All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.
Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Confusing Choices" in the Gargoyles saga and "Truths Behind Prophecy" in the Khan saga.
Even in the Darkest Night…
By SN/TVfan
Email: Sam_Nary
Tibet
Khan stood quietly as several of his followers, who had taken over the roles that the Illuminati scientists had once used his base fore began to deactivate the equipment to one of the cloning tanks. His plans were still going according to his schedule, and that pleased him. The recruitment of local people into an auxiliary force was moving along well, and the continued production of new supermen was continuing on at a good rate. Insuring that they had plenty of supplies was becoming slightly more difficult, as most Chinese military patrols were now under much heavier guard then before, but this wasn't enough to deter Khan from issuing new commands to his subordinates.
He was not, however, at the awakening of a new superman. This new clone was different from the others. Khan was also sure that this clone would be able to help him deal with things that were scientifically impossible to do, which would be a necessity in the coming battles.
"Are you ready?" Khan asked one of his nearby followers.
"Yes," the follower answered, "We are ready to shut down the chamber and allow the clone to live on its own."
"And you followed my instructions to the letter?" Khan asked.
"Of course, sir, although you will need to run tests to see if the clone possesses the original's full potential," the superman scientist answered.
"I need to test the clone to see if everything worked?" Khan questioned in a growling voice, "Shouldn't everything work now?"
"In theory yes, but you see sir, magical ability is not something that science can easily duplicate," the superman scientist answered, "It exists in nature, as the Illuminati's files have shown, but there is no evidence that it exists in technology."
"But we aren't cloning a machine," Khan pointed out.
"But a clone is not created naturally," the scientist retorted, "It is a mechanical process that manipulates nature. In doing so, it may not work as you foresee it, sir."
Khan was silent but looked on the scientist with an obvious look of mistrust and anger.
"There is also the genetic alterations you ordered made with the clone," the scientist continued, "Even if the cloning of the 'magic' was successful, we have no way of knowing whether or not the alterations that you ordered didn't do anything to alter the clone's ability to use that magic. This is the first time that anyone with magical ability has been cloned, and on top of that, it's not a simple cloning either. We've had to do major genetic alterations. Essentially we do not know what will happen."
"Be grateful that you are not an Illuminati scientist," Khan growled, "They would have killed you without giving you a chance. I am willing to wait for proof. If you have succeeded, you will live. If this clone fails, you die."
The scientist gulped and then turned to two other supermen standing closer to the chamber.
"Open the chamber!" the scientist ordered.
The chamber hissed as steam was let out into the lab's atmosphere and the chamber's door entered. While the steam was still thick and obscuring the view of the clone inside, one superman approached the chamber had held a bathrobe out to the clone in the chamber. A hand quickly reached out and grabbed the robe. Then as the steam dissipated, a woman with white hair wearing the bathrobe walked out of the chamber.
"Thank you for providing me with a robe," the female clone spoke, "Although I'm to assume I will be given more appropriate attire?"
"Of course, we aren't heathens," Khan answered with a smile, "May I ask you your name?"
"Given the genetic material that I was created from, I believe I will take the name Marilyn," the female clone answered, "And I trust I am not the only female in this facility."
"Approximately half of my forces are female," Khan answered, "You will have plenty of company."
"Your forces?" Marilyn asked.
"Yes, I am Khan Noonien Singh, leader of supermen," Khan answered, "But as every man needs a companion, so does every king."
"So I am to be your concubine?" Marilyn questioned, seeming to be very confrontational.
"No, I fear you misunderstand me," Khan answered, "You are to rule by my side. Whether or not you come to my bed or I go to yours will depend on whether or not we develop feelings of a romantic nature toward one another."
"So we are to be partners?" Marilyn asked.
Khan nodded.
"Excellent," Marilyn answered, "With your reason and my power, there is nothing that will stop us!"
Khan smiled, "You say you have power, would you mind giving us a small demonstration?"
"You want to see if their technology cloned the magic of the original into me?" Marilyn asked.
Khan nodded again.
"Procure for me some proper attire and bring me a list of you most powerful enemies," Marilyn answered, "and I will give you a proper field test."
Illuminati Council Headquarters, Unknown Location
"Things in Tibet are continuing to become more and more serious," One commented, "Reports have reached my desk that attacks are now occurring in areas outside Tibet, and the number of Chinese soldiers dying in this campaign is growing larger."
