Momo held off on the urge to groan in frustration when Himiko and Alex opted to turn off their communicators. Then to groan at herself- for all she got annoyed at him for not treating her as an equal sometimes, she still had a habit of doing the same thing to them.
The two years they'd been together had allowed them to work through most of those issues and made their partnership all the stronger for it, but old habits died hard. Especially for people like her and Alex.
But for now, she probably had the more dangerous mission. Assuming the hunters were telling the truth, 'the demon' was very much a monster. The other gargoyles? She's seen them fight Alex and Himiko, and trusted that they were honorable in their own way, but time would tell if that made them safe around humans.
So the group she was with kept flying, and she kept up with a combination of bunny boots and the jet booster. Until she spotted some others, flying toward them. More gargoyles?
She slowed, and stayed a good distance back as they met and greeted. Prepped a couple of flash and vertigo grenades, in case she needed to make a quick escape. Now was the moment she was at greatest risk.
They outnumbered her seven to one.
"And... who's this?" The largest of the newcomers, a man who had an almost sumo-like build, approached. "I'm Broadway."
Momo took a step back. Sure, the body type, goofy smile with a bit of underbite, and casual tone of voice were all things that would make most people find him 'safe', but Momo was too familiar with the human form, and these gargoyles were humanlike enough that she could see the power in his movements.
"Ah, this lass was there during our adventure."
"She may have saved my life," Angela said.
The big man's eyes glowed yellow. "What happened?!"
Momo took another step back. That was what she was cautious of. These gargoyles were humanoid in their way, but then so were gorillas and chimps.
"Relax, relax, I'm fine," Angela insisted. "She used some sort of magic which healed me- I'm still a little sore, but otherwise fine."
"Aye, the lass has some sort of... machine sorcery, like those gadgets of hers."
"Machine sorcery?" The smallest gargoyle- one whose wings were membranous and connected to both his arms and legs, ran up. He did have a more 'chimplike' movement and gait, or perhaps more like Tsuyu's, an impression helped by the green color of his skin.
"I'm Lexington! I've seen some technomagic before, but never had a chance to speak with a true practitioner!"
"Lexington, give her some space," Goliath said. "We are still strangers, and it's best not to expect too much of one another too soon."
"Ah, yes, of course." Lexington dipped down. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."
"No, no, it's perfectly fine." Momo wasn't certain it was, but it was the polite thing to say. What was much more interesting was Goliath's statement. That was not so much a warning to protect her, as it was a warning to the others not to trust her.
And their reactions were of those who experienced why it was wise to be cautious.
"Ah, right, we should start with introductions. The name's Broadway." The 'sumo' tapped his chest with his thumb. "It fits, right?"
Momo remembered back to 'Hudson' saying that gargoyles didn't traditionally use names.
"And, I'm Lexington, as Goliath said," the little gargoyle said. "And I don't mean to be rude, but you said you're a healer? Umm, Brooklyn was hurt as well, and I'm sure we'd all be grateful..."
"I can speak for myself." This gargoyle was a red-brown, with a long beaklike snout nothing like the humanoid mouths of the others. He had bandages wrapped around his arm and side. "I'm Brooklyn, and you don't have to worry about me."
Huh. "That's... for the best, then. The healing I used is a limited resource, and I can't know if I'll ever find a replacement." Momo hoped that wouldn't set back her efforts to form a rapport, but if they were too insistent, so be it. "Any used on you might be a life I can't save in the future."
"Yeah, I understand," Brooklyn said. "Don't worry, gargoyles heal quick, I'll be fine by tomorrow."
Momo then noted one last... gargoyle? A hulking quadruped with fin-like ears and a hybrid of human and canine face structures. It sniffed at her, but stayed at a distance.
"Ah, and that's Bronx," Brooklyn said. "Don't worry, he's as friendly as they come."
"Oh... hello, Bronx?" Momo smiled, but kept from showing teeth. She wasn't yet sure what this even was. He... seemed like he might be a gargoyle, but his behavior and form was entirely animalistic, as canid as the other gargoyles were human.
"Gruff!" The canine-gargoyle barked.
"Don't worry, that's a good bark," Brooklyn said.
"But now that introductions are out of the way, what happened?" Goliath asked. "Did you encounter the hunters?"
"Hunters?" Brooklyn asked. "No, we ran into our old friend Demona. We don't know why, but whatever she wanted was important enough to fight all of us and risk running into a burning building to get."
Goliath growled in frustration, and Angela looked away.
Momo... considered what she knew, and what she might be able to guess. "This... Demona... is she also a gargoyle?" If not, that meant there were other forces which could fight them.
"Yes..." Goliath said after a moment. "A former member of our clan."
She was building a mental profile of gargoyle thought patterns, and the one thing she was certain of was the emotional weight they placed on 'clan'. "Doesn't it strike you as interesting... the hunters called you 'demon', and there's another gargoyle, who calls herself Demona? Both of whom seem to be connected to whatever it is you're investigating?"
"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense!" Lexington shouted. "Uh, I mean... I've only just now heard about the hunters, but..."
"Let's just say Demona has a certain way of making enemies," Brooklyn added, while rubbing the bandages on his arm.
Which left her wondering what this 'generational' conflict was, that she heard over her lovers' communicators. But gargoyles were apparently long lived, and 'Demona' could be as recent as a grandparent to these gargoyles while also being centuries old. 'A thousand years' could simply be exaggeration and myth.
The gargoyles, meanwhile, were lost in their own thoughts. "We should head home." Goliath looked at her. "I... apologize for what I am about to say, but we'll have to ask you not to follow."
"Why!?" Angelica demanded.
"Aye, he's right," Hudson took Goliath's side. "It's not that we don't trust ya, lass, but... this manner of scheme has been tried on us before. We've been more lucky than smart, and it's cost us our home and many lives, before."
"I understand fully." Momo meant it. With exception to Angela, they carried wounds which would never heal. Even Bronx, which suggested that despite appearance, he was sapient. "However... I'm afraid I'm also lacking a home at the moment, or a means to contact you."
She could deal, of course. Something told her sooner or later none of them would have much choice, but for now.
"Eliza might be able to help!"
Elsewhere, Himiko was busy with her own project this night. Candles, lavender scented, and her own blood to draw the circle.
"What is that? Some ninja technique?" The woman asked.
"Or summoning a demon of their own," the elder brother, the leader, suggested.
Their suspicion was warranted in its own way. They were oddities, and fear was the first instinct when faced with the unknown. They were right to be afraid. In the end, they were only human, and she told the truth about being very good at killing humans.
"Attempting to contact a goddess," Alex answered for her.
"Not the goddess of alcoholism, I presume?" The woman asked.
"Ah, no, this one's more associated with war, and love."
"Once again, I am astounded how little that narrows matters down," she said.
"This isn't going to be dangerous, is it? You haven't really said how you might help us track down the demon with your magic. Or its nature."
"The short answer? We have another spirit within us," Alex answered. "We have been refered to as 'twinsouls', and it's as good a title as any. We were born this way, which grants us... greater physical and spiritual abilities. I am a tracker, able to sense other, similar, spirits and magic, and know what they do.
"Himiko's gift is more directly combat related," he continued. "I was not speaking in metaphor when I said her spirit animal is a cat. Speed, instincts, skill. As well as greatly enhanced toughness and stamina."
"The yellow catslit eyes," the younger brother added.
He was... the least dangerous in a way, but in others perhaps the most. His emotional dependence on his older siblings bordered on the psychotic.
"That, too," Alex agreed. "She doesn't even dye her hair. But that's beside the point, her nature also lets her work with a goddess who also has a fairly feline nature."
"What about you," the older brother asked. "What sort of god do you answer to?"
"None of us really answer to any gods," he said. "Himiko allies to one. As for myself... my loyalty is my nation, the United States of America. If there happens to be a god who embodies my nation, then... perhaps, but first I'd need to find such a being, and then I'd need to be certain it was true, and even then worship might be a bit much.
"I love my country, I would die to protect her, but I know better than to trust her blindly."
Himiko smiled and continued her contact ritual. Alex had said the exact right thing, to these people. Love, even devotion to the death, but not fanaticism.
The younger brother relaxed, almost laughed. "Those are perhaps the most American words I think I've ever heard."
Alex did chuckle. "It does sound better than 'nobody's the boss of me', doesn't it?"
It was in that moment that Himiko slipped through into the deepest meditative state, where it was her and her quirks. They were entwined together as lovers, though neither was distinct and 'human' enough to call it sexual.
A feeling, a concept, and a portal. Violence, sloth, love. The shape and mark of her soul, to which she was bound. A divine reflection of her nature.
"You finally got through." Wolbach's form, or a smoke-sillhouette of it, appeared in her quirk realm. "We don't have much time, and it will be days before you can reach me again.
"I've prepared. Our connection at this distance is tenuous. I can grant you one spell, you have to supply your own power. Don't be like Megumin. We're fixing Aqua's mess. Will take time."
The message was rushed, and Himiko could see why as Wolbach 'spoke'. Her own energies, her quirks, were being sapped to power the 'bridge' across worlds. Soon it would start siphoning her life force, where it would cause permanent damage rather than merely exhaustion, and it would kill her if she took too long.
So she made the only smart move available. "Heal."
"Good." Wolbach's final word, before her head throbbed in white hot pain.
