Ning, Jill and Ellandhra pulled through their portal and stepped out onto the cold floor of Wu Long's fortress. The guards directly in front of them went quite pale as they came thru, one fell rather ungracefully over in a dead faint and one twitched before dropping his gun and running. Ellandhra smirked quite amused, turning to her companions.

"Well, I don't guess we have to worry about them. Actually, I'm not in the mood to be bothered about anybody….Excuse me for a just a moment, won't you?" Not bothering for a reply Ellandhra moved away from them in loping strides. Ning and Jill turned perplexed eyes to one another neither one sure what came next.

"Any ideas what she's up to?" Jill asked Ning wondering if maybe his empathy picked up anything.

"No, she is as I've heard..as dense as mud." He replied folding his arms over his chest more then a bit vexed. Not two seconds passed and the entire compound rocked under their feet shaking them into each other's arms. A cacophony of screams could be heard rupturing throughout the building as could the stomps of something huge and heavy and roaring with tremendous force.

Much to both Ning and Jill's amazement a very large lion like creature came by, great golden wings laid folded on it's back, there tips brushing the ceiling. It stomped, growled and carried on in high fashion, humans spilling before it in panic. Wu Long's men tripped over one another clamoring for the exits, desperate to get away. Jill could have sworn that as it passed it winked at her and for just an instant she saw through the illusion that was not an illusion at all but her Aunt's other form. Ning recognized her too and twisted his lips in a wry grin and laughed. Jill turned her face up to him and smiled.

"Well, you do have to admit, love, that is definitely one way to clear the building." She told him and winked at him herself. Ning shook his head greatly amused at Ellandhra's antics. He stretched out his own powers then reaching through the halls of the building and out into its wings. Unlike the snarled, tangled mess that surged through him before, things came together in lines that interwove with one another creating a net of thoughts and emotions he could travel at his command. The last of the humans were making good their escapes and a sense of emptiness came back to him. It had taken just under twenty minutes of out and out hell raising and terrorizing and the woman had cleaned out the complex.

Ellandhra's soft footfalls came to their ears as she made her return to them. Her soft tan cloak swung with her hips and she hummed a little to herself as she came. She bent her head to them as she approached and walked by.

"My staff, children, time is indeed wasting. Come along now..hurry." She called to them over her shoulder. As she walked she managed to stay ahead of them a few footfalls and keep her distance. She spoke quietly to them her voice even and calm. She told Ning the bits and pieces she felt he would need to know of her side of his heritage. She explained that the really hard thing about magic..her kind of magic..was that it involved letting yourself have what you wanted. It did not have its base in incense, or spells, or wards, or incantations; it wasn't reliant upon the tangible so you couldn't use a means to access it. You simply had to have the faith in yourself that you indeed could move a mountain if it bothered you. She told him they tended to sing but that was more for concentration and as a means of communication with others like themselves.

The pixie could be heard chattering every now then very brightly and helpfully giving her directions from his perch on her shoulder. His language was indecipherable to Jill but apparently Ning was able to understand it and he laughed giving Jill an image in her mind of the little white haired creature preening itself and playing with its hat, fluffing the purple plume on the band. Jill giggled to herself wondering how such a bright thing came to be in something like Webber's possession.

"He was taken in his sleep, Jill and enslaved for his blood. His kind of pixie are healers to the natural world. A drop of his essence extends life to those who take it but you cannot force a pixie to give you his light you can only force it to bleed and take the essence which is part of their blood. Webber was using him to prolong his own existence." Ellandhra answered her unspoken question as she turned and stopped before a large flat metal door. She looked over her shoulder at her great grandson.

"Open the door, Ning." Ning raised questioning eyes to hers. He could open the door with the abilities of a kami alone but he knew that wasn't what she meant. She held him steadfast in her gaze, unblinking and unwavering; waiting for him to make his move. Ning faced the door and placed his hands on it completely unsure what he was suppose to do or what was suppose to happen. He concentrated on the mass of the door, on shifting it with his will. It stuck solid. He tried again, still no results. And again..And again. Finally throwing his hands up in vexation he thought to himself that he wished the damn thing would just part and let him through already. The minute he quit trying his request was granted and the door did a really strange turn as a curtain. Instead of sliding open or dissolving it spread apart in the middle going up on the sides much like a matinee drape.

"Not bad." Ellandhra said mildly as she went through into the chamber. The only thing in the room was a very old twisted piece of wood that stood nearly as high as Ning, leaning against the wall. It didn't look particularly powerful or dangerous to Jill's eyes but, none the less, it was apparently what they had come for. Ellandhra hefted it in her hand turning to face them. She smiled at the skeptical expressions on their faces.

