Of Spiders and Stone

Ch. 1 Close encounters of the strange kind

I do not own Spider-Man or The Gargoyles

Marvel and Disney do.

Positive reviews are welcome

Authors note: Seeing as Peter has a female doppleganger belonging to Earth TRN454 named Petra, I thought it would be nice and pretty awesome to do a crossover between both The Gargoyles and the Ultimate Spider-Man, or in this case, the Ultimate Spider-Girl. And seeing as since Disney owns both franchises, its only fair that someone does a crossover that hasn't been thought of like this before. So, without further ado, allow me to introduce, Of Spiders and Stone.

Ch. 1 Close encounters of the strange kind

Manhattan, New York

7:45 pm

The night had fallen just minutes ago, the streets were packed with civilians going about their daily lives. The city was quiet for a change, despite the hustle and bustle of the nights citizens trying to either go home, find entertainment, or just by chance, trying to find someone or something to do in which to enjoy their time living their individual lives.

'THWIP'

A thin strip of near white substance caught on and pulled taut upon a neighboring building as the cities protector went about her nightly patrol, swinging in the air, both hands grasping a single strand of webbing, her swinging momentum bringing her low, before snagging the webbing to bring her back up.

As soon as her body was once more high in the air, she extended her left arm, middle and fourth finger of her left hand bending inward, another 'THWIP', and another line of webbing flowed from her webshooters attached to her wrists from beneath her red and black web patterned gloves.

Releasing the old line, she repeated the same swing as she gazed about her home, her city, her responsibility, the buildings passing her by at a rapid speed.

Who is 'she' you ask? The obvious girl, shooting strands of webbing from her wrists, swinging through the night, from and often between the New York City buildings, dressed in a red and blue spider themed costume with black webbing on the red areas of the suit, a small black, thin spider on her front, just above her sternum, and a red, large circular one on her back, a red mask with black webbing with white lenses with black, spider eye-like rimming surrounding both lenses, with both rims ending at the top with a curved hook-like pattern? The gloves and boots were red, with black web patterns, leaving only the upper legs, ribs, and most of the back in blue.

Her name, is Petra Parker. But when in the suit, she tends to go by the Vigilante name of the Ultimate Spider-Girl.

Several blocks from a recently completed, very tall skyscraper in the heart of New York City, also known as the Eyrie Building, under the ownership of David Xanatos, she landed on a ledge, next to the Gargoyle statue she's come to affectionately call 'Bruce', "Hey Bruce. Slow night?"

Looking at the thing, being merged into the building, with its tongue sticking out in its forever frozen expression, wings outstretched, and spiked horns running from the front, to the back base of its skull, if there was one thing the Petra Parker appreciated, was that Bruce was a quiet listener who helped her by letting her vent and figure out the answer to most of her life's little issues.

"Yeah, me too old buddy. Met any female Gargoyles yet?"

Once again, its deadpanned expression spoke louder than words, "Ooohhh, the silent type, huh? She got a name?"

Just as she was about to get all snippy as a way to pass the time with her stone friend, the sound of explosions and gun fire from far above the darkened clouds drew her attention. Snapping her head towards the source of the disturbance, she saw that atop the tower of the Eyrie Building, beyond the vaporous mist concealing the remainder of the building, was various flashes of light followed by even more constant gun fire and explosions. 'Can't believe Xanatos would collect the remains of an ancient castle from Scotland. Let alone put it atop of his so called 'home'. Just what is going on up there?' Petra asked herself.

There were increasing flashes of red light from beyond the clouds, with more sounds of heavy gun fire being very familiar to her ears.

"That don't look too good. Well, looks like the night isn't so quiet after all." she said to herself as she stood. "See ya', Bruce. The night's still young, and so am I."

With those words, she jumped from the ledge, and into the nights sky, firing a web line on an opposing building, and swinging off to discover the source of the fire fight followed by explosions.

It didn't take her long to reach the newest New York skyscraper when she swung in and saved a sort of friend and Police Detective named Elisa Maza from becoming a bloody smear upon the city streets below as huge stone slabs fell from the dark, cloud filled sky. Large, ridged, stone based boulders were falling, placing the citizens whom watched the light show up above, in grave danger.

