Just Another Day

Eclipse sighed and leaned against the broom he was using to clean the floor of the restaurant he worked at. Today had been so busy....very rarely was it as busy as today had been. The horde of customers had never seemed to stop, and he had busted his butt trying to please all of them. On top of everything, his 'boss' of a waitress, Rin, was constantly riding him, pushing him here and there, shouting at him in the back. Normally he would just let things roll of his back...but today everything was especially magnified.

Only one more hour to go....

He pushed a chair into a corner and went back to his sweeping. After work, he planned on going to the bath house and just relaxing in the hot water.

A girl walked in, she paid him little attention while she walked to the counter to speak to the manager of the place.

"Hey, I'm looking for a girl named Raven, no one knows where she's ran off to and thought she might have come in here, she has long black hair and green eyes, around the same age as me?" She looked around the room while she explained her friend to the manager. "Have you seen her at all?"

"No, Hun, I haven't. I'll tell her you're looking for her though if she turns up. I'm really sorry I could be much help." The girl turned to leave, looking annoyed and worried.

"It's ok, it's just, she normally would have called at least my cell." She took a few steps towards the door, "Thanks anyway." She walked past Eclipse, her gold hair barrette sparkled in the sunlight as she walked by.

"Hm?" The bell rang as the door opened and a young woman came walking in. She didn't wait to be seated, nor did she seat herself. He watched her as she moved straight to the counter and asked for the manager. At first he thought Rin might come out to help her, but instead the assistant manager came out and began talking to her.

She was looking for someone.

Eclipse shook his head as he listened quietly to the conversation. Her description was terrible if she was looking for someone. She didn't stick around long and quickly headed for the door.

"Excuse me, miss. I couldn't help but hear you are looking for someone. If I may be so bold....your description was rather vague. We get hundreds of customers in here every day, and we see many girls with black hair and green eyes." He leaned against his broom and watched her. "Perhaps if you give me some more details, I can remember if she was here today or not. Perhaps you can start with the time she might have been here."

"Oh, I'm sorry...Me and her come in here together all the time, so the manager knows who I'm talking about. But....She has the same hair barrette as me, she usually wears dark clothing, no glasses, and she's probably half an inch taller than me." She stopped with the door open, and just watched him. "I don't see you around here too often, you must either be new, or you're smart and hide from Rin. Either way, you'll see Raven and I in here maybe once a week whenever I get paid, I tend to treat Raven to dinner when her parents become pests." She smiled half heartedly. "Well, I better keep looking, Let her know I was looking for her and that I'll meet her at her house the usual time if she does show up. Thanks." She walked out, the door closing behind her. She was in a hurry, she could almost feel her barrette glowing, and knew, she just knew, something was going on.

The girl was in a hurry, and didn't give Eclipse much time to respond. He sighed softly and went back to sweeping. "I'll keep an eye out for her." With that, the door closed behind her and he was left alone in the restaurant. Well....almost alone.

"Eclipse, are you done talking to people yet?"

Eclipse sighed again. It was an action he'd become more familiar with since he'd started working here. His 'boss' was quite annoying, and she always felt she had to rag on him. "Yes, Rin, I was simply helping her find someone."

A young woman jumped over the counter with a cleaning rag in hand, her short brownish hair bouncing slightly. She flung her rag onto an empty table and glared at him. "That's no excuse! There's still alot of work to be done!"

"Actually, I-"

"Actually what? Have you cleaned the windows? Mopped the floor? Washed the dishes in the back?!"

Eclipse sighed again. There was just no arguing with her. No matter what, he was wrong and she was right. She enjoyed such moments when she was in charge of him, and she made sure to take full advantage of the opportunity and make his simple life a living hell.

How he yearned for a battle right now....

Henai felt it as she ran out the restaurant door. There was something near by, but until she knew what, she didn't want to risk exposure. "I can't just transform, I don't know who's watching, or what's around me. I still need to find Raven too. Could this day get any worse?" Henai fumed as she ran, searching. Feeling around for the something that made her mind uneasy. It got closer, she could feel it, she stopped. Something ran into her, hitting her hard, knocking her to the ground. Henai screamed.

A scream echoed through the evening air and resounded in Eclipse's ears. Both he and Rin perked up to the sound. "Rin!"