"Yes, I suppose it does seem a bit plain for all the trouble. You darling pets will just have to trust ole Aunt Elly. Time to go save the day..that sorta of terribly redundant boring thing." With that she raised up the staff and then with a shift they were standing right beside Nana, D, and Tet-chan. Ning's eyes were quite wide and Jill nearly fell over in surprise. Ellandhra looked completely unruffled.

"Portals are slow and waste energy, we took a short cut, don't look so shocked. I've been in the petshop with its never ending rooms it works on the same principle." She told them affably. Ning glared at her accusingly.

"You did that on purpose showing off and you know it." He told her in a sharp disapproving tone. Ellandhra tried to look shocked but wound up snickering instead.

"Yeah? So?" She tossed back laughing, dodging a not so playful slap from Nana for making her start in fright. She caught Nana's wrist and pulled her into a comfortable hug.

"Now, now, pet, don't be so feisty; where's Leon and the brat at?" She asked resting her head on top of Nana's.

"If by brat you are referring to my son, he, Leon, and the dragon are in that monstrosity over there." Nana told her, pointing to a ponderous shell of a building sitting abandoned and half caved in. They were standing in a field of scrub oaks, skinny sapling pines, and Spanish bayonets. The field at one time had been a parking lot but it and the access road that led to the building had succumbed to the hot southern sun and had been swallowed up in underbrush.

Jill looked around at the wasted surroundings and back to the building. The heat bore down on her in heavy wet blanket. It was so humid it made her clothes cling to her skin and it felt like she drew as much water in to her lungs as she did air. Crickets and other insects could be heard pitching their high cries to one another. Mosquitoes and gnats disturbed the air around her, biting and stinging every chance they got. Tet-chan growled angrily slapping at them incessantly his frustration as evident as the large welts rising up on his skin. A dank almost fetid odor drifted through everything. It was the musky smell of rotting plantlife, mud, and swamp water. Jill waved the black cloud of bugs from her face and tried to come to grips with the fact that they had passed from the Pacific side of the United States to the Atlantic side in less the five seconds. It seemed none of the kami's were being used as bug food she noted mildly annoyed.

Jiaoshu went to stand by Tet-chan, a cool green glow developing around him and spanning outward until it covered the unhappy creature. Tet-chan sighed with relief as the bugs hit the light and sizzled falling to the ground. Ning came up behind Jill pulling her into his arms, emitting a glow of his own. Folded safe against his chest and safe from the bloodsuckers she let some of her tension slip away. She scratched absently at the bites on her arms and addressed the group at large.

"So do any of you know where we are other then in the South somewhere?" Ning bent his head to her shoulder and pricked her lightly with his canines sending soothing, healing energy into her. He watched satisfied as the lumps and scratch marks healed only half listening to his grandmother answer about the building and place. He took in the important parts in, old building, factory, abandoned, road closed, hot, Georgia, kin inside..that sort of thing. The rest he let slip away focusing his attention on where inside the building his father and Leon were in comparison to the lighter signal of his blood child Daniel.

The entire structure sat inside his mind as a great hulking breathing malevolent energy. It was saturated with Webber's presence. Ning grimaced with distaste. His Jill was not going in there he promised himself. He apologized to her silently as he gently rubbed the back of her neck. He sent through her skin, into her nerves, the desire to sleep deeply. Jill's body sagged against him as she fell into slumber. Ning lowered her to the ground, casting a net of his energy around her, keeping her comfortable. He looked at everyone blankly as if nothing unusual had happened and why were they all staring at him?

"Happy now?" Ellandhra asked sarcastically. He nodded at her and then motioned towards the building.

"We go?" He asked.

"Yeah, we go." Ellandhra said bluntly. "But who's going to stay and watch the young missus?"

Everyone looked from one to each other. The obvious choice was Jiaoshu, as much to keep Jill safe as to keep him from harm. It was also obvious that he was going to argue by the petulant set of his lips. Hormonal and hungry, Jiaoshu wanted Leon and he wanted him right then. He wanted to be held. He wanted blood. He wanted cookies. Not precisely in that order and staying meant he would have to wait even longer for those things.

"Tet-chan may stay. Leon needs me." He advised them hostility present in his voice. Nana approached him casually rubbing her small hand along his arms in a soothing gesture. She smiled at her great grand child letting him freely into her mind, letting him feel her concern for the baby's well being. Jiaoshu fingers swept over his stomach, feathering over the slight bulge developing.

