Sailor Moon Z: #19 - Last Stand By. Janelle Jimenez (pandora@indy.net) Official WebPage: http://www.indy.net/~pandora/sailormoon/zodiac/intro3.html "SCORPIO!!" Sailor Cancer screamed as she turned her head away in fear. Scorpio kept her eyes squeezed shut, blocking out her surroundings and praying over and over that when she was dead her soul be saved...and Leadan's as well. When what seemed to be an eternity passed, Scorpio opened her eyes. To her surprise, she had opened them too soon. Eternity was in reality less than a second. Arseniru's hands were flying towards her. She stared at was to be her death, but her life didn't flash before her eyes, instead a grey cape did. She felt herself being forcefully shoved to the side and she heard a familiar groan. Her heart stopped beating as she swallowed a gasp, she lifted her head off the cold stone floor. Her eyes met with Leadan's which had rolled up his head. She took his hand. Dead. He didn't even have a chance to say goodbye. The irony was too cruel, Arseniru had lied to her about killing his brother. But he ended up doing so, in Leadan's attempt to her. Instead of anger burning inside her, she felt nothing but grief. The heart break she had felt only days earlier was now back, stronger than before. "Oh God...I'm so so sorry.." she whispered, tears streaming from her eyes. He was gone, the one person who gave her happiness in the bleak world they lived in. The one person who made her feel like she was needed and loved. She choked on a sob, holding his head in her hands and stroking the blue hair, she bowed her head and gave him one final kiss on his cold lips. "I'm so sorry Leadan..you..shouldn't have died..it should have been me..." she sobbed. She gently stroked his cheek with a shaky finger, "You were too good for this world..." she added, whispering into his ear. "ENOUGH OF THIS!" Sulfiria screamed, she looked totally enraged. A flaming red aura was emitting from around her. Sailor Mars backed away, "That negative energy is going to explode..." she warned the others. "ARSENIRU! You stupid brat! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" she hissed, she picked up her empty wine glass and hurled it at his feet, the glass exploded and the shards grew into long spikes which surrounded him. "Idiotic stupid jealous boy. I knew you were useless. UTTERLY USELESS!" Sulfiria screamed as she descended down the steps. "I was THIS CLOSE!!" "Methane 4..come out.." Arseniru called, his voice was shaky. He had never wanted his brother dead, he realized that now when it was too late. The arrogance that surrounded Arseniru's voice was false. He knew if Methane 4 didn't come, it would be the end of him. "Oh don't even bother, I expected you might go against us with that idiotic robot, so I had Leadan take it out of commission." Sulfiria replied her voice full of sweetness. Arseniru gulped, "M'PRINCESS! When have I ever not been loyal to you! I wasn't a traitor like Leadan or Scorpio, yet you trust them more than you trust me!" Arseniru exclaimed, it was his last plea for forgiveness, and he knew it. "Yes, but none of them stole from me." Sulfiria answered, she was staring down at her hands. A ball of black energy forming in her palms. "Princess Sulfiria-sama..please..I never stole.." Arseniru pleaded. "Now your a liar." Sulfiria answered, she began to play with the sphere of energy, molding it into a flat circular shape. "What did I steal?!" Arseniru exclaimed. "Ah, what a idiot you are, Arseniru. How Lithia ever saw anything in you besides looks is a mystery to me. You stole your brother from me. When I at last almost had him...you eternally stole him from me." she said bitterly. "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!" Arseniru exclaimed in his defense, he didn't care who died anymore, as long as it wasn't himself. "The Black Star Army has no need for such a vindictive hating person such as yourself. Your anger blinds you." she shrugged ignoring his plee, effortlessly she threw the circle at Arseniru. It fell over him and went right through him landing on the floor, creating that of a hole. He instantly began to melt into it. A dark cloud of smoke rose from his twisted melting body, screams filling the air. Sailor Neptune turned her head in repulsion. "Barbaric.." Sailor Virgo murmured under her breath. The spikes that had surrounded Arseniru had collapsed inward, reforming the floor over the dark hole that had disintegrated Arseniru's body. Sulfiria shifted her gaze towards the Senshi and glared at them hatefully. "And you fools. You came here to destroy us did you?" she asked in a shrill scream, "That's something you certainly will never accomplish in doing!" she promised. All of a sudden her eyes widened, her mouth opened into a gasp an she staggered forward. She stumbled down the steps, Lithia was standing behind her, a twisted smile on her face. In her right hand she held the dagger that Sulfiria had made for Leadan to kill Scorpio with. "What a hypocrite you are, dear dear sister." Lithia said hatefully at Sulfiria and viciously twisted the blade which Lithia had deeply impaled in Sulfiria's back. Sulfiria opened her mouth to scream, but not a word came forth. She staggered down the stairs and fell down. "You talk of Arseniru stealing your love from you, and you have done just the same for me." she hissed. She kicked her heeled foot at Sulfiria's hand as she grabbed frantically for her leg. Sulfiria was writhing in agony as her soul was ripped