Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the "Sailor Moon" series. This goes along the lines of the original series, but an alternate dimension. Trust me, eventually, my knight will meet the scouts. Patience is a virtue, so awaiting that moment won't be so bad. REVIEW!!
Sailor Moon's Galaxy Knights
Chapter 1
Knight of the Moon
"Stephen! Wake up!" a woman screamed.
The sleeping youth tilted his pearly-white head up slightly at the irate woman's face, then lifted his face off the desk, rubbing his eyes gingerly. "Sorry." The young man said, his tone as sleepy and indifferent as he looked.
"Sorry!? That's your excuse for every stupid thing you do! I can't believe a kid with grades like yours can be capable of such blatant stupidity!" she screamed, slamming her ruler on his desk. He flinched slightly, looking about the class in mock horror. "If sleeping is stupid, how come everyone does it every night?" he asked plainly.
"Why you rotten little….you have detention after school, smart ass. And I'm calling your parents, Stephen Tsukikage! Go wait in my office right now, you brat!" she raged, yanking him out of his desk and shoving him hard towards the door. Stephen shrugged her off and picked up his book bag before sauntering out of the classroom.
He leaned against her office door, staring at the ceiling dreamily with his ice blue eyes, running a hand through his shock white hair. "Stupid teacher….if she'd have stopped praising my good grades to the entire class, I wouldn't fall asleep in class. Maybe the dark ages were a good time to show off how smart you were, but now you get called a nerd or a geek for it. Why can't she just give us back our assignments and tests and keep quiet about who did good?" he mumbled, making a noise in his throat," Mom and Dad are going to freak when they find out about this."
~ The Tsukikage Household ~
- Living Room -
"I can't believe you, Stephen. You have had straight A's since elementary school and now your getting C's, and in math for that matter! Your Spanish teacher even sent us a letter yesterday about your sloppy behavior. Falling asleep in class, bad test grades, sassing the teachers….this should be someone else's student evaluation report, not yours! What the hell is going on inside your head, mister!?" his father shouted, holding Stephen up by his school uniform.
"I don't know….elementary school was easy cause it wasn't algebra and foreign languages and science labs. Ack, times change, Dad, I'm just not used to it!" Stephen gagged, trying to pry his father's fingers off. His father remedied his efforts by dropping him onto the floor. "You are damn lucky your mother wasn't home when your teacher called. You are not to tell her about this, but you are going to remedy this problem. You are getting a tutor." His father announced, fishing through his pockets as his son stared up at him in disbelief.
"You're what!? I'm not doing that badly! You can't do this to me, everyone's going to laugh, Dad!" Stephen rasped out, nimbly jumping to his feet. His father crammed a crumpled piece of paper into his hand before the young man could take a step. "This is the address for the tutoring agency. You go there and get some help for your sorry ass right now or don't bother coming home at all!"
"But…." Stephen tried, but his father grabbed him by his collar again and dragged him to the door. "No but's, get moving. They close in two hours, so you better pray there's no line." His father chided, whipping the door open and promptly threw his son out of the house.
Stephen got to his feet as the door slammed behind him, the click of the lock busting all of his hopes of breaking the door down. "That's twice now. I don't think my body can take another booting today," he mumbled, looking at the slip of paper his father had given him," Onyx Tutors Unlimited, huh? Oh well, if it'll calm Dad down, I'm all for it. Last thing I need is a broken neck."
~ Onyx Tutors Unlimited ~
"You're closed?! But your hours say from 8am to 8pm. I have over an hour and a half left!" Stephen whined, getting his third shove in a day from a portly security guard. "Yes, but not on Friday's. We close an hour early then. You'll have to come back tomorrow at eight in morning. Sorry kid, next time make sure you check the schedule next time. Good evening." The man said, shutting the door and locking it tightly, then disappeared into the darkness of the building.
"Dammit!" Stephen moaned," Could things get any worse!?"
As if in answer, the sky began to rumble and toil, then ice cold rain fell down upon him. "Me and my big mouth." He muttered, and began to run," The arcade might still be open. I just hope Alan can stand to have me crash there until this tutoring center re-opens."
Stephen made it past a few blocks when he heard a loud yowling. It was close, maybe in the street, full of pain and fright. Stephen stepped off the sidewalk gingerly to see it was a soaking wet black cat with a small silver pouch around its neck. The cat also has piece of hot pink tape on its forehead. Then he heard car horn blaring and forced his head towards it. It was barreling down on the frightened feline, who was frozen in place in the headlights.
"Hey!" Stephen yelled, bolting into the street towards the frozen feline. The thing let an ear-shattering yowl as the car was closing in on it. Stephen grabbed hold of it and kept on running until he reach the opposite side of the street, holding the cold, panting creature close to his own soaked chest.
Stephen looked down at the small animal and rubbed its head, grabbing at the tape fastened to its soft forehead. The tape was stubborn so Stephen guess it must have been put on the cat a long times ago. Its appearance said enough about how annoying it was to the cat, littered with claw marks and scrapes that almost tore through the material, but not enough. The cat was all black and lean with eyes of the purest gold staring up at him as he yanked again and again on the tape.
