slashed at her."
"Where?" Elisa asked.
"I didn't see." Angela answered.
"The bleeding's coming from her leg." Goliath said, pointing to it.
"We'd better get her out of here, she's bleeding too much. Kyra might die if we don't stop the blood flow." Elisa said and Goliath carefully picked the girl up.
"Micheal is going to pay for this." Brooklyn said angrily.

....Kyra tried to stand, but her leg was still too injured to hold her weight up. "I guess, I'm stuck in bed for a few more days?" she asked Fox who had been helping take care of her.
"Try weeks." Elisa said coming in the room.
"Oh, come on! I'm a faster healer than that." Kyra replied.
"Maybe, if you stay in bed and don't do anything to that leg." Fox told her.

Kyra went to school. She limped because of her heavy brace so she had to be careful that she didn't get into trouble until it came off for good. Micheal was talking to Demona, hidden from any of Kyra's friends.
"I don't see why we have to watch the school, Kyra couldn't have survived that slashing." Micheal said.
"She's strong Micheal, too strong for a knife to stop." Demona said just as Kyra came up the steps to the school campus. "See?" Kyra ran as fast as her brace would allow and stopped right in Chris' arms.
"Kyra, you recovered so fast!" he exclaimed.
"What else would you expect of a gargoyle?" Kyra said quietly and we went to class.
"I don't believe it! She should have been killed!" Micheal exclaimed.
"And by the looks of it, that brace she's wearing will be off in a few days." Demona sighed, "We'll have to try again, we can't get Goliath and the others as long as Kyra remains healthy."

Battle of Love

Angela and Kyra were two special Gargoyles, not only were they good friends, but we were the only female gargoyles in the clan. Demona would have been counted, except that her betrayal made Goliath banish her from the clan. Being the first girl in the clan had given Angela trouble with the trio at first, but she set them straight and they were more respective of the fact that she wasn't ready for a boy and that she was more warrior than girl for now. Besides, she was starting to like Broadway.
Kyra and Angela were about the same age. Angela was a bit older, but Kyra was the same height. In most human eyes gargoyles are ugly monsters, but they both had their own way of being beautiful inside. Kyra had a golden heart and "spunk". Angela was brave and thoughtful, they both helped others before themselves. Angela and Kyra were about ten (gargoyle) years younger than Demona (her immortal age). Demona was at first just a little angry with Angela because Angela chose Goliath over her.
Of course, Angela's egg was laid when Demona and Goliath were still in love, over a thousand years ago. She was hatched at Avalon, not knowing who her parents were. Princess Katharine, Tom, and Magus, the sorcerer, rose her and her friend Gabriel, who in a strange way looked like Coldstone, along with the other thirty-four young Gargoyles. When she was old enough to fully understand, she was told of how she and the other eggs were brought to Avalon and why. Demona's likeness was evident in Angela to Elisa, and probably to Angela's human guardians as well.
Angela and Kyra became friends like a flash of lightning, almost immediately. They were very much alike when they were in the same mood, usually anger. Demona didn't mind having Angela around Goliath, she wasn't really an enemy. Even if Angela was on Goliath's side, Demona would try to watch over her a little. But since Kyra was nearly as strong as she was, and helping Goliath and Elisa, her "competition", that was just going too far!
Demona refused to admit that she was really just jealous of Kyra. Even when the girl was a Gargoyle, she kept her normal looks which somewhat resembled Elisa's. Kyra's power surpassed Demona's. She cancelled a spell her own amulet put on her. Demona had another reason to be jealous, Kyra still had her first and only love, Christopher.
Christopher and Kyra had been together since they were in seventh grade, there were only two things that made there be even a slight chance that they wouldn't stay that way: Micheal Xanatos and Virgina Fisker. Ever since Kyra met Chris, Micheal was trying to split them up so he could have Kyra himself. The whole 'I saw her first' thing. Gina was a new threat, she just transferred that summer, a few months before Kyra met Brooklyn.
Of course, Kyra had Angela and Brooklyn to help keep Micheal from getting too far now, and Gina would never win, so there wasn't much of a problem. It seemed that Chris and Kyra were the only ones having troubles keeping others from breaking them up, until...

Eleven months or so before Phalog was created, something strange happened between Goliath and Elisa. They had been friends for a little over a year. They had always had a special relationship, one was always there when the other really needed them, unless trouble occured for Elisa during the day. Then, Demona got a hold of a strange Child of Oberon named Puck. He caused a lot of damage and confusion when Demona gave him commands, but didn't tell him how to do them, or who to. First, Elisa was changed into a gargoyle, then the rest of the city, then the clan of Gargoyles was turned into humans later in the night, except for Bronx, who became a big dog.
Goliath had to teach Elisa how to use her wings while she was a Gargoyle, or she would have been in a lot more trouble than she got into later. While he taught her, he noticed something in her he hadn't seen before, maybe because she was a gargoyle, maybe because for once they were alone with no interruptions. The same thing happened to Elisa. They decided to keep it a secret, since they knew Demona and Xanatos could have used it against them and it seemed an almost impossible thing, but now they had admitted it to each other and allowed it to happen.
Kyra saw it immediately, but decided they'd want it kept as a secret. Angela and the other Gargoyles didn't know, and it was probably better that they didn't, they might never understand. The only difficulty was keeping it a secret when Elisa and
Goliath were helping each other in battles; after all, it's hard not to show how much you care about someone when you're saving their life.