Landing several feet away from where the boulder fell, Spider-Girl released the Detective as her eyes found more civilians in harms way. With a quick reaction, both of her hands shot out, releasing more webs to snag and pull the people out of harms way. She gazed around, noticing a red metal support beam had already impaled a taxi. Thankfully, after visually searching for the driver of the yellow vehicle, she noticed as a tall, yet thin brunette haired male with a New York Taxi Service hat on his head and a black jacket on his back, was openly weeping for the state of his now demolished car.

Once she was sure the people were safe, with the fire fight still occurring up above, Petra turned to the Detective who nodded in thanks with a stern expression, "I'm going."

"I'd expect nothing less, Spidey. Just, be careful."

With a two finger salute, Spider-Girl shot out another strand of webbing that attached itself to the building as high as it would go. With a jerk, Spider-Girl hoisted herself high into the air. As soon as she was able, she attached herself to the front of the building. Shooting two more strands while sticking to the side of the building, Spider-Girl pulled back on the webbing, and releasing her feet's sticking ability, was flung up with a sling shot maneuver. She did this several more times in order to gain altitude.

But as she was half-way there, she came across something that she wasn't sure was real, right after a metal pole fell past her, a pole that she just so happened to have caught with a strand of webbing and stuck to the wall before her with more webbing. Of course, being the person she was and the crazies she's had to fight on a daily basis, crazy was now an everyday norm for her.

Her ears picked up the sound of metal as if it was being shredded. Looking up, she caught the sight of something she would never have thought possible, even beyond her wildest dreams, or nightmares, however one would look at it. A giant of a man with lavender, stone based skin coloring with wings like that of a bat, only the wings were protruding from his back, was clinging to the side of the building, several feet above her. A trail of torn building as if he used it to slow his falling momentum, was clearly seen with what her eyes could make out, just above this human-bat character. His feet had hind-like haunches, much like that of most bi-pedal animals. And it also had a tail. Wait, what? A tail?!

It's hair was beyond shoulder length with pointy ears. It appeared humanoid from what her eyes could make out as it stuck to the wall of the Eyrie building with its bare hands, leaving a trail of claw marks almost as if it slid down until it could gain a decent grip. That meant that the creature before her had claws that were capable of tearing through both stone and metal.

Shooting a strand of webbing a little higher to the creatures right, she pulled herself forward as she managed to land on and stick to the wall with one hand while keeping the other free, as she stood with both feet on the plexiglass window, beside the said creature on the side of the building.

"Hi there, names Spider-Girl. Your friendly Neighborhood Wall Crawler, and Heroine Extraordinaire. And you are?"

The creature gasped, seeing the heroine sticking to the wall beside him, "What manner of creature are you?" it asked in a deep European tone of voice.

"I could ask you the same thing, tall, dark, and handsome." And boy was he ever handsome in her eyes as she looked him up and down with an approving eye. 'Momma likey! Momma likey, a lot.' she thought to herself. 'Bad Petra.' she chided herself with a mental slap on the hand.

He had musculature that could rival most male heroes and villains in this day and age. 'And those legs'. Once more ogling the sight before her, 'Bad Petra, no googling possible bad guys!' His voice had a hint of a brogue Scott-ish accent to it, making him all the more attractive in her book.

Goliath was shocked as to the fact that a young woman, dressed in the manner that this...human child currently was, was able to stick to walls, much like himself, only without claws, using the palm of her hands and finger tips to hold herself to the building, and the fact that she called herself a Heroine in this new day and age. By her voice, he could tell she was still somewhat a child, mayhaps a bit older than most, and younger than what he was used to. Just what kind of world did he and his Kin awake into.

And yet, he was not amused at the humor in her speech pattern, and gave her an annoyed and weary look, "My name is Goliath." he growled.

"Woah, Goliath. Like as in the Biblical sense?"

"Not exactly." he rumbled in his deep voice. "I was named after the Philistine in which David slew."

"Ok, that's one mystery solved, but doesn't answer my first question. Just what exactly are you?"

"I am a Gargoyle."

"Get out of here. For real?"

He raised a brow at the shock his answer provided.

"You're a real, honest to goodness, Gargoyle?"

"You sound surprised."

"Well, yeah bu..." More sounds of gun fire from above interrupted their discussion as both turned upward.

"I must aid my brethren and protect the castle."

"Need a hand?" she asked.

"You are still a child." he replied in a harsh rebuke.

"Hey, you'd be surprised at what this child can do." she remarked back. With that, She shot two more strands of webbing from both hands, pulled back when they latched on several feet up, and was propelled upward as soon as her feet let go of the building. Goliath, seeing this, merely glowered as he too began the trek back up to the top of the castle.