from her body. Slowly, stopped twisting in pain and lessened to twitching every so often. "You always were a fool, acting as if I was incapable of doing anything or making my own choices." she continued minutes later, staring at the corpse of her sister. "I've had just about enough of this." Sailor Leo muttered, shuddering at the heartlessness. "Amen to that." Sailor Uranus agreed. "Sun Lion DESTROY!" Sailor Leo shouted, to her surprise the attack worked, since Sulfiria had been destroyed, the spell she cast to stop them from attacking was also broken. The lion of flames leaped from her hands and headed towards Lithia. Lithia laughed in hysterics as the fire headed her way, however, instead of instantly setting her ablaze, her body engulfed the flame. The red aura around her grew brighter. She laughed, "Do you THINK..YOU CAN POSSIBLY HARM ME?!" she boomed, her voice filling the throne room. It echoed several times, "What's happening?!" Sailor Taurus screamed, she clapped her hands over her ears, trying to block out the deafening noise. "Queen Hydraja..she's..free.." Scorpio whispered, not even caring whether or not she was heard. But she was, it was as if everything had gone silent just to hear her say those four words. Lithia laughed again, this time it didn't sound like her. It was more mechanical. "How brilliant you are! As for Princess Lithia...she is no longer. The end of the reign of the daughters of Hydraja was long overdue. I have a human form...even if I sacrificed the life of my own daughter." Hydraja laughed. "We cannot forgive you for this! We are the Sailor Team! In the name of Love and Justice..we shall punish you!" Sailor Moon shouted, the Sailor Senshi took position behind her and nodded. "And we are the Zodiac Senshi! In the name of the Celestial Bodies of the Sky, we will Destroy you!" Sailor Leo said, taking lead. "In the name of love and whatever good is left in people's hearts.." Scorpio said standing up, reluctantly leaving Leadan's side. "For Leadan, Cyanida..and even Arseniru. In the name of everyone you stole the innocence and love from...I will destroy you, Hydraja." she said, looking directly at the former Lithia. Hydraja simply laughed, "Little girl! Don't try and tell me that you believe you alone can defeat me when the whole group of you couldn't even scar me. You talk of innocence lost..freedom lost...you LIKED it. You embraced our darkness when Selestia gave your memories back." Hydraja said with a slight smirk. The words stung Scorpio's heart. She regretted it all now. "So, now you do realize why Leadan and the rest are dead, don't you?" Hydraja asked. "It's your fault...everything. Every death can be blamed on YOU alone." Hydraja said with a cruel smile. "But, even so...you try and attack...knowing the death of these friends will be your fault as well..don't you know evil ALWAYS PREVAILS?" Hydraja asked with a booming laugh. The ceiling of the throne room began to crumble, the ground around Hydraja began to emit a light around her in a star shaped form. The ground rose into the air until she was floating on a platform in the shape of a star. "DOUBLE ICE FREEZE!" Sailor Gemini shouted sending a braiding beam of ice and water. Hydraja laughed as it hit the star shaped stone, melting away instantly. "WIND FLASH!" Sailor Cancer shouted loudly, a huge gust of wind came from behind her, the gust blew Hydraja's hair behind her, but it had no other effect on her. "Oh? Is that the very best you can do?" she laughed, she held her left arm out dark lighting shot out and hit Sailor Cancer and Gemini, their screams filled the air. The ceiling was just about ready to collapse, the Senshi were busy dodging from left to right trying to avoid the falling rock. "SILVER ARROW STRIKE!" Sailor Saggitarius said, sending a spray of silver arrows towards Hydraja, who caught one and twisted the lighting into a ball and threw it back at Sagittarius who quickly jumped out of the way. "Amateurs.." Hydraja scoffed. "We can't even hit her.." Sailor Virgo said in fear. "DEEP SUBMERGE!" Sailor Neptune shouted, "World...SHAKING!" Sailor Uranus said, "Dead...Scream..." Sailor Pluto whispered, the triple attack went flying towards Hydraja she stared at it and laughed. She directed more black lighting. The lightning dissolved it and flew towards the Outer Senshi. "RAIN FLOOD!" Sailor Aquarius shouted quickly, sending the cloud over the Outers to protect them, but the lightning dissolved it as well, the bolt of negetive energy hit the Outer Senshi with such force they were thrown to the floor. "URANUS! NEPTUNE! PLUTO!" Sailor Moon screamed as she turned to help them. Sailor Neptune was unconcious. "Sailor..Moon..you have...beat Hydraja. You're the only one, Princess." Sailor Pluto urged. "QUIET FOOL! DIE!" Hydraja screamed from her stand, high above their heads, she sent a bolt of lighting down at Pluto. Sailor Moon screamed and stood over Pluto to protect her. The lighting struck her hard and she gasped and fell forward. "SAILOR MOON!" Sailor Venus cried. "So this was your plan? To die in the Black Star Galaxy to have your souls my slaves for eternity?" Hydraja asked, she began throwing random bolts of black lightning around the room. One by one Senshi fell to the ground with a scream, attacks flying around the room. By now the ceiling had totally collapsed, black lightning flashed in the red sky above. "We won't let you win.." Sailor Mars gasped. Hydraja laughed again, "HOW CAN YOU STOP ME?" she shouted, her voice