Winter home. (Dar and Nornir)

Annie listened to Jemmy's message, and understood that meant she planned on fighting. She nodded, closing her eyes and turning to bury her face in Marleigh's side and cling to her. Meanwhile, Kasha watched as Jemmy teleported The Dog and his two bodygaurds out of the building. He could still feel they were right outside, but at least Annie was pretty much out of the way now. It may also be worth mentioning that Annie again felt touched that Jemmy had referred to her as her sister; but these feelings were kind of in the back of her mind right now.

Meanwhile outside, The Dog and both his bodygaurds were temporarily disoriented by the sudden change in location, and stood with each bodygaurd standing 5 feet from The Dog on each side. The Dog listened to Jemmy, then turned and looked after he was stabbed. It went through his clothes, but didn't even break the skin. The Dog just looked at the small, blond haired girl. "Your world? What the **** you talk about, your world?" He picked Jemmy up by the hair with one hand, using his other hand to take the knife and crush it before tossing it away. "Listen...I don't know who or what you are, but don't go picking a fight unless you know who you're dealing with. Bother me again, and I'll turn your face inside out! Now get lost kid!" With that, he tossed Jemmy aside like a toy doll; then spoke to the shorter bodygaurd. "If she tries any tricks again...deal with her. I'm not in the mood for this today." The bodygaurd nodded and turned to stare at Jemmy. He couldn't help but have been a little disturbed by the way she smiled before...but shook off that feeling. He had fought worse looking things. The Dog started to head back inside, with the taller, bald bodyguard walking by him and keeping his senses keen for in case Jemmy tried teleporting again.

Once more Marleigh was reminded about how little she knew about Jemmy. For instance, she did not even consider that the girl could take the fight outside without making too much of a fuss about it. Teleportation. She would have to take note of that. In any case, that solved the potential issue of everyone's night being ruined by making a mess of the restaurant. Marleigh wondered how far they went. With Annie safely out of danger, she wanted to at least watch over Jemmy even if there was nothing she could directly help with.

She apologized to the head waiter for the slight ruckus and brought up the matter of compensation but the waiter just seemed glad nothing happened inside the premises.

Walking back to the table, she tried talking to Annie. "Are you alright? I apologize that this evening did not go as planned. I should have done something so that the situation did not escalate to this."

It was a maid's job to take responsibility for inconvenience, even if she did not directly cause it. At the end of the day, it would be her duty to make sure things went back on track.

"I have much faith that the princess can handle the likes of them but at the same time I feel that I cannot just leave her alone. Right now though, my priority is to keep you safe so you do not need to worry about me leaving. I just wish there was a way of knowing how she was doing."

The people in the restaurant who were distracted by the scene earlier had gone back to finishing their dinners. Would there be no more further disturbances that night? Marleigh certainly hoped so. She also hoped Jemmy would return soon.

Jemmy's knife stopped short. The Dog had super durability? Jemmy could have known that, had she paid more attention to the man's thoughts. It didn't hurt when The Dog picked her up by the hair, or even when he threw her aside, but it made her angry. He threatened to turn her face inside out, and advised her not to start a fight unless she knew who she was dealing with.

Who she was dealing with? 'You have no idea,' Jemmy said telepathically to The Dog and his bodyguards, 'Who you are dealing with!'

Jemmy stood up and looked the bodyguard charged with her in the eye. She summoned a bow made of magical energy and placed a Cupid Arrow to the string. These guys were strong and tough, but Jemmy was willing to bet they weren't fast as well. What was the point in trying to dodge something if you thought you were invincible? Well, they would soon find out.

Jemmy would read the bodyguard's mind, seeing if he intended to dodge and in what direction. If he tried to avoid her Cupid Arrow, then she would adjust her aim accordingly. Of course, she wouldn't be able to account for pure reflexes, but she was hoping they were pretty dull thanks to his tough guy act. Hopefully, he wouldn't take her bow and arrow seriously.

It occurred to Jemmy that she didn't need to do this fight alone. The Dog and his other bodyguard might be getting inside soon, unless they stopped to watch what Jemmy was doing. Jemmy called out telepathically to Kasha. 'It might be best if we keep this fight outside. Wanna help?'

