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All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of Amber a.k.a. Jubilee

Azeala sighed and adjusted her goggles, sifting through the files on the computer about Space and Time Tech. She wasn’t supposed to be doing it, but right now she was bored enough to try it. Her desk chair gave out a little squeak of protest as she leaned back, forming a frown on her face. “Stupid chairs. Always squeaking. It’s like we can’t afford new ones.”

“Stop complaining and write up the progress report on the T.M.” She felt a hand on her shoulder.

The tone of Damian’s voice was amused. “Don’t like hearing me ramble?”

“Or crash. Half the time you are wiping the floor with your face. You should pick a more suitable profession with those feet of yours.”

He chuckled. She often made fun of his gargoyle feet in the crowded observatory. Damian was blonde, tall, and half gargoyle. The other half was human. Ever since genetic engineering soared at the turn of the century, halflings, hybrids and numerous other creatures were produced out of natural births by odd sorts of parents. The majority of the populace was now not of one race, or species. She was a hybrid also, but more mixedthan he. Half human, quarter fae, quarter gargoyle. But luckily she didn’t have his type of feet. She made sure she made that point clear every time she saw him...or heard him fall for that matter.

“K, Zal. I know, I’m a klutz.”

She nodded. “Exactly. If I had a tail I would trip you on purpose. Your lucky you don’t have one, or you couldn’t even walk.” She fully turned around to face him now.

“Cruel, Zal. Real cruel.” But the way he was grinning said he wasn’t offended.

She nodded again. “Anyway, I already had the report on T.M. written up.”

His face sobered, and he lifted a five-fingered hand to scratch the back of his neck. “Say, you think they are actually going to test that thing on people?”

She shrugged. “They already tried animals. They never came back. But to our calculations, they were sent back to the 14th century.”

He sighed. “We just couldn’t get them back.”

She nodded. “The ‘time machine’ as the press are calling it still has some defects. They are right.” She shifted uneasily. The real name of the T.M. was the Time Modulator, but it also stood for time machine, as the mass media made sure to get across. Personally, the subject of time travel made her uneasy, the same withDamian. Others, however, thought it was the greatest thing ever found.

He shook his head and took his hand from her shoulder. “I feel sorry already for the people they want to use.”

She gave a weak smile. “I highly doubt that they will send people on a time adventure anytime soon with the T.M. this early in the testing stages.”

He was already walking away, and he spoke without turning his head to look back. “Yeah, well, still...”

Her attention temporarily went back to the glowing screen in front of her. “Computer...” She was just about to address the machine when a loud cry and thud startled her into looking in the direction Damian had walked off in.

“OW!!!”

“God, Damian...” She groaned as she stood up to go help him.

*****************************************************************************************

It was late. The glow in front of her face was starting to blur together. She had spent all day researching the effects of time travel on rats. The project wouldn’t be over for another two months, and she was already getting behind. The chimps they had sent on the journey hadn’t come back, but the cage of rats had. They seemed fine.  Sometimes it seemed the T.M. would decide if it would bring it back the test subject or not. The rats, surprisingly, were the lucky chosen ones. They had gone back in time 2,000 years, as they had programmed into the T.M., and if the rats had gone back in time 2,000 years, they didn’t look a day over 2,001. “Amazing” She muttered. While they traveled through the millenniums, they hadn’t physically aged. Evidence suggested that they still had their original life spans, no matter how many years they were put forward or backward, their biological clocks hadn’t been affected. It even suggested the existence of a second, internal time continuum. She would have to add this into next month’s report. Amazing.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a crash from the dome of the observatory, where the T.M. was housed.

“Damian.” Her teeth gritted in annoyance. He had told her he wasn’t doing overtime tonight. As far as she knew, she was the only one here. But who else could make a sound like that? Her thoughts temporarily brought her back to just that day when she had to untangle him from a floor lamp and a broken chair. She stood, angry for being interrupted, but knowing he would need help. She didn’t know how a true gargoyle could be actually graceful on their own feet, and he so clumsy on his. But, then again, he was half human, and sometimes halflings were born uncoordinated and gangly. Or worse. Some birth defects were lethal. In actuality, Damian had been lucky, as had she. But she more than he.

“Damian, I swear, if you are wrapped around the telescopes the shit is going to hit the fan.” She entered the large domed room, and flicked on the main lights. A tipped over can of pens and pencils rolled to a stop at her feet. She bent over to pick them up. “What the?” She wondered aloud.

