Literally Pirateninja (shadowcat) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-01-20 23:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, kitty pryde (shadowcat), kurt wagner (nightcrawler), princess cadance |
Wanna play, ugly?
Who: Cadence, Kurt and Kitty
When: Sunday, Jan 20th
Where: On the street
What: A discussion of faith and then surprises ensue! Kitty spent her sick days designing a new costume..
Rating: PG-13 for violence
Status: Complete
Cadence had both longed to see and talk to Kurt, and been avoiding him at the same time. It was strange. She wanted to talk to someone about her feelings on God and her anger and fear, but at the same time she felt rather awkward about turning to him on her birthday. Even though it’d turned out all right, she was still a bit embarrassed.
She wanted to see him sometime this weekend, before going back to school and having all of her time eaten up on Tuesday.
Kurt picked her up that evening. He’d picked a restaurant that didn’t seem all that overpriced, and had dressed business casual. Nice enough to impress, but not so nice as to seem....overbearing.
Cadence was enjoying herself. This felt more like an official date than the last time she’d seen him, which would make it... date number two? Anyway, she was in a long, flowing skirt and a tight shirt with a puffy vest on top. It was a strange outfit, but she was in a bit of a strange mood. Didn’t feel like herself lately.
It’d been a really nice meal with lots of good wine, and Cadence had started warming up to the conversation she wanted to have with him. But she was still shying away by the time the check came. They paid and were headed out of the restaurant toward her car. Cadence took a step over toward Kurt, and her hand found his.
It was a strange outfit that looked good on her, and earned a lot of compliments. By the time dinner was over, Kurt had that warm and fuzzy feeling that only half had to do with wine. He gladly took Cadence’s hand, and they headed down the street to enjoy the unusually warm weather.
They were being followed.
Cadence wasn’t paying attention to anyone or anything around her, besides the warmth of Kurt’s hand and the chill in the night air. She stepped a little closer to him, still thinking about what she wanted to bring up. It would be so much easier not to talk about it. But Cadence was struggling. She needed to find peace within herself, and maybe Kurt could give her some advice.
She turned to him and squeezed his hand. “I have a question for you about... about God.”
“Ja?” He asked, turning his head to look at her. He slowed his pace, curious, and filled with an unusual trepidation. “Vhat do you vant to ask?”
“You had a falling out with God.” She said, softly. It was matter of fact, though, and not accusatory. “I... I think I have, too.” She was finally voicing things she’d been thinking, but didn’t want to say. “I don’t know if He’s real or not anymore. If He’s real, I’m angry with Him. If He’s not, I feel like I’ve wasted so much time worshipping Him.”
Kurt nodded, understanding what she was saying and where she was coming from. “First I questioned God, and then I questioned a lot of my teachings, and the vay I vas taught, and then I questioned myself, and vondered if vhat I had done vas enough, and if not, how much more of myself vas left to give? I don’t know, and I’m still looking for answers myself.”
“I don’t really have a problem with my teachings,” Cadence thought aloud. Though, if she was questioning God in general, maybe she should be questioning the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, all of it. “I don’t think,” she added, now slowing to a stop, standing with him in the alley and holding his hand. “...I just... if I’m so unsure about this, something I was so confident in, how can I be sure about the other things I believe?”
“Faith doesn’t stop just because we question it, liebchen. I believe there’s something, but I question vhat. Is God as powerful as ve think He is, or have we been duped?”
Something hard slammed into Kurt’s head, and he fell to his knees. Rough hands grabbed at Cadence, and there was men’s laughter.
Cadence gave a scream that was cut short at the hands on her. One lifted to cup over her mouth and pull her back and away from Kurt, her hand slipping out of his as he fell. She tried to speak, to cry out, to reach for her cell phone, but someone had his strong, rough hands holding her still.
“Let’s not make this more difficult than it needs to be,” the man holding Cadence said. His voice came right next to her ear, deep, rough and gravelly. He smelled like stale liquor and cigarettes.
Kurt tried to pick himself up, the world spinning around him. A foot landed in his ribcage, which he grabbed and twisted, taking one of the men down. Another grabbed him, and he struggled. It took a third to get him pinned down.