"Leon will be most unhappy little one if we allow you to endanger yourself and his child. You know this, yes?" She asked him gently. Jiaoshu bowed his head letting his dark hair cover the misery in his mismatched eyes. He nodded slowly after a moment his hand still resting over his child. He sighed in quiet frustration.

"I will stay with Ms.Jill." He said with resignation and carefully sat down beside her. He watched their backs as they walked away, judging each one's strengths and weaknesses. Ellandhra was a mystery to him a legend from another time and place. His father a wildcard with his new found control and unleashed abilities. Tet-chan he knew to be strong and a fierce warrior and his grandmother who's serene posture betrayed nothing. Would they be enough? He did not know. It gnawed at him and stoked worry in his heart. The half kami Webber was strong, far stronger then any of alone.

It was there alone in the approaching dusk that true homesickness swept over him. He wanted to be home in his petshop with the familiar coils of incense burning, his pets chattering softly in the background. To feel the smooth upholstery of his own furniture as he sat sipping tea waiting for his brash, American detective to burst through the door was as divine a wish as he could make.

Inside the building Leon bit his lip bloody biting back the surge of emotions flooding him. D was outside the building waiting for him and Leon badly wished to join him. His gun felt so small and useless in his hands; since their arrival it had been one hurtle after another as they fought through poisons vines, deformed creatures of all shapes and sizes and the bitter cold. Leon skin was lacerated with burns where the vines had seeped on him. His clothes were covered in gore from shooting, stabbing, kicking and throwing Webber's hand made monsters out the way. He ached deep in his muscles. It hurt to breathe the air was so frigid in direct contrast to the wilting heat they had to go through to get inside. The look on Q-Chan's face wasn't reassuring him much either. Wu Long he discovered could curse in a multitude of languages fluidly where as Leon had settled for good old fashioned f**k awhile back.

They were three floors up and two more floors to go before they reached where Daniel and Alan were according to Q-chan. Wu Long looked as tired as Leon felt and he didn't take that as a good sign either. If two damn near immortal, impossible to kill beings were having a hard time of it things definitely were not going their way. There was no sign of Webber anywhere only his henchmen and plants barring the way. Wu Long was becoming increasingly more agitated. Leon didn't trust him, couldn't trust him. He was relieved when the rest of his new family entered the first floor. Jiaoshu fed him a constant stream of information from outside catching him up on Ellandhra, Ning and Jill. He was even happy to see the ole goat coming with them.

He had to let the train of thoughts go and instinctively fired on a screaming woman that dropped out of a ventilation shaft in front of them. Immediately a strong stench filled the air burning his eyes and lungs. Coughing he covered his mouth as best he could and backed up. The grey body twitched and rippled on the floor. The head and upper torso were human but the appendages were tentacles with numerous suckers on them. Thick puss oozed from the gunshot wound in her forehead and her face began to sink in and dissolve. Leon stared in horror recognizing Little Marie from the redlight district of town, a local girl who had vanished several months back. Q-Chan firmly grabbed his arm and yanked him past her remains. He stared Leon in the eye his gaze flat and stern.

"Do not upset yourself overly Detective. The girl you knew has been dead for quite sometime. We must keep moving." Q-Chan jostled him forward and towards the next landing of steps. Wu Long had already bounded up part of them slicing through ropey cobwebs with strands as thick as pencils. His eyes glowed in the half-light as searched for the spider large enough to leave such webs. His tongue kept flickering out into the air testing for his concubine.

Leon followed him carefully, weapon held ready. The stairwells had proved to especially bothersome. This one was no exception. Leon saw Wu Long grin and lunge. It was followed by a shrill shriek and then silence. Leon edged into the stairs turn slowly coming around to find the dragon ripping one of several arachnid limbs off of a huge bulbous body. Wu Long methodically ripped each of the eight legs off and threw them over the railing and then tossed the body and head over after them. Leon stayed his distance waiting for him to finish his dismemberment and his fit.

Down below a loud clattering could be heard as the pieces hit the floor, for good measure Wu Long spit after them.

"Hey! Watch where your spitting you stupid f**k." Echoed back up the stairwell making all three of them jump. Well, I guess I don't need to be a kami to figure out where everyone is after all, Leon thought to himself sourly. The air around them sucked in for a millisecond then sharpened back into place bringing Ellandhra, Nana, Ning and Tet-chan with it. Ellandhra looked Leon up and down somewhat undressing him with her eyes.

