AN: The following is a request made by an old friend; here you go T-Bones158. PS: Thank you Dracon90 for pointing out the small mistakes that irked my subconscious! I has fixed dem!

Disclaimer: Like many of you, I own neither Naruto nor Gargoyles, so don't come crying to me when you have to type this sentence.

"Spell"

"Normal"

"Foreign language"

Thoughts

Foxy Mutate

Prologue

Thunder boomed as a figure ran through an alleyway without any set destination in mind. A storm in Manhattan can be quite malicious, as some inhabitants that are more privy to the supernatural goings on of the city can atone to. This being, the one running through the alley way in the year 1998, however, wasn't one of them.

The person, whose height could be estimated to be about four foot five, give or take an inch, simply wanted to get out of the storm before—

A flash of lightning overcame the sky, causing some nearby lights to flicker and the being to release a yelp of fear. The flashing bright lights...how it feared the lights.

Just like it feared the red eyes that had been haunting its dreams for the past three days. The eyes were the shade of blood, but had three commas in them, swirling around the pupil like a pinwheel would. They were horrid to the being, who panted as it ran through the pouring rain. The eyes seemed to give off the feeling of a lust for power...and one of the earliest descents into madness.

The thunder rumbled in the sky and the figure tripped, allowing a streetlight to shine down on its form. It had what appeared to be golden fur covering its body, two fox-like ears adorning the top of its head, poking out behind the spiked fur that seemed to defy gravity. The head of the figure could be described as a Fox-man (i.e. Wolfmantm), the head being more human shaped whilst the mouth seemed to protrude from the body, similar to a fox's muzzle, only it seemed natural, not monstrous as one would assume. No, in fact if this face were to approach you in a dark ally, depending on your sex, you would snap picture after picture or bring the being into a hug just because of the adorable look on the being's face.

As lightning came over the city once again, the young being yelped and scrambled to its clawed and arched feet before resuming the dash for shelter from the bright lights. The being's breathing increased before its eyes settled on a small circle on the ground. Seeking salvation from the lights in the sky, the fox-like being skid to a stop, its clawed toes leaving marks on the ground, and using insane strength, lifted the sewer lid up and hopped into the hole, not caring about the possibilities of a drunk discovering the lid. With the fear of the lightning in the sky driving it, the being ventured into what is known by most Manhattanites as "The Labyrinth".

The young Fox-like being crashed to the ground with a yelp, gripping its left foot and yipping quietly in pain. Tears poured from cerulean blue eyes and a golden tail with a white tip curled around its back. The oddly dim lighting in the sewer bestowed more details on our Fox-like friend, allowing us to see a white patch of fur beginning above where a navel would be on a human and trailed down to what could be described as a canine or male mammal's 'sheath'.

Ladies and Gentlemen: It's a boy!

Our fox-like friend continued to whimper, yip, and quietly yowl in pain. Voices came to his attention and he scooted as far back as he could before, to his growing fear, he came to rest against a wall. Curling up and hiding his injured foot from the opening the voices echoed into, the boy held his breath and prepared for a confrontation. What he saw made his teary eyes widen a fraction of an inch.

"'I'm telling you, I heard something,'" A blonde woman with arched feet, cat-like appearance including ears, claws, dark orange-ish brown fur with two brown wings emerging from her back translated from a man whose appearance resembled a cross between a tiger and a bat to a man that seemed to also be a cross between a feline and a bat, the feline species being that of a black panther. The blonde woman sighed, "I know you heard something Claw. I do not doubt your hearing."

"Maybe it's one of Goliath's?" the panther suggested, narrowing his eyes and raising his hand, causing electricity to spark around it in an effort to bring light to the darkness. The fox-like boy widened his eyes even further and whimpered, backing into the wall as far as he could.

"That was definitely a whimper," the blonde cat woman said quietly, her left hand becoming coated with electricity. The tiger-man followed the other two's example and lifted both hands, also enshrouding them with electricity.

The boy yipped in fear, turning around to try and dig an escape route. The excessive chipping of claw against stone drew the three strangers' attention, however, and two of them gasped while the muted third simply popped his jaw open silently.

"I-Is that...A mutate?" the woman asked quietly.

