Chapter nine, chapter nine! What more needs
to be said? A disclaimer, maybe...a preview perhaps.
Yeah. Sounds about right.


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Labyrinth Square:
Chapter 9

By Phoenix Cubed

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Jing a ling,
My pretty ring.
Glinting always
In the darkness.



"This is ridiculous!" Jupiter ground out, "why are we sitting
here waiting for that guy?"

"Because we were asked, to," Venus replied.

"That's nuts!"

Mars rolled her eyes, "you've said that before, Jupiter."

The three scouts continued to squabble as Mercury sat on
the sideline, listening with half an ear. Most of her attention
was diverted to the silent sleeper whose golden head graced
a bundled sheet in the far corner of a back room in the
maze. It was the same room that Tuxedo Mask had left
them in, saying he was only going to scout around. Serena,
tired and confused about the day's events, had merely
nodded and slipped down the wall to sit and wait for his
return.

Five minutes later, her head fell against her shoulder with
her eyes closed and her breathing steady.

Mercury crooked a smile and had laid her princess down,
carefully, as she didn't want to wake her.

"I'm telling you, we have to move!"

"And I'm telling you that we're staying!"

Sailor Mercury sighed. She'd have to intercede soon or
they'd wake Serena. Getting a word in edge wise while the
three of them duked it out was like trying to stop Serena from
wailing without a ready source of food. Both were high next
to impossible.

Luna padded into the room on her silent cat feet. Seeing the
Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, she quirked her tail slightly and
changed her direction. Mercury watched her approach with
apprehension. Where was Tuxedo Mask?

"Luna-" she began.

"Shh," Luna whispered, jumping onto Mercury's shoulder.
"We don't want to wake her."

Mercury nodded and watched as Luna slipped to her lap and
made her way over to Serena. She sniffed cautiously at her
charge before gently licking her cheek. The girl sighed in
her sleep as her hand stirred slightly. Luna nodded in
satisfaction and jumped back to Mercury's shoulder.

"I think she'll sleep for a while. We need to talk about a few
things, and I don't believe Serena is ready to hear them quite
yet."

"If she hasn't woken up to them yet," the aqua haired girl
replied, her voice lilted with amusement. "Then I doubt
Serena will mind some idle chit chat from a cat and a
computer brain."

"I suppose not," Luna purred her own amusement, "that girl
sleeps through earthquakes."

"I don't doubt it. So what did you find, Luna? And where is
Tuxedo Mask?"

"We've encountered a few problems, Mercury. I'm afraid
we're on our own for a while. Tuxedo Mask has bought us
some time, but I have no doubt it won't be long until Beryl
takes matters into her own hands and tries something. As
soon as Serena wakes, we'll have to move out of here and
hope that he's successful."

"What is he doing, Luna?" Mercury asked, curious.

Luna stretched her claws out and with deceptive
nonchalance retracted them back into their protective
sheaths. "He's running the maze."

"What!"

"Hush!" Luna hissed, laying her ears back. "Diamond
approached us in the maze while we were talking. The two
made a few threats and finally Diamond proposed a challenge.
He would race Darien to the middle of the maze. If Darien
wins, Diamond will go home, we'll be guaranteed safe passage,
and everything will be as it should."

"And if Diamond wins?"

Luna was silent. Her tail switched silently back and forth for
a time. "Let's just hope that history continues the trend of
repeating itself."

"Hold on, time out!" Sailor Jupiter T'd her hands and walked
over to Luna and Sailor Mercury. "Just who is this Diamond
guy in the first place?"

Luna's nose twitched in surprise, "I didn't think you were
paying attention, Jupiter."

Jupiter winked, "a good cook has to be able to watch after
several brews at once."

The guardian cat pressed her whiskers forward in a smile,
"so good to know."

Jupiter gave her a thumbs-up.

"So," Venus pushed Jupiter's question, "who is this Diamond
character?"

"He was one of two major suitors for Princess Serenity. But
he did something forbidden, and so the Queen banished
Diamond and his entire court. A few months later, Beryl
attacked. The rest is, as scholars say, history."

"Who was the other suitor?" Asked Mars, her violet eyes
probing.

"An earth prince by the name of Endymion."