And yet, he was amazed at the young ladies willingness to jump into danger, not even knowing of the threat above. His eyes watched as the speed at which she moved ahead of him until she was enveloped and concealed within the clouds above, was much greater than even he could move. Her...ability to stick to surfaces, even ancient stone, made him wonder, was it sorcery that gave her these abilities, or was it something else? Then there was the webbing in which she shot from her wrists. As the image of a spider laid before and on her chest and back, it was an appropriate thought that webbing was an accurate assumption that she produced in order to move as she did.

Meanwhile down below, Detective Maza, after insuring the safety of the citizens, crept to one of the fallen slabs of stone, her eyes gazing upon the claw marks within the stone. As her fingers brushed over the clawmarks within the huge stone debris, she asked aloud to no one in particular, speaking to herself more than anything, "Claw marks?"

Turning her attention upward, with the female heroine long lost in the clouds above somewhere, doing who knows what, she wondered to herself, 'Just what in the world is going on up there?' With no other course of action, she swore she get to the bottom of whatever it was that was causing stone and damaged beams to fall from the sky while the clouds at least revealed flashes of red light followed by the sound of gunfire mixed with the sound of thunderous explosions.

She noticed just in time as she leaped away and to the side when another large slab of stone fell where she had just stood mere seconds before. Another had managed to smash a fire hydrant that then burst with water that shot up into the air. Detective Maza pulled her jacket closer around her as she thought to look back at the stone with the claw markings that was now wet from the gushing torrent of water, "What could be strong enough to leave claw marks in solid stone?"

High above the newly minted skyscraper, one of the younger Gargoyles was not having fun anymore. Having woken up in this strange new world and time, only to now defend the last piece of his and his clans past from a group of unknown assailants. Try as he might, even his limited knowledge of the unknown...bandits for lack of a better term, had managed to snag him just as he managed to escape another exploding metal ball.

He thought to stun and surprise the concealed person when the said person caught him in midair and followed through, using his own momentum against him.

"Got ya!" the man said with a dark smile, the younger Gargoyle crying out in pain and surprise at the level of strength the unknown masked figure possessed, when another voice rang out.

"And I got you, big boy." a feminine voice shot out.

"Huh?!" the human said when he then yelled as he was snatched away from the Gargoyle, only to meet sweet blissful darkness when his back slammed into a stone wall. He sank to the side a bit and groaned before he lost consciousness.

The Gargoyle on the other hand, barely raised himself up to lean on his hands when his eyes sought out the source of the voice. He just about jumped back, being startled by the form of a human wearing what appeared to be a red and blue bodied suit. The humanoid, with a black spider mark, this person or...thing landed beside him, crouching like the very thing upon its or her, if the curved attributes of the body he could make out, chest. It's white lenses for eyes shrank as it took in his form, and even more shocking to the youngest of the Gargoyles, was the fact that when it spoke, he could clearly hear the voice of a woman behind the now clearly red, white, and black masked savior. He clearly was stunned as the female then crouched on its haunches and held out a hand to him, "Need a hand, Greenie?" she asked.

"Wh-Who...What are you?"

Another explosion caused the female with the spider emblem of a spider clear as day on her chest, to look to the side and to the source of the explosion. Quickly turning back to him a second later, she replied as she held her hand out to him once more.

"Introductions can wait, we have a Castle to defend and secure, so to speak." she said as she then, faster than his eyes could track, stood and raised her right hand, bending her middle and fourth finger digits, shooting out a strand of what he could only describe as webbing from the underside of her wrists. With a powerful pull with only one arm, she was swinging into the air, searching for more oddly masked marauders to stop, or so he hoped.

Goliath came to land beside his now rising Clansmen, his eyes looking over as if to search for any sign of damage to the young Gargoyle.

"Goliath," he said in shocked awe as he watched the woman...spider he supposed, take down a duo of the armed marauders with ease as her webbing hit their chests, she standing between them with her arms crossed, and with an almost impossibly high jump in the air, snatched or pulled on both strands of webbing, forcing the bandits to unintentionally collide with one another. It happened so fast, his eyes and mind could barely believe had he not seen it for himself, "who is that?" he queried, pointing a single digit at the spider masked girl.