"Yeah yeah, I heard it too!"

Eclipse bolted towards the door, broom in hand. "Contact Luka, tell her to get her butt over here, and meet me outside! Home in on my position with your gps locator! I'm going after her!"

"Eclipse! Wait for..." but he was already out the door, bolting to the direction of the scream. Rin growled. "Damn men!" She pulled out her combracelet and pressed a couple buttons.

"This is Luka....what's wrong?"

"We've got a situation! Better get over to the restaurant quick!"

"Roger! on my way!" the com beeped and Rin found herself runnint out the door to chase after Eclipse.

Eclipse, meanwhile, had already reached Henai. "Miss, are you alright?" He knelt down and began to check her, trying to see how hurt she was. She didn't seem too damaged. But that scream sounded as if she were in need of help. "Who did this to you?"

"It's nothing I can't handle, really, you should just get going. There's something around here, it rand at me and knocked me down, it's really fast too. I didn't even get a glimpse of what it was." Henai stood up, hearing the sounds of running footsteps coming towards them. She glanced at the three people around her, "Really, you all should run. Get out of here, get somewhere safe." She brought herself off of her knees, and rose her right hand to hold it over the gold barrette in her hair, it was glowing.

Before Eclipse could say another word, a black blur blasted through the two of them, knocking him down. He slid, broom still in hand, then stopped on all fours. The monster was nowhere to be seen. "Alright...so we're going to play it this way, are we?"

Eclipse closed his eyes and let his ears do the sensing for him. Immediately he heard a rustle in the trees above and he smirked. The rustle quit suddenly, and Eclipse's eyes shot open as he twirled his broom and thrust forward.....right into the monster's path. The broomstick shattered, but the monster stood there, stunned. It was just a black blob of energy....there was no real form to it...except for one part. Its head. The head looked like a big black skull with red eyes. The thing was ugly that was for sure.

Eclipse's pendant began to glow. "Let's go...." He took hold of the pendant and was enveloped in a white light, mixed with red rose petals. His work clothes changed until he was wearing a complete black tuxedo with a black mask. He lifted his hand into the air and a long black staff materialized from thin air, a large crystal forming in the shape of a rose at its end.

Just then, two girls jumped in behind him, both wearing the uniform of a Sailor Scout.

"Sailor Midnight, reporting for duty!"

"I'm Sailor Sunset! Let's kick some ass!"

The two formed a triangular battle formation, standing in between the girl and the monster.

"Picking on the weak? Such a coward! Why don't you try someone your own size for a change?" Tuxedo eclipse lifted his staff in defense, the orb glowing a yellowish color.

Henai watched as the bus boy changed into a masked man in a tuxedo, shocked. She recognized the girl's uniforms as similar to her own. But then she realized what he had said. "Hey, who said I was weak, you jerk! Astro Power Make Up! Henai held her hands on either side of her head and was surrounded by lightning as her gold barrette shown brighter and stretched itself into a tiara across her forehead. When the lightning stopped around her, she was standing in a Sailor's uniform. "I'm Sailor Astro, I'm sorry blob monster, but you picked on the wrong girl to mess with!"

A look of surprise crossed Eclipse's face as the girl transformed into another Sailor Scout. He did not, however, have time to respond to her, as the monster was gearing up for battle.

"Hahahahahaha! Foolish mortals! You have no idea who you are dealing with here! Surrender now and give me your power source, and perhaps my mistress will let you live as her servants!" The black blobbish creature growled, sounding like a satisfied, yet hungry cat.

Sailor Midnight laughed softly. "You really think we're going to give up our powers to you, just like that? You've got another thing coming to you!"

"Enough talk!" Tuxedo Eclipse twirled his staff in the air and then pounded the butt of it into the ground, sparks flying from it as it made impact. "We fight in the name of the Moon Kingdom, and for peace! Sailor Scouts! Frontal assault!" The two scouts moved forward, making their triangle's focal point face towards the back.

There was an eerie pause, and then Sailor Midnight made the first move. "Starstruck Whip!" She flicked her wrist and a strand of cord made of pure light flashed forward and wrapped around the blob.

"Evening Flare Shot!" Sailor Sunset didn't waste time in making her move, and immediately a ball of flame shot towards the creature.

Problem was, however, the creature was no longer there....