Somehow, Demona was starting to see what was going on, and she didn't like it! Angela and Brooklyn knew something was up. Kyra always got a look deep in her eyes, it took a good eye to see it, when she had a secret that she couldn't tell because she'd promised a friend.
Brooklyn always tried to get her to slip up and tell, but Kyra was an expert at keeping secrets and never told. After the next battle, she wouldn't have to.
The war between Gina and Kyra was really starting to rage. One day, Gina bumped in front of Kyra just to stand in the lunch line with Chris. Then Gina "accidentally" tripped her to sit next to Chris at an assembly. Kyra wouldn't normally mind it, except it was a two and a half hour assembly.
Kyra was really getting steamed at Gina. Wherever she tried to have a private talk with Chris, especially about the gargoyles, in about two minutes, Gina showed up and she would have to wait to talk to him later. To Kyra, it looked like Gina was staging an all out war to get Chris. She was right.
One day, during dress for gym, Kirstie overheard Gina and her freshman sister, Sarah talking in the girl's locker room.
"Of course I know Chris has a girlfriend, has that ever stopped me before?" Gina said putting on her blush.
"It's just that Kyra isn't exactly the kind of girl you want mad at you, she's got a reputation around here, Gina." Sarah warned.
"Yeah, as street trash." Gina replied in her usual snobby manner, "That girl actually thinks she's good enough for Chris, I mean really, she spends seven years in the mountains, and three years in a gang and thinks she's the strongest and fastest."
"Gina, she is." Sarah told her.
"Well, she's still a little street rat. Why would Chris want a gang girl?" Gina asked, brushing her short chestnut hair.
"Who knows?" Sarah answered. Sarah tried to get Gina to see some good in Kyra, but was forced to take her sister's side in the end. They left the locker room.
"I don't believe this, they're still using her gang past against her. Don't they know she quit the gang four months ago?" Kirstie asked Kiesha, who came in while Kirstie was listening.
"News like that travels slow around a school, that's why Kyra still has her reputation." Kiesha answered.
"Kyra still has her reputation because she earned it by being herself and standing up to Micheal. Not because she was in a gang for three years." Kirstie replied.
"Maybe we should tell Kyra what Gina said about her." Kiesha said.
"Are you crazy? Kyra's angry enough at Gina, the last thing we want to do is add to it. Kyra's temper is hot enough for now." Kirstie stated, shutting her locker, "Come on, we'll be late for gym."
Later that day, Kyra was at basketball practice with Kiesha and Kirstie and the rest of the team. Chris was on the bleachers, watching. As usual, Micheal came and as usual, Kyra completely ignored him.
Finally, practice was over and the team went to change and wash off all the dirt and sweat. Kyra had fallen a few times because the court was wet from the rainstorm last night. She was completely covered in mud, even her hair was muddy, she wasn't as pretty when she was wet and muddy, but Chris didn't care. Kyra knew her friends would worry if they saw all the
scrapes and mud on her so she went straight to the shower room. Micheal intercepted her.
"What do you want?" she asked, evidently annoyed, "I have to get all this mud off before I go home."
"Nothing, I just wanted to see if you got hurt. When you fell down that last time, it looked like you hit pretty hard." Micheal said smiling. Kyra could tell it was fake, Micheal was up to something.
"I don't buy it Micheal, you aren't capable of caring about someone." she said and broke away from him, all with her usual attitude. She flipped her hair back as she walked away, purposely throwing mud from it into his face. He wiped it away and shook his hand angrily to get the mud off it. He wasn't happy that she reacted that way.
Chris met up with Kyra after she had changed and come out of the dressing room. Her scrapes weren't so bad after all, except for one on her elbow, she hit the court hard during the last practice of free throws and her elbow was still bleeding. Chris looked at it.
"Ouch, that looks like it really hurts."
"It's all right, the bleeding will stop soon." she said.
"I think I've got some bandages in my bag, you don't want an infection." Chris replied and got some gauze out, Kyra held up her cut elbow and he taped the gauze over the cut.
"Thanks, Elisa and Goliath get really upset if I get hurt, but not as scared as if I get a bad infection." she said just as Elisa walked over, "Why are you here, Elisa?"
"I thought I'd walk with you, in case someone tries to get you." Elisa answered.
"See you later, Kyra." Chris waved as Kyra walked away with Elisa.
"Bye." she said as Micheal watched by a bus stop, he turned away and stormed off to the gang base, obviously upset, he couldn't do anything with a cop escorting Kyra. Which was probably why Elisa came.
Later that night, Angela and Kyra were watching Lexington and Brooklyn fix up one of Xanatos' old helicopters, just for fun and something to do since it was a dull night. Lex always fixed things, though he was usually the one who took those things apart. Having Brooklyn and Broadway help didn't always help him. They didn't know that much about the stuff he worked on.
"Brooklyn, I think that goes there." Kyra said.
"I know what I'm doing, now keep out of the way." Brooklyn replied.
"Sure, but remember, I told you so." Kyra said, stepping about four feet back and leading Angela back with her.
"Ok, Lex, try it now." Brooklyn called.
Lex started the motor and oil splattered all over Brooklyn. Of course Angela and Kyra had stepped well away from where the oil landed.
"What happened?" Brooklyn asked, surprised by all of the oil that hit him.
"I told you, you put the dipstick in the wrong place, it blocks the hole from the oil." Kyra answered. Xanatos had been watching everything.
"I don't believe it." Xanatos said, amazed, "How do you know about this kind of stuff?"
