Clan Vs Magic

by TVfan

It's been three years since the Journey, but the arrival of a new villain sets the stage for some dramatic changes in the Clan's life as Goliath and Elisa's marriage approaches. (These are older stories, so I apologize if they aren't super great in advance. They're file transfers from the Gargoyles Fan Website where my pen-name is SN... I've forgotten my password there... )

3. War's End

All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events in the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place immediately after "Revenge and Anger".

War's End

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

Castle Wyvern

Oberon, Titania, Catherine, Tom, Ophelia, and Gabriel stood in front of a bewildered clan, Xanatos family, and few new faces. Among the new faces were Matt Bluestone, the robotic Brendan Yale, and the now gargoyle Macbeth.

"The Mage has escalated the war between himself and my race," Oberon stated, "We must deal with him now, before my race is destroyed, and both human and gargoyle races are enslaved."

Catherine and Tom looked around the assembled gathering. She recognized Goliath and his clan, the Xanatos family, and Puck, but there were a few she didn't recognize. Two were gargoyles and the third was a robotic human. One gargoyle was a tan female gargoyle standing close to Goliath and eyeing Oberon with an obvious look of mistrust. The other gargoyle was grey and standing close to Hudson and Puck. The robot seemed to be the most nervous and stood about five feet behind Goliath.

"I'm sorry to interrupt the battle plans," Catherine announced, and then gesturing to the faces she didn't recognize, "But who are ye?"

Oberon and Titania said nothing. Tom, Gabriel and Ophelia nodded to Catherine in agreement. The tan female stepped forward first.

"Why Princess, I'd thought you'd remember me? The first woman cop you met?" the gargoyle said, "Although I was a human at the time!"

Catherine, Tom, Gabriel, and Ophelia gasped, "Elisa?"

"Yes," Elisa answered, "The Mage has been operating some secret plan that has so far involved both the Quarrymen and Demona. As part of it, I ended up getting a wedding present I didn't expect."

"You and Goliath look good together," Gabriel commented, "Is this permanent?"

"Seems that way, but no one knows for sure, yet," Goliath responded.

The grey gargoyle stepped forward next, "I, like Elisa, have also suffered at a villain's trickery. Demona and Sevarius somehow created a serum that works in the same fashion as one of Puck's soul transference spells. I was once Macbeth. Now I'm Macbeth's soul in a gargoyle body."

"Much seems to have happened since they left Avalon," Tom commented.

"Aye," Catherine responded, "So who is the robot?"

Brendan didn't answer. Matt Bluestone came up to Princess Catherine with a shy yet 'I'll explain this' look on his face.

"You're Princess Catherine, right? The first ruler of this castle?" Matt asked.

"I was not the first to rule here, but yes, I am Princess Catherine. This is my husband Tom, and these are Gabriel and Ophelia. They are two of the gargoyles that live on Avalon."

"Yes, I've heard a lot about you," Matt replied with a weak smile, "Anyway, I'm a detective like Elisa, and I was sent to investigate a run amok robot. That robot there is really the human Brendan Yale. He was mourning his wife's death, and Demona and the Mage tricked him into giving up his humanity."

"I see the Mage still enjoys tormenting mortals," Oberon noted, "Although this is the first instance in our war in which he hasn't killed someone."

"He's attacked humans before?" Matt asked.

"Yes, the Mage is not one allow competitors," Titania answered, "He killed three dozen human wizards in the middle ages. Although he trained the Archmage, after a time, both wizards began to oppose each other."

"Then why didn't he kill the Archmage?" Brooklyn asked.

"Because the Mage still had plans for his former pupil," Oberon answered, "His death in his attempt to conquer Avalon was probably the Mage's greatest defeat in our war."

"Why are you here?" Xanatos asked.

"Last night, the Mage cast a spell that destroyed every mirror on Avalon," Titania answered, "My husband and I have come, because if we didn't, all Avalon would be in the dark as to what is going on here."

"There is also some concern as to whether or not our first line of defense is capable of handling the task of fighting the Mage," Oberon added, glaring at Puck.

"The Mage has joined forces with Demona," Goliath said, "I feel I should warn you that she is now helping him."

"I know that," Oberon shrugged, "I also know about Demona's failed attempt to kill you with her own robot doppelgangers. I saw her leave with them through one of Avalon's mirrors before the Mage destroyed them."

"What are we going to do?" Angela asked nervously.

"All we can do right now is wait," Titania answered, "Oberon and I will not be able to fully sense the Mages movements for a little while, and we do know that the Mage will intend to attack theEyrie Building."

"What?" Xanatos demanded.

"The Mage knows that I like to be informed on everything that goes on in both the mortal and fey realms," Oberon replied, "By destroying the mirrors on Avalon, he removed my ability to do that without risking myself. The Mage knows I will come to the mortal realm to regain that ability. The Mage also knows that Owen Burnett is really Puck. Therefore he knows that as King of the Fey, I will have to confer with one of my children."

"When will he attack?" Xanatos asked again.

"Soon, probably before sunrise," Titania responded.

"I better get the Steel Clan ready," Xanatos grumbled, "And my iron exo-suit. If this guy can turn Detective Maza into a gargoyle and Mr. Yale into a robot with the flick of his wrist, I don't think I can take chances."

Xanatos turned and walked toward the end of the castle.

"I'd better go with him," Fox said turning to follow her husband.

Goliath then stepped forward, "I will take my clan to the tower and battlements. We will watch for the Mage."

Goliath turned and headed for the windows of the room. His clan and the robotic Brendan Yale followed. Catherine and Tom motioned for Gabriel and Ophelia to join them. Once they had left Oberon and Titania focused their attention on the three people that remained in the room.

Unknown Location

Demona woke slowly. Pain flowed through her entire body. Yet also she could feel something else effecting her. She felt as if she weren't in control of herself. The Mage walked up in front of her.

"I've cast a new spell on you," the Mage said, "Hopefully your anger against Goliath and his clan is now gone. However, you are now a human forever, and my direct slave."

Demona tried to gasp or protest, but found she could do neither.

"I had great hopes for you Demona," the Mage continued, "I hoped that once the third race was gone, you and I could rule the world together, but I guess your anger was just to much to look forward, eh?"

Demona only watched him. She tried to curse him. She tried to yell at him. But every effort was in vain.

"But then I did get part of what I wanted," the Mage chuckled, "You're now trapped in human form for the rest of your immortal life! That's what you get for disobeying me!"

If Demona could have screamed she would have. She entered the deal to be the Mage's partner. Not his servant. The Mage had betrayed her. The Mage had manipulated her. Just the way Thailog had done before. She silently remembered his betrayal.

'Now, now. That's your friend's genetic makeup you're insulting. Of course they are a bit primitive. I kept their programming simple: obey Thailog. It's all they really need to know. But enough about me. It's time to get rid of all you, starting with her.'

'No! She belongs to me.'

'My dear, you've known she was your daughter since before we staged your capture, and you've still been unable to turn her.'

'You knew the whole time?!'

'I had to make you understand.'

'I understand perfectly. All this was a charade staged to turn me against my father, to trap and destroy my clan. You are capable of anything. I hate you.'

'You see? You're better off without her.'

'No!'

'You disappoint me, my dear. Fortunately, I've prepared for such a development. Delilah!'

'Yes, master Thailog?'

'Look familiar, my ex-love? I combined your DNA with that of the human, Elisa Maza, to create Delilah. She's the perfect programmed companion, obedient and lovely. She'll do anything for me. Destroy them, Delilah.'

'As you command.'

These memories also brought a wave of sadness to her heart. Despite all her evil that she held toward humans, despite all the anger she had for Goliath and his clan, she loved Angela. Demona remembered the anger that she saw in Angela's eyes when she realized that she had been tricked by her own mother. As the Mage gloated about his victory over her, Demona's psyche cried.

After five minutes of laughing, the Mage left the room. The magically enslaved Demona followed.

"Now your actions last night were quite disobedient," the Mage chuckled, "But given what we must do now to win, I believe your Steel Demona robots will prove quite useful. They will at least keep Xanatos and his robotic minions out of my hair."

"Yes, Mage," Demona answered, as if in a trance.

"Come with me," the Mage ordered, "I'll teach you how to create things out of thin air. We can't have you transforming the cars that I just replaced."

Eyrie Building, Steel Clan Storage Center

Xanatos typed on various computer panels. If Demona had created robotic doppelgangers of her gargoyle form, Xanatos was certain that they either had the firepower or the shielding to defeat the Steel Clan. The programs that Xanatos was downloading into the Steel Clan's computers were essentially no more than tactical maneuvers and strategies. Xanatos hoped that the Steel Clan could outthink the Steel Demonas instead of outfighting them.

"I can't believe this is happening!" Fox announced coming up beside him, "First the Quarrymen a month ago, and now some power mad wizard."

"Well look at this from the clan's point of view Fox," Xanatos smirked back, "Five years ago for them it was: very shrewd business men, the Quarrymen, the third race, the Hunters, evil robots, Demona, and evil sorcerers. From their point of view, the number of bad guys has gone down."

Fox looked down, "I can't believe you can be confident about all this. You could be killed."

Xanatos sighed, "Speaking of which, I want you and Alex to take a helicopter out to Xandu. You'll be safe there. I'll have it ready in a few minutes, and two Steel Clan robots will escort you."

"Come with us," Fox pleaded, "This isn't like your old schemes were if you loose, Goliath will let you go, because he is the hero. If the Mage wins he will kill you."

"I owe the clan, Fox," Xanatos answered, "I owe them for saving our son. It's debt I can probably never fully repay. If Oberon and the gargoyles plan to battle the Mage and Demona here, I will fight with them. It's the least I can do. Besides, I have a feeling that this will attract a lot of attention from the press and others. I may even end up in jail again! Who knows? But one thing is for sure, if I were to come with you, the cops, the press would flock to Xandu as soon as they learned that I wasn't at the Eyrie. Do you want to deal with that?"

"Then I will stay," Fox sighed, "I can take anything Demona or this Mage can through at us."

Xanatos smiled, "I have no doubts about your capabilities, my darling. But, I need you to protect Alex, and to make sure he doesn't get caught in the crossfire."

Fox turned and walked away toward the room's elevators. She knew Xanatos was right. He didn't doubt what she could do. But he also still feels the debt he has to Goliath's clan. He has great love for their son. As Fox stepped into the elevator, a single tear rolled down her check as she worried if she would ever see her husband again.

Meanwhile, up in Castle Wyvern's Great Hall, Oberon, Titania, Puck, Catherine, and Tom were preparing themselves. Titania magically produced a bow and a quiver of arrows.

