Previously:

In the original series of Gargoyles, Coldsteel, the Evil of the Coldtrio that resided in the gargoyle cyborg that Xanatos and Demona created was out somewhere in upstate NY, being chased by Coldstone and Coldfire. In another episode (TGC), the clones had been turned to permanent stone by a curse/virus with seemingly no cure...

.....Kyra stopped jumping around to catch her breath and wait for Demona's next move, Demona started the real attack, with magic. Kyra was confused at first, Demona was just standing there, then when she saw the jewel in Demona's hand, she realized what might happen, but it was too late, Demona said a few quick words and a beam burst from the jewel and hit Kyra as she jumped out of the way.
The force of the magic pushed Kyra to the ground, knocking her unconscious for nearly an hour. When she regained consciousness, she was afraid to open her eyes, thinking that Demona would still be there. Strangely, when Kyra finally opened her eyes, Demona was gone.
Everything seemed the same, but Kyra felt different. She looked around, the alley seemed normal, but she seemed able to see the dark areas a lot better. That's weird, she thought, I have good night vision, but it's never been this good. Kyra was getting suspicious, she decided to look at herself, she had a nagging feeling that told her to glance at her reflection in the river.
Kyra could barely believe her eyes when she saw what had happened: she'd been turned into a gargoyle!

"All right Kyra, let's work on your landing." Brooklyn called.
"Not on your life." Kyra said in a low sarcastic voice.

Brooklyn and Kyra took off after they received directions from Goliath on how to get to the two places the amulet would be, Demona's lair, and the Nightstone Unlimited building. They went to Nightstone first, since Demona probably wouldn't be there. They thoroughly searched the abandoned penthouse, but found nothing. Then they decided to rest and look for clues to where the jewel might be before they went to Demona's lair.
Finally, they reluctantly left, knowing they'd be expected and Demona had set up a trap for them. Before Kyra took off, Nipper growled. Someone was watching, but Kyra sensed it wasn't Demona. Since she couldn't see anyone, she figured it wasn't important so she glided off and caught up with Brooklyn....

Note: This episode takes place during "Warrior Within" in the beginning and after "Battle of Love" past the first break mark.

Nekawa

glared from a shadowed doorway, beyond the sight of the the two young Gargoyles, one familiar, one new to him, that glided off on some mission. He'd caught something about an amulet in the conversation, but it bored him and he decided to look for something a bit more interesting, before the cyborg and his robot girlfriend caught up with him and captured him again. He went to the castle.
Xanatos and Fox were in the baby's room while Owen/Puck was researching the history of the "amulet" that the clan was searching for. Again, boring. But that left the computers open for some research of his own...
A month and a half later, Kyra and her human friends were hanging out at the mall when her "cell phone" rang. The phone was really a communicator that only three people knew the number to. It was either Xanatos (who she knew was in a meeting), Matt (who was sleeping during the day to rest up for Task Force duties), or...
"Yeah, 'Lise?"
"How'd you know it was me?" Elisa answered, slightly shocked.
"You're the only one who uses this line and wouldn't be busy right now. What's up?"
"Smart girl... Well, you happened to get some mail, I wanted to know if you wanted to come pick it up or what?"
Kyra shrugged even though Elisa couldn't see it. "I'm kinda busy. Just bring it with you tonight. I'll read it before I go out on patrol with Brook."
"All right... see you then." Elisa agreed and hung up, then frowned looking at the crisp white envelope. "I just hope it's good news..."
That night, Elisa came up an hour after dusk. She explained that she'd fallen asleep and Cagney had just woken her up at dusk. She smiled at everyone then got a little more serious when her eyes reached Kyra. "I brought your letter... Sure you want to read it before you go out?"
"Of course, I might not be back for hours." Kyra said and crossed her arms. "Why?"
"It's from Chris's parents." Elisa told her and frowned, putting the letter on a table.
Kyra picked up the note with a lump in her throat... Chris's family wouldn't send her anything unless it was a major occasion, and her instincts told her it was bad... She opened the envelope and read the note and immediately crushed it in her hand as tears fell.
"What is it, Kyr?" Brooklyn asked, worried that she was about to faint or something from the look on her face. It was like her soul had been ripped out or something.
"I'll never let another person love me again, I don't know if I can live with this kind of pain." Kyra growled and threw the wad of paper in a trash can on her way out. It bounced of the rim and hit the floor. Elisa looked after her and frowned.