"A friend, I would presume." Goliath replied in his usual way, with a near growl in his tone as he himself watched the girl perform some almost insane aerial acrobatics for one so young and agile, dodging the weapons fire of the attackers with ease, almost as if her bodies capabilities allowed her to sense danger and avoid it before she could come to harm. She then dodged another explosive metal ball by jumping so high and far away with a double spin in midair, she literally stuck to and landed in a crouch upon another adjoining stone wall while being upside down. The white and black lenses of her masks eyes squinted as if she was glaring at the fact that the armed men possessed such a weapon.

Another of the armed thugs threw a object at Goliath and his younger companion. The object didn't explode, but did begin to release a gaseous vapor that caused both Gargoyles to choke and cough, forcing them to their knees.

"Goliath!?" the masked heroine cried out as she threw herself far into the air and landed beside the two Gargoyles. Thanks to the filtration system in her mask, she wasn't affected like they were as she shot her webbing. Snagging the gas spewing canister and pulling, she then twirled the item in question in the air and with a springing snap shot, released the webbed object. It flew far and true until it was well beyond the castle walls. She could only hope that the canister itself would run out of gas before touching the city streets below.

"Got it!" she head a voice shout out as another helmeted thug ran out of one of the castles halls with a shaded briefcase in hand. She then realized that they weren't any ordinary thugs with high tech weapons, but thieves looking to make a quick buck with whatever is was inside the case. The skies then lit up in brightness as one of his accomplices pointed a oddly shaped flaregun in the air. A white, blinding flash from the flaregun shot out a projectile high into the air. The said projectile then exploded, creating a bright blinding flash that then nearly blinded the unprepared Gargoyles. She had to turn and cover her own face with one hand when she heard and felt a helicopter make its approach a top of the castle.

"What is happening?" Goliath hollered out as the helicopter touched down, the power of its blades kicking up much dust and debris from the nights fight due to the damage the castle sustained from the battle, forcing the Gargoyles to shield themselves with either their arms and or even their wings. It also had the fortunate effect of forcing the remnants of the noxious gas to suddenly dissipate very quickly.

"It's a helicopter." Spider-Girl replied. "They're trying to get away."

"Then we will stop them." he said as he made to push through the still blinding light and noxious dust when Spider-Girl sensed danger and threw herself at Goliath, knocking him away from a heated laser blast meant for the apparent leader of the Gargoyles. From the scarring of the stone flooring, she knew that the laser could cut him down like a hot knife through butter.

She landed in a sprawl on top of him when the blast skimmed to where he had stood just a second before.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" she hollered out over the roar of the helicopters powerful motor and spinning blades. Just as the last man was in the helicopter, it began to lift off. She could have sworn she saw as Xanatos himself stood a top of a higher vantage point of the castle, drawing a gun of his own, only to be disarmed by what looked like a Shuriken or sharp knife, thrown accurately by one of the assailants now leaning out of the still open doorway of the somewhat hovering transport.

Fortunately, Spider-Girl had the advantage of being beneath the said transport as she extended her arm and wrist, firing a projectile of her own beneath the belly of the chopper. As it connected, the escape transport rose higher into the air just as the flashbangs effects began to diminish.

It vanished only moments later as she and the Gargoyles quickly made it to and crowded around the billionaire, though she had shot a strand of webbing to and propelled herself to a side wall beside Xanatos, using a hand once again to cover her eyes from the dying flare of the flashbang device.

Once the flare no longer permeated itself high above the air, the night returned to its natural darkness. Beneath the mask, Petra Parker smirked as the projectile she had shot, was in fact a spider tracer. She'd follow it to its source later, for now, she needed answers.

"Boy Xanny, you sure know how not to throw a girl a party." she said when the helicopter flew out of view.

"Spider-Girl." he acknowledged with a nod, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was in the neighborhood. And since this is my city..." she trailed off, leaving him to think and fill in the blanks of what she wasn't saying.

Xanatos didn't show it, but already knowing how to read the face of a man thanks to Nicolette Fury's S.H.I.E.L.D. training, she could easily see, he wasn't happy with her being involved. He hid it well, but she wasn't fooled in the slightest. She'd have to keep a close eye on the guy in the time to come.

In the meantime, an intake of still gasping air forced her attention to a red skinned Gargoyle with white hair, and highly pointed red horns. Her jaws almost became unhinged beneath the mask as she took in his form. He bore the physique of an lean athlete like a swimmer or an long distance Olympic Track Runner. Plus, the skin color was spot on for one such as the Gargoyle before her. In Lay Mens terms, it suited him. With the loin cloth around his waist like all of the other males of their species such as what she could see all around her, she wondered if they were as well equipped in the south as they were in the north. She didn't mind the beak so much as she barely paid it any heed.

