School Days

"Tafi! Shouldn't you be at school?" a voice screamed up the stairs.

Tafi blinked her eyes, slowly rising from her bed. "Huh?"

Her mother looked in her room, carrying a basket of laundry in one arm. "You know, school? Its your first day at the Academy."

Tafi groaned, jumping out of bed. "What time is it?"

"7:50. School begins at 8:00."

"AHHHHHH! Why didn't you wake me up?" Tafi grabbed her uniform off a chair by her bed.

Mrs.Marura smiled, "Your alarm went off five times. Didn't you hear it?"

"NO!" Tafi slammed the door shut, slipping on her uniform quickly. She ran a brush through her hair a couple times, just enough to get out the big knots. "I'm leaving!" She called, heading down the stairs.

*

A dark figure knelt by the throne of the Shadower. "Your majesty, our Shadow was defeated by a girl claiming to be Sailor Deben yesterday."

"Why was I not told of this sooner?"

"I, myself, was not informed until now." The figure responded.

"Redi, you know the capture of earth depends of this sort of information. This Sailor Deben is definitely a problem, but of course - she can be easily dealt with."

Redi nodded draped his cloak closer around him. "Master, I have a plan."

"What is it?"

"Well, if we want to control Earth - we must control the leading minds. But the leaders at this point are near the end of their decline. A new generation of rulers must rise up in their stead. These new rulers will be the students of today. And I have a plan to shadow the student's minds."

The Shadower smiled evily, " Get to it then."

*

"Hello, children!" a small young woman grinned upon a class of eager students. "Mrs. Jeda couldn't make it today, so I was chosen to take her place."

"Aren't you going to take attendence?" a girl in the front row asked. Her dark black hair constrasted against the white uniform shirt.

"Uh..yes..who are you so I can mark you down?"

"Kali Hasu. And beside me is Aira Garenu. She is absent today."

"Thank you…"

The classroom door flung open, and a young man stepped in. He handed the teacher a raft of papers. "You know what to do with this."

"Oh yes." She took the papers, nodding for the man to leave. He shut the door behind himself. "I'm sorry Kali, I have to administer this test first." The substitute started to pass out the papers. "This is a Career Aptitude Test, new by the School Board."

As a paper arrived to her, a girl with wavy orange hair in the backrow raised her hand. "Can we use #2 pencils on this test?"

The teacher shook her head, heading over to her desk. She retrieved a small box from under her desk. Under her breath she muttered, "Shadow Activation!" The box glowed for a second, and then returned to its normal color. "No, my dear, this test requires #5 pencils. What is your name, for reference?"

The girl looked surprised, "It's Delphine. Whoever heard of number 5 pencils?"

The teacher ignored her comment, passing a pencil to each student. "As soon as you receive a pencil you may begin."

The students bent over the tests, fixed to the questions on the paper. At that second, the door flew open and Tafi ran in. Her hair and uniform were positively disheveled, influencing a giggle from the orange haired girl. Tafi glared at her, taking one of the papers in her hand. "A TEST! I haven't even been here a day!"

"Honey, would you take your seat and begin?"

Tafi nodded, looking around the room for an open desk. She saw one, a desk next to a girl with black hair. As she sat down, the girl looked up, saying - "That's Aira's desk."

"Uh..sorry…just for today? K?"

The girl nodded and leaned back over the test paper. The pencil in her hand began to glow strangely, and Kali's eyes darkened. She glared at the paper on her desk, crumpling it up and throwing it across the room. When Tafi glanced around the room, all the students began doing the same thing.

"What?" Tafi asked outloud.

The teacher snapped around, her face completely changed. "Bow to the Shadows human!"

"That's sounds really bad…and I don't bow to anyone - thank you very much." Tafi stood up and grabbed her crystal from her pocket. "Deben Circle Make up!"

In a few seconds, Sailor Deben stood before the Shadow Monster. "Meanie, you've made a BIG mistake. I'm Sailor Deben - and I won't allow chaos around here. Especially when you're going to take a test. So prepare to be blasted!"

"You really think you're something?" the monster laughed. A dark beam of light shot out of her hand. When it hit the desk before Sailor Deben - a dark hole was burnt through it. "That will be you in a few seconds!"

"I don't like that at all…" Sailor Deben thought, "and I'm not going to give you the chance to burn me up." She crossed her wrists, yelling, "Deben Crash!"

The energy hit the monster, surrounding it. The screaming creature melted into the ground, now a black puddle of evil.

"Ack, now what do I do about everyone else?" The students were running all over the room, hitting each other and tearing up papers.

"Sailor Deben! Use that crystal of yours!" Sailor Galaxy stood behind her, the dark hair flapping in a hidden breeze. "Say, 'Deben Enlightens!'"

Sailor Deben nodded, taking the crystal from her tiara. "Deben Enlightens!" A strange light flowed from the crystal into the students. Their eyes lost the shadowy gaze, and they began to blink - as if they had come out of the deep sleep. Before her chance was lost, Sailor Deben called - "Deben Circle Grounding." Once she took her seat, Tafi picked up a pencil from the ground. All the dark energy had been drained from it, and she placed it in her bookbag. It would be a great souvenir for her first day at the Academy.