((Feel free to control the monster as well. Since its a NPC or Non Playable Character, we can control it on our turns))

Like the other scouts, Sailor Astro looked around her, trying to find the blob. She was freaked out, never had she seen a monster that can just disappear like that. She never dropped her guard, closing her eyes she silently summoned her Lightning Rod, and waited. She looked at Eclipse, Sunset, and Midnight.
"So, I don't think I've ever seen you three around...and I've been fighting in this area a while....Where have you been hiding? Dark Star and I could seriously use some help, especially with Dark Star's energy issues." She looked at all three of them, finally noticing a dark figure forming behind Midnight. [color=violet]["Watch out! Lightning Strike!"/color] She lifted her lightning sceptor and twirled it, and watched as three well aimed strikes hit, and went straight through, the monster. "Oh crap...."

Eclipse whirled and threw a rose, embedding its stem into the creature's eyes, just as Astro's attacks sliced through the monster. The creature roared with rage as its eye was struck, and the trio jumped away from its flailing arms.

"Go for its head! That's its weak spot!" The creature roared again and fired a black projectile of some kind towards Astro. "Oh no you don't! Shield of Hope!" The rose crystal glowed a bright yellow and instantly a shield enveloped the scouts, causing the projectiles to slide down harmlessly. "All together! For the head!"

Midnight and Sunset nodded, both pushing their hands outwards towards the monster.

"MIDNIGHT MOONBEAM!"
"EVENING FLARE SHOT!"
"ECLIPSE BLAST!"

All three fired their special attacks at the monster's head, a glowing trio of energy about to make impact.....

"What the heck?" Sailor Astro turned around to see Raven just standing there, not transforming, just staring at the blob, with her mouth wide open.
"Would you PLEASE stop catching flies with your mouth and get in here and help us, Rae! You really owe me this one!" Raven almost laughed as she held both hands over either side of her head and cried out Dark Star Make Up! She was surrounded by a dark orb as she transformed, her gold hair barrette stretching across the length of her forehead, creating her gold Tiara.
"Thanks for calling me Henai, you are such a dummy sometimes"
"Can we focus on other things right now? You know, like the Blob Monster over there huh?
"Whatever. Dark Starlight!" Sailor Dark star formed a shield between herself, the scouts, Tuxedo Eclipse and the Blob."It's a minor shield, but for the time being, Blob Monster can't do much, so lets kick him where it counts. Come on Astro!" Dark Star and Astro put thier hands together and pointed their other hands at the monster "Dark Constellation!" they both said together. Small stars formed around the blob, sending beams of light toward it from each star, the blob monster managed to escape with very little damage, barely any energy was taken. It was still in fighting shape.

The monster had survived through all five of their attacks, even Eclipse's signature move. That in itself was a feat to accomplish. Eclipse growled slightly. How were they going to beat this thing?

"Midnight! Sunset! Defensive formations!" He moved into position, Sailor Midnight moving beside him just a few feet away from him. Sailor Sunset moved in front of them, finishing their triangle tactic. Eclipse raised his staff while at the same time, Midnight raised her hands.

"Night Fog!"

A dense fog encircled the area, making it very difficult for anything to be seen. There was only one way to see through the fog.

"Sunset, now!"

Sailor Sunset moved and took hold of Eclipse and heaved him upward, his legs pushing off for maximum air. His body was silhouetted by the moon, creating an epic effect. He somersaulted and raised his staff. At the tip of the staff, the rose crystal began to glow a bright white. His face was concentrated as he focused his energy. "Alright...this fight has gone on long enough!"

"AAARGH WHERE ARE YOU?!" The monster below searched round, looking for its targets. "COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!!! THIS IS CHEATING!"

"Yeah....and like your blobbish body isn't! It's over! Your mistress isn't going to have one foothold in this world! Here goes!" Eclipse began moving his staff with fluid motions as he began his attack. "Ultimate.....Power.....ATTACK!!!!!!" His arms flew open and a white blade of energy grew from the crystal. He slowly twirled the elongated blade over his head and sliced down, cutting right through the monster. The blade stayed embedded in its body, however, and began glowing brighter than before.

