[NOTE: This is a Gargoyle/Shadowrun crossover piece. I'm currently defining how much of the regular series to keep in my crossover, as certain aspects of the Magical side of the Gargoyles TV series doesn't fit into the Shadowrun world.

Gargoyles are a registered trademark of Disney, and no challenge to their copyright is intended.]

[ 1 ]

The woman screamed in terror, her heart pounding as she ran headlong down the alleyway. A glance back showed that her pursuer was still following. She stumbled over a trash can lying across the alleyway, and fell in a heap of garbage. Her assailant was a young ork with a scar over one side of his face. He was wearing a synthleather jacket bearing a bloody knife on the back, which, unbeknownst to her, proclaimed him a member of the Blades, a street gang that terrorized the population of this section of the Redmond Barrens. With a long switchblade in hand, and a hideous grin on his ragged face, the ork advanced on the helpless woman, his intentions very apparent to his victim.

As the ork reached the woman, there was the sound of rushing air, and a dark shadow blotted out the rare moonlit night. There was a roar, and a large red shape hurtled through the air, tackling the ork and sending him crashing heavily to the ground. In the moonlit alleyway, the woman could see a large shape lift her assailant off the ground and slam him into the brick wall of a run down hardware store. With a groan, the ganger slid to the ground, unconscious.

The form turned to face the woman, and as it stepped into the moonlight, she gasped in fright. The creature was humanoid, stood well over six and a half feet tall, had crimson skin, and sported a large pair of wings. A pair of ram's horns curled around the side of it's head, and it's eyes blazed white. A mane of black hair hung down the back of it's head, and it's arms ended in to claw-like hands. The woman shrank back as the creature stalked towards her.

"Are you all right, miss?" The creature asked in a booming bass voice. Too frightened to answer, she merely nodded. The glowing in his eyes subsided, and he extended one clawed hand to her to help her up. She slowly took it with her own hand, and he gently lifted her to her feet.

"Be more careful, miss. These streets can be dangerous at night." The creature said to the bewildered woman. It turned suddenly and leaped up the wall, it's claws digging into the brick. It quickly climbed up the side of the wall, leaving small holes all the way up the wall. Once it reached the top of the old three story building, it launched itself into the air, it's wings unfurling and catching the air, allowing the creature to glide away.

She stood there staring for a good minute, her mind racing to comprehend what she had just seen. Even in the Awakened World of 2060, where Dragons could become President and creatures of mythology roamed the wilderness, having an urban legend like a Gargoyle come to life before her eyes was a bit too much. Her legs shaking, she slowly stumbled out to the street and hurried home, her mind reeling and knowing that no one would believe her story.

[ 2 ]

"Hey-hey! Check this out chummers!" A scruffy looking gargoyle with indigo skin and pale white hair said with a chuckle. He took another drink from his highly caffeinated cola, the typed a couple of commands on his computer keyboard, causing a large screen on his desk to light up.

"What's up, Chip?" A smaller gargoyle, this one bald with jet black skin asked, hopping lightly over a couch and coming over to the computer screen.

"Move over Mikey." Another gargoyle said as she bumped the other gargoyle over with a hip. This gargoyle was similar height and build as Mikey, but with light tan skin and blond hair. She also had leathery, more traditional wings on her back, whereas the other small gargoyle had membranous wings under each arm.

"Don't push, Spryte babe, room for two here." Mikey said with a grin, sliding an arm around the female gargoyle. Chip groaned as he saw the two lovebirds flirt, then turned back to his computer.

"Lookey what I found on the 'Trix, kids." Chip said with grin. "There's a bulletin board on Shadowland all about us!"

"What?" A deep voice said from behind the group. Chip turned to see the large crimson form of Tauron, the clan leader, and green skinned, emerald form of his Mate, Sierra walking into the room. "What is there about us?"

"Well..." Chip said with a laugh. "Not much. The Board's all about how gargoyles are some alien life form that the government has been covering up. There are a few real sightings posted here, but most of it is gibberish from some nut job called the Lone Gunman."

