Manhattan Knight

Summary: When news of a "winged avenger" reaches the Manhattan Clan, they believe another Gargoyle has joined their crusade of Protection. but, they soon discover that it is not one of their kind..but, a Human masquerading as a "Bat-Man" None the less, this "Human Gargoyle" proves to be a kindred spirit. and, maybe something MORE for Angela. [AngelaxOC]

Gargoyles copyright Greg Weisman/Disney

Batman copyright Bob Kane/DC Comics

Manhattan Knight
Chapter 01: Nocturnal Guardian

The full moon shined in an overcast night sky,the metropolitan cityscape left the island of Manhattan aglow in the darkness.

Save for one place.

Far, far from the main city was an old part of Manhattan.
a very bad neighborhood where the only 'citizens' were thieves and criminals. Even the police stayed far away from this dark area.

A black car pulled up to a curb, and stopped. The doors opened, and out came four men, one carried a briefcase. The two largest men looked around the area checking for threats. Satisfied, the men all entered a seemingly abandoned building.

Inside, the gang entered a room where they encountered four other men. Similarly to the first group, two were clearly muscle, one was the leader, and one handled the merchandise.

"I assume you are our client." said the leader. The man with the briefcase handed over his prize to the leader then stepped back to keep watch.

The other man smiled. "You would be correct." he said. "So, do you have the money?"

The man with the briefcase opened it revealing many stacks of dollar bills, across the top, Benjamin Franklin smiled at the deal that was about to go down. "Two million. As promised." he said.

The other man took the open briefcase and grinned greedily. "Merry freakin' Christmas." he joked.

"Yeah-yeah, cut the wisecracks. Just show me the guns you promised me, or I walk out with my cash."

The arms dealer smirked. "Oh, but of course." The arms dealer snapped his fingers and his men took out their own cases. Opening them, then unveiled some shiny, almost futuristic looking guns. The leader stared in awe. "Oooooo..."

"These are the latest in advanced weaponry. Hijacked from CyberBiotocs itself." The arms dealer then drew our a gun, showing it off. "It's no bigger than a simple handgun but, packs enough firepower to bust through tank armor. with just one of these, you could hold the city for ransom. And, there's nothing the cops can do about it, either."

The man eyed the arms dealer. "Impressive but knowing you, you must've already sold some of these to somebody else."

The arms dealer smirked and gave a small shrug. "A man has to make a living. But, with the approaching Dracon-Brod turf war coming..." The arms dealer twirled the gun in his hand. "You can't really afford to be ill-equipped for what's to come."

The buyer eyed him, then exhaled sharply."Fine. I'll take the whol-"

POP! – CRASH!

Suddenly, the single light bulb that illuminated the room blew out leaving everyone in pitch black darkness.

"WHAT THE-!?"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"I CAN'T SEE!"

"Re-lax, Ladies. Probably just blown fuse box, somewhere."

"Well, SOMEBODY better turn it back on!"

"Sheesh..Fine, I'll go."

The sound of footsteps was heard, followed by a creaking sound.

"Alright, it's gotta be one of the-GEERK!" The sound of a blunt crash was heard. Followed by a body dropping.

"Rick!? H-hey, you okay Ri-" A blow was heard, followed by another THUD sound.

"Oh, sh*t: SOMBODY'S in he-GAAHH!"

The sounds of blows, grunts, groans, and thuds were heard. The dealer's heart beat rapidly as he began to panic.

Something was in the room, taking down everyone else One-by-One. But, the room was so dark that he couldn't even see the nose on his face.

"Who's there?! SOMEBODY ANSWER ME!"

The room soon fell silent. Dead silent. Ironically, this just made the dealer more scared.

"H-hello?.." called the dealer, his voice shaky. "A-anyone there?"

Nobody answered him.

His heart pounding, the Dealer frantically reached into his pocket. Breathing rapidly, he at last found what he was searching for: a lighter.

FLIKT!, FLIKT!

"Come on. Come on!"

The dealer desperately tried to strike a flame. but only got sparks.

Finally, a flame lit.

"Oh, thank g-"

The dealer suddenly froze still as a statue. Right in front of him was a horned 'creature' with empty white eyes. His horrific features illuminated by the flame's amber glow, giving the already demonic looking creature a hellish appearance.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

BAM!

The creature suddenly struck the dealer hard in the jaw, knocking him out cold.

[Hours Later...]

The dealer groaned as he began to awaken. He muttered gibberish as he slowly opened his eyes. His blurred vision soon cleared up and, to his shock, he found he was several stories high.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"screamed the dealer as loud as he could.

The dealer stared down with wide eyes. The street below was so far down, he could barely see any cars or people. He then looked up and saw the only thing preventing him from falling to his doom was a long, thick cable tightly wrapped around his ankles. He began to panic, his body swaying as he dangled like a worm on a fishing line. His mind was racing as he tried to process how he got to be way up here, and more importantly, how he was to get out of this alive. It was then that he noticed a dark, grotesque figure high above him. From his vantage point, it looked like a gargoyle. But, it moved it's head, looking right at him.

It wasn't a stone statue..it was quite alive.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"screamed the dealer, again.

The horned creature then reached out and grabbed the cable holding the dealer. This only made him panic more.

"NO!, NO!, NO! PLEASE!, DON'T-!"

The horned creature began to pull the dealer up to him. He panicked as he got closer and closer to the creature with each tug. As the creature gripped his leg, the dealer shut his eyes tight, expecting a swift death. Instead, the creature held him over the edge of the building by his shirt.

"Open your eyes." commanded the creature, his voice dark.

The dealer shook his head. "No." mouthed the terrified man, his voice weak.