'Whoa girl, where is this train of thought coming from?' she asked herself as she could have sworn that she was beginning to feel a bit bothered by just standing before the beings before her.

"Ach, and who is this Goliath?" the old one among the group asked with the strong Scottish Brogue in his voice.

"Are you some kind of spider powered witch or something?" the youngest asked a second after as he continued to fire off questions just as she was known for doing at times. "How can you produce webbing from your wrists? Is it real webbing? Can you really stick to walls? How is it that you can jump so high and not get hurt? How were you..."

"I believe those questions can be answered at another time." Goliath stated as he placed a hand upon the younger Gargoyles shoulder in a gesture that left no room for insubordination, as it was apparently that the second oldest nd maybe even the strongest Gargoyle of them all, was also the head of the Clan as the younger, light brown toned one had to bow his head, abashed for the way he fired off question after question. His face took on a slight dark tint to his cheeks as if embarrassed for being so curious. "As for her name, she claims to go under the nom de guerre, Spider-Girl, and she has my thanks for her aid on this night, and for saving my life."

'Awe, shucks, he's making me blush.' Petra thought from beneath the mask, ever thankful that she wore it even now. "No biggie." the spider themed heroine said as she held one arm behind her back and waved the other.

A slightly bluish dog-like Gargoyle slowly came to her, making her gush at how cute he looked, despite being what it was. Lowering into a crouch, she held out her hand as she then said, "Aaawwwweee, he's so cute."

That apparently was the right thing to say as the Gargoyle dog took the risk of sniffing her hand and then began licking it, eliciting a squeal of happiness from the heroine who then ran her gloved, free hand over the beasts head and then began scratching the webbed left ear, much to the creatures delight. It leaned into the touch and crooned in only the way a dog could as it enjoyed the show of attention given.

"So like, what are you? Friend, or Foe?" the red one asked suspiciously.

"She's a vigilante, so to speak." Xanatos stated. "One among many in this current day and age, unfortunately." the last spoke with a level of upmost contempt, though the spider heroine didn't catch it as her attention was elsewhere.

"And a fine fighter she is too." the old one stated with a look of approval as he looked on at the physique of the wee lass and was proud to see that even a woman could could hold her own in a fight and do just as much as a man, even in this day and age.

The red Gargoyle in the meanwhile, wanting to take his mind off of the suspicion he held about regarding the odd suited girl whose physical image he could not help but stare at, began another line of thought verbally, "Yeah well, what I really want to know is, who were those people? And those weapons. I've never seen their likes before. And the flying creature that carried them off!?"

"A dragon without a doubt." the old one stated, his fists at his side and resting on the belt holding the loin cloth.

"It wasn't a dragon, it was a...a machine of some sort." the small one said, stepping up with a look of astonishment, and if Petra didn't know any better, she wold swear there was an extreme intelligence in that Gargoyles brain, with a thirst for knowledge.

"Actually, it was a helicopter. A sort of flying mechanism used for transporting people and or cargo. Anyway, where or when are you guys from?" Spider-Girl asked.

"Scotland lass." Came the old ones reply.

"I guessed that much with your accent." she said as she raised herself up and placed her hands at her hips. "What I meant was, how did you get to this time if you don't know what a helicopter is or anything having to do with the weapons that those mercenares used?"

"It was Magic." Goliath stated with a dark growl. His eyes glowing in a way, though she thought that the glowing eye thing must be something their kind was known for.

"Magic?"

"Yeah, we were frozen in stone by a spell for a thousand years." a big bellied Gargoyle answered. He had the look of was a big ol' softie with a big stomach to match, especially for one who was always hungry, and the churning of his stomach agreed as he held his stomach. "I'm hungry, does food still exist here in this time?"

If Petra could face plant like the anime's she often watched, she would have. Even a sweat drop would have sufficed. Alas, it was not to be as she wore a mask in which to protect her identity, and in turn, her remaining family and friends.

Before Spider-Girl could reply, David Xanatos then walked forward to speak, "Thank you Goliath. Without you and your friends, who knows what those thugs would have done."