"NOOOOO!!! YOU FOOL!!!! MY MISTRESS WILL AVENGE ME, YOU'VE JUST SEALED YOUR FATE!!! SHE WILL TAKE OVER THIS PLANET!!!! YOU STAND NO CHANCE!!!!"

The light expanded, then converged back to the blade. Immediately, it exploded, knocking the scouts back. Eclipse landed in a crouched position and twirled his staff, holding it behind him as the mist cleared.

The monster was nowhere to be found.

"Damn it, Eclipse, do you HAVE to go big on every finishing move?!" Sunset was slowly picking herself up and dusted off her back end in an angry fashion.

Dark Star stepped closer to Astro. "Are you Ok?"
"Yeah I'm fine." Astro looked at Eclipse. "What the heck was that though? And who are you guys?"
Dark Star put her hand on Astro's arm. "Don't worry about it, we work alone, remember?" She turned to leave. "I know you seem like you're the big bad leader and all, but you can keep leadership over those two. Astro and I work alone, always have and always will. We don't need a leader, nor do we need the help. Come on Henai." Henai looked behind her at the group as the walked away.
"Come on, Raven. We do need them and you know it. Don't be so harsh." she begged.
"I said no, you know what happens if we do. Come on."

Eclipse walked over and helped Midnight up to her feet. "I'm sorry, Sunset, but it seemed the only option available to take him out." He sighed and he turned to face the newer scouts. The one apparently named Raven seemed to have a bit of an attitude problem. Almost as bad as Rin's.

Almost.

"You seem to have me mistaken, ladies." He bowed towards them and a rose appeared in his hand. "Until this battle, I had no idea you were Scouts. I have my own team, and unless I am otherwise commanded, I will not be taking on anymore members."

Sailor Midnight stepped forward and courtseyed slightly. "Of course, we can always use more allies....maybe we can fight more monsters together again sometime! You two seem to have some amazing abilities!"

Dark Star turned away, while Astro stepped forward to meet them. "I would love to help you, Dark Star has a bit of an issue with people, she struggles a little. She doesn't realy like being a scout either, she just seems to have the wrong power, or isn't fully able to use it properly yet. We stay on our own because accidents do occur. I hope one day we can all fight together." She smiled and glanced at Dark Star. "But for now, have patience with her. She's just scared, that's all." Astro ran over to join Dark Star, grabbing her hand and smiling. The both walked away from the restaurant, changing back into their original forms.

"Bye!" Midnight waved. "See you next time! Call for us if you need us!" She waved until the other girls had faded off into the distance. "They seem nice."

Sunset transformed back into her regular form and signed. "Luka...you're hopeless."

"What? They do." Luka changed back as well and turned to look at Rin.

Eclipse sighed and transformed back. "Irregardless, it was fun. Rin, I believe this calls for a break. I'll come in early tomorrow and finish up. I'm going for a walk."

"Hey! You can't just skip out on work like that! WE STILL HAVE TO MOP!!!"

"Yes, yes, I know. But it can wait. I need to calm my nerves." he waved his hand, his other hand in his pocket. "Later."

"Ugh!!! FINE! But tomorrow you better bring a new broom TO REPLACE THE ONE YOU BROKE!!!!" Rin's face was red with frustration, but Eclipse couldn't see. Instead, he just continued to walk on into the darkness.

"Rin....you should probably take a relaxing break too! Wanna go to my house and sleep over?" Luka offered her hand to Rin. Rin shook her head.

"No, Luka. Not tonight. I am going to finish up at the restaurant....my mother is probably worried. I'll catch you at school tomorrow, though."

"Ok....see ya later then! Remember, we've got a test in biology!" Luka giggled softly and ran off in the direction of her home.

"Ugh..." Rin planted her hand against her face and began walking back towards the restaurant. "What a night...."

Raven sat on a nearby park bench staring off into the distance. She didn't know who these other scouts were, and she tried to tell herself she didn't even care. But, she knew she was just lying to herself. She didn't want to care, but she feared for them. "If they get too involved....I will undoubtedly hurt them." She whispered, putting her face in her hands. "I wish I could just stop being a scout, then no one would be in danger." she began to cry. It was all just unfair in her opinion. She never asked for this. It was hard enough that her best friend, Henai, had to be involved. Somehow though, Henai always knew what to do, even what to say to make everything better. But when she wasn't around, the darkness in Raven's heart took over.