She woke up craddled in Alex's arms. "Himiko! Fuck, are you okay? I can probably manage one more heal spell."
"No, no, it's fine." Her head still throbbed, but she trusted Wolbach wouldn't have done anything which would permanently hurt her. "I'm tired, that's all."
"What was that?" The elder brother demanded. "You didn't say anything about her eyes bleeding and healing magic."
"We didn't expect it, either." Alex lifted her in his arms, and she curled up against him. "I'm not going to ask Himiko any questions until she's recovered, but it seems Wolbach, the goddess she contacted, gave us a little help, in the form of a healing spell."
Himiko closed her eyes, and inhaled his scent. The sweat of exertion gone cold, the delicious tang of fear, the intoxicating earthy scent of love. The migraine was worth it for this smell alone, and Love responded to it. Restoring her strength as she rested.
"A 'spell', just like that?" The woman asked. "That seems a bit... I know gods are powerful, but all my study of magic suggests they require specific, special, components. And rarely can you repeat them easily."
"Oh, we can't, not easily," Alex answered. "That magic drains a massive amount of stamina. If I didn't have support from Nyx, even if I did but wasn't so well trained, using it once would have been enough to make me pass out. The second would have been fatal."
"Easier as ritual," Himiko made herself speak, through the fog of her headache and the joy of being held and cared for.
"I'll take your word for it. In any case, we've... exhausted our usefulness for the night, and need to rest. But we can help you in the morning."
"There's no need to worry about morning," the woman said. "Gargoyles turn to stone when the sun rises, even if they aren't touched by the light of it."
"Obviously unnatural," the elder brother said. "Monsters. And now we know there's a whole clan of them in this city."
"Umm, we don't necessarily have to hunt the entire clan, do we?" The younger brother, in a surprise showing of a spine, contradicted the elder brother. "Obviously, the demon's evil, but the other gargoyles might not be."
"No, we'll hunt them all, nothing good comes of their kind-"
"I'm going to shut you up before you really piss me off." Himiko felt Alex shift, position himself tall and ready, if necessary, to fight. Himiko also tensed, to jump off and position herself to assist- she was too tired to be much more than a distraction, but that should be enough.
"Where we're from, there are many people who, like my Himiko, don't always look like normal humans. Some resemble animals, monsters, even inanimate objects. One of my best friends in school looked like a frog, and the only reason I wouldn't break your face for treating her as anything but a human being is because she'd kick your ass first. "
He took a step forward.
"I'll help hunt your monster, but I'd suggest you read up on your Nietzsche, and when you're done, maybe a bit on lynchings. Or World War Two. And ask yourself if you really want to go down that road."
The hunter also stood, perhaps ready to fight. His sister, however, stepped between. "Don't- this fight isn't worth it, and wouldn't it be smarter to avoid making any more enemies than we absolutely must?"
"Hmph, have it your way," the elder brother turned away. "You're right that any second not hunting the demon is wasted energy, but once you learn more about gargoyles, you'll realize I'm right."
"I know them pretty well, I think." Alex wasn't going to let it go, and perhaps that was a mistake, but that mistake was him to the core. "We fought them hand to claw, and the entire battle, in spite of us standing between them and their wounded comrade, they fought with honor.
"Mine avoided using his claws, and never tried to do more than disable me. He didn't even start using his real strength until after I proved I could handle it. Can you claim you would fight with such restraint, in the same situation?"
=====
A/N- We'll get to the action soon enough. But the hunters whole thing was the conflict of personality.
Demona, meanwhile? Yeah, she's just unambiguously evil.
I breathed a sigh of relief when Himiko waved me over. The universal sign for 'found what we're looking for'.
I jumped over a couple alleyway gaps, and stopped by her, then looked down. Momo was, indeed, heading our direction. Specifically, going for an alleyway. The long shadows of the pre-dawn light failed to obscure the men trailing her.
"Do those three idiots think she hadn't spotted them a mile away?" I asked Himiko.
"No, they're idiots," Himiko said. "The real question is, are they idiot enough to walk into a dark alley where any number of horrible fates could befall them?"
"Normally, I'd say even the dumbest thugs wouldn't be that stupid," I answered. "But this is the nineties. The nineteen nineties. In the world before quirks, everyone thought a handgun made you immortal."
And wasn't that a fun revelation, to learn we were in the past? Not our past, but a past. The tech here was in some ways better than our own, and in others... they had hovertech and energy weapons even Mei wouldn't be able to match, but their televisions were basically fish tanks with gas tubes in them.
Momo led them into the alleyway, acting like she was without a clue in the world.
"They're actually doing it!" Himiko giggled. "No wonder this was called the dark ages."
