Elisa had gotten word that night before of Brooklyn going missing and that Coldsteel was on the loose once again. Despite her not having been there during the possessions but at one point, Hudson had told her everything.

She had been horrified at the idea of Brooklyn struggling to fight against Coldsteel's control, and that he was now his prisoner again. Elisa knew she would work as hard as possible during the day to find his statue.

At one point though, to her surprise, Elisa had encountered two familiar faces she didn't think she would see in a long time while looking around a familiar place on a rooftop where they faced off with Demona and Macbeth.

"Coldstone, I didn't think we'd see you again," Elisa greeted somewhat out of surprise but glad to see him, nonetheless.

Coldstone bowed while Coldfire landed next to him. "Likewise, Detective. But I heard the disturbing news of Brooklyn being taken away," he commented.

Coldfire nodded. "It would explain why we haven't found a trace of our brother Coldsteel. What has happened to cause this?"

Elisa frowned, looking down. "I wasn't there, but from what Hudson told me, it had been Coldsteel who possessed Brooklyn, and that it angered him so much to go after the maniac," she explained. Coldfire's eyes widened at this.

"No one so young as Brooklyn should have to face our older brother," The cyborg gargess gasped. Coldstone growled, gripping his hands tight.

"We too will help find the young one for you, Elisa. Please tell my brother that I shall bring him home, since he is still dangerous to you and the others. But we will bring him back alive." Coldstone promised.

Elisa had tears in her eyes that she couldn't help but wound up nodding. All she wanted was Brooklyn to feel safe and to belong in his clan again. She was glad now to not have been there during his possession. Coldstone and Coldfire both took off together into the night sky, unsure of what they would find but if any serious harm would befall Brooklyn, they would make him pay!

"My love, how are we going to find him?" Coldfire asked.

Coldstone frowned. "From what I heard; he has gone to the docks. We could find clues." The cyborg couple did just that.

...

After roaring weakly out of his stone sleep, Brooklyn saw in disappointment his still all too confined cell, his wings instantly sheltering his somewhat achy and bloated body, which was now 230 lbs. He had lost track of the days no thanks to not having windows, but it could've been a week or at least two. Not that he cared anymore.

Soon my mind will be taken over... Brook thought in sorrow, dry tears falling down his face, wondering what his next fate would be and how Coldsteel would mess with him.

He rubbed his bloated round stomach, now almost looking like his blue brother's. He knew Broadway would feel mad about the idea of Coldsteel using food as a tool for torture, but would he really? The thought made him feel cold sorrow, resting his head on his knees, quiet weak sniffling escaping him.

Coldsteel came by with a pair of headphones in hand to bring Brooklyn to his next experiment. He gazed into the cell to see his body feeling sorry for himself, much to his amusement. He enjoyed seeing younger youths like this in tears, making him grin with satisfaction. He knocked on the cage, making his slave jump.

Brook turned around, seeing the one he didn't wish to see, his face and hair a mess. He gripped the thin mattress in anxiety. "What now?" The red gargoyle asked in his hoarse, raspy tone from no water. His mouth felt awful from his sugar intake.

Coldsteel chuckled. "It is time for your next experiment. I wish to see how well you can do in a maze that pretty much combines all that you endured into one, including these headphones for a hearing test."

The weaker gargoyle gave a broken insane laugh. "Not on your life! How can I when I look like a piece of crap?!" He snarled, gesturing to his belly. Coldsteel flashed his metal teeth in anger.

"Like I said before, no backtalk. Especially foul language!" Coldsteel threatened, taking out one of his tentacles, whipping Brooklyn very hard in his back, causing the young Second to shriek, falling to the floor and leaving him winded enough for the men to haul Brook to his feet. Brook looked up at him, eyes glazed, as Coldsteel next put those headphones on.

"What... is that?" Brooklyn wheezed while Coldsteel held up his chin, studying to make sure the headphones were securely on.

"Just a little addition to what I am going to have you do. A little hearing test if you will," Coldsteel purred, snapping his talons and having the guards haul him away.

Brooklyn didn't like having these headphones on his ears, scared of what they would do until they came to a room where it looked rather ominous, gulping in fear.