"Anything we should be concerned about?" Tauron asked, looking over the screen.

"Not really. The boards fairly recent. I'll do what I can to scatter in lots of false information in there as well. Though there is one particularly amusing piece. You're described fairly well, Chief, but according to this you're an immortal alien that visits the world every few thousand years to visit some immortal elf. Apparently you have a chess match going on that's lasted for eons."

Tauron chuckled, the put an arm around Sierra's shoulders as the pair turned away from the computer. He ruffled the emerald feathers of Sierra's wings as the two walked out of the room, leaving Mikey and Spryte still crowded around the computer screen, laughing at what they saw.

"It is almost dawn, my love. We should head to the roof and prepare for the coming dawn." Tauron rumbled, his face nuzzling Sierra's cheek.

Sierra sighed. "I know, it seems the nights are so short. And our patrols of the city take up so much time."

"I know, my love. I know. But Seattle is our city to protect, though I wonder if it is truly deserving of it. Still, it is our home."

The female gargoyle sighed again and laid her head against Tauron's chest as the pair reached the roof of the tall building they called home and stared out over the city as the horizon began to grow pink with the coming dawn.

The building, in the Redmond Barrens district of Seattle, had at one time been a run down, dilapidated building. When the Gargoyles moved to Seattle a year prior, though, they had decided to make the building a home, and had begun renovating it through their few human contacts in the city. Once the building was renovated, they installed a state of the art security system, having been warned of the rampant crime of the area. It made the area a safe haven, of a sorts, and the building had begun to acquire rumors of being haunted due to the imposing gargoyle statues along the rooftop during the day, and the occasional glimpse of something flying around it on leathery wings.

The rest of the clan cam up and took places along the buildings roof top. Bulwark, a violet skinned, canine-like gargoyle vaguely resembling a small triceratops, with a bony plate along the top of his head and a pair of horns jutting up from it. Martin, the dark tan and serious gargoyle who was Tauron's Second in command. Chip, Spryte, and Mikey came up last, lingering over the computer. They all arrived and took up their resting places just as the sun arose.

Soft, colored skin turned gray and hardened into stone as the suns rays triggered the gargoyles daily transformation, Every day, from sun-up till sun down, the gargoyles are turned to inanimate stone, entering a magical stone hibernation that increased their healing rate but kept them helpless during the day.

And for another day, the gargoyles slept.

Ripper was an enormous troll who led a Redmond Barrens gang called the Red Blades. The troll had earned his name due to a twin set of serrated double cyber-spurs that he had implanted in each arm and some cheap muscle augmentation to back it up. While the Troll would never last in the Shadow community he secretly wanted to join, he thrived in the brute force world of Gangs where he resided. He had gutted the former leader of the Red Blades, and no one else had dared challenge for leadership of the gang, which consisted mostly of SINless ork and troll gutter trash that lived in the Barrens. They claimed a small chunk of territory in the Barrens, about 10 blocks or so, and got their kicks out of terrorizing the local luckless population. Right now Ripper was watching in disgust as one of his "troops" knelt on the floor in front of him, shaking and blubbering in fear and terror. And not all of it was because of Ripper standing poised over him, one of his spurs popped and ready to split the scarred, would-be mugger, ork with the rather unimaginative name of Scar.

"I tells ya boss!" The Ork screamed as Ripper leaned down towards the ork a little further. "She got away, and had help!"

"From some red winged demon, eh?" Ripper growled, causing the ork to flinch.

"Yeah, Ripper!' The ork practically begged, tears running down his scarred cheek. "I had the biff just like you said, and was gonna bring her back here. Had her all penned up nice in some alley when this... this monster swooped down and hit me. Hit me hard, too!" The ork held his hand up to his face, pointing to the unscarred side of it where a large, ugly bruise had swelled it up. "He was big, almost as big as you, boss! And he had red skin, and wings! And his eyes... They glowed like they was on fire! The slotting thing wasn't no meta, I can tell ya that!"