The boy yipped again, the sound of electricity crackling bringing a phantom pain to the right side of his chest and causing him to become stricken with fear. The three strangers cautiously approached him, not realizing it was their impromptu lightning that frightened him.

"Hey, come here," the Panther-man said, lifting his left hand and beckoning to him. The boy ignored him, choosing instead to yip and yowl as he slowly dug to his freedom. The panther groaned in annoyance, his caution being cast aside while his curiosity and irritation grew.

"Hey!" he shouted. The boy stopped digging and fearfully looked back, before accidently twisting his injured ankle and yowling loudly in pain. He yipped and whimpered as he clutched his foot and fell to his back, more tears spilling from his eyes.

"Claw, go back to the Labyrinth and get an emergency kit!" the Panther barked, making the tiger nod his head before he ran off. The panther turned his attention to the Cat and said, "He's hurt, let's see what we can do."

"Right," the woman said, dropping her impromptu flashlight and approaching without haste while the panther strode behind her, stopping when raindrops fell on his head. He looked up and saw the dark sky of Manhattan, making him deduce exactly what happened.

The woman knelt next to the boy as he yipped and yowled in pain. She pulled him into a small cradling embrace and hushed him, "Shh, shh, shh...It's ok...We're here to help. No more tears...Shh..."

The boy's yowls and yips quieted with her soothing words. He did release quite the yelp when she carefully ran her hand over his left ankle and more tears fell from his face. The woman frowned, an odd sight on a humanoid cat-woman, and brought him into another cradling hug. The small boy curled up into an even smaller ball as she unconsciously rocked him to sleep while humming a soothing tone. A hand suddenly rested on her shoulder and she looked up to see her current lover smiling at her with his yellow eyes gleaming with amusement.

"Let's get him back to the Labyrinth, Maggie," he said quietly, noting the boy had easily fallen asleep in his girlfriend's arms.

"Right," Maggie replied, carefully adjusting her hold on the fox-boy before standing and walking back to their home.

A boy with black hair and the horrid red eyes glared at him as they stood opposite of one another atop a river. His opponent's navy blue shirt was slightly scratched and his white pants looked unscathed while he had several burns that were slowly healing. The healing burns ached, but for some reason, it wasn't as painful as the betrayal he felt in his heart.

"You can't beat me, Dobe," the boy taunted, making him narrow his eyes, "I've always been better than you."

"Idiot!" he shouted, "I don't care who's better! I just want you to come back!"

"I need this," The raven haired boy said with narrowed eyes, "And I'll kill anyone who gets in my way."

"Then I'll take you back!" he snarled, clenching his fists, "Even if I have to break every bone in your body!"

They rushed each other—

He snapped his eyes open as the dream ended. He had to shield his face from the surprisingly bright light shining down on him. Once his eyesight adjusted to the light, he blinked and hissed when he tried to sit up, his stiff and comfortable muscles protesting such movement. A clacking of claws against stone made his right ear twitch to the right and he turned his head to see Maggie smiling at him.

"Good evening," she said kindly, "My name is Maggie Reed. Can you tell me yours?"

The boy shook his head, making her frown as she noted the furrowing of his brows as though he was trying to remember his name. She approached his side and crouched to his height, lightly grabbing his arm and checking his pulse. Silently thanking her mother for forcing her to take an Emergency First Response class, Maggie released his wrist with a pleased note that his heartbeat was normal...or what she could perceive as normal for a mutate.

"How do you feel?" Maggie asked, earning a tilt of the head as an answer, "Does your ankle hurt?"

The fox boy shook his head once again before looking around. He spotted a pad of paper and a pen nearby, moving quickly to grab it. Maggie tried to stop him out of concern for his injury, only to watch in amazement as he put weight on the amateur wrapped ankle without a single yowl or yelp he granted her with the day before. Maggie watched as he ran back with the pad and pen in his hands before he began writing.

Only he wasn't writing in English, but in what had to be some sort of Asian calligraphy.

"Sweetie," Maggie calmly said, earning the fox-boy's attention as she placed her hands over his, "I don't know what you're writing."

He frowned. She couldn't understand him? But...he understood her perfectly...Kind of...Why shouldn't she be able to read his note?