Coldsteel laughed sinisterly. "So, here is a simple small maze, designed to throw you into a lot of the tests that you've experienced as well as one or two new ones. Reach the center of the maze before your time runs out or receive punishment."

Coldsteel next shoved Brook through the door. The red male's weak legs staggered in, winding him a little when landing on his overweighted belly. He turned, glowering back at his enemy, then saw the door close. It was quite silent here in the maze.

Brooklyn glanced about while walking down the hall, ears flat. He just felt unsettled about all this as well as those headphones feeling uncomfortable on him.

After walking for a while, Brooklyn yelped out when an arrow nearly missed him. Not a dart, but a full-on arrow. He glanced up at the sight of some of Coldsteel's crones holding bows, drawing them and letting them loose.

He ducked another, running as fast as he could through the hallway to get out of there, wanting to end this maze quickly. His eyes were round in panic until after turning another corner, Coldsteel had by then pressed the button on his wrist, sending an ear-piercing ring inside his headphones. Brooklyn screamed, leaning against the wall then falling to the floor, desperately wanting to take the headphones off but the arrows kept him from it.

Coldsteel felt pleasure of seeing his slave being tortured by the headphone sounds, which would eventually have his ears bleed.

Brooklyn was shaking and sobbing from the noise until it got worse when an arrow struck his shoulder. What he didn't know was that Coldsteel had the man line his arrow with dart frog poison.

"AAAAGGHHH!" The red male hollered in sheer suffering, looking back at the arrow embedded into his left shoulder, knowing he had to keep moving if he was to survive and escape, to get far away from Coldsteel, and to keep away from his judging clan.

Struggling to stand, Brooklyn spotted a door after stumbling and avoiding arrows, having to use a corner to break off the long shaft so he could pull it out of himself later, flinching when it happened. He opened the door to the next part of the maze. Little did he know of what had been on that arrow to start harming him soon.

What he found was a row of multiple doors like when Goliath told Brooklyn about Hotel Cabal. He swallowed, wondering which door was the right door to get away but first seeing a window from afar. Maybe... this could be his big break out!

A hopeful smile appears, wandering weakly to it, hearing Coldsteel in his head. "And you think that window is your salvation, small slave? Remember, this is a maze, and things are a little tricky... You don't realize how long it took for me to put this all together while plotting my revenge on you."

Brooklyn ignored Coldsteel, shaking his head and ran to glide out of this evil place. But he slammed against the wall, wincing in agony and falling in a heap again, Coldsteel laughing cruelly. "Told you so. Maybe other doors will be your 'freedom'."

It made the younger youth growl but rub his head, knowing now Coldsteel was right. Heck no would there be any escape route from this hellhole until being possessed. Looking around, struggling to his feet no thanks to his fattened body, Brooklyn went to try the first door next to him.

When going inside, his eyes darted about very warily, not aware of the dangers in this seemingly harmless room until his ears in his headphones picked up the sound of something falling.

Before he could move, Brooklyn yelped aloud as somehow a tree collapsed onto his back, pinning him there and causing flashbacks from Xanadu to show in his head when the same thing happened before, nearly having his spine broken back then.

But right now, Broadway wasn't around to save his neck. And would he help him this time after all the hell Possessed Brooklyn put him through? Tears began to spill at the thought, making Brook panic and struggle further to get himself up, roaring from his straining.

Then his ears exploded with that awful buzzing again in his headphones, making Brook screech, collapsing again, wincing from the arrow still in his shoulder, eyes popping out from the noise. Coldsteel himself was enjoying this far too much, pressing the button.

Brooklyn knew he couldn't lay here anymore if his spine were to get ruined. He struggled to concentrate through the buzzing in his headphones, arms shaking, straining to get out from under that tree. Sweat pooled down his face from how overweight he was with doing this, longing for his old strength back but Brook recalled at how he couldn't get himself out back then either.

He wound up crying, legs scrabbling in desperation. Brooklyn had to get out! After what felt like eternity, at last; Brooklyn felt the tree roll off. Despite his tail getting pain, Brooklyn was just happy to have that tree off of his back, arms and legs burning as well as his spine.

I-I just can't rest. Gotta keep... going... Brook thought wearily, shaking and whimpering slightly before going back out the door to try a different one that could get him to the next maze.

