Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness Falls ❯ Chapter 9: From Crunches to Punches ( Chapter 9 )

Author's Notes:

Caerné: I made a little change to chapter 7. Gaddes calls Allen boss instead of sir. It fits better don't you think?

MdnitePrncez: K's. Review peeps.

Caerné: Maybe we should stop asking…it's not really working…

MdnitePrncez: No, wear them down enough and they'll give in.

Caerné: Okay, read the chappie peeps and then deposit a nice review as a donation on your way out!

MdnitePrncez: Yuppers. Thank you for reviewing, Feye Morgan!

Caerné: Okay, we're going now. Byes!

Mdnite Prncez: Ja ne!

Chapter 9~~ From Crunches to Punches

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Alex, Dilandau, Merle *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Coming out of the park, the group walked down the road and took a turn down a dark alleyway. After walking for a few yards, they came out of the darkness and into the light of the few sporadic orange streetlights. The atmosphere was cool and calm. The wind blew softly bringing with it the fragrant smell of pine trees and wildflowers. The only sounds that could be heard were the beats of bass and turntables that lightly wafted through the cool air and the sounds of shoes quietly stepping on the hard concrete covered ground. The blissful mix of melodies and silence was broken by the eerie sounds of rubber screeching across the pavement. The screech was followed with the sounds of a male voice yelling out and the unnerving crunch of something metal being smashed and dragged on the ground.

Coming out of the darkness, Alex heard the scream of an unfamiliar male. She rounded the next corner and froze. The two behind her stopped and watched her as her breathing became uneven and labored. She saw it. The bike belonging to one of her best friend's was now smashed into an unrecognizable wreck of the road. A crowd was beginning to gather around a man and a figure on the road. A figure she knew all too well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Willow's Magic Shop*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The two men followed the shorter girl outside the shop. Willow stopped and turned around. She looked into the eyes of both of the men that stood in front of her. Taking one of their hands into her own, Willow proceeded to close her eyes. Sucking in a deep breath and then exhaling she started to concentrate and focus her energy on two men before her. Once she had her concentration, she began to chant a spell she concocted.

"Silver bells ring and blue birds sing,

A language of their own I do not know,

Like the ones before me a tongue unknown,

I sing my tune and they sing theirs,

Yet we wish to sing together,

In the language of the land."

When her eyes opened, they flashed with an iridescent burgundy. Once the light faded from her eyes, the same shade of burgundy light engulfed the two men for a split second. In a blink of her eyes, it was gone, leaving the two wondering if it was even real.

"Hello Allen, Gaddes. I would like to welcome you to Earth, specifically Merideth, California." Willow said with a knowing smile.

"Hello," Allen responded apprehensively.

"What a minute, how can we understand you now when we couldn't a moment before?" Gaddes asked as his confusion flashed in his eyes.

"I have cast a spell that allows you both to understand English, the language spoken here," Willow explained to the two men.

After conversing for a moment, a loud screech followed by an equally loud crunch twisted its way through the still air.

Willow ran. She knew who it was. She didn't have to see it in a vision or see it in person, she just knew. It was that gut feeling one gets when someone close to them gets hurt.

'That was her bike I heard earlier, she was coming back from the club. Oh God, let her be ok,' she thought as she ran down the road.

"Hitomi!" she yelled out as she ran with all of her might.

Upon hearing her call out the familiar name of the girl they once knew, the two men were quick on their feet and were nipping at the burgundy haired woman's heels.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Inside with Serena*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The blonde haired girl sat on the ground of the stock room, filling out the inventory books and listening to the music that played through her computer.

'That blonde man looked familiar. I don't know where I've seen him before but I have this gut feeling that we've met before. He knew my name, too. This is all too weird,' she thought to herself as she continued to inventory the new arrivals.

A few minutes later, she was struck by a wave of unbearable pain.

"Tomi," she wheezed out as she fought the pain. 'She's hurt. Oh God, she's in so much pain,' she thought to herself as she held her head to stop the spinning. Once she felt the pain lessen in her body, she took off out of the shop like a bat out of hell. She ran blindly as tears slowly slid down her porcelain cheeks. Letting her heart guide her, she met up with Willow and the two mystery men.

"Wills, it's Hitomi, she's hurt. She's in so much pain," she whispered out hoarsely as she continued to run.