She released the Cupid Arrow at the bodyguard watching her. If it hit, the man would fall in love with Jemmy to the point that he would obey her every wish.

The Dog and the bodygaurd next to him turned around at the telepathic message, and whey the three of them saw her create a bow they stopped to see how this would turn out. All three of them felt more than capable of dealing with her. The shorter bodygaurd that had stayed behind to deal with Jemmy cracked his neck, then took a fighting pose. Then suddenly, brown quill-like spikes started to grow out on his arms, shoulders, legs, back, and face. They were quite durable and should hold up to a wimpy little arrow. When Jemmy fired, he had no intention of dodging. Instead he moved to block with his forearm, growing and adjusting the quills so as to make a sort of armor padding over it. He expected it to be a normal arrow, which this would have easily blocked.

But he was wrong.

Upon striking him the bodygaurd expected a forceful impact, but the arrow instead disappeared when it hit him. He soon began to feel the effects of the cupids arrow. He blinked several times, then looked at his other hand. He had moved it back and grown a few spikes on it to fire at Jemmy as a counter attack... How could he have planned to do that? He couldn't hurt a girl like her. She was like a little sister to him, and he almost attacked her! He looked at Jemmy, shocked at himself for what he had planned to do, and caused the quills to retract. "I-I'm sorry... That wasn't..you weren't supposed ta.." He gulped, completely under the influence of the cupids arrow, and hoped Jemmy wasn't angry at him. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean nothin by that...honest!" The Dog stared in disbelief and annoyance. What the heck did she just do to him!?

Meanwhile, inside the restaurant; Annie watched as Marliegh talked to the manager, and as soon as the maid returned Annie got up to hug her. "It's alright Marleigh...you didn't cause this..." However, it was evident by her voice that she wished this whole thing could have been avoided... Kasha heard Jemmy's call for assistance, and quickly shared thoughts with Annie. She thought for a moment, and still clinging to Marleigh she said to him, "Eptoken..." ("Comply in order to protect her.") Kasha nodded and quickly jumped from her front pocket; running, still in kitten form, toward the restaurant front door. ("I'M COMIN JEMMEHHHHH~!" ) Annie then looked up to Marleigh to say in response to her concerns about Jemmy. "Kasha says he'll go to help fight and protect Jemmy...but if he does he can't be here to protect me... Promise I'll be okay?" Annie looked up into Marleigh's eyes to hear her response. She knew Marleigh has said that her current priority was to keep Annie safe; but separating from Kasha, especially at a time like this, left Annie longing for security and protection. Annie and Kasha both wanted to be SURE nothing would happen to her.

Marleigh responded with a reassuring smile. "I swear on my maid's honor that we will return home safe and sound. All of us."

Annie calling Kasha her protector made Marleigh a little curious what he really was. This whole time she had never given him much thought aside from being the little girl's companion. It was good to know he was someone who could be relied upon in situations like this. At the same time, Marleigh felt a huge responsibility placed on her shoulders upon his departure. Well, it was not as though she needed to be told or reminded. It was her intention all along to protect Annie with utmost vigilance. Marleigh held the girl's hand tight. Now they just had to wait for the two to return.

Jemmy smirked, delighted to see the confused face on The Dog's face. She addressed her new minion, the thug with quills. "There there, no harm done." She walked up to him and gave the porcupine man a hug, making sure to not accidentally poke herself. "I'll forgive you, but I need you to do something for me. I need you to kill The Dog." Jemmy glared at The Dog and licked her lips.

As her new minion complied with her wishes, Jemmy produced the magical bow again, and placed another Cupid Arrow to its string. She aimed it at the second bodyguard and fired. Of course, the man would probably be more afraid of the innocent-looking projectile now that he had seen its effects. But still, the three mobsters seemed to be built like bricks, and bricks weren't that good at dodging things. If this arrow missed, she would get another chance to shoot him again.

Kasha telepathically said that she was on the way. Good. Jemmy didn't want Annie to be anywhere near the fight. She didn't want Annie to get hurt, but she also didn't want Annie to see Jemmy's violent side.