But in this next door, his body began to float. This startled Brooklyn greatly, trying to grab the walls but the low gravity made it impossible, floating about aimlessly through the room away from the door. Somehow though, the headphones remained put on his head. With his wings tied it got worse for his body, only having a tail to work with.

"Let me down, Coldsteel!" Brooklyn screamed while struggling about in the air with his legs and tail. Coldsteel just laughed.

"If you think you're just gonna be floating, don't worry. I added something much more deadly..."

Brooklyn wondered what he was talking about until he heard a weird buzzing noise. Gasping, he glanced up at the sight of a huge sawblade there like the one Goliath nearly got killed with, struggling with all his might to not get himself caught in it.

He whimpered from lack of strength, his overweight belly hanging out quite a bit, wishing his wings were untied. But he could use this advantage to cut off the chains on his wings since Brooklyn knew his wings could be the advantage to get through these tests and hopefully get out of this place.

Brooklyn struggled with his body to reach the wall and eventually grabbed with his talons, his hair still floating in the air. He climbed closer to the spinning blades until he next arched his back, gritting his teeth, readying himself.

The red male shut his eyes tight as the saw blades sliced through the chains that thankfully didn't cut his skin, making him gasp aloud, losing his grip on the wall but his wings opened, allowing Brooklyn to glide back down weakly through the zero gravity to the door entrance.

He slumped to the ground, rasping weakly, hearing Coldsteel hum in thought. "A very clever move to free your little wings, Slave. But what door next? So many options..."

Brooklyn pushed himself back up, holding his bloated belly, running down the hall again and grabbed the third doorknob, opening it, only for it to be a brick wall. He growled, slamming the door until he broke it, trying the next one. The buzzing in his headphones happened while opening the fourth door, seeing a large metal ball coming his way. Brook screamed out from the sound in his ears while struggling to keep out of the way of the metal ball.

"This... gotta... be the door..." Brook croaked to himself, reaching with a weak hand to the final one. When opening it, he winced but nothing happened. He stared down a long dark hallway, cringing a little again from the arrow in his shoulder but ignored it, happy that this time it was an actual hallway.

He gathered himself together, stepping out of that booby trapped room into the darkness. It truly was dark in here, making Brook squint quite a bit, even having his eyes glow to see anything.

At one point in the darkness, Brooklyn thought he heard loud hissing. His body tensed up in fear from the sound, which was familiar. Smelling the air, he caught the scent of a snake. A large cobra was now there, raising its hood, hissing viciously at Brooklyn and spitting venom at him.

Brook then realized this was a spitting cobra, quickly dodging this thing's deadly venom, running down the hall which had some twists now, afraid of the venom hitting his skin. The snake kept up after him from behind until finally, Brooklyn spotted another doorway that opened and closed constantly.

The young Second knew he had to time this right or else get crushed or poisoned. He sweated profusely, taking some deep breaths while dodging another snake poison spit, watching the door open, before at last taking this moment to slide under the door. The snake tried to follow but the door slammed onto it, slicing its body into halves.

Brooklyn flinched from the sight of that, shaking badly, while Coldsteel spoke again. "You do know... that when this maze is done... I shall have to feed you again. Depending on how your little mind does." He taunted further.

The young gargoyle ignored his rival, but still felt worried about what was next, looking about until he spotted a pedestal with a button on it. His curiosity from being tired getting the better of him, Brooklyn cautiously moved forward, seeing the hypnotic beeping of the button.

His hand reached out curiously, then pulled back, unsure if he really should press it. But then, his headphones buzzed, making his hand suddenly touch the button by accident.

"Oh man..." Brooklyn muttered to himself in fear under his breath, seeing alarms ring and then green gas began to fill the room. He had to get out of there quick!

Brooklyn ran past that cursed button down the hall, the green gas following him quite fast, his eyes wide as he didn't want to breathe in whatever was in that stuff, which was possibly sleeping gas.

After some time running, Brooklyn felt relief when he spotted the end of the hall but there were two doors opening and shutting, making his ears fall from overstress and disbelief. Which way the heck was he supposed to go?! Brooklyn glanced behind him at the gas rushing closer and closer, his heart thumping painfully, knowing he had to choose fast, sweat pouring down.