Mercury shook her head, "we don't know who that is."

"Well, you should," replied Luna. "After all, there aren't many
princes that use roses for weapons."

The scouts' eyes widened, "you don't mean-"

"But I do," Luna said, her voice serious, "Darien is doing all
he can to protect his princess. But Serena doesn't know yet,
and we can't tell her. I shouldn't be telling you scouts, but
this is an emergency, and you need to know."

"Hm-" Serena shifted and raised her head to focus blurry
eyes on her cat, "know what, Luna?"

"That its time to move on, Serena." Luna straightened on
Mercury's shoulder, her manner brisk and commanding.
"Come on, Sleepy Head, you're wasting time."

"Luna," Serena mumbled and began to sit up, trying to rub
her sleep heavy eyes into wakefulness. "But there's no
school today."

"Serena!" The cat growled and leaped onto the girl's head,
"wake up!"

"Oh!" Serena's eyes flew open as she took in her
surroundings, "oh no!" She wailed, "we're *still* in the
maze?"

Mars rolled her eyes, "where else would we be, Meatball
Brains? The arcade?"

"It would have been nice," Jupiter muttered sideways to
Venus.

The warrior of love nodded, "Andrew was working today."

Jupiter tisked, "we need better hours. We're always working
when he is."

"Will you two stop it!" Artemis glared at the two scouts
before looking back to Serena, was gazing wildly about.

"Where's Darien?" She asked, concerned. "Hasn't he come
back yet?"

"Ah, Serena," Luna began, settling delicately into her
charge's lap, "Darien's in the maze-"

"What?" She cried, "We need to get him out of there, its
dangerous!"

"No, Serena," Luna said, her voice firm, "he needs to do this.
*We* need to stay out of his way."

"But why?" She wailed, tears springing to her eyes.

"Because if you don't, he'll die."

"What?" Serena looked up, surprised.

Raucous laughter flitted throughout the air as cherry
blossoms danced in a whirlwind, forming a laughing blonde.
Her gloved white hand reached to her face to twirl a yellow
lock out of her glinting green eyes. "Well well, so good to
see you again, scouts. I see your precious moon face got
her brooch back."

"Zoicite!" Jupiter grated, throwing her body into a fighting
position. "Back for more?"

"Hardly," she mused. She turned her head to the side,
"coming, Rubeus? Or must I do this myself?"

"Your patience is astounding, General." A new voice blew
through the air, "its amazing you're still alive."

Mars and Venus exchanged glances, what was this?

Around the corner came the carrot topped general they had
seen earlier that had bee talking to Sapphire. His superior
officer gone, Rubeus was confident to the point of cockiness,
and his opinion of his current surroundings was very clear as
his lofty eyes took the area around him. Settling on Jupiter's
stern position in front of the wide-eyed Sailor Moon, he
smirked.

"I don't see how any of you survived."

"What do you want, Nega-butts?" Sailor Venus spat, "we
don't have time to play with you."

Zoicite laughed, covering her mouth in an out of place,
feminine gesture, "no time? We can fix that. Guards!"

A sudden tremor ran through the ground, making the scouts
waiver and look about in surprise. The walls began to creak,
and then there was a large explosion as they blew in on
themselves. Instantly, the sudden flooding of over a dozen
droids and monsters filled the gaping holes. At an unseen
signal, they began to flow around the startled Sailor Scouts,
surrounding them and cutting off their escape.

"Look sharp, Scouts!" Sailor Venus called out, backing up.

"Right!" The four replied, stepping closer to each other until
they formed a five-pointed star with their bodies.

The nega-creatures chuckled and hiss, looming closer to
their cornered adversaries. Here and there the familiar
mugs of creatures appeared out of the darkness. Acidio and
the walking paring knife slipped through the darkness. A
wolf creature and another that looked much like the Raker
dropped their hideous maws in devilish grins of pleasure.

"May we eat them, master?"

"Let us destroy them, mistress."

