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Athene was pretty sure that sticking one’s hand into bins was not supposed to be in the job description for this senshi business. Not that ********* had actually mentioned a job description when she’d given him his henshin pen, but bins were dirty and unhygienic – and god knows what was in the one he was currently rummaging in and trying hard not to think on the actual contents.

Right now though doing his best to stop the youma from turning Tomlin into cat-sized pieces probably took precedence over the fact that dark-haired senshi was probably going to have to disinfect his hands for a wholeday to get rid of the memory of this.

His searching left hand – he refused to stick more than one hand into this stuff – closed round the lid of a small cardboard box and the dark haired senshi grabbed at it. It was someone’s discarded takeout box, complete with a few chicken bones and empty dip packets. Closing the lid on the box Athene lobbed it in the direction of the youma and reached in to rummage again. The dark-haired senshi hadn’t stopped to see if the box had connected – but even if it did then the box wasn’t likely to do much to the youma. Another object glanced against his grasping fingers, the cool glass of someone’s discarded beer bottle. That too was lobbed at the approaching youma – if nothing else maybe it would serve as a distraction to help the guardian cat get clear.

The beer bottle had hit with wet clunk and Athene had managed to dig out a few empty soda cans. The cans hadn’t been as effective as the beer bottle – the ones that had managed to connect with the youma had hit with more of a soggy squelch than anything else – although at least it bought the cat some time to get clear.

It had the secondary effect of focusing the youma’s attention on Athene, its malevolent red eyes staring as it howled angrily at the dark-haired senshi. Maybe it was the chicken bones, one or two which was sticking to the slime, maybe it was a hint to shift to another location before the thing decided to charge him. His thoughts were distracted as the orange-furred cat chose that moment to dive into the trash can, scraps of paper and the odd bit of discarded food scraps kicked out in its wake.

Athene had no idea what Tomlin was doing in the bin, although the dark-haired senshi was figuring that he wasn’t liking the look in the youma’s eyes and that maybe just maybe , now was the time to shift position.

Except his ginger-furred companion was still scrabbling in the dustbin and Athene didn’t want to leave the guardian cat, honestly the dark-haired senshi was beginning to think that mayhaps the guardian cat could do with some sort of keeper. Especially as the youma looked about to...

Athene’s thoughts were distracted as Tomlin briefly surfaced to kick out a discarded bottle of some sort. Bottle? He could use that! The ginger furred cat had dived back into the bin as the dark-haired senshi scooped up the bottle and lobbed it at the youma.

His aim was not true, the bottle just missing to shatter nearby, although it did seem to have the effect of concentrating the youma’s mind, as the thing charged in their direction with a malevolent glare.

Athene’s hand closed almost automatically around the heavy shard pushed in his direction, not really looking at it as he started to warn the ginger-furred cat about the oncoming youma “Tomlin, now might be a…” His voice tailed off as the ginger-furred cat – well okay the currently more black than ginger-furred cat – leapt out of the bin.

With the guardian cat finally out of the bin, Athene reckoned that now was an as good as ever time for them to move position – at least until Tomlin started pushing at the still pretty full bin. A few moments were wasted as the dark-haired senshi tried to work out just what the guardian cat was about – moments in which the ooze dripping youma got even closer to where they were standing – eventually however it clicked and Athene pushed at the trash can, sending it toppling with a clatter before shoving it rolling in the direction of the youma.

The youma saw the bin, but it was going too fast to stop and the bin collided with the speeding youma with a noisy clatter, ooze and the remaining rubbish flying everywhere as the youma toppled over.

And the youma was down! Strike one for the senshi and cat team. Except that it hadn’t been enough to dust it, bits of rubbish slipping down into bits of ooze as the youma slid forwards, one oozey movement forward at a time.

And there was nothing within reach left – to reach anything of use would mean having to get past the very irate youma oozing its way forwards – not exactly likely, not without some kind of intervention or miracle.

Athene eyed the youma, running wasn’t really an option either – the youma would either chase them or someone else would have the bad luck to stumble in its path – not something the dark-haired senshi would wish on anyone. Then there was the fact that youma dusting was kind of his senshi job, well at least part of it. Even if right now Athene kind of was out of ideas on what to do.

And then Tomlin suggested that he try his senshi ability again.

Athene bit his lip, not sure that the guardian cat’s suggestion was a particularly good idea – after all his senshi ability hadn’t exactly been much, read any, use last time.

Red eyes fixed on the dark-haired senshi as Athene finally nodded. “Okay, I’ll try.” It wasn’t as if they really had any other options, his unreliable senshi ability was all they had left.

For the second time that evening the bead senshi clenched his right fist as he focused on the youma, on the red eyes that were fixed maliciously on him as it slid in his direction. As he raised his left hand Athene called out the words to his senshi ability, the words ”Blue Beads of Nazar!” ringing out in the alleyway.

The youma was still oozing its way in his direction as the beads appeared above his upraised hand, its red eyes still fixed on him as he pointed to the thing, a quiet “Please work” slipping past his lips as the beads moved in the oozing thing’s direction. This time it had to work, it just had to!

The look on Athene’s face was one of surprise mixed in with relief as the youma suddenly got caught with the barrier of the beads. The angry howl suggesting that it was not happy to have its movements restricted to within the circle of the beads.

It was the sounds of glass skittering across the alley, followed by the rattle-rattle sound of tin across the ground that finally snapped Athene out of his ‘oh wow did my senshi ability actually work’ induced startlement. Oh right, the youma. The rather angry looking youma.

Scooping up one of the bottles that Tomlin had pushed in his direction Athene threw it in the direction of the youma and followed it with another, although the dark-haired senshi wasn’t sure that it was enough to dust the thing.

Then he spotted it, a car battery, sitting amongst some of the other litter strewn on the ground. It must have fallen out when the bin collided with the youma, not that Athene was complaining though – after all it might just do it.

The beads were slowly starting to fade as the dark-haired senshi reached the car battery and picked it up, before lobbing it as hard as he could in the direction of the oozy thing.

“We did it” Athene’s eyes were on the car battery sitting in the middle of youma-induced slime which was (along with the dust) all that was left of the slime-oozing youma.

Looking at Tomlin he gave the guardian cat a small smile. It didn’t seem the dark-haired senshi was one for broad grins, although the “Thank you” he followed up with was friendly enough. The ginger-furred cat had helped in his own way and although mayhaps Athene could have done without some of it – aka the point when the guardian cat had dashed madly at the oozy youma, Tomlin had also stuck around and lent a hand – well okay a paw – to help.