"I know, Serena; I heard her bike and the screech and then the crunch. She must have been hit while on her way back here." Willow responded softly as she and her companions continued to run down the poorly lit street.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Scene of the Accident *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hitomi!" Alex screamed out as she took off running. Pouring all she had into the powerful swift strides, she was at her friends side in only a few moments though it felt like she had ran for far longer than she had. She didn't notice if the other two had followed her or not. At that moment, she didn't care.

"Hitomi!" she screamed out once again as she was on her knees cradling the body of her friend. The man looked at her funny but she gave it no second thought as she took the still body of her fellow slayer out of his arms. She cried. She hadn't cried since she was young but tears dripped down her cheeks in a slow steady stream of salty droplets.

Two figures stood off to the side of the accident, a silver haired man and a pink haired cat girl. It took only a moment for the events to sink in before the cat girl reacted and she too ran to the side of the wounded girl.

"Hitomi-chan!" she cried out as she too cradled the limp form of her friend.

"Merle-chan," they heard faintly as jade eyes slowly opened and looked on the quickly gathering crowd

"Hai, Hitomi-chan it's me, Merle," the cat girl whispered out as tears made dark streaks down her face.

"Van-chan," the wounded girl whispered out slowly raising her hand to his face as if to see if he was real.

"Hai, Hitomi-koi, I'm here too." Van whispered out to her as he gently took her hand into his much larger one and gently kissed it.

"Alex-chan you're crying," the bleeding girl muttered out to the sapphire-eyed girl as she wiped a tear off her cheek.

"Yes, I know, you idiot. What is your problem? You had me so worried. I thought you died, damnit. God, don't you ever fucking do that to me again. Damnit, Tommy Girl! Don't you ever scare me like that again," Alex cried out softly as her tears fell to the ground. Hitomi sat up gingerly and leaned Van for support.

"Yes, Alex-chan, I won't scare you again. I promise," Hitomi responded with a strained smile.

"Daijoubu ka Koi?" Van asked Hitomi.

"Hai, daijoubu Koi, I hurt but daijoubu," she replied.

"Oh, Hitomi-chan. I'm so glad your ok," Merle squealed out as she launched onto Hitomi and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Itai, Itai, Owe," Hitomi squeaked out as the cat girl hugged her.

"Gomen nasai, Hitomi-chan," Merle apologized as she let go of the girl.

"Doo Itashimashite. Ok, so maybe I have a few cracked or broken ribs," she said sheepishly.

Several people stood off to the surrounding areas of the accident scene. Folken stood to the southern end of the group. Allen and Gaddes stood off to the northern end. Dilandau stood alone towards the west side of the group. Willow and Serena stood just off to the eastern side of the group, though they were only a few feet away.

"Willow," Alex called to the red head.

"Yes, Alex?" she replied with a touch of annoyance.

"I can't understand these people. Hitomi apparently knows them and she said the name Van to this guy here, so apparently these are her Gaean friends. Fix it," she whined.

"Hey, Alex! Stop complaining like a baby," the blonde girl yelled back to her friend.

"Ahh, fuck off!" Alex said as she gave her friend two one finger salutes.

Allen, hearing the comment made to Serena, grew angry. Drawing his sword from its scabbard, he ran towards the smaller foul-mouthed woman.

"Don't you dare talk to my sister like that, you heathen," he screamed angrily thrusting his sword down at Alex. She grabbed the blade by clamping her hands sandwich style onto the flat edge of the sword. She then back flipped, taking the sword and the man attached to it with her. Allen landed with a dull thump on the cold hard ground. In his shock, he let his grasp on the hilt of his sword slacken. Alex took this as her cue to take the blade from the blonde man. Tossing the sword in the air, she caught it by the hilt with one hand. She stole a glance at the people standing around her and caught a mix of astonishment and amusement. She smiled lightly.

"Sere, catch," Alex called out as she chucked the sword to her friend.

"Willow, did you fix the language problem yet?" She called out once she tossed the sword.

"Yeah, I did a similar spell to the one I used earlier only this one wasn't a contact spell but an overall airborne spell. But they can all speak English now," Willow called back.

"I didn't need an explanation of what you did. I just wanted to know if you cast the damn spell or not. Anyways, did you get the cute guy over there? I think he called himself Dilandau," Alex said as she pointed to the quiet man with silver hair. He raised an eyebrow; even from a distance, he still heard her comment.

"Yeah, I got him, too," she said with a smile. She noticed the way he tried to hide his reaction. Alex glanced toward Dilandau and then looked away. She let a few hundred curse words roll through her head yet she restrained from uttering them aloud.