"What happened?" Angela asked, wide eyed at Kyra's sudden tone. "She sounded like-" she shut her mouth before the name could come out and finalize the problem.
"I know..." Brooklyn picked up the paper and opened it. "Oh geez... no wonder..."
"What is it?" Angela asked.
"It's Chris..." Brooklyn said, looking at the door Kyra left through, "He's dead."
Goliath came in just as Brooklyn said it, "She won't be thinking or flying straight with that kind of grief... keep an eye on her," he warned his second. Brooklyn nodded and tossed the paper in the trash, running after his friend.
Brooklyn wasn't as fast as Kyra, but he knew she had an uncanny knack for ending up on the East side when she was angry. He caught the fastest breeze towards the Harlem River and hoped he would find her before anyone else. Especially Michael. After five minutes of what seemed to be a hopeless search, he spotted Kyra speeding off towards who knew what.
"KYRA! Wait up!" he called.
Kyra flapped her wings once and hovered almost perfectly to let him catch up, something only she could do. "What do you want?" she growled, sounding dangerously like Demona. It made him wince.
"I just wanted to make sure you're okay... you looked pretty shaken when you left..."
Kyra's eyes flashed and she growled. "I'm fine. Leave me alone."
"With the mood you're in? No way. You could end up killing yourself!!!" Brooklyn growled right back at her. "You're in no condition to fight... let's go back."
"NO!" Kyra snarled. "I'm staying out here, I need to get over things and this is the only way I know how."
"Then at least let me stay with you... I want you to eventually come back alive, Kyr."
Kyra growled and sighed, "All right." then she took off like a rocket. "But keep up with me!" Brooklyn grinned and raced after his friend, determined to turn her attempted solitude into a game of tag. Neither of them noticed the two shadowed forms watching them from a roof top.
"Well?" one of them said.
"You were right." the other one rumbled in a deeper voice. "Goliath has a new clans member. Now let's find out who she is."
Kyra almost smiled as Brooklyn tried to tackle her a seventh time that night. When was he going to learn that she was faster than him? Probably when she'd learn to watch where she was going. They were near the water and above hundreds of skyscrapers, and that meant fierce updrafts when you least expected them... Kyra sensed one just ahead of her and bunched up her wings to narrow slits on her sides, going just barely fast enough to make it through the updraft without falling. Unfortunately, Brooklyn missed the cue and was thrown up by the vicious wind, losing control and crashing on a roof a half mile away.
"Brook!" Kyra cried out, looking back and turning to get to him. She avoided the updraft that made him crash and landed right next to him. "You all right?"
"Been better..." Brooklyn mumbled, holding his head. "Did you get the number of that semi?"
"Nope. Sorry." she grinned and helped him up. Suddenly, she caught a smell on the wind that didn't seem right. It was familiar, but wrong. "Hang on... something's up..." she told him and took off towards the scent. It was coming from a church rooftop, full of beautiful archaic gargoyle statues.
When Kyra landed, she turned human to avoid major questions in case a priest saw her. She gasped at the lifelike carvings of some of them and smiled at the obvious humor of a few of the others. She touched the wing of an angel statue and gave it a grim smile. Funny how people always believed the winged guardians of humankind to look like them, instead of accepting that they weren't. At least some of the young gargoyles on Avalon were named after Archangels and Angels, according to 'Angela'.
Kyra's thoughts stopped at that, because just behind her, there was the slightest movement of someone's foot on the stone roof. She growled below her breath and turned slowly to attack. Who ever dared to think they could fight her when she was in this mood would be sorely sorry. She lunged for an attack and froze, eyes wide, at the sight of the silhouette in front of her.
Unfortunately, the gargoyle who stepped out of the shadow was not who she thought it was...
"You look just like... like..." Kyra couldn't finish, her sensibility couldn't take this heavy a load of weirdness.
"Like Goliath, your leader?" Phalog finished for her.
"Yes, but... how?" Kyra asked, too shocked to keep up the farce of being a human girl.
"I'm a clone that Savarrius created." Phalog answered.
"Savarrius? I don't understand. I'm not even sure I want to." she half muttered the last part.
"Believe me, you'll understand soon enough." Phalog replied. Brooklyn glided down and stood next to Kyra, gazing with fury at Phalog.
"That still doesn't explain why you're here. If Savarrius made you, you should be after Goliath." Kyra told him, "Not bothering a teenage girl."