"Yes," Five nodded, "I'm afraid, sir, that we might have to have Khan take some form of direct action against these insurgents. Because if something is not done to stop them soon, the Chinese are considering an all out invasion of the province."
"Tibet is already a part of China!" Two gasped.
"Yes, but considering the level of the insurgency in the province, the Chinese have no idea about who is loyal and who isn't," Five answered, "and they are getting to the point where they will do anything to try and stop this insurgency."
"Khan is to remain in defensive positions around our Tibet facility," One said firmly, "This whole thing began with an attack on that facility. If we send Khan out after them, they could attack the facility again, and possibly destroy it."
"Then what shall we do?" Three asked, "They're ambushing patrols and stealing weapons and equipment. If we let them continue to have free reign over the region, we might as well surrenderChina and control the rest of the world."
"Things are not that serious," One answered, "I believe sending a lone agent into Tibet to observe the area will provide us with greater information."
"What do we do about the supposed reports we've gotten from New York and London?" Four asked, "The reports that it is Khan who is behind the attacks?"
"Ignore those pointless accusations," One dismissed the issue, "They are nothing but the delusions of other enemies of the Society."
"Are you sure?" Four asked, "The Manhattan clan has never attacked any Illuminati facility and neither has the London clan. In fact, we were the cause of all of their battles with us."
"That's because we tried preemptive strikes against them," Two pointed out, "Unfortunately for us, they've proven to be quite skilled warriors."
"I'm just very cautious," Four answered, "Even if it's a false accusation that they're making, I think we should look into it. I find it hard to believe that the Manhattan and London clans could come up with so similar stories and just be making them up."
"You haven't heard of the telephone?" Three asked.
"We monitor all international phone calls," Four answered, "We would have known from the outset what they were doing."
"We will send an agent to Tibet to observe the situation," One said firmly, "If he sees anything that might indicate that Khan is involved, we will investigate to make sure he is loyal. Until that time, we will not do anything, and will treat him like the loyal servant that he is."
The other Illuminati Council members then nodded, some a little more reluctantly then others.
Tibet
Marilyn walked calmly and deliberately into the main command room, wearing a black commando uniform and directly approached Khan who was standing near a large computer panel.
"Now, do you have a list of enemies that a major concern?" Marilyn asked in a somewhat demanding voice.
Khan then typed a series of buttons on the panel which illuminated a list of names and photographs on a screen in front of them.
"Our primary enemy is the Illuminati Society, but the plan for their destruction is already in affect," Khan began, "You are not to directly attack them."
"I don't see them on this list," Marilyn commented.
"That is because most of those that we will be fighting are also enemies of the Illuminati to some extent," Khan explained, "And since the Illuminati does not yet know we are their enemies, we have complete access to their files. This is a list of people whom the Illuminati have declared as enemies."
"Nearly all of them are gargoyles," Marilyn commented as she looked at the photographs.
"Yes," Khan nodded, "By listening in on their own network, we've found that they are quite paranoid about these gargoyles. A fact which will be useful for us."
"Useful?" Marilyn asked.
"Yes," Khan answered, "Gargoyles are by nature defensive creatures. They won't attack us unless we've already done something to them. When the time comes to bring the rebellion into the open, we must make the Illuminati think that we are gargoyles. And well placed propaganda will do that easily."
Marilyn nodded as she scrolled down the list of names until she came to the name of one individual gargoyle.
"You want to test my abilities, Khan?" Marilyn asked.
"Yes," Khan answered slowly.
"She will be the test then," Marilyn answered with a sinister smile.
Khan looked up at the image of a blue female gargoyle gliding away from some cathedral in New York. The gargoyle in the image wore a golden tiara, a halter top, and a loin cloth, held on by a belt. He then read the information that the Illuminati had collected on the gargoyle.
"You plan to challenge Demona?" Khan asked.
"Yes," Marilyn answered, "The perfect test of my power, wouldn't you think?"
"She rivals the Mage in terms of power, and according to Illuminati files, it took three fey and a clan of gargoyles, all armed with iron weapons to defeat him," Khan answered, "And there is believed to be at least one fatality as a result of that battle."
"All the more reason to use her as the test," Marilyn answered, "If she were to oppose us later, what makes you think she shouldn't be targeted now?"
"I would prefer not to have to deal with her until it is absolutely necessary," Khan answered, "Preferably after the destruction of the Illuminati."
"And suppose she strikes us first?" Marilyn questioned, "Suppose the Illuminati discover your operations and decide to unleash her on you?"