“Get his wallet.” Someone said, laughing gruffly. “If he keeps fucking with us teach him a lesson.”
“No! Stop! Don’t hurt him!” Cadence cried out, but her voice was muffled and drowned by the hand clasped over it. She struggled against her captor, finally getting one of her hands free of his arm. She bit down hard on the hand covering her mouth. There was a hearty yelp, and she was free of his restraints.
“You bitch!” Came the voice of the sour smelling man, and then with a thunk, Cadence was knocked backward, nearly up into the air, by a fist to her face. She fell down onto her back and had the wind knocked out of her.
There was a blur of movement, and the sound of a fist impacting flesh. One of the men staggered back, tripping over Cadence.
A woman was charging at another of the men. She jumped up, slamming her foot into his face. Pirouetting on his face as he went down, she swung out her other foot, catching his friend in the neck. She flipped off of him, rolling to her feet and squaring off against the big guy who'd first grabbed Cadence.
She had dark hair pulled up into a bun with a tail, and was wearing tight black pants, soft-soled black boots, and a black shirt that left her arms, shoulders and upper back exposed. A mask covered most of her upper face. She probably was about Cadence’s size. "Wanna play, ugly?"
The man looked a little surprised that his two buddies had been knocked down by... a masked vigilante? He broke into a grin, though, as his bravado told him that whatever this little cupcake was, he could take her. “I don’t think you can handle me, sister.” He said, lifting his fists. His attention was on her completely now, the other two--his intended victims--now forgotten as he approached the girl with the mask.
Cadence lifted her head to watch what was transpiring. She was going to have a huge bruise on the side of her face from that punch. Her head was throbbing and she was coughing to catch up with her breath.
The woman grinned bravely, her feet shifting on the ground. Then she sprung forward, punching him in the face, and passing through his body. Behind him now, she punched in the back of his head.
The thug didn't have time to recoil before he was being punched again, and fell forward from the impact. He stumbled, barely keeping himself on his feet. He turned around, staring at the vigilante with wide, terrified eyes. "What. .. What ARE you??" He asked, backing up and bumping into the alley wall.
Cadence was staring at the masked woman. The smack to her head must have jostled something loose. Did that woman just walk through that mugger?
Kitty thought this was like a movie, and that made it more awesome than the adrenaline that rushed through her veins. She wished someone had pulled a knife. "Shadowcat."
She disappeared into the ground, sinking like it was water. She appeared behind the man, sticking out of the wall and slamming his head back into the brick wall several times.
‘Shadowcat,’ Cadence mouthed, watching the girl as she disappeared into the earth then reappeared sticking out of the building. She watched as the other muggers got up, terrified at the display, and both went running off down the alley, stumbling and whimpering as they went.
The biggest of the three, the one whose head the masked vigilante was banging into the brick building, fell to the cold, concrete floor of the alleyway, unconscious.
Stepping out of the wall and standing on his back, Kitty nudged him with a foot, then hopped off and came over to Cadence. She helped her up to her feet and inspected her face.
Kurt had gotten to his feet. His nose was bloody and there was a big lump on the back of his head, but he was staring at Kitty like she had an extra head. His pride? Very much wounded.
Cadence hadn’t noticed that her nose was bleeding, too. She was going to have one hell of a shiner tomorrow morning. Thankfully, though, none of the bones in her face were broken. Her cheek was just throbbing painfully. She let the masked woman help her to her feet, staring at her as if she was a goddess. “Th-Thank you.” She stammered, then finally tore her eyes away from the woman and turned to look at Kurt. “Are you all right?”
"Ja. My pride hurts the vorst. I think I got a good one on one of them before they got me." He rubbed the back of his head, wincing at the bulb there. Okay, so maybe the world was spinning a little bit.
"Danke, Schattenkatze." Kurt bowed, wobbling a little on his feet. He leaned against the wall.
"Police should be on their way," Kitty said, suppressing a grin at the German. This was serious times, not 'omgfuzzyelf' times.
Cadence stepped over to where Kurt was and wrapped an arm around him. Even if his pride was wounded, she thought he was very brave. They were jumped by three dudes. It wasn’t as if it was a fair fight. And he’d already banged on a couple of them before the masked girl showed up.