"Easy, I had to take a shop class to pass my sophomore year, so I took auto. I was actually better than some of the guys!" Kyra said and went to patrol the city with Angela.
At first the city looked quiet for once, then a lazer blast made them separate quickly, Angela was not used to navigating herself after a lazer had been shot at her and fell onto a roof top. Kyra landed beside her and checked to make sure she was all right. It was then that she looked at what shot at them, it was a Steel Clan robot, not the leader, just a plain tin robot. Kyra had to get the rest of those things from Micheal soon, he was starting to annoy her!
"Don't worry Angela, it won't take long to get rid of that little thing." she said and was about to attack it when...
"Hold it Kyra! Better look behind you." Angela warned. Kyra turned around and saw over twenty robots, including the leader robot.
"I think we're a bit out of bounds here." Kyra said, her tone of voice betrayed her worry.
"What do we do?" Angela asked.
"Easy, cover your ears." Kyra answered.
"What?" Angela was confused.
"Unless you want to go deaf, you'd better cover your ears." Kyra told her. Angela did as she was told and Kyra let out a loud, high pitched distress call. It was so high in pitch that it immediately shorted out some of the robots and a few moments later, Goliath and Brooklyn showed up, getting rid of the rest of them.
All that remained was the leader robot, which quickly retreated. Micheal was willing to try anything to capture Kyra, but he wasn't stupid. Goliath was an even more formidable opponent when his daughter was in danger. Xanatos learned that when Savarrius captured Angela while she, Elisa, Bronx, and Goliath were still trying to get back to Manhattan, Micheal learned it through Savarrius...
The next morning, Kirstie and Kyra were just hanging around campus since school didn't start for fifteen minutes. Kiesha wasn't due for ten more minutes, she was always late, but never late enough to get a tardy mark. As usual, Gina was there too, waiting for Chris.
"I don't know why she even tries," Kirstie said, shaking her head, "She knows Chris goes straight to you before and after school."
"Yeah, well, he couldn't go to me when I was stuck in infirmary condition." Kyra said, looking at Gina.
"You mean when Micheal cut your leg and you were stuck at home?" Kirstie asked.
"Please, I'm trying not to dwell on it." Kyra replied, rubbing her leg. It was still very sore, some muscle hadn't repaired itself yet and she had a little limp. She could tell Micheal smiled smugly whenever she had walked by him. Her leg was one of the reasons Kyra slipped on the court, it couldn't take all her running.
"Sorry. Hey, there's Micheal." Kirstie pointed over by the annex, "I wonder why he's not coming over here."
"Easy, he knows that I'm due to give him a good punch for doing this." Kyra pounded her fist into her open hand and looked at her leg, wrapped in an ace bandage.
"I don't get it, I thought Goliath was against you or Brooklyn doing anything to Micheal about this." Kirstie replied.
"Well I don't do that anymore, but I like the fact that Micheal still avoids me for three weeks after he does stuff like this." Kyra told her, keeping her voice low enough that Micheal couldn't hear.
"Three weeks? Gee, I think your temper needs adjusting, sister." Kirstie pretended to be a little surprised. Kyra normally had a gentle disposition, but she was easily annoyed, especially by Micheal, and if you ever went too far, it took her almost a month to cool off.
Of course, Kyra's temper was slowly going under control. She knew she'd have to be cautious of how far she would let Micheal go as far as teasing, bragging, and things like that were concerned, or she would never be a good warrior. She'd be a lot like Demona, always losing her temper in the middle of a fight. Kyra always was cautious of her temper during a fight, but as soon as one of the Gargoyles or Elisa was injured, she forgot all about her safety and dashed out in anger to protect her friends, no matter what endangered them, and she always attacked whoever or whatever hurt them.
"I know, my temper needs to be controlled a little better, but it's so hard, especially with people like Micheal and Demona around." Kyra sighed.
"I've got an idea, why don't you just ignore Micheal." Kirstie said.
"Kirstie, I already do that!" Kyra reminded her.
"I meant after sunset too." Kirstie added, "And if you can, ignore Demona."
Kyra looked at her in an unbelieving way, "That is impossible." she said in a tone just slightly lower than her normal voice, it made both of them laugh. The warning bell rang from within the building. Kiesha ran up to them and they walked to class.
At lunch, Kyra sat with Chris, away from her sister and Kiesha. They understood, she wanted to be with Chris, she had been away from him in such a long time. Micheal didn't even look at Kyra, he knew she still had some anger towards him, he didn't know she wouldn't let it out though. But she still resented him for it.
"Hey, you're being pretty quiet, Kyra." Chris said.
"What? Oh, I'm just thinking." she said distantly.
"About what?" Chris asked.
"I don't know, just stuff." she said, it sounded final, Chris could see she was either scared to talk about it or just didn't want to. It sort of surprised Chris. Kyra was usually so open when something bothered her. He really wanted to know what was wrong, but he didn't want to bother her any more than she already was. Gina and Sarah came in shortly after, Kyra scowled at Gina's beaming face.
"Now I know what's bugging you." Chris said softly, "You shouldn't worry about her. I didn't even look at her when you were hurt and had to stay home."
"You didn't even look at her?" Kyra asked suspiciously.
"Ok, maybe a couple of times, but only because she was right in front of me." Chris admitted.
Kyra smiled, "I guess I can live with that." she said laughingly.
"Come on, class is going to start soon."