"Such a hard choice for the little slave. Which door?" mocked Coldsteel in Brooklyn's headphones, who winced when the loud buzzing echoed again, making it harder to pick. Despite feeling dizzy and still out of shape, Brooklyn decided on the right door, managing to time it right, diving through it, right before the gas halted there in front of them.

Brook panted heavily, his forehead feeling hot from the adrenaline, cheeks flushed greatly and holding his hand over his chest, praying there wouldn't be any more doors like that again. But his peace was short-lived when he saw what room he was in next.

The walls around him appear to be in a zigzag pattern, unable to see over the tops of them this time. Brooklyn cautiously stepped forward through it, his heart beating badly, scared of what was to come.

But then after turning some corners, Brooklyn's eyes rounded slightly in fear at the sight of a pile of junk food before him. He never wanted to eat that food again after what happened before! He staggered back away from the stuff down another corridor only to be met with a masked human who held something in his hands.

"Eat flames, Beast!" The human roared, turning on what now was a flamethrower!

Brooklyn yelped in fright, not wanting to be burned and running for his very life, the flames coming after him. While running, his headphones gave off that nasty screeching noise, making his stomach churn from it until after turning another corner in the maze. Wondering where the exit was, the floor gave out from under him to reveal a chute.

Brooklyn gritted his teeth, trying to hold onto the ledge that was sliding under his claws, until he was unable to anymore and began to slide down really fast.

He did his best to stop himself, but the chute was much too slick to keep himself steady, the chute turning him around quite fast until he fell into a room onto the metal floor below.

Brooklyn shook his head from feeling dizzy, glad the screeching of his headphones had died down, only to see he was in a strange dark room. He felt rather nervous, wondering what was awaiting him until some squeaking could be heard.

Glancing into the darkness, Brooklyn saw little red eyes gazing out, eventually revealing to be a whole group of rats, rather big ones! This made his skin crawl. Brooklyn detested rats when once exploring the city with Hudson, he had a run in with them in an alleyway. When a rat bit him, Hudson remained by his side until the morning since it really made Brooklyn sick and feverish.

"Oh great, why did it have to be rats?!" Brooklyn swallowed in fright, the rats scurrying at him, making Brooklyn take a break for it, wondering where the exit was but one rat landed on his shoulder, squeaking loudly.

Brooklyn let loose a scream, trying to knock the rat off while the rest of the group swarmed around him, not wanting to be bitten again! Other rats have jumped onto him too, including one on his beak, causing him to scream further. This was gonna give him nightmares!

Those small feet made his skin tingle all over not in a good way, Brooklyn struggling not to over panic as he tossed one rat off of his face, slamming the one on his shoulder into the wall and kicking the one off his foot, giving out shuddering sounds while swatting others away, spotting the door from a distance in relief but his relief was short-lived when another rat was in front of him, squealing viciously, winding up biting his arm.

Hot pain shot through his veins as Brooklyn growled in agony, grabbing the rat and yanking it off, seeing his arm bleeding badly. Coldsteel had seen that and grinned.

Brooklyn held his arm when after opening the door, the rats leaping everywhere and smelling his blood, wanting to bite him more. He stumbled as fast as possible to get away from those horrid beasts, shuddering again when remembering those tiny feet on his skin, anxious now for his stone sleep to come so it can heal the bad looking wound.

It was a long trek down the hallway to whatever next nightmarish challenge awaited Brooklyn, who for once longed to get out of this place, get these headphones off and just sleep in his cell, tears falling. The bleeding still kept going, staining his hand redder than normal.

Brook whimpered, struggling to keep stemming the flow of blood, the walls starting to form weird shapes and looking scary.

But at one point, in this seemingly empty maze hallway, Brooklyn thought he could hear voices he knew, ears in his headphones perked up in surprise for in front of him, was Goliath and his clan.

The red gargoyle shook his head that began feeling dizzy from the poison in his system from the arrow, knowing he had to be tripping now. His clan couldn't be here; how could they even be here? Did Coldsteel capture them too?

"W-What... what are you all doing here?" Brooklyn choked out in astonishment, his rat bite still bleeding as he kept holding it. The clan though were less than thrilled to see him for some reason, glaring.

Goliath growled. "You think that we came to rescue you? After what you did to us two months ago?" He snapped accusingly.

