A Grim Eclipse

Once in every decade, there is an eclipse unlike any other. The so-called "Grim Eclipse", a supernatural occurance in which the entire sun is blocked out by the moon... but completely. Rather than it being a normal eclipse, with the edges of light clearly visible...

...There is absolutely no light. Pitch blackness. As if the planet has went to the dark ages...

To top it off, there are tales of cryptic creates of darkness lurking the world in all places... creatures that are so much more powerful than ordinary mobians. Creatures that can only be truly seen when they're right up close due to their translucent nature.


...


Station Square - 16:45 - 15 minutes till Grim Eclipse

With the news slowly coming to the surface, people had to prepare, get ready in any way, shape and form. It was a day of staying mostly indoors due to the darkness outside.

...Or monster hunting to those that were strong enough to do so...

But the decision is entirely yours.

((This can be a casual RP of just chilling around inside and talking about stuff while the eclipse blows over... or going crazy and taking down hordes of demonic monsters. It's all down to how you guys wanna do it~ You can join however, and whenever you want.))

Stalking through the streets, preparing for the event was an orange furred cat. She was wearing her typical blue outfit, the shorts and small jacket. She seemed to be completely unphased by the massive, lurking 'danger' that was slowly stalking up to the inhabitants of the city...

Time was ticking.

It's close... I can sense it. The thought came from a brown-furred fox who was out preparing for what would the most devastating day in her lifetime. She was dressed in her usual outfit, which consisted of a sleek black jacket, a yellow shirt, black ripped-up jeans, and sneakers of a grayish-white color. She had seen all before thanks to the assistance of a longtime friend, who she hadn't seen in a while. Time was slowly passing by as she waited for both the eclipse and demonic figures to come. The impending danger was coming, but it was coming slowly but steadily...

Just after getting home, the fox would need to pick out the outfit she would go searching for the demon horde with. She decided on a outfit that was cobalt in color, except for the fact that it was a bit darker in shade. The mask that came with her outfit covered most of her face except for her nose, the top of her muzzle, and her eyes. The outfit had a heart-shaped design where the chest and the top of the feet were located; it was a ruby color, but lighter in shade. She soon replaced her usual daily clothing with the outfit she picked out, fixating it to where it was comfortable enough for her to move in. Now all there was left to do was wait...

The sky was darkening. The sky was darkening, and of course she chose now to have a vacation in another foreign city. Scelus was great and all, so was Trinus, but this place? She hadn't even had that much of an audience here. Did no-one even listen to the radio? Regardless, it was a stupid mistake to come here during a temporary apocalypse deal thing. It was even worse that she found herself lost in the damned maze that was the many street-ways, and it was only, what, 15 minutes till it all slammed down? Great.

Pressing her nose against the inside of a store window was a wolf. Her fur was black, or a very dark grey at least, with a lighter shade for her muzzle and arms. Her clothing consisted of a white jacket with yellow highlights, and red baggy trousers that were tucked into her boots. On her bangs, was a single streak of yellow. It made her look very... flashy. Hip. Cool. And down with the times. But she was youngish, middle-20s most likely. Her deep crimson eyes glanced left and right of the street. She noticed a brown fox and an orange feline. They didn't look panicked. Sam grumbled.

Her breath made the glass foggy, and she momentarily used her hand to wipe at it, before pressing her nose in the same position again. The wolf was observing. This place wasn't safe, but it was better than walking out there. She wasn't a fighter, after all. But damned if she'd let some dumb flimsy edgy demon things catch her.

The orange cat simply stopped in place, scanning through her wrist device. She was running out of time. Oh so quickly, every little second was ticking away. "...Hmmmm..." She quietly hummed to herself. ("Not long to go.")

Taking a glance to the right, she suddenly noticed a... what seemed to be black wolf staring almost right at her out of the window. Rather than be all disturbed and super annoyed about it like she was on a high horse, she instead put on a small smile, pointing to the door of the shop.

It seemed she wanted to go in.

...Meanwhile, lurking around in the shadows was an odd snake-like person. Wearing a really dusty, old jacket which was quite torn, and not much else save for a hat...

...And a massive metallic backpack of sorts from which protruded robotic arms, the creature's eyes lingered left and right. Scanning. Sensing. There was something great about the eclipse coming...

And he was already starting to feel it's toll starting to sink in.