"Hitomi?" Serena asked aloud.

"Hai, Sere-chan?" Hitomi answered

"Are you ok? I felt your pain. What happened?"

"I got hit by a truck. He smashed into me on my bike. I couldn't get out of the way in time. I froze, I heard Van calling me but I couldn't move to gun the engine."

"I'm sorry, Koi. I didn't know, I've never seen those type of things before; I didn't know you'd get hurt," Van apologized.

"It's not your fault, Van-chan. I froze. I wasn't paying attention to the road," Hitomi explained. Hitomi glanced around the group, looking from face to face. She stopped when she caught sight of Folken.

"You're supposed to be dead," she said to the cyborg. "I mean, that sword went through your heart."

Folken smiled and shook his head. "The tip of the sword just missed my heart. A little lower and I would have been dead. I was found and treated. I am an advisor for Van now."

Hitomi touched her head lightly.

"My head hurts, can we go back to the shop? Wills-chan, I want to go back to the shop," Hitomi asked.

"Everyone follow me, will you, please?" Willow asked as she began to walk back to the shop.

Van picked Hitomi up off the asphalt and carried her princess style back to the store as she wanted. Hitomi took this as an invitation to snuggle closer to her love. Half way through the short walk, she had fallen asleep with her head resting against Van's strong, broad shoulders. All the others, except Alex and Serena, followed quietly.

The police, an ambulance, and a tow truck soon arrived at the scene. Serena and Alex were the only ones there besides the driver who had watched the whole scene from the side of his truck. The officers took down statements and the tow truck took away the pick up truck and the wreckage of the once beautifully crafted and painted Ninja. The ambulance left after examining the man. The police left soon after. They questioned about Hitomi's well being but were convinced to leave. It was explained to the officers and paramedics that the girl (Hitomi) wasn't injured beyond a few cracked ribs, a few scraps, and a small cut above her eyebrow from a lose pebble on the road and was being taken care of by a friend.

Once the streets where cleaned up, the two girls went back to the shop where they found the group of newcomers, Willow and a resting Hitomi.

When the group minus Serena and Alex had entered the shop, they began to talk about what had happened. Folken had been contemplating how Hitomi could have survived the impact. He viewed it nearly impossible to survive a hit like she did but he never voiced his opinion. He suspected that all would be explained in due time. They instead had been listening to Merle and Dilandau recount the events they had seen of Alex killing of a pack of hungry bloodsuckers.

"That girl took on multiple foes at once and not one of then was able to make a hit on her," Dilandau explained.

Alex and Serena choose this as their moment to enter the room.

When they entered the shop, they noticed Hitomi was lying on the sofa with the raven-haired man on the floor next to her holding her hand in his. His other hand was brushing away the rebel strands that found their way into her eyes. The blonde man was sitting in a chair next to the brown haired man. The silver haired man stood with his arms crossed over his chest in the corner of the room. The cat girl was sitting on the floor near Hitomi and the raven-haired man, Hitomi had called Van. Willow and the cyan-haired man sat in chairs on the other side of the room near the couch. In the corner of the room near the end table and the couch was a pull up bar.

Alex walked over to the bar and suspended herself upside down by bending her knees over the bar. Serena took a seat near Willow and Folken.

As Alex hung upside down on her bar, gravity began to take play as her shirt began to slide down and show off her lean stomach. This caught the eye of one silver-haired male who at that moment was talking.

"She ha,… ha,… she, uh, handled the foes like she…, eh, she knew what she, uh, was doing," He stuttered out as he fought with his primal self and his wandering eyes.

'Kami, she's gorgeous. I have never seen a woman with a firmer looking stomach than hers. Her skin looks like creamy silk. I have to stop looking at her. She's going to drive me insane,' Dilandau mentally berated himself.

He turned his eyes away from the alluring figure that was in his direct line of sight and looked toward the one who began to talk.

"You know, Dilandau, Alex has taken on bigger packs than what you described. I remember this one time probably about a year ago. It was just Alex and I on a hunt and we came across a pack of about 20 vamps. A few were new but most of them were rather experienced vamps. We had ten apiece and they hardly seemed to phase us. It was an easy kill," Serena interrupted the stuttering man. Allen was listening quietly. He was surprised that Serena could harm anyone. She was a sweet and innocent child. How could she have changed so much? What caused her to become so violent and… bloodthirsty? Allen was pulled out of his thoughts by Serena explaining another great feat done by Alex.