Chris and Kyra walked to English class together. During class, everyone had to write a five paragraph essay about what they would do during winter break. Kyra wrote about the "Battle of the Sexes" snowball fights that Angela and she had challenged the trio with. Of course she only used Angela and Lex's names, she referred to Brooklyn as her best friend and Broadway as her friend from "out of town".
Later Kyra read her favorite book about legendary creatures of Eurasia & Africa. Her eyes opened wide when she saw a certain page and she quickly put a bookmark in it, the thing looked just like a gargoyle, but it was in the Japanese section. Goliath was right about gargoyles being all over the world! Then, to keep Micheal's suspicions down, Kyra read about
the creature's picture. It was from an ancient town, very few people believed in it, but it existed, she knew it did.
An hour after school, there was going to be a final basketball game, so Kyra stayed at school, Chris kept her company until she had to go to the court to play. The team was playing the junior high from the other side of the city. Naturally, Kyra shot the winning basket and went home immediately after the game, there was just enough time to change clothes before sunset. Her first night without homework for two weeks was starting.
Brooklyn and Kyra were on patrol the night that the trouble started. They were just over the North-East part of the city when Kyra heard a scream and people that sounded very worried about something, she decided to go down and check it out. It was a terrible sight, a young baby had somehow gotten far out on a ledge and was too far out and up for anyone to help the poor child.
"That little kid must be awfully scared." she said to herself as Brooklyn landed. "It's cold and there's ice on that ledge."
"I know what you're thinking, Kyra you can't save that baby, it'll mean showing yourself." Brooklyn told her. "And you know how humans feel about us."
"I don't care, that little baby needs help, and I'm the only one that can help him." Kyra said and dived down just as Xanatos' car drove by.
"Hold it Owen, it looks like something's about to happen." he said and Owen stopped the car.
Kyra dove down to the baby and landed on the ledge. The baby could tell she didn't mean harm and immediately stopped crying and smiled at her. Kyra gently picked up the tiny child and carried him to his mother who was leaning out of her window.
"Thank you so much." The young woman said, taking her baby and looking at Kyra.
"It's okay, just keep an eye on him." Kyra smiled and glided back to Brooklyn.
"I can't believe you did that." Brooklyn said shaking his head. "You could have been killed for showing yourself. You know how humans don't trust us very well yet."
"I can't believe I didn't get in trouble with the humans down there!" Kyra exclaimed. "And that looked like trust to me when the woman let me go after her boy."
"Like she had a choice." Brooklyn replied with a little of her attitude. Then he was shocked, "Hey, isn't that Xanatos' car?" he pointed down at the street.
"Yeah, wonder why he stopped." Kyra pondered and glided off with him.
Brooklyn told Goliath what Kyra did. He didn't like the fact that she showed herself to hundreds of humans just to save one, but he did like the fact that no humans panicked when she showed herself or did something worse, humans were getting used to their presence, and that was good.
Goliath was suspicious of Xanatos, he didn't like it when Xanatos spied on any of the clan's members, especially the youngest ones, even if he was an ally now. Kyra told him not to worry, it didn't look like she would be getting in trouble for showing herself to the humans. Elisa came up and told them to turn on the television. The rescue of the child was on the news. Goliath smiled at the words of the reporter:
"Just fifteen minutes ago, the unexplainable happened, young Jonathan Harper had crawled out on the ledge of this apartment building, too high for the fire department to get him, too far out for his mother to reach him. It looked like the child was doomed when suddenly, a creature a previous reporter for this station had described as a monster, a gargoyle, did an act of good and retrieved the child from the ledge, bringing him to his grateful mother. Whoever the young female was, it is obvious she and another of her kind, seen leaving with her, mean no harm to the humans of this city and we should be grateful for their protection, along with any others of their kind. Perhaps we've been too hasty in the judging of these strange, but very helpful creatures."
"See Brooklyn, you were spotted too." Kyra said proudly.
"It looks like people are slowly starting to accept all of you." Elisa replied happily.
"Thanks to Kyra." Goliath added.
"Thanks to all of you. If it wasn't for you and the others, this city would be rubble by now." Elisa told him. "The humans here owe you guys their lives."
"We're all this city's got." Angela said smiling. "At least against Demona."
"And we've got to make sure Demona doesn't win it from us, or cause it harm." Lexington replied.
"Hold it, speaking of Demona, look who saw everything Kyra did, besides Xanatos." Elisa said, referring to a film of Kyra saving the child, made by an amateur in the building.
The view of the video saw part of the building next to the building that the rescue took place on. There, perched on the rooftop, seemed to be a stone Gargoyle, but Elisa and Goliath could recognize Demona's outline anywhere, it bothered them all the time.
"She's got to be mad and confused by Kyra's saving a human." Brooklyn said.
"Maybe the humans' reactions to all this will teach her that the humans in this century are more trusting than they were in your time." Elisa replied, "After all, back then there was still a whole lot of misunderstanding, now we know a lot more about the world and aren't intimidated by much."
"You've proven that thousands of times Elisa." Goliath told her.
"I'd love to see the expression on Xanatos' face when he saw that news report!" Angela said and laughed. "He doesn't have to worry about hiding us now!"
"Yeah the city's getting kind of fond of us." Broadway said.
"More than that, guys, there's a law around here that says if there's less than a thousand of certain species they are to be protected by the law. You know, they can't be hunted or captured for experiments, so..." Elisa didn't have to finish, everyone got the idea.
"Gargoyles are endangered, there's only nine of us left in North America." Kyra said.