"But I do know someone that does," Maggie cheerfully said as an idea crossed her mind, "Come on."

Ming Su was a kind old soul, having become one of the few former scientists working for Xanatos now helping the Labyrinth get back on track. She had her shoulder length grey hair done up in a bun on the back of her head and her wrinkled face was always turned upwards in a kind smile. She graduated from Harvard nearly forty years ago and still had all the knowledge she needed after such a hard eight years at a prestigious school and then some. To this day, though, she believed in the teachings of Buddha, as most Buddhists do.

She thanked the spirits every day she was granted with the ability to help those in need, and if it was one thing that the members of the Labyrinth community needed, it was help.

None more so than the unfortunate soul before her. A boy, possibly no older than thirteen, experimented on by her former employer and sempai. Disgraceful.

"Good morning, Maggie-san," Ming Su greeted with a smile, "How are you this evening?"

"I'm good, Miss. Su," Maggie replied, her own smile dimming as she recalled the reason she approached the only woman that would know how to read the Fox-boy's calligraphy, "But I need your help. Actually, we need your help."

"Oh?" the old woman asked as she turned fully towards the two in front of her. The fox-like boy was dressed in old worn jean shorts, a hole slit for his tail that lazily swished behind him.

"Yes..." Maggie said, lightly nudging the boy forward, "It seems he's like Claw, mute, or he just doesn't know English. He can write, though...but—"

"Not in English, I see," Ming Su replied with a nod. She noted the pad in the boy's hand and gave him a smile, "May I see?"

He gave the Old Lady the notepad with a smile and she returned it before looking at his pad. She blinked before narrowing her eyes and humming. Maggie nervously wringed her hands slowly and He tilted his head in curiosity. The Old Lady finished reading and looked at the boy with approval or praise, he wasn't sure which, and she said, "Maggie-san...where did you find him?"

"He fell through a manhole and sprained his ankle when he landed," Maggie said, making Him blink before he looked at his still wrapped foot. He bounced on it experimentally. It didn't hurt. He looked back at Maggie in confusion, wondering what she was talking about. Maggie continued, "Claw heard his cries of pain and dragged Talon and I from our night off with him to patrol. We found him near Thirty-First and Walter's. What does it say?"

"If I had to guess—""Guess?" Maggie interrupted, earning a slight look of annoyance from the woman that she went to.

"Yes," Ming Su nodded as she looked back at the pad, "A guess. His calligraphy is beautiful, almost artistic in a way, but it seems to be a blend of Chinese, Japanese, and Hungarian. What I can get from it, roughly mind you, is 'I don't know my name, or if I have one. Where am I?'"

"No name?" Talon, the unofficial leader of the Labyrinth's inhabitants and the eldest of the Maza siblings (Derek), asked as he walked up to the three. The boy moved quickly behind Maggie, poking his head out and growling at the panther man, eyeing his hands cautiously. The three all blinked in confusion.

"Hey now..." Maggie scolded, "Don't be like that. Derek didn't do anything to you."

"Bad!" the boy yipped out, making Ming Su blink. The two looked at her questioningly and she shook her head.

"All he said was 'Bad'," she replied with a sigh before folding the pad up and offering it to the boy. He took it without taking his gaze of Talon, a low growl coming from the back of his throat.

"Apologies, Derek-san," Ming Su said with a bow, "I don't know why he doesn't like you."

"No apologies necessary, Miss Su," the panther replied with a small smile, "We'll find out in time. But for now, let's give him a name."

"Fox?" Maggie suggested before shaking her head, "No, never mind. Xanatos' wife is named that."

"Tch, how about...Growl?" Talon jokingly suggested, getting a swat over the shoulder by his girlfriend, "Hey! I was kidding!"

"Perhaps we should use his apparent roots," Ming Su offered, making the three mutates turn to her with questioning gazes once again, the nameless one tilting his head cutely as he looked at her, "In many Eastern tales, a fox spirit known as a Kitsune makes an appearance from time to time."

"Kitsune?" Maggie repeated.

The boy smiled, his tail slowly wagging before he growled as Talon spoke again, "Nah, it's too...mature. Look at him. He can't be older than what? Eleven? Twelve? We need something that sounds young and tough. Something like, like..."