"You must be Leon. Pleasure to see you in person." She said brightly, her choice of words not lost on Leon.

"And you must be Mary Friggin Poppins, pleasure's all mine." He retorted sharply, a quick grin was all he got for the flame.

"Tch, tch, someone needs to go home and get laid I see. Wu Long, darling how are you ole boy?" She moved on in her conversation leaving Leon to fume and ignoring the deathly glares Q-Chan was giving her. Ning shrugged his shoulders at them as if in silent agreement. Tet-chan shook his head and started climbing the stairs to the second floor most unhappy about being yanked through dimension gaps without warning. Leon fell in beside Q-Chan happy to let the goat and dragon lead them up and take on whatever deviants from hell Webber had created. It nagged at him that Ellandhra had shown up so suddenly and seemed to have all the answers. Still he didn't get a bad vibe from her like he did Wu Long but if she could move from point to point so rapidly why hadn't she taken them all straight to Daniel and Alan?

Q-Chan walked beside Leon quietly keeping himself contained and still. His mother and son walked behind them just as calmly all though all three of them were speaking to one another through their bonds, as well as to Jiaoshu. Mostly the conversation was kept out of a range Leon's human brain could pick up on and it was singularly concerning Ellandhra and Webber. Q-Chan didn't approve of Ellandhra, never had, not that it would have bothered her or even slowed her down. Many things that had begun in a distant past were coming to a close in the here and now. The bantered back and forth about how much to tell Leon but really there was no choice in the matter. Leon was bonded Jiaoshu and what he knew even if it lay masked by the others would eventually be uncovered. Q-Chan sighed in acknowledgement of that basic truth. Clearing his throat he addressed the detective relieved at least that he could now do so in his native Chinese and not have his meaning lost on the young man.

"Many questions circle inside of you Leon. We hear them and I will try to answer them for you. Ellandhra is an entity older than us and is not really of this world, detective. Her kind have long since passed into your myths and dreams. She cannot take us directly to the boy and Alan she is severely restricted in the capacity in which she can help us. She can only aid and only to a certain extent. She is I believe you would say on parole."

"On parole? But that would indicate that she committed a crime. What'd she do?" Leon asked.

"She was sent to reclaim a demon of sorts that had escaped to China. Her kind and theirs have been warring since the onset of their creation moving from world to world, dimension to dimension. Her kin were preparing to abandon this world for another when they discovered he had not perished but had only hidden himself and fled. The demon would be the man you call Webber. Instead of completing her assignment Ellandhra became involved with my Mother wasting valuable time and allowing him opportunity to escape again this time to the New World. It also gave him the chance to become stronger; the demon found and possessed another kami of a different bloodline then ours, multiplying his abilities and powers. Ellandhra set off to the New World to find him leaving my Mother and I behind. She was unable to find him in this vast continent of yours and was punished for her negligence." Q-Chan recounted the information in a dull monologue that implied a false boredom. Leon pushed for more information determined to get it all out in the open.

"What kind of punishment? Why is she here now then if they don't trust her to do her job?" He questioned not particularly caring if his voice carried where she could here it or no. He hated being in the dark and wanted to know it all. Jiaoshu plucked at his mind willing to give him the rest of the information but before he could Ellandhra overrode them all, answering Leon herself.

"I was forbidden to be with Nana, Leon, for one. My superiors sent me to this land and then forbade me to see her blocking any return to her I might have found. They stripped me of a great deal of my powers and left me to wander alone. I was driven from land to land never allowed to be in the same area as they were; that's how I lost my staff in Eygpt. I took solace in another's bed for a spell trying to drown out my sorrows. She, in turn, being the cold hearted lizard that she was had her little priest steal my staff." Wu Long hissed warningly about his mother but Ellandhra paid him no mind and continued. "I was only allowed to see Nana and my children long enough to help bind my grandchild to protect him from madness. I wasn't allowed to stay to teach him or Q-Chan how to use the gifts they inherited from me. I've had to watch from a distance and hope for the best. The council is very distraught because not only was I so foolish as to fall in love but that I should involve myself and have children as well; children with lives as long as ours, that being my greatest sin in their eyes. If Nana had been a mortal and her child mortal gifted with my abilities or not they would have lived and died in a blink and to them would have been of no real consequence. My punishment was denial of all that I loved."

"So what changed their minds? It's a little late in the day to jump up and decide you're the man, err, woman for the job." Leon said rather bluntly as they cleared the stairs onto the next floor. Ellandhra shrugged her shoulders and gripped her staff a little tighter.