Not much longer... The hazel fox thought, now in the shadows as she waited for the demon horde to approach. She would probably be injured, but she had to take the risk. She scanned the area around her, only to find out that there was no sign of the hordes as of yet. A sigh escaped the fox, so she had some time to gather some weapons to use against the strange inhabitants that would soon arrive. However, she would also need to prepare for the eclipse that was also coming.

Upon arriving home for the second time, she immediately began to search for anything that would help her against the demon hordes which would soon come. Eventually she came across something that would help her out tremendously. Perfect, the hazel fox thought, a smile appearing behind her mask. The weapon she had in her possession would possibly help help her out with the inhabitants that would soon arrive, and that was a plus. Now she could truly wait for both the eclipse and the demon hordes...

((Just a small note, Mephiles! Not my RP so don't pay it too much heed, but if it's 15 minutes before the eclipse, you might not want to jump to locations so quickly. It'll make it seem like time is moving differently for all the characters :c ))

Watching the brown fox move away without so much as a glance in the wolf's direction, she huffed. Red-gloved hands against the window, slowly sliding down, she then paused, her tail raising, upon noticing that she'd caught straight and direct eye-contact with the orange cat. They waved. Sam waved back, giving a wide smirk.

The door? Oh, no, the store was open, yeah. It wasn't her store. In fact, it seemed abandoned. Looks like the owner left to go home without bothering to properly lock it. Perhaps they were in a rush. Regardless, Sam motioned with her hand for the cat to come in, giving a shrug in return.

See, she wasn't going to loot the place. That'd be really awful to do. At most, she'd move desks and stalls to barricade the doors and glass windows, but she had no intention in becoming a thief. With that in mind, the wolf made her way to a shelf, and began to heave it. Slowly, of course, to allow Ebony entry first.

((Yeah, try to keep things a little consistent. Although, the stuff you're doing isn't too big, try not to warp place to place really fast because it probably would take more than just 5 minutes to do that stuff.))


16:50 - 10 minutes till Grim Eclipse

Ebonia stepped on into the store, her boots sliding gently across the small carpet. She cleared her throat a bit. "Hi, sorry if I'm being a bother." The cat spoke, her voice quiet and gentle, but with a small tone of power behind it, as if confident to an extent. "My house is, well, miles away, like, at Falcon Square, aaaand I had no idea this eclipse was happening until not-so-long ago. You mind if I stay in here until it passes?" She asked, walking in a bit further, observing the scene before her a bit more, her blue eyes lingering on the other, seeing that the wolf was shoving things across the store relatively slowly. Barricading, huh?

The cat's last eclipse was when she was 11, but her parents were... very nonchalant about it. They weren't disturbed by anything and they definitely did a good job about hiding the whole demonic super soldier thing and general monster stuff. It was just a day of being indoors.

Needless to say, the cat was oblivious, with good reason, to the actual threat that was outside.

...

The more time that passed, however, the more powerful this specific being felt. The snake closed his eyes, grinning widely. It was only once in a while that this kind of thing happened. And boy was this snake going to take advantage of the boost this time round...

The teeth that he had, the oh-so-sharp fangs extended, his eyes becoming a lot more sharp in appearance. His body grew slightly in size and he became a little bit more hunched over. The snake's skin darkened a little bit, and he merely looked at the sky.

The large black supermoon slowly started to move into place... the sky beginning to darken faster.

(I was trying not to rush...but I'll go ahead and skip some parts. I don't know what happened, so I apologize.)

Without her weapons, she could manage, but she would have to try to last as long as possible. The hazel-furred fox looked to the sky, only to frown at the sight. Sure, the time was moving faster, and the forces were getting closer, but did the eclipse really have to come soon? What she saw, however, was what seemed to be a quickly darkening sky, but that wouldn't stop her from waiting for the horde to come. Little did she know, however, that there was someone else waiting in the shadows as well...

Well, it wasn't her store. So let's say it's something simple - a humble little appliance store. Displays of various electronics: televisions, DVD players, stereos, you name it. It wasn't large, in fact it was just a small shop on the edge of the street. As stated earlier, it had glass windows with a door. There seemed to be an additional door just around the counter, which probably led to the warehousing and staff room. It was a pleasant shade of blue and white, but other than that, it was hardly special.

There was a heavy thud, and the door was blocked by a large shelf, the items having been removed for easier pushing. The wolf didn't seem exhausted, but there was that singular bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. She squinted at the windows. Goddammit. This was not the best place to be.