Ripper glared down at Scar for a moment, then reared back with one foot and planted it in the ork's chest. There was a loud 'thud' and a crack as Scar sailed backwards, landing in a heap across the room. Ripper motioned to another gang member, this one a filthy looking dwarf.

"Get him cleaned up and make sure he knows he's on probation." The troll rumbled to the Dwarf. "And if he frags up again, he's meat."

The dwarf nodded and stammered a reply, then dragged Scar's limp body out of the room. Ripper then turned to an unassuming looking elf with dark green hair standing silently just behind the large oversized chair the troll used as a 'throne'.

"Green Demon." The troll said, a snarl on his face. "Find out what you can on this monster, and find out what it's doing in my territory. I've heard several reports of creatures like this in the area lately. So find them, and report back."

The elf nodded silently, and quickly left from sight. Ripper smiled grimly, and wondered not for the first time what the elf was doing working for a gang like this. The elf was clearly a professional, several cuts above any ganger, and he was faster than the troll could believe. The troll seriously doubted he could take the elf, and wasn't sure if anyone could.

[ 3 ]

As the sun finally sank below the horizon, great cracks began to appear in the stone forms of the gargoyles. Flakes of gray stone began to fall off the statues, first a few, slowly, then in greater numbers. Finally the stone shell shattered, and the Gargoyles rose up, stretching their arms, legs, wings, and tails. Tauron gave a great bellow, as he often did upon waking, that sent a couple of SINless squatters several streets over scurrying for shelter. As the group stretched out and smiled at each other, a figure in a long, black trenchcoat stepped out of the doorway leading back in and down into the building. Startled, the gargoyles whirled, instantly ready for an attack.

"Geez, relax guys! It's just me!" The figure said, stepping out into the murky light of the city lights, the sky once more clouded over, as it usually was in Seattle. He was a tall, lanky human, with long blond hair streaming out from underneath a rather battered black hat.

"Stephen." Tauron said, stepping forward to greet the human. The man named Stephen stepped forward and the two clasps hands in greeting. "It is good to see you again. It has been quite some time since you visited last." Around them the rest of the gargoyles circled, calling out greetings to the young man.

"I know, Tauron. My apologies." Stephen said. While he was only 27 years of age, he face showed the ravages of pain, fear, and torment that often aged a man. He was often mistaken now for someone in his mid-forties, which amused the young man to no end.

"Isn't this a little bit... tame, compared to your usually clothing, Chaos?" Mikey asked, fingering the black trenchcoat and looking at the plain jeans he wore beneath.

Stephen chuckled. "Chaos, yes, I was that at one time, wasn't I?" With a sigh, he sat down on a stone bench overlooking the city. "Things have changed, my friends. I have changed. I've decided to retire. Being a shadowrunner and a mage to boot is a nasty way to live your life. It takes its toll."

The gargoyle clan nodded in sympathy with their human friend, one of the few who knew about them and maintained their secret. When they had first moved to Seattle, separating from their clan in New York to start a new one here, they had encountered the mage and his former spirit-ally, Cindy, early on. They had befriended him, and aided him and a couple of other humans and metahumans battle an enemy that had killed the mages Fiancée and had designs to kill the mage as well. He'd been thwarted, but the battle had been terrible, and several of Stephen's friends had been killed in the fight. After that, the mage had contacted a few of his allies to aid the gargoyles in reconstructing and fortifying their new home, then had left, ostensibly on vacation, but the gargoyles knew it was to try and find some sort of healing now that his journey had ended.

"So your days as a warrior are over?" Tauron asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Stephen replied with a shrug. "I've got a bit of cash stashed from my 'wild' days, and me and Cindy want to get away again, now that she's a free spirit. Things are... Well, they're a bit confused right now. Neither of us is sure what we're doing."

Tauron looked over at Sierra and smiled inwardly, thinking that yes, love can be confusing at times. But well worth it.

"You're leaving again then, my friend?" The big gargoyle asked, looking down at the worn mage.

"Yeah, in a couple days. I just came back to see a few friends, like you guys, and get a few things in order." The mage sometimes known as Chaos said softly, almost regretfully. "I wanted to give you guys this, though."

Stephen pulled out a small microchip and handed it to Chip. "This has a special program that a friend of mine worked up. The same one that rigged up your security system and your computer system."

"The ork?" Chip asked.

"Yeah, him. Anyways, this has a special router program in it that can leave me messages in a fairly untraceable node. If you need me for any reason, don't hesitate to give me a ring. I owe you all a great debt." He looked around at each of the inhuman faces as he said the last.

"No, you don't" Sierra replied, her voice deceivingly soft. "It is we who owe you, Stephen, for everything you did to help us get settled in this city. You're one of our clan now, and your fights are our fights."

A chorus of agreements rang out from the gargoyles surrounding them, and the canine-like Bulwark barked a couple of times to show his agreement as well. Stephen grinned broadly, his features brightening for the first time since he had arrived.

"Thanks guys," Stephen replied. "I'll miss you all. I'll be back eventually, after things get sorted out."

"We'll miss you too, Steve." Spryte said, her voice high pitched and child-like. She hopped up on one of the stone benches and hugged Stephen. One after the other, all the gargoyles did likewise. Stephen felt himself fighting back a tear.

As the gargoyles and human started to say their good-byes, Mikey noticed a shimmering off to one side. "Heya Cindy, I was wondering if you'd stop by as well."

The gargoyles looked over as the former fire elemental and former ally spirit materialized next to them all, and they all greeted her. She had materialized in her human form, that of a tall, stunning redhead wearing bluejeans and a deep green sweater that set off her sparkling green eyes. With a cocky smile, she waved to everyone.

As the gargoyles moved to greet the redhead, Tauron took the opportunity to draw his friend to one side. "You are in love with her, aren't you?"

With one eyebrow raised, Stephen replied "That obvious, eh?"

Tauron nodded. "Has been since before we went to combat your enemy, Spellfire."

"Well," Stephen sighed. "I realized a few things in my 'time off'. For one, I created her originally in Elizabeth's image, so at first I was worried that my feelings may have been because of that. But she has developed so much from when I first conjured her as an elemental all those years ago. She's someone I barely know, and each change has only reinforced that. First when she joined with me to become an ally spirit, then when she went free."

Tauron nodded, though he only had the vaguest notion of what Stephen was saying. He had very little magical talent, instead reserving his skills for leadership and battle. But Mikey was slowly learning the ways of magic, and enjoyed telling the rest of the clan every time he learned something new.

"We took off for a while into the wilderness up north, basically doing some camping, though camping in Wendigo country is a dangerous thing." Stephen chuckles ruefully, and Tauron could see shades of his old friend in there, the one they had called Chaos. "While up there, I finally laid to rest my memories of Beth. I'll never forget her, but I've finally come to grips with her death and made peace with myself. But I also discovered something else. Cindy truly cares for me, not because I'm her master, not because I created her. Now she has her own free will, and is likely more powerful than I, but she still cares for me. I think she really loves me."

The mage shrugged. "It goes against everything I was taught at school, but... She really seems to be in love with me. And I with her."

"Where will you go now?" Tauron asked.

"Well, first we're going to visit an island in the Caribbean. That's where our ork friend lives. From there, who knows. Maybe down to check the Yucatan and South America out."

"We have a clan down there. If you make it, look them up, if you can. They're still a bit reclusive, but with the Amazonian government now, they've been much more public and active." Tauron said, grasping his friends shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

The mage and the spirit said their good-byes, and left the building much more spectacularly than either had entered. The spirit glowed a deep red, then transformed into a fiery bird. She wrapped her wings around the mage and the two of them streaked off into the sky. The gargoyles watched for a few long moments, then Tauron began issuing orders for the nightly patrols. "After all," he said. "The city never rests, and we must for half a day. Let's not lose time."

The green haired elf watched the mage's spectacular exit dispassionately from the shadows of an abandoned apartment building across the street, then silently watched as several of the gargoyles winged off into the night, and he smiled. Soon, he thought to himself. Very soon.

