Sense and Sensuality - Part 2

     A smile curled onto Dendalli's lips as he sat upon the edge of his bed. He was leaned against one of the crystalline posts with a leg hung over the edge of the mattress. The sheer curtains around his bed shimmered, swaying ever so slightly from periodic movement of air within the room.
The reason for his smile would be found in the image displayed within the crystal ball currently held in his hand.
The young blond woman with glasses was visible within, walking and talking with a young man around her same height and age with tanned skin and black hair. He wore large square rimmed glasses and had a large red 'Z' within a red circle on his shirt. The two were apparently out on a date.
It had been an estimate of three and a half weeks after Dendalli had witnessed the altercation between the girl and the men in the mall parking lot. Since then, he was intent on learning more about her and her friends. In the past few weeks, he had learned a great deal about her and the people she associated with.
Her name was Kitty. She and several others around her age had become largely aware of the fact that the town they lived in was being frequented by a multitude of visitors from different planes of the multiverse; including characters from 'cartoons', 'anime', or 'video games' that they knew. As a result, they had formed some semblence of a group together and become friends. In fact, they had even befriended many of the aforementioned 'visitors' and even spent time together with them. It also became clear to him that they did more than just 'hang out'. Though he had not actually bothered to watch, he'd learned that many of them had been involved in sexual escapades with eachother. He also learned about the 'Fan Days' that took place at the town's convention center, along with this group that called themselves the 'Sisterhood'. He was also amused by the fact that Kitty had a tendency to show up and spoil things for them, mostly where her boyfriend 'Usako' was concerned.
That was another thing that intrigued him about her. Apparently, Kitty and Usako had a surprisingly open relationship in regards to 'characters' from other realms; so long as neither of them became involved with other 'real worlders'.
He was also amazed by her fighting abilities. Albeit she was not a master warrior, but she at least had relative ease in taking down average people in her world and even managed to go toe-to-toe with a few fighters from other realms. He was also fascinated by the ability she possessed; this "Kitty-Hame-Ha" of hers. To think that someone from this world had such abilities.
During his observations, he had also managed to take note of some of her interests.
She had a love of the arts and enjoyed singing and drawing.
She was also an obvious fan of video games. He had chuckled at seeing her play a few rounds in the arcades with her friends periodically.
She was a fan of anime, discussing it with her friends on many occasions.
She was a lover of all foods, but predominately enjoyed eating sushi whenever she was able.
She was also well-educated. She would, at times, go into discussion with her friends or her boyfriend about various subjects such as literature, politics, or world events. She was also well-spoken most of the time, especially during more poignant subjects.
She was truly unique; tenacious, intelligent, loyal, and a skilled fighter. And wrapped up in a very eye pleasing package, at that. He found himself emitting a chuckle as that last thought surfaced in his head.
His attention then returned to the two figures in the glass globe, watching them intently.
"See", Kitty said to Usako. "I told you it would be a good movie."
Usako shrugged slightly with a smile, answering "Okay, you were right. I just wasn't expecting it to have an actual story to it. It looked boring from the previews."
"See, you just needed to give it a chance", Kitty nudged his arm lightly with her fist. "Just because something looks like a 'chick flick' doesn't mean it's not gonna be good."
Usako chucked lightly. "Yeah, okay. You win. This time."
The two walked hand in hand down the street together, both smiling lovingly at each other. As they reached a street corner, they stopped.
"Still heading over to Jenni's to play more TMNT?"
Usako rubbed the back of his head as he answered. "Yeah, She's probably got the system all set up by now. You wanna come along?"
"Nah", Kitty waved a hand. "I have some unfinished cleaning to do back home. Plus, I need to run by the drug store for a few things. I'll call ya later, though, okay?"
Usako nodded and leaned in, the two embracing in a brief yet sweet kiss. "Te amo, sweetie."
"Te amo."
Dendalli watched as the two parted ways; Kitty crossing the street as Usako continued down the sidewalk. Watching as she walked by herself, Dendalli thought aloud.
"She's alone again... Well it's been three weeks. I think I've waited long enough. Now should be as good a time as any for us to finally meet."
