Chapter Thirteen: All You Need is Love



"I'll go next!" Super Sailor Venus yelled as she leaned forward against her restraints. Her eyes were flashing after seeing her friends killed before her and she was eager to avenge them. As the Omega Master looked to her Shadow Venus also piped up and twisted a bit in his ring.

"Yeah, baby! Don't forget me!"

The idea seemed to bring a bemused smile on the Omega Master's face and he closed his hand around the star seeds. As the ice block beside him faded away into sparkles, he snapped his fingers and caused the two's rings to disappear, "If strength and brains can't do it then maybe.....maybe....." After a slight pause he smirked and tilted his head a bit, "What exactly do you two contribute to the group?"

"Simple....moral support and detailed fashion expertise."

"Not to mention the two beautiful senshi who get all the fame! We're the ones with the photogenic colors, ya know?"

"So, what you're saying is you have no importance at all to the group." The Omega Master's words were quick to wipe the smiles from the two's faces and it seemed to interest him further, "Oh, have I struck a nerve? Well, you two are the senshi of love and how does the old saying go? Love conquers everything?"

"Love conquers all." Sailor Venus corrected and clenched her fists tightly. That made Shadow Venus blink a bit and he slowly turned to her with a grin on his face. Leave it to him to point out the unimportant in a bleak situation.

"Whoa, you got one right, luv!"

However she seemed proud at it and looked at him with a puffed out chest, "Yeah! Artimus couldn't correct me on that one!"

"Heh, he may be out of a job now if you start getting your cliches right." Shadow Venus mused and winked at her. It caused her to giggle a bit but the Omega Master got a massive sweatdrop and looked at the two just chattering on about that.

"This is too easy." A column of dark energy suddenly rose up from the ground between the two senshi and sent them flying away from each other.

"Minako!" Sailor Mars yelled and struggled against her ring. Shadow Mars winced at her yell but more or less that he was concentrating on something at the moment. After the blast Shadow Venus struggled to his feet and wiped his hair back from his face.

"New plan......destroy ultimate evil, then shoot the breeze with Minako."

He turned to do just that when he was faced with the smiling figure of the Omega Master, "Hello, Suteki." A bright flash of light filled Shadow Venus's sight and he could feel the pain burning through his cheek. He was stunned by the punch but suddenly felt a powerful blow coming through his chest. He went flying back onto the ground and skidded a bit. The Omega Master smiled a bit and leapt into the air, coming down towards him ready to attack once again. Suddenly a foot connected with his face and sent him flying off the other direction. Sailor Venus landed softly and stood next to Shadow Venus with an irritated look on her face.

"Don't you dare touch that pretty face again!"

The Omega Master never came tot he ground as he flipped over and hovered above the ground. His anger face was directed to Sailor Venus and his lips were a bit twisted from the kick. His tone became low as he snarled at her, "Maybe I'll mess up yours instead."

She watched him with her hands ready to attack but suddenly a voice quietly filled her ear. As a wide grin crossed her face the Omega Master took a step towards her in a threatening manner. It was then she dropped down into a crouch and revealed Shadow Venus. Both arms were lined with orange blasts of energy and the Omega Master came to a surprised halt. Shadow Venus just winked at him and smiled, "Kiss kiss, wanker. Venus Gatling Blast!" The blasts all fired off in a circular pattern right at the speechless Omega Master. The Omega Master's eyes widened at the sight and the endless slivers of energy started to impact against his body. A loud yell escaped his mouth and he found himself stepping back from the force of the blasts. Although they weren't even as much as tearing his clothes, the blasts were having a powerful affect on him. Unfortunately Shadow Venus seemed to be just as much at the mercy of the attack as his target was, "Crud, he isn't down yet? I can't do this forever!" His voice was strained by the level of his attack and he pressed one eye closed from it. Sailor Venus could only watch him as his attacks fizzled out from around his arms and he dropped forward, breathing heavily and deeply. Placing a hand on his back she looked at him in concern, then looked out to the recovering Omega Master.

A dark and bitter smile crossed over his face and he straightened his cape out from the attack. Although he had survived the attack, it was obvious it had affected him, "Not too bad. Sadly, it was nowhere near enough." Sailor Venus frowned a bit and slid her hand from Shadow Venus's back. He stood straight after and seethed a bit, trying to gather some more energy for another assault. However as he stepped forward to try again a gloved hand caught his arm and made him look to his counterpart. She seemed determined to finish him off and it flashed in her eyes.

"Let's try and combine our energy like the others did. We can beat this guy, Suteki."