"OPEN THEM!" shouted the creature, his voice harsh.

Scared out of his wits, the dealer obeyed. He looked, and saw not an inhuman monster..but, a man in a cowled mask. However, the dealer was in a state of extreme terror. So, the fact that his captor was human escaped him.

All he saw..was a Black, Horned Demon.

"Look at me."

The Dealer stared into his soulless eyes. "Who-?What ARE You!?"

The dark man gripped the dealer tighter."I'm Batman."

The dealer whined in his throat.

"Please. Don't kill me!"

"You are going to tell me what I want to know." said Batman, ignoring the dealer's pleas

"Anything! I'll tell you anything!"

"Good." said Batman, loosening his grip

"Tony Dracon and Tomas Brod are gearing up for a turf war. And, I know you sold weapons to both sides. You are going to tell me where they are."

"I don't know!"

"Wrong answer."

"No, Wait..STOOOOO-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Batman released the dealer, letting him fall. The man screamed as he dropped, staring straight down at the ground below. Fortunately, the cable held. Bouncing him like a bungee cord. Batman then gripped the cord, and pulled him back up again. Gripping his shirt again, Batman glared at the panicking man.

"Let's try this again." said Batman. "Dracon, Brod. Talk!"

The dealer was in tears."I don't know, man I really, really don't know!"

"Then, tell me what you do know."

The dealer gulped hard.

"I- I did sell some guns to Dracon and Brod's men. B-b-but, I Never saw them in person, I swear! I only did business with their Number One Guys!"

"Their lieutenants." said Batman, thinking aloud.

"Yeah!, Th- that's right!"

Batman jerked the dealer closer to him, his face inches from his own. "What are their names!?"

The dealer was shaking like a leaf.

"Their names! Now!"

"Dane!, J-J-Jack Dane. H- he's an old dude, Brod's number one guy!"

"And Dracon's?!"

"I..I don't know, nobody knows his real name. Ev'rybody calls him Glasses, he's African."

"Where can i find them? And, don't lie to me. I'll know."

"D-D-Dane is a Health Nut! You'll probably find him at any Gym or Fitness Club in the city!"

"And, Glasses?!"

"I don't know! The guy is real paranoid, nobody but Dracon knows where he is!"

"I'll find him." said Batman, darkly.

The dealer groaned, whimpered then passed out.

Batman narrowed his eyes. "Sweet dreams."

[Later]

A Police Squad-car pulled up to the NYPD building.

The squad-car stopped, and two officers emerged. A uniformed African man eyed the unconscious (and, cuffed) arms dealer left at the steps of the building.

"Well, well, well..." began Officer Morgan. "Bernie Issacs, the infamous arms dealer. Interpol's been looking all over for you. Hhmm. Guess they should've looked here."

Morgan, and his partner lifted the still unconscious man up and, carried him off into the building, where he'd no doubt face jail time upon his awakening.

The whole scene being watched by a dark, shadowy figure atop a nearby building. He slowly stepped back into the shadows, disappearing.

[Later, at the Clock Tower]

A dark haired woman in a red jacket climbed up into the inner workings of the clock tower above the NYPD building.

Inside..were a group of flesh-and-blood gargoyles. All engaged in some pretty 'normal' activities.

"Hey, guys." began the woman, softly.

The gargoyles looked at the woman and smiled.

"Greetings, Elisa. It is good to see you." said Goliath, the biggest and strongest of them.

An older Gargoyle glanced at her from a chair. While three younger ones, and a young female also looked at her.

"Hey, Elisa." began Brooklyn. "What brings you here?"

Elisa smiled. "Oh, I just wanted to say hi before I go on patrol with Matt. And to say thank you for that 'gift' you left for us."

Goliath raised an eyebrow. "Gift?"

"Yeah. Bernie Issacs, the infamous arms dealer. Morgan found him unconscious at our doorstep. When he woke up, he was rambling about a 'horned monster' so, I assumed that one of you guys were helping out with my job."

Goliath approached his human friend. "Elisa, we've haven't left the clock tower since we awoke. And, I do not recollect encountering any 'arms dealer'."

Elisa froze, confused. "But- but, I was there! I heard him! He was raving about a winged creature with glowing white eyes attacking him."

Goliath took a moment to process this.

"Do you think..there are other gargoyles in Manhattan?" questioned Angela, Goliath's daughter.

Goliath looked away. "No..if there were, we would have known of it long ago."

Elisa was just as puzzled as Goliath was. "Well, if none of you guys did it, Who did!?"

Author Note: Ironically, this was a tough chapter to write (Chapter One) as I wanted to introduce Batman, but make it vague enough that it seems like a standard Gargoyles story.

I obviously went ahead with the Batman-Gargoyle similarities by describing Batman as such BEFORE his identity is revealed to the reader. (and, ever afterwards..characters still perceive him as such due to Elisa's description)

I should go ahead and warn that this is in AU with slight canon.

in terms of timelines, this story takes place shortly after "The Gathering Parts I-II" Angela is still new to the Manhattan Clan, and they all still live in the Clock Tower.

my deviation from canon is my new version of the Tony Dracon/Tomas Brod turf war. in which Dracon ISN'T in prison (oh, those high priced lawyers..) and, is a major threat again.

this was done so Batman can have some Normal adversaries and, a chance to show that he and the Gargoyles aren't all that different from each other.

Eventually, I'll get to Supervillain involvement, but, for now..I'm focusing on standard crime in Manhattan.

The events of this story take place in the year: 1996 (duh)

EDIT: Got me a Beta Reader who edited the chapter.

Hopefully, this updated chapter is an improvement.