He set the globe upon his bed as he rose to his feet, but maintained the scry so he could observe her as he changed. "What should my course of action be? A simple run in? She did mention where she was going. That would be the best possible way. Alright then..." Pulling off his robe, he walked over to his wardrobe and opened it, clearing his throat before speaking aloud to himself. "Good morning. No wait...It's afternoon now. Good afternoon, miss. How are you this fine...afternoon? Alright, that sounded off, didn't it? Good afternoon. How have you been? What brings you here today? Wait...that sounded a little too personal...This may be difficult. A pharmacy is not necessarily the best place to make an introduction. But how else would I catch her interest long enough to engage her in a conversation? Cannot simply walk up to her and begin speaking as if I know her. She'd probably just say-"
"What the hell do you want?"
"Yes, exactly. She'd...huh?" He then turned back to the bed, walking over as he looked into the crystal as the scry continued. He noticed Kitty stopped on the sidewalk with three men standing in front of her.
One of the men was topless with an intricate serpentine tattoo circling around his torso and right arm, wearing a mask that covered his face completely and had his long blond hair tied back in a thick braid. Just across to his right stood a slightly shorter man with ragged short blue hair and wearing a dark yellow vest with dark trim. He also had what appeared to be a blue scarf tied around his neck, as well as strange gloves covering his forearms. He bore a long jagged mark over one of his eyes; possibly a scar of some sort. The third stood at center just behind the other two; face unshaven and bearing a metal plate over the right side of it, housing a glowing red eye. All three men seemed to give off an air of danger with their presence. They also appeared to be blocking her progression on the sidewalk.
"Now that aint a very friendly greeting there, luv", the third man spoke first. "We're just out for a lil' stroll, we are." The man smirked, giving the obvious message that his intentions were not at all benign.
Kitty stared on defiantly as she glanced between the three. "Fine", she replied curtly. "Then let me pass." She tried to advance, but they continued to block her path.
"What's your hurry?" the blond in the mask spoke. "I think you owe us an apology for that rude little outburst."
Kitty shot him an icy glare. "I don't owe you a thing. Now get out of my way!"
Once again she was prevented from advancing. Now the blue haired man spoke.
"You don't seem to realize the position you're in, girl. You're not the one giving orders."
Kitty's patience was obviously reaching a limit, continuing to stare at the three defiantly. "I don't have time for this."
This time she basically shoved her way between the first two hurriedly, but was quickly halted when the third one had grabbed her by the arm.
"Jus' where do y'think you're goin there, eh sheila?"
Kitty retaliated in reflex by kicking her foot back into the man's knee, stunning him and causing him to release her. The one in the mask quickly turned, brandishing a set of metal claws.
"Look at this!" he said in a sick sounding chuckle. "The little kitten wants to play!"
"Let's play then!" The blue haired one grinned before rushing toward her.
By that time, Kitty had already taken off down the sidewalk in rapid strides. However, the three men were all surprisingly fast and were on her heels before long.
Watching this take place, Dendalli began to panic at her situation and was now hastening his dressing. I must hurry!!
Kitty was sprinting as fast she could, but it wasn't enough. The three soon caught up to her, the one with the blue hair leaping over and landing in front of her. Kitty skidded to a halt as he reached out to grab her. She just managed to duck under his hand to evade capture, making a quick bolt to the side into an alleyway. It was a foolish move made in desperation, realizing this as she was met with a chain-link fence a few yards down. Rather than stop, though, she lept and clung onto the fence, scrambling over it like a frightened cat. She hit the ground running after that, looking back briefly in the process. Foregoing the effort of climbing over as well, the one with the mask effortlessly slashed his claws at the fence, ripping the steel links like a razor through a sheet of paper, after which he and his cohorts pulled the links aside and ran through.
Shit!
She cursed as she caught sight of this before dashing around the next corner, hoping it would lead back out into the street. To her dismay, she skidded to a halt once more as she was met with a tall brick wall creating a dead end. She turned to try and head back, but froze as all of her pursuers were now standing at the entry, chuckling wickedly in unison as they casually walked toward her.
She took up a defensive posture as they approached, which only seemed to amuse them.
"Look at that", the one in the mask spoke again. "Looks like she still wants to play." "
You can't do this, you creeps!" she declared. "You know the rules!"
"Fuck the rules", the blue haired one spat back with a sneer. "They're made to be broken after all." He took several steps towards her, stretching out his right hand. The 'glove' suddenly shifted shape, elongating his hand into a sharp spear-like weapon. "Besides..."He pointed it at her. "I'm still itching to get a taste of what Dash had."
The sick grin he bore at her chilled her to the bone, shifting a foot back as she kept a defensive stance.
"Now Jus' a minute there, Four-Nine", the man with the plate over his eye interrupted. "Who said you get first crack at her?"
The other glared back at him. "You got a problem with that?"