Shadow Venus blinked a few times as he looked at her, then relaxed and nodded to her. In the same fashion as the others they faced each other and began to concentrate their powers. The Omega Master looked on with a slightly more hesitant look on his face than before. A powerful orange aura whipped around the two senshi and a hidden source of great strength seemed to flow from their words spoke in unison.

"Guardian Venus, protector of love and emotion. Lend us the power to show this unfortunate creature that there is no greater power than love. Redemption from the heart, love conquers all!"

The energy spiraled up into the air and traced the form of a large, glowing heart in the air. They concentrated harder and the heart started to spin above their heads, turning horizontal. As it spun faster a strong wind blew through the Omega Master's figure and he tilted his head in curiosity. Suddenly, the now spinning disc launched towards him with great speed and power. Oddly, the Omega Master didn't even try and accept this blast into his being. He quickly just frowned and leapt out of the way before it could hit him, looking back at it with silent awe. As it did pass it grazed his arm and severed both flesh and fabric, causing him to wince in pain. The disc continued on through the wall behind him, easily cutting right through it and out of sight while leaving a large glowing cut in the wall. The two senshi stumbled a bit weakly and breathed heavily, exhausted from the attack. The Omega Master landed to the side and held the wound on his arm. He growled and looked at the two as they weakly looked back at him, still holding hands.

"Whoa, that was close! We....almost got him."

Sailor Venus nodded to Shadow Venus's thoughts and pushed her forehead into his shoulder for a moment, just catching her breath. The Omega Master looked from the red streaks on his hand and then back to them with great contempt, "How true that is. I underestimated the power you two control but it's no matter. You both will be dead soon enough."

With great contempt he flicked his hand up through the air and send a wave of energy rippling through the air towards them. Both of the senshi looked up quickly and felt the immense power of the attack. Shadow Venus clenched his teeth and prepared himself to accept the attack for the both of them. Much to his dismay, she beat him to it.

Her body twisted as she pulled him out of the attack and took the impact straight in the back. Her loud scream was enough to startle Shadow Venus and he stared at her with an open mouth. Her body became limp in his arms and she just leaned her forehead into his shoulder weakly, her breaths shallow and labored. The darkened senshi just held to her tightly and stared at his lover in shock, "M-M.....Minako?"

"Still holding on? Let me see if I can change that." The Omega Master snarled and sent another shockwave at them. Shadow Venus saw how close the blast was and gripped her arms to turn switch positions with his determined counterpart. However she planted her foot and kept him from doing so, taking yet another blast into her back. Her scream was coupled by the force of her body being pushed into him and the both of them flew back from the force. To everyone's surprise she still held tightly to him as she came down on top of him, twitching and whimpering in pain. Shadow Venus held her back and skid on his a bit and held her tightly as well, then looked to her as they came to a stop.

"Minako, what are you doing!?" He cried and tried to raise her head up a bit to see her face. What he saw made his heart burn as her face was calm and beaten, her baby blue eyes pressed closed. Then her soft voice barely left her lips as she still held tightly to his shirt.

"I just.....wanted to save you, Suteki."

Shaky breaths were rushing in and out of his mouth and he looked around quickly for an answer. A distance away the Omega Master lowered his hand down and titled his head a bit, "Well, I am impressed. She still held on."

By now Shadow Venus was in a panic as his eyes burned with tears, "Why'd you do something so stupid! Now you're really hurt! Why would you want to save me anyway?"

"Baka blonde.......you know why. Because I.....love you...........forever."

"Don't go, Minako! Stay awake!" He pleaded and wiped some hair back from her face with a shaky hand. Even with the overwhelming emotion he was feeling right now, he still felt it as her life began to slip away from her. It brought even more panic to him and he started stuttering fragmented sentences to himself. Finally he just pressed his head into hers and let out a strained cry, his hand moving to the back of her head.

He didn't even hear when the Omega Master laughed and watched his display with great pleasure, "Pathetic. I hope you won't mind me retrieving something from her while you mourn." Sailor Venus's star seed appeared in front of him and he reached out slowly and took it, his eyes never leaving the two, "There, now you can continue."

The rest of the senshi watched breathlessly as Shadow Venus cried softly into his lover's lifeless body, his whole self being torn apart from it. A long moment passed while no one moved and the room became deathly silent. Then the two figures on the ground stirred a bit and everyone watched as Shadow Venus stood slowly behind the fallen figure of Sailor Venus. His eyes still stayed on her but his body was in another place entirely. The Omega Master watched with a blink as the two blue eyes looked up to him in pure angst. No shred of happiness was apparent in any feature of Shadow Venus. His face was tight and wet, his constant carefree gleam gone from his eyes. The Omega Master even felt a chill as he looked on but still had no fear of the mere senshi.

