Chapter Nine
The Battle and the Queen
They all made their way back to Kesenian's garden. She was nowhere to be seen.
Rhoda took a step forward, when a fireball shot past her. "Kesenian!"
The pink woman suddenly appeared, hovering a few feet in the air. "Did you really think I would let you back into my garden so easily?" she hissed. Kesenian tried to throw another fireball at Rhoda. Rhoda caught it easily, using the power of the amulet, and hurled it back at her. Kesenian gasped in surprise and was thrown through the air. She landed in a bed of her flowers. "That amulet is quite powerful in the right hands," she said, "It wouldn't be right if I let you play with things like that."
She got up and began to cast a fire charm. Fiore aimed a lightning bolt at her. Kesenian jumped to the side as the lightning bolt flew by. The fire charm was finished. A rain of fire came down on Rhoda and Fiore. Rontu, Bianca, and their pups dove into the shelter of the bushes. Rhoda was not badly burned, but the chain of the amulet had been severed, causing it to fall to the ground.
Zoë dove for it. Using her beak, she managed to get it around her neck. There was a bright flash of light, and Zoë began to change. "NO!!" screamed Kesenian. Zoë's feathers turned into a long, flowing red gown. Her beak shrunk to a regular mouth. Her black bird eyes turned green and became elvish eyes.
When the light faded, a beautiful woman stood in Zoë's place. Her hair flowed down to her waist and was the same color that her feathers had been.
"Zoë?" Rhoda asked. "Yes," the woman said, "I am Zoë, Queen of the Fire Nation."
She ran her fingers over the amulet. "Thank you for returning my amulet, Rhoda."
Rhoda nodded. Kesenian screamed in rage and hurled a fireball at Zoë. Zoë merely held up her hand and it stopped. "You really think you can beat me, Kesenian?" she taunted. Zoë's eyes began to glow yellow. "I'll need help to put you back in your place."
She lifted her hands. "Call up my Daughter and Princess Serenity!"
Part of the field of flowers began to glow. Two figures materialized. Both were teenaged girls. One had long black hair and the other had blond hair. Her hair was tied in two ponytails with what looked like meatballs at the top. Both were dressed casually.
"Rae! Serena!" Zoë said. The girls looked up. "Mom?" the one with black hair, Rae, asked. "What's going on?" the blond girl, Serena, asked. "No time to explain," Zoë said, "Sailor Scouts, transform!"
"Mars Star Power!"
"Moon Crystal Power!"
They transformed into Sailor Mars and Sailor Moon. "Rae! Call up the other Scouts!" Zoë said. Three more girls materialized. These Scouts were Sailor Mercury (Amy), Sailor Jupiter (Lita), and Sailor Venus (Mina).
"Rhoda! Fiore! Stay back!" Zoë said. Rhoda and Fiore backed away.
The Scouts attacked Kesenian with full-power. Kesenian laughed. "You really think that you can beat me with these Sailor brats?"
Sailor Mercury began to cast a charm. "Shine Aqua Illusion!"
A jet of water flew at Kesenian. She waved her hand and it dried up.
Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus tried combining their attacks.
"Fire Soul Bird!"
"Jupiter Thunder Dragon!"
"Venus Meteor Shower!"
All the attacks joined together and shot at Kesenian. She blocked them with a force field. "I'm too powerful for you to beat so easily," she taunted. Sailor Moon had a go at defeating Kesenian. "Moon Princess..."
Kesenian spun around in a circle, making a cloud of black smoke. "Shadow Dragon Come Forth!" she cast. The smoke took on a different shape. It formed into a dragon. Kesenian put her hands on her hips. "Let's see you brats handle this!" she cackled. The dragon roared. "Oh no!" Sailor Mars gasped. "Go, Shadow Dragon!" Kesenian commanded, "Go Forth and Rid Me of My Enemies!"
The dragon roared and spread its great black wings. It opened its mouth, ready to send out a jet of fire. "Sailor Moon, move!!!" Sailor Venus shouted. She pushed her out of the way. The dragon sent out a jet of blue flames. Venus screamed and fell to the ground.
The dragon roared. It turned on Mars. She tried to move, but it brought its great, clawed hand down on her. She didn't move when it lifted her up. Mercury tried an attack, but the dragon was too quick. It sent out a jet of fire. Mercury fell.
Jupiter attacked the dragon headlong.
"Jupiter Thunder Dragon!"
Lightning struck the ground and took the form of a dragon. The Shadow Dragon roared. The Thunder Dragon stood its ground. Both dragons began an aerial fight. Jupiter watched her dragon from the ground. The Thunder Dragon lunged at the Shadow Dragon. It dodged and sunk its teeth into the Thunder Dragon's neck. The Thunder Dragon screamed. The Shadow Dragon spotted a nearby lake. It dragged the Thunder Dragon over the lake and threw it. The Thunder Dragon landed in the water with a huge splash. The water sparked. The dragon screamed, then vanished. Jupiter, having had all her energy drained, collapsed.
Finally, Sailor Moon was the last one standing. Rhoda stood up. "I have to do something," she said. "No! You'll be killed!" Fiore said, grabbing her arm. She removed his hand gently. "I know what I'm doing, Fiore," she said, "Remember that I'll always love you."
"Rhoda...Don't do this..." Fiore begged, tears forming in his eyes. Rhoda ignored him. The dragon started to send out a jet of fire on Sailor Moon. Rhoda ran up to her and pushed her out of the way. The searing hot flames came down on Rhoda. She fell to the ground.
"NO!" Fiore shouted. He ran to Rhoda's side. She was badly burned. "Rhoda..."
Rhoda looked up into his eyes. She weakly brought her hand up to touch his face. "Fiore..."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
She closed her eyes. Her hand fell to her side. Tears streamed down Fiore's face. Rontu howled, mourning for Rhoda. He jumped to his feet. He growled and pounced on Kesenian, knocking her out of the air and down on the ground. He sunk his teeth deep into her side, crushing one of her ribs. She cried out and threw him off of her. He came back and jumped her, ripping, biting, tearing, and clawing.
Sailor Moon began to restart her spell, when a voice cast:
"Sonic Moon Crystal Blast!"