"You are clever!" Phalog exclaimed, "How did you know that?"
"Savarrius has been after Goliath for years." Kyra answered.
"I thought you were dead, Phalog." Brooklyn growled and put his hand on Kyra's arm to push her back. Kyra could kill when she was angry enough, but even she couldn't beat Phalog, especially since she was so grief stricken her mind forgot her weaknesses. She'd be her own liability.
"Not dead. Sleeping. But I've rested enough for now." Phalog said in an almost friendly tone, but even in her scattered state of mind, Kyra caught the threat in his eyes. "My, how things have changed. How long has it been?"
"Over a year, I think." Brooklyn grumbled.
"That long?"
"Not long enough." Brooklyn lunged, but this time Kyra grabbed him.
"Hold it, hornhead... just what the heck is going on here? What does he mean asleep?" she growled, her eyes flashing even though they were human eyes.
"Watch the temper, Kyr..." Brooklyn warned. "This guy's been a thorn in our sides since he was made. Him and his cloned clan until they joined Talon." he snarled at Phalog then, "Are they awake too?"
"Not yet..." the clone answered, looking right at Kyra. "I don't need the traitors right now."
Kyra felt a low vicious growl rise in her throat. "I think we'd better go now, Brooklyn... unless you want to see what color of blood this creep has..."
Brooklyn gave a swift nod. "Let's go." he pulled Kyra to the edge of the roof and whipped her up into his arms, taking off immediately.
They landed a few blocks south of the Eyrie Building. "You okay, Kyr? I mean, you gonna be okay?" Brooklyn asked, looking at her worriedly.
"I'll be fine, just give me time. I get over everything in time... For now we have a mystery on our hands." Kyra said, looking back where they'd come. "From the way you two were talking, I don't think he meant he was sleeping during the day... why were you so shocked to see him? And why did you call him dead?"
Brooklyn grimaced, "Don't you ever ask one question at a time?"
"Nope." Kyra smirked at him then frowned, "Now please answer me."
"Okay, it's a long story... but to make it short, Phalog and the other clones are all supposed to be in a permanent stone sleep."
"The other clones? You mentioned those before, who else was cloned?" Kyra asked, crossing her arms.
"Everyone. The clan, Demona, and Elisa." Brooklyn answered, looking towards the castle.
"Why Elisa and Demona?" Kyra asked, obviously confused.
"To make the perfect mate I guess." Brooklyn shrugged. "That's what Phalog called her anyway."
"Her?"
"Her name's... was Delilah."
"The woman who turned against Samson? Nice name."
"Yeah, well neither Elisa or Demona liked her. It was a bit... disconcerting for both of them. They never did like each other, ever since they first met."
"I bet. Elisa told me about the first fight. Well do you think he's going to wake the others up?"
Brooklyn shrugged again. "I really don't know... I hope not. They were all, well, trouble to say the least. They ended up allies, somewhat, after Phalog disappeared in a fire with Demona, but I don't think anyone completely trusted them."
"You didn't trust your own selves?" Kyra asked simply then transformed and took off before Brooklyn could reply.
The next night, Kyra and Brooklyn went out on the same path they took the previous night. Kyra wanted to find Phalog and get some information from him. She promised not to take it to blows if she could help it. Brooklyn had made Kyra swear not to tell Goliath anything until they'd found out exactly what brought Phalog back and if they could keep it from happening again. Phalog alone would be bad enough... but Phalog with the clones would be downright impossible.
Surprisingly, Phalog seemed to be waiting for them in the same place they'd run into him before. He smirked when Kyra landed and her eyes immediately glowed their soft but deadly lavender. She simply glowered at the farce gargoyle.
"What are you smirking at?" she snarled and put a hand on her hip as her eyes returned to normal. Brooklyn landed right behind her and stepped around to her side.
"I still say this is a bad idea." he grumbled.
"Well, do you want to ask him?" Kyra asked, raising an "eyebrow" at him.
"Goliath wouldn't want him dead, Kyr..." Brooklyn replied.
"Dead? This little twig of a child kills? What does she use, a flyswatter?" Phalog asked, laughing.
Kyra's eyes glowed again and she dropped in a steady lunge, "That does it, the fly gets swatted, all right..."
Brooklyn grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back before she could leap. "Hold it, Kyr! You wanna explain all the blood to Goliath when we get back home?"