"No one in existence has the right to take what you just took away from me. Even if I have to break my vow to Venus, I'm going to make sure you pay for ruining my perfect love." Shadow Venus snarled and started to glow with a dark aura. All those still alive watched as the aura started to flicker like a black flame and the symbols on his uniform started to fade in and out. None but Shadow Mars knew what exactly was going on. He looked fearful of what the outcome of this could mean.

"Venus, what are you doing!? You what will happen if you......"

"I don't care, Yamito. Venus may never forgive me, but I'll do anything to kill him!" Shadow Venus roared back and gripped his hand around his henshin ring tightly. A sparkle high above the room appeared and flickered a few times, but Shadow Venus was intent on doing what he started, "I call on the darkest part of my soul to stand by me and avenge my love!'"

The aura around him started to swirl off his body and into a point next to him. Soon another figure stood at his side but with no features at all. It was nothing more than a silhouette with the basic outline of Shadow Venus and possessed two glowing eyes that glared out. This event took everyone by surprise, even the Omega Master. Shadow Venus just seethed heavily and glared at his enemy, but spoke over his shoulder to the black figure next to him, "You know what has to be done." The figure nodded slightly and they both got into a fighting stance. The master they faced looked between them slowly and stacked them up, a light smirk crossing his face. Sailor Mars looked at the two as well but turned slightly to ask Shadow Mars about it.

"What is it?"

"It's a shadow. The forces used to create it was forged from Suteki's dark side, but it is not a stable power. Guardian Venus prohibited Suteki from using this technique but he's too stubborn to listen. I'm afraid the price he will pay for this will be higher than I care to imagine."

She didn't like the sound of that and looked back to watch with a concerned look in her eyes. The Omega Master finally just shrugged and seemed relaxed once more, "An unexpected twist, but nothing I'm not ......." Suddenly both figures leapt from the ground right at the Omega Master and caused him to stop in surprise. They both started sending a barrage of physical attacks at him and he was having a much more difficult time eluding them. Fueled by their grief, the two figures were causing the ultimate evil a level of engagement that he hadn't expected to give to a single senshi.

After the powerful assault the shadowy figure jumped to the side a black variation of Venus's Gatling Blast attack along his forearms. Shadow Venus did the same to the opposite side and the two attacked the Omega Master from opposite sides with the powerful attacks. The Omega Master growled and covered his face as both sets of attacks slammed into him. Then he pulled Endymion's cape around himself and disappeared quickly, letting the two attacks begin to hit each other.

The two quickly stopped and glanced around for him with no slack in either of their stances. Shadow Venus seemed most annoyed and seethed even more, "Coward! Come back and face us!" Unfortunately, his wish was soon granted.

The Omega Master appeared behind his shadow image and, with a flash of energy, sent it flying through the air into Shadow Venus. Both figures regained their balance and turned to the Omega Master but were met with am immense beam right in front of them. It was obvious neither could escape the attack and the shadowy figure waited for the end. Shadow Venus's eyes became blank at his own end and his body relaxed as he spoke one last word, "Minako...."

The beam soon engulfed them both and consumed both figures, leaving little doubt as to their survival. A bright flash of light filled the room and everyone closed their eyes from it. When they opened them, all they saw of Shadow Venus was his hand laying in the light from behind a toppled column and debris from the attack. They could only see a silhouette of his body laying motionlessly in the shadow behind it and a shining object floating above it. The star seed floated over into the Omega Master's hand and he closed it around it. Although he had taken him and his shadow out in a single blow, it was obvious he used much of his power to do so as he stood their with a frown on his face. The senshi stared out at him anger and even Shadow Mars was filled with a silent sense of emotion. The Omega Master simply looked at his closed hand and miffed a bit.

"What an annoying trick. I can't say that I will miss either of those two."

"Minako.....Suteki..." Sailor Moon whispered quietly and closed her eyes tight. Her face was already stained with the tears of her friends and she only knew more would come. Once again she looked to Shadow Mars for some sympathy but found no words to plead with him.

He just stared at the Omega Master with clenched teeth and saw his hopes dwindling with each loss. Soon enough it would come down to making a choice he didn't want to make. He didn't even know if he was strong enough to make it, but he knew it was coming. Then he pressed his eyes closed and mourned his fallen friends, and dreaded his coming future.


Next Chapter: Descending into Outer Darkness