Diablo woke up the next morning, still feeling tired and his wounds felt achy. His heart still twinged from longing for a kind gargoyle family to come and take him to a new life. But his master said he was the only one of his kind left. But why did he constantly keep on dreaming about other gargoyles?

He turned in his bed when his door opened; his master coming as well as one of his men bringing in a tray of food. Diablo's heart lightened since he was hungry, smiling at the sight of his master.

"I figured to treat you to breakfast in bed, my dear Diablo, if that doesn't make you uncomfortable," Shadow Man greeted, a false sincere smile on his face, still feeling entertained from his gargoyle's submissive behavior. He hoped the beast would never regain his memory, so Diablo would continue to belong to him forever.

Diablo took it, seeing the usual pancakes, eggs and such, stomach growling. "No, it's fine. Thank you, Master. I- didn't think I'd receive much kindness like this." He said softly, but his eyes still felt troubled. Shadow Man saw.

"That must've been difficult for you, sweet one," he murmured. If Shadow Man kept giving Diablo his praise, Diablo wouldn't want to leave. "But I think you're troubled by something else. Care to tell me? You can tell me anything."

The red one suddenly felt shy again, swallowing his eggs nervously. "M-Master, I–I felt lonely last night. Am I really all that is left?" he asked in sadness.

Shadow Man nodded. "Afraid so, my Diablo. But we're your new family now. We will protect you," he assured. Diablo's tears were present, but he wiped them away. "What do you want me to do next when I get these stitches out?"

Shadow Man grinned. "Well, I have some special tests in mind for you besides your daily routine." Diablo tensed. "W-will they hurt?"

His master shook his head. "Oh no. Since you're still a bit lightheaded in your memories of how your gargoyle abilities really work, I wish to work them out with you. Climbing, how much in the dark you can really see, etc. Do you think you can make me happy by doing this? It would make you happy, too."

Diablo ate his toast nervously, scared of the outcome for these tests, but then a realization showed. Maybe I can remember who I am more from this, he figured. A smile then came along, and Diablo nodded in agreement. Shadow Man petted him on the shoulder. "How lovely. We shall set it all up once your stitches come off in a couple more days. Plenty of time to rest beforehand."

"I'm... looking forward to it, Master," Diablo said, his master getting up to leave. Shadow Man looked approved. "As well you should. Enjoy your meal. I'll let you know in the next couple days when Thomas can get your stitches out, dear one."

Diablo gulped down his juice, nodding timidly as he heard his door close, alone again, looking forward to re-finding more of his abilities that he may have lost when having his head be hit by that debris.

....

Shadow Man, true to his word, allowed Diablo to rest for his remaining days until the time came to remove the stitches out of his gargoyle pet. Diablo allowed his master to guide him to the doctor. Thomas had Diablo lie down on the table to get the stitches removed.

Diablo felt nervous about it as the doctor got the tools ready. Shadow Man gave him an assuring smile. "I assure you; it won't take too long. Then we can do the long awaited activities for you."

"O-ok, Master." Diablo replied quietly, bracing himself as Dr. Thomas began to remove the stitches. Diablo kept his eyes shut, not wanting to watch it.

In time, the stitches had been removed successfully and the bandages were taken off as well, showing Diablo's wounds had healed nicely. Shadow Man knew in secret that stone sleep would've healed it faster, but he didn't think a creature like Diablo deserved such special treatment from Nature, which was the reason for him to remove it, watch the devil remorse in pain longer like humans.

Diablo sat up, gazing at where the stitches were, amazed that they had practically healed the cat's scratches. It didn't even hurt when he touched them. He smiled at his master. "And how do you feel now?" Shadow Man questioned. "A lot better now that they're gone, thank you." He said softly.

Shadow Man petted his upper thigh. "Very good. You were a good boy to behave during the operation. But I advise one more rest day since your activity room still isn't complete yet. I will come when you are fully ready."

The red male was rather anxious to begin it but knew he couldn't defy his master's wishes. Nodding his head, allowing Shadow Man to bring him to his room once more.

....

The big day finally came, and Shadow Man allowed Diablo out of his room to see what his activities would be. Diablo's skin itched in excitement as he was happy to be free from his stitches and was ready to be put to work again to continue to please his master.

Shadow Man smiled at Diablo's excited eyes when approaching the room. "Well, here we are, Pet. Your little activities." He opened the door.

Diablo's eyes rounded; he saw three different sections in there. A climbing wall, a swimming area, and something else he couldn't describe, but maybe a maze room of some sort. He couldn't believe all the hard work that went into this.

"Master, this is... cool!" Diablo said in excitement. Another memory had blinked in him from saying that word for the first time long ago but he shrugged it away, too excited to care. Shadow Man smiled, patting his back. "I knew you'd love it. Your first task is to improve your climbing." He said, taking Diablo over there.