"I, suppose, Leon it's because I never quit trying to find and destroy Webber. Or maybe it's because I have steadfastly refused to leave when it was offered to me because my task wasn't complete. Or maybe it's because I've been offered forgiveness many times if I would deny my love for the one you call Nana and I won't. I'm not sure why Leon. The day Ning and Jill bonded they released me on certain conditions. I cannot through direct actions jump in and in true supergirl fashion save the day. I can help, I can aid..I can all but take you to the point but I cannot myself do it. They are viewing this as training for Ning and as such I'm only allowed to coach and can only intervene should he fail. You, see they are no longer on this world and the memory has faded to them. Webber is growing old long past the demon's life span, he is incredibly strong but the kami he's been a parasite on is deliberately letting his body die. It is of no great meaning to them now whether he is stopped or not, unless of course Webber succeeds with his goal." Ellandhra stopped in her tracks then and turned to face Leon her blue eyes meeting his dead on. "Answer the rest of riddle Leon, you have all the pieces now."

Leon nodded thinking that perhaps finally he did. He ran a hand throw his hair and rolled on the balls of his feet. He really wanted a cigarette but because of Jiaoshu they now tasted like garbage in his mouth. He settled for chewing on his lip instead.

"I think this has been one grand game of chess. That's what I think. Webber buddied up with Wu Long promising to help him have a child of his own in exchange for whatever, the whatever doesn't matter because his real intent was to find another being with a really long life span to suck onto. He probably knew he wasn't strong enough to take over Wu Long but a child he could. Right?" Leon paused for a breath and waited for a confirmation, by the way Wu Long was shaking Leon was guessing the same thing had just occurred to him. Ellandhra only nodded so he continued. "Now enters the good part for Webber, conveniently Ning comes into the picture doing the psycho thing, I'm going to guess that Webber was the one getting messages back and forth about setting up the whole I'll give you the staff if you'll give me your kid deal. Webber probably figured the staff would kill Ning and he would get not only a half dragon child but a half kami child as well. Icing on the cake because he knows already how well kami's hold up. You've been countering his moves. Your best move was to place Jill to interact in my life. Jill was the one who originally brought the file to me on the petshop, was the one who got me interested and advised me on D every bit of the way. You succeeded in one move in putting a great big ole monkey wrench in the plans because I mated D and not Wu Long and it gave and avenue for Ning and Jill to find each other. Jill bonds with Ning and suddenly he's not out of control anymore because you've spent years grooming her for this haven't you? Never mind, I know you have. I'm going to bet that's why Alan's involved to; it's too convenient otherwise. I can't prove you had something to do with him getting Wu Long syndicate's case but my gut instinct tells me you did. We're all pawns on the battle field aren't we?" Leon finished his spill and fell silent. He took his time unloading his clip and loading in a new one. He kept his eyes adverted so as not to have to look her in the face. No answer was forth coming and he didn't expect one. Wu Long was cussing madly about Webber and ripping his kidneys out through his navel for using him but everyone else was pretty much quiet. Too quiet.

The hairs on Leon's arms stood up on end and a cold shiver shook his back. He looked around cautiously all of his senses going haywire. He had been mistaken in his earlier thoughts of the building being completely taken over by evil. Yes, it had been malevolent before but the feeling had intensified three times. The walls appeared to breathing and sweating in the chilled air. Rustles echoed throughout the rooms; vines slithered everywhere new sprouts unfurling along their lengths. A shrill hissing could be heard as if something was in great pain and highly irate about it. The floor shook beneath his feet making him lock his knees to remain upright.

"I would venture to say that Webber has awakened from the nasty bump to his head." Nana stated in a soft undertone. Leon turned wild eyes to them.

"I'm not as good at this as you guys. Where the hell are Daniel and Alan?" Desperation tinged his voice, Leon had never encountered anything like this before; his gun felt like a crackerjack toy in his hand. Ning pointed upward grimly. Jiaoshu flickered in his nervous system giving hazy pics of Daniel dragging Alan towards a window.

"Oh, Christ their moving now what?" He asked.

"We reach them immediately." Q-Chan shot back. The group broke into a united run across the floor heading for the next flight of stairs. Vines twisted across the floor trying to block them, trying to snake up their legs and pull them down. Wu Long stomped on anything in his path his skin impervious to the burn. Ellandhra too seemed unaffected and they took the lead. Leon and Tet-chan struggled each one hissing when a vine broke and spilt juice across their skins. The kami's came to their rescue burning a path through the vines with the same cool white fire Leon had once watched play in D's hands. The floor swayed beneath their feet cracking under the impact of their heels. Leon had a clear vision in his mind of caving through the concrete and plunging to the floor below and sped up.