Poking her head around the T.M. and pausing, she surveyed the scene. A tipped over chair, a bunch of office supplies all over the place. Paper clips, a pair of scissors, white out, and an assortment of writing utensils all over the place. “Damian?” She called again, but this time softer and with a hint of uncertainty. When no one replied, she stepped forward, grabbing the keys from her back pocket and unlocking the nearby desk. Jamming the key to it quickly into the drawer’s keyhole, she had it open in no time. Quickly retrieving the small hand-laser from the bottom of the drawer, she whirled around and glanced about. No sound.

A shadow caught her eye. She hadn’t noticed she had stepped into the arc of the T.M. until it was too late. A flash of light, her scream, and then a single hand-laser dropped to the ground, no longer being held by the terrified scientist. A dark laughter echoed about the empty observatory.

*****************************************************************************************

Azeala blinked. One minute she had been in the observatory, and now she was...on the street? But not just any street. A huge city surrounded her, skyscrapers rising into the clouds. She gasped. These buildings were old looking. Yes, she remembered it now. In her history books, she had seen this picture...early 21st century New York. ~Crap. Now what? What the hell am I doing here?~ She was surprised that she had somehow moved back in time. But it didn’t phase her. ~Figures, she chided herself, what do you honestly expect for fooling around with a time machine?~

She groaned and self-consciously brushed herself off . Planting her hands on her hips, she caped her flared wings around her shoulders and walked down the street, not having a clue whatsoever how to get back to her own time. ~Ok, Azeala, why haven’tyou broken into hysterics yet? Why haven’t you run screaming down this old sidewalk like a lunatic?~ The more time passed and she kept calm, the more agitated she got.

She had walked about a block down the city street in the dark. The dark towers of skyscrapers rose above her, their lights sparkling like a thousand stars. This reminded her of the observatory, and calmed her inwardly, as outside she sure wasn’t showing it.

She stopped and put a hand on a streetlamp’s pole, steadying herself. The first creases of worry edged into her face. She sighed and talked to herself bitterly. “What now, Zal?” Stuck in a time where you haven’t been born yet, and this is how you react? Your no fun.” She noted her awful sense of humor just wouldn’t leave, despite any crises she may face.

A noise startled her, and she whirled, noticing dark figures approaching her on the deserted street. She backed up. ~Things are NOT looking up.~ She turned, looking desperately for a place to glide from. Unlike a purebred gargoyle, she didn’t have talons to crunch into buildings so she could climb and leap from the side of them. No, she got a bad side-dish of luck and got stuck with human hands. Her father had been half-human and half-fae. Her mother had been half-human and half-gargoyle. She ended up with fae-gargoyle type ears, her mother’s wings and elbow spurs. The rest of her looked completely human. Cape and hide her wings, wear a long sleeved shirt, and put her hair down over her ears, she easily passed for human. But by the looks of it, that wasn’t going to save her now.

She frantically looked about, and found nothing. Except the street light. With a groan, she leapt onto the pole and tried to climb up it. Her wings flared out for balance and flight. She slipped back down, and let go of the pole at the same time. Praying for an updraft as she fell, she never received one. She rolled in a tumble of wings, arms and legs on the sidewalk. Her head throbbed with pain, lucky it hadn’t hit the concrete first.

Unconsciousness or a concussion defiantly wouldn’t help things.

Three men and one woman appeared. They looked like primitive punks. She leapt to her feet, wings stretched out to full wingspan, which was about ten feet. Attempting to look tough, she stood tall and wore a feral scowl.

One of the men smiled menacingly. “It’s one of dem’ monsters!”

The woman laughed wickedly. “Yea, but this one is nicer looking than the others. She almost looks human!”

Azeala did something uncivilized and uncharacteristic for herself. She growled. ~Monster? Come over here and take me on, I’ll show you a monster!~ Her mind screamed silently.

The shortest man, the bald one that looked like he lived in a tanning booth, stepped forward. “Aw, look.  The kitten has teeth.”

She didn’t have the faintest idea why he had said that. She didn’t have fangs. Her mother had had them, before she passed away, but she didn’t have them, that’s for sure.

She crouched, ready to spring. The only man that hadn’t spoken yet, the tallest, stepped forward hitting a metal pipe against his hand. “Come and get it, creature.”

The woman smiled faintly. “Get er’, Ren.”

The rest of his crowd joined in with war whoops.

She backed up, but not out of intimidation. It was to lure him away from his gang so she got a better level to attack him from. “Wanna beat me up? Bring it on.”