"These arrows are magical in nature, and should be able to penetrate anything," Titania said, handing them to Catherine, "I trust you know how to use this?"

"I do, but it was only something the soldiers taught me when I was still a little girl," Catherine answered, "I have not touched these since."

"Then perhaps some practice is in order!" Titania said slyly.

Princess Catherine took them with a heavy sigh. Part of her was curious as to why she was even in fight to begin with. The soldiers only taught her archery because she happened to stumble upon them while they were training. She also remembered her father scolding her for running off and mixing with the peasantry. Catherine had no skill for archery either. The soldiers had only taught her the basics, and when she did get to shoot her first arrow, it only went five feet from the point from which she was standing. She could understand Tom being here to fight. He had become the Guardian of the Eggs. He had a suit of armor. He had a sword. Catherine noted that the peasant boy she married had become quite the knight over the years.

While Catherine slung the quiver over her shoulder, and went off in search of some place to practice, Oberon moved toward Tom.

As soon as the fey king was a few feet away from him, Tom heard Oberon chant:

"Gargoyle's knight,

in the upcoming battle you must fight,

must your armor protect you,

strengthen by magic, so it's good as new."

When the emerald energy died down, Tom looked down to see that his armor had gained a significant amount of luster. It almost looked as if it sparkled.

"Your armor should now be strong enough to protect you from the worst spells the Mage will be willing to use against you," Oberon said, "You may LEAVE now."

Tom sighed and walked out. To some extent he wondered why he and Catherine remained on Avalon. Goliath and his clan were awake again. They were relatively safe. Even before this business with the Mage, Tom had thoughts of taking Oberon's 'honor guard' and returning them to their proper clan, and maybe getting Catherine and himself a chance at a normal life. He then sighed to himself, "Once a peasant. Always a peasant."

Oberon watched the Guardian leave in the same direction Catherine left.

"Well now that you've chased everyone else away," Puck said, "What do you want with me?"

Devil's Den Prison

Castaway sat on the bench in his cell. He sat there miserable and defeated. He couldn't believe it. One month ago he had been on top of the world. Now he was trapped in prison for the rest of his life. Worst of all, his cell mate was an annoying gangster.

"So, Mr. Castaway, heard you caused them gargoyles a lot of trouble last month?" Dracon asked, "Saw it on prison TV. Not like we'll be watching much here."

"Shut up," Castaway growled.

"No really," Dracon answered, "When they moved me here they said that prisoners here would not get television. I think it's some form of encouragement. If we ever get out, since we don't know anything about what's happened, I think they're either hoping that we make the same mistakes again, or we become extra cautious."

"Do you ever shut up?" Castaway growled.

"Did you ever kill a gargoyle?" Dracon asked back.

Castaway sighed, and put his face in his hands. "This is going to be a long life sentence," he thought.

Unknown Location

The Mage had led Demona to the roof of the building that he had "borrowed" from the vacationing owners. He surveyed the surrounding area. There were no cars in the vicinity.

"Now Demona, creating things out of thin air requires more concentration that simply transforming something else, but it must be done if our cover is to be kept," the Mage said.

The Mage chanted clearly and slowly in Latin, letting Demona take it all in. Once the chant ended twenty Steel Demona robots appeared out of nowhere.

"See, it's not to difficult," the Mage said, "But you must concentrate."

"Yes, Mage," Demona answered.

Castle Wyvern

Xanatos had gathered the Steel Clan in Wyvern's courtyard before the helicopter with Fox and Alex departed for Xandu. He was wearing his armor, and there wasn't much more he could do to prepare for the Mage's attack.

"Be careful," Fox said.

"Always am," Xanatos answered.

Xanatos watched the helicopter take off. After he turned, he saw Oberon and Titania come out onto the courtyard. Each raised an arm and commanded, "Freeze."

Emerald energy shot from their fingers, and Xanatos could hear the sounds of cracking ice echo throughout Manhattan.

"What did you do?" Xanatos demanded.

"We have insured that no mortal who is not part of this battle can be affected by the battle," Oberon answered, "Once the Mage dies, they will be freed."

"What if we fail?" Xanatos asked.

"We must not fail then, should we?" Oberon questioned.

Xanatos sighed.

Above them on Castle Wyvern's towers Goliath and the clan watched and waited. Elisa stood close to Goliath. Macbeth stood near Hudson. Gabriel and Ophelia stood near Angela and Broadway.

"We miss you on Avalon, Angela," Ophelia commented.

"I miss you guys too sometimes," Angela replied, "But I've come to like it here."

"Can I tell you a secret?" Ophelia asked, pulling Angela away from Broadway and herself stepping away from Gabriel.

"Sure," Angela answered.

"Gabriel and I are engaged," Ophelia said shyly, "Don't be mad. We didn't want to announce it to you this way, but the way things are it's the only way."

Angela smiled, "I'm not mad. I'm not jealous either."

Ophelia blinked, "Jealous?"

"I'm not," Angela answered, and then motioned toward Broadway, "I already have a mate."

"So, uh, how long as Detective Maza been a, uh, gargoyle?" Gabriel asked.

"A little more than a month," Broadway answered.

"She acts like she's been one all her life," Gabriel noted.

"As far as Goliath's concerned, she has," Broadway answered.

Gabriel only chuckled.

Brendan Yale meanwhile stood near Matt Bluestone, not on the towers, but on another portion of the battlements.

"Are you afraid?" Brendan asked.

"Nah, Elisa and I have helped the clan fight some pretty mean battles before," Matt answered, "This should be a cakewalk."

"I wish I had your confidence," Brendan replied, "Even in this body, and with all the high-tech weaponry Mr. Xanatos says I have, I'm afraid."

"Hopefully with the clans help, you won't be afraid of these things anymore," Matt answered.

Goliath and Elisa watched the horizon intently.

"Do you think Demona has anymore of those Demona robots?" Elisa asked.

"Probably," Goliath answered, "I am more concerned as to the Mage's tactics. What if he waits till just before dawn? That way even if the Demona robots don't prove to be as affective as he thinks, the sun will rise soon after his attack and we will turn to stone."

"That won't be a problem," Puck said coming up behind them from no where, "Now that I've got my full power back I can sense his movements. He's already on his way."

Matt heard several computer like humming noises coming from the robotic Brendan Yale.

"What's going on?" Matt asked.

"My radar has picked up his movements," Brendan answered, "The Mage is coming. He has about five-hundred other flying things with him. He is less than a mile away, and is only just above the roof tops in an northeasterly direction."

Matt looked in the direction that Brendan described. Sure enough, he caught sight of something that terrified him. While he couldn't make out the Mage or Demona, or any of the other things that were flying around them, he could tell that the Mage had brought a virtual army.

Xanatos watched the approach from his exo-suit with a great degree of nervousness.

"There aren't enough Steel Clan robots to fight them all," Xanatos commented, "And Brendan Yale and I are hardly enough to make up the difference."

"You must be confident, Mr. Xanatos," Titania warned, "The Mage has been a great villain in history because few have ever felt confident enough to fight him."

"Besides," Oberon added with a smirk, "There was a time when you relished in such combat."

"Only when I was the one doing the obliterating," Xanatos retorted, "And ever since Goliath's clan helped me save my son from you, even though they didn't have to, I've been realizing just how wrong I was to think that way."

"So you've been taking lessons from Goliath then?" Oberon teased, "About being a hero?"

Xanatos chose to ignore Oberon at that point. Pulling his wrist toward the helmet of his armor, he activated a series of voice command systems directly linked to the Eyrie Building's self defense mechanisms.

"Computer active the Armageddon Lockdown program," Xanatos ordered.

Over Manhattan

The Mage had created a hovercraft out of thin air soon after he and Demona had created the five-hundred Steel Demona robots. Trying to move as quickly as possible to get to the EyrieBuilding, before he was discovered, the Mage put the hovercraft to full throttle and charged forward.

"Puck will be destroyed, and I will open the way to Avalon itself," the Mage thought to himself, "Demona and her robot doppelgangers can deal with the clan and Xanatos should they interfere. The only real question is 'what will Oberon do?' But I don't need to worry about him. I can beat him easily."

Demona stood on the other end of the platform. Everything inside her mind was trying to fight what the Mage had done to her. He made her human forever and on top of that cast some sort of spell that made her his slave. It angered her to no end. Her mind continued to reflect on how the deal she made with the Mage turned sour on her and how similar it was to the deal she had once made with Thailog. Even at the memory of the clone's name she became angry.

Her angry memories of Thailog also aroused questions. Thailog attacked her in her office at Nightstone a month ago. But, she had killed Thailog more than three years before. How did he come back to life? Sevarius must have created a new clone. That treacherous snake. I knew I never should have hired him. The only other question that troubled her mind was the fact that Thailog didn't sound like himself. He sounded almost like Macbeth. But, she had killed Macbeth a month ago. With Sevarius's poison. Sevarius! He had said that he could not kill Macbeth body and soul without stripping her of her immortality in the process. He said he could only kill Macbeth's body. The treacherous snake that had betrayed her at Nightstone had tried to warn her.

"You seem awfully quiet Demona," the Mage said, "We are going to Wyvern. Aren't you going to tell me how destroying your ex-mate will help me kill off the third race?"

"No, Mage," Demona answered, the after a few seconds she said, "LOOK!"

The Mage turned to see a massive glowing force field surround the Eyrie Building and Castle Wyvern on top of it. The Mage used his power over magic to test this unexpected defensive measure.

"Damn," the Mage snarled.

"What is it, Mage?" Demona asked.

"Xanatos has designed that force field to protect his building even from Oberon himself," the Mage snarled, "That blasted billionaire is expecting us."

Castle Wyvern

"Will your Armageddon Lockdown program hold?" Oberon asked skeptically.

"I don't know," Xanatos said, "It was designed as an improved version of the old one that you got through. I've had Owen add some key elements that are needed to even repel magic, but the programs predominant function is to protect the Eyrie Building from a nuclear attack. This will be its first test against magic."

"What has it been tested against so far?" Titania asked.

"Quarrymen hammers," Xanatos sighed, "The system performed quite well, but it's not exactly that the Quarrymen's hammers are truly formidable weapons."

Above them on another part of the battlements, Catherine and Tom stood together.

"I hope Mr. Xanatos's magic shield stops him," Catherine sighed, "I fear I may hit someone on our side with this thing."

"I have confidence in you, my love," Tom said trying to ease her worries and hide his own, "We will get through this."

Then suddenly, the Mage and Demona, and their created horde of Steel Demonas arrived outside the Eyrie Building's protective force field.