Diablo glanced up the high wall. It stood about 30 feet tall. There were two sides to it. One was plain stone. The other half had climbing stones on it. He glanced at his master curiously. "Why are there two sides to it?" he asked.

"I know that gargoyles can just put their fingers and toes into stone walls to climb up to do what they have to. But, to make this a little more fun and challenging for you, Diablo, one of the men will race you to the top of it. He'll be wearing climbing gear in case if he falls for his safety. But to see which one of you is the climbing champion." Shadow Man explained a curiosity theory.

"And what do we get of which one of us wins?" One of the men asked.

"A payment of $100 dollars." The boss man replied.

That irked the men, but Shadow Man already had his choice of who would climb against his gargoyle. "Arthur. You will be the challenger for Diablo." He said bluntly.

Arthur, a black haired man of early 30s, had dark brown eyes, and stood at 5'6, wearing farm clothes, replied, "It would be my pleasure to challenge him, Boss." He smirked.

"Get ready then."

Arthur got the climbing equipment on first. Diablo watched and waited but said, "Shouldn't I wear some equipment too?"

"No. You'll have your wings to catch you. Trust me, Diablo. Your hands and feet are tougher than you think." Shadow Man assured him.

Then it was time after the rope material was set up for Arthur to climb. "Challengers, step up to the wall." The man and gargoyle did at the same time.

"Ready, set, climb!" Shadow Man decreed.

Diablo was still unsure of this but he studied the rock for a moment. He tapped on it. Arthur began climbing with his equipment. It wasn't a fast challenge to start anyway. But the gargoyle looked at his hands and feet. He said to himself, 'Here goes nothing.'

The red gargoyle closed his eyes and a memory came back to him. He remembered being shot at by a robot and he remembered climbing a wall with little effort. "Diablo, get moving!" He heard and opened his eyes.

"Oh, sorry." Diablo then did as his memory served him. He put his taloned hands and feet into the wall. Arthur was already halfway up the wall. He wasn't going to let him win.

The gargoyle began to climb easily up the wall. It came as naturally to him as walking or running. He caught up with Arthur in no time. Arthur got even more competitive with him and tried to go faster. Diablo slowed himself down.

"Diablo, no cheating! Don't wait on him!" Shadow Man ordered.

Diablo knew he had no choice. He kept on climbing up the wall. There was a ledge at the top to where his climb would end. Same for Arthur too.

The gargoyle made it to the ledge far faster than Arthur could climb with his gear. There was a man up there to greet him. He clicked a stopwatch. "Six minutes and eighteen seconds it took you to climb it," he stated.

"So I get the $100?" Diablo asked.

"Yes, you do."

It took Arthur another nine minutes to get up to the ledge on his side. He begrudged the gargoyle. He had had somewhat of a head start on the gargoyle but he still beat him up the wall. It was just a 'friendly' competition set up by their boss. But Arthur still felt that he deserved something more.

"Diablo is the winner of this race. Come down now you two." The boss ordered.

Then there was a race to get down from the ledges. Diablo just simply glided downward while Arthur had to go down the same way with the gear and he still lost to the gargoyle.

Diablo still felt bad that he won and Arthur lost. It was clear his kind were superior in abilities to humans. He had wings, a tail, night vision, thick hands and feet for climbing; all things that humans would only imagine having.

Shadow Man came up to him. "You get your prize after you're done with these tests."

"Okay." Diablo said.

The boss then chose a different man to challenge Diablo in the swimming pool to see how good his swimming abilities were. A man named Edward was the competitor this time. He was in his 40s, had blonde hair and blue eyes, and stood about 5'8. He was close to Diablo's size.

They both took off their regular clothes and put on some swimming trunks. Other men went over onto the other side of the pool to greet them. They would time their swimming.

"Competitors, get in the water." Shadow Man ordered.

"How deep is the water?" Diablo asked.

"About ten feet." His master replied.

Both Edward and Diablo got in the water on some steps. Diablo was still a little unsure of his swimming abilities. He hoped his natural instincts would kick in.

"Ready, GO!"

Edward instantly plunged forward. He swam with the arms going over his head and Diablo had to watch him for a moment to see what he had to do. "Go, Diablo!"

The gargoyle then pushed off the steps. He was a few paddles behind.

Diablo ended up using his wings and tail to help him swim too, but he ended up still getting behind Edward from the head start this time.

It took him three minutes and two seconds to get there behind Edward's two minutes and forty-seven seconds. Edward liked the gargoyle coming in second this time. This time, he would get the money.