Sailor Moon fought hard not to whimper, trying to keep
herself strong. She felt Sailor Jupiter gently rub elbows with
her and spared a fleeting glance to her strongest guardian.
Jupiter winked, Sailor Moon gave a brief smile back. She
felt Mercury's small frame next to her, and knew that the
water scout was working furiously to find a plan in their
benefit. Sailor Moon didn't have to see the others to know
that they were scowling with all their might and aching to
strut their stuff. The leader of the Sailor Scouts turned and
smiled at the generals.

"Bring it on, Slush Faces! We're not afraid of you!"

"Slush Face?" Rubeus let out a bark of laughter, "well, Moon
Brat. We'll see who faces whose fear today."

"What do you want, Zoicite?" Venus asked again.

"Merely your cooperation," Zoicite spread her hands
magnanimously. "In a deal that has very little to do with you,
save your lives."

"What?"

Rubeus settled himself on the ground in front of Sailor Moon.
He smiled. "Hello, Princess Serenity."

Sailor Moon eyed the man warily.

The carrot-topped general continued on. "All this insult
trading is becoming a trifle boring, don't you think? Its not
really getting us anywhere is it. So why don't we cut to the
chase."

"What do you mean," Serena asked suspiciously.

"We're not here to hurt you, yet. But that can change."

"Don't you threaten us-" Jupiter growled.

"I'm listening," Sailor Moon spoke softly.

Rubeus smirked at the disbelief on the other Scouts faces.
"Excellent," he said, before continuing on. "My prince has
challenged Tuxedo Mask to a race. Obviously, this means
nothing to you, yet. But it does to him. To both princes,
actually."

Luna hissed suddenly and perched herself on Sailor Moon's
shoulder. The blonde looked curiously at her feline advisor,
"what does he mean, Luna?"

"Never mind," she replied quickly, "don't listen to anything
he says."

"Oh, I'd listen if I were you," Rubeus scowled at the dark cat.
"That is, if you want your precious Tuxedo Mask and fellow
Sailor Scouts to continue breathing."

Serena turned back to Rubeus, unsure. "I'll ask once more,
what do you want?"

"So glad we're getting somewhere. While your Darien and
Diamond pursue their interests, we have been ordered to
make sure that you do not pursue yours. It would be highly
unfair should you inadvertently help out your side. Don't you
agree?"

"So what are we supposed to do," Mars snarled, "sit around
and twiddle our thumbs?"

Zoicite let loose with a wicked grin, "no, we're going to take
you out of the maze," she said gleefully. "Far away from your
little princey."

Rubeus suddenly turned on the blonde general, "that was
not our agreement!" His voice was angry and scornful,
"Prince Diamond agreed with Beryl that we would take them
to the-"

"My Queen has decided that to be an idiotic move at best,"
Zoicite purred, "and since your prince decided to play noble,
my queen is in charge."

"Listen you peroxide dipped hyena-"

"Ah, ah, ahh. Are you going to fight in front of the children?"

Rubeus snarled, his eyes flicking back and forth between his
enemies. He could not and would not fight where the sailors
could see. The general's jeweled eyes glinted as an idea
formed in his mind. "Fine," he said shortly, "we'll do it your
way."

Zoicite blinked, taken aback by the other's sudden
cooperation. Shrugging, she turned her back to him,
"excellent. I'm glad you see it my way. Let's go."

Rubeus's eyes narrowed into slits as he watched Zoicite exit
out the door. Signaling the droids to stay, he followed her
out and into the dimly lit corridors of the Labyrinth.

A moment later, the echo of Zoicite's screams could be
heard. And then all was silent.

Rubeus walked back into the light shortly after, his lithe f
rame leaning in a smug posture against the doorframe. "Sorry
about the interruption, your highness. Now, as I was saying, it
wouldn't be fair for your prince to have an advantage over
mine. So, if you agree, we'll escort you to a neutral area
where we'll all await the out comings of this pseudo duel."

Serena stared at the man in horrid disbelief.

"Of course, if you want to. We can always end it here,
I'll destroy your friends and simply take you hostage." The
final general cocked his eyebrow towards the group of girls,
then looked back to their leader. "Well?"

"You're a monster," she whispered into the dead air, "do you
know that?"

"You could be right." Rubeus's smile deepened and his
eyes glinted with mirth. "Your answer," he snapped.

"I have no choice," Sailor Moon closed her eyes.

"We'll come."


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