"Now Xanatos, let's see how your technology fares against my magic!" the Mage snarled.

The Mage never noticing the three humans, one robotic human, the clan of gargoyles on Wyvern's tower, and the three Children of Oberon, began chanting in Latin. At the end of his chant a lightning bolt struck from his fingertips and flew toward the force field. Halfway there, the lightning split into three different lightning bolts and struck the force field at three points creating an equilateral triangle. The force field shimmered, but remained in tact.

"Let me try something, Mage," Demona said.

The Mage bowed and let his enslaved 'partner' walk up to the front of the hovercraft. She raised her arms, and then slowly moved them forward. One hundred of her Steel Demonas charged forward and slammed into the force field. They flew in a series of waves to strike the force field in consecutive intervals of ten at a time. This attack proved to be even less successful, because the force field not only held, but it didn't shimmer the way it did when the Mage made his attempt.

"Perhaps we should only use magic, Demona," the Mage observed, "We could destroy all our Steel Demonas that way."

"Yes Mage," Demona answered.

The gargoyles watched the spectacle unfold from the tower.

"Once the shield goes down," Goliath said in a commanding voice, "We are to strike at the Steel Demonas. We must keep as many of them away from Oberon and Titania as possible. Xanatos and the Steel Clan will also be there to help us."

Brooklyn chuckled loudly, "Although, Goliath, if Demona keeps this up, we won't have to fight her robots. She would have done it for us."

"Don't be fooled Brooklyn," Goliath warned, "It is clear to me from the way Oberon and Titania have been acting in regards to this Mage character, that Demona is merely another pawn to him."

"The way Castaway and the Quarrymen were?" Elisa asked.

"Precisely, although I believe the Mage has manipulated Demona differently from the way he used Castaway," Goliath answered.

Billy Mitchell USAF Reserve Base, Northeast Pennsylvania

Gregory Irick was your typical military man. Your typical RESERVE military man. He was working as one of the Air Force Reserve's radar operators, while using the money he earned from training to pay for college. After what seemed like an eternity to him, he caught sight of something on his radar screen.

"Captain! Captain! Come quick you gotta see this, sir!" Irick yelled.

"What is it Lieutenant?"

"Look at this," Irick answered back, "Captain, I'm reading hundreds of unknown and unauthorized radar contacts flying around the Eyrie Building in New York."

"Holy cow!" the captain answered, "You have any guess as to what that is?"

"I don't know captain! There are no civilian flights that are scheduled for right now…" Irick said.

"Even if there were Lieutenant, they're not supposed to fly THAT close to buildings," the captain replied.

"Yeah, and pigeons don't make blips on the radar screen THAT big either!" Irick replied.

The captain stared at the screen for a few seconds, and then turned to another lieutenant standing by a far door, "Lieutenant, let Colonel Bridgewater know! Get the pilots up! Get the runway crewmen up! This could be an invasion."

Castle Wyvern

The Mage fired another three pronged lightning bolt at the force field that Xanatos had erected. Again the shield held, but it shimmered four times as long as it did the first time.

"It's working," the Mage sneered to himself, "Xanatos you never learn! Technology and science can never beat magic! That's why Oberon was so easily able to attack you before. I have no idea why he didn't carry out his goals."

The Mage had his own memories of that night. Although he was to far away to deal with the problem at first, he could feel Oberon's attack on the Eyrie Building. He could sense Oberon's objective to steel the infant Alex Xanatos. Had the pilot of his plane not fallen asleep at the time of the attack, the Mage felt that he might have been able to force the battle against Oberon that he needed with both the gargoyle clan and Xanatos on his side. Unfortunately, the pilot did go to sleep, and the Mage had to guide the plane by magic into New Jersey before everyone woke up. After all that, and traversing to Manhattan by his own means, he had found Oberon gone. Alex Xanatos with his folks, and the gargoyles back in their clock tower.

Now, because of that failure, he had to battle all three together. That's why he enlisted Demona in the first place. Xanatos would want Demona out of the way first, therefore helping his business interests. Goliath and his clan would want to stop Demona first because of her hatred for humanity, and because they had a natural mistrust of the third race. Now they still may turn on him, because it is likely that Oberon mentioned that he was not only out to kill the third race, but their halflings as well. That would mean killing young Alexander, whom the gargoyles had befriended.

The Mage found that odd. He had followed the Manhattan clan's struggle during his years searching for the third racelings. He knew of Xanatos's manipulation of the clan when they first awakened. He knew of Demona's betrayal. He knew how much of an enemy Xanatos had been to the clan and the human, now gargoyle, Elisa Maza. The Mage found it odd that these noble creatures would return to live in the castle owned by one of their worst enemies and befriend his son.

Personally, the Mage felt that Xanatos had found someway to manipulate them. The Mage had been there to see the Napoleonic Wars. The World Wars. The American Revolution. The American Civil War. During his years of questing to gain his own world domination the Mage had witnessed generals from both sides fight many wars. Because of this, the Mage had gained an ability to judge people they way he expected them, they way any general on the battlefield would. Xanatos was manipulative and scheming business man. He wasn't necessarily evil, as in Adolf Hitler evil, but he was shrewd. He did care little about those who were his employees. He found it hard to believe that a man who the clan had fought for so long, would suddenly become their guardian and ally.

The Mage chanted his lightning spell again. This time the three lightning bolts went straight through the force field and hit the side of the Eyrie Building. The strike shattered glass and brick which fell to the ground below.

"The Mage has broken your technology," Oberon said coldly, "Now it is our turn to prove our mastery of all things magical, once and for all."

Xanatos watched Oberon and Titania chant in unison:

"Nemesis of the Third Race,

you've come here and attacked with great haste,

fall before us now,

as blood pours down your brow!"

Suddenly and large golden dagger appeared out of nowhere, directly behind the Mage. As he turned to see what the two fey had done, the dagger surged forward and struck his brow, cutting through the hood of his robe in the process. The blow knocked him off of the hovercraft and he fell. Using his powers over magic, the Mage was able to move himself into angled descent. His body fell and slammed into the ground of Castle Wyvern's courtyard.

Demona watched Oberon's attack on the Mage and she watched the Mage's fall to the courtyard. A fall that would normally kill a human and seriously injure a gargoyle. To her astonishment, the Mage got up with only a few drops of blood dripping down his forehead, caused by Oberon's magical dagger.

"Steel Demonas attack the clan! Don't let them help the fey!" Demona yelled.

At the sound of her voice her Steel Demonas attacked.

"Time to start the show," Xanatos chuckled and took off, the rest of the Steel Clan behind him.

"Here we go again," Brooklyn sighed as the gargoyles leapt from the tower to join the battle.

"Four hundred against only us," Matt sighed, "I better get some serious hazard pay for this!"

Matt pulled out the laser pistol that Xanatos had 'given' him. Technically, Xanatos did want the weapon back, but Matt hadn't returned it yet. He took careful aim and fired at one of the Steel Demonas The robot exploded the instant his laser hit it.

"Here goes nothing," Brendan sighed, activating his own laser cannons.

Brendan fired four shots. One from each cannon. Four Demona robots exploded. Unfortunately, fifty Demona robots then focused themselves onto the robotic human and police detective. They opened fire with both their wrist lasers and their optics lasers. Much of the battlements around them was destroyed, and Matt had to dive to avoid getting hit by one of the laser blasts. As he dove he fired five more shots. Three Steel Demonas exploded and the remaining two shots went harmlessly into space.

Brendan found himself hovering in midair after the Steel Demonas fired on him and Matt. He looked himself over and saw that there wasn't even a scratch on him.

"Huh, the Mage made my armor stronger than Xanatos said it was," Brendan thought to himself.

He fired four more shots from his laser cannons. Four more Demona robots exploded.

Castle Wyvern, Main Courtyard

The Mage got up smiling.

"A dagger at my brow, Oberon?" he sneered, "You must truly be an idiot! A general who could do that would go for the kill shot immediately!"

The Mage fired one of his three pronged lightning bolts. Oberon deflected one that bounced off into the air, taking out a Steel Demona robot. Titania took out another one, which bounced off and hit the hovercraft that Demona still stood on. The third missed, and blew a hole in the far wall.

"I normally prefer to spare my foes a defeat in face to face combat," Oberon replied, "But given your hatred for my people, and the fact that you are stupid enough to believe that the human race and the gargoyle clans will flock to you, when most of the human population still doesn't even believe gargoyles exist, I think I'll make an exception."

"Damn fairy!" the Mage growled, "Demona to me!"

"Yes Mage," Demona called, and then transported herself to a position behind Titania.

"Say goodbye to your wife," the Mage sneered.

In that instant, Demona produced an iron dagger from the sleeve of her white robe and stabbed Titania in the back. Titania screamed with pain, and Oberon quickly disengaged from the Mage and moved to his wife. With strength that he rarely used, and few knew he had, he back handed Demona, who flew across the courtyard.

"My love, are you alright?" Oberon asked, pulling the dagger out.

Titania's wounds quickly began to heal, and she sighed, "I am fine my lord."

Catherine and Tom watched the exchange between the Mage and Oberon.

"He's mad," Tom exclaimed.

"Aye, I don't know how even Demona can work with him!" Catherine answered.

Just then two Steel Demona robots landed on each side of them. Tom glared at one, and Catherine yelped in surprise. Tom moved first, raising his sword over his head, and then bringing it down on one robot. The heavy sword cut straight through the robot's head and body.

When Tom turned around, he found that Catherine was not in a very good situation. She successfully fired an arrow, but it hit the robot in knee, and only seemed to make it mad.

"Tom, help me!" Catherine cried.

Tom rushed to counter the wounded robot. With a desperate swing of his sword he was able to cut a large gash in the robots head. The Steel Demona did not stop, but it paused, as if it felt pain. Tom took full advantage of this pause to stab the robot in the chest. With that it fell to the ground. The Steel Demonas still had great numbers however, and another two came flying down, firing their lasers as they went. Catherine was able to avoid getting hit, but two laser bolts struck Tom's armor, sending him flying through a large pair of oak doors.

"Tom!" Catherine screamed running after him.

Above Castle Wyvern

Xanatos lead the Steel Clan directly in a frontal assault against the Steel Demona robots. He charged directly for the hovercraft that Demona was standing. He and the Steel Clan fired a wide barrage of laser fire at the surrounding Steel Demonas, and Xanatos could hear the sounds of explosions all around him. By the time he reached the hovercraft, he found that Demona had already transported down to the castle's courtyard.

"Well, let's see what sort of weapons Demona and the Mage put into this thing," Xanatos sighed to himself, and began typing on one of the hovercraft's key pads, only stopping for fire his own laser cannons at any Steel Demona that came close.