Goliath, no longer the trusting type, and for good reason, replied, "Someone I once trusted said the same thing to me, and then destroyed my people."

"Woah," Petra said in regret as she could imagine his and the remaining Gargoyles before hers, pain. Every day, every time she put on the mask, it was to remind her, that because of her inaction, her Aunt Benny was gone. Her Uncle Mathew did what he could for her when Benita Parker died all those years ago. And that's why, every time she wore the identity of Spider-Girl, she'd remembered Aunt Benny's last words that would guide her for the rest of her days, words that defined who she was, 'That with great power, must come great responsibility!' It was her life's moral code in which she lived by. She had the power to and obligation to help give back to the community and if possible, save lives when the Law could not.

"I can see that I'll have to work hard to earn your trust." While Goliath glared and bared his incisors with a warning growl, the Millionaire then pulled out from an inner pocket within his suits coat, a mobile device that he tapped a numerical sequence that not even Petra could see, and spoke into it. "Owen, we need a cleanup crew outside."

As Xanatos finished the call, the spider themed heroine then asked, "Uh, not that I don't mind being here, because I don't and am rather taken with this little guy here," she said as she patted his head, something that caused the dog-like Gargoyle to lean into with his tongue hanging out, enjoying the affection given it, "but...who were those guys again and why did they attack you?"

"I'd like to know that as well, as I'm sure the head honcho in lavender stone skin would like to know the answers to that question." A new voice growled out as a woman in a black trench coat with a black suit underneath, a black eye patch over her left eye, with short black hair and a single brown eye walked out of the shadows of one of the castles halls with her hands in her jacket pockets.

This was none other, than Nicolette Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. America's number one threat response division against hostile forces from within and without the great U.S. Of A. Beside her on her right, in a fancy suit, standing at 5'9, with her hair pulled back in a long ponytail, and with dark brown eyes, and a average slim build, was her right hand woman, Philimina Coulson. On her left, was the no non-sense Agent in a standard S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, was Marcus Hill. He had the classic build of what a true soldier of the current era was supposed to look like. Standing at just 5'11 with black hair, brown eyes, and a stern expression to boot, Marcus Hill was an intimidating figure, only tempered through his bosses patience.

Marcus Hill would go above and beyond the line of duty for his commanding officer, mentor, and friend, even if he had to crawl through the fiery depths of Hell itself in order to assure the mission was done.

Xanatos placed his head in a single hand as he groaned in annoyance as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. made its presence known.

Nicolette Fury walked past the self made millionaire before he could speak as she walked up and gazed into the eyes of Goliath. She would be impressed, if she wasn't already familiar with the existence of other Gargoyles from around the world. The knowledge that the Supernatural realm had protectors of the night, such as this legendary figure before her and his kin whom stood behind him.

Goliath was the first to speak, "Who are you, human? And why do you not find our existence so surprising?"

With a small smirk, the Head of S.H.I.E.L.D. replied, "You think you're the only Gargoyle in the world?"

Whatever Goliath had been expecting, it was not that, as he and his brethren all gasped, "There are others?" Goliath's older companion asked in stunned shock.

"There is." the woman said. "And the names Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. We've been monitoring your recent expeditions to Scotland for some time, Xanatos." she then spoke as she turned to the man in which she was addressing, "At the time, we wondered why. Now we know. Tell me, did you really think you'd be able to hide what you were doing from under my nose? Please, you've got to give me more credit than that."

Stepping into the mans space, she got in his face, her nose nearly touching his own, "Just what in the Hell, were you thinking, bringing them here and undoing the magic that kept them contained and safe? Do you know the amount of paperwork I now have to go through for them and the debriefing with the President? And let's not forget the last thousand years worth of history they should be briefed on themselves."

"I had it well in hand." the man growled back.

"Like Hell you did. Your actions as of late have left a major clusterfuck of epic proportions, rich boy. A clusterfuck that I now have to fix. I am not happy." she said as she then stepped back and gazed at all of the Gargoyles and sighed, "Goliath, right?" she asked as she pinched the bridge of her nose

"It is." the second eldest Gargoyle said as he had watched and was impressed with the way this human female reacted to his and his Clans current situation and the way she had handled the man responsible for their awakening, "Look, I'm not sure what all you know at the current moment. But if it's all the same, I and my people will handle the situation from here. You and your Kinsmen have a lot of catching up to do regarding the happenings of the last thousand years. We'll find out who those people were and why they attacked the last vestige of what was once your home."