INSIDE:

Annie listened as Marleigh reassured her that they all would be okay, to which Annie nodded and felt better having heard it said. She and Kasha both trusted that Marleigh would keep her safe wile Kasha and Jemmy were away fighting. As she held Marleigh's hand with both of hers, she looked over to watch as Kasha came to the doors. He stopped when he got close to them and looked up. "Pull to open" That wasn't exactly easy to do for a creature with no hands. Kasha mentally shrugged. ("Oh well...where there's a will there's a way.") He took a stance, and suddenly shape-shifted from a tiny kitten to a significantly large panther. The change in form also accompanied a change in personality. The once cute, energetic, and cuddly mind of a kitten now changed to a serious and easily angered fighter. It was a personality that you really don't want to mess with, similar to the men Kasha was about to attack. And attack he did, taking a few steps back before running and leaping through the glass door of the restaurant.

Annie observed as he left and began to combat the others, then looked up at Marleigh and smiled. "Don't worry about Kasha; He'll be okay. Kasha's always okay as long as I'm safe."

OUTSIDE:

The thug under Jemmy's control listened to her, and then nodded. "Yeah sure...anything ya say." He then turned to the man he was SUPPOSED to be protecting, and all he said was, "Sorry Dog." He suddenly rushed to swing his arm and throw a volley of spikes at him, but was quickly countered by a blast by the other bodygaurd that created a thick layer of ice on his arm, freezing on the quills and keeping them from leaving his arm. This other bodygaurd was not just a meta, he was a highly trained martial artist with very fast reflexes. The bodygaurd known as Quill (and not without reason) grunted at the counter attack and glared at the other. "Dangit Guru, don't make this harder than it has to be!"

"What are you doing taking orders from her!?" The Dog barked back at him. (No pun intended.) He then looked to Jemmy. "Whatever you did to him, you're going to pay for it. Guru! Ice that little-" But before he could finish, his words were cut off by the sudden crashing of a full-sized black panther bursting through the glass doors of the restaurant. The Dog was caught off guard as the force of Kasha jumping on him knocked him down. At the same time, Kasha managed to bite down on The Dog's neck, choking him. Desperate to get out of that grip, he grabbed Kasha and ripped him off, throwing the shadow panther across the street, where he hit the side of a building before landing on the ground. The impact deformed him slightly, but he would soon recover. The Dog, however, now had some bleeding cuts where Kasha's teeth had scraped him as he was ripped off.

As this was happening, Jemmy fired an arrow at the Guru. Assuming that if it hit, the same thing that happened to Quill would happen to him, he dodged the arrow and rolled to the side before jumping up and firing a second freeze blast at the little girl's torso. If it hit, he would hold the continuous blast with the intention of freezing her over entirely so she couldn't move.

"I am going to have to apologize and offer to fix that later."

Marleigh commented as Kasha changed form and crashed through the glass doors. It was probably too much to ask to have expected nothing to break as a result of tonight's encounter. Such was the price to pay when tangling with superhumans. She pulled up a chair for Annie, indicating that they should sit back down.

"Yes, I am quite sure they will be okay. Shall we continue with ordering dinner? Those two would most likely have an appetite after all this exercise. I think it would be good to have food already waiting for them when they return."

Quill was obedient, and started attacking his former master. Jemmy frowned as it became clear that Quill was the weakest of the three. Not only had Guru been able to freeze Quill's spikes to his arm before he could fire them, he had also managed to dodge Jemmy's arrow. Jemmy saw an icy blast coming her way. She decided it would be better to allow herself to get hit by it than attempt to dodge and fail.

A moment later, Jemmy was completely covered in ice.

Her red balloon floated about 30 feet above the ongoing battle, next to a light post. The familiar did not worry about it's mistress, for it knew she was just fine.

A telepathic voice invaded the minds of everyone involved in the fight. 'Ice powers? Cool.' Jemmy's body would disappear from inside the ice. A few seconds passed, and she reappeared, sitting on Guru's shoulders and holding a glass of wine from the restaurant. She poured the alcoholic beverage on Guru's face. If it got into his eyes, it would sting a lot. Super durable or not, alcohol in the eyes would not be a pleasant experience.