His typing was frantic. The hovercraft contained no programmable controls for these Steel Demonas. That meant that they were obviously controlled by Demona or the Mage's magic. The attention that they paid to the robots, the more powerful the robots were. He watched the performance of his Steel Clan. Again he found them to be a much better fighting force than they had ever been in the past. Each Steel Clan member was taking out four Steel Demonas for every Steel Clan member lost. Xanatos sighed at the fact that he only had twenty Steel Clan robots to begin with, while there were still hundreds of Steel Demonas.

"This is going to be a long night," Xanatos thought to himself.

The clan was meanwhile coming to similar conclusions that Xanatos had. Goliath found this time around that it was far easier to maintain flight and avoid being hit by the Steel Demona's lasers. He caught one by the head, and in a singular motion, ripped the head off. He then proceeded to swing the robot by the tail; destroying five other Steel Demona's around him.

Goliath took a brief pause to see how Ophelia and Gabriel were doing. Neither had ever faced Xanatos's Steel Clan before, so they had no previous experience to draw on against these Steel Demonas. He saw that Gabriel's shoulder had been nicked by one of the Steel Demona's lasers, but the wound wasn't deep, and Gabriel proceeded to sink his talons into the offending robot's neck.

Ophelia had meanwhile copied a move Goliath remembered using to destroy a Steel Clan robot in the clan's first battles against Xanatos. She had managed to get onto its back and used her strength to maneuver the robot's wings the way she wanted. She guided the robot into another Steel Demona that was coming to intercept her.

Goliath heard the sounds of a jet engine coming up behind him. Fearing it was another Steel Demona, he turned and nearly struck the robotic Brendan Yale. Goliath watched him fire his own laser cannons in fast succession, taking out various Steel Demonas as he went.

"What your back, Goliath," Brendan advised.

Goliath smiled, remembering one of the clan's last battles with the Vikings before the massacre, "Watch your own."

Billy Mitchell USAF Reserve Base, Northeast Pennsylvania

Soldiers and runway workers scrambled across the various concrete runways as the first of three F-16s prepared to take off. Among America's foremost fighters, these F-16s were armed to the teeth with sidewinder missiles.

"Falcon One to tower, request permission for take off," the first pilot said.

"Permission granted, pathway is clear," the tower operator.

The pilot then turned his engines on full throttle and the jet jumped forward, quickly approaching take off speed. By the time the second jet was in position to take off the first jet, was already airborne and headed toward New York.

"Falcon Two to tower, request permission for take off," the second pilot repeated.

"Permission granted, pathway is clear."

The second F-16 then took off. And the third aircraft moved into position.

"Falcon Three to tower, request permission for take off."

"Permission granted, pathway is clear."

The tower operators watched the three fighters fly off. They had soon formed an arrowhead formation. The first F-16 led the formation with the other two slightly behind it. One of the two was slightly to the left of the lead fighter, while the other was slightly to the right.

Castle Wyvern, Main Courtyard

"You can not win, Mage," Oberon warned.

The fey king then gestured toward the battle above them, "Look at the battle above us! Xanatos's Steel Clan is taking heavy casualties, but is destroying far more Steel Demonas than there are Steel Clan members being destroyed. The gargoyles and the robotic human you created are destroying many others."

The Mage glared at Oberon and Titania.

"That may be true," the Mage snarled, "But they are merely a diversion."

The Mage made some quick chants in Latin. When the chanting ended, parts of the stone flooring of the courtyard yanked itself from the raised foundation that Xanatos set, flew toward Oberon and then, within a foot of his face exploded. The stone splinters knocked Oberon into Titania. The Mage followed that with his three pronged lightning spell, which knocked them into a far wall and held them there.

"Just because you gain power over time," the Mage gloated, "Does not mean that you lose your weaknesses!"

"True, but that doesn't mean we're not ready for you!" came Puck's voice.

The elf-like fey floated up from one of the holes in the courtyard that the Mage had created, wearing a stylized and stupid looking set of boxing gloves.

"What the devil are you supposed to be?" the Mage growled.

"The cavalry!" Puck said, punching the Mage in the face.

To his surprise, the gloves that Puck wore contained magical energies that the Mage didn't sense in Puck. The blow sent him flying, and he landed a few feet in front of Oberon and Titania. He looked up to see the two royal fey standing on one side of him, and Puck standing on the other.

"Wake up Demona!" the Mage yelled.

At the Mage's command, Demona, laying on the ground on the opposite end of the courtyard, began to get up. She saw the Mage trapped between Oberon and Titania and Puck. She chanted in Latin, creating an iron sword in her hands, and then began to run toward Puck with her own memories blazing in her mind.

'Aahh! I told you to turn the gargoyles to humans!'

'Oh, you meant these gargoyles. I thought you meant Goliath and his clan. My mistake.'

'Your last mistake.'

As much as Demona had begun to hate the Mage for his manipulation and trickery of her, she did feel a bit of relief that she would get to kill Puck. The fey had had caused her the most trouble, and probably opened the door to Goliath and Elisa's relationship. A relationship that Demona's mind dwelled on, and was determined to destroy.

The Battlements

Matt Bluestone ran in a panicked fashion along the battlements, with at least ten Steel Demonas on his tail. He turned a fired a few shots with the laser pistol, and only destroyed two of his pursuers. The rest fired back. None of the shots were well aimed, and Matt easily avoided them, but he did feel the shockwaves of the exploding stone blocks that made up the castle walls.

Suddenly, laser fire from one of the Steel Demonas destroyed the piece of the battlements that he was standing on, and he found himself teetering on the edge of falling to his death. He heard a panther like cry, as Elisa landed behind him, and yanked him back onto level footing with her tail.

Matt stumbled back to his feet as she watched Elisa battle with his attackers. She seized one by the arms, lifted it above her head and threw it at the other Steel Demona robots. Elisa roared with triumph as the offending robots exploded.

"Note to self," Matt thought, "Don't get that gargoyle or her mate angry!"

Elisa stood on the battlements in front of Matt. This new battle against the Steel Demonas was going much better for the clan than the last one. It might have something to do with the fact that Demona busy trying to help the Mage in a fight that was already determined to be stalemated. She saw that Xanatos and his ten remaining Steel Clan stuck close to the hovercraft that they captured. Around her, her clan engaged other Steel Demona robots. With Demona not controlling them, the clan had so far only suffered a few minor burns. Nothing a day in stone wouldn't cure.

Elisa charged another Steel Demona that was firing at her and Matt. As she got closer the robot took of, and fired its optics lasers at Elisa's back. The impact forced her to he ground, and she could smell her flesh burning. She half expected to feel the Steel Demona hit her again, when another laser blast was fired. Soon afterward, Elisa saw bits of the Steel Demona fall to the ground around her. She turned to see Matt, his laser pistol in hand.

"Now we're even partner," Matt said.

Inside Castle Wyvern

Catherine and Tom ran quickly through the interior corridors of the castle. They could hear several Steel Demonas following them.

"We must find one of Xanatos's laser weapons," Tom said, "I can't get close enough to use my sword, and they aren't give you the time you need fire an arrow."

"Aye, and the only arrow I've fired was at point blank range, and I hit it the knee while aiming for its heart!" Catherine sighed.

They quickly turned into another of the castle's passage ways, and Tom began to fuddle with the doors.

"They're locked!" Tom exclaimed.

"That's not the worst of our worries!" Catherine said, "Look!"

Tom turned to see that the three Steel Demonas that were chasing them had now trapped them in the passageway. Catherine fumbled to get another arrow read, as Tom stepped in front of her, hoping that his new armor would protect them. One of the robots fired, and the beam hit Tom's breastplate. The armor protected him, but he was knocked to the ground.

"Ow, my head hurts," Tom mumbled, trying to get back on his feet.

Catherine knew Tom was in pain, but he had bought her time to ready another arrow.

"Evil sorcerers have already cost me one good friend," Catherine growled at the robot, "I can't let ye take another!"

She fired the arrow. This shot had a bit more luck then the last one. It hit a Steel Demona square in the chest, and the robot exploded. Unfortunately, it wasn't the Steel Demona she was aiming at. The exploding robot knocked the center robot, which was the original target, off balance, but the other flanking robot proceeded as if nothing was wrong.

Tom was by now beginning to recover, and saw the approaching robot. He saw its laser cannons begin to warm up.

"NO!" Tom yelled, and he swung his sword out.

Tom's attack cut the robot off from its feet and the rest of its body fell backward, firing its lasers as it fell. The blasts hit the ceiling, and the bricks fell on the wounded robot and the other robot that was finally beginning to regain its balance. Both robots exploded.

"Ye know Tom," Catherine sighed, "I'd rather sit in Avalon's Library and put of with all Oberon's social events that do this."

"Aye," Tom replied in agreement.

Above Castle Wyvern

Lexington knew something couldn't be right, as he dodged another laser blast from a Steel Demona robot. These robots were much tougher the night before. In fact the clan had barely won a victory over twelve robots. Now, it looked as if the clan was able to maintain a stalemate with hundreds of them. He noticed that Xanatos and the Steel Clan were even more successful than the clan, although, they were mostly relying on their own lasers and Xanatos's use of the Mage's hovercraft as a shield for his robots.

Lex took one swipe with his talons across the neck of a Steel Demona that was attacking him, and immediately changed course. Something about these Steel Demonas was off, and he thought that Xanatos would surely have the answer.

"What's going on with these Demona robots?" Lex demanded as he landed on the platform.

"Duck," Xanatos ordered, as he fired his laser cannons at a Steel Demona that was charging the two of them, "What is it?"

"These robots of Demona's were a lot harder to fight last night then they are now," Lex said, "Why?"

"I really don't know," Xanatos replied, "based on all the talking about the Mage and Demona, my best guess is that these are solely fighting drones."

"Like your Steel Clan?" Lex hypothesized.

Xanatos paused in his answer, "Think of this in terms of evolution. My Steel Clan, at least the current model, isn't a drone. Now it will only go where I tell it to, but once I give it a goal to obtain, and parameters to stay within, the Steel Clan can essentially think and fight for itself. These Steel Demonas don't have that ability. I think they are tied to Demona by magic. Demona is the Steel Demona's brain in a sense; the way a queen ant or queen bee usually is to colony of ants or hive of bees. If the Steel Clan and the Steel Demonas were living creatures, right now I'd say that the Steel Clan has evolved more than the Steel Demonas."

"So, the Steel Clan are simply drones with brains, and the Steel Demonas are simply drones?" Lex asked.