"Once, a couple months ago, we went up against a Master," she said enthusiastically.

"What's a Master?" Merle asked as she turned slightly toward Serena.

"A master is a very powerful vampire," she answered. "Anyway, Alex took on the most powerful master we've seen yet. She killed him all by herself, too."

"You may want add that you were supposed to be my back up," Alex said as she opened her eyes and glared at the blonde. "Remember? You were supposed to come in when I started to get into trouble. But, no, you were flirting with some guy you never saw again, while I was up against 6 experienced Vamps. Yeah, I dusted them but I still had to go up against the Master. Oh, I should mention that one of those vamps got in a lucky shot with a switchblade, so not only do I have to fight the Master, I have to do it while I slowly bleed to death. You didn't show-up till the Bastard nearly eviscerated me."

"Well, I did show-up, didn't I?" Serena said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I distracted him and then you staked him."

Alex narrowed her eyes and scoffed. She glanced at the table next to her and noticed the books lying seductively upon it. She picked up a book and threw it at Serena. Serena ducked and it flew over her and hit the wall. It fell to the ground like a rock with an empty thud. Serena turned her back on Alex and said, "Somebody's in a pissy mood today."

Alex let out a small cry, reached over to the table, and picked up another book. She threw it and this time it hit its mark, right between Serena's shoulder blades. She cried out in surprise. She whirled around and glared at Alex. Alex crossed her arms over her chest and smiled smugly. The others looked on amused at the outburst. Willow sighed and massaged her head before getting up.

"Okay. That's it. Alex, get down. Van, get Hitomi up," she commanded. Alex did as Willow ordered and sat down in a chair by the register. Hitomi began to stir because of all the commotion created by Alex and Serena. She sat up and looked at the people around her. She got up and walked toward the table that sat in the middle of the room. Dilandau moved toward the table. He saw easy prey; at least he thought it would be easy.

"So, the Mystic Moon Bitch is awake," he said with a smirk. Van looked at him and gave him a warning glare. Dilandau ignoring it continued with his banter. Alex and Serena glanced at each other. They sensed what was coming and braced themselves for the destruction. "It would seem that the sleep didn't help you much, though," Dilandau continued.

"Wait, maybe it's the clothes and the make-up, along with the number you did with your hair," he laughed. Hitomi joined in his laughter. She stopped in mid-laugh and slugged him dead in the face. She hit him with enough force to send his head back and to cause his nose to bleed. However, it wasn't enough force to break it.

Dilandau gripped his nose and cursed at her. "What did you do that for, whore? It's not like I hurt you, you slut."

Hitomi plastered a fake smile on her face and took a step toward him. She grabbed a hold of his shoulders and kindly brought her knee into his groin. Dilandau's eyes widened and he dropped to his knees in pain.

Hitomi smiled. She dropped to her knees so that she was at eye level. "Do you know how long I've wanted to do that?" she asked him. When she didn't receive an answer, she continued. "3 years I waited to smack that smug smirk off your face and now that I've done it I feel satisfied and fulfilled."

She walked back to the couch and sat down. Van sat next to her and whispered into her ear. She laughed.

Alex eyed Dilandau and grimaced. She went to the back room and got an ice pack and some Kleenex. She came back out and helped Dilandau to a chair. She handed him the icepack. Taking the icepack in his hands, he looked at her questioningly. She rolled her eyes.

"Moron, what do you think it's for?" she asked. "What else hurts besides your nose?"

She watched as realization spread across his face. He lightly positioned the ice on his groin so it wouldn't hurt too much. Alex placed the Kleenex on his nose and tilted his head back.

"You know, I can do this on my own," he complained nasally.

"Yeah, I've seen you do a lot of things on your own, like get your ass kicked by my friend, Tommy Girl, who, I might add, was just hit by a speeding truck," she quipped. He narrowed his eyes at her but remained silent. He thought it better to silently pout than to protest anymore. Besides, he got a really nice view of her pretty face this way. And if he looked down slightly, he got another nice view.

'Kuso, there I go again,' he scolded himself. 'But damn, she's so sexy and she's not even trying. No, no, bad thoughts! She probably doesn't think of me in that way. Cute, maybe, but not in that way. Yeah, keep telling yourself that.'

The bell above the door jingled as the door was swung open and two figures walked in. They both stood in darkness and the room immediately fell into silence. The silence felt like a dead weight, especially to the two standing at the door. Willow stood up from her chair and took a step toward the door.

"Can I help you?" she asked.