Act Seven - The Labyrinth, Part 3
The Neo-Soldiers continued their journey through the labyrinth. Sighing, Sailor Moon looked down at her watch and saw that it was about six o'clock in the evening.
I wonder what Mother and Father are doing right now, she thought, feeling a bit homesick. I wish I were home right now, I miss everybody so much, especially Helios. Does he even know I'm gone? Does he care?
"Sailor Moon, are you feeling okay?" a concerned Saturn asked. "You looked like you were about to cry."
"I'm fine," she replied, wiping away a tear that ran down her cheek. This was no time to feel sorry for herself. They had an important mission, and she would not rest until the Silver Crystal was back in Crystal Tokyo where it belonged. She would have enough time to worry about her problems later.
YOU WON'T FEEL SO FINE AFTER I'M THROUGH WITH YOU, SAILOR NEO-SOLDIERS!
A half man, half bull monster rose from the ground, blocking their way. "I am the mighty Minotaur, and it is a displeasure to finally meet the children of the legendary Sailor Soldiers. Take that, you nosy little brats!"
The Minotaur emitted a bright laser from his horns, hitting the Neo-Soldiers full force. Sailor Moon grabbed her wand, but before she could attack, he rammed her up against the wall and began sucking up her energy.
Uranus walked up behind him and gave the monster a painful kick on the backside. "Let go of her, if you know what's best for you!"
Suddenly bored with Sailor Moon, the Minotaur tossed her aside like a piece of trash and focused his attention on Uranus, who had grabbed Jupiter's soiled red blanket and was waving it around like a matador. "Toro, Toro," he taunted, as Saturn and Diana ran over to check on Sailor Moon.
"Stop it, Uranus!" Venus pleaded. "You're going to make him mad. I can't watch this…"
She buried her head on Neptune's shoulder. Why did Goku always have to be a hero? He was going to get himself killed if he wasn't careful.
"It'll be okay, Venus," Neptune assured her. "My brother knows what he's doing… I hope."
Venus reluctantly looked up and found Uranus and the Minotaur engaged in a fierce bullfight. To her surprise, Goku actually looked like he knew what to do. She couldn't help but cheer with the others routing for him.
Hearing her voice above the others, Uranus looked at his princess and waved, giving the Minotaur the opportunity to knock him to the ground. Venus screamed in horror and threw her body over him, unconcerned for her own safety. "Get away for him," she cried as the monster came in for the kill.
JUPITER MIGHTY TEMPEST!
The beast screamed in pain as a bolt of lightning hit him, but it was clear that it would take more than a little thunder to rain on his parade.
"Step out of the way, Venus," Minotaur ordered. "It's Uranus I want, not you."
"I'll never abandon Uranus. I love him with all my heart and soul. If you want to kill him, you'll have to kill me first!"
Diana and Saturn watched in horror as the scene unfolded before their eyes. This was horrible. Sailor Moon was out cold, and it looked like Venus and Uranus were goners for sure.
"Sailor Moon, you have to wake up," Saturn whispered, gently shaking her cousin. "You're the only one with enough power to save them."
"Please, Small Lady!" Diana pleaded.
Sailor Moon finally opened her eyes and slowly sat up, still weak from the energy drainage. "What's going on, Saturn?" she asked, glancing over Saturn's shoulder at the battle. The Neo-Soldiers were attacking the monster, trying to distract him from Venus and Uranus, but he was obviously Queen Jade's strongest warrior.
"Uranus is in bad shape," Saturn informed her. "Venus threw herself over Uranus to protect him, but if we don't get rid of the Minotaur soon…"
"They'll die," Sailor Moon said softly, completing her thought. She couldn't believe how brave Venus was. She always thought Anzura was kind of shallow and superficial, but she had been wrong. Anzura must really love Goku.
I won't allow that monster to take away their love as long as I'm still alive!
"Let go of me," Venus yelled, struggling to get her leg out of the Minotaur's grasp.
Mars stepped up and prepared to attack. "Release Sailor Venus right now or you're going to become a pile of ashes."
"I don't think so, Mars," the Minotaur said, sending a blast of energy toward her and the rest of the Neo-Soldiers. They fell to the ground, moaning in pain. "Let that be a warning to you, Sailor Venus. Get away from your lover or you'll suffer the same fate as your friends."
She stood up, her usually loving heart filled with pure hatred. "First, you drain Sailor Moon's energy. Then you try to kill Sailor Uranus, and now you've hurt my friends. I won't let you get away with this, Minotaur!"
VENUS BROKEN HEART!
The Minotaur grabbed his chest as if he were having a heart attack. "This is impossible. No one defeats the great Minotaur!"
"You've just witnessed the power of love, something you will never know the joy of, hideous creature of the darkness," Sailor Moon shouted. She had finally regained some of her strength, and now she was ready to give that monster what he deserved. Nobody hurt her friends and got away with it.
CELESTIAL ROSE THORN ATTACK!
"Uranus, speak to me," Venus pleaded with tears in her eyes. "It's Anzura. Please say something. Anything!"
"Thank you," he whispered as Sailor Moon and Saturn walked over.
Uranus winced in pain, then raised his hand to caress her cheek, revealing a red stain on his shirt. His palm was covered with blood.
"Omigosh, you're hurt!"
"It's nothing, Venus," he assured her. "I'll be fine. I barely feel a thing." He let out another small moan.
"You're lying, Uranus. Let me take a look at it."
Despite his objections, she lifted up his shirt to find a deep flesh wound near his heart. Venus gasped. It looked bad. Really, really bad.
Saturn took out the emergency first aid kit her mother insisted she carry everywhere and told the girls to take his shirt off. "Luckily, I don't think it's as bad as it looks," she said, cleaning the wound with some alcohol. "It doesn't appear to have pierced the heart, so that's good news, but I'm afraid my powers are not yet strong enough to heal such a deep wound. We'll have to do this the old-fashioned way until we get back to Crystal Tokyo. Venus, hand me those bandages."
By that time, the other Neo-Soldiers had recovered from the Minotaur's attacks and were gathering around Sailor Uranus.
"Is he going to be okay?" his sister Sailor Neptune asked, afraid to hear the answer. If Goku died, she would never be the same. Sure, they had their share of fights, but underneath it all, they loved each other deeply.
"I think so, Neptune," Saturn answered, wrapping the bandage around his chest. "Did the Minotaur get you anyplace else? Does anything else hurt?"
"Nothing but my ego," he joked, giving Venus a small smile. "I was saved by my girlfriend. How am I supposed to explain this to the guys? I'll be the laughingstock of the locker room."
"Would you rather have been killed by that mutant?" she asked, giving him a passionate kiss on the lips. For once, nobody was going to tell them to stop.
When they finally parted, Venus suddenly became very serious. "Uranus, I was so worried about you. You shouldn't have gone against the Minotaur by yourself. It was a huge risk. You could have been seriously injured or even killed."
"I know," he whispered, looking straight into her beautiful baby blue eyes. "It was a stupid mistake, and I promise that I will never do anything like that again. I love you, Venus, and I would never do anything to cause you pain."
"I love you, too."