"Precisely," Xanatos smirked, "So long as Oberon, Titania, and Puck can keep Demona and the Mage occupied, we can get rid of these pests quite easily. Then for the Mage it will boil down to a matter of numbers."

The Courtyard

Puck ducked down to the ground as Demona threw a series of magically created grenades at him. All of them containing iron.

Desperate, Puck began to chant:

"Sorceress of evil nature,

use no more metals of an iron nature!"

Demona suddenly felt herself wrapped in emerald energy. Her mind was suddenly on fire. Puck's spell wasn't to attack her body, but her mind! Demona felt all the spells that could create iron weapons be ripped from her memory as the energy faded.

Demona screamed in fury and lunged at Puck. She was able to tackle the fey, but as soon as she prepared to punch the fey, he disappeared.

Puck reappeared over Demona's head.

"Come now Demona," Puck teased, "I don't kiss till at least the third date."

Demona only growled again.

Meanwhile Oberon and Titania were having greater difficulties with the Mage himself. Twice they tried to use the same spell Puck had just used on Demona, and twice, the Mage created and raised an iron shield of his own creation that blocked it. The Mage then threw the heavy shield at Oberon. The fey king ducked, and managed to avoid a lethal blow. The pointed end of the shield however, caught his cape, and embedded itself in the stone walls of Castle Wyvern.

"Caught eh?" the Mage jeered, "Don't worry, I'll fix that!"

The Mage used his three-pronged lightning spell again. The resulting explosion threw Oberon into the air. He landed in one of the trees that Xanatos had transplanted in the courtyard, breaking the tree's limbs.

Suddenly the mage found himself in the arms of an emerald gargoyle. It wasn't a real gargoyle; it was a solid emerald image of a gargoyle. It picked him up off the ground and threw him against the castle wall opposite Oberon.

"If you keep up this smart mouth banter," Titania warned, "I will FIX you!"

Xandu

"Momma? Where's daddy?" Alex asked.

The boy had awakened as the helicopter landed at Xandu, Xanatos's private retreat in upstate New York.

"Your daddy is still in New York," Fox answered trying to be brave; "I thought you and I would have a nice mother-son vacation."

"Where are the gargoyles?" Alex asked again.

"They're helping your daddy," Fox sighed.

Fox stopped walking, and looked back in the direction they came from. Part of her was afraid that Xanatos would be killed. Part of her wanted to be by his side, fighting the battle with him.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright," Fox said, and walked into the house.

Over Manhattan

"Jeez that guy in the radar room was right!" Falcon One yelled, "There's a ton of flying objects out here!"

"Yeah they're all around the Eyrie Building!" Falcon Two added.

"What do we do?" Falcon Three added, "They're too small to be part of another country's air force."

"We give 'em hell!" Falcon one announced.

Falcon One lead his fighter in the charge over the Manhattan skyline. As he got closer to the Eyrie Building itself, he began to see what was going on. There were hundreds of robots flying around. In addition to them, there was a hovercraft and several members of the race, that appeared three years ago, called gargoyles.

"Falcon One to base, we seem to have an armed conflict at the Eyrie Building, Xanatos's Steel Clan is fighting some other robots," Falcon One reported, "Please advise, over."

"Destroy both of them!" came the commander's voice over the radio, "Xanatos has legal rights to use his Steel Clan. But the laws that allow him to do so, also state: that should anything they get involved in attract OUR attention, Xanatos has no legal right to stop us from destroying him."

"Roger that," Falcon One replied, "Falcon Two and Falcon Three, use your guns! We have been given authorization to fire!"

The three F-16s came blazing through the sky firing their cannons as they went. The clan had all they could do to dive out of the way, and Xanatos was barely able to keep the hovercraft from being destroyed. The rest of the Steel Clan and most of the Steel Demonas however were destroyed.

"Lead charge has good hits!" Falcon One announced, "Falcon Two and Falcon Three prepare to turn for another pass!"

Oberon watch the three USAF fighters streak past.

"The mortals attempt to maintain their power here is not wanted, nor needed."

A three-pronged lightning bolt then struck Oberon's back.

"True," the Mage gloated, "But I've noticed that throughout history, the mortal's military systems have quite useful uses!"

Titania took the Mage's distraction to deal with the intruding American Air Force.

"Their aide is not required by us," Titania stated, "And, they in fact are far more dangerous to our side than to yours!"

Titania paused to point at the turning fighters, "FREEZE!"

The three fighters suddenly froze in midair. From all appearances, the planes were still flying. The lights still blinked, and the orange flame coming from the exhaust nozzle at the end of each fighter still blazed as if the planes were still moving forward, but they did not move.

"Aww, you ruined all my fun!" the Mage said in a mockingly hurt tone, "I would have loved to see their faces when they realize what acts of heroism they were performing."

Oberon charged, and punched the Mage in the stomach, and followed that with a roundhouse kick to the temple. The Mage flew backward and hit a far wall.

"You call your actions heroic?" Oberon questioned, "You've killed members of the fey. My children! You've killed members of your own race. You've killed gargoyles and other mystical creatures. You've tortured humans into following you. You've forever changed the lives of innocent human beings. You've manipulated others like you for your own purposes!"

The Mage stood up and chuckled, "Yeah. I did all that. Besides it's not like you haven't!"

"My actions are not on trial here!" Oberon growled.

"Maybe so," the Mage replied, "But you started this war. And I will finish it!"

The Battlements

Elisa and Matt ducked to the ground as the three fighters flew past. Pieces of various robots, both Steel Clan and Steel Demona fell around them.

"I guess NOTHING CAN stop the US Air Force!" Matt joked.

Elisa glared at him for a second and then chuckled. She looked around. The attacking fighters did a spectacular amount of damage to the fight. There were no more Steel Clan members left, other than Xanatos in his exo-suit. The number of Steel Demonas had been reduced from about three hundred to under fifty.

"Goliath!" Elisa called out.

"I'm here!" Goliath answered climbing up the outer wall of the castle.

Once Goliath was on level footing, Elisa gasped in horror. Goliath's right wing was riddled with holes caused by the large bullets used in the guns of fighter aircraft.

"Goliath your wing!" Elisa cried.

"It will heal when the sun rises," Goliath answered, wincing as Elisa moved to try and examine it.

Matt watched the two gargoyles look each other over, as three Steel Demonas dove from one position to attack them.

"Look out!" Matt yelled.

He fired two shots from his laser pistol, and only hit one of the three Demona robots. The other two were hit by laser fire from Xanatos's exo-suit.

Above them all, the robotic Brendan Yale felt himself to be in the best position. He had been too high for the F-16s to hit, and was now able to shoot down on the remaining Steel Demonas. He also looked over the clan that had been so willing to help him. Goliath and Macbeth seemed to be hurt the worst, with various burns caused by the Steel Demonas and with at least one wing riddled with very high caliber bullet wounds. The rest seemed to have so far escaped with only a few burns. The intervention by the fighters however had disrupted the battle the most by scattering the clan. All of the gargoyles were well below the castle now, and he and most of the remaining Steel Demonas were above it. Brendan couldn't fire a full barrage, because of the fact that he might hit one of the gargoyles below him.

Deciding that it would be best to avoid hurting the 'people' that were helping him, Brendan dove toward the Steel Demonas below him. He fired a few scattered rounds of laser fire at the Steel Demonas that were equal with him in altitude and then as he got closer to one, he punched it. To his surprise, the Demona robot's head simply crumpled from the blow. He was much stronger in this form. He hadn't believed it when Xanatos and Owen Burnett scanned him, but this proved it.

Billy Mitchell USAF Reserve Base, Northeast Pennsylvania

"Captain! Our planes! They just stopped!" Irick yelled.

"What?" the Captain demanded.

"They just stopped sir!" Irick repeated, and he then pointed at the radar screen, "See, these here are OUR aircraft! They aren't moving!"

"That's not possible," the Captain replied, with a great disbelief, "No airplane can just stop like that!"

"What about the Harrier?" Irick asked.

"The F-16 doesn't have the Harrier's ability to do that!" the Captain yelled, "Think with your brain! Perhaps our system is malfunctioning."

"No, that can't be," Irick answered, "The screen is indicating that the other radar contacts are still moving."

The Captain again turned to another lieutenant.

"Lieutenant, get down to the radio room!" he ordered, "Double check to make sure we didn't lose anyone."

"Yes sir."

Castle Wyvern

The clan hastily gathered on the battlements together. The sounds of Oberon, Titania, and Puck still battling Demona and the Mage were clearly heard. Xanatos in his exo-suit hovered a few feet above them, and Brendan Yale remained in the thick of it. However, it was clear now that the Steel Demonas had lost this fight. Now that the clan was safely above him, Brendan was now clear to fire his lasers in a wide barrage. Xanatos and Matt also picked off several of the Demona robots with their own weapons.

"We can hold them here Goliath," Xanatos grunted, "There's not that many left!"

Goliath and the clan nodded and then lead the clan down to the courtyard. The battle there remained in an impasse. The fight between Oberon and the Mage had degenerated into a fist fight that neither could apparently win. Titania tried her best to use whatever spells at her disposal to throw the Mage off balance. Demona and Puck were busy in what could only be described as a strange dance. Demona would dive at Puck and Puck would float away.

"We must hurry!" Macbeth advised, "Dawn will be coming in a few hours."

Puck dodged another magical lightning blast thrown by Demona.

"Do you get tired of that?" Puck asked.

Demona didn't answer.

Puck teleported directly in front of Demona's face, "Come on, I don't have all night for you to answer."

"She can't answer you," the Mage gloated, "She only answers to me!"

Puck dodged a punch thrown by Demona.

"Aw, how quaint," Puck teased, and then impersonating a deep growling voice of a caveman, "Me Mage, You Demona. You mine! HA!"

"STUPID ELF!" the Mage yelled, and fired a three-pronged lightning bolt.

The bolts struck Puck in the side. The blow drove directly into another magically charged punch by Demona. Puck fell unconscious to the ground. Demona was about finish Puck off when she heard Titania chant:

"Betrayer of clans and everyone,

fall to the earth,

as if you weighed a ton!"

Powerful magic shot from Titania's fingertips, and once the energy left Demona, she fell backwards. When she hit the ground, she felt for some reason much heaver then her body and frame showed. She heard stone cracking beneath her.

"Has she turned the whole castle into a gargoyle?" Demona thought.

Then all of a sudden she realized what Titania had done. Titania had increased her density to the point that the floor of the castle's courtyard would no longer support her. The stone gave way, and Demona and several bricks fell to the earth.

