Stickville..
Hope City...
A young rookie cop, Frank Miller, goes on a solo mission in an abandoned orphanage in the bad side of Hope City. He discovers the owners of the home killed themselves, leaving demonic symbols written in their blood everywhere.
He hears whimpering from the basement and finds a young girl. She is a mutant creature similar to a demonoid, but with stone-like skin and glowing red eyes.
He takes the child in, hiding her from the police. He and his wife, Carla, raise the little girl and name her Gara.
2130...
Frank, seeing the rise in crime across Hope City, trains Gara to use her demon-like abilities to fight crime and protect the city.
In 2145, Gara makes her debut as Gargoyle by stopping an attack by an apocalyptic cult called the Doomers.
In 2146, Gargoyle is recognized by the police as a vigilante when she takes down a local drug trade run by two of the most elusive crime families in the city: the Lion and Tiger clans.
In 2148, Gargoyle declares war on all local crime families in Hope City.
In 2149, Gargoyle takes down every famous crime family in the city, leaving only the Dog family, led by the owner of the Bone Casino, Alpha Parkinson.
2150... The year of Chaos...
A new group called Shockwave attacks a local bank and holds people hostage, preventing the police from interfering. They use powerful technology called Shock Gauntlets, which allow them to shoot concentrated air at their opponents.
The leader, Maxwell, tries to get his little brother, Finn, to murder some hostages to prove a point to the police, but Finn hesitates. Maxwell, annoyed, takes the gauntlet to do it himself, but suddenly Gargoyle arrives and takes the group down.
The police commissioner, Roy, uses the robbery as an opportunity to trap Gargoyle, but Frank hears of this and warns her in advance.
Thanks to that warning, Gargoyle escapes right as the police invade the bank.
The next day...
The prison truck carrying the Shockwave group is attacked by a mysterious entity called the Phantom. Luckily, Gargoyle, who has been watching over the truck, stops them before they can kill the prisoners.
Phantom's henchmen arrive and distract Gargoyle long enough for Phantom to kill most of the criminals, except for Maxwell and Finn. Maxwell sacrifices his life to save Finn, and Gargoyle uses the distraction to rescue him.
The next day...
At their secret base, Gargoyle interrogates Finn and discovers that Shockwave isn't just a small group, but a massive criminal organization operating across all of Stickville and using various crime families to distribute their services. Gargoyle realizes that the Dog family is involved in this and uses her powers to connect herself to Finn.
She then sends Finn to the Bone Casino to speak with Alpha. When Finn arrives, he meets Alpha, who reveals he was the one who sent an assassin to murder Finn's group. Alpha then orders Finn's execution.
While Finn hides in a bathroom, Gargoyle arrives and takes out a good chunk of security until Alpha confronts her and offers to talk.
He thanks her for getting rid of all his competition and offers to give her information on Shockwave's next business deal in exchange for Finn's life.
She agrees to the deal, much to Finn's horror as Alpha's men take him away to be executed.
Alpha reveals that the mayoral candidate, Victor Shane, is making a business deal with Shockwave to murder the current mayor, Emilia Harcourt. Once she learns this and the location of the meeting, Gargoyle attacks Alpha, heads off to stop Finn's execution, and the two escape the Bone Casino thanks to Frank appearing as their getaway driver.
The trio finds where Victor is conducting the deal with Shockwave and crashes it. As Gargoyle and Finn face the Shockwave soldiers, Frank chases down a retreating Victor.
Frank crashes into Victor's car and is about to arrest him when suddenly, Phantom arrives on the scene and kidnaps Victor. They warn Frank to stay away from their business and leave.
Gargoyle and Finn, who stole some Shock Gauntlets from the soldiers, battle the remaining forces but retreat when they hear the police approaching.
The trio meets back at the base, where Frank informs them of Phantom's interference. They wonder why Alpha would send Phantom to kill Victor.
Meanwhile, Alpha, furious about Gargoyle's betrayal, is met by his assassin, Sureshot, who tells him he never went to assassinate Maxwell's group. The two are left wondering who on earth sent Phantom there.
A week later...
Mayor Emilia gives a speech to the city regarding the death of her running opponent, when suddenly Victor's body is hanged across the building she is in. Phantom then appears on a giant screen and warns the city and Emilia that they and their group are coming to cleanse it.
Gargoyle hears of this and begins her investigation into Phantom. Finn offers to help so he can get revenge for his brother and friends.
At night, Frank is visited by a terrified Emilia, who takes him to meet some contacts who might help her. She wants his judgment on them since she trusts him. Frank reluctantly agrees and contacts Gargoyle to stay ready for trouble.
The two arrive at the docks to meet Shockwave soldiers led by Alpha. Alpha tries to convince the mayor to use Shockwave to hunt down the Phantom, but Frank warns her against it.
Suddenly, Phantom's soldiers arrive and attempt to murder everyone present. Frank tries to protect the mayor while Alpha escapes in his car. Gargoyle and Finn arrive and try to protect Frank, but he orders her and Finn to go after Alpha. She reluctantly obeys.
The duo chases down Alpha, crashing his car, and is about to capture him when Finn suddenly turns his gauntlets on Gargoyle and takes her down.
Gargoyle wakes up the next day to see Finn, Alpha, and Sureshot standing over her. Alpha reveals he made a secret deal with Finn through his men during the execution and knew she would betray him the whole time. He orders Finn to kill her, and Finn agrees.