"And why should I trust you?" he demanded with his large arms crossed and his wings encompassing his body.

"Trust is a two way streak in this day and age. You've got to start off somewhere. And as an answer to your question regarding the issue of trust, you don't. Just trust that you are way out of your league at the moment and if you were to go galavating all over New York like I think you will, you might not like what you find."

"She's right lad." the old one stated as he rested his one good eye on his former pupil. "For the time being, we must do as she says. Besides, this is our home. No way we can allow it to remain defenseless again. But, it's your decision Goliath." with a tired, worn sigh, he finished, "As it is, we have no where else to go."

With a begrudging amount of respect for his elder, Goliath wearily agreed, "This castle is our home, no matter where it has been taken. We will stay here."

"Excellent." Xanatos said as he brushed past the head of the worlds top Spy Agency, taking Goliaths rather large clawed hand in hi own, the wealthy Entrepeneur then stated, "I know you've been used poorly by man in the past, but all that is about to change. Trust me."

A small part of Goliath yearned to trust man once more, but his faith in man had been shaken rather harshly, more than once. But looking at this man before him, something nagged him at the back of his mind that he'd come to regret doing so. Still, the leader of the Gargoyles gave the human a stern warning, "You broke the spell of sleep that imprisoned us, Xanatos. And for that, we are grateful. But, we will never trust humans again."

"Not even me?" Spider-Girl asked as she spoke up with a faux tone and a hand held innocently to her collarbone.

"With respect for your actions, young one, and for saving my life, my words remain the same." he answered.

"I understand." she said as her hand fell and her shoulders slumped. In truth, if she had undergone what Goliath had went through, she'd no doubt feel the same.

"I can tell that this relationship is something we'll all have to work at." Xanatos replied with a questionable smirk, leaving Goliath to growl wearily.

"Good luck with that. I don't trust you, and I barely know you, Xan-man. Still, it is getting late," Spider-Girl said with a tired yawn as she then raised her arms high and stretched, "I'd love nothing more than stay and chat, but I got a bed with my name calling. So, see ya. Later Fury, Coulson, Hill." she said the last name with contempt. She then jumped high and spun backwards until she fell from view beneath the castles high point, her last words reverberating in the air as she disappeared, "Later Goliath, see you guys tomorrow."

The Gargoyles minus Xanatos, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, and Director Fury quickly went to the banister and stopped to watch as the last view of the girl hero vanished with only a rather large and very round red spider being the last image of her they saw as she vanished into the clouds down below.

"I'm going to be blunt David Xanatos, you make my skin crawl. But know this, you so much as step out of line that puts New York and its people at risk and or place these Gargoyles in any danger, and I promise you, I can and will make your life a living hell. And that, you can take to the bank." Fury said as she leveled a single eye on the wealthy businessman, showing she was not in a joking mood.

Turning back to the Gargoyles a few seconds later, she then said, "Welcome to New York, Goliath. I'll have my people come up with a way to get in contact with others of your kind to better help you...acclimate to the current period."

"My thanks, Lady Fury." Goliath replied.

"Just Fury or Director Fury. I have no other titles outside of my job within S.H.I.E.L.D.. Until then, try and not scare too many humans by being open with your existence. Don't need the wrong party's showing an interest in you. And remember," here she leveled a glare at the underlings of the two elder Gargoyles, "I will be watching."

Turning on her heal, she left in the same way that she had arrived, with her two people following her a second later.

Getting back into their transport on the other side of the castle where they walked onto a ramp of a hovering Quinjet, Fury was not surprised to find Spider-Girl waiting for her, leaning against a metal frame. "Ms. Parker?"

"Nicolette!?" Petra said sarcastically, she gently kicked off of the said metal frame her mask off as she wore a troubled expression. "I'm getting a bad vibe about just leaving those...those Gargoyles in Xanatos hands."

"Agreed, but what would you have me do, Parker? You know as well as I, that Xanatos has a lot of money and very influential within certain circles."

"We can't let HYDRA know about them or we'll be in even more trouble. Which is why it's a good thing I placed a tracker on the transport chopper as it was making its escape." she replied as she turned her left wrist right side up and a holographic 3-D virtual image of the entirety of New York came into existence. The signal was still strong as the transport choppers signal kept pinging until it stopped over a certain segment just above the city. Despite the get-away chopper no longer moving, it appeared to be doing just that.

