'Why? Out of all times, did that stupid communicator have to go off then?' Usagi thought to herself as she dashed through town. 'Mamoru was being so nice! It was almost too good to be true, I wonder if it will last...'
Usagi's thoughts lingered on Mamoru until she found a secluded alley in which she could transform in. Soon, Sailor Moon stood in the place of Usagi, and she had her communicator flipped open.
"Mercury, I have morphed and I'm ready to go. Where are you?"
"We are at the park, near the playground. Hurry Sailor Moon, we haven't been fighting long, but we are ready to dust this thing!" Mercury replied out of breath.
"Don't worry; I'm not that far from you. I'll be right there!" Usagi reassured her, and then snapped her communicator shut.
She soon arrived at the park and joined the girls. Jupiter and Venus were currently attacking the extremely tall Youma, while Mercury was trying to pinpoint its weak spot. And of course, as soon as Mars saw sailor moon approach the scene, she was immediately attacking her with harsh words about being there for them. Moon blocked out the speech, which was easy to do now since she had heard it so many times. She immediately went to Mercury to check out the Youma's weak spot.
"Aha! Senshi, aim for the metal band on its left arm!" Mercury called out.
Immediately, Mars and Jupiter attacked the metal bracelet, causing the Youma to double over in pain. Sailor Moon took this as her opportunity to dust the ugly thing, and so she did. As the Youma turned to dust, Sailor Moon ran to Jupiter and Venus making sure they weren't injured too badly.
But before she could reach them, long, snake like arms wrapped around her body and lifted her high above the ground. The Senshi were immediately pinned down to the ground by more tentacles that seemed to appear from nowhere. It was almost like time had suddenly stopped. Sailor Moon was trapped, along with the Senshi, no one could move, let alone blast whatever had them secured within its grasp. Mars screamed and tried to use one of her charms on whatever it was that held them down.
"Evil spirits, be gone!" She screamed, only to see that it had no effect whatsoever. Mercury tried to reach her computer, but in the middle of all the action, it had fallen to the ground a fair distance away. Meanwhile, Sailor Moon was dangling high above the ground screaming in pain. The tentacles were increasing their grip on her by the second. The Senshi below winced as they heard each of her deadly screams, for below, they were simply trapped, forced to watch as their leader was inching closer and closer to being squeezed to death.
Just as the girls thought there was no hope of escaping, a blood red rose pierced the tentacles, releasing Sailor Moon. Tuxedo Kamen caught her quickly while throwing more roses, releasing the other Senshi.
Quickly, the girls ran to their leader, making sure she was able to breathe. Mercury ran towards her computer and attempted to scan the unseen monster. After Sailor Moon reassured the girls that she would be fine, they consulted Mercury about her findings. She frantically typed away at her computer looking for any sign of negative energy, but eventually found nothing.
All the while Tuxedo Kamen just stood there, he continued to stare at Sailor Moon and how tough she had been. She recovered from the incident so quickly. He even laughed to himself when he thought about the cry-baby she had started out to be. 'Just like Usagi, she's grown up a lot too...' He thought to himself, thinking about Usagi and that little girl.
The group stood there for awhile. Studying the area and listening. But the only sound was deafening silence. It was almost eerie.
Suddenly, the tentacles returned, bursting through the concrete. They shot up and wrapped around Sailor Moon once more.
"Sailor Moon!" The Senshi called out all at once.
She was lifted high above the ground once again, but this time the remaining tentacles began beating Sailor Moon with a vengeance. A sharp tentacle went straight for her head, but she managed to turn, hoping to avoid a nasty imprint on her face. But, as luck would have it, she hadn't turned quite enough. The tentacle smashed against her neck, leaving a bright red line travelling downward from her ear. She screeched out in pain and let the silent tears from her eyes.
Down below, Tuxedo Kamen couldn't just stand and watch anymore. He felt helpless, but knew he must do something. He looked toward the Senshi wondering why they hadn't attacked. But, he soon realized that with their attacks, the risk of hitting Sailor Moon was too high. He conjured a few roses and prepared to jump up to the limp girl above him.
Sailor Venus noticed Tuxedo Kamen discreetly pull out a few roses while staring intently and Sailor Moon and her attacker. She was about to stop him, in fear that Sailor Moon would only end up in more danger, but as she studied the determined look on his face, she knew there would be no stopping him. She decided they needed a diversion, something to distract the Youma so Tuxedo Kamen could rescue their friend in distress. She turned to Mars and Jupiter, "Do you trust me?"
Mars and Jupiter gave Venus a worried look, but nodded none the less.
"Alright, we need to attack the base of the tentacle!" Venus exclaimed loudly, hoping that Tuxedo Kamen would hear her, and catch on to the plan.
Sure enough, Tuxedo Kamen looked toward the Senshi just in time to see Sailor Venus nod at him. He wasn't exactly sure what they had planned, but he knew they had a plan none the less. He just hoped his timing would be right. He got himself ready and watched for the opportune moment.