After several tries, Stephen was successful in getting the tape off and making the cat very happy as well as yanking several hairs out of its skull. "Looks like something some dumb preschooler would do. I wouldn't be surprised if my brat sister did this, huh kitty? Hey, wait….what's this?" Stephan began, running his finger over the golden bald spot atop the cat's head. As gold as the cat's eyes, the shape of a crescent moon with its points up shimmered on the wet cat's forehead.
No sooner did he pull his finger away from the mark did the cat go crazy in his arms, sinking its tiny, razor sharp teeth into his hand. "OWWW!! Stupid cat! What was that for!?" he yelled, watching in disbelief as the cat ran from him at lightening speed and vanished as quickly into the rain. Stephen got up, his good hand holding the bleeding one firmly. "That's my good deed for the century. No more animal rescues for me, it's too hazardous," he grumbled, turning on his heals and began running again," Now back to my previous engagement, surviving my idiot father."
~ Haitsuchi's Arcade Heaven ~
Stephen stepped into the quiet arcade grumbling his frustration. He felt better about doing it with barely anyone was around. It was well past 8p.m., when only the hard core gamers were in the arcade either playing what few gams had not been unplugged or eating at the café past the games. Stephen could have cared less what they were all doing, he didn't know any of them personally and didn't want to. He had only one person on his mind now, the only person that would help him out of the mess he'd gotten himself into.
"Alan!! Where are you? Ow….Alan?" Stephen called out, wincing in pain as he bumped his hand into one of the games.
"He's in the back!" the gamers shouted at him, looking at him crossly for interrupting them. Stephen blinked with wide and shocked eyes, then nodded and moved towards the back of the arcade center. It didn't take long for him to hear Alan's voice. He sounded angry, but nonetheless tolerant. There was another voice present, but it sounded muffled and soft.
Stephen finally saw his friend talking to another young man. He was almost as tall as Alan was, but everything else was the exact opposite. This young man had short, jet-black hair and an almost heart shaped face. He wore sunglasses and a maroon business jacket, a black shirt underneath, and black pants with similarly colored shoes. Alan was speaking again, his dirty blonde hair shuffling in the short and messy ponytail he always wore, the pale peach apron over his light gray button up shirt and tan pants. He was wearing a new pair of penny loafers today, the chocolate brown color looking as if it had been polished only a few moments ago.
The young man he was talking to wasn't responding to Alan's words, but rather looking past him….right at Stephen. Alan seemed to notice this after waving his hand in front of the guy a few times and not getting much of a reaction. He turned around and his formerly sour face let out a look of alarm. "Stephen? What the heck happened to you?!" he exclaimed.
"You know that old saying about never letting a black cat cross your path? Well, I forgot about it and saved one from becoming street pizza. As my reward, damn thing bit me. Got any Band-Aids? Heh." Stephen chuckled as a drop of blood hit the tiles.
"Jeez Stephen, I thought you walked into another gang fight." Alan gasped, leading him past the other young man off to a door. Stephen knew the room well enough, Alan's own private place where he and his friends would play cards and shoot some pool. Stephen was content with the card games, but the big screen TV was the only real reason he ever took the time to go to any of the games. When they weren't playing cards or watching pay-per-view, Alan had become his personal part-time nurse whenever Stephen dazed off and got hurt because of it. Alan told him that he didn't mind preventing Stephen from getting infections and bleeding to death, but Stephen knew Alan couldn't always be prepared for every accident he walked into.
Alan sat him down at the card table and walked off as the guy with the dark hair walked in and shut the door. Stephen couldn't really tell if he was staring at him behind the dark, wide sunglasses, but the wet blood on his hand was more on his mind than prying eyes. Alan came back and gave the other young man a sour look before dumping and armful of bandages, cloths, and rubbing alcohol onto the card table. "What was it this time? Girls in castles? Fighting for world peace? A dragon slaying, I bet. Your daydreams get you into such trouble." Alan muttered, unscrewing the alcohol deftly before pouring little of it onto one of the cloths.
"Funny. It was just the stupid cat and I wasn't daydreaming at the time. I was really coming here to ask if I could crash back here. On my way, I saved some black cat from being turned into street pizza and the thanks I get for it is a hard bite. I just hope it didn't have rabies," Stephen breathed, shaking his hand a little, then let Alan rub alcohol on it," Who's he?"
Alan's gaze remained firmly on Stephen's hand, peering hard at it with each swipe. Stephen was used to most injuries hurting. The cat's teeth had gone all the way through his flesh and the blood had been visible on his hand even in the pouring rain. He was deeply puzzled as to why the alcohol wasn't stinging on the wounds, but he didn't voice it.
"My half-brother....Gary. He came here about an hour before you showed up….much to my surprise. I'm giving him a job here, janitorial work and emptying tokens for me while I run the café our parents have built on. Gary's all thumbs with waiting on people. Might interfere with his college studies and all." Alan said, rather coldly.
