THE CHICAGO CLAN: EPISODE 1

PROLOGUE

BY COSMIC INSPIRATION

Disclaimer: The Gargoyles animated series is originally the property of the Walt

Disney Company and distributed by Buena Vista Television, and was originally created

by Greg Weisman. Characters of the Dresden Files book series are originally the creation of author Jim Butcher and the Roc publishing company. All original characters are the property of Cosmic Inspiration.

Despite the thin gloomy grey clouds in the sky that flowed by like distant lonely phantoms across the sky from horizon to horizon, the early afternoon was warm and comfortably balmy. However, it did little to comfort the people who stood outside the damaged doors to a building in one of the more successful parts of downtown Chicago. A building that happened to be, to the contempt of most of the people standing outside or making their way in or out of the building, owned by the wealthy businessman John Marcone, otherwise known as the most powerful crime lord in Chicago, Gentleman Johnny Marcone.

Two people who just arrived within the last few minutes stood out among the others; uniformed and plain clothed police officers alike, and were an interesting contrast to one another. A man and a woman comfortably walking side by side made for an unusual duo, yet the police knew them for the formidable team they truly were.

The man was very tall, and would have easily passed for a basketball player had he not lacked the muscular build, instead he had a wiry muscular build to himself that he carried very well. His face was above average looking with a kind of high school boyish charm to it with a long face, high cheekbones, a sharp chin, and all enhanced by a sharp hawk like nose. His hair was short and seemingly unruly, as though he only combed it once or twice a week (which he probably did) and was a dark brown. His hair matched his eyes which radiated with a fire of hidden power and intelligence. Behind that was a twinkle of mischievousness as well as a chivalrous nature. However, people tended to avoid his gaze, which was fine with him. What may have made him stand out even more was not the five o'clock shadow growing on his face or the clothes he wore. He wore simply a dark grey polo t-shirt, denim blue jeans, and comfortable work shoes, most of which was covered by a long dark duster jacket that came down to his thighs, had a long mantle down to his elbows and large pockets.

He carried with him in his right hand an oddly styled wooden staff 6 feet long that he easily dwarfed with his own size and even more strange looking symbols carved upon it. Had anyone looked more closely at the man they would have also noticed the strange jewelry he wore; a simple silver ring on his right middle finger, a bracelet styled as though from medieval shields, and a silver pentacle with the point up around his neck.

The woman that he walked with was a completely different story. She was far below average height, petite in size that made her seem like a baby doll next to the man.

This was reinforced by her classic looks of naturally wavy curled blond hair, blue eyes, and a cute button nose. The navy blue pants suit that she wore hid a well built figure, and was enhanced by the way she carried herself with an authoritative and commanding presence. Her blue eyes radiated with a steel edge to them which told of intelligence, stubbornness, and hardened toughness for the streets. Walking beside the tall man made her seem like an innocent little blond haired girl under the protection of her overwhelmingly tall big brother. If anyone had said it right to her face, she would have made them regret it the moment they dared to say it with anything from a hard look to a dislocated shoulder.

The two of them made their way through the damaged doors and into the large lobby to witness further damage. The lobby of the building was damaged beyond what anyone would have believed possible; shattered glass from the doors covered the floor along with debris of damaged expensive furniture, such as chairs and side tables, and spackling from the walls. Literally all around the large room were deep scratches as through claw marks from some wild animals, and beside them were a few yet distinctly large stains of blood.

"Okay, Merlin, so what can you tell me?" asked the blond haired woman.

The man looked around the room carefully, taking all the details in a way only he and those like him knew how.

"I say it's gonna take one hellva time for Merry Maids to get this place sparkling clean. Better breakout a few gallons of the extra strong bleach," he said in a mischievous tone. The woman gave him a hard look that would have broken granite, but the man hardly seemed intimidated by it. Nonetheless, he kept a professional demeanor as he went to work.

They made their way inside the damaged lobby, passed the yellow and black police tape over the entrance, the rain of debris crunching under their shoes as they walked.

The man looked around more carefully as he asked, "So what's the story here?"