"No, that's... a thousand years before this time period." I didn't think too poorly of her not knowing that- she never finished high school, and Japan had different historical periods than Europe. "They call this era the 'dumb ages', unofficially."
The idiots followed behind. The leader then spoke. "Okay, lady, if you cooperate, nobody's going to have to get hurt."
Momo looked over her shoulder and grinned. "What if I want someone to get hurt?"
"Heh, looks like this broad thinks she's dangerous," one of the others said. "Like that shit works anywhere but in cart-"
The sonic bomb went off right under their feet, where they had failed to realize it wasn't just another piece of scrap on the ground. To be fair, Momo did shape it to look like a piece of rubber off a tire.
One of them got a shot off, but Momo had already shifted her skin to metal. There were guns which could punch through her armor. They weren't handguns. And before they managed to get their wits together, she dived and took them out with a few quick punches.
That's when Himiko and I hopped off the roof to join her next to them.
"What took the two of you so long?" She didn't so much as look up while binding them in their plastic cuffs. "Nobody came to help me in my time of need, whatever happened to chivalry."
"You yell at me when I try to play the hero," I said. "Besides, at this point you're easily the strongest of us. You didn't need anything."
"She looks to me like she could use a thorough dicking," Himiko suggested. "Two of them, at the same time even."
"It has been a few days." Momo walked away from the thugs and hugged the two of us. "But for now, we'll have to settle for a kiss. And you can tell me about your impression of the hunters after you turned off your communicators. Find out how being here 'helps' us get home?"
As she talked she crafted us some new clothes to wear.
"No leads on a way home just yet." I started putting on my outfit. Apparently shoulder pads were fashionable in this era, so we'd just have to put up with that for the time being. "As to the hunters, let's start with saying they're a little rough around the edges, but they're sincere in their belief their 'demon' is a real threat."
"They're more than sincere," Himiko said. "They're terrified and enraged. And it's not just some imaginary fear of whatever. They've personally been harmed by her, traumatized even."
"I'm led to believe they're right, about the 'demon'," Momo said. "I don't have your cold reading, and gargoyles aren't... behaviorally human enough for your techniques to fully apply. But they, too, seem to have been harmed and perhaps even traumatized by a gargoyle they call 'Demona', who attacked another location containing the same chemicals as the last..."
We left the scene as we talked. The bomb and the gunshot would attract attention soon, and we'd be better off not having to answer questions for the law.
We caught Momo up on the hunters and Wolbach, she caught us up on the gargoyles and-
"After I let them know I needed a place to stay, they foisted me off on a friend of theirs, a police detective. We didn't talk much- apparently she'd been up almost two days due to being moved from night to day shift, so she just let me have the couch in her apartment. But she said the gargoyles were good people... I'm pretty sure she has a crush on Goliath."
"I can see that," Himiko said. "Tall, brooding, can crush stone like it's cardboard. And that voice."
"If you're trying to make me jealous, I remind you that I was winning my fight against him."
"Suuure you were." Himiko leaned against me.
"We still don't have time to give you the attention you need, either," Momo said. "Will we have to choose sides between hunters and gargoyles?"
"Maybe," I said. "We still don't necessarily know Demona isn't the good guy in this. Though I admit, the odds do seem low."
"And she apparently knows a bunch of sorcery," Himiko added. "If anyone has the best chances of sending us home right now, it's her. Or whatever it is Aqua's using as her excuse to send us here."
-----
"So, it's as we suspected, they're spies." Jason's fist clenched, and for a moment Robyn feared he'd hit the machine.
And they had suspected. It was obvious they'd had a third member who hadn't joined the other two, and it was just a matter of figuring out what they'd hoped to accomplish.
"We don't know that, necessarily," John said. "I mean, we know their story is outlandish, but then, they would know it, too. Spies would have better cover, right? Besides, that magic they showed was real, even if it fits with nothing we've ever heard of before."
"And if they were involved, I don't think they'd immediately come to the defense of gargoyles as a species, when you..." Robyn trailed off, not knowing how to approach that. Alex had said a couple things which hit far too close to home for comfort.
"You're not going to start defending them now, too, are you!?" John shouted.
He meant the gargoyles, Robyn knew that. She instead chose to answer the other interpretation of the question. "John's right, they had a terrible cover for spies. And... I think it's because the truth is even crazier than their lie."
She switched the video from their 'allies' to last night's investigative work.
"You want to explain what we're looking at?" Jason asked.
"This... is a trillion dollar technological revolution," Robyn said without a moment's hesitation or doubt. "Or, the results of dismantling one of those communicators they were wearing. At first, I thought they were far too small for what they claimed they were. Merely tracking devices, as a spy might wear."
"And you don't think so, anymore?" Jason asked. "Even Alex was willing to admit they were able to be used as such."