Stephen looked at Gary for a minute, slowly tilting his head to the side. "You're in college….huh? How many years.?" He asked.
Gary gave off a slight smile and shrugged. "Not long. Finished my first year last semester and I'm starting on my second year, then I'll be able to go to a major university after another year. I have to pay the rent and doing work study as tutor only covers my tuition, not my life." Gary said plainly, his voice kind of soft and muddled.
"You got a cold or something?…..Wait a second! Did you say tutor!?? I'm saved!!" Stephen cheered, smacking Alan in the chin as he raised his hands up to cheer.
"Ow! You're saved? What are you talking about? And further more, why do you need to crash here?" Alan grumbled, yanking Stephen's hand back down.
"I'm….having trouble in my mathematics and Spanish classes lately and my teacher called home. Dad was the only one home and he really gave me the third degree this time. He sent me out to go get a tutor at this fancy new center, but they closed before I got there and….well….Dad said I had to get a tutor tonight or not to bother coming home at all. Now I'm saved….well, if your brother doesn't mind tutoring me. My family is well off, we can pay whatever you want." Stephen explained, looking earnestly at Gary.
Gary looked a little perplexed after Stephen had finished, but after a few minutes a slow but anxious smile started to creep up his face. "My rent is $625 a month, total. How's about $200 a week for sessions after school, Monday through Friday?"
"Done! Hell, we can afford to give you more than that, but since you have another job to worry about, it's fine by me. Just write your name and fee down on a piece of paper, all the stuff that's important if my parents need to contact you. We can have the sessions here if you want, when you're not working. Anything so I can go home and not put anybody out." Stephen grinned.
He frowned as Alan rapped him on the head, slamming the alcohol bottle on the table a moment later. "Hey, what did I say?"
"Nothing….but I don't like you lying to me, Stephen. We're friends, you didn't have to lie about being hurt when all you wanted was a place to stay." Alan griped, pointing at Stephen's hand. He looked down to see that his hand was fine, all the blood had been cleaned away….but there were not bite marks. The wounds the cat had given him had vanished.
"I wasn't lying. A cat did bite me. You think I dumped blood on my hand just to get some sympathy, Alan? We're best friends, you know I'm no sicko. A cat bit me, I know it did….maybe….maybe it just nicked me. Maybe it didn't do as much damage as I thought it did. Sorry, but I know that thing bit me." Stephen swore, looking at his hand curiously.
"Ah, well, like you'd know. Knowing you Stephen, you probably imagined it all. You're head is always in the clouds….no wonder you need tutoring," Alan sighed, shaking his head with a wry smile," I guess its ok that your school needs will help my little brother out with his finances. God knows he needs it, just come to me first to unlock the room when you come in. Gary gets out from class about an hour after you do….so you might as well get everything ready so you don't rob me of his help when I need it, ok?"
Stephen nodded, leaping to his feet to shake his friend's hands. "I'll even pitch in when you need him to help….I'll do it for free. What are friends for, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah, just no daydreaming on the job." Allan chuckled, patting his friend heartily on the back.
~
Stephen wasted no time in running back home after Gary gave him the information he requested. Gary had been nice enough to say they could start the sessions on Monday. 'At least now I can sleep in my own bed….even with Casey the Cockroach living under the same roof. The little larva better not have gotten the urge to invade my personal space again.' He thought as his house came into view. He held Gary's information in a plastic bag since his clothes were already wet and the rain hadn't lifted when he left the arcade. He ran up the slippery driveway as fast as he could, his clothes sticking coldly to his skin as he did.
He stood at the front door a moment, digging madly through his wet pockets for his house keys. Stephen let out a quick, triumphant grin as his found them and swiftly unlocked the door.
Stephen shut the door quietly after he got inside the house. Yanking off his wet shoes and socks, his bare feet took him towards the stairs and up to his room. Much to his dismay, his light was on.
"Casey!!!! You little brat!!!!" Stephen screamed, charging swiftly for his room. The small form of his six-year-old sister shot out a second later with a green, leather bound book clenched in her tiny little hands. "You little larva! You've been in my journal again!! You are so dead!!" Stephen raged, grabbing the tiny girl by her brown braids. Stephen and Casey looked nothing like brother and sister even though they had the same parents. She had brown hair and eyes and a dimple in her right cheek, everything Stephen's face lacked. His shock white hair and pure icy eyes set them terribly apart, as did Casey's mischievous actions in his room when he wasn't around.
"Get a lock, big brother. Hah, mom and dad won't let you get one cause they believe in 'trust', don't they? What are you so worried about, dork, you only talk about your mushy dreams and crud! Let me go!" she wailed, kicking and scratching at him.
"Its none of your damn business, you little beast! Give me that!" Stephen growled, snatching the book from his sister's flailing hands, and then he stiffened as he noticed something familiar sticking out of her little shirt pocket," My wallet! That's it, I'm sticking you in the garbage disposal! You are really dead now!"