"That isn't likely," Khan answered.
"Maybe, but why take the chance," Marilyn answered, "If she is also an enemy of the Illuminati and I destroy her, they will not take me as an enemy of them. So it wouldn't implicate you in the slightest."
"True, but they may decide you need to be recruited in order to try and control you," Khan answered, "Which is something I can not allow."
"They will not recruit me, and Demona will be the test," Marilyn answered firmly as she snapped her fingers, teleporting a small hover cam to her from elsewhere in the base, "You can follow my progress as proof of my power."
"Wait!" Khan urged in vain, as Marilyn teleported away.
"She sounds quite ambitious, sir," Khan's second commented.
"An admirable quality," Khan answered with a smile, "So long as she remains loyal."
"What do you wish to be done, sir?" Khan's second asked.
"Activate the hover cam she took," Khan ordered, "We will watch her battle with Demona, and pray that she wins or at least survives."
Detriot, Michigan, USA
The night seemed fairly quiet as dusk descended on the Michigan city. Demona however, gave a somewhat frustrated sigh as she shook the last bits of stone from her wings. The Chinese clan was on its way back to Tibet to confront Khan and his supermen, and she and Wedrington had volunteered to help. However, the immortal female was incredibly frustrated by the fact that the Chinese clan would not allow her to use her magic to speed up their journey.
"At this rate Khan will have conquered China by the time we arrive," Demona grumbled, her frustration obvious.
"Je Lu's clan has a distrust of magic," Wedrington reminded her, "Not they necessarily think it is evil, but they just don't trust it all that much. I can't really say I trust magic all that much either."
"But you agreed that I could get us there quicker," Demona answered, "Why would you mistrust magic?"
"I trust you," Wedrington answered, "but if it was anyone else I would probably have the same concerns as Je Lu and his clan. Magic and sorcery took away my humanity. I would think I have good reason to distrust it."
"But why would you trust me and not magic?" Demona asked in a questioning tone.
"Because I've found you to be different," Wedrington answered, "At least different from the sorceress that changed me. There is goodness in you, although you've buried underneath some rather dark things."
"Then why not tell them that," Demona said firmly, indicating to Je Lu and the others.
"Because they don't know you as well as I do," Wedrington answered, "They know you as an ally who knows magic who can help them. But it is still something that they may not be prone trust being used on them. There is nothing wrong in not forcing something on others in many cases. The only thing that we lose by traveling this way is time."
"And if Khan conquers China before we get there?" Demona questioned.
"If you are concerned about that, that would presume that you care about the welfare of the Chinese people," Wedrington answered, "Am I to understand that you still at least distrust humanity?"
Demona didn't know how to answer that. Wedrington had just taken her own argument and used it against her.
"I was more concerned that he might become too difficult to beat without risking the lives of the Chinese Clan," Demona answered after a few moments, but knew for certain that while she wouldn't admit it, Wedrington had an effect on her in more ways then one.
Wedrington only sighed, "Come on, we should get some breakfast."
The two moved to the center of the roof they had perched on for the day and joined Je Lu and his clan in eating from a stash of food that they had packed prior to leaving Castle Wyvern. Halfway through their meal they heard a series of gunshots and screams coming from a nearby ally.
"What was that?" Je Lu asked, somewhat startled by the noise.
"It's probably just some human miscreant causing trouble," Demona answered, "It is of no concern."
"Are you sure?" Shi La asked, "Because the person who is screaming sounds terrified."
"It is not my concern," Demona answered.
"Maybe so," one of the Chinese males answered, "But I can not sit around and listen to those screams. I'm going to find out what is going on."
"Sun Tao, wait, I'll go with you," Je Lu spoke up, "Make sure you're not alone. It might be some superman or something."
"You shouldn't…" Demona stood up as if to argue.
"Why?" Sun Tao asked questioningly, "Those are gun shots. Someone could be hurt."
"Someone who is just as likely to hurt a gargoyle as help one," Demona answered.
"That quality is in everything," Je Lu answered, "That is yin and yang, if you use that to back a philosophy if isolation, then you have not accepted the reality of things."
"But…" Demona tried to argue.
"Please help them," Shi La spoke, "I agree that this might be dangerous, and you must surely know the territory better then we do. But we can not stand by and let some innocent get hurt, regardless of whether or not they like gargoyles."
"Fine," Demona grumbled.