He nodded the affirmative. “Bring it on, demon-spawn.”

That snapped something inside of her. Was it the gargoyle? She sprang forward, and at the same time he swung the pipe. It hit home, catching her in the gut. The wind was temporarily knocked out of her, and she fell back, hitting the cement. She skidded a few feet, then lay still. She heard him coming, she knew it. Right when she felt him aside her, her leg kicked out. This extracted a startled grunt from him, and he joined her on the ground, pipe flying down the darkened street.

Grunting and trying to regain her stolen breath, she stood. The rest of his party circled her. The woman, now obviously the man’s girlfriend, ran to the man named Ren.

“Ren? Did the bitch hurt you?”

A moan was the only answer she was able to get.

The woman turned on her. Her pretty face had gone taut with a rage that was beyond words. “You...THING!!!” She shrieked, stupidly launching herself at Azeala before thinking it out first.

A spin kick from Azeala brought her to her knees quickly enough. She, like Azeala had earlier, lost her breath as knees hit concrete. Her saucer-wide eyes slowly rose to meet Azeala’s determined ones. She coughed and scuttled backward, content to just sit by her grunting boyfriend.

“O.K., karate monster, come and get it.” The tanned man advanced on her. He had somehow retrieved Ren’s fallen pipe when she was occupied with the woman. He raised it over his head lethally, intending to bring it down on her head.

She already had that pipe hit her once. She didn’t want to get hit by it again. Backing up, she quickly contemplated what she was going to do. Ren and his girlfriend were on their feet, advancing. And by the looks of it, they weren’t all too happy with her. Once again, her gaze shot skyward to look for anything to glide off of. But that wasn’t what caught her attention. What caught her attention was the forms of winged creatures coming through the night towards her. What were they? Hybrids like herself? Or perhaps mutates? Purebred Gargoyles were unlikely, weren’t many left ~What do you mean? You just have gone back ‘years ago!’~ An angry roar cut through the night, and she knew exactly what it was. ~Yup, it’s a purebred gargoyle.~

The punk’s eyes shot heavenward, scanning quickly. The first scant signs of terror were showing. “More monsters!” Shrieked the woman.

Azeala whirled. Her eyes would have glowed red if they were able to. “They are not monsters! They are...” She trailed off. This was not an informatory meeting on objects in the sky.

The gang backed off, and the first...yup, gargoyle, appeared. Big and lavender, and somehow familiar.  He landed in the midst of it all, soon followed by a female lavender one, who was also another familiar face, a red one, a green one, and a portly looking one. Their eyes all flared a ghastly white, save for the female’s, who was bloodshot red. They advanced on the men and woman.

Azeala gasped and ducked into the shadows, wings caped. The female noticed her right away. “Who are you?” She inquired, the glow receding from her now onyx eyes. She reminded Azeala of someone she thought she knew, a long time ago...or a long time ahead.

The gang never stuck around for introductions. A single monster they could take, but not a whole pack.

They fled down the street, never giving a backward glance.

The red one leapt forward, prepared to follow. This was quickly put to rest as the obese Gargoyle laid a clawed hand on his shoulder. “Uh, Brooklyn? I think that isn’t the main concern right now...”

The one named Brooklyn turned around, his eyes still glowing eerily in the dark despite the street-lamps.

“What?!” He snapped. He caught sight of the figure in the shadows and the glow faded.

Azeala stepped forward. “Um. Hello. Uh...thanks for scaring them off...” Just blank stares, shifting into shocked ones. The lavender gargoyle, the largest in brawn than the others, stepped closer to her.

“Are you gargoyle?” He rumbled.

She shifted uneasily to her other foot. “Well, does it look like it?” She flared her wings, collecting a few startled gasps with the maneuver. Holding out her human hands and turning in a full circle before stopping, she faced the purple gargoyle once more. “I am a quarter gargoyle. I am also a quarter fae. The rest? The rest of me is human. I am a hybrid from the future.” She paused, a wry grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Now this is the part where the Twighlight Zone’s theme song comes on, I know.” So she watched the old show, so what?

She liked it.

The female blinked. “A hybrid?”

The small web-winged green gargoyle, the one that hadn’t said a word, piped up. “How is that possible?”

She shrugged. “We have abilities through genetic engineering in the future that you do not have now.  Speaking of the future and all that, why are you all dressed as if you just stepped out of the Crusades?”

Brooklyn snorted. “I blame it on a sparse wardrobe. We can’t just waltz into a mall and buy clothes, you know.”