That stopped her immediately, "I could wash it off..." she argued half-heartedly.
"Where? Elisa would squeal on us when she saw you all bloody, then Goliath would ground you until you were his age!" Brooklyn said and grinned, "Though I have to admit it would be worth the look on Phalog's face... But I've seen it on Mikey enough."
Kyra giggled. "I haven't."
"Yeah, well deal with the twerp during the day. You wanted to question, so question." Brooklyn said and crossed his arms, obviously not happy about the situation.
"I was getting there." Kyra said and stuck her tongue out at her friend.
"Need to know something, little demon?" Phalog asked, raising an "eyebrow".
"If you'd be so kind as to answer.. and why'd you call me that?" Kyra demanded after blinking in surprise.
"You remind me of Demona is all. Now what do you want?"
"I want people to quit saying that for one." Kyra snarled, giving him the most evil eye that anyone had ever seen up to that point in history. "And for two, I'd like to know just what "woke you up" and if you're planning to wake up your friends."
"I don't see why you hate being like Demona so much, in some ways it's a compliment." Phalog told her, "I actually do believe you could kill me if you wanted to because of it."
"Well that's one good thing, I suppose." Kyra admitted with a frown. "But you still haven't answered my other question."
"Sounded more like a demand to me. But very well. I'll only tell you two things: It's not what woke me up, it's who. And I might have him do the same for my clan if the need arises." Phalog told her. "If that's all..."
"Not quite..." Kyra said, holding a hand up in the universal "wait a minute there, pal" gesture. "What "need" would that be?"
"Well if there's no other choice, I'll have to settle for my old clan." Phalog answered. Kyra was surprised he hadn't lost his temper by now... Goliath would have at least sighed in annoyance and given her "the look" for asking too much.
"If? That means you have another choice..." Kyra told him, narrowing her eyes.
"Clever, you're as smart as Demona too." Phalog said and smirked, stepping off the roof of the building and gliding off before Kyra could cream him for comparing her to Demona again.
Kyra growled and glared after him, about to take off after him until Brooklyn touched her arm. "We better get back before Goliath has Elisa send out the SWAT team..." he said and they took off.
"Brook, what do you suppose his other choice is?"
"Why do you care?" Brooklyn asked, visibly aggravated.
"I'm just curious." Kyra shrugged.
"Well I'm not sure... but I have a few ideas..." Brooklyn said the last part quietly, looking over at her. She missed it.
That morning, Kyra walked out of the front of the Eyrie Building, as smoothly as if she'd just come out from a business meeting. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and glanced quickly up to the castle on her way across the street. She had a job to do today... either one thing or the other. Find whoever 'woke' Phalog, or find his roost. From that point on... all things depended on the moment.
She charmed the locations of the last night's gargoyle sightings out of a rookie cop, especially the solo sightings, the clan traveled in pairs. They all seemed to be on the west side, south of the Eyrie Building. Phalog was probably letting himself be seen to clue people in on where the gargoyles were... but that was impossible... did he even know they were there? If he did, someone clued him in and that someone was going to have to learn about keeping secrets. The hard way.
Kyra snarled silently to herself with a grimace that probably clued a few closet Quarrymen in on what she was. If it did, they kept quiet and walked on by without starting anything. The way she felt, even Demona would have backed down.
It was 'the world against Kyra' and she had no one standing there beside her to give her strength, she'd have to count on her fury to do that now. Her eyes flashed lightning sparks as she crossed the street to the odd flat topped church and stalked in.
The sunlight burned her corneas as Kyra squinted to get a good look at the statues. They all looked familiar, it was obviously the clones. There was 'Brooklyn', next to him was 'Bronx' and little 'Lex'. It unnerved her to do this suddenly. She couldn't kill them. Even Delilah looked too innocent. They weren't the problem. Besides, they wouldn't be a threat as long as Phalog was gone. She gave the statues a brief nod and frowned, moving on to find her prey. She could think of only one thing, Goliath would kill her if he ever found out...
So this is how the Quarrymen feel, she thought suddenly as she rounded the corner and saw the large statue staring almost mockingly at her. They think that the things they hunt will hurt them and don't deserve to live. Difference is, this guy is a monster.
Kyra slipped her amulet out of her satchel and put it on, praying for forgiveness as she charged a blast that would turn marble into sand. Just one little trigger thought would release it, and keep the threat Phalog held from ever being carried out. She lost Chris, she wasn't going to lose Brook and the others.