Behind the group's headlong plunge disturbing noises scratched the air, noises that reminded Leon of the movie Aliens. Him and Ning both twisted their heads over their shoulders each one coming to stop and jerking around at what they saw. Creatures of every size and make were breaking across the floor; a mixed menagerie of mismatched heads and bodies clamoring towards them at a high rate of speed. Leon raised his weapon and fired multiple times into the floor in front of them. Large chunks of the concrete shook loose and fell crashing. Ning followed it up by lobbing several glowing balls of fire into the holes and fractures, keeping the grisly army at bay and widening the rift. In an avalanche of sound and dust the flooring gave way sending Webber's minions into a screaming free fall. The impact below ruptured the integrity of the lower story punching a huge hole into it, the pattern repeated itself on each floor until with a final booming the entire entourage hit the basement.

"Anything survive that?" Leon asked Ning in a hushed whisper. Ning slowly shook his head no. The two carefully stepped backwards one foot gently put down after the other. Great cracks ran through the remains of the floor reaching out for them, the further the cracks progressed the more flooring came loose and fell. Ning reached out and put a steadying hand on Leon's arm. Ning turned his head to see how far to the stairs platform and nodded to his father who stood watching their slow progress intently. If the floor went it would greatly injure Ning, slowing him down, but the fall would certainly kill his mortal son in law. Turning back he watched the rapid progress the collapse was making, the longest of the cracks was only an inch at best from the toe of Leon's shoe. They weren't going to make it he surmised, the amount of solid ground rapidly vanishing. He could hear Leon's unsteady breathing and tuned his mind in with Leon's. Leon's only concerns were about his family and not about himself if they didn't reach the stairs. Worries of leaving Jiaoshu and the baby alone, regrets that he had never set things right with his little brother, Chris, and fear that Alan would not be saved broadcasting loud and clear to the kami. Ning tightened his grip on the human pricking him with the ends of his nails. Leon glanced over at him, eyes to wide and dilated.

"Hold on Leon, understand?" Ning told him forcibly. Leon took a gulp of air and shook his head yes. Ning yanked Leon to him in a quick jerk and then leapt backwards towards his father. He smirked at Leon's shock at his strength and then Leon's gasp as they vaulted over nothing but air the floor giving way mid flight, the pieces tumbling away. Q-Chan snatched them from the air onto the stairs. Leon did his best to look completely unfazed and dashed up the steps after the others. Q-Chan and Ning hastily followed as the bottom stairs began to crumble without the floor to rest on.

Noises and thuds came to them from the top of the stairs, Tet-chan growling, Wu-Long cursing, the sound of Ellandhra's staff connecting with something, Nana chanting all came back to them and the three strove to reach the top. Q-chan and Ning easily overtook Leon and pulled him along in their hurry to clear the stairwell. Running through the kami's and hence through Leon's mind was an insistent image of Daniel pulling Alan steadily towards a window five stories high with a look of determination on his face that would not be shaken. Webber was closing in on him coming down from two more stories up, his presence a blight in the back of their connected minds.

Webber's highest creations stood barring the way and fighting for all they were worth against them. Tet-chan was wrestling with a great shaggy beast with a wolf's head. Ellandhra was fighting to keep a being that appeared to be several snakes joined to a single body from ripping her staff from her grasp. Nana was keeping out of arms reach of a bearish monstrosity with huge claws and throwing fireballs at it. Wu-Long was rolling on the floor with a lizard as big as he was and roaring in fury.

Leon skittered to a halt and started pumping as much lead as he could into anything he could get a clear shot at. Unlike the other creatures they'd encountered these healed almost as quickly as they were injured and just kept on coming. Daniel could be seen in the distance, a small figure tugging and even smaller figure to the windowsill. Halfway between them and Daniel the next flight of stairs opened up and to Leon's dismay a figure could be seen stepping down the last few steps. Adrenaline shot through his system and electric alarm screaming danger into his blood and bolstering his body. Leon reached out and snatched the furry beast off Tet-Chan. He swung it with a strength he didn't normally possess, flinging it into the abyss he and Ning had created.

