Rei shuffled her feet slightly and adjusted the grip on her sword. If Minako wasn’t going to listen to reason, then she would have to get through by force. But fighting against an out of control God was dangerous, especially one with Minako’s abilities; the Venusian’s chains were an extension of her spiritual power but in solid form. There was no telling what would happen if it came into contact with her body. There was the question of the weapon’s range. She had seen the consequences of underestimating the Goddess moments before, and each of them ended with death.
She’ll likely attack me directly. Rei thought. She glanced at the chains ends and noticed one of them begin to spark.
Rei threw her hand out.
Crackle!
The crimson bolt landed a direct hit and temporarily delayed its movement, but the attack had prompted its twin to action. The other chain swooped through the air and whipped down at her.
Swish----BLAM!!
Rei evaded left, hard, and heard the marble wall break where she was seconds before. But she didn’t stop to counterattack. Rei continued to run along the outer ring and drew the chain after her. Minako’s weapon persistently chased after her and smashed into the wall along the way, tearing out chunks of marble whenever the Martian made sharp turns along the circle.
Crash! Blam-Blam! Blam-Blam! Boom!
Rei was amazed. She had nearly made a full circle and the chain was still extending.
It’s still coming?! How much longer can it get?!
“Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!” The chain suddenly shot up and dove again—it just missed its target and stabbed the floor, making a small crater in the rock.
Blam!
“Ugh!” Rei hit the floor and felt pebbles bounce against her. The woman rolled onto her back just as the chain lashed again. It aimed at her left breast, but she threw the heel of her foot into the ground and shuffled her upper body right as it came down. Minako’s chain collided with the ground. She swerved several more times as it stabbed at her, barely escaping the deadly blows. All the while, in the background, the second chain crept up closer from behind.
“Back off!” Rei swung her sword up at it and deflected the first chain. Or so she had thought. From behind, the second chain lashed out and wrapped about her blade. Rei was so startled that her sword was ripped right out of her grasp and sent flying on the other side of the room.
It was no contest. The first chain took advantage of the distraction and finally pinned the Martian.
Zoom- Stab!
“Gah!” Rei shouted in agony as the chain cut through her armor and pierced through her right shoulder. Automatically she threw one of her hands up and grabbed the chain, and yelped when the orange energy zapped her. No! Shaking, Rei gritted her teeth and forced herself to grab the chain despite the pain. In her peripheral vision she could see the second chain posing for the killing blow.
“Rrg--!! Mina---ko!!!” Rei winced out. The second chain hesitated only for a second before it charged forward. At that instant, Rei released a radial blast of her power; both chains were thrown off of her.
Minako stepped back and waited warily as the dust cloud settled. She narrowed her eyes at what she saw-- her opponent had encased herself within a spherical case of crimson energy.
Rei panted hard and leaned against the nearest wall as she tried to catch her breath. Never breaking her gaze with the blonde woman, she touched her wound and healed it.
She just keeps attacking from that spot! Rei squinted across the room and sighted her sword. If only she could get to it. Could I use that against her somehow?
The Goddess must have known what she was up to and re-initiated her assault; the two chains relentlessly struck at the Martian’s barrier, mercilessly putting a strain on her opponent’s body.
Blam! Blam! Blam!—Blam! Blam! Blam!----Blam! Blam! Blam!
“Rrg...Ahh...Ah!”
But Rei endured the attack and listened carefully. She waited for the pause between the chains’ strikes and then dashed forwards. The action seemed to have caught the Venusian off guard because by the time she had re-positioned herself to pursue the woman Rei had regained possession of her sword. But she was about to be surprised again-- the Martian began to rush at the Goddess in what appeared to be a suicidal attempt.
“HaaaaaaAAAAH!!!”
Minako commanded her chains on the spot and tried to squash the minor threat, but she quickly found her advantage being turned against her. As Rei closed in, it became harder for her weapons to change direction and attack her. At this rate, the Martian would reach her. She had no choice. In her rush, Rei didn’t notice it but Minako had dismissed one of her chains. The orange energy was recalled back into the palm of her hand.
“Cooooome ooooon, Minako!” Rei thinned the front of her aura barrier and drew her sword back. Within a few meters she lunged forward and brought it down as hard as she could. “Snap out of IT!”
BOOM!
Rei had made it to the platform, but her attack had been interrupted. She stared at Minako with startled eyes and saw the woman return a frigid gaze. Suddenly, Rei could feel a light pressure prodding her barrier. She slowly lowered her gaze to where Minako’s hand lay outstretched-- there was a ball of orange light pressed against her barrier in front of her mid section.