The police woman flipped through her notebook as she told him, "Last night a graveyard shift security guard was on duty when he claims that all of the building's power shut down as though it had a sudden power surge or blackout. Even the security monitors he was watching at the front there had gone black. He was the only one in the lobby when, as he claimed it happened, suddenly at least five or six monsters of some kind broke through the doors and began to ransack the place. He described them as looking like big deranged monkeys with roach bodies and scorpion claws and tails and shark teeth in their mouths. He was attacked by one or two and saw them drooling black spit that acted like acid when it dripped onto things. The next moment two more monsters swooped in and started attacking the others. He described them as looking like biblical demons, but they acted more like avenging angels. Almost looked like humans but with bat wings and tails and claws and bluish skin and glowing eyes. One of them grabbed him by the waist and threw him into a nearby janitor closet and told him to stay there. He said it may've been female but he wasn't sure. For the next few minutes all he could hear were loud noises from a fight. At least five minutes after it seemed to stop he looked to find the lobby as you see it now, only last night he claimed to have nearly slipped on something slippery like clear goo. A few minutes before the police and paramedics came the goo seemed to evaporate into thin air."

The tall investigator looked to the police woman with a raised eyebrow. Even before they entered the building, he could already sense malevolence in the air which he did not like.

"Forensics already examined the blood from the attack scene here, and so far they've determined that it isn't human and doesn't seem to match any known animal species so far."

The brown haired man made his way to a wall with many deep scratches and blood stains across it. He was tempted for a moment to take a closer look at it with his Sight, but decided against it for the moment. He was acutely aware of many different creatures that had this kind of strength, but it was extremely rare that any of them left traces of blood like this. He then took a closer look at the various claw marks on the walls, floor and ceiling. Many indeed looked as though they were made by the creatures the police woman had described, doubtless something from the Nevernever.

However several looked more like they were made by a hand like appendage with four or five fingers.

He took out a clean white hankie and wiped a bit of the blood onto it as the police woman said with apprehension, "Please don't tell me we're dealing with steroid drunken super dogs with mega rabies again."

Her friend smirked a little at her description of that particular case, one she was still shaken by sometimes because her partner had been killed during the case.

He gently placed a hand on her shoulder as he said, "Relax, I'm sure we're not dealing with another killer dog man case. However, that doesn't mean that whatever did this isn't as dangerous."

She gave him a neutral look that spoke both gratitude as well as seriousness.

"Alright, but can you at least tell me what we may be dealing with here."

He looked around the lobby again with a grim look on his face as he said, "No doubt the place was attacked by something from the Nevernever, most likely ghouls or demons of some kind. Why they attacked this place is hardly important considering who owns the place. The only question is who sent them and why. As to what else may have done this I'm getting a few ideas, but a lot of them may turn out unlikely. I'll need to do some research."

"Alright," the police woman said with a nod, "You get back to me immediately when you find out anything. There's a lot of unanswered questions that only you can find out about, especially what can make claw marks like that in solid stone and metal."

They made their way outside where the tall brown haired investigator called for a taxi as he said, "Finding answers is what I do best."

"Along with almost burning down half the city every other week," his police friend teased.

"I do not try to burn down half the city every other week," he protested, "Only once a month and on federal holidays."

The police woman rolled her eyes at him as he got into the taxi and soon drove away to do his research.

****Chicago financial district

The young handsome and sharply dressed businessman made his way out onto the cool afternoon sidewalk where a dazzling sight waited for him. His new dark haired bride greeted him with a smile that lit up her face that made her look all the more like a goddess. As they embraced for a brief passionate kiss, people stared because their clothing seemed to contradict each other and their relationship but they ignored the stares people gave them. Compared to the young man, she wore a skimpy outfit of denim shorts and a green short shirt that showed off her sculpted midriff.

As they parted from the kiss, she groaned suddenly and grabbed the right side of her waist as though in pain. Her husband gently held her close; deep worry came to his eyes and briefly made him look a bit older.

"Are you alright, my love?" he asked with great concern.

"I'll be okay," she said a bit annoyed, "You know how fast I can heal."

"Yeah, but last night must've been tougher on you than we thought."

"Maybe."

He held her close in a protective embrace as he called for a taxi, and his wife merely laid her head on his shoulder, resisting the need to tell him to stop treating her like a weak damsel in distress.

As they got into the taxi, he said, "Let's get home before sunset. Maybe Yin can take another look at that."

He looked over at his wife's right side which had a good sized scar running from the back of her right hip to the front of her lower ribs.

"I don't know what those things were last night but I doubt even your father has faced such freaky abnormalities, and he's seen some pretty weird things from the stories he's told."

The dark hair young woman touched the scar, which seemed almost completely healed but was clearly still very tender.

"We'd have to ask him about it," she said as she hissed in pain, "Maybe even ask our old friend, the magic expert."

"Oh," her husband groan, "Yeah, he's a likable enough guy but he gets on my nerves so much, even if we don't see him that way often."

She merely smiled amusedly at him as she held his hand. They made their way in silence the rest of the way home.

End of Prologue, but only the beginning…