"Well, ten counting the one in Guatemala." Elisa told her, "But you're right, Kyra, gargoyles are very endangered. Unfortunately, the city has to acknowlege this as your natural habitat and an area where you'll be safe. Or you'll be relocated."
"I'm sure a few laws will be passed." Xanatos replied. He had come in about halfway in the conversation. "If Kyra keeps up the heroics."
It looked like everything was going right. Though Demona probably thought there was a catch to the humans' reaction and would find a way to 'prove' it. The next night, Kyra went on patrol, her leg was almost healed and she wanted to prove that she was well enough to be on her own away from the others. She proved it before with the robots, but she needed to show she was capable of fighting without help again.
Kyra was cautious, she knew something was wrong. The air was so still she had to flap her wings to keep from falling because of the faintness of wind. She knew trouble was near, she could sense it. She could also sense magic, Demona was evidently around, with the amulet. Kyra would have to be cautious. Danger was close, but where?
Suddenly, a lazer blast shot from the streets. Kyra couldn't dodge in time and fell, crashing into a pile of cardboard boxes. She checked herself for wounds, her right wing was shot through, she would have to walk home. Whoever shot at her was probably still out there, waiting for her to go in the open so they could finish her off.
"I'm more than sure that Micheal or Demona is near." she whispered to herself. At least it seemed to be to herself.
"Just be careful." A voice said from the hidden "bug".
"Sure thing, Elisa, I'll scream if I need help."
"You don't have to, remember, this thing picks up whispers. I'd prefer to be able to hear afterwards!"
Kyra turned to the area the shot came from. She heard a sound and gasped, remembering how strong Demona was and how young she was.
"Who's there?" her voice betrayed her fear, but she stood confident, to throw anyone off.
Of course she expected Demona, Micheal wasn't capable of doing much harm and wouldn't kill her until he got what he wanted. But she couldn't believe her eyes when a human figure stepped out of the shadows.
"Gina! It was you?"
"Of course, Kyra." Gina said cruelly.
"How did you know it was me?" Kyra asked cautiously.
"Easy, Micheal told me." Kyra didn't even want to know why.
"Look, I know you want Chris, but why try to kill me?" Kyra asked.
"I figured Chris wouldn't love you anymore after you were changed, but since that didn't work, I had to take drastic measures." she answered.
"Didn't work?" Kyra wasn't getting any of this.
"I thought you were supposed to be the smartest girl in the school. You should have figured it out."
"I still don't understand, I'm of no threat to you." Kyra protested.
"Yes you are, you're all that stands between me and Chris." Gina told her.
"Gina why don't you just get another boy? Micheal's perfect for you, you're both ruthless and you both hate me." Kyra said angrily.
"Yeah, get someone else." Chris agreed, coming behind her.
"Chris! How did you know I was here?" Kyra asked.
"Elisa called me. Goliath and the others are on their way." Chris answered, "I'd get out of here, Gina, they're pretty mad." Gina retreated angrily moments before Goliath came down.
"You're a little late guys, Gina just went that way." Kyra said.
"I can't believe she tried to kill you." Brooklyn replied.
"Jealousy does things to people." she told him, "Besides, Micheal probably put her up to it."
"Let's go home, Elisa will be worried if we don't return soon." Goliath said and Kyra went with them after thanking Chris for saving her.
On the second day of January, Kyra went to school. There was a new girl in the school. Kyra's English teacher, Mr. Angler, introduced the girl as Aryce, no last name, just Aryce.
Aryce was a thin framed girl, but she was tall. She had extremely short auburn hair, her bangs were spiked and her
hair was long on the sides and "buzzed" in the back. A typical New York haircut, Kyra thought. Aryce's skin was just a little more apricot than Kyra, her eyes were a dark hazel, with a lot of forest-green in them.
No one but Kyra seemed to noticed, but Aryce was wearing gang clothes. Her black shirt was torn at the sleeves and bottom, as if it was the only one she had for a few years. Her cut-off jean shorts looked pretty old, maybe three or four years worn, her denim vest was ragged and had patches sewn that were probably covering holes. Aryce also had an orange bandanna tied around her neck, the corner pointing to the left.
Aryce was definitely from a gang, but Kyra didn't mind, those clothes weren't the kind that the girls in Micheal's gang wore, their clothes were tighter and smaller, it was Micheal's order. Which was another reason Kyra got out as fast as she could, wearing clothes like that when there were more boys than girls was asking for trouble. There were five more guys than girls in the gang, that caused a lot of fights over who got which girl. Kyra was automatically "Micheal's girl" when she joined the gang, something she hated.
Aryce sat by Kyra, in the desk Micheal usually sat in, but he wasn't there that day for some unknown reason. Probably meeting with Demona. Kyra smiled warmly at Aryce and immediately received a like response. Aryce even waved to Chris. The girls had immediately hit it off and became quick friends, probably able to sense they had the same backgrounds. Soon, the lunch bell rang and everyone rushed out the door, the lunchroom filled quickly.
Kyra sat with Kirstie, Kiesha, Chris, and three of the girls from Micheal's gang, they all kept good terms with her. Actually, they'd applauded her for leaving.
"Hey, Aryce!" Kyra called as Aryce walked in. Aryce went over to her.
"Hi." Aryce said shyly.
"Why don't you sit here? There's plenty of room." Kyra invited.
"Thanks, it's pretty crowded in here." Aryce said, sitting next to her.
"Aryce, this is Kirstie, Kiesha, Christopher, Nika, Anna, and Jessi." Kyra introduced Aryce to everyone at the table.