Stephen threw his book back into his room and carried his wailing sister down the stairs. He was halfway to the kitchen before his mother and father walked into the house laughing and holding hands. They stopped when they saw Stephen and Casey in the center of the room.
"Dammit Stephen! Casey! What is it now!?" their father shouted. Stephen dropped his sister onto her rump and displayed his empty wallet at his parents. "She used my money to buy crap again! And she was in my room again! Either I get my money back or she does the twist down the sink in a thousand pieces." He declared.
"Casey!" their father growled out, but Casey had her best innocent face on. "No, I didn't do anything. Stephen is just trying to pin it all on me for him wasting his money on junk!" she wept, looking pitifully up at their parents.
"Me!? You're a damn liar. I left my wallet at home after Dad sent me to get a tutor. It had fifty dollars and change in it….and now it's gone. She's done it before, you two know better. She's a greedy brat and a spy. If you won't buy me a lock, I will. Trust does not work with that thing you call a daughter."
"Enough!" their father shouted, grabbing Casey by the arm," You are grounded….again, until you give your brother back his money. I am sick and tired of hearing about what you are stealing from your brother when we give you a good enough allowance already. You, young lady, are going to sell back whatever you bought with that money or else I'm going to hand pick what we will bring to a pawn shop right now. If it was candy and you've already eaten it, why don't you just save your mother and I the trouble of searching the garbage cans and go pick what we'll give the pawn shop….from your room."
"Yes, sir….I'll go pick one now." She sulked, turned about slowly towards the stairs. "Rachel, go with her and make sure she doesn't go to his room. I guess she hasn't grown out of it yet."
Stephen saw his mother nod and went up the stairs with Casey to her darkened room. "And you're grounded to if you've come home without getting a tutor, young man." His father said gruffly.
Stephen smiled at his father as he lifted up the plastic bag to the man's sour face. "I have not disappointed you, Dad. I got the best tutor money can buy, at a good salary for sessions five days a week. All he wants is an even $200 each week, pretty good deal and he's willing to help me right after school. Guess I'm off the hook….eh, Pop?" he beamed.
His father took the bag and stuffed in his coat. "Well, at least you're back to doing things right, the only way a Tsukikage was meant to live. You're either smart or you're stupid, and don't you forget it, Stephen. This money had better damn well be worth it come report card time or you're paying your own way into college. You have another year to go before I can hit a high school, including this one. Don't screw it up now or ever again." His father said sharply, his face softening as his wife and daughter down the stairs with an armfuls of dolls and Casey's pink radio.
"Serves you right, Casey. Stay out of my stuff." Stephen snapped at her, and Casey quickly stuck her tongue out at him before their parents carted her away. Stephen went back up to his room as soon as he heard the car pull out of the driveway.
He shut his door and scooped his journal off the floor, shaking a dirty sock loose from it. Stephen room was littered with dirty clothes and empty snack boxes. His hamper was near his only window and the only cleans spots in his room were his bed and his computer desk, though the desk had old shavings from pencils, a few empty soda cans, and crumpled sheets of paper.
Stephen opened his window halfway and then opened his empty hamper. He set the journal on the bottom of it and then went steadily through his room picking up clothing. He grabbed and tossed each bit of clothing into his hamper until only the snack boxes were left on his floor. As he shut the hamper top down, he said," Even the brat isn't desperate enough to touch my underwear to read my journal. How dare she read it! God only knows how many times she's read it before I caught her….I'm officially saving up for a deadbolt."
Stephen started picking up his snack boxes after that, jammed his foot down on each one after he dropped them into his garbage pail. "I don't do this often enough, do I?" he said quietly, plopping down onto his bed," I'm surprised she even found my journal under all this mess."
"I'm surprised a person could actually live in such a pig sty." said a cool male voice. It came from behind him and Stephen leaned his head back a bit.
He let out a yelp as he found the source when it spoke again. "Hiya, Stephen." said the black cat, the same cat that had bitten him. Stephen was so startled that he slipped off of his bed and landed face first onto his carpet. "Ah! What the hell is going on? Oh God, a talking cat, damn, you gave me rabies. I already hallucinating!" Stephen gasped as he got into a sitting position. The cat leapt nimbly off the windowsill onto the bed, then just as swiftly right in front of Stephen. "I'll have you know I'm the healthiest cat this side of Tokyo, Stephen. I am really talking to you. My voice is as real the nose on your face. I haven't come to drive you crazy either, I've come to give you something." the cat said.
"Ok, just let me test something here." Stephen gasped, grabbing at the cat's tail and gave it a good hard tug. It let out a yowl and scratched Stephen's hand hard.
"Jeez, ok, I admit I'm awake….and being crazy doesn't hurt this much….I'd be too nutty to feel that, I guess." Stephen yelped, rubbing his hand. He stared at the wounds for a moment, watching the blood start to clot on the scratches. He bit his bottom lip as the wounds started to pull inward and within a few seconds all he could see was his skin without the wounds.