"No need to fight, gentlemen", the one in the mask interjected. "There's plenty of her for all of us."
Kitty did not like where this was headed. She had no chance fending off all three of them and she knew it. Plus, fear was starting to get the better of her. She wouldn't be able to use the Kitty Hame Ha in this state. Even so, she wouldn't go down without a fight. She swallowed hard, watching the three come towards her.
Hiei...Wufei...K...Anyone...If you're gonna show up, now would be the time to do it...
Kitty watched as all three men closed in on her slowly. Until...
"HALT!"
The yell echoed through the alley and drew the men's attention, looking behind them. Kitty followed their gaze as well to see where the voice had originated.
She made out what appeared to be a tall figure standing at the entrance of the alley, clad in blue ...with long ears?
'Who the hell...?' was the first thought that surfaced in her head.
"Who the fuck is that?" K9999 said aloud.
"Ganging up unfairly on a lady", Dendalli stated in a declarative manner. "You have no shame."
The one with the plate over his eye laughed. "Get a load o' this bloke, will ya?"
The blond in the mask stepped past him as he made his own reply. "Whoever you are, I suggest you move along and leave us to our business." He then lifted his hand with the clawed gauntlet up for Dendalli to see, sunlight glinting across the steel blades. "Otherwise you'll end up regretting it."
"I think not", Dendalli replied in turn. "To leave a lady in such a distasteful situation would be a deplorable act." He then struck an odd pose, though obviously some defensive at-the-ready position. "It is obvious that you have less-than-honorable intentions towards this young lady. Therefore, it is you who should leave."
"Enough of this this shit, Vega", K9999 shoved the one in the mask aside and began to move towards Dendalli, spear-hand at the ready. "I'm gonna skewer this fucker."
As K9999 made the move to dash forward, Dendalli did a few rapid hand motions and said something under his breath. A swirl of heat formed in his hands before he thrust them forward, projecting a large fireball. The flaming sphere smashed into K9999's chest and sent him flying backward; Vega and the other man jumping aside as he came soaring down the alley. Kitty had barely a moment to dodge to the side and scrunch into the corner before he smashed through the brick wall where she had just been standing.
"SHIT!!" She shouted loudly in shock as she dodged. She then looked at her would-be rescuer. "Be more careful!" she shouted frantically. "Or were you tryin' to have him flatten me?!"
Dendalli's eyes widened slightly before making an apologetic face. "My apologies, my lady."
Right then, the one with metal plate over his eye stepped forward. "Let's see ya try that with ol' Kano, mate!" As he said this he withdrew several knives and swung his arm, releasing them towards his intended target.
Dendalli managed to jump out of the way before they became embedded in the wall behind him. Kano followed by throwing another set of knives, which Dendalli evaded in turn by leaping to the side off one of the alley walls. As he landed a foot onto the adjacent wall to jump again, Kano's red eye suddenly glowed brightly before releasing a streaming laser beam in his direction. Dendalli flipped back in an arched motion over the on-coming beam, landing crouched upon the alley floor. There was another rush of hand motions and utterance of words before his hands glowed white. Thrusting them out once more, a large bolt of light shot out into Kano's chest; knocking him back down the alley. K9999 was slowly getting up from the rubble of the brick wall, but was soon flattened again as Kano's body smashed into him.
Now, Vega was all that was left. Wasting no words, the blond spaniard dashed at Dendalli with amazing speed, slashing his claws at the elf. Dendalli managed jumping back to just narrowly avoid the blades striking his body; yet the attack left three clean slashes in the fabric across his stomach. Taken aback slightly, Dendalli began another sequence of hand motions... but was interrupted when he had to evade another attack. Making several attempts while dodging Vega's swift strikes, Dendalli managed to complete the hand motions successfully before shouting out.
"Hail of Blades!!"
In response to this, a multitude of daggers began materializing out of nowhere, whirling around Dendalli's body like a tornado.
Vega leaped back in surprise; an expression of shock concealed beneath his mask. "What is this?!"
Kitty also stared in shock as this took place; Dendalli now standing several feet in front of her as the blades circled his body.
"I have no wish to kill you." Dendalli watched his opponent from behind his wall of daggers. "You and your friends leave the lady be and depart from this place at once and I shall cease any further attack on you."
This only seemed to fuel Vega's anger. "You dare usher me demands?!" With that, Vega began charging toward Dendalli at full speed.
