The breathing was terrible. It was gruff and low and constant. There was something menacing about it, something angry.
Rei Hino stirred sleepily at the sound, trying to shut it out but she couldn't. It was as though it was in her room, right next to her. As sleep faded away, she began to grow more aware of the fact that she wasn't dreaming. She was awake but the deep gruff breaths continued.
She slowly opened her eyes. It took a moment for her to be able to focus through the remaining din of sleep that still hung on. When she was finally able to see she was astonished to find that she wasn't in her bedroom at all.
She was laying on a stone slab in the middle of a what looked like a great hall. It stretched on in front of her at least fifty yards and was lined on each side by thick stone pillars. There was no source of light but everything was bathed in a pale red illumination.
Rei pushed herself upright into a sitting position. The breathing continued. She was now sure that she wasn't dreaming but where was she?
"You're awake." A deep voice announced from behind her. It seemed to echo off the stone walls.
Rei twisted around to face the speaker. There, sitting on a large throne, was a great beast. At first she thought she recognized it as a minotaur but it wasn't quite right. It had thick hairy cloven legs that bent backward. The torso and arms looked human except for being overly muscular. The hands themselves were twice the size of any normal man's. The head was wrong for a minotaur too. It wasn't a bull. It was the head of a ram.
"Who are you?" Rei asked, turning herself fully around to face the beast.
The creature huffed and stood up from its throne. It was at least two feet taller than Rei and glared down at her with an intimidating look. "You mean you don't know?" It asked in an accusatory tone. "You have to ask?"
A tinge of fear rose through Rei's spine. Up until now she had been confused but not scared by the situation at all. As a sailor soldier she had already confronted many things that no ordinary person would even conceive of, but there was something about the tone the creature's voice. Whatever this was certainly wasn't friendly.
The young lady turned back around and hopped off of the stone slab, landing on the other side of it so that it was between her and the thing. She wanted to be ready for anything. If it attacked it would have to go around the obstacle giving her an extra half second to respond.
The creature walked forward a few paces until it was standing directly in front of the stone that Rei had been lying on. "You've been using my name for a long time now. You have used it to fight for love and justice. But you are not worthy of it?"
"What do you mean?" Rei asked. "What name? Who are you?"
The creature roared fiercely and swung one of its giant fists down onto the stone slab splintering it down the middle. Then it swept the rubble aside creating a clear path between it and Rei.
"Again you insult me by asking." He seethed. "Don't you know? I am destruction. I am the reaper of humanity. I am the god of war. I am Mars!"
Rei didn't move. She wasn't ready to give in to a little intimidation. She had already seen a lot of monsters boast about how powerful they were before falling before her.
"What do you want?" She asked, even though she thought she had a pretty good idea of the answer.
The god of war stepped closer to Rei and leaned forward until its head was only inches away from hers. She could feel the hot breath coming from its nostrils on her face. "What do I want?" He repeated. "I want to destroy you."
Mars reached out and grabbed the girl by the throat. He squeezed her hard, cutting off her airway until she began to gasp for breath. He knew he could destroy her right then but held back. That would be too easy. He wanted her to suffer.
He picked her up until her feet dangled helplessly off the floor. She scratched and clawed at the gigantic hand looking for a way to release the grip. Mars just snarled arrogantly, then tossed his victim effortlessly across the hall.
Rei impacted hard into a pillar then slumped to the floor. He was stronger than any opponent she had ever faced and this time she was alone. There would be no other sailor soldiers to help. It was just her. One thing she knew though, she wasn't going down without a fight.
The young lady pulled herself back up to her feet. Her entire body ached from the assault but in a moment it wouldn't matter. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a small red stick, and held it high into the air.
"Mars power, make up!"
…nothing.
"Fool!" The god of war scoffed, his voice echoing off the stone walls. He was still standing across the hall, his arms folded arrogantly in front of him . "Did you think I would allow you the opportunity to use your powers?"
Rei stared back at her opponent in defiance. There was a fire in her eyes that would have sent fear rushing up the spine of anyone other than the creature standing only feet in front of her.
"You might destroy me." She warned. "But until you do, I will fight you with everything I have until my last breath is gone."
Mars twisted his snout into a malevolent grin. "Good." He said. "Then, at least, you shall die on your feet like a warrior."
Rei rushed at her opponent as fast as she could. Mars took a mighty swing at her as she approached but she managed to duck out of the way at the last minute burying her own fist into his lower back. For a second the god of war shuddered from the impact but not enough to throw him off balance.
Mars swung around, even as his opponent landed a second blow, and struck her with his forearm knocking her to the side.
Rei pulled herself back up to her feet. She could now feel warm blood trickling down the side of her cheek. It didn't matter to her though. She had to fight there was no choice.
Once again the young girl rushed at her opponent but this time he was ready for her. He reared back his huge fist and hurled his arm forward connecting with the charging girl. The impact threw her backward, rolling across the floor.
She tried to stand up yet again but her legs wouldn't take her weight. She fell forward, landing face down on the floor.
"Weakling humans." Mars scoffed at his now helpless victim. "Without your powers you are nothing."
He stretched out his right hand toward the young girl. "Humans used to bow before me. Do so now and I will spare your pathetic life."
Rei lifted her head slightly. Her face was battered and bloody from the attack. The fire was gone from her eyes.
"Ne-never." She managed to say before collapsing fully on to the floor again.