"That won't work," the Mage sneered as he picked up Oberon, "Demona IS immortal! Oberon, you can thank your own children for that, if you survive that is!"

The Mage then threw Oberon into Titania.

Xandu

Fox had put Alex to sleep minutes after getting inside the house. She now hurried to a secret room disguised as a broom closet. In reality the room was a security facility that Xanatos used to monitor his interests at Xanatos Enterprises, even when he wasn't there. She hoped she could get a camera feed on the battle between the Mage and the clan.

She fumbled with various dials as quickly as possible, although it wasn't nearly as fast as Owen normally did. In about three minutes she had a live feed of the battle. Demona was nowhere to be seen. The clan was just beginning to appear in the courtyard. Puck lay unconscious in the middle of the courtyard. Titania and Oberon were pulling themselves up from the ground. The Mage stood confidently before them all.

"Where's David?" Fox worried out loud.

She fumbled with a few more dials, and the screen showed a different camera image. The scene was now inside the castle. Fox could see Princess Catherine and the Guardian Tom moving slowly through the passages, as if they were expecting trouble at every turn.

"Where's David?" she asked again.

She turned the dials again, and again the screen's image changed. Finally it showed a picture from the battlements. Matt Bluestone was seen running and ducking for cover, while simultaneously firing a laser pistol at attacking Demona robots. Fox also saw off in the distance two robotic forms. One was mostly silver with a metallic brown head. That was the robotic Brendan Yale. The other was a large red and black gargoyle the resembled Goliath. That was Xanatos. Fox sighed with relief as she saw the image of her husband's exo-frame. She was glad it was still working. She was glad he appeared to be safe, for the moment.

Castle Wyvern

Macbeth was somewhat disappointed to see that Titania and Oberon had already dealt with Demona. He still wasn't quite prepared to be a gargoyle, and in his mind there wasn't much hope that he could return to his former life. All he currently wanted was to kill Demona, and let his suffering come to an end. However these feelings were cut short as he saw that the Mage was still very much alive, and holding his own.

He looked over his shoulder to see Elisa pushing her way forward. Her eyes were a deep blazing blood red tone.

"Ms. Maza?" he asked.

She only growled in response. Then, before anyone could do anything, Elisa charged toward the Mage at full speed.

"You did this to me!" she accused him.

Before Elisa could reach the Mage, and sink her talons into his neck, she hit some magical energy field. She bounced off of the field as a ball would bounce off of pavement. She caught herself by slamming her talons into the walls of the castle, behind the Mage.

"Yes, I performed the spell that transformed you into a gargoyle," the Mage replied.

"Why did you do it?" Goliath demanded, his own eyes glowing white.

"Jon Castaway asked me to do it for him," the Mage responded, "In return I had him bring Demona to me."

"Why would Castaway and the Quarrymen wish to transform the lass into a gargoyle?" Hudson asked, moving to make sure Goliath didn't repeat what Elisa had just done.

"Castaway had a grand plan that involved the deceit of the city government," the Mage replied, "He intended to kill 'the lass' and your clan in the end. Transforming her into a gargoyle was only necessary to make the mayor think that your kind really is up to something."

The Mage ducked under a punch thrown by Oberon, and then swept one leg out to trip the fey king.

"I however knew that Castaway would fail," the Mage then snickered, "He tried to create a totalitarian state under his own control out of a democratic city. Now while it's not impossible to do that, it is impossible to do it overnight however. Castaway tried to do things too quickly."

Oberon threw a series of his own magical lightning bolts at the Mage. The human sorcerer was then tossed across the courtyard. While the Mage was busy recovering, Goliath noticed the still unconscious Puck lying on the ground.

"Lex! Get Puck to safety!" Goliath ordered, "Everyone else, try to get between the Mage and Puck."

The clan moved quickly. Lex scrambled to grab Puck, and proceeded to run toward the castle with Puck on his back. The Mage rolled away from a punch thrown by Goliath, and then chanting in Latin, creating a pulse wave of magic that sent Goliath, Angela, and Brooklyn flying. Broadway tried next, swinging his tail at the Mage's knees, but the wizard jumped into the air, and fired another magical pulse wave. This one sent Broadway, Hudson, Macbeth, and Bronx flying. The Mage turned to resume his attack on Oberon to see Elisa standing over him. She threw one powerful punch into the Mage's face, but before she could follow it up the Mage teleported away.

The Mage reappeared in the center of Wyvern's courtyard. He chanted in Latin once more, and then suddenly released an even more powerful magical pulse wave than before. Everyone standing there was thrown against the castle's walls, and the Mage stayed where he stood, laughing.

Catherine and Tom returned to the battlements above behind the courtyard shortly after the Mage's massive pulse wave was fired.

"Things don't look good," Catherine said.

"It gets worse," Tom added, "Dawn isn't too far way. If we don't get rid of the Mage soon, the gargoyles will turn to stone, and you know that Oberon has no qualms about abandoning them."

"Then we'd best do something," Catherine nodded, preparing another arrow.

Once the arrow was ready, Catherine aimed the weapon at the Mage. She aimed it directly at his heart, and fired.

Above Wyvern

The last of the Steel Demonas exploded violently under the combined forces of Xanatos and Brendan's laser cannons, and Matt's laser pistol.

"Well, that takes care of that!" Xanatos announced triumphantly.

"Don't get cocky Xanatos," Matt warned, "The clan and your in-laws are still fighting the Mage."

"Sure, take all the joy out of a moment of victory," Xanatos sighed.

Xanatos maneuvered his jets and grabbed Matt by the collar, and then descended to the courtyard. The robotic Brendan Yale followed. They landed just in time to see an arrow hit the Mage's hood. It obviously missed his head, or at least missed a direct hit. However, the arrow did remove the Mage's hood from his head.

None of the gathered humans or gargoyles thought anything of the exposed human head. Oberon and Titania had recognized it right off, and gasped in surprise and shock.

"REMUS!" they screamed.

Billy Mitchell USAF Reserve Base, Northeast Pennsylvania

The radio men were just as perplexed as the radar operators. The radios from Falcons One, Two, and Three were all non operative. The base commander was becoming quite angry. The disturbance had awakened him and his wife, and now everything seemed to be going wrong. According to radar, the three fighters were sitting still somewhere in New York. But that couldn't be possible since the F-16 can't hover the way the Harrier could. On top of this, the radio operators repeatedly trying to communicate with the three pilots only heard static in response.

"What do we do, Colonel?" a nervous captain asked.

"Notify Washington," the Colonel answered, "Whatever is going on there it obviously doesn't like our intervention. Someone has to have done something to our fighters or something to our equipment."

Xandu

Fox was quite surprised when Oberon and Titania screamed the name 'Remus'. Somehow the name sounded familiar from her history classes from when she was a child, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Who is 'Remus'?" Fox wondered out loud.

Castle Wyvern

Ophelia looked at the man in red robes before her. His hair was cut short and he had a very distinctive 'Roman nose'. The right side of his face had a long scar from where Catherine's arrow hit him.

"Ah, the fey king remembers my name," the Mage snarled, "Too bad he never cared about anyone but himself."

"My wife and I are not on trial here," Oberon repeated.

"Of course you're not!" the Mage responded, "You're on the executioners block!"

"Wait, wait wait," Xanatos said, "Time out for a second. Just who is Remus?"

"Remember how I told you that we have believed that the Mage has existed since the founding of Rome?" Oberon asked.

Xanatos nodded.

"Do you know who the founder of Rome was?" Titania then asked.

"Mythology says it was a man named Romulus, hence Rome's name," Xanatos said.

"It isn't myth, youngster," the Mage answered, "Romulus did found a city and named it after himself. That city would go on to build an empire. An empire I deserved."

Oberon glared at the Mage, "Everyone meet Romulus's twin brother Remus. Both children were found by the she-wolf in a basket in the Tiber River. The wolf raised the two boys. Eventually as they grew into manhood, they became rivals, and Romulus killed Remus and then founded Rome."

"A very good textbook answer," the Mage grinned, "But obviously lacking large sums of the truth."

"If Romulus killed Remus, then how is it possible that Remus is the Mage?" Brendan questioned.

"The third race has never really known," Oberon answered, "All we've known is that the Mage is an evil sorcerer. This is in fact the first time in many years that we've seen his face."

"You've seen Remus before?" Goliath asked.

"We have," Titania answered, "But at the time, he was still yet to become the Mage, or we didn't know that he was the Mage."

The Mage quickly chanted in Latin. Everyone in the clan found themselves with heavy iron muzzles over their mouths. Xanatos and Brendan's mouths were magnetically sealed.

"I guess this is where I tell my life story," the Mage chuckled, "I guess you deserve it."

The Mage then used a levitation spell to hover above them.

"I am indeed the twin brother of Romulus, the founder of Rome," the Mage said, "I am Remus. At first we agreed to work together. Both of us learned some magic as we grew up, mostly from nearby farmers who respected the will of the Gods. However as we grew older our differences materialized. I focused more on magic and the worship of the gods, while my brother moved more and more into politics. As I learned more and more magic I learned that the she-wolf that rescued us was none other than Titania herself in a disguise. I knew that she had some connection to the Gods, and I believed that it was the third race's wish that city be great! When Romulus drew the borders to city, I clearly saw that his borders were not good enough. He read the birds wrong! I leaped over the border he had created to try and warn him, but he turned on me and produced a knife. My brother had always been the more physically fit than I and I knew I could not wrestle the knife away from him. So I immediately cast a protection spell on my person. It would allow me to survive being stabbed."

Goliath moved closer toward the Mage. The Mage using magic and telekinesis, lifted Goliath up, and threw him at Oberon.

"When I awakened, I found that Romulus had gone my brother had built his city and had taken the Sabine women," the Mage continued, "From then on I knew my brother had betrayed me. He went against the gods, and took the power from me that should rightfully be mine. I knew I needed more power than the simple spells I used before. I consulted the God of the Underworld, and I learned a spell that I could use to transfer the life force of any living person, and the inherent magic within that person, into myself. It allowed me to use spells in a way similar to the fey."

Catherine gasped from the battlements above.

"Once I gained the power I needed I took the title of Mage and always kept my face hidden," the Mage explained, "As time went on Rome grew from a city to a kingdom; from a kingdom to a republic and from a republic to an empire. I tried to act as a magical advisor to every Roman leader, but I was disgusted with how Rome's generals and politicians hated me and how they glorified my brother. On top of all this, these men gained the respect and admiration I deserved! They were all ingrates! They didn't know who had really helped them. Caesar accused me of being a 'Gaul who didn't have his race's warrior spirit, and hid among his people's conquerors to escape the dishonor that his own people thrust on him'. Augustus referred to me as 'a man we must only live with'. Then came Marcus Aurelius. I thought he was man who could help me gain my goals. He had me write the Grimorum for the empire. This would be beneficial for all the empire's followers of magic. Then I learned that the Grimorum was intended to be a method of government control over myself. Aurelius feared that I or some other wizard would do something to threaten his beloved 'Pax Romana'. After that I had enough. That is when I decided to fulfill my own destiny."