"They could be, easily, but they're so much more." She took out her own phone. A small brick of a machine, and all of them had one. It was considered top of the line because you could fit in a pocket.
"That device can do almost anything this phone can do, at a fraction the size. The transistors and microprocessors are so small our computer can't even figure out how they work."
"So, they're advanced," Jason dismissed the argument. "I'm not denying their skills. It's possible they're working with some organization, maybe even a government."
"You don't understand." He wasn't familiar with science and technology the way she was. "If that was all, maybe you'd be right. But... they're also using some sort of solid state battery, it's barely larger than a drop of water but has more power than any commercial battery that isn't meant to go in a vehicle.
"And then there's the circuitry itself. It's a room temperature superconductor. Better than, but that's not important. What's important is that most physicists dismiss that as fantasy."
"You're kidding," John said. "What's its maximum temperature? What's it made of?"
"Without a full suite of experimentation, I'm not sure, but the readout of the portion I melted down suggests it's an alloy mainly of copper and iron. In other words: it's not only far superior to anything on the market today, the materials are cheaper."
"But that would be a..." John realized what he was about to repeat. "A trillion dollar technological revolution. Any singular part of it would outcompete... every modern industry which relies on electricity. To say nothing of its potential for espionage, maybe medical technology as well."
"With one problem," Robyn added. "This stuff is so far beyond us that we cannot use it. We don't know how to make the machines to make the machines to make this... earbud communicator."
"You mean... they might be aliens?" John asked.
"Don't be absurd," Jason said. "Why would aliens bother with... any of this?"
"I was thinking something a little different," Robyn said. "I think they might actually be from... perhaps one to two hundred years in the future. It would explain the technology, the strange accents could be linguistic drift, and their impossible physical abilities might come from micro-cybernetics built with this sort of technology, or maybe genetic engineering."
"It would explain that claim of going to class with a 'frog girl'," John agreed. "Plus that girl acted like getting shot didn't even matter. And maybe in a century's time, sorcery has become known to the public? I'm sure a hundred years of advancing magic as a science could achieve... everything they've done."
"I suppose time travel is slightly less outlandish," Jason admitted. "But it still leaves the question of why they're here and what we do about it?"
"For now? I... think we continue to cooperate with them," Robyn said. "If they are time travelers, they likely know something we don't about the future. If they wanted to kill us, I'm sure they could have with their abilities. So that isn't their motivation."
"It might be a Terminator scenario?" John suggested. "Maybe they're here to prevent some major calamity in the future. Maybe it's even the demon they're after? And they don't want to tell us over some sort of paradox?"
Jason took a breath. "We have to go to work to maintain our covers, so we'll continue this conversation later. As of right now, we should avoid letting our spies, whatever they're spying for, know we're on to them."
-----
"How is your recovery going, Owen?"
"I'm feeling better, sir," Owen said, from his bed in Xanatos' private mini hospital. "My apologies for being under the weather."
"Owen, in all the years you've worked for me, you've never once needed a sick day, nor taken a day off that wasn't mandatory. I'm more concerned with the nature of your illness- will it be a threat to my son?"
And that was the code word for Puck to come out. But for now, he was better served with the Owen persona. "I'm uncertain, sir. Which allows for a certain level of... proactivity, but I'm afraid little more than that."
Xanatos, in a rare show of genuine emotion, frowned. Of all the beings he'd dealt with over the years, the worst... was Demona. The second worst was... the Illuminati. But the third worst was the fey, their rules, and their magic. "Can you at least tell me what you know?"
"Haha, that's easy," Ow- Puck- answered. "Because I know nothing of value." He then cleared his throat. "My apologies, sir, I'm still... struggling with my ailment. My 'best guess', as they say, is some being of incredible power... well, I can't share the details. Suffice it to say those like myself are uniquely susceptible."
His worst fears. "Oberon or Titania, then?"
"No. They have given their word and law. And even if they hadn't, none of us have the power to do what was done, here. Whatever it was broke not only our law, but the laws of the universe."
Thus, the story got worse and worse for him. If it wasn't the fey, and he'd already dismissed any of the significant artifacts. Even time travel, convoluted as it was, was trapped within certain boundaries. "Could it be related to Demona's theft of the DI 7?"
"I certainly hope not, sir. If she has somehow gained access to power like that, there's no limit to what she might do with it."
Considering Demona had, more than once, attempted the eradication of the human race, that was an understatement. "Understood, Owen. We must assume the worst. Your task is now, officially, protecting my son with the full extent of your abilities, and any resource Xanatos industries can offer, officially and otherwise is at your disposal. There is no higher priority."
"Hehe, understood, sir."
Owen, Puck, vanished from the room, and David Xanatos was left at a crossroad. If this was related to Demona, then the gargoyles were either involved, or soon to be involved. Her psychosis compelled her to involve them.