Tauron glided to a stop atop a tall, flat-roofed building, the feather-winged Sierra landing silently next to him. The Gargoyles evening patrol had so far been uneventful, a fact for which Tauron was glad. The powerful clan leader put his arm around his green skinned mate, and the two of them looked out over the city quietly for several long minutes.

"Oh, Tauron, do you think he's happy?" She asked looking up at him.

"Who? Chaos?" Tauron asked, looking down at the female gargoyle. "Yes, he is. He has found finally found someone that he can let back into his heart. Just as I have with you, my love."

Sierra blushed slightly, her cheeks burning a brilliant green, her eyes watering slightly as she looked up at the crimson gargoyle. She smiled and hugged Tauron, and he hugged her back.

Then, together, the two of them continued on their patrol, searching the night for would be muggers and thieves, protecting their city against modern day bandits and invaders.

[ 4 ]

"Boss!" A rough voice screeched, waking Ripper rudely from a light sleep. He looked up to see a young ork, a newer member of his gang, come running through the warehouse that the Red Blades made their headquarters. "Boss!"

"What?!?" The troll roared, annoyed by the squealing ork. "What the hell is so important you have to run through here screaming like a little girl?"

"Them things, the beats that beat up scar!" The ork wheezed, gasping for breath. He looked like he had just run a marathon, sweat dripping down his face, plastering his hair to his head, and his chest heaved as the ork took deep breaths. "They got Bobby just a little bit ago! He was doing his rounds, picking up change from the slots on 122nd like we always do, and the things flew out of the sky and grabbed him. I was waiting around the corner, so they didn't see me. I saw them tag Bobby, and I ran! I didn't want no part of them things."

"Gargoyles." A soft voice cut through the air like a knife. Everyone turned to see a slim, elven form slip silently out of the shadows.

"So." Rippers deep bass voice rumbled through the abandoned warehouse. "You found the home of these Gargoyles', as you name them."

The green haired elf nodded as he knelt in subservience in front of the Troll. "Indeed, Lord Ripper. Indeed. They use that name for themselves as well. There are 6 of them, 7 if you include the beast they keep like we would a dog. They have rough, stone-like features, looking very much like their namesakes. They have wings that they use for flying, though it's really just a unique form of gliding, and claws."

"There seem to be several different 'sizes' of gargoyles," Green Demon continued, his vice cool, calculated, and cruel. "The leader, probably the one Scar got manhandled by, is a huge red creature, standing almost seven feet tall. There are a couple of creatures that stand around 4 feet tall, and the rest seem to be around 6 feet or just under. Their skin color and features vary slightly from one to another. Most importantly, though, they seem to be a very tight knit brood, a close family, if you will."

He recited off the abilities of the Gargoyles the same way he'd recite a grocery list. He always talked like that though, Ripper noted. Even when talking about killing or torturing somebody. Especially when talking about torturing or killing someone. Ripper really liked this elf, which was unusual for the big troll. Normally the troll despised everyone, but especially the "weaker" races: humans, dwarves, and elves. Especially elves. But there was nothing soft or weak about the Green Demon. He was a born and bred killing machine.

"Did you see anything about the creatures that would be a weakness, something to make them easy prey for us?" Ripper asked, already anticipating cutting up the beasts that were interfering with how he ran his territory.

The elf paused, his expression thoughtful. His mind ran to events from that morning, as the sun rose and the entire gargoyle clan perched upon the rooftop, turning to stone. "No, milord. I regret to inform you that these beasts seem to have no obvious weaknesses. I suggest an assault upon them just after sundown though. It seems to be one of the few times all the gargoyles are present in one location. That would save us from having to hunt any of them down at a later time."

The troll nodded and he grinned gruesome smile, showing a row of filed teeth amid his two jagged tusks. "I like that idea, elf. I like that a lot. Prepare the troops then, Green Demon. We move tomorrow evening after dark."

The elf nodded and turned, slipping into the shadows. His eyes blazed white, and a malicious grin split his normally impassive face. The elf slipped out of the room to prepare the gang for a war it would eventually lose.

TO BE CONTINUED...