Cadence turned her attention back to her. “Thank you so much.” She said, cuddling close to Kurt. “I... I really mean it. That could have been terrible.”
“Just take care of yourself and Fuzzy Elf,” Kitty said, waving a hand at them. She started to float up into the air, feet dangling above the ground. “I think you’ll both be fine.” She disappeared through the wall at the end of the alleyway.
“I will.” Cadence said, giving the woman a nod. She had no idea what that meant, she wasn’t sure what kind of elf was fuzzy. But she was too thankful and distracted to ask questions. The alleyway was spinning, and she clung to Kurt for support as much as to support him. She turned to look at him, giving a little wince and lifting her hand to very gingerly touch his jaw. “What did she mean? Fuzzy Elf?”
Kurt winced at the touch, but his eyes were narrowed. “I’m not sure yet, but I think I have a suspicion.” She wasn’t in any way familiar, but her display of prowess as well as what she’d called him reminded him uncomfortably of his dreams.
Cadence dropped her hand quickly at the wince. She shook her head a little and turned to stare at the big thug that’d wrapped his hand over her mouth, the thug who’d hit her across the face... also the one who passed out from having his head bashed into a wall by a girl who could walk through things.
“I’ve dreamed of people vith fantastical powers. Everything from manipulating metal, to lasers from their eyes. I don’t remember a ghost girl, but her eyes still seem familiar to me.” In truth, he felt a little drawn to her, but he couldn’t explain why, or how.
“You’re having... you mean the dream about the carnivorous island?” Cadence asked. She needed to sit down. There were police sirens coming in the distance. Of course, Cadence had read the conversation between Kurt and Lorna, and she did feel a bit jealous.
He nodded his head. “Ja, that dream.” He was too disturbed to pick up the jealousy, but did pull her tighter against him, protectively. “Vhat vill ve tell the police?”
“The truth.” Cadence said, softly. “That we were jumped by three men, started to defend ourselves, and a strange woman in a mask came and scared them off.” She was still wrapping her mind around the idea that the woman could walk through walls.
“Did you see the things she did?”
"Ja...I saw vhat she did. I don't believe it, but I saw it. That should be impossible." But it wasn't, he had seen it, and it had happened. He pressed his hand to the lump on his head again. "Mein gott vhat is going on.."
Cadence shook her head a bit. “I have no idea. She’s like... like a superhero. What did she call herself? Shadowcat?” Cadence thought that was the most amazing thing ever. She had a new hero.
“Ja..” He thought about the dreams. “I vas....Nightcrawler. In my dreams. I could teleport from place to place.” He also looked like a blue furry demon, but he didn’t want to think about that yet.
“Teleport? Wow. Really? I mean... I fly in my dreams sometimes.” Cadence hadn’t had any of the lucid dreams that were discussed on the valarnet. She was still just Cadence and knew nothing about her other existence. “...Nightcrawler, huh?” She asked.
The sirens drew closer, and Cadence’s head was throbbing.
Kurt leaned in and kissed her head. “It’s not important. Being avake is much more important. Ve need medical attention. I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to your father...”
“We’ll tell him the truth, too.” She said, closing her eyes and leaning against him. “Though, this is the second time my clothes have gotten dirty from laying on the ground when I was with you.” She added, trying to be playful, but the pounding in her face and the wailing of the siren were making it hard to think.
The flashing lights of the cop cars came into the alley, and the siren stopped as the policemen came to help get the situation under control.
It was several hours before he finally got Cadence home. Answering questions, going to the doctor, getting checked up and painkillers. It was past midnight as they stepped out of the cab. Kurt insisted on walking Cadence to the door. He was feeling somewhat clingy, and wished he could hold her longer.
Cadence took hold of his hand and let him walk her up to the front door. Her father was inside somewhere. She could see a multicolored glow, meaning the television was still on. She’d have a bit more freedom when she moved back into her sorority house. Now the plague was gone, it was safe there.
She turned to Kurt on the front step, holding his hand with their fingers laced together. “...well, I wish I could say it was the best night of my life, but...”
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” He kissed the side of her face that wasn’t bruised. “And I’ll make it a night to remember.”