"How? What the hell?" Stephen stammered, but the cat just shook its head. "As I said before, Stephen, I have something for you. As you can plainly see, my test has worked. Your wounds, any kind of non-fatal wound anyway, will always heal given the proper amount of time. If you get your head cut off, well, you're out of luck, so let's hope for the best with your destiny." the cat said.
"My head? Destiny? This all sounds pretty weird….hell, a talking cat is over the top weird. Who or what are you really?" the youth asked.
"My name is Cyrus, your guardian cat. You have been chosen to fight the Dark Universe as the Moon Knight. All you have do is put the pendant contained in this pouch around you neck and say 'Moon Sword, Transform,' then the rest is up to you."
"Rewind that for me, pussy cat. Some piece of jewelry is going to make me into a Moon knight? What planet are you from?" Stephen grumbled. Cyrus shook his fuzzy black head at him.
"You are the guardian knight of the ancient Moon Kingdom, reborn on Earth to battle the Dark Universe that is killing its people, right here and now. Haven't there been a lot of disappearances lately? People winding up dead? The Dark Universe causes it so I had to find you as soon as possible so no more innocent life would be lost. Please, take the pendant out of my pouch and say the words. The a lot of people's lives are at stake here!" the cat said, more urgently now.
Stephen shrugged and dug one hand into the silver pouch. "Fine. I'm starting to think this is just another weirdo daydream of mine, but I'll humor you, Cyrus," Stephen said, withdrawing a small silver sword pendant from the pouch," Cool hallucination though. What a wicked looking blade, hey, with a ruby heart in the hilt. Where do hallucinations buy these babies?"
"Stop joking and say the words!" the cat yowled as Stephen thrust the pendant around his neck. "Ok, don't get your fur in a twist, kitty. Ah well, Moon Sword, Transform! AHHHH!!" Stephen said aloud, then doubled over as his body was engulfed in a silver light.
As the light began to die, Stephen opened his eyes to find himself staring at armor fingers. "What the heck!" he yelped and swiftly ran out of the room to the bathroom. He stared into the mirror, the shock overtaking him as his face didn't look back. He saw a young man in silvery armor with a crescent moon on the breastplate, a white tunic. He had a silvery cape on two and silver helmet that only cover the top of his head attached to what look like a metal theater mask that cover his eyes, the back part covered with white cloth that hid the back and sides of his head. He couldn't see his eyes, only the white holes where his eyes should have been.
He went back to his room slowly and shut the door with almost no effort, still looking himself over. There was a sword similar to the pendant he had put about his neck now holstered to his side and the armor was over his lower body as well, complete with a golden hilt. "Moon Knight, huh?" Stephen asked the cat, which was now sitting on Stephen's bed. "Protector of this planet….as are the other knights of this universe." Cyrus said.
"Other knights? Cool, so I won't be taking risks all by myself forever. This armor is pretty cool, kind of like medieval armor. I've actually battled villains and stuff in another life?" he asked and got a nod from the cat," Wish I could remember it, would make a great story."
"Story time is over, Moon Knight. We have a lot of talking to do." Cyrus said.
"How about telling me how to turn this off? If my parents see me in this, they won't know its me. They'll totally freak out." Stephen pointed out, taking off the mask as he sat down beside the cat. He rubbed at his eyes a little and smiled, the cat grinning back gently.
"Just think it and it will come. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about." The cat chuckled, watching the armor fade from the youth's body as easily as it had appeared.
~
"So, let me get this straight….I'm a reincarnated knight from some great universal war from 10,000 years ago, just like all the other knights you say exist right here in Tokyo, but you don't what they look like. You can only feel the power inside them like you did when we came in contact," Stephen stated, getting a nod from Cyrus," Great, so now I have to get dragged around the city looking for people neither of us know. Do you have anything I can swallow a little better than the end to what little free time I have left?"
Cyrus gave him a wry look, his tiny pink nose turning up at him. "You're a super hero now, Stephen. I am your free time now. Finding the heroes that will save this planet and all others is more important than video games and daydreaming." The cat hissed.
Stephen set his elbows on his legs and leaned his chin upon his open palms. "All right, don't throw a hissy fit, pussy cat. Just tell me a few things. Since I was some big time hero 10,000 years ago, why can't I remember it? And how am I going into battle an entire evil universe for my own? Why does Earth have to be its starting point?"
"They want it because a two special things are hidden within two people that could turn the tide for either side of this battle. When I came to know of my own destiny to find you, certain things were bestowed upon my mind that cleared up those very same questions. All my sources seem to know was that a great devastation occurred 10,000 years ago that cost almost all of the knights their lives as well as the king of the moon and his son. The Moon Prince is one of the keepers of a special gem that when combined with another can create a powerful crystal capable of vaporizing anything evil and granting the wishes of the users, ones that are pure of heart. The keeper of the other half of the crystal is the Earth Princess….as lost to us as the Moon Prince was. They are the reason the Dark Universe is starting their conquests here, to gain the crystal and use it for their own purposes." Cyrus explained.
"A prince and a princess hidden from good and evil on the same planet. I should be writing this down for my creative writing class. Not to change the subject or anything, but why can't either of us remember what the devastation was or what these royal people and knights looked like?" Stephen spouted.