"Hurry, for God sake hurry." He yelled at them and charged the lumbering giant fighting with Nana; caught off guard the huge creatures knees buckled and it came down with a roar. Ning and Q-Chan quickly snatched it by the arms and threw it as hard as they could after its comrade, bellowing as it went. Ellandhra charged her staff sending a high voltage shock into her foe, still clinging to her staff she lifted the slithering stunned mass and slung it off the end of it and into the hole. It managed to latch onto one of bottom stairs and started to crawl back up. Ning and Nana both fired into the remaining stairs sending them down with it, its limbs wrapping uselessly around pieces of concrete as it vanished. Q-Chan and Tet-chan struggled to get the lizard of Wu-Long and vice versa the dragon man far gone in his fury was latched on tightly and biting his opponent for all he was worth. Leon ended it by kicking Wu-Long in the head getting his attention.

"LET GO YOU STUPID MOTHERF**KER!" Leon all but roared at him. Tet-Chan managed to get one armed wrapped around the lizard creature and heaved backwards with him. Q-Chan snatched it by its long snout and swung with all his might the second Tet-chan let go sending it flying after the rest. Wu-Long scrambled onto his feet and they all took off in a dead run for the far side of the building.

Daniel stood in front of the window shaking. He had managed to hoist Alan up on his shoulders and he swayed with the weight. He could see people running towards him in the background and his new senses told him who they were just as he knew the bright speck of light flying towards him was Eros, as improbable to his mind as it seemed. He knew they had come to save him and a sob tore through him because as close as they were they weren't close enough. Webber was walking towards him with hell in his eyes.

Daniel backed slowly up until his back touched the windows barrier. He'd chosen this window because all the glass was gone and in plain site a black power line could be seen stretching from the wall right beside the window out into the night sky. Daniel had wrapped himself over and over with the entire length of a commercial grade fire hose he had taken from the wall of the building. The windows in the building were large spanning nearly ceiling to floor and if he could just manage to step up onto the ledge he could make it onto the wire. His legs nearly buckled under the heavy weight of the hose and Alan's body.

"Come here boy. Now." Webber hissed at him, fury robbing him of his voice. Daniel cut his eyes nervously over to the rapidly approaching group behind him.

"There isn't time for them to save you, either you come with me now or I will kill you before they get here. It is as simple as that." Webber informed him flatly. Daniel's lower lip trembled but something firm and unyielding shone in his eyes. Daniel backed onto the ledge and placed one foot on the swaying wire.

"Boy, I am warning you for the last time. Get back in here now." Webber demanded and advanced towards him. Daniel kept backing out onto his thin perch. He rocked with it as it swung with his weight, years of performances coming back to him in a flood. He stood poised between the royal blue sky and the black earth below. Coiled around one foot a hook hung waiting to catch the wire and with an ease he had forgotten he possessed he used his foot to unwrap it and hook it to the line. Something battered at his brain and chancing a quick look down he saw the one he knew to be like himself standing below, luminous in the night. The features of a woman could be barely made out beside him in the dark.

"So be it." Webber said raising both his hands energy building between them and aimed for Daniel's chest. The others were upon them now and as the blast left Webber's grasp Wu Long could be heard screaming as he hurtled his body in between Webber and the window. Webber paid him no heed turning to fire on the rest of them, Leon the first target in his range.

Ning saw the eruption of power arc towards Leon and his blood ran cold at what his death would do to his son. His child that he had so much to make up for and it would be all his fault for having set the chains of events in motion so many years ago.

"STOP!!" Rang through the building in great rolling sound waves. And it did stop, everything stopped as time stood still for him. Ning stood gasping for breath in a world suspended in mid motion. The energy aimed at Leon hung shimmering just a breath away from impact. Daniel could be seen half off the wire, his body stopped at a crazy angle. Q-Chan was frozen with one foot on the ledge ready to jump after them. Nana stood slightly crouched her hands cupped together her own white fire burning between them. Tet-Chan halted in his lunge to tackle Webber his torso nearly parallel with the floor. Ellandhra however blinked when he looked at her and he blinked back. She followed it up with a wink and smile.

"Bet you didn't know you could do that, did you?" She asked her voice for once kind and gentle. He shook his head dumbly at her.

"You cannot hold us here. You must release time before time tears itself apart. Decide what it is you are going to do and do it." She told him firmly. Ning looked over at Wu-Long and winced. The blast had torn through his chest and exploded inside of him, pieces of his ribs and muscle floated around him. The night sky could clearly be seen through his chest cavity.