She was surprised at this. “You can’t in this time? I never knew that.” ~Come to think of it, if they were any more revealing I would have to look away. Caterwauling around all night in a loincloth or a skimpy shard of a dress. What are they, nudists who are afraid to go all the way?~

The female noticed her look of disgust. “Something wrong?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.” She immediately changed the subject. “Is there something I can jump off of to get into the air?”

Brooklyn cocked his head to the side. “Just scale a building and jump off.” He sounded like he was trying to make talk with an idiot.

She held up her human hands. “Oh yeah, I’m just gonna stick my fingers into solid brick and climb up.”  The sarcasm in her voice was choking, and she made sure of it.

Brooklyn suddenly looked peevish. “Oh.” He glanced to the sky, suddenly interested in the stars.

She sighed and glanced about. “Maybe a fire escape...”

The female suddenly lit up like a light. “Father,” She said, speaking to the lavender one, “we could glide down and pick her up so her wings can catch an updraft.”

The stern gargoyle nodded. “Good idea, Angela.”

Angela looked pleased.

Azeala nodded. “Great idea. Then I can find somebody to get me back home!”

Angela and her father leapt onto the sides of the building, then leapt, snapping their wings open. She did the same, nervously glancing above her. The two came down in sync, grabbed her by her upper arms, and lifted.

She gasped as she was hefted skyward. ~Get a grip, girl.~ She mentally chided herself.

Her wings caught a swift updraft, and they let go. She brought herself to a rest on the top of an old apartment building. The two landed next to her, followed by the rest. She brushed herself off. “Well, that’s a new way to get aloft.”

“Did they hurt you?” Angela asked.

She shook her head. “No, I deal with those types all the time. But why did you come help me?” Her facial expression changed to one of mild amusement to curiosity. “Why? You could have just glided on, no need for you to risk your tails.”

The lavender gargoyle’s mouth opened in answer, but the red one, Brooklyn, beat him to it. “We protect this city, all who live here. We have always been protectors, aren’t you?”

She looked at them like they were nuts. “So you go around and risk your butts for people who don’t know you exist?”

He paused, then nodded. “But it’s not like that. They do know we exist...”

The little green one interrupted. “But they want our heads on a pike.”

She was taken aback. “What the hell makes you protect those who hate you? Why do you do it?”

The lavender one looked at her sternly. “A gargoyle’s duty is to protect. It is our nature, our reason.”

Azeala shook her head. “You guys need a new hobby. One that doesn’t involve people with switchblades, guns, and mowhawks.”

The brawny purple gargoyle shook his head. “We are protectors. That is the gargoyle way.” He was beginning to sound frustrated.

Her eyes narrowed. “How come I’ve never heard of that before?”

The pudgy one stuck his hand out for emphasis, moving it about as he spoke. “It’s always been a part of us, who we are. Your clan never taught you that?”

Her reply was a silent gaze that showed them all how crazy she thought this was.

Brooklyn sighed. “Where is your clan?”

She stuttered, breaking the silence. “Clan? I don’t belong to a clan. I...I lived with my father in New York, after my mother disappeared. I never had a clan.”

Angela stepped forward, eyes wide. “So you mean you never knew any other gargoyles?”

Azeala snorted. “Yeah, right. I knew a few.” The drawn out silence made her regret that dearly.

The little web-winged one seemed to have trouble with his speech. “Exactly when do you come from, how did you get here, and how are you getting back?”

She sighed sadly. “First, answer me this. What’s the year?”

“2000.” Came the all around reply.

She nodded. “I figured about that. Ok, the year I recently left was 2056. I was born in 2034.” Wide, onyx eyes stared at her, jaws gaped. “I got here from the T.M...Time Modulator. Somebody broke into the observatory...and...” Her face went slack. “I lost it all...I’m alone.” Reality hit her like a baseball bat to the face.  She was uncertain of what to do, and afraid. If this really was the year 2000, then that meant gargoyle-human relations weren’t at an all time high now. Her shoulders slumped.

Angela stepped forward. “Can she come with us, Father? She has no place to go...maybe Xanatos can help her.”

The lavender one nodded. “It would be best.”

She sighed as Angela offered her a supportive smile. She nodded. Guess so. She followed the gargoyles as they hopped off the building and caught updrafts upward into the night sky. She followed, tailed by Angela and Brooklyn. Her heart was heavy. Somehow, she had the dreaded feeling she would never see Damian, her father, or anyone she had ever known again. She sobbed inwardly.

TO BE CONTINUED...