Oberon and Titania both glared at the Mage. He was ranting. This wasn't an explanation for why he was doing all this, this was only a rant. To Oberon, it looked as if this immortal wizard acted the way any other mortal acted when he or she was angry.

"I gave Aurelius the Grimorum," the Mage ranted on, "His hope for the peace and safety of the people of Rome and the peoples from northern Britannia to southern Aegyptus. I meanwhile moved to a covert action to end the politicians and general's rule over Rome. Then the war began. Lord Oberon and Lady Titania did not like my actions and repeatedly tried to stop me. I was able to dodge most of their efforts and continued to end the Roman Empire as Romulus's supporters saw it. However, the Christian God then conquered and subjugated the Greeco-Roman Pantheon of Gods and the third race declared their essential loyalty to him. Between Christianity on one side and the third race on the other, my efforts to bring about my empire destroyed the old Roman Empire, and the middle ages began. It was a triumph for me, but not the one I wanted. I decided it was time that I focus my efforts on the third race instead of on the political arena that surrounded us all. I couldn't abandon my mission to gain my empire however, because if I didn't, I would be in no position to claim it once my victory over Oberon was secure."

Xanatos tried to activate his laser cannons and turn them on the Mage, but again, the Mage used magic and telekinesis to hold Xanatos still. He then magically created a magnetic field that forced Xanatos and Brendan Yale to stand together, back to back. This left both unable to do anything.

"I therefore founded the Illuminati Organization," the Mage explained, "I trained a few of its members in magic and cast a spell that made all important members of the Illuminati Society completely loyal to me. The Illuminati handled all of the jobs I required in the political arena, while I battled the fey. And now the battle is about to be over."

Oberon had finally had enough. The gargoyle Goliath had been thrown into him and the Mage had allowed himself to rant about evilness of his race. Of the evilness of Rome's 'good emperors' and how he deserved to rule the world. In a fit of anger, that spent rarely showed to anyone, he released a massive amount of energy, blowing the iron muzzle from his face. Skin ripped off with it, and Oberon screamed with pain as the iron pulled away from his flesh.

As his blood dribbled down the outside of his lips, he yelled, "I've had enough of you!"

The Mage glared back, "I'm sure you have, but there is one detail I failed to mention. Once you had clearly become my enemy I altered the immortality spell I placed on myself."

"What?" Oberon demanded.

"I can not be killed or lose my power until you die!" the Mage gloated, "I can not lose until after I've already won. Do you think these gargoyles can stop me? The fight will go on until you drop dead. Then I'll recast my original immortality spell and conquer the entire world! Avalon included!"

Once the Mage finished this triumphant yell, he released another massive magical pulse wave that knocked everyone off their feet.

Washington DC

The Secretary of Defense was having a bad day, and it had progressed into a worse evening. He had been working the entire day working with the president in regards to America's policy in Kosovo, in the Middle East, in the Far East, and the continuing rewriting of the NATO alliance policy. All of these were major headaches that would be best solved one at a time. But, since problems do not surface one at time, he had been working on them all at once. Now there was this entire situation in New York.

"Should we tell the President?" a lower ranking official asked.

"And tell him what? Something's happening in New York, but we don't know what's going on, because the three planes that were sent are, according to our radar are 'floating in midair'?" the Secretary of Defense answered, "Tell him that our radio transmissions to the aircraft aren't going through? It'll sound like the world declared war and attacked New York! But no one's leaving the city like it's under attack! How are we to explain that?"

The official nodded, as the Secretary of Defense stopped walking and turned to him, "Send a message to the National Guard Units in the New York area. Tell them to mobilize and block off the city. I don't want anyone getting in or out!"

The lower ranking official nodded.

"I'll tell the President that we are right now investigating an anomaly in New York, and that it's nothing to be concerned about," the Secretary of Defense sighed, "Hopefully he can accept that."

Castle Wyvern

This battle had gone from bad to worse. It was getting closer and closer to dawn. The Mage threw waves of magic at the gargoyles and their human and robotic allies, and he blocked any magic that Oberon and Titania threw at him.

Oberon tried several times to throw some of the castle's stone bricks at the Mage, hoping to break his shield, but again little worked. The blows knocked him to the ground, but did little else, and they didn't give the gargoyles the opportunity to get close.

Xanatos suddenly left his position on the battlefield, took off and then landed next to Oberon.

"Oberon, are you familiar with the Battle of the Atlantic from the Second World War?" Xanatos asked.

"The entire war was simply a demonstration of how foolish mortals can be," Oberon sneered, "If France and Britain did appease Hitler in 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, and in 1939 before Hitler invaded Poland, it is much more likely that Hitler would have been ousted from power by the army because he didn't deliver Germany what he wanted. But Britain, France, AND America all sat in the dark with the ghosts of the First World War. On top of this, America essentially said, 'If we ignore Hitler long enough he'll go away.' France, Britain, and the United States brought the worst of the Second World War on themselves because they didn't do anything to fight an obvious evil."

"Yeah, so we screwed up," Xanatos sighed, "Now answer my question. Are you familiar with the Battle of the Atlantic?"

"Yes, I am," Oberon growled, "And of what relevance does a sea battle from 1939 to 1945 have to do with the current battle?"

"There was a US ship sunk during the battle that has a unique story with it," Xanatos answered, "I can't remember its name, but I believe it was a destroyer. It was torpedoed by a German submarine. As the ship sank, three priests onboard gave their life jackets to other crewmen and went down with the ship."

"Three mortals died for three mortals," Oberon answered back, "So?"

"You don't get it Oberon," Xanatos practically yelled back, "The priests sacrificed themselves for the other three men."

"Three men died for three men," Oberon replied, "There is no 'heroic sacrifice' in the incident."

"No, what the priests did was heroic in a sense," Xanatos snarled back, "I'm not sure about this, but I think the three men that the priests gave their life jackets to were in really poor health, and would not have been able to swim. The life jackets gave them the ability to wait for another ship to come along and pluck them up. Three people died for three others, yes, but the three people they died for could not have survived without their help."

"I still do not see the comparison," Oberon replied.

"Look at it this way," Xanatos sighed, "The Mage has openly admitted that he can't be killed until YOU die. Many of the gargoyles right now are out cold, and the rest will soon turn to stone. My armor is beginning to run low on power and the integrity of the armor is fading. If I take too many more blows like the ones he's produced, my armor will simply fall to pieces. Brendan Yale is in the same condition as my armor."

Oberon paused and stared at Xanatos. The helmet, shaped like Goliath's head, betrayed no emotion on the part of human billionaire.

"The Mage has also clearly stated that he wants to rule the world and destroy all your people," Xanatos continued, "I'm sorry if this upsets you, but we need you to sacrifice yourself so that we can kill the Mage."

"I will not commit suicide," Oberon snarled.

"I'm sorry, but it's the only way," Xanatos answered, "The Mage looks like he can keep this up for days. All of us are beginning to tire, even you! You know we can't keep this fight up much longer."

Xanatos paused and thought of Alex and Fox. He thought of his own past.

"Sometimes we must think about what is best for others and not for ourselves," Xanatos sighed.

Oberon blinked. This mortal man had asked him to commit suicide for his people. He looked at the battle. Of the gargoyles, only Goliath, Elisa, Macbeth, and Bronx were still conscious, although none of them were looking very good. All of the humans, except for Xanatos, were unconscious. Xanatos's armor was riddled with burns and it was apparent that several pieces of the armor were barely held together. The robotic Brendan Yale was in much the same condition as Xanatos's armor. He looked at Titania. Despite her own power, it was clear that she was becoming exhausted. Oberon barely admitted that he was beginning to tire as well. He watched the Mage laugh as he battled with those of his allies that were still awake.

Oberon then remembered the Mage's rant. The Mage was clearly mad. Much the way Demona and Castaway were, although the Mage was different. Demona wanted all humanity to pay for one incident that occurred to her former clan. Castaway wanted all gargoyles to pay for the murder of his father and the paralyzing of his brother and incarceration of his sister, despite the fact that Castaway was the man responsible for his brother's crippling and his sister confessed. The Mage wanted the fey to die to fulfill his own megalomania. He also remembered the line that Xanatos was referring to.

'I can not be killed or lose my power until you die!'

"Is your father's harpoon still here?" Oberon asked, looking at the ground.

"Yes," Xanatos replied calmly.

Oberon sighed, "Get it!"

Xanatos bowed, and ran back inside the castle.

Xandu

"David, where are you going?" Fox demanded as she watched the screen.

She saw the image of her husband's armor depart Oberon's side to flee into the inside of the castle. The screen also showed that it was soon to be a victory for the Mage at Wyvern. Almost all of the gargoyles were out cold. Puck was nowhere to be seen. The robotic Brendan Yale looked as if he were about to go offline. Oberon looked as though he were a man 100 pounds overweight and extremely out of shape, and trying to sprint up Mount Everest. Her mother looked worse.

"Please be alright!" Fox prayed.

Eyrie Building

Xanatos hurried into his private office as quickly as his bulky armor would let him. He was quite amazed that it didn't fall apart as he descended the stairs from Wyvern. He had his toes crossed inside his Kevlar boots. Although neither the Kevlar or the fact that his toes were crossed could be seen through the heavily armored metal feet that resembled a gargoyle's foot.

Upon reaching his office, Xanatos reeled around to face his door as if to go out again. Suspended by hooks in a glass case was an old iron harpoon that had belonged to his father. The last time the harpoon was ever used was during Oberon's attempt to kidnap Alex, more than three years ago. Xanatos still smirked at the memory of how Oberon reacted.

'I am vulnerable to iron. You have hurt me. Hurting me was a mistake!'

Xanatos smashed the glass and grabbed the harpoon.

"Come on boy," Xanatos said to the harpoon as if it were Bronx, "You're going back into Oberon."

Things had not improved when Xanatos had returned to the courtyard. Brendan Yale and Bronx were now unconscious. Both Oberon and Titania were near collapsing, and while Goliath and Elisa were still awake, they were both leaning against opposite walls of the castle. The Mage still stood in the center of the courtyard with a long on his face as if to say, 'who's next?'

"Your harpoon sir," Xanatos said, walking up to Oberon.