INSIDE:

"I...guess so." Annie replied to Marleigh. "Kasha doesn't really ever need to eat, but Jemmy's told me she eats a lot; so she might be hungry. But...I don't want to eat anything while they're out fighting. Can we wait until they get back if we get our food before then?" Annie expected that Marleigh would likely have suggested that anyway, but wasn't sure and wanted to ask anyway.


OUTSIDE:

Guru felt quite satisfied to have seen Jemmy be entirely frozen over, but those feelings faded to confusion when he heard the girl’s voice in his head. Suddenly the girl vanished from the ice, leaving a very alarmed and alert Guru. He turned his gaze every which way, expecting the girl to come out of nowhere just as she had disappeared; but he still wasn't quite ready for what she did. As soon as he felt Jemmy sitting on his shoulders, his reflexes kicked in and he punched up at her gut with everything he could. Though not superhuman, Guru did happen to be quite strong due to extensive training. Even if he hit, however, some wine still fell into Guru's eyes. It just so happened that he was the only of the three that DIDN'T have a durability factor, and alcohol to the eyes sure wasn't pleasant. He grunted and groaned in pain as he covered his eyes and stumbled forwards. This kid was getting more aggravating by the second.

While that was happening, Kasha and The Dog were both recovering from each other's attacks. Quill, likewise, managed to break the ice off of his arm, and looked to see The Dog rubbing the scrapes on his neck. He was starting to get very very angry... "Why don't you just go back to animal control where you belong!?" he growled angrily at Kasha, making clear in his tone of voice that his temper had nearly reached it's peak. He walked to the side and uprooted a parking meter and held it like a club. "COME AT ME!" Kasha was about to charge, when he sensed Quill preparing to attack himself. So instead, Kasha waited and allowed him to catch The Dog off guard. At first it worked, The Dog didn't even notice Quill readying an attack; but then he heard the familiar sound of those spikes being launched through the air, and reacted by covering his eyes from the barrage of sharp projectiles. This gave Kasha the perfect opportunity, and he reacted as well by firing his own energy blast at The Dog. The combination of attacks was a lot to bare, and The Dog stumbled back as he kept his face covered. There wasn't much he could do as he took the the brunt of the sharp spikes from Quill and the energy blast from Kasha. He ended up dropping the parking meter and backing up until he hit a wall; his clothes starting to tear and catch fire from the intense barrage.

Annie was a kind and thoughtful girl. That was the impression Marleigh got. She seemed to be the type that was really careful about making sure she did not offend anyone and was very considerate of others. In the maid business that was a good trait to have, in addition to a large amount of patience. Once more Marleigh was glad she became Jemmy's friend. She did not expect the Princess to wholly change herself or anything like that, but perhaps with Annie by her side, she would at least take a path that did not lead to too much conflict.

"Of course we shall wait for them. I can request the waiter to keep the food warm and serve it only as they return."

As she examined the menu, she briefly noticed Jemmy appear near one of the other tables, grabbing something and then disappearing again. She did not look hurt so there was nothing to worry about.

"Do you think she would like the steak? This kind is soft, easy to chew and quite juicy. It looks like they have a good selection of sauces too."

Guru's punch was able to send Jemmy flying, but not before some of the wine got in his eyes and all over his face. Jemmy landed hard and picked herself up. Her opponent seemed to be partial blinded now, and he staggered towards her like a drunk. Jemmy disappeared again, only to reappear with a lighter. Her eyes burning a brilliant orange, Jemmy smiled wide and produced a small flame from the lighter.

"I like my meat well done."

Jemmy teleported above Guru, upside down, and set the flame of the lighter against his alcohol-soaked face. If it caught fire (like it always did in the movies), then Guru would soon have a fiercely burning face, and Jemmy would be laughing all the while. After making her attack, she would teleport twenty feet away, with her feet on the ground.

It looked like Kasha and Quill were doing quite well against The Dog. Jemmy was glad that she had Kasha as an ally. The familiar could be quite deadly when she...no, he wanted to.

INSIDE:

Annie felt that she had made a good impression on Marleigh, which was a very good thing in her opinion.  Annie always tried to be polite and considerate whenever she could, which was pretty much all the time.  Except for too many times in her past when politeness had to be put aside in order to do what was needed to survive in harsh conditions.  But such wasn't the case right now, and hopefully wouldn't be for at LEAST quite a while.  