echoing several times over. Lighting from the red sky above struck down and hit her, instead of harming her, however, it surrounded her and she began to grow in size until she was twice the size she had been earlier. "You pitiful children don't even stand a chance, with this power I'll destroy your world..just to avenge the deaths of those two Death Knights you destroyed earlier." "I'll NEVER let you do that." Sailor Scorpio screamed, struggling to stand, she summoned all the remaining power she had in her, a red aura surrounded her and began to glow intensely. "Leadan, this is for every dream we had...shattered now.." she whispered to herself, clutching the vial which hung from her neck, filled with the blood of her lover. "There's only one way to stop Hydraja...everyone must give me their energy.." Sailor Scorpio said quickly to the others. "Won't that mean the end of us?" Sailor Leo asked, she was also trying to stand. "Yes." Sailor Scorpio said after a brief silence. Tears streamed down Sailor Leo's cheeks, she didn't want to die, but she had a duty, and it meant more to her than her own life. She realized the only way to save the Golden Millenium and the lives of innocent was by sacrificing herself. "Leo..Cosmic..star..POWER!" Sailor Leo screamed, she concentrated with all the energy left in her. A stream of golden energy flew towards Sailor Scorpio, filling her with it. Sailor Leo gasped as the last of her energy drained from her, her sailorsuit melting away, Jessica Taylor fell back onto the cold stone floor, lifeless. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Hydraja screamed. She blasted a bolt of lightning towards Sailor Scorpio. Sailor Saturn who had been struggling to stand, immediatly dashed in front of Sailor Scorpio and shouted, "SILENCE BLOCK!" a wall of silence surrounded her and Scorpio, "Sailor Moon! Neo Sailor Moon! Use the Silver Crystals! I can't hold her back much longer!" Sailor Saturn shouted to both of them as she fought the black lightning from penetrating the wall. Sailor Moon and Neo Sailor Moon nodded and stood up, they both held their hands out, bringing the Silver Crystal of Future and Present together and holding them before themselves. "MOON PRINCESS POWER!!!" Sailor Moon shouted, "MOON ANGELIC POWER!!" Neo Sailor Moon said in unison. Double beams of light shot forward and held the dark lightning back. Hydraja screamed in frustration and more lightning from the sky crashed down on her, she strengthened the bolt they were holding back. Sailor Moon struggled to keep the Silver Crystal from breaking. Meanwhile the Inner Senshi had began to stand up, "Mars Crystal Power!" Sailor Mars shouted standing by Sailor Moon, "Venus Crystal Power!" said Venus, standing by Neo Sailor Moon. "Jupiter Crystal Power!" Sailor Jupiter shouted, taking place by Sailor Moon. "Mercury Crystal Power!" Sailor Mercury said, supporting Neo Moon. "Pluto Planet Power.." Pluto whispered from the ground. "Uranus Planet power..." Sailor Uranus said, every word was an effort, she had been held down by a huge piece of the cieling. "Neptune Planet power.." Sailor Neptune thought, mentally sending her support and energy. Meanwhile the last of the Zodiac Senshi had given Scorpio their power, the lifeless bodies of Jessica, Veronica, Janie, Joanna, Alana, Tenshi, Natalia, Hikari, Ako, and Yuurei lying on the cold floor. Scorpio's eyes were closed, a massive multi-colored aura now glowing brightly around her. "I call upon my own sign, Scorpio...give me the ultimate power of my celestial sign.." she whispered, the aura around her brightened as the sign of scorpio briefly flashed on her forhead. "I summon the Golden Millenium, give me the universal power of the Golden Key.." Sailor Scorpio murmured with her eyes closed, a strange light filled the room that lifted her up into the air, she spun once and her Sailorfuku melted away revealing a long off-shoulder dress. It looked like it was made of pure light and flowed over her body like an ocean...it shone with many different colors. The signs of every Zodiac Senshi flashed on her forehead, and finally a sign that looked like a sun, moon, and star all conjoined, the sign of the Golden Millenium. "Sayonara...Arigatou..." Scorpio whispered to the Sailor Senshi, but it was the voices of all eleven Zodiac Senshi speaking as one. Scorpio opened her eyes which had become bright and pupil-less. A tremendous blast of light shot forward and struck Hydraja. She stopped the attacks of lighting and tried to protect herself, but the light penetrated her shields. Suddenly, the energy stopped bombarding her and so did her screams. A massive burst of light exploded, blinding the Senshi. It gradually faded away and Sailor Moon slowly opened her eyes, there lay Shikami Dokuno. Dead. as all the rest. Sailor Moon began to cry, her body shoke violently as it was racked with sobs. The world where she stood was collapsing, the sky began to flicker into many different colors, the earth was shaking violently. All the Sailor Senshi where unconcious however. "SAILOR TELEPORT!" Sailor Moon screamed through her tears as the rocks fell, the ground near Sailor Uranus and Neptune split and a large crevice threatened to swallow them whole. Sailor Moon struggled to stand amidst the massive earthquakes, "SAILOR TELEPORT!!!" she screamed once again, the silver crystal in her hands flashed. There was a sudden burst of light and a loud exploding sound that seemed to last forever...then there was Silence.