If it was unrelated, then there was still danger and opportunity here which would benefit from their cooperation.
He had also wanted an opportunity to show an act of good faith to the gargoyles, and this... might lead to that. So he took his phone and dialed one Elisa Maza. "Good morning, Detective."
"Xanatos. Unless you're calling to confess a crime, I'm not interested. And I'm currently investigating the break in at your warehouse, but go ahead and waste my time and taxpayer money."
On duty? He had thought Maza was on night shift, and made a mental note to check in on that little detail later. "It won't take long, and I'll donate a... generous sum to your precinct, in the interest of sparing the taxpayer. Of which, I am a rather substantial portion of."
Maybe he enjoyed teasing the detective a little too much. "This situation may involve your friends, and I'd like to share what information I've learned. I promise, they need to hear this. And, I'll let you choose the place of the meeting, as a show of good faith."
=====
Momo had always heard stories about the Statue of Liberty. The original, that is. In person, it was an impressive monument for pre-22nd century engineering.
"First time seeing it?" Angela asked as she stepped closer.
Momo acted like she wasn't aware the gargoyle was behind her. Feigning weakness was one of those things Alex had taught her. For months the idea galled her, still did, but over time she'd come to accept it. Looking too strong was akin to looking too dangerous, and while there was also a time for that, it wasn't now.
Much as she was pretending not to hear the soft mechanical hum of an engine nearby.
"Ah, yes, it's even more impressive in person than in pictures and videos. So, what's with this clandestine meeting?"
"There's a... man my father's clashed with some times in the past," Angela said. "There's a lot of bad blood there, and I only know a small portion of the whole story. What this means for us is that he's powerful and dangerous. If he's asking for help, we at least need to hear why."
Another piece to this world's puzzles. Sometimes, she wondered how her younger self would react not only to wonders she'd seen, but how they'd changed her.
Even a year ago, she'd have decided she liked these gargoyles and could trust them. Now? Well, she still liked them and trusted them, but she understood trust could be misplaced, and that she needed to be prepared for them to be the bad guys.
"Xanatos, right," Momo acknowledged. "The one whose chemicals were stolen, the industrial cleaner Elisa mentioned. Are we assuming they're more dangerous than he originally let on?"
"They shouldn't be." A male voice joined the conversation from above. "As I already told the police, it's merely an industrial cleaner."
Right, 'merely'. Momo decided she didn't like this guy right away. He'd waited for a good cue to 'drop in', and the smug and smarmy thing wasn't going to win friends. Interesting choice of outfit, however- it looked to be a full power armor modeled after the gargoyles. Specifically, Goliath.
It was an impressive bit of work, too. She almost hoped he'd start a fight, so she could have an excuse to take it apart and see what made it work.
Instead, she opted to talk. "And this 'cleaning' chemical, it can't be, say, aerosolized or serve as an intermediate stage for something more dangerous? I doubt it's safer than bleach."
For a moment, she detected a hint of surprise, but it didn't last. "When looked at from that lens, perhaps. But it would prove less useful than simple pesticides for the former, and as to the latter... I'll have to run the possibility by my chemists.
"I must admit, I'm rather impressed, Miss..."
"You can call me Yao, for now." She wasn't interested in either hinting at her national origin more than her features would, nor listening to him butcher her full surname. And they weren't going to be on 'first name' basis any time soon.
"Miss Yao, then." Xanatos smiled, then landed and turned to the others. "Detective Maza, Goliath-"
"Save the pleasantries, Xanatos." Goliath growled as he stepped forward. "You claimed to have important information. Don't test our patience."
"Charming as always, I see." Xanatos' smug smirk never left his lips. "The other night, well before midnight, some uniquely powerful magical event occurred. My sources are unable to provide further information at the moment, but it seems to have originated within this city."
"That can't be a coincidence, right?" Lexington asked. "It must be related to Demona's plans!"
Uniquely powerful, last night... it's us, isn't it? Or, more accurately, Aqua. She drew similar attention last time she messed about in the mortal world.
"Perhaps," Goliath growled. "But it doesn't change our course of actions, does it?"
"No, of course it doesn't," Xanatos agreed. "You are nothing if not consistent. Much as your former mate. But I've taken the liberty to gather what information I could on such short notice over Demona's recent whereabouts and activities. They might help you narrow your hunt."
He handed over papers to Goliath, who wasted no time in handing them to Elisa.
The detective gave a quick look. "Short notice, huh? There's information going back months."
"I believe most people here understand my reasons for keeping a close eye on her. You now have everything I know... on that subject."
"I hope you don't expect us to thank you," Elisa said.
