Chap. 18 Final Confrontation

They were now in the middle of a meeting. Bonatha and Hophter had told all about their strange vision. They were all trying to decide who was the one who would die in the battle.

"Well, who could it be?"

"Maybe Galaxo will kill himself."

"Fat Chance! It will probably be a Sailor Scout that is most looked up to."

"But that would be Serena! That or one of you! Oh NO!"

"It can't be one of the Sailors, Bonatha's not afraid of any of us. It might be one of Galaxo's own henchmen, or maybe a civilian."

Bonatha looked at Janus and Ugraten. They had gotten very cozy very quickly. She hoped that them and Hophter would make it. There was just so much riding on these next few hours. They only had till dawn.

They all headed to the place where Hophter had landed that first night. Just being here brought back fresh memories of that night. Even in the palace...

They all stood in a ring with the non-Sailors in the middle, to make sure they were transported too. Then they all focused their energy toward the inside of the ring. Bonatha looked up. Something was familiar about the colors that were rising from the Scouts. THE BEADS ON THE BASKET! The basket that had presented the Ladies with thier weapons. The beads on it were in the same formation they were in. 2 Blue, 2 Green, 2 Red, 2 Orange/Yellow, and so on. But there was a break in the pattern. Bonatha was the same color as Serena and Rini, but she was standing between Pluto and Water, just like the other pink bead on the basket between the dark purple and the blue.

Suddenly, they were standing on a comet that would soon be in Virbula's orbit.

"Why are we here instead of on Virbula? We can't face him here! He would throw us into space and be done with it!" Bonatha stated, staring at the crystaline surface of the planet she called home. She began naming the continents in her head. Gipen, Tinaqua, Vestitine, Rafope, and then she saw the continent that the palace was on, Semona. It was still as beautiful as ever, despite the conquoror that had committed his life to destroying it's greatness.

Finally snapping out of her awe, Serena replied, "We aren't going to fight him here, but we can't fight him in the palace. We have to make sure that civilians are spared. If we have till dawn, we need to lure him away so we can take him out with one great blow, and take as few people's lives as possible."

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Desert had been following them since the Shadow incounter. Darn! She was a persistant little Royal Brat! She teleported herself right behind them and was listening to every word they said. If they were going to face Galaxo, Royal Bratface would surely be brought down. She would NOT let anyone but her have the pleasure of taking down the Royal Pain. NO ONE! She would have to get Galaxo before he got Princess Pain. She began devising a plan. She would let the Sailor Squirts take care of wearing him down, then she would give him the final blow, gain a bit of the Princess Pest's trust, and slam a Jadeblast in her back! Simple but sweet, she thought as she went through the plans over and over again. The Sailor Simpletons had to obey who ever held the crest, so in her dying moment, Desert would snatch the crest from around her neck and place it on her own, binding her forever into the place of Princess of the Galaxy Kingdom.

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They had decided on a deep canyon known on Virbula as Cantona Canyon, named after a great warrior legend of the natives who once lived there. The cliff walls were almost completely covered in rainbow colored crystal, and it had a beautiful waterfall and river climbing down and around the walls.

This is it, Bonatha thought, he'll home in on my energy any minute now and come in a great cloud of dust and crystal splinters. He didn't let her down. He was traveling in the form of a black energy cloud. He stood at the top of the waterfall and called down to her, "Ah, Sailors. Thank you so much for bringing my bride back to me! And the one who kidnapped her," he said at Hophter, "Now, what would your reward price be?"

"It's over for you, Galaxo! No one's giving you anything but a old fashion beating!" called Sonya.

"You can't hide your evil intentions from the Sailors! We fight for what's right in justice and love, and neither of those dwells in your black heart if you have one!" cried Neptune.

"You mean you aren't bringing my bride back to me? Then you leave me no choice, I'll just TAKE HER!" He then became a giant wolf creature that was known as a doyolf. He jumped down the falls and ran at the Princess. She warded him off with a Silent Star Strike attack and gave Hophter all the time he needed to transform into Hooded Soldier.

"You won't be taking anyone, Galaxo. I won't let you. It is my responsibility to protect and stand by the Princess Bonatha even when others fail her. And now I am going to fulfill that promise, and I'll take your head as punishment for your crimes on the houses of the Wshynes and the Nomolees."

While he had been talking and stalling for time, the Scouts, Knights, and Ladies had surrounded the beast and were taking aim. When he was finished, they all let loose their attacks and hit him hard. He was howling with laughter.

"You think that your meager attempts at stratigy even faise me? HA! You couldn't faise my greatest minions, alone!"

Then, Bonatha got a memory of her mother's and got an idea. She began chanting:

Loyal Protectors, I summon thee!

Three parts to become one whole!

One's Weapon, One's Element and One's Meaning!

Truth, Wind, Wisdom!

Faith, Fire, Love!

Sincerity, Water, Battle!

Hope, Stone, Strength!

When she was finished, the Ladies were standing in full Sailor armor, not just with weapons. Their energies had combined with that of the Inner Sailors and Life Force Knights and they were no longer only one warrior a piece. They were now the 4 Great Justice Sailors, energy combos that were as leathal as Sailor Saturn herself.

They all took aim, and as if the Sailors whose energy they shared were puppets, they took aim too.

"Winds of Truth and Wisdom!" a great energy was blasted into Galaxo and he staggered. Seeing his weakness, the Sailors began firing.

"Fires of Loving Faith!"

"Sincerity's Battling Waters!"

"Stone's Hope and Strength!"

Galaxo was now stumbling around. He no longer cared about if he controled the Galaxy Kingdom or not, he NEEDED the Princess's energy! He tryed absorbing from a distance, and the dark crystal Hakura had been hiding flew from her pack and came straight at the Princess. She put up her arms to block it, and when it hit her, it covered her like liquid sludge and began absorbing her energy like a sponge. Again, the crest came to her rescue. It absorbed all her energy itself, so not to let Galaxo have any more. In trying to hold on to the energy, the crest and crystal began painfully pulling at her energy. Galaxo decided to move on to another victim, this one would come later. He set his sites on Missy, the Sailor Knight of Melody, when out of no where, Desert jumped in front of the crystal and landed with it on her chest. It began absorbing, but it didn't get much. Galaxo pulled it away again and looked for another easy target. The Sailors decided that it was now or never. They attacked like crazy, Galaxo yowling at every impact.

He was desparate now, and the Princess was almost out of energy. He tried to make it catch her again. Desert, already dangerously low on energy herself, dodged in front of it again. This time, though, it stayed latched on. Desert began making a Jadeblast in her palm and pressed it hard into the liquidized crystal. It exploded. So did Galaxo.

The crystal turned into a black, clay, dead rock in Desert's hand. Galaxo's life force was finally spent.

"Why did you do that for me, Desert? Why would you save me?" Bonatha asked, tears of gratitude in her eyes.

"No one but me will ever kill the Galaxy Princess, I vowed it." and with that, Desert the Bounty Hunter died honorably.

Hophter finally got around the black dust that was now Galaxo, and helped Bonatha to her feet. "Your mother was right. 'The one to kill him will be the one you least expect, one who has often frightened you. She will keep a promise at the stake of her life.' It was all true."

Then they all watched as the sun came up over the sleepy world. The dawn of the Princess's 16th birthday, and the reign of a new Queen and her King. For those few moments watching the sun come up, Bonatha soaked in life and how good it was to have real friends and a real fiance.

~*~

Sniffle, sniff. It's almost over! Wah!