The cat gave off a slight shrug. "I don't know, all I know is that we must find the prince and princess and awaken them before the Dark Universe does. So, tomorrow afternoon we're paying a nice long visit to Onyx Tutors Unlimited."
"It's closed now, Cyrus. I already have a tutor anyway and I pretty much doubt bringing a cat with me will get me another one, not that I need another one." Stephen groaned.
"We're not going to get a tutor for you, lamebrain! Have you even heard of that company until today? Have you ever seen it before now?" the cat said.
Stephen was ready to snap at Cyrus, but stopped, lowering his head to think. "Not really. I know that place was an apartment building that got condemned a year ago….I saw it on the news….but, now that I think about it, I've never heard of the place until today. I know people in class doing terrible in other subjects, but Onyx Unlimited was never mentioned to them in class or me."
"I followed you there tonight and got a very bad feeling about it. I was glad you didn't get there in time to be let in. I waited until after I tested you aura to go back and investigate and…." Cyrus began.
"Tested!? You bit me, you little fur ball!" Stephen shouted, rapping his fist on the cat's head.
"Ow! I know it was a little extreme, but you have to admit that the healing benefits it put into your own blood was well worth a few moments of pain!" Cyrus exclaimed angrily," When I went back, I got in through a ventilation shaft and saw families inside the building, hanging from what looked like snakes attached to these funny looking paperweights."
"Paperweights? That sounds ridiculous. The snakes I could buy, but paperweights? What idiot thought that up?" the young man laughed.
"The Dark Universe can instill their life draining specters and abilities in any living or inanimate objects. They have all the powers of darkness at their disposal, it just doesn't mean they are terribly picky in what they use it on. Anyway, the snakes from the paperweights were draining the life from the families, young and old. I saw the weakest members fall to the floor as they were sucked dry of life. We must go there and stop whatever fiend is behind this and save those who are still able to breathe."
"Did you just hear what you said? Snakes sucking people's lives away in a tutoring center? Killer paperweights? This all sounds a little, no, very far fetched. Hell, I thought talking cats were silly, but this?? I dunno." Stephen mumbled, scratching his head.
"Stop trying to understand it all and try listening to me for once. You are the only chance those families have to get away and the only one who has the power to destroy the monster causing their misery. You and I are going to take them down tomorrow night….so you think about this. Don't blow it off because it sounds so unbelievable to you. This is your destiny, Stephen. Trust me, I'm the only one that can help you achieve it." Cyrus told him, looking up at him very seriously.
"My guardian cat, my and the universe's only hope. This is so heavy….," Stephen sighed, lying back gently onto his bed," You're never going to leave me alone until I do this, are you?"
"Nope. You're stuck with me." Cyrus grinned.
"Ahhh, all right, Cyrus. I'll see what I can do….but this battling stuff isn't really my thing. I took karate classes from age five to ten and that was it. I haven't gone to that class since and even with all those classes I never got a black belt. So forgive me if I don't like the idea of my butt getting kicked around by some freak job from another universe." Stephen replied, closing his eyes gently.
"Your powers will be enough for now. The Dark Universe hasn't had any interference in their affairs since this mess started. They won't be expecting you to show up at all. We just have to play it safe and hit them hard when they try anything." Cyrus said crisply.
"Won't my secret identity get blown if I change in front of them? My hair does make me stand out a bit." Stephen pointed out, letting out a slight breath of air as Cyrus curled up on his stomach.
"No one will know if you wear a disguise. I heard you'll be getting fifty dollars back tonight…..a cheap wig should be worth at least that much and maybe a pair of sunglasses. Besides, its not like you'll be letting this monster tell on you. The object of your mission is to destroy the evil monsters they send, not arrest them. They'd kill even more people that way." Cyrus mumbled, purring softly as he shut his tiny eyes.
Stephen let out a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll do all that tomorrow, but Cyrus, just let me sleep all this weirdness off. Have to save plenty of room for all the new weirdness I'll get to absorb tomorrow. Night, Cyrus."
When the cat didn't answer, Stephen just kept his eyes closed and drifted to sleep, his dreams offering him subtle comforts throughout the night.
~ The Next Day ~
- Onyx Tutors Unlimited -
"Ok, this better be worth the fifty bucks, kitty cat, or a certain cat I know is getting fixed." Stephen said, adjusting the short brown wig on his head. He had an old pair of scratched up sunglasses covering his eyes and he wore a green sports jersey with double 7's on the front and back and worn out jeans and sneakers. They were things he had been meaning to throw away once he bought new clothes, but never really got around to it. He was glad in a morbid way that he hadn't, he only hoped the Dark Universe monster, whatever it was, wouldn't see through it. He truly hoped it wouldn't notice the necklace he was wearing, the sword pendant hidden securely under his jersey.
"Watch it, kid. I know where you sleep. I can castrate you as easily as the next anal kitty. I'll be in the vents so you just go and get them to give you a tour of the place before you decide on getting a tutor, the second you see them try something transform, got it?" Cyrus warned.
