As promised. Here is the next chapter. Some youma's ass gets kicked, thoroughly. Hope you enjoy. Fluff coming up in next chapter
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Neither did Usagi. She was sitting on a park bench, thinking about the scene she had made earlier. Not only had she acted completely different, she had nearly let slip she was Sailor Moon. She should have kept her big mouth shut. And just where had those words come from? She had sounded more like Ami than her usual self.
Well, it was pointless to dwell on it. Especially, since her communicator was screeching loudly.
"Moon here," she said.
An anxious looking Rei appeared in the screen. "Attack in the park. I'm on my way there now. Get yourself in gear." The connection was terminated.
Usagi allowed herself a little smile. She was already there. At least she would be first for a change. She looked around, searching for the place of the attack. It didn't take her long. If anything, the frightened screams were a dead giveaway. Snatching her brooch and chanting the familiar words she made her way over to the site of the attack.
The youma was ugly, as usual. It was holding a victim in its claws, as usual. Several people already drained of their energy were lying in the ground, as usual.
She looked around and found she was the first to arrive to the scene. No sign of Rei or Ami. Then she had to get down to business on her own. "Halt, you energy slurping monster! I won't let you hurt any more innocent people! I am Sailor Moon! And in the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
The monster turned around with a smirk on what had to be his face, though on first sight, she doubted her vision. It was ugly, uglier than anything she had ever fought before. Its head was twice the proper size, its skin was covered in scales, arms were long and legs were short, quite a change from the usual lanky youma's disguising as humans.
It suddenly fired some very gooey and gross looking stuff at her. She dodged it quickly, unceremoniously falling on her butt. She gasped as she saw the gaping hole the stuff was burning in the ground. It had to be some sort of acid. Before she had time to recover though, another blob of acid was fired at her. This time she barely dodged, landing awkwardly on her left side. She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard something crack. Where were Mercury and Mars? She couldn't fight this thing on her own. At the coming of yet another attack she simply closed her eyes and waited for the end, unable to move.
Something locked around her waist and lifted her up. She opened her eyes to find herself within the embrace of Tuxedo Kamen. He'd come again to rescue her. The trouble she had to put him through, making him save her time and again.
They landed on the ground a little distance away from the monster. Tuxedo Kamen placed her gently on her two feet and smiled that dazzling smile of his. "Wait here for your Senshi. I'll stall the monster." Before she could answer he took off again.
If he thought she would simply obey his orders and let him head straight into danger on her behalf, he was sadly mistaken. She powered up her tiara silently and waited for the right time, her eyes following Tuxedo Kamen's form as he leaped just out of the monster's reach. Great, now he was standing right between her and the monster.
Which meant the monster couldn't see her.
"Tuxedo Kamen! Duck!" Pleased she saw he obeyed her without a question or hesitation. Her arm and went back and her tiara flew straight at the monster.
It dodged it.
Desperately she reached for her weapon with her mind, but she couldn't control it. With a resounding clang it wedged itself in a stone bench, leaving her unarmed.
The monster seemed to realize the same thing, because it grinned evilly. "Oh, look at that. Poor little moon girl is defenseless. How sad! You think you can still protect her?" he directed at Tuxedo Kamen.
The man didn't dignify that with an answer. Instead he threw three roses, effectively pinning the monster down. "Hurry, Sailor Moon. Retrieve you tiara."
"Right," she answered and ran around the monstrous hump on the ground. Her hands closed around the part of her tiara that was still visible and she pulled with all her might. Unfortunately, her might wasn't all that much.
"Sailor Moon, look out!" Rei's voice suddenly pierced the sky.
Sailor Moon looked behind her, taking in the scene within a second. Tuxedo Kamen was staggering backwards from the youma, obviously being hit, though it didn't seem too bad. Sailor Mars was standing between the trees, an anguished look on her face. And the monster was headed straight for herself at the stone bench.
With a strangled cry she threw herself aside to avoid at least a heads-on collision. It worked, somewhat. The arm of the monster swept her off her feet and into a tree. Pain exploded in her back and she bit back a sob. Now wasn't a time to cry. Soon Sailor Mercury would be here too, and then they could defeat the monster.
She struggled up from the ground and brushed her hair out of her face. Great, looked like her buns were coming undone. She looked up just in time to see the youma colliding with her full force. Again she was pushed into the tree. This time it snapped from the force put on it.
She couldn't help but cry out as thousands of splinters cut the skin on her back. She collapsed on the ground her hair fanning out around her.
"Mercury bubble blast!"
Instantaneously fog surrounded her. She sighed in relief. Not only did it hide her from the youma, the mist cooled her injuries. She worked herself up on her feet and found a pair of hands helping her up.
"Are you alright, Sailor Moon?" Tuxedo Kamen asked. He sounded worried.
"Yeah, it's not that bad. I'll get over it. Can you help me with my tiara? I need it to defeat the monster." She raised her voice. "Mercury, Mars! Keep the youma occupied! I'm getting my tiara!"
Affirmative cries were heard from somewhere in the mist.
With the united effort of Tuxedo Kamen and herself they managed to get the tiara free just as the mist began to clear. Sailor Mercury and Mars were standing in front of the youma, Ami sporting a bruise on her arm and Mars ignoring a small cut on her leg. Other than that, they looked fine.
"Mars!" Sailor Moon cried out. "Let's combine our attacks! Now!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Rei obeyed, bringing her hands to her chest. "Mars fire ignite!"
"Moon tiara action!" Sailor Moon joined.
The tiara disk flew from her hand. Mars's fire hit it and joined it, turning the bright tiara into a fiery disk. It hit and dusted the youma.
Sailor Moon sighed in relief, glad it was over. She felt exhausted and sore all over. "Thank you, Tuxedo Kamen," she murmured.
"Your welcome," it sounded and for a fleeting second she thought his hand touched her cheek.
She turned to find the words were a parting sentence. Her mysterious savior had disappeared again.
"Sailor Moon, are you alright?" Mars asked, limping slightly as she walked up to her friend.
"Yes, I'm fine. I think I'll go home now. Will you two be okay?"
Mercury smiled. "Don't worry. Worry about yourself instead. Forgive me for saying this, but you look awful."
"Why, thank you, Ami. Makes me feel a lot better." She grinned to remove the sting from her words. "Honestly, I'm fine. I just want to go home and get some rest."
The three girls detransformed and parted.
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That night Usagi had a hard time sleeping. She was still in quite some pain from the battle last night. Lying on her back was absolutely out of the question. Luna had gently pried all the shards out of her skin, but the cuts still hurt. She knew she should have asked Ami to do it, and bandage her while she was at it, but she was simply too stubborn to admit she needed help.
Usagi shifted slightly and poked a finger at her hair. For this night only she had put it into an oval bun on the back of her head. That way, her hair wouldn't come in contact with her wounded back. She had pushed the covers down to her waist and had long since discarded her nightshirt. The fabric stung. Nobody would dare enter her room though. She had hung up her 'do not disturb' sign and no-one would violate that. Not even her mother. And tomorrow was Saturday. No school.
She turned her head to the other side again and sighed painfully. She was gonna go through hell the next few days, until she was healed. Tomorrow morning the wounds would be closed and in Monday they would be gone. She only had to endure for a short while.
Her mind was quickly diverted to something she had been trying to forget since last night. She knew something had happened then. She just wasn't sure what. It had felt familiar though, eerily so. Something so soft and sweet. She had felt so secure, much like being in Tuxedo Kamen's arms. And that always felt familiar.
Slowly her mind drifted of to a sleep filled with dreams of a masked man and a stranger calling out for her.
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That's it. Please review.