Brooklyn realized that they were talking about the disastrous moment when Coldsteel had a hold of his brain, eyes rounding in shock."Goliath... you-you know that wasn't me doing all that! You know it wasn't!" He tried to say but Broadway spoke over him.

"Hmph, tell that to Angela after you touched her!" He spat, making Brooklyn back away from them in sadness and shock, seeing how 'Broadway' eyed his sudden gaining of weight. Brooklyn flinched from what his brother said, not wanting to remember that moment ever again.

"This isn't... real... you're not here! My clan wouldn't say these things!" Brooklyn yelped out, looking around for any possible doorway out.

Coldsteel on the other hand in the control room knew he was getting Brooklyn soon. He grinned when seeing Brook yelling at nothing, staggering about under the influence of the poison.

His clan started to say more unpleasant stuff about him that made Brooklyn feel fresh tears come down, his fever spiking even more, the clan's faces looking scarier than normal. He slipped on the floor, cowering with his wings.

"What you did to me to knock me out was inexcusable! You're a disgrace and a traitor!" hissed Lexington terribly, his eyes glowing red for some reason along with the others.

Brooklyn's stress rate was reaching its breaking point. He didn't want to hear his clan's accusing tones anymore. Perhaps... it was for the best he lost his soul to Coldsteel, so his clan wouldn't be bothered with him anymore.

He knelt there on the floor, while Goliath growled at Brooklyn that he now banished him from the clan but couldn't hear too well. His headphones had begun to buzz, making poor Brooklyn's eyes twitch greatly, spiraling him into a sickness trauma, rasping when Angela spat at him for when he had his claws all over her, their faces getting scarier. He was unaware of humans beginning to surround him, knowing now that Brooklyn was defenseless and unable to do the maze anymore no thanks to his poison.

Brooklyn felt awful, having fallen to the floor, sobbing and frothing, scratching the metal surface of the floor, still seeing the shadowy, scary shapes of his clan. This was even more terrible than getting that food poisoning.

They had banished him. He was a rogue, a traitor. Hot tears stained his face from this realization, not knowing they were fake images. But then, he saw new faces before him, not in the illusion.

"AAAGHH! NO! Get away from me!" Brooklyn sobbed, swiping with his talons, the men stepping back and not wanting to be scratched. Coldsteel then arrived on scene too, gazing down at the pitiful slave before him arching his back, wheezing in pure torture.

Coldsteel knelt down, grinning triumphantly and holding up Brooklyn's chin, who swiped at his captor but only hit metal. Brooklyn could see Coldsteel in his swirly vision, still sobbing and giving pained keens.

"The poor Second in Command, poisoned from an arrow. How pathetic," Coldsteel mocked, a hand on his slave's forehead and feeling how hot he was from the fever, also pulling out the arrow that made Brooklyn yelp. His voice made Brooklyn tizzy a little, eyes squeezing shut, wanting his nightmare to end so badly.

Coldsteel then gripped his shoulder. "Now listen, very... carefully, small slave. I do have your poison's cure. But in order to get it, you must let me finally take you. You can't have much stamina and fighting spirit left. Why not let your soul be mine? To give you relief?" He said softly and deadly, trying to encourage Brooklyn to sell up his soul.

The young male whimpered lightly, stomach queasy, but knew now he had no choice. He then fainted dead away, and Coldsteel took that sign, giving a laugh of pure triumph. Who knew a poison was all he needed to break this pathetic excuse of a gargoyle? It was to laugh!

He took up Brooklyn in his arms, pulling out a syringe of cure, sticking it into Brooklyn's arm and took him to the medic room out of the maze so the doctor could wrap a bandage around Brooklyn's arm and shoulder until sunrise, which wasn't that far off, hence the maze having taken up most of the night.

Coldsteel would feed Brooklyn tomorrow one more time before the actual possessing would take place, taking off his headphones then placing him into his bed, the sun now turning Brooklyn to stone.

But then there was the matter of the spell. He would need willing help from someone who could do it. Not Puck for certain, or that bratty kid of Xanatos. Then a smirk came onto Coldsteel.

Demona could be the obvious choice since she was taught by the Archmage. She may have that spell to allow his soul into Brooklyn and to make the beaked male into the strong warrior of Coldsteel's stature, destroying the young one's memories and spirit for good.