"Tell me, that's not one of you guys." Petra said as she turned to her mentor figure with a flat stare.

"No, we don't have any air ships in that general vicinity. I'll put an alert out to our closest Heli-Carrier in order to get to the bottom of this. Rest assured Petra, we'll figure this out." Fury replied as she placed a hand on her assets left shoulder.

"I don't trust Xanatos. He's up to something. And it's going to put everyone of the Gargoyles, including Goliath right under the radar of everyone of our enemies. If I know anything, it's that people like him and Osbourne will pay through the nose in order to get their hands on them. And let's not even get started on exactly what Doc Ock would do if she learns of our new friends." she shuddered to think about the repercussions should any within her own Rogues Gallery learn of the Gargoyles.

"We won't let that happen." Agent Coulson said as she had stepped over to a computer terminal and was typing away when she stopped the young heroine verbal worries. "In the meantime, maybe it's for the best that you keep an eye on the Gargoyles. Be their chaperone as well as their friend. If Xanatos tries anything, we'll be able to catch him in the act."

"Good idea." Petra slurred with a hint of playfulness, her eyes rolling as they landed on her friend.

"Remember Parker, these guys were ripped from all that they knew in less than twenty-four hours. For them, it's only been moments since they were home. They're still coming to terms with the fact that to the outside world, it's been a little over a thousand years."

"I know." she said accompanying her reply with a sigh. "Still, I gotta get back, otherwise Uncle Matt will flip his lid if I'm not back in time before his scheduled curfew."

"Hard to believe you still let him in, Parker." Fury snorted.

"I didn't let him in, he sort of...found out and it went on from there. If I didn't get home from patrol by a certain time, he'd come track me down, shotgun and all." still, all in all, it wasn't so bad. He forgave her for what happened regarding Aunt Benny, and supported her decision to remain as Spider-Girl since Petra reminded him of his wifes words, 'With great Power, must come great Responsibility!' The Parker Family credo. In return, with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best tech heads as aids, a tracking system as well as a two way visual and audio set-up, was used to upgrade Petra's suit so that if either or Petra and Matt needed to talk or keep watch for the goings on on the street, they'd have each other as backup and support. She'd almost feel a great swell of pity for whoever would force Uncle Matt to enter the fray, his favorite shotgun, or as he loved to call it, his 'Boom Stick', in hand. 'Curse you Bruce Cambell!'

That caused a chuckle to be let out by the three S.H.I.E.L.D. Personnel for a few moments before all kidding ended when Petra suddenly became sullen just thinking of her beloved late Aunt.

Seeing the tiredness setting in her protoge's eyes, Fury then said, "Get out of here, kid. Let us worry about finding those punk ass mercs. If we need you, we'll call you. Until then, get some rest."

Petra, having long removed her mask, nodded before slipping it back on. With Marcus opening the back hatch of the Quinjet since it flew off moments after leaving the newly built Eyrie Building, watched as the worn Spider powered hero gave a final exhausted sigh one more time, lazily saluted them all, and then threw herself off of the lowered hatch of the jet. Thankfully, the Quinjet was near the Parker residence so Petra wouldn't have to web swing far. Having watched her free fall until she finally released a strand of webbing on a light pole and swung away, Marcus Hill looked on with respect as the heroine made her way home.

He still had reservations regarding the girls need to do what she does, but he understood the reason why Petra was doing it, in order to honor her fallen relatives last words. Despite his rough demeanor, Marcus Hill had a tremendous amount of respect and deep down, admired the girl. If she wasn't so young and he a bit older than her, he'd like to think that there would be a chance between them. But alas, it was not to be, as Marcus could only watch out for the Spider-Girl from an arms length.

Of course, that and he didn't want to experience meeting her Uncle with his shotgun in hand. He mentally shuddered at such a meeting and how badly it could go. Stepping away from the lowered hatch, Hill hit the button beside him, and observed with the wind slightly flowing over and through him, as the hatch closed.

Without much more to go on, the high end Agent joined his boss and partner as the pilot of the craft flew the Quinjet back to headquarters. Off in the distance ahead, the early morning sky began to alight as the sun rose just over the horizon.

So, what do you think? Does it deserve a second chapter or what? More ahead for the others. I don't remember whom or when, but a reviewer for my story Gambit, thought I should try something similar with Harry wishing to be like Captain America instead. What do you think? Leave your comments in the review box and remember to stay positive. Until next time.