"An iron harpoon!" Titania screamed, "How dare you betray us!"

"The mortal has not betrayed us," Oberon answered, "This is my will. The Mage has linked himself to me. So long as I live, his is immortal and powerful."

"I can not go on without you," Titania screamed again, "Avalon needs its King."

"Avalon's King is about to do something that will insure the protection of all Avalon," Oberon answered sternly, "Avalon will have to get along with only its Queen for the time being."

Titania stepped back. She said nothing. Oberon then turned to the Mage, who by now was watching the spectacle between Oberon and Titania.

"What are you doing you old tyrant?" the Mage demanded.

"I am dealing you your final defeat!" Oberon yelled, before slamming the harpoon into his chest.

What followed was nothing short of biblical. As the iron pierced Oberon's heart, the fey king fell to a knee. Oberon's eyes opened wide as magical energy began erupting through his flesh.

"The war is OVER!" Oberon declared before exploding in a veil of light.

When the light faded, all that was left of Oberon was his highly stylized outfit. However the astonishing revelations were not over yet. A great pillar of light and fire descended from the heavens and wrapped themselves around the Mage. Then a ghostly echo of voices chanted in both Latin and every language used by the fey:

"Linked to thy mortal foe,

I shall cause his race eternal woe,

my immortality linked to him,

until his blood fills to the brim."

When the chant ended, the Mage was on his hands and knees, panting heavily. Xanatos activated his laser cannons and fired. The blasts hit the Mage's elbow. A sharp snap was heard as the bones in his upper and lower arms, close to the elbow, broke like twigs. Titania now stepped forward.

"Mage you are now mortal and vulnerable to my power," Titania growled, her eyes glowing emerald green, "You have cost Avalon its King. You and your megalomania will not claim the life of another. Ever!"

Before the Mage could do anything, Titania raised her arms and began to chant:

"Villain from an ancient time,

lose your magic,

be mortal,

now and forever!"

Emerald energy once again wrapped itself around the Mage. He screamed in pain as his magic was drained from him. Xanatos watched in horror as the ghosts of the people that the Mage had used his 'magical vampire' spell on escaped. When the energy vanished, the Mage had been reduced to the form of the man once known as Remus, brother of Romulus.

"The Mage is no more powerful in the arts of sorcery then he was when he started," Titania declared, "Like all humans, he is now mortal and must use some form of talisman to perform any magic."

"We can't have that," Xanatos said, "I'm sure his memory is still intact, and there are many magic talismans in the world. I'm afraid we HAVE kill him. He will either come back or the Illuminati will come for him."

"True, Xanatos," Titania sighed, "But even though he is responsible for my lord's death, I can not take his life. I saved both him and Romulus as the she-wolf. I feel a mother's disappointment toward Remus. Toward the Mage."

Xanatos chuckled, activating his laser cannons again, "Don't worry; I'm sure we can handle it."

Xanatos fired his laser cannons at the Mage. It was on a low power setting, and only succeeded in throwing the Mage across the courtyard. That wasn't itself as important as who the Mage landed near. He looked up to see a tan gargoyle, with reddish tones on the inside of its wings and a blazing red glow in its eyes.

"You did this to me!" Elisa growled; her mind was currently running solely on a gargoyle's instinct.

The Mage nodded.

"Tell me," Elisa demanded, "Was there ever a counter spell to what you did to me or to Brendan Yale? Or Demona?"

"You, Yale, and Demona are in your current forms permanently," the Mage said weakly, "Transformation spells that turn humans into something else, which are done by human sorcerers, have no counter spells. There are two types of human spells that transform other creatures into humans. One is reversible, one isn't. At first Demona was only cursed with the reversible one, but as her anger proved to be nearly uncontrollable, I had to curse her again with the permanent spell, among other things."

"Other things?" Elisa yelled.

"I put a spell on her that essentially canceled out her anger, by making her my slave," the Mage again said weakly, but this time even more so than before, "She could not do anything physically or vocally that was not of my plans. That is why she wouldn't speak to Puck. That is why when this battle was fought she fought against Puck, Titania, and Oberon, not your clan. I personally was quite disappointed when she betrayed your clan in the first place."

"Don't try to play that card, Mage," Elisa growled, "You've lost! I will have my revenge."

Elisa's talons began to cut into the Mage's neck.

As the Mage died, his last words were, "But I won! But I won!"

The Mage's death came just in time for dawn to rise over Manhattan, and all the gargoyles turned to stone.

The first thing after the Mage's death that was done was the repairing of Castle Wyvern. Titania used her own magic to put the walls back together, and replace the stones that were lost. Then she released the "freeze in place" spell that was placed on Manhattan. The three fighter jets resumed their course, but each pilot now could not figure out why they were over Manhattan. The tech crews back at Billy Mitchell USAF Reserve base insisted that there was some large radar contact in the Manhattan area, while the pilots said that they saw nothing. Titania herself knew that Mage's attack would lead to an investigation of the military's effectiveness, and she knew that action would be needed to keep order, but she also knew that she couldn't have armed men patrolling the Eyrie Building, asking Xanatos and her daughter things which they could not and did not wish to answer.

"What will you do now?" Xanatos asked.

"I will first acquire the mirrors I need to take to Avalon," Titania answered, "Although they may not be truly needed anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"With Oberon's sacrifice, the Gathering is now over," Titania answered, "Oberon's power and Oberon's word held the Gathering together. Now that he is dead the third race is now free to come and go from Avalon as they please."

Xanatos nodded, "I'm sure Fox wouldn't mind if you came to visit Alex once and awhile. I guess I probably owe you that for not trying to take him from us during all this."

Titania smiled, "You are a complex man, David Xanatos. My daughter chose well."

Eyrie Building's Infirmary

Matt Bluestone woke up slowly, and with a slight sting of pain in his left arm.

"Relax detective," came a nurse's voice, "Whatever you, the gargoyles, and Mr. Xanatos were fighting last night had to be pretty tough. You're left arm was broken when one of the larger bricks from the castle wall fell on it."

Matt looked down to see his left forearm wrapped in a cast. He put his head back down on the pillow.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Eyrie's infirmary," the nurse answered, "You'll be clear to go in an hour or so. Just relax until then."

Matt looked around the room. It wasn't much different than your average hospital room, except it was bigger. There was a bed next to his, and laying on in, still in deep sleep was Owen Burnett.

"What happened to him?" Matt whispered to himself.

"Mr. Burnett was knocked unconscious, and is yet to regain consciousness," the nurse answered, "He'll be fine."

Matt heard a door open on the other side of the room. He turned to see the human Macbeth enter.

"Macbeth?" Matt stammered.

"Yes, it's me," Macbeth answered, "Titania was able to restore my human form, but because it was once a gargoyle's body, and specifically a new Thailog clone, there are some consequences that I'll have to live with."

"I didn't think you cared," Matt joked.

"I don't," Macbeth answered sternly, "I respect you as an officer of the law. That is all. However, you have connections to Goliath and his clan, and I wish you to convey a message to them for me."

"Shoot," Matt answered.

"I'm leaving," Macbeth answered, "Some time ago Goliath said to me that 'You may have been a victim of Demona's treachery and deceit, but, in a strange way, she's done you a favor. At least now you know you're capable of love, the kind of love that makes life worthwhile. Search for that love, Macbeth. She's out there. Just make sure that, next time, you get a good look at her at night.' I can not remain here. Once Demona realizes that I'm human again will probably try her plot with Sevarius to try and remove my soul from this body. If I remain in New York I will never get the chance to find that love that Goliath was talking about."

With that Macbeth left. Privately Matt wondered what would happen to him.

Outside the Eyrie Building

Demona woke slowly. She felt as though she'd been hit by a ton of bricks. It was early morning, and she was still wearing the white robes that the Mage had given her to wear. She looked up at the repaired castle. Anger resided within her, yet for the first time in many months, her rage was not focused on Goliath and Elisa.

She looked at her human hands and muttered, "I've betrayed my own kind. I walked into the Mage's betrayal. Sevarius has betrayed me at Nightstone. And now I'm human forever. Any project to destroy humanity will kill me."

Demona then shyly sneaked into the crowd, trying not to be noticed. Her head down.

Nightstone Unlimited

Alex and Anton Sevarius calmly walked into the main office at Nightstone. The office that was once Demona's.

"Now where were we Alex?" Anton asked his white haired clone.

"You were going to explain to me my job here at Nightstone," Alex answered.

"Ah yes," Anton Sevarius answered, "I programmed you to be the business end here at Nightstone. You are intelligent, but not in the field of genetics. I've given you the business sense needed to run the company. In terms of image, you and I are partners, but I've programmed you to be more of a lackey. Granted you are an intelligent lackey, but a lackey none the less."

"It doesn't matter," Alex replied, "Lackeys generally get the easier life."

Anton chuckled.

Castle Wyvern

Fox and Alex returned shortly after noon. Fox herself was quite surprised by the events that occurred in the battle against the Mage, but said nothing of it to Titania. The fey queen stood in the center of the great hall.

"I will stop by on occasion to visit with my grandson," Titania said, "I will also return tonight for Princess Catherine, Tom, Ophelia, and Gabriel, should they wish to return."

"There's nothing I can say other than I'm sorry for your loss," Fox sighed.

Titania smiled weakly, and then chanted the spell to one of the mirrors that would enchant it for the trip to Avalon. Xanatos and Fox watched her leave with the mirrors.

"Gran'ma go home?" Alex asked.

"Yes," Fox answered, "Grandma went home."

Illuminati Headquarters

A large circular table with eight chairs were the only things seen in the room. Not even the floors and the surrounding walls were seen. Carved into each black metal chair was a stylized number. The chairs were numbered one through eight. Sitting in each chair was a person in a red robe. Their faces were hidden by the robe's hoods. Their hands sat calmly on the metal table.

"The Mage is dead," the one in the chair marked "one" announced.

"Our founder is dead," said the one in the chair marked "three".

"So the war is over?" asked the one in the chair marked "seven".

"For now," said one in the chair marked "two", "But remember our founder's greatest prophesy. And I will remind you that all his prophesies have come true."

A sudden light from the ceiling centered on the table's center. A large leather bound book floated down inside the narrow column of light.

"The copy of the Mage's Grimorum," said the one in the chair marked "five".

"Yes," said One, opening the book to a bookmarked page. One then began reading out loud, "If I ever die, it will not mean the end of the war against the third race. It will only be the end of the beginning. On thousand years after I die, a new Mage will emerge. You are to follow him as you have followed me. He will lead the Illuminati to their greatest glory ever!"

The End…?