Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters although I wish I did

(Chapter 4: The battle)

As Sailor Moon rounded the final corner she came face to face with a grotesque looking youma.

It looked as though it was made of mud and purple gunk oozed from large pores in its skin. It had hollow sockets for eyes and a black gaping hole for a mouth. Just looking at it made a shiver run down Serena's spine. And not in a good way. She ran to join the battle her friends were already engrossed in.

"VENUS CRESENT BEAM SMASH!"

An orange light beam erupted from Mina/ Sailor Venus' hand. It was soon joined by Raye /Sailor Mars' attack.

"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"

The monster simply absorbed their attacks and fired them right back. It blew Mina into a telephone box and knocked her out cold. Raye was thrown through a shop window and knocked out also.

"Venus. Mars." Amy/ Sailor Mercury yelled as she ran to help her friends. Lita/ Sailor Jupiter fired off multiple attacks to preoccupy the monster but it just fired them right back. After catching Amy and a now unconscious Lita in a vice like grip, it gathered up Mina and Raye and began to drain their energy.

Amy fought hard but she was becoming too weak. A strong voice caused the monster to spin around to face the intruder.

"Hey slime bag!" Serena yelled as she strolled towards them. "Put my friends down. I am Sailor Moon. Champion of justice and in the name of the moon I will right wrongs and triumph over evil. And that means you!" The monster started cackling evilly and turned to face Sailor Moon.

"You're no match for me Sailor brat! I'll drain you just like your friends." With that it summoned all the energy from the scouts and launched it at Serena.

She tried to dodge it but the ball was faster than she expected and it hit her right in the stomach. She was thrown against a brick wall and looked to be unconscious. The monster laughed hysterically and the girls gasped (A/N: now somehow all the scouts are awake) in horror at their fallen leader.

The monsters parade was cut short by a blood red rose that became embedded in its back. It screamed in pain and glared at the masked man standing atop a light pole. It howled in fury.

"You're next pretty boy!"

"Leave him alone." Six pairs of eyes sought out the interruption and found it had come from none other than Sailor Moon. Serena groaned as she struggled to her feet. Once standing she defiantly raised her head to glare at the creature.

"I'm not through with you yet" she said menacingly. The monster stumbled back in surprise.

"Th-There was enough power in that ball to kill you twice over. How can you still be standing?!"

Tuxedo Mask sailed down from his light pole and came to stand beside Sailor Moon. He grasped her arm and steadied her when she swayed.

"Thanks" she mumbled. She glanced at him and smirked. Serena then straightened her scout uniform and refocused on the creature.

"I guess you're going to try harder than. Aren't you?" she said with a chuckle.

In a fit of rage the youma threw down the other scouts and charged at Sailor Moon. Just as it was about to reach them, Tuxedo Mask grabbed Serena's arm and they flipped over its head.

Sailor Moon delivered a swift kick to its head and sent it sprawling into a building.

She landed gracefully on her feet and withdrew her scepter from her sub space pocket. Tuxedo Mask fired off a dozen or so roses to pin the creature in place as Sailor Moon charged her sceptre.

"Do it Sailor Moon" he said.

"MOON SCEPTRE ELIMINATION!" she yelled.

The monster screamed in agony as it desintigrated into dust. All that remained was Tuxedo Mask' roses.

Sailor Moon's sceptre clanged on the ground and Tuxedo Mask caught the heroine just as pain and exhaustion overwhelmed her. The other scouts arrived just in time to see their leader collapse. After about 10 seconds her eyes fluttered open to see 5 (well 4 and ½ if you count his mask) concerned faces looming over her. Mercury was the first to speak.

"Oh thank god Sailor Moon. We thought we lost you." Jupiter took her petite frame from Tuxedo Mask and helped her to her feet. Before he had a chance to escape Serena caught his wrist and forced him to look at her.

"Thank you. For everything" She said in a shy voice.

Tuxedo Mask was stunned by her shyness. He genuinely smiled at the woman and said in a deep voice,

"Don't worry about it." He then jumped into a tree and disappeared into the night.

'Wow, what a guy' Serena thought to herself.