In hindsight Brooklyn should have known that something was going to go wrong; she was pretty, and in recent memory that usually spelt trouble for him.

Of course it had all been a trap, what with her having been attempted to be mugged by a bunch of hoodlums in a part of town that 'coincidentally' happened to be a hot spot of self-proclaimed monster hunters. Brooklyn groaned as he looked up from where he lay on the trash covered ground, blood streaming into his ears from the various weapons that had battered across his body, to find the that the woman who had clubbed him was shakily whimpering and backing away from the crowd of other humans who were now looming over him. Brooklyn knew that even in the midst of the pain he was feeling he would have tried to say something to the girl to reassure her however when a steel-toed boot ground itself into his chest the rust colored gargoyle could say nothing as the very breath in his lungs decided to audibly vacate itself from out of his body.

The beating that he endured gave the Manhattan clan gargoyle a chance to reflect, as his mind seemed to pull itself from his body to look back on the night's events that had led him there.

- - - - -

Mere moments after waking from stone slumber Brooklyn's attention had been seized by Golitah as the older gargoyle attempted to question him about his strange behavior as of late. Brooklyn of course denied anything being wrong.

"I just have something on my mind." he has said while looking into the eyes of the older male.

"Yes, and that's what's bothering me." Goliath replied with an fear that was masked by years of carefully honed control.

"It's nothing. I promise!" Brooklyn grumbled while turning himself away from his clan leader.

"Brooklyn, ever since you encountered that demon you've been acting very distant towards us." Angela gently reproached. "It has us all worried."

While the soft spoken words from the female gargoyle would have usually been a balm to his senses, at that time and moment them seemed to oddly enough aggravate Brooklyn. "Like I said, I just...have a lot on my mind." he mentally patted himself onto the back for not letting his inner feelings show onto his face as he gave a shaky smile to Angela.

"Are ye sure lad?" Hudson inquired carefully. Brooklyn nodded and then turned from where he stood on the edge of the castle. "I'm going out alone tonight."

"No!" Goliath shouted, the worry now very easy to hear in his voice, yet it was lost on Brooklyn as he dove from off of the castle, his rust colored wings snapping open behind him to catch an updraft.

Brooklyn was sure that he heard the others trying to call out to him but he ignored them. He would apologize later, of course, but for now he needed space to think. Specifically about the demon. While caught within the dreamless sleep of his people Brooklyn was sure that he had seen the demon's visage dance within his mind's eye as he dreamt within the darkness. A growl touched the edge of Brooklyn's lips as he tried to mentally remove the other from his mind, yet it was no use. The demon's smirking face and barking voice seemed to haunt him like a curse as he flew throughout the night sky.

Scanning the skyline Brooklyn peeled his eyes force any sight of the other, quite sure that the demon was still somewhere here within the city. 'Where are you?' The obsession overtaking Brooklyn might have seemed odd to some, however, for him it was nothing short of a necessary need as he mentally tried to figure out the rhyme and reason behind the actions of the other, specifically the fact of why the demon had allowed him to live after their fight a few nights prior.

Their battle had been intense; the feeling of the manacle wearing creature's fist hitting him across the face and chest brought with it an explosion of sensation that Brooklyn had never experienced before, the likes of which still left him with phantom pains even now. The memory of the rush of adrenaline he had felt as he dodged and weaved around the other was like a fine liquor to the young gargoyle senses, and yet it was nothing compared to the almost rapture he had felt when his own fist had smashed itself into the demon's flesh. The barking sound of the other crying out in pain had made something inside of Brooklyn rumble in a way that had left the rust colored gargoyle somewhat unnerved as he thought back about it. Like the potent aftereffects of a strong drug Brooklyn relished in reliving the experience of the fight between himself as the other gargoyle. However, what truly left his mind in a whirl was him waking up from his stone slumber and realizing that he was still alive.

The fight between the pair had been a long and drawn out one, the demon having given just as good as he got while the two of them danced atop the building they had been on, yet time proved to be the creature's ally with the first rays of dawn coated themselves across Brooklyn's panting form quickly turning his flesh to stone as he was forced to sleep in dreamless slumber. What had happened while he slept was a mystery wrapped within an enigma that only the demon could answer. Awaking the next evening found Brooklyn disoriented as always, memory slow to return as he tried to figure out just exactly where he was, though when his brain finally caught up with itself Brooklyn immediately put himself into a crouched position, expecting the other to come from the shadows to assault him.

Yet the demon never showed.

It took Brooklyn nearly and hour to understand what was going on, yet once he did he quickly took wing back home to the castle, his mind berating him for letting the creature distract him from returning to check on Lexington. Thankfully his rookery brother was well enough, his stone slumber having healed the wound he had taken from the human's bullet. Explaining things to the others had gotten Brooklyn various frowns and words of condemnation before he was verbally enfolded in murmurs of joy for having returned to the clan safely. He shad been forced to stay at the castle that night, Goliath having wanting him to give full details of the demon to both himself and Xanatos, yet on the next night to come the rust gargoyle found himself...restless for some reason.

Now as he flew across the darkened skies of the city Brooklyn began to realize just exactly what the stirring feeling inside of him was.

He was hungry.

And not for food.