"Not at all." Xanatos' suit flared to life, and the engines lifted him off the ground. "In fact, I am the one thanking you." Then he launched off into the sky.
Momo gave it a moment before asking. "Are you sure this isn't him deflecting blame?"
"Not entirely," Elisa admitted. "But this picture of her with Anton Sevarius has me worried."
"I'm going to assume he's also bad news," Momo said as she took a look at the picture.
"Yes, he calls himself a 'genius scientist', mainly in the realm of genetics. But as far as I can tell, all his real accomplishments come from a complete disregard for ethics, morality, or actual scientific method."
Momo's eyes narrowed as she studied the image. She'd dealt with one or two 'mad scientists', and had no love for any of them. "And this... scientist... could he be the reason Demona wants that chemical?"
"That's what I intend to find out," Goliath growled.
-----
Himiko and I rode along in the hunters' hover-ship. This thing really was a technological marvel, flying under its own power in spite of being the size of a small warehouse. With any luck, we might be able to get the schematics at some point.
"And this meditation of yours? Is it necessary for your magic?"
Meditation you're interrupting. But I wasn't going to cause a scene by arguing with the younger brother- he was the one who seemed most willing to listen to reason. "Not in the strictest sense, no, but... our magic is in many ways like a muscle. It needs to be trained and strengthened, and meditation is a way to do that.
"But, like training any muscle, there are many ways to go about it, each with their own benefits and weaknesses."
"I suppose that makes sense. And this is different from the stuff with that goddess? Aren't they both spirits?"
"Yeah, they're different," Himiko said. "Our quirks need us, the gods... have other motives."
Good enough. "We don't know much about them. Not even if they're really gods. All I can tell you is they're overwhelmingly powerful, claim godhood, and are a separate existence from our partners. Oh, and they seem to be able to live forever."
There wasn't a good reason to lie about it, especially since it was clear they were fishing for information. Maybe to cross-reference with their own knowlege to see if we were lying about something.
"You say they're separate, but call your... partner... quirk... Nyx? And why do you call them different things?"
Ah, that. "They're just names. Where Himiko's from in Japan, they're called quirks. In America, they're meta or paranormal abilities. And I call my power 'Nyx', but... I've never actually met my Nyx's namesake, don't know if she's real or mythological. But I assure you, my Nyx wouldn't last a second against any of the purported gods we met."
"Ah, well, I suppose any beings capable of making people like you believe it's a god would have to be something special, huh?"
"Right." I considered giving an example, but "Fuck! I think I just found your demon."
"Really?" The younger brother asked.
"How?!" His sister, the one flying the vessel, spun to look at me. "And how are you sure."
"That's the nature of my partner," I answered. "I can sense certain spirits and other magics, and someone just entered my range with a power that... we can't kill her..."
"No." The woman stood. "We're willing to hear you out with the other gargoyles. But we won't let you stop us from slaying the demon."
"It's not a matter of permission," I said. "That's what Nyx is telling me. The person- I don't know if it's a woman, let alone a gargoyle, but it's in the air so it's flying somehow- is not just unaging, but has magic that will not allow him or her to die."
"Then... all those centuries... all those lives?" The younger brother asked. "What was it all for?"
"Don't say that!" The other sister turned and grabbed her weapon. "If such a magic exists, there has to be a weakness! Surely, enough damage and she'll die, right?"
"I... don't think so, but... there's always the chance Nyx is wrong. My senses are focused on the effects side of magic, and don't give me any special insight into technology. And, even if she can't die, she can still be injured. Break enough bones, and she'll stop moving for a while."
"Hmm, that might even be better than just killing her." The woman grinned, and the number of blondes I knew who weren't insane returned to zero.
With Nyx to serve as a guide, Himiko and I rushed down to meet our guest, while the hunters went around to flank. Mixing melee with weapons fire was a terrible idea, and this demon had gargoyle toughness on top of her immortality.
She ripped through the side of the vessel, right between Himiko and I. Tall and muscular, with a strong resemblance to Goliath. Blue skin, red hair, talons, and a roar that sounded like some sort of monstrous feline.
This was 'the demon', also known as 'Demona'. From all sources we'd talked to thus far she was deserving of both title and moniker.
She aimed her gun at Himiko and fired, without so much as a request of surrender. Himiko tossed a grenade her way, and dived behind a corner.
Demona ran the other direction, right for me. I caught her by surprise, and wrested the gun out of her hands in the initial exchange.
She didn't give me time to do anything with it, and jumped me right away. Her reactions were more animalistic than the other gargoyles had been. Her eyes also glowed red, rather than the white-yellow of the others.
I tossed the gun and met her attack head on- this one wasn't playing nice the way Goliath did. She threw her full strength into her charge, claws at the ready. And unlike many who charged me, she knew what she was doing. Her wings and tail fanned out as a counterbalance, denying me any opportunity to turn her momentum against her.