Dendalli responded by raising a hand, causing the blades to shoot out at Vega in unison. In an amazing feat of speed, Vega dashed left and right; successfully dodging them all as they came at him. Dendalli watched in surprise as Vega followed up by leaping over and landing behind the wizard. Before Dendalli could react, Vega made a swift and powerful slash with his claws into the elf's back, sending him careening forward onto the pavement. Kitty gasped as she watched her defender fall to the ground.
Standing tall and triumphantly afterward, Vega sneered beneath his mask and spoke mockingly. "Fool. Handsome fighters never lose battles." He then turned to Kitty, who was still standing in the alley corner, and walked up to her. "Now", he said as he grabbed her by the wrist. "Where were we, little kitten?"
"Let go of me!!" She shouted, trying to pull free.
Vega merely smiled beneath his mask. "Feisty, I see. You shouldn't resist so much. You'll enjoy this much more if you just relax."
Kitty gasped slightly as her eyes widened in shock once again. Having been amused by her expression, it took Vega a moment to realize that her gaze was no longer directed at him... but behind him. He looked back over his shoulder to see what she was looking at... and watched as the pale elf slowly rose back to his feet.
Dendalli dusted himself off. "Phew...That certainly knocked the wind out of me."
Vega whirled around to face the elf he thought he'd defeated. "That's impossible!! How could you survive that attack!?"
Dendalli gave a casual smile. "Simple. I came prepared." He then patted his chest a few times. "'Stone Skin' is a rather handy enchantment, wouldn't you agree?"
Amidst their conversation, Kitty took advantage of Vega's distraction and delivered a swift swing of her leg up into his groin, causing him to release her and stumble back. As Vega held his crotch in pain, Kitty ran over to Dendalli's side.
"I don't know who you are, but thanks for the help."
"Anytime, my lady", Dendalli smiled.
The brief discussion ended as both noticed that Kano and K9999 were finally getting back up from the broken brick wall.
"Oh great..."
"Fear not, my lady", Dendalli said reassuringly. "I believe that one more spell shall take care of things." With that, Dendalli began one more rapid succession of hand movements and spoke something aloud, ending with a hand pointing in the air. All of them watched.... but nothing happened.
"The fuck was that about, 'ay?" Kano sneered.
However, they all soon noticed that it suddenly got darker in the alley. The men had only enough time to look up before they were suddenly flattened against the ground by a monstrous looking bear.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Kitty let out a shriek of fear and surprise at the creature's sudden drop from the sky. She then felt the wizard take her by the waist and pull her against him. She had no chance to protest before he spoke.
"Hang on, my lady. This is not a place we should remain."
His free hand moving swift and brief with an utterance of words, Kitty felt a wash of energy around the two of them before she was startled by the realization that they were beginning to lift into the air. She instinctively clung onto the man as they floated away from the ground; ascending several stories upward until they cleared the edge of the roof of one of the buildings walling the alley below. Touching upon the center of the roof, their ears soon caught the screams of the three men below and the monstrous growls of the creature attacking them.
Kitty stepped away from him, looking somewhat frantic."What the hell WAS that thing?!"
"A Dire Bear", he replied plainly. "A creature resembling a regular bear, only much larger and more aggressive. A savage and dangerous creature."
"Where the hell did it come from??" She paused a moment. "Did you actually SUMMON that thing or something?"
"Naturally."
"ARE YOU NUTS! You can't do something like that!! That thing's gonna run around town wild and-"
"Please calm down", he rose a hand to cut her off. "There is no need to worry. I will dismiss the spell and send the creature back from whence it came. I merely summoned it for the moment so we would escape without any further trouble. Observe." He then walked to the edge of the roof near the alley and peered down into it before making a brief hand motion with a single word. Soon after, the monstrous growls ceased. Dendalli turned back to Kitty with a calm expression. "There. Crisis averted. Are you content now?"
Kitty just stood there staring at him with a rather flabbergasted look on her face. She stood in stunned silence for about half a minute before she finally spoke.
"Okay... Not that I'm ungrateful for all your efforts in helping me get away from those creeps... But just who in the hell are you?"
With no change in his calm expression, Dendalli slowly walked towards her, proceeding to remove his gloves in the process. Kitty watched as he stopped in front of her and bent the hand holding his gloves behind his back before reaching for her right hand with his other. He rose her hand to his chin and bent his head slightly to softly lay a brief kiss upon the bend of her knuckles. Kitty's eyes blinked in surprise and puzzlement as the wizard smiled warmly while his crimson eyes met hers in reply.
"Dendalli Blackhorde. At your service, my lady."