“Ah--” The pressured exponentially increased. Before Rei could utter another word, the energy discharged with a powerful blast and shoved her right off of the platform.
CRACKLE!
“AHH!” Her barrier shattered. Rei felt panic surge through her; the moment she hit ground, a chain curled tightly around her mid-section. She grunted and almost bit her tongue when it abruptly whipped her up and threw her into a thick marble slab. “GaH!” Just like with the shadow assassin, Minako had tossed Rei into the nearest wall. Except, her enemy proved to be a little studier than she had anticipated. The armor would have to be disposed of.
Minako continued to throw her enemy around, alternating between crushing her to the floor and smashing her into the walls like a helpless puppet. All the while, Rei was helpless in her grip. She could barely distinguish up from down.
M-Minako...! C’mon...snap...out of...it!
Blam! Blam! Blam!
The Goddess then materialized the second chain once more. The first chain abruptly halted in mid-air and kept a steady grip on the woman. Rei weakly shook her head, trying to get a hold of her senses. She barely did when the second chain came down upon her and whipped her straight into another wall.
BLAM!
“AH--!” Her chest plate had been smashed to pieces. Rei felt the momentum push through her, holding her against the wall for a second longer before she dropped to the ground.
THUD.
“...Hah...ah...Hah...! Ah!” Gasping and struggling for breath, Rei weakly pushed herself up into a sitting position. She suffered from a cut lip, and many bruises. Perhaps even a bruised rib. Her entire body was in pain.
The Commander shuffled back and propped herself up against the wall and stared at Minako through unfocused eyes. The Goddess didn’t even appear to be out of breath.
D-Damn... I--I can’t even touch her! She calmly watched the Venusian pose for the final strike. If I don’t do something then she’ll really kill me. If only I had more power! Rei’s dark eyes accidentally landed on Ami’s suppression gun that had fallen out nearby. That was when an idea leapt to mind. ...Or...if she had a little less!
“Hey, Minako!” Rei saw the woman frown. “I’ve been wondering for awhile now...but who’s that by your feet? This entire time, you refused to budge from that spot. Do you know her?”
Minako twitched. She then flung her chains forward at the Martian, but Rei side-stepped to the side. She began to circle the outer ring once again, but this time she had the gun firmly in her hands.
“I was also wondering... did you see what happened to these people? It looks like some of them were burnt to death! But as far as we know of no shadow assassin is capable of doing such a thing! What happened here?!”
Blam! Blam!
Rei ducked and the chains hit the wall above her. However, this time she noticed that she had some space for error. Her aim...It’s gotten worse! She looked at Minako and could see the woman frowning in frustration.
Maybe I’m onto something!
Blam!
“Every since you left Neptune, everyone has been worried about you! You just left without a word! Why?”
Blam! Blam!
“When you returned to Venus, did your mother punish you?!”
Blam! Blam!
“Do you remember, Ami? Makoto--?”
Blam!
“--Haruka, or Michiru? They’re all here too! We’re all here to help you!”
Swish—
Rei was too slow this time, and both chains caught her. One whipped across her mid-section and held her against the wall as the other wrapped itself about her throat. She struggled weakly, as much as her strength would allow her, but she noticed that the attack was half-hearted. She could see that Minako’s breathing had become ragged. There wasn’t so much anger in her glowing eyes as there was pain.
“Minako...” Rei gasped for breath. “...I’m...sorry...” Minako felt her heart skip a beat. Rei felt the chain’s hold around her throat loosen slightly. “...It’s true. Not just on Neptune, but for what happened on Uranus as well. I never...really gave you a chance to speak your mind. I should have, but I guess I was just...afraid. I was worried about you.”
Rei squeezed against the chain, adding some of her own power, and felt it break under her grip. Without any hesitation, she walked out of the remaining chain’s hold and slowly walked towards the Goddess. Panic began to settle into Minako’s expression.
“And, on Neptune... I didn’t mean to slap you. It’s just--you just took me by surprise.” She was within a few steps of Minako now. Ami’s gun was still in her hands. “Minako,” Rei reached out for her arm and tried to hold her steady, but Minako was shaking her head in panic. “I should have told you this earlier. I was worried about you because...”
“N-No...”
“You’re my friend.”
Minako froze when she suddenly felt Rei’s lips on hers. She struggled to pull away but the woman had a firm hand on the back of her head. The next thing her mind registered was a light pressure against her neck and then a sharp pain. The orange glow around her body slowly faded away and suddenly she felt light headed, and exhausted.
...Rei...
Minako fell unconscious.
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