"Yeah, I got it the third time you told me, Cyrus. Go do your thing and let me do mine," Stephen mumbled as he went through the entrance of the building. He looked about briefly as he casually walked through the spick and span lobby. He had to admit for a dark and evil universe, they sure hid it well enough. There were statues of angels and works of fine art all over the walls and a large perfect marble fountain in the center.
As he got closer to the front desk, he saw a beautiful woman sitting there, hair as blonde as corn silk and with eyes just as blue as the sky. She wore clean-cut clothing and her make-up was as perfect as a super-model's. 'If they're so evil, they hide it pretty damn well. God couldn't see through this, well, unless he knows more about this whole mess than I do.' He thought, laying his hands on the desk firmly.
The woman smiled at him and pulled a clipboard out from her desk. "How may I help you, young man?" she said sweetly.
"Uh, I need a tutor for Spanish and math classes. I'm having terrible problems in them and I heard about this place so I decided to see if you could help me. I don't want my parents finding out about it, so could we maybe make my sessions very discrete." Stephen said plainly, flashing her a heart-warming grin.
The woman smiled back and swiftly got up from her chair. "Follow me. We can definitely help you. No will ever know you were here."
'I bet that's what you told the other people who came in here. God, my stomach hurts just by listening to her. Maybe Cyrus isn't just some freaky cat. Then my life really is on the line if I screw things up. Stay cool, just follow the evil universe woman. Cyrus can't be too far off anyway….I hope.' He thought, following the woman to a pair of marvelously carved wooden doors lined with gold plating.
He passed by the woman, trying not to shiver as his hand brushed against her. His stomach twisted in knots at the touch, all the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as he walked further down the dimly lit corridor. There were no more paintings on the wall, only tan walls and gray marble pillars welcomed his shielded eyes.
The woman was beside him again, a cheery look decked across her features. "Your tutors are at the end of the hall. Just come with me, young man. We'll end all of your problems in a few minutes." She said sweetly.
Stephen simply nodded at her as she led him down the dim hallway his eyes set beyond the woman's head for the door to what Cyrus had told him ended many people's lives. The walk was long and tedious, but Stephen was too nervous to think about it.
'Are theses powers going to be enough to stop them. I haven't even seen a monster yet and I'm already getting freaked out. Just stay cool or this monster will eat you before you even get to the room.' He thought, coughing a little as the another large set of wooden doors came into view. The woman pushed one of them open and went inside, looking back briefly to gesture Stephen in. He obeyed her, his eyes swiveling back and forth as he came inside.
There was nothing in the room but a table and small black pyramid paperweight. The entire room was lit a by a the same dim lamps as the hallway had been, but there was no one inside the other than himself and the woman.
"So where are my tutors?" he asked casually, turning around slightly to keep his eyes on the woman better. She shrugged, walking by him to the table, lifting the fist sized paperweight in her hands and started towards him. "They'll be here, but how about this gift for choosing Onyx Tutors Unlimited as your tutoring center? All of our customers get one, here, take it." She said, shoving it forth to his hands.
He took a fearful step backward as she did, and kept backing up as she tried to force it upon him again and again until his back rammed into the doors. "I already have lots of paperweights at home. I really don't want it, please." He blubbered out, moving from side to side as the woman kept shoving it at him.
"Take it!" she snapped, her eyes losing their pleasing allure. Her voice was getting more hollow than before and she was gritting her teeth as she shoved the paperweight at him again. He moved out of the way as hard as he could, sending him sprawling onto the floor as a loud crash filled his ears. As he scrambled to get up, he saw that the woman had shoved her entire arm through the door, her face writhing with hatred and anger.
She yanked her arm out just as quickly, the skin peeling away from her once creamy flesh. What he saw was black and spiky under what was once the woman's skin and the longer he stared, the more black spikes began to jut out of her body. The creamy skin and perfect clothing were evaporating from her body, her hair falling down in clumps along with her ruby lips and perfect face.
Stephen watched her until she was no longer a woman, but a black, stony monster covered with spikes, her hair now a nest of rocky spikes with eyes as white as death.
"Enough of this cutesy crap! Now you die for making me ruin my new body!!" she wailed, leaping at him feet first," Face the wrath of Onyx, human!"
Stephen leapt out of the way, then dove over the table as the monster tried to ram her spiky fists into his face. "This qualifies as life and death, Cyrus. This is where you check out, Onyx. Moon Sword, Transform!" Stephen shouted, groaning out in pain as the transformation took hold.
Onyx moved back as the bright light surrounded the young man's body, shielding her irisless eyes from him. When the light was gone, the boy was dressed in silver armor and white clothing, his face and hair shielded away by silver mask and helmet.
"I am the Moon Knight, Onyx, and for the planet Earth, I will destroy you and the Dark Universe," he proclaimed, withdrawing his long, brilliant sword," Come and get it, lady."
"With pleasure, pretty boy. I'm going to rip your heart out for your insolence, human!" Onyx screamed, leaping high into the air.