When asked if Jemmy would like stake, Annie wasn't sure at first.  She didn't know Jemmy's likes; all she really knew was that Jemmy liked ice cream a lot.  Jemmy popped up to get a glass of wine, but soon vanished again without giving them a chance to ask. Annie then looked to Marleigh and shrugged. "I'm not sure. I know she likes ice cream a lot, but that's not really a meal. She might like steak...I'm not sure really, or what kind of sauce she might like either.  What kind of sauces do they put on steak?  Is it like gravy or something?"  It might soon become apparent that asking a soon to be 9 year old about fine dining wouldn't exactly yield an expert's opinion.  She just hadn't been to that many fancy restaurants.  

Annie looked over the menu, not sure about what to get.  Kasha wasn't here to help her pick out any food, so she just would have to figure it out.  She thought about asking Marleigh for help when a dish caught her eye.  The Fettuccine Alfredo.  She had had that before and knew it was good, and pointed to it on her menu.  "Could I have that?"



OUTSIDE:  

The Dog wasn’t doing so well right now; between the barrage of physical and energy attacks, he was really taking a beating.  By the time Kasha and Quill stopped to gather themselves, The Dog’s clothes were pretty well torn up, and part of it was on fire.  Speaking of fire, Guru literally couldn’t see Jemmy coming and likewise couldn’t do much about his face being lit on fire.  Needless to say it wasn’t pleasant, and he hollered at the burning sensation.  He tried frantically to stop it, and in a moment of desperation froze his face over.  It worked to stop the fire…but he was now suffocating; and it didn’t take very long before he passed out on the pavement.  

The Dog fell to one knee, and spat a glob of blood down to the pavement.  It was apparent that he was not doing very well right now.  Kasha seemed satisfied with the shape The Dog was in right now, and determined that if Jemmy wanted him finished off she could probably do it herself.  Quill also paused, and took a moment to look to Jemmy.  “Are..are you sure you want me ta kill ‘em?  He is my boss after all; I’m SUPPOSED to be protecting him…”

Marleigh was relying on Annie to learn a bit more about Jemmy's preferences. At the same time, she wanted to get an idea of how close the two were. It seemed on the topic of food, the Princess' preference for sweets was one common knowledge they shared. The maid spotted Jemmy appearing and disappearing again. It made her pause to wonder how they were doing outside before responding to Annie's question.

"Yes, there is gravy among the choices. We can go with the simpler ones then: the classic, gravy and barbecue sauce."

As they resumed browsing the menu, Annie pointed at the Fettuccine Alfredo. It was one of the simpler pastas. Marleigh was not too surprised that it was one of things on the menu that Annie was familiar with. Still, the little girl pointing at the pasta reminded her that she was going to order the spaghetti with meatballs for Jemmy earlier before they were unceremoniously interrupted.

"Of course you may. I believe in restaurants like this, you can make special requests for how you would like your food prepared. For instance, unless you have any objections, I shall request for our steak to be cooked well-done for health reasons."

Marleigh suddenly remembered they had yet to pick an appetizer. "What would you like for the soup?"

Guru froze his own face over to deal with the flames, and ended up passing out from a lack of air. Jemmy walked over him on her way to The Dog. Quill seemed conflicted, and asked if Jemmy really wanted him to kill his own boss. After all, Quill had been hired to protect The Dog.

"Quite true," Jemmy said. "It is your job to protect him. Right now, you are protecting him from himself, and from what I will do to him if he disobeys me."

Jemmy stopped just in front of The Dog. Now that he was kneeling, their eyes were on equal levels. Jemmy's eyes were still glowing the same eerie orange. "Kiss my feet, Dog, and I will let you live." She took a lot of satisfaction in those words. "Otherwise, I will force you to kiss them, and then kill you. And then who will employ this good man, Quill? You don't want him to be out of a job, do you?"

She waited for The Dog to make his choice. With the Cupid Arrow still active, Quill would most likely urge his boss to do as Jemmy said. Jemmy really did hope that The Dog simply surrendered. If she had to kill him, it would make Annie sad.