Just when they were about to climb out of the water, Shadow Man spoke up. "Not so fast, Swimmers. Stay in there. Now, each one of you is going to swim down to the bottom of the pool and touch the floor. A way testing how long you can hold your breath underwater too." He explained.

Diablo didn't want to hold his breath, but he couldn't disappoint his master.

"Edward, you will go first."

"Gladly." He sneered at Diablo.

Edward took a deep breath and dived underwater.

The gargoyle hoped he wouldn't drown. "Do I go down head first or feet first?" he asked his master.

"Head first."

"Oh, okay." Diablo replied.

A minute later, Edward came back up. He let out a big gasp for air. He was glad to be able to breathe again. "You can get out now." Edward gladly climbed the steps out of the pool. He got a towel from his timer.

"His time was one minute and twenty seconds." The timer said.

"Now, Diablo, your turn." His master stated.

"Ok." Diablo said and he rotated his body in the water and took a deep breath and dove downward in the water. On the way down to the bottom, the more down he got, he felt some popping in his ears. He had closed his eyes and just swam downward. But it wasn't long before he felt a burning in his lungs. But he soon touched something with his hand and knew it was a wall or the floor. He didn't care, he just wanted air again. He then swam back up.

His lungs were just feeling about to burst when he finally broke the surface. He took a big mouthful of air. Diablo panted hard. He was in the middle of the pool. Then he swam back to the exit. He pulled himself up the ladder.

"How'd... I do?" he asked his timer.

"Three minutes on the dot." The timer replied.

Diablo knew he had lost this round both times. Oh well. Everyone won at times and lost at times. He was given a towel to dry off with. He squeezed his hair out of water as well.

After drying off, he got his loincloth back on.

"You have to be worn out, Diablo after swimming and climbing. We'll save your maze test for tomorrow, after you've rested." Shadow Man offered. "Unless you think you can do it today."

"Thanks, Master. My body feels really heavy right now. Yes, I think tomorrow would be better to do it. But thanks for having me try these tests and for making it more fun by having a challenge." Diablo said.

"Here. Here is the $100 for winning the first round. Go get some rest now. I expect you to be well rested for tomorrow's maze test then." Shadow Man declared.

The boss also paid Edward his $100 for winning the swimming round.

Shadow Man guided Diablo back to his room. Diablo was more than happy to see his bed waiting. But was happy as well that his master went through all this trouble just for helping him relearn his forgotten skills. It made Diablo feel better about himself. He yawned, stretching before lying under the covers.

"Rest well, my Diablo. For it'll take all your skills to do this next test." Shadow Man said before closing and locking the door. He had given Diablo dinner before going to his room. Diablo nodded tiredly, slowly falling asleep after that.

....

Back in Manhattan...

It had been two weeks without Brooklyn now. The clan still struggled without their beloved rookery brother, but they kept praying he would soon return with his big smile, happy to see them again.

Lex was playing a video game, his face saddened, missing hearing his red brother's voice complaining at him to have his turn next, tears coming. Broadway looked in at his brother, frowning too. His brother hadn't shown much love for his games since Brooklyn disappeared, growing more sad and desperate, even with taking care of Alex. Sighing, he went in.

The game read; game over when Lexington lost his round. Lex growled, throwing the controller at the floor, eyes glowing, tears forming inside them. It made Broadway flinch, reaching with a hand.

"Hey bro, easy, it's just a game," he said carefully. Lex just snarled. "Get away from me, you're not Brooklyn! You don't play games on here as much as me and him!" He screamed. The aqua gargoyle felt pangs of hurt course in him at the insult from his rookery brother, stepping back.

Lexington then saw his bigger brother looking ready to cry, snapping out of the rage, sinking down, holding his feet in a crouch.

"Brooklyn..." Lex sniffled, wiping his eyes. He didn't mean to yell at his only remaining brother. "Please come home. You've been gone too long. I need you...!" The olive gargoyle rocked back and forth, a panic attack coming. Broadway turned off the TV as their elder members and Angela arrived at a crying Lexington, worried. Hudson rushed over.

The brown elder took the sobbing Lex into his arms. He felt tears as well, mourning Brooklyn still being missing. "Breathe easy, Laddie. It be alright." Lexington shook his head. "Nothing will be alright again without Brooklyn," he said tearfully. Hudson rubbed his back to calm his breathing like he did before. "I understand. We'd be doin' our best. All we can do is keep praying."

Goliath couldn't stand seeing his clan in a state like this with Brooklyn still gone. He still felt that hot guilt of yelling at him so harshly, wanting to take it back and try again.

He went out to the parapets, the wind in his face, wondering if Brooklyn had managed to fight off his captors and was now gliding home yet. His eyes closed, and a tear fell.

I'm sorry, Brooklyn.