Just as Kyra was about to release the blast, something hit her. She turned immediately after regaining her wits and glared at the shadow that fired at her. It wasn't a Quarryman, he would have fired at Phalog. Maybe it was a gargoyle lover who didn't know that this one was bad... Then she saw it, the shadow had wings!
"Impossible!" she accidentally released the blast at the shadow instead of the statue. It ricocheted right back at her for some reason. She didn't dwell on that, she just ducked and watched the blast hit a real statue, one that never lived. She hoped. The sun glinted off of whatever had made the power ricochet as the shadow came out into the light. It was a gargoyle made completely of steel. He didn't look too friendly. "Who made you?"
"Xanatos." the robot said in a surprisingly fluid voice. This thing had a brain. "Now mind telling me why you think this statue needs to be dust?"
"Mind telling me why you ricocheted my blast into that one?" Kyra pointed to the remains of the stone.
"It was meant for you." the robot answered.
"No. It was meant for him." Kyra snarled between her teeth.
"Why don't you tell me why you want him dead and I'll decide if you can kill him."
"He wants my clan dead." Kyra said, kicking Phalog's stone form. "So I'm getting to him first."
"Clan? He didn't mention any humans in the plan." Kyra gave the robot a glare that peirced whatever soul it had and gave him a pretty good idea what she meant. "You're not human." It said simply.
"Not entirely." she corrected with a nasty grin. "Now, can I kill him?"
"No, I think not. I need him." the robot said and raised a weapon loaded arm at her. "He didn't happen to mention whether or not he wanted you alive, though."
"Well we'll just have to ask him tonight, won't we?" Kyra stepped back, narrowing her eyes.
"I doubt you'll be here to ask."
The robot fired and Kyra jumped, dodging the blast and neatly landing on the rim of the rooftop. Another blast sent her off the roof, but a few quick flips and a well placed roll saw that she landed in the alley below with minor bruises. She took off running before the robot could fire again.
Xanatos has things to answer for.... she thought as she raced across a busy street, barely avoiding a taxi that blared its horn at her.
David Xanatos blinked in mild shock and even milder amusement at the resemblance of the furied girl in front of him to the person she swore she was nothing like. Kyra had stormed right past Owen without so much as a "get out of my face, stiffshirt" and proceeded to go on and on about some robot and a copied creep that apparently should have been molecules...
"Slow down and run that by me again, in English..." he said when Kyra paused to breathe.
"What don't you understand?" Kyra asked, exasperated.
"The part after you came in here." Xanatos replied with a smirk. "Now, what exactly happened?"
"It's a long story and technically I'm not supposed to tell you it."
"I see... well suppose there are, as you say, 'technical difficulties'... what's gotten you so worked up?"
Kyra almost smirked at his use of her own excuse, almost. "I'm 'worked up' over some robot you built wrecking my chance at getting rid of a threat to my clan!"
"Whoa, hold it.. all the steel clan are shut down and stored in a warehouse miles from here, half of them are even dismantled... except the ones Micheal stole from there."
Kyra shook her head feircely, "Not a steel clan. This thing thought. It had a soul."
"That's... wrong... I never made...." Xanatos trailed off and looked like he was going hit his forehead if it wasn't below him to do such a ridiculous thing. "Owen, have there been any updates on the Coldtrio lately?"
"Not recently, sir, they were last seen upstate." the straight faced man replied.
"All of them? Intact?"
"Right down to scratchless chrome finishes, sir."
"Hmm... interesting. Kyra, what did the robot look like?"
"Malicious and cold. He was all too willing to kill me on sight. Why?"
"Sounds like Coldsteel." Xanatos mused quietly, "But why would he be in the city?"
"I wouldn't know, that's why I came in here." Kyra reminded him.
Xanatos looked up at her as if just remembering she was there... "Of course, I'll... I'll have to get back to you about what's going on, but you have to tell me why you ran into him and where."
"Well, I was sort of.... going to smash Phalog and--"
"Phalog? Why on earth would you need to kill him? You don't seem like the type to kill for the heck of it, anyway." Xanatos asked, raising an eyebrow sharply.
"He threatened the safety of the clan... and he called me a Demon." Kyra replied, glaring off to a wall.
"Ah... well, that makes it perfectly fine to kill him without even telling Goliath that he's even alive..." Xanatos said dryly.