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Sam reassured the feline with a wave of her hand, occasionally casting uneasy and worried glances towards the blatantly obvious frail defence. "How long is it anyway?" she asked, "Also uh, I don't know how long we have left. I think it's best we hide?" Her tone was confident, but there was a hint of uneasiness behind it. Like I said, she was no fighter. More a runner. And this situation didn't appeal to her. If she wasn't a composed person, she'd be panicking right now.

Without even waiting for a response, the black wolf leapt over another shelf, crouching down behind it. It entirely obscured her from view from those looking within. Her tail curled around her legs, and her ears were alert.

Tick... tock.

Time was only going more and more by. And it wasn't long before the clock struck 16:59. Only 60 seconds until totality.

"Thank you." Ebonia said with a smile. "I think we're just about to reach the eclipse. I'd say another minute before it becomes pitch black... you can see the street starting to vanish already. Why are people so nervous about this anyway? So long as we keep the building lit up a little we should be fine, right?" She questioned, putting a hand on her hip.

"...What?" The cat was confused as to why the wolf leapt over the shelf, but decided to join her. Maybe there was a reason to be so cautious. Ebonia certainly didn't want to find out the hard way.

...

"Mmmmmmmm, my..." A deep, rough voice spoke. The normal tone that the snake would normally have was far deeper now... and unwillingly, his eyes had faded from their normal silver to complete solid red, standing out in the darkness. His teeth were now far bigger than they should be, and he was definitely significantly bigger in size.

"Disssspicable... demonic herritage isssss quite disssguissting... but it does have it'sss advantages... I can't lie..." The snake mused to himself, before setting his eyes on one unlucky soul that happened to be outside...

...In mere moments, he had analyzed them. Their weapon. Their status in general. It would not be a difficulty taking this one out, especially not with the circumstances...

...But it was certainly going to be more fun toying with them.

...

There was only 10 seconds or so remaining, as the sun in the sky began to completely fade away, like nothing but a mere memory. The last slither of light slowly diminished, and with a brutal, cold wind, followed by complete silence...

...The eclipse was now in motion. For how long, however, was uncertain.

The moments leading up to the eclipse were definitely coming closer and closer. In mere seconds, the sun would be completely blacked out, as the hazel fox could see. It's almost time... she thought, now waiting in the shadows as well. She could now see both the quickly darkening sky and the streets from a distance, which was beginning to darken as well. The eclipse was about to begin...

There were only a few seconds left, and suddenly, she could see it. The sky was now completely dark, meaning the eclipse was about to begin. It's time, she thought, now listening to nothing but utter silence. Soon the demon hordes would come, and she would have to defend herself against the mysterious inhabitants. How long this would last, however, was unknown...

"Listen, I hear a lot of stories, right?" she said, her voice lowered to a mere whisper as the darkness blanketed over them, "From all over the globe. But I've heard stories about this too. And they say it's not something you want to hang around for." There was a crushing uneasiness, a meddling anxiety, a terrifying vulnerability. She could feel the weight of this Grim Eclipse on her, and felt a chill down her spine. 

Her hands, for but a moment, sparked with a slight spark of electricity, illuminating this eternal blackness for but a second. It faded, and Ebony's face faded with it. There was no light. She could barely see her hand in front of her face. If she WERE to make light, it'd attract attention. She'd memorised the store layout to the best of her ability at least, and Sam hoped she wouldn't make a mistake if she had to run.

"Now shush. I dunno how long this lasts for, gal, but it's best we wait it out," admittedly, it was a few minutes in. And while her heart was pounding out of her chest, she was also rather bored of sitting here.

((Sorry for the delay. Things been going really annoying lately. Not bad, just annoying. Haven't had a PC to use to respond until now.))

The cat took that as a blatant cue to simply quiet down, lowering her own voice as well to match the others. She really wasn't familiar with the whole reason but she dared not question it at this point, considering how tense the atmosphere was slowly starting to become...

Ebonia watched the light flash into the wolf's hands with a brief expression of surprise. It wasn't exactly awe or amazement at the ability, it was more the kind of face you make when you find out someone likes the same thing you do. "Huh. You can create electricity at will?" She questioned. "Neat." She quietly said.

There was a sound of a smash extremely nearby all of a sudden. It seemed that one of the other stores had been broken into by someone. Or something.