"So be it." Mars huffed. He lifted his left hand to join the right which was still extended outward.
"Fire soul." He commanded. Instantly flames shot out of his hands.
Rei could feel the heat as the fire passed over the top of her by only inches and striking a nearby pillar. The stone exploded on impact sending fragments of rock raining down on top of her.
"I love your power." Mars mocked. "I would kill you with it but I have a better idea for your fate."
The god of war walked back to his throne and picked up a huge spear. "This," he explained, "is the spear of Goliath. He was a giant of a warrior. He took many lives with this before a small scrawny child defeated him. Now I will redeem it's honor by using it to take the life of another scrawny child."
Arrogantly Mars positioned himself over the prone body of his victim He twisted the weapon around until it's blade dangled over her back. A victorious smile etched its self into the ram's face as he lifted the weapon slightly, ready for the kill.
But as he took one last look at Rei his smile faded. A faint white light had begun to appear around the body of the young girl. Mars had never seen anything like before. There was something menacing about it. He couldn't explain it but for some reason it seemed to instill in him the smallest minuscule bit of fear. Whatever it was he couldn't let himself be distracted by it. It only indicated to him that he needed to hasten the demise of his opponent.
The god of war plunged the spear downward at Rei's back. The sound of a loud clang echoed through the hall as it impacted with the light and glanced off as if it had hit some celestial armor.
He raised the weapon a second time, determined not to be cheated out of his victory but before he could make the attempt the entire room began to shake violently. Above, large pieces of the ceiling broke off and crashed to the floor leaving a gaping hole.
The victorious beast looked up in anger and astonishment. Outside, silhouetted by a bright starry sky the red planet Mars hung majestically in space. Far behind, the white light of earth's moon glistened brightly.
Below him, the still glowing Rei began to stirred. She groaned weakly buy managed to roll herself over to one side and sat up. The aura surrounding her seemed to penetrate every fiber of the girl. All of the blood and bruises were gone from her body. Her eyes were glowing a pure white. Most disturbing to the the creature was the symbol that now appeared on her forehead. The sign of Mars.
Rei blinked, almost incoherently, as if even she was in a trance and didn't know what was happening. She reached into her pocket, pulled out her transforming stick, and held it high in the air.
"Mars power make up!"
Instantly, fire exploded from the stick and wrapped its self around the girl. Rei was gone, replaced by the red skirted sailor soldier of fire.
"You brought me here to challenge me because of my name? You're the one who isn't worthy of it. Nobody ever worshiped you. Humans don't relishes war. We relish the deeds people do in spite of it. Warriors aren't honorable because they die on their feet. It's because they refuse to live on their knees. That's why you are the one who isn't worthy of the name. From now on I'll call you by your Greek name, Ares. You might be the god of war but I'm Sailor Mars, warrior of justice and now I'm going to destroy you."
The creature snarled at the young lady. Suddenly the fun had been taken out of the fight. He held the spear out in front of himself in preparation. "Come then, Mars." He mocked. "Try to destroy me, if you dare. I think your mention of Greece is appropriate. After all, I am also the father of Sparta."
With that he lunged the weapon forward missing Sailor Mars by only inches. At the same time she jumped out of the way and delivered a strong kick to the god of war's chest sending him stumbling backwards slightly.
Ares countered instantly by swinging his spear around and jabbing back with the blunt end forcing the sailor scout to drop to one knee to avoid the blow. Ares saw his opportunity, swung the weapon around and thrust the deadly tip at her.
"Fire soul!"
The flaming blast hit her attacker almost point blank throwing him backward onto the floor several feet away. The spear flew the other direction and clattered uselessly onto the ground.
"That's how to use my power." Sailor Mars scoffed.
"Good." The other replied, picking himself up. "I'll be sure to practice on your carcass once I've hung it on my wall." He charged full speed at the young lady, furiously throwing punches at her.
Sailor Mars jumped back dodging each attack by mere inches. Ares growled in frustration. He paused slightly to gather his strength then thrust a single punch at the girl's head with all of his might. The sailor soldier stepped to the side, grabbed him by the wrist, twisted, and threw him over her shoulder.
Ares landed hard on the ground but wasn't fazed by the attack and jumped back on his feet in seconds.
"Is that it?" He mocked. "If that is all the power you have than I shall crush you!"
The god of war charged at Mars again, his fist raised to strike.
"Burning Mandala!" A barrage of fire balls flew across the room meeting Ares in mid charge knocking backward again.
This time the beast didn't get up. He laid prone on his back but still breathing the same malicious breaths Rei had heard since she woke up in his palace.
Sailor Mars looked down at the spear her opponent had wielded before. It was enormous and heavy, too large for her to use.
"I remember the story." She explained. "David killed Goliath with no armor and only a single rock and a sling and with the power of God. Those who fight to preserve their power ultimately lose. It's the ones fighting for peace and justice that triumph in the end."
Ares, the god of war, grinned maliciously. "This isn't over, Sailor Mars, we shall meet again."
All at once everything became blurry. When it cleared a moment later Rei found herself at her home, standing next to the long stairs that led down the hill, away from the Hino Temple, to the street below. Above her a large bright moon was just starting to rise opposite the setting sun. Behind it, a small red dot seemed to gleam at her. She folded her arms proudly across her chest as she stared at it. It was her planet, the one that bore her name. The name she had earned.