"All right, all right, I'll tell Goliath about it, but try to find out why that 'Coldsteel' thing was with him, okay?" Kyra said quickly and sighed, storming back out of the room.
"You know it's funny, Owen." Xanatos mused after the angered girl left.
"What's that, sir?"
"Kyra's more of a combination of Demona and Detective Maza than Delilah ever was." Xanatos finished. "At least she has their worst qualities."
"Hmm... well there's bound to be a reason for that..." an impish voice said with an audible smirk and when Xanatos looked up, nothing was there. Puck knew something he wasn't telling.
Kyra glared moodily off into the shadows of the afternoon front yard of her school. The trees which normally looked like an inviting place to sit and read looked like nothing more than twisted gnarled arms with no life among them. She used to love winter, especially February... the sleeping trees promising green beauty in a few months and crisp air turning her pale cheeks a healthy pink that made Chris laugh. Now all she saw was dead trees, all she felt was biting wind carving away her face. There was going to be a marshmellow roasting party in Keisha's backyard that weekend, but it wouldn't be any fun without someone to sit by at the fire.
"Hey Kyra... you okay, girl? You look.... cold." Aryce said, coming up to her.
Kyra barely flicked a glance to the auburn haired girl. "I'm fine." she clipped emotionlessly.
"You don't look it."Aryce said and frowned. "Everybody saw Chris' obit. You going to the funeral?"
"Why? To remind myself that he's not here anymore?" Kyra snapped and pushed off the wall, stalking away into the school building as the warning bell rang.
Aryce sighed and pushed her bangs behind her ear and followed a few steps behind her fuming friend. "I thought maybe you should say goodbye and let it go. You're a very darkly emotioned girl, Kyra, this could eat you away."
"I can't go, Aryce... if I go it'll be like finalizing he's gone... I'll never have any hope again! I'm alone now, Aryce... no one's beside me anymore... I have to face things now and I'll start with this." Kyra said heatedly and stormed away, nearly shoving Micheal into the door as she passed him.
"What's wrong with her?" he asked Aryce innocently then smirked as he turned and followed Kyra to class.
A lunch that day Micheal attempted to go immediate rebound on Kyra, he sat right next to her, ignoring her friends' glares. Even the gang girls seemed to snarl at him for his lack of tact. Kyra barely even looked at him, and when she finally did, her eyes were unreadable.
"What do you want?" she asked coldly.
"I heard about Chris... I was thinking you needed someone to comfort you." Micheal said, frowning with concern.
"Oh get over yourself, Mikey." Nika snorted, "And to think I thought you above this."
"Above what?" Micheal said innocently, "I just think that Kyra needs someone to talk to."
Kyra, who had been sitting sternly like a queen over all of this suddenly rose gracefully and glanced down at Micheal as if he was worth less than the feeling behind those words. "I don't need anything, and certainly not from you." she picked up her lunch tray and walked off, leaving even her friends shocked that she had dismissed Micheal so calmly instead of yelling her head off. Something was seriously wrong.
Aryce and Nika shared a reproachful look and frowned.
That night Kyra went out on her own... ready to kill anything that even looked at her the wrong way. She hadn't even checked in at the castle after school so no one knew where she was. Kyra wanted it that way. She thought best when she was alone and she fought better that way, no other backs to watch or people to be used against her. Kyra always knew she was... different from the clan. It was from being on the street for so long, she just didn't learn to trust anyone. Trusting the wrong person got you killed. Chris was the only one besides Kirstie that she loved and without him, she lost half of herself. And most of her heart.
Kyra turned into an alleyway and leaned on a wall, brushing her hair out of her face and sighing. She felt like a Quarryman had hit her with one of those damned charged hammers. Kirstie hadn't been at school that day, Kyra didn't know why and at that moment didn't care. She lifted her hand to wipe a tear off her cheek, then dropped it, but it stopped almost involuntarily over her chest. She looked down at the locket it had brushed, the gold heart that Chris had given her to remind her that he loved her no matter what she was. She clenched her fist around it and broke it off, it was useless now, he wasn't alive to pour his love into it.
The locket clattered on the ground and a tear fell on it, then Kyra moved on to the fire escape of the building.
The night air helped dry her face, but it didn't cool the burning pain in her chest. Or fill the hole there. She collapsed into a curled up ball with her forehead on her knees and wept where she wouldn't be seen by anyone who would tease her for the weakness.