The rush he had received from fighting the demon made the blood inside of his body thrum with a dangerous thrill that nearly made him swoon. The demon...there was something about it. Maybe it was that superior look on it's blank golden stare as it looked upon Brooklyn that made him want punch the other in the face again. Or perhaps it was the air of malice surrounding the other that spurred a want within him to beat the other. The thought of knocking the haughty creature that had thought to enter into HIS home down made Brooklyn shiver in excitement. He slowly realized that he wanted to find the other again. Wanted to taste the pain that would come from his victory over the other gargoyle. He wanted...no...he needed to fight the other once more. To know that it hadn't just been an idle mercy that had kept the other from destroying him while he was at his most vulnerable. He couldn't just let the demon have such an easy victory over him! The other would always look down on him if he...

A scream tore through his musings.

Dropping his head down Brooklyn found the sight of a young brunette being chased by several men filling his vision. Turning within the air he dove down without thought.

- - - - -

The woman had seemed so innocent while thanking him for his timely rescue. Brooklyn should have known then that something was wrong, but for a split second he had wanted to believe that she...maybe liked him. It was such a stupid concept, he knew, but when looking into her pretty green eyes he felt that maybe...just maybe...

Of course he hadn't been thinking that she would club him when he turned away from her to head about his way. Why would he? After all, what kind of person would return one's kindness with a venom laced kiss?

Humans, that's who.

The strike had come just as he was walking towards an alleyway. Where the woman had gotten the baseball bat she had been holding onto he'd never know but in turning onto his side to look at her after he had fallen to the ground Brooklyn had maybe three seconds to swear a curse at the woman before the men he had chased away earlier had returned. One of them had thanked the brunette for her help in luring down the 'monster' that had been responsible for the killings for them right before money was exchanged. Once the crumpled bills were handed over the men then began to surround him.

The beating had began just as Brooklyn reared up his head to snarl at the group.

The first strike had been at his shoulder, the sound of metal hitting bone rang out into the night followed by his unabashed yelp of pain. The second had come across his face with blood flying onto the wall next to him from as his mouth as his beak was drawn to the side from the force of the assault. The third hit his gut and it took everything in Brooklyn not to puke all over himself. After that pain blurred time for the rust colored gargoyle as the humans belted him over and over again into submission. He would have cried out for help but the blows rain down on him too quickly for him to do so, so in stead he remained silent as his body was broken down by the men who sought his life.

Once they had finally stopped Brooklyn's consciousness seemed to suck itself back into his body. The pain racking itself across his body was so intense however that it was a surprise that he was even able to crack open a swollen eye to glare up at the others.

Then the sound of a cocking gun chilled the night.

Brooklyn watched in muted horror as the muzzle of a revolver was pointed at his bloody face. Eye going wide with terror Brooklyn fought with himself to try and stand up but it was just no use. He was broken. It would be a miracle in and of itself if he could even make it to his stone sleep come morning, yet as the finger on the trigger of the gun pulled itself back the bloodsoaked gargoyle had the queerest feeling that he wasn't even going to make it to the next ten minutes. Closing his eyes Brooklyn submitted to the inevitable.

The sound of the gun going off filled the night with an audible burst that it drew silence over the neighborhood.

However, what followed after made the entire street buzz with panic.

A scream made Brooklyn hesitantly open his eyes.

What he saw made him gape in awe.

The man who had been pointing the gun at him howled in pain as he clutched his now bloody stump of an arm against his chest. The perpetrator of the gruesome decapitation roared in anger as it tossed the twitching limb away into the darkness of the alley. Black boned wings raised up in a show of feral anger as their owner knelt over the fallen gargoyle, the cherry skinned creature rearing its head back as its throat seemed to balloon somewhat comically.

The men didn't have time to register what was going on because in the seconds that followed scalding hot crimson flames soaked themselves throughout the alleyway. Those caught within the deluge of fire were quickly charred into dust, while those who were not screamed in desperate panic as it finally registered what exactly was happening. The next few moments were filled with the sounds of the humans clumsily falling over one another as they tried to escape the hellspawn that came down from the sky up above. Another plume of fire burnt those who were not lucky enough to get away quickly across the back and legs, which in turn made them drop to the ground as their backsides were literally charred, the fluids within having no time to evaporate as they were literally reduced to nothing thanks to the intense the heat of the demon's fiery breath.

Seeing that some of his prey were still alive the cherry skinned creature slowly slunk away from the wounded Brooklyn to go over to the twitching and blubbering masses of humanity. Standing up to his full height over the humans the demon growled at the two who were left before looking up to where the others were still running away in their pathetic attempts to escape. It would be easy enough to slip into the shadows to find, follow, and kill the rest, but there was something more important that needed to be done right now. A raised foot quickly slammed down onto one of the men's spine, easily cracking like a walnut, while a clawed hand reached down to pick the other up. Bringing the other up to his face the demon let out a cruel chuckle as he listened to the other babble out prayer of forgiveness. Drawing his lips into a demonic smirk the demon smashed the man into the hard asphalt over and over again, scrambling whatever was left inside of the human's head out onto the ground as his skull finally cracked open. Once it was clear that the human were dead, the last few twitches symbolizing only the death throes of a corpse, the monster tossed the broken rag doll away. Turning on its taloned feet, the creature then stalked over to where Brooklyn still lay bleeding onto the ground.

A sneer of hate kissed the blood covered demon's face as it look down upon the near dead rust colored gargoyle. Brooklyn couldn't even muster the energy to snarl back as his body was just that broken.

When a blood covered hand reached down for him Brooklyn sighed and then once again closed his tired eyes, his mind more than ready enough to submit itself to the inevitable once again.