Finn hesitates for a moment, then turns his gauntlet toward Alpha and shoots him down. Sureshot attacks Finn, but Gargoyle breaks free and takes Sureshot down. Sureshot manages to escape using a smoke bomb, leaving Alpha behind.
The next day, Commissioner Roy finds Alpha tied up on the front porch of the local police station with a flash drive containing his confession, and arrests him.
At the police station, Frank interviews Alpha before Roy gets a chance to. Soon after, Phantom arrives, attacks Frank, and kidnaps Alpha.
The next day...
Emilia hosts a parade to celebrate the capture of the last crime family member in the city, but the celebration is cut short when Frank arrives and reveals Alpha was kidnapped. Suddenly, just like Victor, Alpha's lifeless body is hanged on a nearby skyscraper, and Phantom sends a message declaring war on the city.
Meanwhile, Finn and Gara watch the celebration, and she uses the quiet moment to profess her love for him. Finn sadly rejects her. Before he can explain, Gara silences him, believing she already knows the reason. She thinks she is a monster and a freak, while he is a normal human, so it could never work.
Immediately after, Phantom snipers shoot at Emilia and nearly kill her, but Frank saves her life and gets her to safety. Gargoyle and Finn, who decides to go by the codename Roar, attack the snipers and defeat them until only one is left.
Just as they take down the final sniper, they are ambushed by the real Phantom.
Gargoyle faces Phantom, but is no match for their power and is defeated. Roar tries to hold them back with his gauntlets, but Phantom powers through the attacks and is about to kill them both. Hearing the police approaching, Phantom leaps out of the building.
The police find the duo and arrest them.
The next day...
Gargoyle wakes up in police custody and is interrogated by Roy. Frank takes over and devises a plan for her to escape. Just as he is about to execute it, Emilia arrives to talk to her.
The two end up having a heart-to-heart, and Emilia reveals she is a very big fan. Just as she is about to reveal a major secret, Gargoyle sees her chance and escapes.
Gargoyle rushes through the police station and spots Finn. She is about to save him, but Finn tells her to escape without him.
Just as Gargoyle escapes, Roy declares a manhunt for her, and the police begin chasing her down. However, Frank manages to find her and acts as her getaway driver.
Meanwhile, back at the station, Finn and the guards watching him are attacked by the Phantom, and Finn is kidnapped.
At their base, Gargoyle and Frank are randomly attacked by one of Phantom's henchmen, who reveals Finn has been kidnapped and that Phantom is summoning them to rescue him.
Gargoyle, furious, takes down the henchman, only for him to turn out to be a construct made of smoke.
Frank and Gargoyle head out to find and rescue Finn at an old, abandoned orphanage.
The duo reaches the orphanage and finds Finn tied to a chair, surrounded by Phantom's men. Just as the fight begins, Phantom arrives and casts the henchmen away.
Phantom then reveals herself to be Emilia the entire time. The assassination attempts had actually been aimed at Roy, who was a corrupt official working with Alpha. Her meeting with Shockwave was merely to find their location and attack them. Her war on the city was a plan to snuff out the last of its internal corruption.
Emilia also reveals that she was an orphan in that very same orphanage. She had been abused by her caretakers until a mysterious creature appeared, killed them all, and hid in the basement, allowing the orphans to escape and be found by the police. Emilia was adopted by a small family and was inspired by Gara to make the city better.
Once she grew up and entered politics, she realized the city's rot was too deep and decided to fight it herself. Seeking out the muman criminal known as Broker, she gained the power to manipulate smoke and create smoke decoys.
Emilia pleads with Gargoyle to join her in saving the city, wanting to start by killing Finn because he is a former criminal, believing all bad people must die.
Gargoyle vehemently refuses and attacks Emilia. The two engage in a long battle while Frank frees Finn and tries to help him escape.
Emilia defeats Gargoyle, fatally wounding her, and moves over to murder Finn and Frank. Finn tells Frank that he actually did love Gara, but couldn't say yes to her because he felt unworthy due to his criminal past.
He then pushes Frank aside and sacrifices himself by blocking Phantom's attack.
Gargoyle, filled with rage, gains a second wind and attacks Phantom. She is initially overwhelmed after a grueling battle that leaves both of them near death. Frank gets his gun and shoots Emilia as a distraction, giving Gargoyle the opening she needs to finish her.
Gara goes to comfort Finn, and as he lies dying, he professes his love for her.
The two share a passionate kiss before he passes away.
In her dying moments, Emilia apologizing for killing Finn, tells Frank and Gara that she has evidence proving Roy orchestrated Shockwave's continued presence in the city.
Gara makes a promise to her to save the city her own way.
She and Frank leave the orphanage and begin their war on corruption in the city...
One month later...
Evidence of Roy's involvement with the Shockwave organization and other political figures surfaces just as Frank decides to run for mayor.
Roy receives word that Shockwave is leaving Hope City for good and tries to pack up, but he is suddenly visited by Shockwave himself—the boss of the country-spanning illegal organization.
Shockwave reveals Hope City is no longer a good investment and that all loose ends must be tied. Before Roy can ask what he means, Shockwave kills him in cold blood. He then receives a call confirming that all the other politicians associated with him are dead as well.
He makes plans to leave the city, but sees on the news the main reason Hope City is no longer a viable investment.
There stands Gargoyle, stopping one of his assassins from murdering a politician. She looks directly at the camera as if staring straight at him.
Shockwave smiles and declares war.
"This means war."