Alex clutched his stomach. His mother was seated in a rocking chair, holding a baby wrapped in a blue blanket.

"Evening's upon us my little one," Fox sang sweetly.

"Hold it!" screeched the teenager, stomping into the room. "What are you doing?" And he glared at the infant. "And what is THAT!"

"I'm singing your baby brother Solomon to sleep, silly."

The crimson-haired youth seethed, unable to recall his mother singing to him, having a baby brother, or even his mother acting sickeningly sweet. "You miscarried, remember! And that thing must be some sort of trick. It reeks of Fordel!"

Fox looked puzzled. "Who's Fordel?"

"Who's Fordel?" screamed Alex. "Did you hit your head?"

"Eww!" came a high voice. "Mommy, when did Alex get so ugly!"

Alex turned to see the speaker, a little girl in a pink dress and brown pigtails. "Who are you?"

The girl made a face. "My friends call me Vixey, but you can call me Vixen Madrigal."

The eleven year old snarled. "Whatever. This has got to be a bad dream. Fordel playing with my mind again. If I just sit here…" he sat down on the bed. "These illusions will JUST GO AWAY!"

Baby Solomon began to cry.

Fox cradled the infant. "There, there, baby. Mommy's got you." She glared at Alex. "You scared him!"

XXX

Being seasoned police detectives, Elisa and Matt had seen worse crime scene photos. The body in its original context. Rawlins' wrist nailed to the floor, bits of rock scattered around the body along with decapitated dinosaur models. There was a small pool of blood from the SPID's entry wound.

It's not grisly, but it's unnerving. Matt shoved the photos back into the envelope. "Did the complex use security cameras?"

"Cameras in all the hallways. You can go over right now," replied Maria Chavez. "They have the footage ready."

"I'd also like to speak with whoever let Fordel in," commented Elisa. "His ugly mug is on every wanted poster within fifty miles."

"But doesn't that wanted poster also say 'Do not approach without nuclear weapons'?" Matt joked.

Elisa glared at him. "Not funny. Not now."

Chavez sighed. "I've been trying to trace his family, but his parents are deceased and I haven't located any more relatives. I'll let you know if I find more than a handful of air."

The twosome rose and left the office.

Matt pointed at his desk. On the blotter was a pair of round, black wired glasses. The lenses had been broken, the pieces of glass littering the surface. "Seems Fordie really was targeting us." He opened his drawer. Everything seemed to be in place. "Even the little bit of dust I put to make sure no one goes through my things seems to be here." He checked the stack of papers in the 'out' box. "The hair I planted's still in place."

"He's daring, but not stupid," Elisa replied bitterly. "His glasses were missing from the scene. Figures Fordel would take them as a trophy. Probably got an underling to plant them on your desk." She moved to Rawlins' desk. There were the balsa wood models of The Spirit of St. Louis and a stegosaurus, along with a sketchbook. The detective flipped through the pages. There were mostly fanciful sketches of dragons, unicorns, fairies, and dinosaurs, a couple of historical figures, a few imaginary gargoyles. She recognized a sketch of Goliath based on a newspaper photo. A pretty good likeness, though Rawlins was no Rembrandt. One drawing caught her attention. A self-portrait of Rawlins himself in civilian clothes: a plaid flannel shirt and blue jeans. He never came to the annual picnics. I never saw him in anything but his uniform. "His badge wasn't recovered at the scene, was it?"

"Wasn't with his personal effects?" Matt asked, looking at the sketches over Elisa's shoulder. "I think you should keep that book."

"Why? They're not that good."

"He would have wanted you to have them. You empathize with him, and you want Fordel to pay for what he did."

"This is not the first time I've wanted Fordel to pay, and it won't be the last." By now, the detectives had left the station and were moving toward Elisa's car. Elisa opened the door and squealed. Lying on the driver's seat, smeared with blood, was Badge Number Two-Twenty. She slammed the door shut and backed away. "He's rigged a bomb."

"Guess we know where the badge went," Matt commented. "You're shaken up. I'll go to the Lakota Complex and get the security camera footage."

"I'll get the mechanic to check the car." Elisa wrinkled her nose. "And sterilize it."

XXX

"How is it," demanded David Xanatos. "That yesterday, I only had one child. And today, I have three? Unless you've discovered spontaneous generation, this does not compute."

Fox crossed her arms. "Don't play games with me, David Hermes Xanatos!"

"That's not my middle name." Xanatos felt his wrist. "Walt…"

Owen Burnett entered the room. "Mr. Xanatos, Broadway has something to explain about this…quandary."

XXX

A few minutes later, the entire castle was gathered in the Grand Hall.

Broadway waved his arms. "Listen, people. I'm sure you've all noticed subtle…changes. Like why Lex no longer has a cybernetic arm…"

"I had a cybernetic arm?" Lexington asked. "How did that happen?"