The cryptic, demonic whispers breathed through the darkness, a day darker than night itself making itself very clear.

Immediately after the smash, a black figure appeared almost instantly in front of the hazel fox, going to attack with no relenting or remorse!

Suddenly, she could hear a noise from a distance. They're here... she thought, now beginning to hear whispers coming from the darkness. The hazel fox looked around, now seeing that the day was darker than night itself. Soon, she could see a mysterious figure appear in front of her. She could see by its expression that it would show no mercy, so she would have no choice but to do the same.

"I ca-" the shattering of class caused Sam to momentarily jump lightly, her fur on end and eyes wide. For a second, she thought it was this store, but her mind rationalised that it wasn't a possibility due to being too far away. She sighed under her breath. She held her finger against her lips, and leaned in towards Ebony to allow her to see her face, hinting that she should do the same.

She sat still. Her breathing slowed.

And then she leaned back from the feline, silently releasing the breath she'd been holding. Hopefully, no-one was out there. Even if they were, chances are she wouldn't be able to see them. And the door was barricaded anyway - there'd be no possible way to help whoever was out there without leaping through a window. For now, it was just a waiting game for it to pass.

Ebonia took the hint once again and remained silent, holding her breath. The shattering. What the hell was going on out there The cat simply put her own finger on her lips as well, signifying she got the message.

It took a while, but there were no sounds. None at all. It was... scary, actually. More so than when there were sounds.

The cat gently whispered, "Is it really a good idea to just sit here?" She asked, grimacing a bit.

The black figure lurched right at the hazel fox, followed by suddenly three more that revealed themselves in the darkness. They attacked in surprising silence, but the hissing whispers started to become louder around the fox.

There were clearly loads watching...

Suddenly, she saw something lunge towards her, causing her to look around. The fox quickly came to her senses as she saw the figure attack her, managing to force it off of her afterwards. There's more of them...! she thought, seeing three more figures appear from the darkness. She couldn't tell if they attacked or not, but she could sense their movements. However, she could hear the whispers getting louder with each moment that passed.

The wolf shuddered.
"Girl, I can barely see in front of my face, and you think we can both go out there and help whatever's happening? The door's barricaded and the only way out is the windows."
She sighed, brushing her hair back with her gloved fingers. Sam seemed tired. Maybe it was the atmosphere, it was probably the atmosphere, but either way her energy just wasn't there, and her shoulders sagged.
"Y'can go out there if you want, play hero. But it's not gonna get you anywhere, when you can't even see where or what's to be saved. If you want to leap through a window without knowing anything, go ahead. I'd rather y'not though, one less death is better than one more."

"..." Ebonia quietened down a bit after that. She'd gone through worse. ...Right? The whole ordeal with that island she went to. She saved countless people countless times. And here she was in a room where, albeit, she couldn't see, but...

...Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea afterall. People would've done something if they could. She was sure of it. This was probably out of her league.

The cat quietly sighed. "I get it." She whispered a bit, her own energy having vanished a little at that. She shifted on the spot a bit, only to find that she really didn't have all that much room to move. And that was... pretty bad. The darkness on it's own was proving to be a bit... fear inducing.

Combined with lack of movement was very much starting to remind her of her phobia and biggest fear at the same time. "Unh... C-Could we move somewhere else? With more space?" She asked, gritting her teeth a little bit.

The sound of quiet whispering could be heard all around, but where the hazel fox was, she was surrounded in a tornado of whispers, all changing location and loudness constantly.

Two red eyes lit up the darkness in front of the fox.

"Sssso, what are you doing out here at a time like this, hmmm...?" The voice asked, deep, menacing, dark, demonic. You name it.

The eyes were suspended far quite far above the ground, meaning that whatever had the eyes was either flying...

Or just really, really tall.

"I take it ssssomeone has a death wish?"

The whispers were almost loud enough to drive her insane. She couldn't give up now... Suddenly, she saw a pair of eyes lock on to her, sending a chill down her spine. The fox narrowed her eyes as she replied, "I'm only here to rid the planet of this...strange force." She didn't seem to be afraid of the impending force before her. She was concerned for the safety of the world itself. "I do not seek a death wish, however," she added.

"Sure..." Sam breathed, her breath momentarily caught in her chest again and she slowly breathed to compose herself. She didn't even realising her hands were shaking, "Sure... c'mon," with that, the wolf reached to the side, and her fingers curled around the feline's hand.