Demona, Sun Tao, and Je Lu then approached the edge of the roof that was over the ally where the screams had come from. They found in the alley two people ducked down behind a dumpster. One was a teenaged male and the other was a teenaged female. Walking slowly down the middle of the alley was a middle aged man with a revolver in his hand.
"You punks have trespassed on my turf for the last time!" the man growled in a loud voice.
Neither teen said anything, but the male gripped the female tighter, as if he needed her for strength. The man raised his gun and fired at the dumpster. Almost in an instant, Demona had raised a shield the deflected the bullet away while Je Lu and Sun Tao dove at the gunman. The man screamed bloody murder and managed one wild shot, which flew harmlessly between Je Lu and Sun Tao, who knocked the man to the ground and knocked him unconscious soon after. Demona landed in the alley shortly thereafter.
"You two alright?" Demona asked Je Lu and Sun Tao.
"We are fine," Je Lu answered, "Should we check on the victims of this man's crime?"
Demona blinked and then turned back to the dumpster to see that the teenaged girl was standing, with her male partner leaning on her heavily.
"Gargoyles," the girl said sounding amazed.
"There are gargoyles?" the teenaged boy looked up suddenly, "I thought the news said they lived in New York?"
"Well, there are three of them here," the girl answered.
"So cool," the boy replied, "What do they look like?"
"Who are you?" Demona asked, interrupting their conversation.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I am Laura Wellington," the girl answered, "This is my brother Ron. Thank you for saving us."
Demona blinked. The last thing she expected was a 'thank you'. She only spoke in the hopes of getting them to go away.
"Can he see?" Sun Tao asked as he approached.
"No," Laura sighed, "Ron has been blind for as long as I can remember. It was a birth defect, I think."
"Why don't you fear us?" Demona questioned.
Laura stared back with a bit of fear in her eyes, "Should I have reason to?"
"No," Je Lu cut in, "Demona has had to deal with some rather evil people in her past."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Laura spoke to her.
"You weren't at fault," Demona sighed, not knowing what to make of the situation, "Do you have a home around here, somewhere?"
"Not really," Laura answered, "We sleep where we can."
"Does any one help you?" Sun Tao asked.
"Occasionally someone gives us a dollar or two," Laura answered, "We get buy. We're just on our way to the shelter that we commonly stay at."
"I hope things turn around for you," Demona answered, "You'd best run along though."
"Thanks again," Laura answered while beginning to help Ron get out of the alley.
"What should we do with him?" Je Lu asked in reference to the unconscious gunman.
"Leave him," Demona answers, "Those two will be long gone by the time he wakes up and even if the police arrest him, he'd be on freed again in a day."
Je Lu and Sun Tao sighed and began to scale back up the side of the wall.
"See, not all humans are threatening toward gargoyles," Je Lu then commented, "Those two teens seemed to be very friendly."
"Maybe," Demona answered, "But it has been my experience not to trust humans. Especially since most that I know who would probably defend gargoyle kind have actually become gargoyles."
"There are always more besides Wedrington and Elisa," Je Lu commented, "But in order to find them, you must be willing to look. Always keep that in mind."
"I probably should," Demona decided.
Yama and Yoshi, and group of Chinese gargoyles who had taken an interest in the short fight that had gone on, helped them back onto the rooftop.
"Everyone is ready to go, if you are ready to continue the journey toward Tibet," Yama spoke.
"You're going to Tibet?" a voice suddenly asked from nowhere, "Maybe I should have just waited for you to arrive then."
The entire group then looked up to see a woman in her twenties with long snow white hair, dressed in black commando gear, just floating above them.
"Superman!" Je Lu growled in an accusing voice.
"Superwoman, actually, but my point is not to argue on gender," the woman answered.
"Who are you?" Yoshi questioned.
"My name is Marilyn," Marilyn answered, "and I'm afraid you all are interfering with a test of my power."
"Your power?" Demona asked questioningly, looking relatively angry.
Marilyn only smiled and held out one hand. In it a small ball of emerald energy formed and then spread out in rapid succession, blinding all of the gargoyles. When Demona opened her eyes again, she found that she was the only gargoyle still conscious.
"What have you done to them?" Demona demanded, eyes glowing.
"If you worry about them, you needn't," Marilyn answered, "They're only asleep. And they will remain so until dawn, when they return to stone sleep for the day."
"Who are you, sorceress?" Demona growled.
"I told you, Marilyn," Marilyn answered, and conjured up a simple lightning spell and threw it at Demona, "Now, fight me."
