Gargoyles X TMNT: Shadows of New York

As Above

"I'm just saying, our leader could stand to lighten up!" The red gargoyle said loudly. "We've been in this castle for almost two months, and he still hasn't let us leave!"

The TV babbled in the background, some commercial for a new dish soap. The three of them were draped across the furniture in various poses of comfort. The red one hung upside down from a heavy stone support beam in the old armory of the castle. The green one cuddled against an enormous pillow nearly his size, chin propped up under his elbows. The blue one lay like a boulder in the midst of an entire forest of plates, bowls, cups, and takeout containers.

The TV room was once the armory, now converted into a surprisingly plush living room, with a three-seater couch and a rocking chair that creaked just the right amount.

The red one surveyed the room, his tail curled tightly around the rock, his talon feet buried like hooks in the stone. So expensive. So well-made. None of this was supposed to be here. And neither were they.

He released his grip on the ceiling, flipping over and landing on his feet with the grace of a cat. The TV hopped on its stand as his weight shook the floor. The commercial rattled on, the human in the box more enthralled by how magically her dishes were wiped clean than the gargoyle that shook her tiny home.

There was surprisingly little response to his outburst. "To be fair," The smallest one bobs his bald green head. "It took us a month to even understand Modern English, let alone stop trying to kill the TV. We haven't even found out a fraction of the things that have happened since the Spell was cast. I'm just as anxious as you, brother!" He puts a hand, wide and lizard-like in the spread of his fingers, just on the folded wing of his red-skinned rookery brother. "But how do we expect to be safe if we don't know what's out there? Come on. Sit down, we'll finish watching the History Channel, and see what else is on after."

The red gargoyle looked at his usual place on the couch next to his brothers, heart tempted for a moment. But he snarled, yanking his shoulder away with a sound deep in his throat that would make most men cower. "Will you even listen to yourself? You're supposed to be the smart one, and that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" He roared, fury building in his throat as he looms over his smaller brother. "We aren't safe! We never were, never are, and never will be! Safety isn't real anymore!" He flapped his wings open, the cinnabar lips of his grotesque beak curled back to reveal his long, sharp fangs.

The smaller gargoyle shrank back. But not by much. His huge, round eyes narrowed at his larger brother. Eventually, he spoke. "You woke up at sunset like usual tonight, and not in a pile of rubble." He said with ponderous measurement. "I think that means, at the very least, we can trust that we're safe for now."

All three of them let that single 'for now' hang in the silent lull of the conversation. The smallest one had a point. It was an idea that had been swimming in their heads every single night since they first awoke in 2001. The feeling of inevitability, the weight of the knowledge that it wasn't an 'if', but a 'when' that underscored their relationship to this King in a Kingless World, Xanatos. When he would betray them. When they would wake up as mixings for concrete. Their very own tower wasn't safe, not after they watched the one across the horizon fall in a ball of flame and smoke.

"Oh, come on." The blue one, about half as wide at the shoulder and the gut as he was tall, threw up his claws with exasperation. "This isn't helping us. Any of us, least of all our leader or our mentor. Besides, humans can't have changed that much! They're still small, pink, and wingless." He thumps his fist into his dense, barrel-like chest, eyes alight with a gentle and encouraging cheer. "I say we do what gargoyles are supposed to do at night, and fly! Forget about what the humans will think, and just... live again."

"You're right. Gargoyles may protect the castle like they breathe air. But we still owe it to ourselves to live and thrive. We can't go back." The red one pulled a piece of string from out of his belt-pouch, and tied back his long, white hair. His beak set in a grim line, he sits up straight. "We can only go forward. Are you with me?"

"Yeah!" The blue one replied. The green one sighed. "Fine. But only if I can bring my notebook. I want to be able to show Goliath what we've seen and learned while we're out. You know, for... reconnaissance."

"Reconn...?" The red one scratches his head.

"Like that movie we saw last night! James Bond! It means spying!" The blue one answered.

The red one rubs his chin. "Yeah, good thinking! Xanatos must have a spyglass in this place somewhere, we can say we're scanning the horizon for more... Vikings?"

"The Vikings are a football team now." The blue one points out. "Unless we wanna go see a real live football game! Oh boy, I've always wanted to see one of those!"

The green one smiled. "Easy enough excuse. I think I saw on the news that there's a New York Jets game going on. If we're lucky, we can catch it before the game ends! See it for real this time instead of on TV!"

"Yeah!" The blue gargoyle's small eyes lit up, his earfins perking up with his smile. "They're supposed to be fighting the... Saint Francis Foreigners?"

"Yeah, the Jets have a skirmish against the Foreigners!" The green one hops up, toe and claw in the wall, and kicks off and glides away over the rabbit ears of the TV and over the back of the couch. "I mean, we're supposed to defend our home against foreign invaders. Right? We're just finding out what we're defending against!"

"It's not 'Foreigners', it's '49ers', guys." The ruddy one rolled his eyes. "The New York Jets versus the San Francisco 49ers, at the Giants Stadium. It'll be their first home game since... since the twin towers."

The green one shrugged on a small backpack. "Don't worry. We're only going to a football game, it's not like we'll run into trouble."

"Do you have to say that?" The blue gargoyle moaned.