Chapter Two: Attacked

Batafurai's jaw dropped as she stared up into the creature's disfigured face. "…we are NOT home…"

Her friends stepped back a few paces. Without warning, the creature shot a beam at Tonbo, who barely escaped its fury. The miss angered him further, which in turn caused him to keep on attacking.

Watching the whole thing, Batafurai sighed. 'I have no choice…I have to protect them no matter what! I'm not letting this thing kill all of us!' "GUYS! Get out of here, NOW!"

"Batafurai, we are NOT leaving you with this!" Shuzika yelled, narrowly missing a beam.

"He's not taking ANY of our lives!" Hatsu added.

"Guys, LISTEN TO ME! I'm not going to get killed! I'll distract it, you guys get out of here! Split up, stay alive. I'll find you as soon as I can!" Batafurai ordered.

Riki shook her head. "Any other plans?" After listening to the silence, she added, "As much as it PAINS me to say this, I think we have no choice."

Annai nodded. "You better be careful, Bakafurai."

"I will, now GO!" Batafurai picked up the nearest rock and, with all of her strength, flung it at the creature's head. "YO! BEASTY! Why don't you try taking ME on?"

The creature, turning its head, unleashed an unearthly roar and swung at the girl with one of its arms. She dove out of the way. Her friends, unhappily, set off in different directions.

Batafurai, now focused on not getting killed, dove away from the beam the creature shot at her. 'Now that they're somewhat safe, I just have to survive!' Not paying as much attenting as she should have, the creature hit her hard. She was flung head over heels into a tree. Just before she lost conciousness, she saw a girl with large angel wings and odd hair catch the monster's attention.

"Is she going to be okay, Mamo-chan?" a female voice asked.

"I think so. None of her remaining injuries are life-threatening," another voice, this one male, answered.

Batafurai groaned, raising a hand to her aching head and trying to sit up. "Anyone get the licence plate number off that semi that hit me?" Someone helped her sit up, one arm around her shoulders and another hand on her wrist.

"It wasn't a truck that did this. It was a youma," the girl replied.

Batafurai opened her eyes and immediately noticed the girl's hair. It was blonde and done up in two odango-like buns. Her hair hung from each odango in long streamer-like ponytails that pooled on the ground. Both she and the man, who was the one helping her stay sitting up, were staring at her like she would die at any second. "...I'll wait until the headache subsides before I ask what a youma is, exactly. For now, who are you two and," here she looked the man straight in the eye, "WHY do you still have your arm around me? I can sit just fine."

Letting her go, the man replied, "I'm Chiba Mamoru, and this is Tsukino Usagi. We saw the youma attack you and came to help."

Batafurai nodded, looking around. "I thank you for that…where IS big, mean, and beasty?"

"Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask destroyed it. They asked if you'd be okay before they left," Usagi said. "But, who ARE you?"

Batafurai mentally panicked. What do I tell them? "My name is Batafurai…I'm 13, before you ask, and…well…I'm kinda alone here…My friends and I got attacked by that thing out of the blue. I told them to go on without me…we're all alone here…"

Both Mamoru and Usagi frowned. "Why did you do that?" Mamoru asked.

Batafurai glared harshly at him. "They're my FRIENDS. I was NOT going to let them get hurt! I distracted the youma until they got away. I lost my focus then, and that's when he attacked me." She then tried to stand. Usagi and Mamoru stood, Usagi carefully helping Batafurai to her feet. Batafurai soon saw that she was taller than Usagi, but much shorter than Mamoru.

"Well, you seem to be okay, but you really need to see a doctor," Mamoru said kindly.

"NOT HAPPENING!" Batafurai exploded. "He's just going to bandaged me up and ship me off to the nearest orphanage! I can't go there, I have to find my friends before another one of those youma do!"

Usagi placed a hand on her shoulder. "At least come with me. You can stay with me and my family. Then, you won't have to be on the streets and another youma won't find you as easily."

Batafurai shook her head. "No way. I can't impose upon your family like that, Tsukino-san."

"No you won't. I insist upon it, Batafurai-chan."

"…PLEASE call me Bata-chan or Batafurai."

Usagi nodded. "Bata-chan it is then. My family will welcome you. We aren't going to let you be youma bait out here. If it attacked you like that, it must want something from you, and I won't let it do that."

"Also, we can't help you find your friends if we don't know where you are or a youma finishes you off," Mamoru added.

Batafurai looked back and forth between her two saviors. …I don't know why they are doing this, but I can't afford to turn them down. I need a place to stay if I ever plan to find the guys. "…Okay, I accept…and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'll never be able to repay this debt, Tsukino-san and Chiba-san." She bowed respectfully to them.

Usagi laughed. "You don't need to use such formalities, Bata-chan."

Batafurai smiled, looking at both of them. I think I'm lucky to have found such kind souls so quickly…but…why can't I shake this feeling of knowing them from somewhere?

EDITED August 9, 2005:
-Fixed a sentence that I forgot to finish, along with perform some cosmetic edits.