"Hi everyone." Aryce seemed to be losing her shyness, "You and Kirstie are twins aren't you?"
"In looks yes, but nothing else about them is the same." Kiesha laughed.
"Very funny, Kiesha." Kyra said sarcastically, knowing what Kiesha was hinting at.
"By the way, Kyra, how's Tuma doing?" Nika asked.
"Much better, he's on his feet, in fact I'm taking him out for a walk tonight." Kyra answered. "To build up his strength."
"Tuma? Who's that?" Aryce asked.
"One of my wolf pups." Kyra replied, "He's the runt and he's been sick."
"One of? How many do you have?" Aryce asked.
"Three, plus two adults." Kirstie answered, "You should see them, Aryce, the pups are so cute."
"Really, are they Canis Lupus or Canis...?" Aryce asked Kyra.
"Canis Lupus, but the mom has some Red Wolf in her, I can see it." Kyra answered, sipping her milk, "But how did you know...?"
"About wolf subspecies?" Aryce finished, "Easy, I study wildlife, Environmental Biology is going to be my college major."
"Hey, she's definitely cool." Jessi said, pushing some of her red curls behind her shoulder. The bell rang, "Well back to the books. See ya." The gang girls got up and left after saying goodbye.
"Aryce, what's your next class?" Kyra asked.
"Biology, with Mrs. Serence." Aryce answered.
"That's right next to my class, come on, I'll walk with you."
Later that afternoon, Kyra went to the aquarium to volunteer, there was a baby dolphin there that was being raised to be released in the wild. The dolphin was named Dulci, she was sweet and loved to see Kyra, especially when she was being fed because Kyra always threw her food. Dulci was fed live fish, thrown in the water so that she would learn to catch them herself. Kyra laughed warmly as the baby chased after the speedy fish, failing to catch even one. She felt sorry for the little thing, but the sight was very funny.
To keep Dulci from starving, the aquarium was forced to send a diver down to hand feed her. It didn't look like Dulci would ever be going into the wild. Dulci wasn't born in the aquarium, she was a wild dolphin that was separated from her pod in the Hudson river, going up to the bay, during migration that summer. The aquarium's marine biologist, Susan, had been trying to keep Dulci wild, but nothing was working. Kyra was hired to help train Dulci to be wild again. She had a reputation for getting animals to behave.
"Dulci, come here girl." Kyra called. Dulci faithfully sped over. Kyra loved to watch Dulci move in the water, she was so graceful and agile. Kyra rose her hand up and Dulci rolled to her left side, then she copied the movement. The marine biologist took a blood sample to see if Dulci needed any vitamins.
Dulci was about eight months old, and big for a dolphin. She looked so strange when she was deep underwater, practically disappearing in the reflected light.
"Dulci needs to play, she looks bored." Susan said, "Would you like to swim with her, Kyra?"
"May I?" Kyra asked.
"Of course, there's a wet suit in the supply room." Susan answered and Kyra went to change.
Just a few minutes later, she was swimming right by Dulci, they were almost in perfect unison.
"Can I try a trick with Dulci?" Kyra asked, as Dulci splashed nearby.
"Sure, you're the only one she'll do tricks for anyway." Susan replied.
Kyra pointed up to a hoop about three feet above them. She held on to Dulci's dorsal fin and took a deep breath just before Dulci dived and swam to the bottom of her tank, the dolphin swam back to the surface quickly and jumped straight out of the water, going clear through the hoop.
Kyra let go and did a fancy dive back into the tank.
"You're doing great with her!" Susan said as Kyra climbed out of Dulci's tank.
"Dulci's doing pretty good on her own." Kyra replied and shook the excess water out of her hair. "Good jump Dulce, here catch!" Kyra threw a fish to Dulci who jumped at it, caught it, and ate it gratefully.
"It's getting late, you'd better change and head home, your friends will worry about you." Susan told Kyra and she went to the changing room. When Kyra was about to leave Susan stopped her, "Here, give this to your guardian."
"It isn't bad is it?" Kyra asked.
"Not at all, in fact it asks for permission for you to be Dulci's trainer." Susan answered "If she doesn't become wild soon, I'm afraid she'll have to stay, and we need someone to train her for shows."
Kyra ran home happily, she knew Elisa and Goliath would let her do this. She noticed Demona as she left the aquarium, but she didn't think there was much danger, there were too many people around for Demona to do anything. Kyra would
definitely have to get home before dark though.
That night, Angela and Kyra went on patrol, Goliath decided they were safe enough as long as they stayed away from Demona's territory. The east side of Manhattan was forbidden territory for the young gargoyles. Unless Goliath was with them, the three boys and two girls were only allowed on the west side. Kyra didn't complain, the Harlem river, which ran behind Micheal's gang base, was partly in the forbidden territory.
Kyra kept an eye out for trouble, but she couldn't see the trouble that happened to Elisa. Demona was beginning to become jealous of Elisa and Goliath's relationship. She wanted to make sure that Elisa never saw Goliath again, and vice versa. Kyra later realized that was what Puck meant when he gave the riddle about Demona's heart, she was jealous of Elisa, and as Kyra once said: the only way to have a real reason to be jealous was to have a heart.
Matt, Elisa's partner was sick with influenza (flu virus), and Elisa was on her own for the night, unless Goliath or one of the other Gargoyles showed up. Unfortunately, even Angela and Kyra were too far to hear her cry of help when Demona swept out of the shadows and shot her with a tranquilizer dart. Elisa was lucky it wasn't a poison one.