"I know the layout of this place, just take it slow and stay by me," her voice was barely a whisper, and it could have easily been drowned under the uneasily whisperings in the air. The silence rang in her ears, even including the occasional uneasy moment it was shattered by whatever was in the air. Blood was rushing to her head, and she wasn't even involved with anything. She just couldn't see anything. It felt like she was gazing into an abyss. It was worse than she ever imagined.

And with that hold on Ebony's hand, she gave a gentle tug as she went to stand up and lead her with slow, careful steps. She was aiming for the employee area, just behind the counter of the electronics store.

"That'sssss too bad." The snake hissed. ...Yeah I know shut up that's all I could think of. He slithered on over, his horrific mutated form coming to actual light barely. A silhouette was all that could be made out. And oh good lord it was sheerly terrifying to most.

He towered well above the fox, and stared into her soul. "You're out too far, you sssseeee..." He spoke. Cold. Intimidating... "A sssnap of my fingers, and all of these... thingsss would attack you. Tear you to shredsss. You couldn't do a thing about it. So I'll let you just stand there. Cower in fear at the fact that any moment, I could have you torn to piecesssss..." He said, a tone of clear amusement behind his voice.

The whispers got closer and closer, and more figures came to view. The demon wasn't kidding. She was literally surrounded.

...

Ebonia sighed in relief. "Thank god." She quietly whispered, glad to be able to at least move. She was actually genuinely shaking at that point. Slowly she made it to her feet, and was a bit wobbly. But she had to focus. This was clearly a big deal to everyone involved.

She refused to allow herself to trip. That would be too noisy. She took it as slow as she could, bumping her side against one of the walls, but not too hard due to the slow speed. She just gasped quietly in surprise, but that was about it.

Navigating the pitch black was... horrific, to say the least. She wanted to turn her light on right now but... clearly that would be a bad idea. The sound of rapid footsteps suddenly came flying past the shop, the cat immediately freezing up on the spot, consequently stopping the wolf if she was still moving.

Whispers. So many whispers. And some could be heard creeping near the shop. The sound was so... ominous. So foreboding. And it made her heart race even though she had no idea what was going on. The very atmosphere alone was making her terrified.

"Oh god." She said to herself. "K-K-Keep moving..." She urged, trying to push on through the dark.

Her eyes shifted over to the pair of eyes that was now starting to stare into her own. These eyes, as she could now see, were not normal... It sent a chill down her spine, but remained unafraid. However, there was literally nothing that she could do... The fox was surrounded, but surprisingly she did not show any fear as she saw more figures appear from out of the darkness. I can't allow this... How will I defend myself against all of the cruel beings that happen to exist? she thought, looking around for a source of light. Hopefully, when she found it, she could return to the nearest place of security...

Her grip tightened on the cat's hand. She kept her mouth shut, but Sam knew where she was going thankfully. The wolf grit her teeth, ears flat against her head as she pulled Ebony closer to her. She wasn't going to abandon someone in this. Ignoring the fact that they were super cute.

Her fingers brushed against the counter. Perfect. And there wasn't any issue. There was a swiping movement... one... two... ah yes, there was the till. Her shoulders relaxed. With that in mind, she used the floor plan in her head to guide the both of them around the counter, careful of their surroundings, and reach the door.

Her ears rang. It felt like they were everywhere. The black wolf was doing her best to stay composed, but... it hurt. Her chest felt heavy, her breathing was already shallow, and she felt constricted. It was horrible. Ignoring that, however, as best as she could, she opened the door slowly to a pitch blackness.

There was an issue here. She had no idea what was in here. She didn't even expect that door to open.

"Tell me... what do you think you can do, hmmm?" The snake slowly circled around her. Unnaturally. Fast. Like it was flying, gliding around her sleekly... the eyes just circling around her mercilessly. "Nowhere to ssssneak off to. Nowhere to hide..." He tormented more and more...

...

The cat slipped through the darkness, sleekly guided by the wolf. She remained quiet. The dead silence was beyond anything she could've imagined. Nothing was visible. At all. Not even the wolf RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. It was absolutely terrifying...

Upon reaching the door, she realized the wolf had stopped for... some reason. She walked slightly into her by mistake, but stepped back. "...What's wrong?" She whispered, shakily. Trying to keep her voice down as best as she could.