Moon Knight kept his sword in front of him, searching the darkness above him for the rock monster. He saw and heard nothing for what seemed like forever when suddenly thousands of snakes and rivulets of blood poured down upon him.
He gasped hard as his eyes met with the weakened faces of the five young people hanging from the darkness by what he thought were thick black vines. Upon closer inspection, he saw that they were large, writhing snakes, their fangs embedded deep into their victims' necks.
"Oh Cyrus, get your fuzzy butt down here. This woman's totally whacko!" Stephen shouted, searching around wildly for his companion and the rock woman.
"Call out all the imaginary names you like, boy. I'll kill whatever you can throw at me, starting with you! RAH!!!!" Onyx roared
Onyx leapt out of the darkness, her razor sharp claws slashing down towards Stephen's heart. He deflected them with his sword, but the forced of her attack sent him back sprawling.
"Ahh!! This is nuts, but I have to help those people! Suck sword, witch!" Stephen shouted, swing his sword at her as hard as he could. His lack of experience was telling on him as he did, and the rock woman took full advantage of it and beat down on him mercilessly.
Stephen fought her, deflecting the blows as best he could until one got through and cut his side. Stephen yelped out in pain as he doubled over onto the floor. "God no! When are these stinking powers supposed to kick in? Urk!" Stephen groaned, sucking in all his breath as the creature towered over him.
"Praying to your feeble God, boy? He won't help you, no one will! You're dead!" Onyx shouted as she moved in for the kill.
As quickly as the rock woman moved, a silver sword pierced the darkness and cut off the creature's left hand.
"Argh! Who threw that!?" Onyx demanded, to enraged to notice that Stephen was already back on his feet. He grabbed both swords up and raised them over Onyx head, but as his eyes raised he saw who had thrown the other sword.
She was beautiful, with a gorgeous body that was perfectly slender and sleek, and had long raven black hair that shimmered even in the darkness she seemed to be perched in. She was dressed in a sexy black dress with black armored boots and chest armor as black as Onyx's own body. She also wore a mask the same color, her eyes hidden behind the dark shades.
Stephen couldn't help himself as his jaw dropped at the site of her, his surprise attack ruined with a single word. "Beautiful!"
Onyx whipped around the moment the word left Stephen mouth, claws bared. Stephen leapt out of the way, slashing the woman in black's sword, catching Onyx in the face.
"Use your Celestial Beam attack, Moon Knight! Focus your heart and mind on your sword and let the power of the Moon protect you. "the woman in black shouted.
"Focus? I….uh…ok, it beats being torn to shreds. Time for Plan B." Stephen shouted, halting dead in his tracks with Onyx still barreling down upon him.
"Please, please, please, let this work. It works on TV! Let it work now." Stephen mumbled, rushing right at Onyx with both swords.
He tossed the woman in black's sword right at Onyx, then got his other hand around his own sword before going into a tumble. The woman's sword hit the monster dead center in the chest, black blood oozing out from her torso as she staggered. Stephen kept tumbling until he zipped right between Onyx's legs.
"Focus Moon Knight, search your heart for the power and strike!" the woman in black shouted, leaping down from her perch to land a swift set of kicks into Onyx's body.
Stephen focused more on the woman's voice rather than his own heart, but then he felt a rich and warm feeling pulsing through his fingers, setting the sword aglow. His entire body was pulsing with energy after a few short moments, his mind aflame with power.
"Celestial Beam!! Come forth!!" Stephen shouted, raising his sword high above his head and swift slashed it at Onyx. A silver crescent of light ripped away from the metal and buried itself into Onyx's chest. The rock woman began screaming as more bursts of silver light began to shine out from within her body until finally she burst into atoms right before Stephen's eyes, leaving the woman in black's silver sword behind on the floor.
Stephen saw that the people above him were being lowered down to the floor, the snakes that held them slowly wasting away. "Yes, we did it! Thank you so much, miss….hey, where'd you go?" Stephen called, whipping his head around to find the mystery woman.
"Call me Lady Glamour, Moon Knight. I am your ally in the fight against the Dark Universe, " the woman said softly from high above, her sword back in her hand," Take heed, Moon Knight, more perils await you. I suggest that you stay alert. Farewell for now." As she finished, she leapt further up into the darkness, vanishing without a trace.
All Stephen could do was stare after her, even as the survivors of Onyx's terrors were waking up and thanking him. "I think I'm in love." He said dreamily.
"Oh hell, not now! You don't even know her!" It was Cyrus' voice, but Stephen was still staring up through his armored mask at the darkness, even as the walls began to fade, becoming the abandoned apartment building it had been for many years.
"What a woman!" He said at last, smiling up regardless of the surroundings.
"Oh bother. Stop daydreaming!" Cyrus yowled, trying to scratch through Stephen's armor.
"Who's daydreaming, Cyrus? That woman is such a fox and she's strong and smart to boot. My ally….a super model. Ahhhh." He breathed and blushed as he brought his hands to his cheeks.
"This is going to be a lot harder than I thought." Cyrus grumbled.