When Elisa awoke she was miraculously still alive, Demona, for some reason, had not killed her. She was wondering why, when she noticed that she may not have been dead, but she was captive.
Meanwhile, Elisa's being gone was becoming noticed. Goliath started to worry when Elisa didn't come up the next night. Brooklyn checked at her apartment, but of course she wasn't there. Goliath went out to search for her and soon ran into Demona, he could see by the look on her face she was up to something.
"Looking for something Goliath?" she asked cruelly, "Or should I say someone?"
"You! What have you done with Elisa?" Goliath asked angrily.
"You'll never see her again, so get over her." Demona said, then, as she left, added, "But if you're foolish enough to risk your life for her, you already know where she is."
Goliath rushed back home just as Angela and Kyra were coming in, they had run into robots last night and Angela couldn't get back before the sun came up, so Kyra had stayed to guard her, good thing there was no school. Kyra really wanted to get those robots away from Micheal!
Goliath was noticably upset.
"Goliath, what's the matter, didn't you find Elisa?" Brooklyn asked.
"No, but Demona did." Goliath answered.
"Great." Kyra said sarcastically, "So what are you going to do?"
"You mean what are we going to do, Elisa is everyone's friend and we're all going to help." Angela replied.
"Right. I'm coming too." Kyra added.
"We'd better go, we've just three hours until sunrise, and battles with Demona can last longer than that if they're for something like this." Goliath said and he, along with Angela, Kyra, and the trio, went out to save Elisa.
Nipper, who was growing quickly along with her two brothers, went with them, she would be a great help if push came to shove in the battle. Kyra held the pup tightly.
"It's all right Nipper, I won't drop you." she said calmly.
"The pup looks spooked, maybe she knows something we don't." Brooklyn replied.
"No, she's just afraid of heights." Kyra told him, "Or rather falling from them." She's really a lot like me! she realized.
"Enough talk, Demona will hear us." Angela called from ahead. She was right, Demona knew they'd be coming, and they didn't want her to know when they'd be there.
They all landed down beside a large tree, Kyra saw that no guards were around and realized that Demona did it on her own. Great, the one time I can get Micheal for something big, Kyra thought, And he's not even involved.
"How do we get in?" Angela asked, "Demona's got to have traps set up in there."
"I'll check for traps between us and the secret passage." Kyra volunteered.
"It's not much of a secret anymore." Brooklyn said as Kyra left.
"Do you ever stop the wisecracks?" she asked, turning around.
"No." he answered. Kyra shook her head and cautiously walked to the hidden door in the wall.
"Come on, it's safe." she called. As Brooklyn passed, she told him quietly, "Not even one crack, pal."
"Who, me?" he asked innocently.
"Come on you two." Goliath called, "Time's growing short." He had no idea how wrong he wished he was. Time was indeed growing short, too short for Elisa's liking.
"Why didn't she just kill me?" Elisa asked herself. Demona was unpredictable, but this was getting too strange, even for her. One of Demona's main goals was to get rid of the human that cost her the destruction of Goliath the first and every time she tried it. So now she had her big chance to get rid of Elisa, why did she just lock her up? Then, in a flash of lightning that warned of the coming storm, Elisa realized why she hadn't been killed, it's more of a punishment to be away from the one you love than to be killed.
Demona must have found out! Elisa thought up a plan quickly to stop the terrible battle that would happen the minute Goliath came against Demona, who would not allow Elisa's rescue. She pulled out a lock pick, so much had happened that she forgot she had it, and picked at the lock on the door. She would have to ironically save her friends who had come to save her.
Meanwhile, the Gargoyles had just come upon a dark corridor. "Should we go down there?" Brooklyn asked.
"Elisa may be there." Goliath answered.
"Or Demona." Kyra said doubtfully.
"What? You're chickening?" Brooklyn asked jokingly.
"Watch it." Kyra said sharply, "What did I say about jokes?"
"I forget, what?" Brooklyn asked sarcastically.
"Look, you two can chew each other out later when we get home." Lexington said, "Right now we have to get Elisa out of here before Demona kills her."
"Yeah, for once will you two act your ages?" Angela asked, "I'm younger than one of you and I act more mature in one night than both of you together in ten."
"Sorry." Brooklyn and Kyra said simultaneously.
"Hold it." Goliath said quickly, "I think your arguing got Demona's attention, quick hide!" They ran and hid just as Demona walked down the hall.
"I could have sworn I heard the brats talking down here." she said suspiciously.
"Brats?!" Brooklyn and Kyra exclaimed quietly. When Demona walked on, they all came out of hiding.
"Brats? Of all the nerve!" Kyra said, "I'm not a brat, I just hate her!"
"I know, she knew we were hiding, she probably was trying to bring you out so she could catch you." Goliath told her.
"Let's go." Kyra told Brooklyn, "No cracks!" She was younger than him, but she was stronger and smarter. Unlike Demona, she didn't use it against him, only when he was acting childish. Which happened a lot more now that she was around. It was turning into a typical young boy/girl friendship where hitting means you like them.
"Come on, we're wasting night hours. We've only a little over an hour left." Goliath said and they all went down the corridor where Kyra could sense Elisa, or at least a human, was.
Elisa had gotten out of Demona's prison and was looking for them so they could get out before Demona saw them. She couldn't see anything down the dark corridor so she lit a torch. She could just make out Goliath as she got a good ten feet down the dark passage.
