"is it over?" Tom asked.
Everyone else slowly blinked as their visions swam back into focus. The room was totaled; dust still settling and chunks of debris causing minor cuts across the room. The center of the room was a small crater, with no sign of Demona or her Spear. The Crown lay sundered upon the floor.
"All right," Lizzy said, rubbing a bump on her head. "Sound off; who's not dead?"
Xanatos slowly took the helmet of his armor.
"Spydah, report in. Did that reach the crowd outside?"
"Uuuhhhh…" A voice came back a moment later. "Nah. Or if it did, waddn't enough to make it on dah news coverage."
Xanatos let out a breath.
"Well." he said. "That could have gone considerably worse."
Tom, Marco, Lizzy and Janna all tensed.
"Is there a problem?" Xanatos asked.
"Well it's just…" Janna began. "This is normally the part where things inexplicably get worse."
Xanatos blinked.
"My." Puck coughed. "You mortals certainly live more interesting lives than you once did."
"Guys I… I think we actually lived!" Tom said happily. "Janna, your weird friend saved the day!"
"...yeah." Janna said slowly. "I guess she did."
"I did, didn't I?" Kitsune said, face returned to her usual gentle smile. "I suppose someone does have to rescue you mortals on occasion, do they not?"
"She's going to be absolutely insufferable about this, you know." Puck put his hand on Kitsune's shoulder.
The fox let out a small "eep", and froze in place until Puck moved on.
Janna watched him go, then turned to study Kitsune. After a moment, she seemed to come to a decision. "Hey Kitsune?"
"...yes?"
"Why does Puck get under your skin so bad?"
Kitsune closed her eyes and sighed.
"Because he killed me."
---
The Manhattan Clan were gathered around Brooklyn, doing what they could to staunch his bleeding until the stone sleep could scar over the wound. The eye was clearly ruined; there was no chance of it regaining sight.
"Listen." Brooklyn said, voice steady despite the pain he was in. "I… I'm sorry. Goliath entrusted me to be his successor. I failed him. I failed all of you."
"Rest now." Lexington replied, dabbing at the bleeding with a piece of cloth he'd gotten from somewhere. "The sunrise is almost here."
"I thought I could control Demona. Temper her worse impulses. But all she did was encourage mine. Hudson, I understand if you-"
"You're Clan, lad." Hudson replied. "You'll always be Clan."
"It'll be good to have you back, buddy." Broadway said.
---
Janna watched the gargoyles from across the room, discomfort flitting across her face. Marco, still wincing from the cuts, pulled himself up and sat next to her.
"Wanna talk about it?" He asked.
Janna grimaced.
"They… all those grey gargoyles were people." Janna said. "Sure, Demona messed them up but they're not… not…"
"Monsters?" Marco offered. "As it turns out, Monsters aren't really monsters either. Not most of them."
"There was that time with the witches but, they kept coming back, it wasn't the same! Marco I… I can't even remember how many of them I…"
"Listen." Marco said. "If we hadn't fought, what would have happened?"
"...Demona might have…"
"She almost did." Marco agreed. "Sometimes… sometimes you have to fight. It can be easier, to just… pretend they're not people. Not think about it. But it's better to think. It hurts. But if at the end of the day, you did what you had to… that can be enough."
"What do you think's gonna happen to them?"
"Recent events have given me means of contact with several other Clans across the globe." Xanatos interrupted. "I don't know exactly how far Demona's programming went, but we can at least try to return the survivors to their own people. Brooklyn seeing sense will help with that. They see him as a leader, after all."
Janna sighed in relief, then gave Marco a weak smile. "Thanks for the sappy pep talk, dude."
Marco nodded.
Then, they heard a weak muttering.
"What was that?" Marco asked.
"Bbboyyyyy." The Huntsmaster gasped.
"Oh god, you're still alive."
The Hunstmaster was a wreck. Blood seeped from every hole in his face, his muscles seemingly permanently knotted, his legs clearly broken. But even as his hunters began to lift him up and carry him away, he stared at Marco.
"Surely you know better, boy." The Huntsmaster said. "See how the Demon has marked you. They are monsters. Your power… your potential… I could train you."
"Eeeeh." Marco replied. "I dunno dude, you seem pretty evil."
"You fought well this night." The Huntsmaster insisted. "Do not squander that potential."
"Okay dude, seriously?" Tom asked. "All sorts of people did better than Marco! You're being so racist right now, I can't even believe it. Little chauvunistic, too."
"Yeah!" Marco agreed.
"Seriously." Tom said. "Marco went down like a chump. Demona didn't even need to use the spear!"
"Okay Tom, that's enough. Thanks."
"We gonna like… fight now?" Lizzy asked.
"It'd be better than all this mushy 'morality' stuff!" Feldrake agreed.
"Let's… give it a rest for tonight." Janna replied. "Numbers or not, we don't have a prophecy backing us up anymore."
"Xanatos mentioned that." Marco said. "What was that about?"
"Oh right, I keep forgetting you don't know all this stuff." Janna replied. "I summoned up this dead Mewman queen and she gave me a weird prophecy about tonight."
Janna took a moment to recite it in full, although leaving out the spooky ambiance this time. "...the payment? Hearts set on her…cheeks." Janna trailed off. "Oh crud. That part happens now."
"Janna." Marco said. "Are you saying Demona is… still alive? And she's going after Star?"
Macbeth stepped forward. "She's still alive." He said. "Trust me lad, I would know."
Marco clenched his fists. "So not only did I not find her, but now a second magical lunatic is after her."
"Lad." Macbeth said. "I've fought Demona for… a long time. I know her tricks. I'll not give you the same spiel the hunter did, but if your aim is to fight the Demon, I will teach you what I know. Ye remind me of… someone else."
"Uhhh…" Marco looked around for advice.
Hudson sighed. "Macbeth would lie, steal, cheat and kill… if it meant getting his hands on Demona. In that, at least, ye can trust."
Marco nodded. "...I should probably get to a hospital now."
"Oh yeah dude." Janna agreed. "That's gonna scar."
"Wait, you're right. I bet this'll be a really cool facial scar! Yea-heah! One more step back towards my Neverzone bod."
"Your what?"
"Uhhh… nothing."
---
As several Iron Gargoyles flew into the room and began rounding up the Pack, who objected vociferously to their impending reincarceration, Xanatos walked over to the newly sundered Crown, picking up the pieces gingerly.
"So." Janna asked. "What happens to that now?"
"An artifact is unlikely to survive damage like this." Xanatos replied. "I'll have it examined, but assuming its powers have dissipated I'll have it repaired and returned to Notre Dame. I imagine Mr. Papillon would enjoy the novelty of the challenge."
"...So, do you think it was…"
"The real Crown of Thorns?" Xanatos replied. "Do I think it was truly the power of God, or the power of people's belief? Or just a particularly powerful Magus' cunning fake? I don't know. I don't know if there's anyone alive who could answer that question."
Janna's brow furrowed.
Several heads turned in the same direction at once.
"What!?!" Tom asked. "Why's everybody looking at me?"