The spell very nearly threw Demona off of the roof, but even still, it still gave her serious pain. This sorceress was quite powerful, and probably well skilled. Demona immediately took to the air, hoping to use her wings to keep the battle away from the other gargoyles who were unconscious and prepared for a counter strike of her own.
Demona silently chanted in Latin as she used her own magic to literally rip and through various bricks and other pieces of the surrounding buildings at Marilyn. The sorceress only created an energy shield that Demona's improvised projectiles simply bounced off.
"You're going to have to do better then that," Marilyn answered as she snapped her fingers and made a heavy chain appear and wrap itself around Demona, sending her crashing towards the ground below.
Demona gave a cry of pain as she hit the ground, and hit it hard. She landed on her back, and almost immediately she could tell that one of the bones in her wings was broken. She couldn't glide until tomorrow night, she had to wait for another day in stone sleep.
"And I was told you were supposed to be powerful," Marilyn taunted as she floated down to face Demona more closely, "But this was remarkably easy."
Using all the strength she had, Demona grabbed the chains that bound her and pulled them apart until they broke. She then slung the chains as a whip, landing a powerful blow across Marilyn's face and drawing blood. Demona then lunged forward and pushed Marilyn back into the side of the building, wrapping the chain around her neck.
"Never underestimate your opponents," Demona growled, "They tend to be stronger then they look."
Demona then took a closer look at her attacker. In doing so she had the strangest feeling that she had seen the woman's face before, but yet different. She couldn't shake that feeling, but decided to keep that away from her primary line of thought.
"Now, why did you attack us?" Demona growled, "What is with this 'test' that you refer to?"
"That is part of my creation, which I can not tell you," Marilyn answered, "I can tell you that it is to prove I am powerful in magic."
Marilyn then kicked Demona in the stomach, hard. The blow felt as hard as any physical blow she had received while she was still on her quest to destroy humanity from the clan. She flew back into the dumpster, aggravating the wing she had already broken, and slumped to the ground while Marilyn tossed the chain aside.
"Among other things," Marilyn finished.
Demona growled and fired a powerful lightning spell from each hand, throwing Marilyn against the wall with such force that some of the bricks looked cracked when she fell to the floor. The sorceress appeared to have a gargoyle's strength. She couldn't just use her magic as a shield to get in close, she was going to have to rely on her greater power to defeat Marilyn.
"Let's see how you deal with raw power," Demona growled in a low voice.
Demona cast her lightning spell again, which Marilyn this time managed to dodge away from. But from looking at her, Demona could see that sorceress had had enough from just one hit. She only created three spinning saw blades and flung them at Demona and vanished into thin air.
"This isn't over gargoyle," Marilyn vowed as she vanished from sight, "This was only round one!"
Demona managed to dodge most of the saw blades, but one did nick her arm as it went by. This made the immortal female gargoyle hiss with pain, and allowed Marilyn to escape. Once Marilyn was gone, Demona gave a defeated sigh and slowly made her way back up to the roof and sat next to the presently sleeping body of Wedrington.
"There is no way this is over," Demona growled to herself after a few moments.
Tibet, Shortly After Dawn
Marilyn sat quietly in front of Khan's desk looking rather depressed. She had sworn to defeat Demona, and had failed to do so, and she was sure now that Khan would have her killed for her failure.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I was not able to defeat Demona," Marilyn spoke slowly after a few moments.
"I know," Khan answered, "We watched on the camera feed that you provided us."
"If I may speak in my defense, she is quite skilled in magic and how to use it in battle," Marilyn commented.
"We warned you about that before you decided to go and battle her," Khan answered.
Marilyn looked somewhat depressed. It was beginning to appear that she might have to try and escape Khan's base is she wanted to survive.
"However, you did have Demona on the ropes for a little while," Khan answered, "And with a broken wing, she couldn't have pursued you all that well, even if you hadn't used magic."
"Sir?" Marilyn asked looking up at Khan.
"You more then proved your capabilities in magic," Khan answered, "According to the Illuminati's files, few sorcerers have ever challenged Demona directly and survived an all out fight. You not only survived but essentially fought her to a draw."
Marilyn looked up, suddenly beginning to regain her confidence.
"So you're not going to kill me?" Marilyn asked.
"No," Khan answered, "You've earned your spot as my partner. Now if you listen closely, I'll inform you on the details of the overall plan."
To Be Continued…