She was not, however, quite as strong as Goliath. And that meant I was able to surprise her by halting her with muscle alone. Well, as long as Nyx and Gift were boosting my body's efficiency to its absolute limits.
I didn't give her time to be surprised. Once she was stopped, I lept upward and slammed my knee into her bottom jaw. Her teeth cracked from the force.
She staggered back, I kicked her in the gut. It would have been a lethal amount of force against a human being. For her... I'm sure it hurt.
She spun and drove me back with a slash of her tail. "I will kill you and your entire species!"
"As I hear it, you've been doing a shit job of it." Hey, if she was going to confess to being a genocidal psychopath, who was I to stop her? Far easier than trying to sort out if she might be the falsely maligned hero of this situation. "You've supposedly had a thousand years, and every year there are millions more of us."
"A mistake I will rectify!" She rushed me again, and in so doing gave me an idea of the limits of her regeneration.
She was still slower than she'd started, thanks to the injuries to her stomach, but gaining speed as she recovered. I drew out the battle, managed to bait her into overextending her arm. A grip, and spin, and she was slammed into the steel wall of the vessel.
She used that to her advantage.
Fuck, wing! I rolled and bit back a scream of pain when her wing-talon tore through my arm, which left me tumbling to the ground. She didn't follow through with the attack, instead diving to the side.
Right before an energy blast flew over my head. Then another and another.
One clipped her shoulder, provoking another animalistic roar.
But, she'd turned her back on the other corridor, and had forgotten about Himiko. Then, she was being distracted by three fighters, and Himiko's little 'vanish from the senses' trick seemed effective on gargoyle senses.
The Demon cried out in rage and pain right before she was slammed face first into the ground not far from my feet. One dagger shoved into her heart, the other into the base of her skull.
"Is... is it over?" The younger brother asked, weapon still pointed at the 'corpse' laying face down on the metal floor. "She seems dead."
"Jason might be disappointed justice was served when he could not be here to see it," the woman said. "But we saw what was happening, we know she'd have killed us if we tried to capture her."
"So, is she that immortal?" Himiko asked me.
"Yeah, she may not look it, but she's still alive." I sighed, and pressed my hand to hold the wound in my shoulder. "Heal!" One would take care of the worst of it, leaving only a painful throbbing behind.
"Are you certain?" The woman approached the demon's body.
"The dagger in her brain is really messing with the magic keeping her moving, but yes. Sooner or later it'll overcome almost any physical weapon you can apply. And if there's some sort of magic that can beat it, then it's not one I know."
Which wasn't saying much, but they didn't need to hear that.
The woman knelt down beside her long sought prey, and flipped her over. "It's true, her eyes are still following me. And that glare... somehow, in spite of everything, she's not dead."
"Then it really is hopeless," the brother said.
"Killing her might be outside our current power," the sister admitted. "But we can at least disable her for the time being, and seek a more permanent solution in time. We've done the hard part, and even if it takes another thousand years, the job will be finished."
Then she took her ropes and started binding the gargoyle's arms and legs. Then another layer of chains, and some steel mannacles on top of it.
Then took a fucking broadsword, shoved it right into her chest, and bent it as one might a paper clip, so anything which tried to remove it would have one hell of a time doing so. And added more chains around it.
"Is it weird that I'm turned on right now?" Himiko asked.
Our allies in this fight looked our way. I shrugged off their reaction. "I swear, if you think of her as a big cat, it'll help. She's adorable, affectionate, and the only reason she doesn't kill animals with her teeth and leave them on the couch is because birds aren't enough of a challenge and it takes to much work to drag a bear home."
"A... huh..." The brother tried to laugh it off. Then, he was rather disturbed by his sister's process of keeping Demona disabled. "I suppose most magics and mythologies acknowledge animal spirits, and your 'partners' might not be gods, but they could be animals, right?"
"Some of them, at least." I stood up, trying not to push myself too hard. The battle was over, but I didn't get through it unscathed.
And so we followed as the siblings carried Demona to a prison cage, and tossed her in.
With one last nasty surprise once she was behind bars.
She rolled to her knees. "I... when I get free... every pain... a thousandfold. You, and all your descendants..."
She was somehow timing her words between the moments her immortality was giving her before the sword 'killed' her again.
"S-so it's true..." the brother muttered. "Actually tr-"
"GYAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" Electricity erupted in the cell, and Demona's cry soon went silent.
"Just a little added security," the sister said to the smoking not-quite-corpse. "I'd suggest you hold real still in there. Or, better yet, don't."
=====
A/N- Demona takes unnecessary risks, sometimes. At least it makes sense in her case- she's both psychotic and immortal.