"Get to the point," growled Brooklyn. "At least tell us why a miniature Demona kissed me and insulted Maggie."

The fat gargoyle sighed. "OK, you do believe that there are parallel universes to this one, right? Imagine two of these universes running parallel and otherwise not connecting. Like spaghetti noodles. The…" He held his claws into quote marks. "'Powers That Be' decided it would be funny to meld two of these universes. The repercussions of the two worlds blending are what's causing this distortion. You see, Talon is still alive in that universe, because Fordel doesn't exist there just as the gargoyle miss doesn't exist in this one."

"Who is this 'miniature Demona'?" demanded Goliath.

"Her name's Malevola." Broadway shrugged. "World's first test-tube gargoyle baby. A scientist named Lee Thal." There were snickers. "That's his name. No joke. Anyway, Demona had this crazy idea to rear a gargoyle child in her warped image. Demona took a lock of hair from Goliath one night and gave it to Thal to combine it with her own DNA…"

"Fortunately, Malevola grew up too fast for it to stick," Angela added. "Father, I know this sounds crazy."

"What about me?" interjected Alex. "Who cares about Brooklyn's non-existent love life?" He pointed towards Vixey and Solomon. "Who are they?"

Broadway shrugged. "They're your siblings from the other dimension. You see, when the universes came together, certain characters were expressed and others silenced. The Fox we know – who only has one child by Mr. Xanatos – has been replaced by the Fox from the other dimension. I'm actually the Broadway from the other world. I'm just really similar to this world's Broadway that no one can really tell the difference."

"Why is why you seem to know how this happened," Xanatos remarked dryly.

"Let me get through this once!" interrupted Broadway. "When these 'Powers That Be' decide they've had their fun, boom. The universes will go back to normal. Vixey, Solomon, Malevola, and Dr. Thal will vanish. Our Fox will return, as well as our Lex. We'll remember this incident, but I doubt we'll want to reminisce about it."

"Am I crazy in the other dimension?" asked Brooklyn. "If I'm dating Demona the Second?"

"No, you're the cranky and cynical grouch you've always been," replied Broadway. "Malevola's a good gal, if a bit jealous and possessive. Like Angela said, she grew up too fast for Demona's brainwashing to stick and hey, she's still a member of this clan."

"Wait a second," Brooklyn said suddenly. "She's from a world where Fordel doesn't exist? Do humans live harmoniously with gargoyles in that other world?"

"Nope. We're still at odds with Castaway and the Quarrymen, but they've fragmented over the years."

"So she's out there," Goliath muttered. "With no idea that a crazed terrorist and his bounty hunters are attempting to exterminate gargoyles?"

Broadway nodded. "Sadly, yes."

Angela turned to Brooklyn. "What did you say to her!"

"This wasn't my fault," retorted the rust-brown gargoyle.

Maggie nodded. "She brought it on herself."

Brooklyn smacked his forehead. "Oh, geeze…"

"Understatement," Owen replied.

Maggie glared at the butler. "How do we know this isn't the Puck's doing?"

"The 'Powers That Be' entrusted me with the revelation," answered Broadway.

"Other dimension or not, she's a members of clan," Goliath quipped. "And our responsibility."

"Even if she's your kid by Demona?" asked Brooklyn. "Present company excluded," he added on Angela's glare.

"She could be anywhere in New York!" moaned Maggie.

"Or Dr. Thal's home," suggested Broadway.

"So you know where it is?" Brooklyn inquired.

The overweight gargoyle smirked. "I'll give you a map, Loverboy."

David turned to Fox. "So you're not really my wife."

"I am your wife. Just from a parallel universe."

"I'd appreciate it if you and your offspring stayed out of the bedroom I share with my Fox."

Fox glared. "I don't believe this! How dare you shut me out!" She picked up Baby Solomon and left the room. "Come on, Vixey. I'll take you shopping and charge your purchases on Mr. High and Mighty's credit cards."

"Oh, goody!" The little girl followed her mother.

Alex folded his arms and pouted. "So I gotta wait until these…" he copied Broadway's 'quote marks' "'Powers That Be' set things right! If I only knew what Vixen was afraid of…"

"She fears rats," Owen informed.

"Thanks, Uncle Owen. I think I'm ready for a lesson."

Owen transmuted into Puck. "Well, why didn't you say so earlier?"

XXX

Meanwhile, Malevola sat against the base of a large tree, sobbing.

She was unaware of a pair of eyes watching her. Actually, two.

"I've never seen this one before," whispered one of Isak Fordel's bounty hunters. "She seems to be distressed." He held the camera toward the weeping gargoyle. "Don't know her fighting skills yet."

"You won't have to fight her," came Fordel's voice. The terrorist was in one of his hideouts, watching the streamed footage via a monitor. "Bring her to me. I'll put the sniveling monster out of her misery. That sympathizer will no longer be alone in the afterlife."

The bounty hunter laughed. "And who are you to stop fate?"

TBC