"He made his choice Ning that is all any of us can do." Ellandhra said keeping her voice low and calm. He gave a slight nod at her his attention taken up with Webber. Webber no longer looked like Webber at all but a large dark mass with red eyes and a gaping hole for a mouth. Inside the semi transparent mass the form of a very shrunken kami could be seen, eyes closed face sunk in. Ning shivered a bit at the thought that the poor being locked inside Webber could have been him or one of his kindred. Ning turned away and set about making things right. He pulled Leon clear of the blast and readjusted his gun so that it was still pointed directly at Webber. Eros he delicately extracted from his flight which placed him in a secondary position to get hit and gave the pixie back to Ellandhra who tucked him away inside her cloak. One look over the edge assured him that neither Alan nor Daniel would be in great danger once Webber was taken care of. His son had already cleared the ground in a timed jump to catch them and Jill stood by his side her weapon drawn and ready to fire. So much for staying put and out of harms way but he had to admit he was glad they were there. Ning turned back to Ellandhra.

"What about them?" He asked pointing at Wu Long and Webber.

"Let's try and pull the kami out, without him the demon is vulnerable to attack." She told him motioning him over to stand on the other side of Webber. They both plunged into the black mass grabbing the still form within. Ice like fire crept through his arms radiating pain throughout his body. Even with both their formidable strengths removing the kami proved nearly impossible like trying to pull a crystal from rock. When they finally cleared his head and upper torso both had to pause for a moment before going at it again and the rest of his body coming out slowly the gunk that was Webber trying to cling to it. Finally freed they laid him on his side on the floor out of the way and went back to stand side by side in front of Webber. Ellandhra tapped him lightly with her staff and when he turned to look at her she handed it to him.

"Here, I don't need this anymore. It's time I pass it on. Let time loose Ning and direct all that you are through it." She told him a wry look on her face. She walked away back to Wu Long and spread her cloak out pulling in all that was left of him inside it. She backed away from the window and moved out of the way. Ning looked at her perplexed.

"What are you doing, woman?" He asked confusion evident. She shrugged more to herself then to him.

"I'm fulfilling a promise I made that wretched mother of his may she be rotting in a cave somewhere. Go on now you hold time much longer and it'll start to crack." She directed him with false irritation in her voice. Ning wasn't sure how he had stopped time but he raised the staff and aimed it straight at Webber and wished for time to start up again.

And then everything jumped back on track, Webber's blast harmlessly shooting out into nothing, Nana's fire whirled towards the stripped figure as did Leon's bullet and from the end of the staff Ning held a great beam of light tore loose burning into the demon. A concussion of sound and energy boomed through the room on the impact as the entity known as Webber imploded in on itself collapsing through space and evaporating into the air. Tet-Chan hit the ground with nothing to grab onto and rolled over in surprise. Q-Chan finished his leap into the air and succeeded in grabbing Alan from Daniel's shoulders. He gracefully completed his fall to the ground below passing his grandson on his ascent. The younger D's arms open to catch a boy that spun and unwrapped coil for coil in a controlled decent catching him on level with the second story where the fire hose had run out and the boy swung by one foot and laughing as he was wrapped safely in Jiaoshu's arms as they came back down to the ground.

Inside Ellandhra's cloak a great deal of rustling could be heard as she worked her will on Wu Long drawing his pieces in on themselves. His life force barely there she pulled him back through time making his body younger and younger enabling him to heal. When she opened her arms she held a child of no more then five in her arms with long brownish red hair and yellow eyes. The boy that had been the man blinked at them in fright and clung to Ellandhra's chest. Nana walked over to them and offered her arms to him coaxing the terrified child to her stroking his hair.

"I see you are going to be fortunate enough to give life another chance and perhaps make some better choices this time, one would hope child." She told the boy softly.

Ning went to the kami stirring on the floor and rolled him over. Deep ebony eyes met his and Ning's mind was immediately filled with all the kami had been and all that he had suffered. The once deity reached out a shaky hand to stroke the side of his face tenderly. Ning cupped the cool hand to his cheek in understanding and stayed with him as the kami finished his journey to leave this world fading away into his surroundings, melting through the building layer by layer to find the earth below.

Leon stood staring out the window down at the group below. Daniel was safe on the ground but his cousin still remained unconscious and would not be roused. Surprisingly Tet-chan came to his side and offered a comforting arm around his shoulder.

"It will be set right human, you will see." He told Leon in the most reassuring tone he could muster.

"Of course it will, do not fret Leon, all will be well." Nana seconded. "But first let's go home,yes? Ning you will see to this?" Ning nodded more then ready to be home, more then ready for this adventure to be over. Ning raised the staff in the air, winked at Ellandhra and made a wish for them all to be safe, inside the petshop, confident it was one wish that would come true.

The End.