"Kyra still hasn't come home... I'm worried..." Angela sighed, wrapping her arms around her waist.
"She never even called to say where she'd be..." Fox added, remembering when she'd looked into Kyra's room. The little black phone was laying on her bed. She hadn't even taken it to school. This was planned.
Suddenly Brooklyn stormed out of the main door and started for the parapets.
"Where are you going?" Goliath asked.
"I'm going to look for her. It's too obvious what she might be planning." Brooklyn answered, turning to stare down any opposition from his leader. None came.
"Be careful. You don't know where she is or who she's with." Elisa said quietly. They all knew Kyra wouldn't kill herself, but she'd find someone to anger into doing it. The girl was a warrior who would only die in battle.
Brooklyn nodded sharply then took off like a flame in the wind. He had a slight idea where his friend might go... He'd made a mistake in telling her how strong and cruel Phalog was. And she'd made a mistake in telling Xanatos where Phalog roosted.
"What's the matter, little demon?" Phalog asked, standing a few feet away from Kyra as she stayed curled in her tight ball. She looked up at him, trying to glare even through the wetness. "You've been crying... I didn't think you could."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm human, I can cry. Even Demona cries."
"Really? I suppose you're right. Mind telling me why you're not so snappish this time? And while you're at it, why you're alone?"
Kyra moved her legs to the side as if to stand up, but changed her mind at the last moment. "I'm not in the mood to snap... and I don't need bodyguards. I'm usually alone."
"What happened? Did your beloved leader say you couldn't play with the humans because of the hunters?" the mocking tone was obvious and Kyra growled at it.
"No. He didn't say anything. It has nothing to do with any of them." she stood then, not nearly as tall as him, and too far to stare him down effectively, but that didn't stop her from trying.
"You're impertinent even when you don't have a reason, aren't you?"
"It's my best feature." Kyra replied, stepping back a bit with her left leg.
"I'd hate to see your worst." Phalog grumbled, "Why aren't you weeping in your own territory?"
"This whole city is my territory, I'll be where I please."
"Sorry, but I'm claiming this area. You can't be here unless you're with my clan."
"You don't have a clan." Kyra scoffed, shaking her head sharply to shake her bangs off her forehead. It only made them fall more into her eyes, making her look dangerous.
"Don't be so sure of that." Phalog said and started to approach her. Just as he got within arms reach she kicked out and up with her left leg, putting all her weight and strength behind it. He staggered back despite the fact that she was half his size if not smaller. "You little brat!"
"You didn't want to see my worst feature, well I'm afraid you have to. I fight dirty..." Kyra snarled and leaped at him.
He knocked her away with one hand. "You idiot, you're not even going to turn into a gargoyle to be a closer match?" he growled, "Do you want me to kill you?" Kyra simply pushed herself off the ground and glared at him with empty eyes that had nothing left to feel but anger. "Very well. Don't ever say I'm not generous." he slashed at her, she barely dodged to avoid it and she didn't scream out in pain when her arm was cut open.
The fight went on like that, she fought back, but only to the point that it wasn't a complete surrender, her pride wouldn't let her sit there and be beat to death. Finally she was thrown into the upraised edge of the roof, barely catching herself before she fell over backwards. Blood came from every part of her body, even her torso. Her lip bled precious droplets and her forehead had a trickle on either side falling like red strands of hair. Her eyes sparked with a warrior's spirit, but there was no will behind it. She didn't care how the fight ended. Kyra stared right up at Phalog as he raised his hand to deal the blow that would send her still human body down to the street over twenty feet below. Her eyes were darker than they had been when Demona controlled her. They didn't even reflect his image.
She shut her eyes as the blow came down, but it never came. A wind blew across her with a familiar scent on it. She opened her eyes in shock at the sound of flesh hitting the ground hard. Brooklyn was on top of Phalog, snarling and growling for all he was worth. She heaved herself off of the wall and snarled at him. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Saving your life. Why the hell are you letting him kill you?" Brooklyn snarled right back.
"I don't have any reason to live, why should I?" Kyra told him, she didn't even snarl it. Her face and tone were emotionless.
"I figured you'd be this way." Brooklyn shook his head then snarled down at Phalog. "Get out of here, all it takes is one push of this button and the whole clan will be here in less than five minutes." he showed a device in his hand that looked like a homing beacon.