"Claw suggests the name Kit," Maggie spoke up as the tiger man signed a few more words out, "He says, 'A fox's offspring is known as a Kit, and like Miss Su stated, it is another name for a fox spirit, mainly a youth.' Hm...I like it."

"Kit?" Talon repeated, rubbing his jaw as he mulled it over, "It sounds...right."

"Indeed," Ming Su said with a nod before she smiled at the boy, "What do you think?"

"...Yatta!" the newly named Kit said with an energetic fist pump, making the three able to laugh do so while Claw silently shook with laughter.

~~~ A Week Passes ~~~

"KIIIIIITT!" Talon roared as he chased the youngest laughing mutate through the Labyrinth's main hall, "Get back here you little demon!"

"Kaasan!" Kit yelped, leaping into the arms of his awaiting adoptive mother. Maggie sighed as she caught her trouble making son and looked at a now pink Mohawk accessorized Talon. The boy mockingly buried his face in her neck and pointed at Talon, "Daddy's gonna shock me!"

"Look at what he did to my head!" Talon shouted, pointing to his pink do, "This is not okay! Control your son, Maggie!"

"He's as much your son as he is ours, Derek," Maggie giggled out, her amusement at her boyfriend's predicament being shown as she protected the prankster from his wrath, "Besides...I hear Tough Guys wear Pink."

"Wear pink," the panther grumbled as he glowered at the snickering mutate in Maggie's arms, "Not have a Pink Mohawk. Ya know how bad the guys are gonna rip me one for having pink hair?"

"Not as bad as they are going to Claw-Oji," Kit mumbled only to slap his claw over his mouth and innocently smile at his 'Mother' and 'Father'. Maggie put the boy on the ground and crossed her arms over her chest. Talon pinched the bridge just before his maw and rubbed it as he shut his eyes.

"Kit Sun Maza..." Maggie growled, making the golden furred boy bow his head, press his ears down and his tail go between his legs, "What did you do to your uncle?"

Over the short amount of time he had been there, Kit, or Kit Sun as he's jokingly scolded (play on words), had given most of the people within the Labyrinth a role in his 'Family'. Maggie took the role of 'Mother', a role she eagerly accepted when he first began calling her 'Kaasan' (she had to consult Ming Su for a translation before she tearfully hugged Kit and accepted the role). Talon had been blessed, or cursed depending on who you asked, with being Kit's father figure. Usually, Talon was happy with the role, as the whole Mutate thing made the couple of Maggie and Talon unsure about their future family, but when his 'Son' went into his more mischievous phases, Derek Maza put the role of parent away and left it to Maggie. Claw was granted the role of the 'Fun' uncle, or rather, 'Make Fun Of' Uncle. Not that he really minded, as his days usually consisted of patrols, sleeping, eating, watching the prisoner, and play games of poker with some homeless people.

"Nothing..." was the quiet lie Kit tried to play. His innocent tone was seen through by his mother, as always, and he sheepishly corrected himself, "I...shaved his head."

Maggie sighed and looked at the clock before shaking her head, "No TV for three days. You will tell your father how to wash the pink out before his poker night with the Trio and you will apologize to Claw. Am I understood?"

"Yes Momma," Kit said dejectedly. All I wanted to do was have fun though...I'm getting bored down here...

Maggie glanced at Derek, who seemed pleased with the punishment, and she looked back at the adorable boy with a smile. She slightly bent over and tilted his head up, kissing his nose and making him smile.

"Go see your Grandmother," the blonde woman said with a smile, deciding to have him go learn more history of the Eastern ways he had a knack for, "And then you're on dishes duty for the Youth tonight."

"Aww..." he whined before smiling and hugging her, "Ok! Love you, Momma!"

As he left to study with Ming Su, who took the role of a teacher and a grandmother, Maggie followed the fox boy with her eyes before turning to see a gloomy Claw enter the room and she lost the control she had over herself. Her laughter echoed throughout the Labyrinth, soon followed by that of Talon's and Claw's.

One thing was for sure; The Labyrinth Clan would never be the same with the newest addition.

AN: There! Prologue is done; keep an eye for the next one due soon! R&R!