"Goliath!" she called. She ran up to him. "Thank goodness you're all right."
"Why wouldn't I be?" Goliath asked, "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine, I escaped while Demona was searching for you, Goliath, she knows you're here, and she's got a devious trap set for you." Elisa answered, "We've got to get out of here before she finds us. By now she's discovered I'm gone."
"Not so fast, Detective." Demona threatened as she stepped into the dim light. "So you figured it all out?"
"Yes, I did, lucky for Goliath." Elisa answered, "Why would even you want to do something so terrible to him?"
"What?" Goliath asked.
"Trust me Goliath, you don't want to know." Elisa said with concern. He could tell from the look on her face and the tone of her voice it was bad. She gave in and told a little of it. "Goliath," she paused with worry, "She's jealous."
"Of what?" Brooklyn asked.
"She found out?" Kyra stopped, remembering her self-promise not to bring it up in front of the other Gargoyles, "But how?" she had to know, Demona was clever, but even she had to have done something to figure this out.
"Jealous of what?" Brooklyn asked again, more enthusiastically this time.
"She probably noticed a lot of things that happened after the first incident with Puck." Elisa answered Kyra's question.
"What did she notice, what does she know?" Brooklyn was getting interested, "Why is she jealous?" Kyra obviously wasn't going to tell him, but it had to be big if Elisa was keeping the secret, "Why doesn't anyone tell me?"
"It's too much fun watching you writhe." Kyra grinned.
"Should we tell them?" Elisa asked Goliath.
"When we get home." Goliath answered.
"If we get home," Kyra added. "Mind if I go bother Micheal when this is over? I already know."
"You know?" Demona asked in surprise.
"Kyra always knew." Goliath said half proudly, "She's clever and sees into things no one else can."
"I'd like to watch her see into this." Demona said and fired her lazer at them. Kyra involuntarily swung her wing around herself and the lazer beam bounced off it like a rubber ball, it hit a stone wall and blasted a small hole in it.
"Whoa! What just happened?" Brooklyn asked, amazed.
"Looks like Kyra's wings are lazer proof." Elisa answered. "At least the top part."
"Cool!" The trio said together.
"I still wonder why you boys say that." Kyra said, pulling her wing back behind her.
"That goes for me too." Angela added.
"Want to try that again, Demona?" Kyra asked bravely.
"I hate you, but I'm not desperate to get rid of you." Demona said putting the gun halfway down, "You'll meet your end one day, and I'll be there to watch you fall, all of you!" she ran off before Goliath could catch her.
"Forget her, Goliath, at least for now." Elisa said calmly, "Let's go home."
When they got to the castle, Kyra helped Goliath and Elisa explain what Demona found out about them. And Kyra explained why she was jealous. Hardly anyone could believe that Demona had enough heart left to be jealous.
"How did it happen?" Brooklyn asked.
"Remember that incident with Demona, Puck and Titania's mirror?" Kyra hinted. Elisa had told her weeks ago.
"Oh yeah, Elisa was changed into a gargoyle for half a night, I guess that would help." Brooklyn replied. "And they've been friends for years."
"Since Demona knows, then Xanatos may find out soon." Lexington said.
"He'll be the big problem." Kyra replied, "How do you think he'll take it?"
"Not badly." Xanatos answered, he had been watching. "After all, it had to happen sooner or later, Brooklyn's right, you've been friends for years. You think I don't understand this kind of thing? I can't speak for the whole city though... humans have problems with people being different colors... I'd keep it quiet. Especially with Quarrymen around."
"Why do you always spy on us?" Kyra asked. She was feeling exhausted from the force of magic that protected her from the lazer blast.
"I wasn't spying, if you'd turned around, you would have seen me." he answered. Kyra laughed a little.
Nipper yipped and Kyra looked over at her, Scratch had bitten her tail. "Hey pups, save it for Demona!"
The next day, Kyra didn't have school so she ran down to the aquarium, Elisa and Goliath let her be Dulci's trainer, it kept her out of trouble with Demona. She changed into a wet suit and jumped in the dolphin tank. Dulci was being impossible in her training to be wild. When anyone but Kyra went near her, she swam away.
The aquarium opened to the public an hour later, Dulci had a show at one that afternoon and Kyra spent all morning training her in a tank where she would not be disturbed.
Dulci loved to jump, it was her best trick, so Kyra let her practice a lot of jumps, but she had to practice the other tricks too. Soon, it was time to get ready for the show, Dulci was released into the big observation tank with an older (and tamed) porpoise named Amok. Kyra threw toys (tennis balls, a plastic oar, and a weird looking object with a rope attached) in the tank for the animals to play with. There was a large audience grouping, everyone wanted to see the baby dolphin.
Dulci performed perfectly, she jumped as high as she was supposed to, got the right objects, and did just as she was told, finally, Kyra went in the water and motioned for Dulci to get her and dive down.
When Dulci reached the bottom of the tank, Kyra motioned to go up and jump as high as she could, she was still holding Dulci's dorsal fin. When Dulci broke the surface of the water, she went nearly five feet above the audience. Kyra let go and dove into the water just moments after Dulci. Amok swam over and took Kyra to the dock. Both Dulci and Amok were given two big fish and the show ended. The audience loved them. And Kyra could tell Dulci enjoyed herself. She also could tell Demona was a lousy spy... standing next to the bleachers.
If you think it's almost over, you're wrong, I'm not even HALF done... this project will go on as long as possible! Send your comments, flames, etc to and help reach my goal!