Phalog growled as Brooklyn let him up and went off, not wanting to test the threat.
"Now," Brooklyn said finally, turning to face his bloodied friend, "mind telling me exactly why you don't think you can live anymore?"
"How can I live without Chris?" Kyra asked, hugging herself and shaking. Brooklyn knew it was from pain, but more of the kind inside; the way Kyra was, she probably didn't feel the wounds on her body.
"The same way you lived without him before." he told her. "You had your friends and family then. You still do."
Kyra shook her head, "It's not enough... I'm not strong without someone beside me! I've lost my strongest friend from that time..."
Brooklyn put his hand on the arm that had the least injuries. "You're the strongest person I know, Kyr."
"No, I'm not... I can't do anything by myself."
"You've done a lot by yourself. You've kept Micheal from hurting you for four years and you've survived the streets, all without anyone else. That's more than a lot of street girls can say. Elisa told me that most girls who've been on the streets as long as you have are either dead or pregnant or worse."
Kyra just shrugged at that, "I'm just lucky."
"Yeah, you're pretty lucky, considering one second later and I'd have been diving down to scrape up what was left of you." Brooklyn growled, "Why can't you accept that you don't need to die?"
"Because I can't stand living right now!" Kyra turned on him with tears in her eyes. "Do you know what it's like to be looked down at for your entire life and treated like nothing just because of where you live? To be immediately ridiculed for being a smart young girl? Kids think that's impossible, you know... Chris was the first person in school to actually be happy for my grades, he made people see me as more than a pretty girl. I met him before I met even Kiesha."
"And you're afraid that without him you'll be treated like the popular girls, right? A pretty doll with no real value except her looks." Brooklyn finished. "People don't forget things like that, Kyra... they all know that you're strong and at the top of your class. You don't need him to be your support. You can support yourself now."
Kyra shook her head again, "I don't want to be alone! I'm empty without him! It's not fair that it happened."
"What exactly happened, Kyra? You pocketed something on your way out... I saw you. What was it?"
Kyra took the newspaper clipping out of her jeans pocket, "The cops said it was an accident, but I don't care!" The clipping was about a traffic accident in Queens, a lot of cars had been totalled and there was a picture of paramedics, five of them at least, carting body bags. One of the bags was too small to have been the body of even a teenager. "Chris' little sister. He was taking her to her friend's house. Only two people survived that accident, and they're in critical. And I did some questioning at that precinct. The driver that caused the crash was drunk."
Brooklyn swallowed. So that was it... she was upset over how it happened, he thought she'd taken it harder than she should have. "Did the driver make it?"
"No. He died at the hospital." Kyra wiped blood off her face then crossed her arms again and frowned. "I suppose that's Fate's justice. But it's not enough. Lives were ruined by that."
"I don't know anything that can make Chris and his sister come back, but I don't want you joining them, okay?"
"I don't want to really die... but I can't live with a shattered heart." a tear slipped down her cheek, mixing with blood.
"Then heal it. Forget the grief and move on from it. Chris wouldn't want you to become a cold shell like Demona."
Kyra brushed her hair out of her face and pulled her hand back bloodied. "He yelled at me everytime he found out I was in a fight. I wonder if he's angry now."
"He was scared, probably didn't like to think of anyone hurting you. He's probably afraid that you're hurting yourself now."
Kyra blinked and nodded, "I guess this wasn't the best idea, huh?"
"You've had better." Brooklyn tried to grin at her.
"Can we go home now? I'm kind of tired." Kyra asked, looking down at her ripped and bloodied clothes.
"You're also kind of messy... Owen's gonna have a fit about bloodstains in the laundry." Brooklyn added, grinning fully.
"Good." Kyra said and Brooklyn held up something else he'd had attached to his belt. It glimmered in what little light there was. Kyra smiled and took the locket back, she felt a warm glow filling the hole in her chest when she fastened the chain around her neck. Maybe Chris' love was still in it after all. "So do we tell Goliath about Phalog?"
Brooklyn frowned.
During the time it took to read this chapter, at least one person has died or been crippled by a drunk driver. Probably more. It could have been you, your friend, a member of your family, a friend's family member... even if it was someone you never knew, it's still someone who's no longer living on this planet... and in some small way, that affects everyone.
Please fight to make the drunk driving laws and punishments in your state/country as strict as possible, before you or someone you know ends up on the wrong side of the dashboard.