"Venus! Love me chain!"
"Burning Mandala!"
"Sparkling wide pressure!" The three Senshi shouted as they performed their attacks. Venus watched Tuxedo Kamen intently hoping he would realize what to do.
Tuxedo Kamen watched as the attacks surrounded the base of the tentacle, causing it to deteriorate. He took this as his cue, and lunged towards Sailor Moon's unmoving body. He grabbed her just as the tentacle began to loosen its hold and fall heavily to the ground.
All the Senshi could see from below was Tuxedo Kamen disappearing into a cloud of dust. They stood there, anxiously waiting, and hoping, that he would soon appear holding their precious leader. After several minutes, Mercury couldn't wait anymore. She pulled out her computer and scanned for two life forces. The computer began to beep and Mercury saw two bodies moving toward them on the screen. She looked up at the Senshi and smiled. They heard a loud cough coming from the smoke, and soon after Tuxedo Kamen carrying Sailor Moon. All four Senshi ran toward the masked hero with relief written all over their faces. Tuxedo Kamen laid Sailor Moon down, resting her head on his lap. The girls surrounded the wounded one trying different methods to awaken her. Mercury scanned her with the computer and confirmed that she would be okay; the only trouble would be waking the typically lazy hero. Mars eventually had enough, and grabbed Sailor Moon by the shoulders and began to violently shake her.
"SAILOR MOON! WAKE UP!"
Sailor Moon's face scrunched up and she slowly opened her eyes.
"Mars! Did you have to yell?" Moon squealed.
"Sailor Moon are you alright?" Venus quietly asked.
"Yeah, I'll be okay. What was that thing?" Sailor Moon replied and she rubbed her aching neck.
"I'm not sure; I never really had time to examine it." Mercury said as she re-opened her minicomputer.
"Those tentacles seemed to appear from nowhere! We didn't even have much time to think" Jupiter added.
"All that matters is that everyone is okay" Tuxedo Kamen said.
The girls nodded and helped Sailor Moon to her feet. Tuxedo Kamen studied her looking for any sign that she was seriously injured. All he noticed was that cut trailing downward from her ear. But that was minor, probably wouldn't even scar.
Seeing as he was no longer needed, Tuxedo Kamen turned away from the Senshi and headed home.
"Why does he always have to leave like that, not even saying farewell?" Moon growled under her breath.
"No one is seriously hurt, we don't need him anyway" Jupiter replied, hoping to get Moon's mind off of him. They still didn't know if he was on their side or not, and she could tell Sailor Moon was already trusting him too much for her liking.
"It's late, lets head home" Mars snapped.
"Right, Usagi-chan we have a test tomorrow, you need some rest" Ami said giving Usagi a concerned look.
"Oh Ami-chan, do you have to bring that up now?" Usagi whined.
Makoto and Minako giggled and said their goodbyes.
"Ja! See you tomorrow!" Ami said as she waved. "Oh and Rei, could you please escort Usagi-chan home?"
"I will. Ja Ami-chan!" Rei replied as she took Usagi's hand and started on them on their way to Usagi's house.
The two girls unmorphed, and walked to Usa's house in complete, yet comfortable, silence. They soon reached the large tree below Usagi's window.
"Well, arigato Rei-chan for taking me home. See you tomorrow" Usagi said with a small smile.
"No problem Usagi... I'm glad you're okay." Rei replied looking a little nervous about something.
Usagi was just about to ask Rei if she was alright when suddenly Rei embraced her in a rough hug.
"I'm sorry we couldn't save you earlier Usagi. I don't know what I would do without you!" Rei exclaimed as she began to cry into Usagi's shoulder.
"Don't be sorry Rei-chan! That monster came from nowhere; there was no way anyone could do anything! I'm just glad you're okay too." Usagi said as she gave her best friend a reassuring smile.
Rei stepped back and returned the smile.
"Arigato Usagi-chan. You're a good friend. Now you should get some rest okay!" Rei said as she wiped a few tears from her red cheeks.
"I will. Goodnight!"
"Ja!"
Usagi watched for a few minutes as her best friend faded off into the night. She was truly glad to have Rei in her life. Even though she could be mean, it was all because she cared. It was just her special way of showing it.
Usagi yawned, and decided it was time to get as much sleep as she could before the sun decided to rise the next morning. She quickly climbed up the tree, which she has done hundreds of times by now, and snuck into her window. Usagi quietly giggled to herself thinking about how many times she has snuck in and out of her room without getting caught once.
'So much for papa's threats' she thought.
She slipped on her favourite nightgown and carefully climbed into bed, trying not to disturb Luna. She definitely wanted to get some rest before explaining everything to her.
'She can wait until morning' Usagi thought as she yawned and closed her eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep.