S8
Sailor Moon Defenders
By AmandaDoE
Chapter Eight: Of the Edge of Darkness
Chibiusa pressed forward as she, Usagi, Mamoru, Hotaru, Rick, LJ and the Phantom were walking down the corridors that led to the castle of the Netherworld. She took a deep breath as she looked over at Hotaru.
"Hotaru," Chibiusa spoke up. "No. Sailor Saturn. You've grown a lot."
"I had to," Hotaru replied. "In order to fulfill my duty as a Sailor Guardian."
She turned and faced her best friend. "And Super Sailor Chibi Moon, to fight alongside you."
Chibiusa stared at her friend in awe as the group walked further to the throne room of the Netherworld.
Rick recalled the last time that he was here. Queen Hadea had captured him, along with LJ, Jedda and the Phantom. This time was an entirely different story: Jedda was already at the Netherworld with Hadea. Phantom and LJ were with him again, but Usagi, Mamoru, Chibiusa and Hotaru were here as well.
"So this is the Netherworld?" Usagi asked.
"Yes," Rick answered. "I remember this place like it was yesterday."
"Yeah." LJ nodded in agreement. "We were brought here when we first met Hadea after she attacked the Bandar village. It was us three along with Jedda."
"Everyone," Mamoru announced. "We have company."
"Already?" LJ quipped. Rick looked up along with the rest of the group and they saw a pair of armored male guards awaiting them.
"Queen Hadea has been expecting you," the first guard announced.
"She awaits your presence in the throne room," the other man added.
"Why am I not surprised?" the Phantom replied quietly.
"Wait..." Rick said. "Just like that? No resistance at all? This doesn't seem right."
The Phantom turned to him. "She believes that she has little to fear from us."
Mamoru stepped forth. "Then let's show her she's wrong." He touched Rick's shoulder. "You ready?" he asked.
Rick held still, then made a little nod. He was determined to see Jedda again, hoping that he hadn't lost her to Hadea, or anyone else.
"Why was Hadea expecting us?" Chibiusa murmured to Usagi.
Usagi wore a brave face. "It looks like we are about to find out."
Jedda was trembling at the wall of her bedroom. She couldn't believe it. It had been a few minutes since she came back from the physician's office. There was a few tests left and then she would know that she was indeed pregnant. According to a test, she had become pregnant over a month ago. Six weeks pregnant to be exact.
She took a deep breath and she knew that it was time to tell her mother that she would become a mother as well. She assumed Hadea had wanted her to have an heir but this soon would definitely be a surprise for her, albeit a positive one.
When she stepped out of her room, her mother appeared with a look of concern.
"Jedda, you have returned from the doctor?" Hadea asked.
"Yes," Jedda answered.
"Are you expecting?"
"Yes," Jedda repeated before she took a deep breath. "The tests were positive. Six weeks."
Her mother stared at her for a moment before extending her arms for a hug.
Jedda embraced her mother.
"It will be all right, daughter." She spoke with assurance.
"What's going to happen now?" Jedda asked.
"For beginners," she answered, "you will need to tell the father of your child." She paused. "Rick Gordon. Am I correct?" Jedda and her mother had talked about him.
Jedda tensed. "Do you think he will want me back?" She shook. "Will the rest of the group?" Jedda was not a Defender anymore, but she still hoped that she could count the others as friends.
"I am uncertain of how they will feel," she whispered to Jedda as she cupped her face. "However, once Rick finds out that you are expecting, I'm sure that he will do all that he can to support you. Your father is in for a surprise as well." Hadea took a step back. "As a matter of fact, you might have a chance to tell them very soon. I can sense that Rick Gordon, your father and a handful of the others are on their way here now."
"What?!" Jedda exclaimed. "How?"
Before she could reply, a guard appeared and knelt before the two women. "Majesty, the guests have arrived."
"Good." The queen smiled with satisfaction. "We will be there right away."
The guard rose up and left the area.
"It looks like Rick is going to find out he's about to be a father," Jedda stated. She placed a hand on her stomach before following her mother to the throne room.
He saw the throne room and it was just as he remembered it over a year ago. He glanced at the Phantom, LJ, Usagi, Mamoru, Chibiusa and Hotaru. Everyone looked ready. They were about to to face Hadea, put an end to her reign, and hopefully bring Jedda back home with them.
Rick stirred as Hadea and Jedda walked in. A wave of surprise swept over him. Jedda was sporting a golden gown and a matching tiara. Her feet were bare. For some reason, she appeared to be nervous.
"Welcome to my throne room," Hadea greeted the group.
Usagi's face came alive. "Your reign over this galaxy will be ending right here, right now!" she declared."I am Sailor Moon!"
"I am Sailor Chibi Moon!"
"And I am Sailor Saturn!"
"And alongside our friends…" Mamoru started.
"We will punish you!" he along with Usagi, Chibiusa and Hotaru exclaimed in unison.
Rick looked slightly confused as the Sailor Guardians shouted their battle cry.
"We shall see about that," Hadea replied.
"Just what is going on here anyways?" Usagi demanded before she glanced towards Jedda and proceeded to ask her. "Jedda, why did you betray our group?"
"I didn't." Jedda answered. "I never betrayed you guys at all. I never told anyone where you were. I simply left, and joined Hadea."
"But why?" Chibiusa asked in confusion.
"None of you would understand," Jedda replied.
Rick stewed a bit. Not even him? He doubted that Jedda truly meant that part.
"Understand what?" Hotaru asked. "I don't know you as well as Rick, LJ and the Phantom do but what I do know is we consider Hadea a threat to this galaxy."
"Hadea has become my mother." Jedda answered. "You haven't seen some of the changes she's made. Most of them are really for the better, guys."
"You honestly buy that?" Mamoru asked.
"It's true," she said.
LJ stepped forth. "Wait, wait, wait... You mean you view Hadea as your mother now?" He scowled a bit.
"She is," Jedda stressed, changing her tone to a gentler one. "She does everything that a mother should do."
"But what about what she's done to the galaxy?" Rick asked as he finally broke his silence.
"Rick." Jedda glanced at him and started to tremble again. "There's something that I need to tell you."
He grew deeply curious.
"I really need to tell you this. It's important."
After a pause, he began walking towards her. "You're trembling." He studied her frame with concern. "What's going on? What is it that you need to tell me?"
Jedda stared at the floor before facing him again.
"Rick, I'm pregnant." Jedda announced. "I just found out before you guys came here."
"What?!" Rick exclaimed in shock.
Jedda nodded. "It's yours. Rick. You're going to be a father."
Rick took a step back in shock. His mouth opened a couple of times as he had no idea what to say.
Hadea looked on as Jedda and Rick were talking before looking at the others who were starting their fight against her guards. She stepped forward, preparing to join in on the fight with her own blaster in hand.
The Phantom stepped in front of her, appearing to be angry and wanting answers.
"Why did you take my daughter?" the Phantom demanded.
"You mean our daughter," Hadea replied.
"Answer my question."
"Because Jedda is just as much as my daughter as she is yours. The three of us belong together."
"Then why leave me behind?" the Phantom asked.
"I have a connection with the Necklace of Oros and so does Jedda." Hadea explained. "That is the reason she was here all this time and I couldn't bring you here since you didn't have a connection with the Necklace of Oros like we do."
The Phantom looked at her with surprise and he still was fuming over losing Jedda.
Hadea's forces were fighting Usagi, Mamoru, Chibiusa, Hotaru and LJ.
"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!" Usagi and Chibiusa launched their attack which wiped out some of Hadea's guards.
LJ fired his gun at some of the other guards as well.
Hadea watched as one of her guards aimed his golden rifle at the group.
"Look out!" Mamoru shouted.
"Silence Wall!" Hotaru shouted. Her glaive formed a barrier which protected the group from the blast that the guard fired at them. As a result, the attack landed on the wall.
"That was too close." LJ sighed with relief.
"If that attack had hit one of us, we would've been turned to stone," Hotaru stated.
"Just like what happened to many others in the galaxy." Mamoru added.
Hadea noticed that Hotaru as she glanced at her with anger.
"You are a depraved woman who only wants conquest of the galaxy and making it in your image." Hotaru stated before she raised her glaive. "You leave me no choice. I will eliminate you, the root of this evil and put an end to everything. In the name of Sailor Saturn, I will unleash the power of destruction."
"What?!" Mamoru exclaimed in surprise.
"Hotaru!" Usagi added.
"No!" Chibiusa cried out. "You can't!"
Hadea noticed that Mamoru, Usagi and Chibiusa were all shocked at this move that the determined young girl was about to make while Rick, Jedda, LJ and the Phantom all looked at them in confusion. Hadea tilted her head as she glared at the glaive that Hotaru was holding.
"You are bluffing, child." Hadea told Hotaru. "That power you obtain is a double - edged sword, if you use it, your body will be destroyed as well. You really expect me to believe you would do just that."
"Yes," Hotaru answered. "For it is my mission."
Hadea took a couple of step backs in surprise. "So you really intend to die along with me?! Where is the meaning in that? Your death would serve no purpose!"
"That's not true." Hotaru replied calmly. "I have faith."
"In what?"
"The princess." Hotaru glanced at Usagi. "She is our beacon of hope. I cannot allow that light to be extinguished from this world."
"Silence!" Hadea shouted. She tapped into the Necklace of Oros to try and strike down Hotaru, but she only used her glaive to block the attack which brought her into more panic.
"Princess." Hotaru looked at Usagi. "Please protect the future and all of the galaxy along with it."
Usagi nodded.
Hadea trembled as she braced herself for impact.
"Silence Glaive… Surprise!"
Zorelda watched as the battle was ongoing between the Defenders and the Sailor Guardians fighting Hadea.
"It appears that Hadea will soon be dethroned with these Sailor Guardians present." Zorelda stated to herself.
She was taken aback upon a huge explosion and noticed a huge burst of purple energy. Moments later, she hurried out of the Netherworld throne room as fast as she could.
Jedda backed up with Rick just as the purple energy faded away. She looked to see Hadea was still alive and had moved her arms in surprise at what had happened. Then, she looked forward in surprise to see Chibiusa had blocked Hotaru's attack.
"Don't do it," Chibiusa said.
"Chibi Moon?" Hotaru quipped in confusion.
"Chibiusa?!" Usagi and Mamoru exclaimed in unison.
"What was that about?" LJ asked in confusion.
"Don't use that power, Saturn," Chibiusa pleaded. "If you do, you'll die."
"But…" Hotaru started to say.
"Didn't you say you had faith in the princess?" Jedda asked. "What exactly did you mean?"
"Yes," Hotaru explained. "Our Moon Princess: Sailor Moon. I know you Defenders of the Earth do not quite understand us but it is our duty to protect the Princess as well as the future."
"Well..." Jedda replied before she took a deep breath and continued to speak. "Maybe the future is destined to change. I've seen the changes that Mother had made and it's not like people are being tortured and suffering like Ming done at Mongo. If you had seen the changes that Mother had made for yourselves, you wouldn't be fighting her as you are now."
"What changes are you talking about?" Mamoru scoffed in annoyance.
Jedda gasped as she noticed one of Hadea's guards had rushed forward and kicked the glaive out of Hotaru's hands. Then she saw another guard aiming his deadly golden rifle at Sailor Saturn in retaliation for her would be assassination of the Queen of the Galaxy.
"Look out!" Mamoru exclaimed as the guard fired the shot.
Hotaru and Chibiusa were quick to dodge the attack. Jedda and Rick tried backing away from the attack as much as they could and they found themselves cornered at a wall. She closed her eyes, not knowing what was going to happen. Before she could take another deep breath, Jedda heard a pained scream which caused her to open her eyes.
Jedda watched in horror as the attack had hit Rick and covered his body for a couple of seconds. Seconds later, Rick collapsed face down to the floor, not even dropping to his knees as he fell.
"Rick!" Jedda exclaimed in shock.
"No!" she heard LJ cry out but didn't acknowledge him. She didn't even acknowledge the others as she knelt towards Rick's motionless body. She looked to see that his eyes were open but all signs of life were gone as the eye color was blank. Jedda gasped seeing a white glow surrounding Rick's lifeless body.
"I can't believe it," Jedda muttered as she backed from his body. "Rick."
Moments later, Rick's body had turned to stone.
"No!" Jedda exclaimed in shock.
Monitor 3
April gasped as she felt a chill, feeling as if something was wrong. She closed her eyes, turned away and did everything she could not to look at the screen of Dynak X, trying to avoid the inevitable truth at what had happened. Rick.
She clenched her eyes as she could see images of her brother in her head. She had lost her mother a few years ago. She couldn't have just lost her brother. She just couldn't have.
"Dynak, what has happened?" she had heard Artemis ask, pulling her from her thoughts.
"Rick Gordon's signal has vanished." Dynak X announced, causing April to open her eyes, betraying her resistance and looking at the screen were Kshin and the cats were looking at. To her horror, she saw the image of Rick vanish from the screen.
"Does this mean… Hadea has killed Rick?" Luna asked.
"It can't be true." Kshin cried out with tears down his face. "Rick can't be dead. He just can't be!"
April looked as Diana nuzzled her head to comfort a now crying Kshin.
Why Rick? April thought in sadness. Why? Why did you have to go to try and rescue Jedda only to die like this. Rick. Mom.
April couldn't help but to think of her mother and brother. First, Ming had killed her mother three years ago and now, Queen Hadea had just killed her little brother. Was there any hope in this situation?
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Chapters
Volume One
Using the power of the Necklace of Oros, Queen Hadea conquers the galaxy. The Defenders seek help from a group called the Sailor Guardians.
Rei notices the effects of battle on Usagi. Meanwhile, both teams make desperate efforts to end the clash. The Sailors approach Hadea's temple, and Flash's daughter returns to lend her aid.
Each side becomes more powerful.
Issues in Jedda's past and present lead to a monumental decision.
Princess Jedda begins embracing Hadea's cause. Ami and Rick continue to bond.
Members of the Sailor Outer Senshi join the battle. Princess Jedda is faced with a decision as a ruler. Later, she explores a startling possibility.
Now divided, the teams fend attacks off while struggling to reach Hadea.
As Rick and the princess finally reunite, a climactic showdown with Hadea begins.
The Guardians and Defenders continue their clash against the queen.
In the aftermath, revelations emerge and choices are made.
Volume Two
The younger team members begin adjusting to the changes. Others strive to fit back into normal society.
As his companions reflect, Mandrake begins to sense a mystical disturbance.
Mandrake is reacquainted with a major figure in his life.
Ming returns.
The group scrambles to counter Ming, who is aided by Krotan.
16: The First Abductions: LJ and Mars
Once again, Krotan makes his move on Jedda.
17: Closure For Rick and Mercury
The groups scurry to save their friends. Ami and Rick have a personal discussion.
As Minako and Jedda connect, Krotan continues closing in on members of the group.
Krotan has an enticing proposition.
The Defenders and Guardians make their stand against Krotan.
Volume Three
Rick's dreams signal a great change in his life. Mysterious figures begin moving behind the scenes.
Rei and Rick sense more darkness on the horizon.
Ming and Galaxia engage in discussions.
An unexpected battle occurs at a concert.
Rick considers the effects of his transformation.
The team has a confrontation with a group knows as the Three Lights.
Rick's abilities make him a target.
As Rick continues healing, the Sailors assess the situation with the Starlights.
Rick is targeted by the Sailor Animamates.
The team searches for Rick, along with information on their new opponents.
Volume Four
As the struggle against Galaxia continues, Hadea and Jedda discuss the Netherworld's future. Meanwhile, Usagi's power grows.
Cathleen initiates her effort to control Rick.
The team manages to locate Rick and his manipulator.
Rick frets over his mutation while others seek to reverse it.
The Sailors and their allies face a new threat in Tin Nyanko.
Nyanko becomes the latest to seek Rick's power.
As Rick's humanity begins slipping away, his friends continue their quest to cure him.
Rick runs amok, and a massive battle against Nyanko begins.
The Sailors make a stunning discovery.
Jedda and Rick take a huge step forward.
Volume Five
Rick and Jedda begin their new lives.
A girl arrives to meet Mandrake.
The group begins getting to know the newcomer.
Rick is visited by a servant who gives him access to valuable information.
Amy's special abilities are revealed.
Rick learns more about his power, and how it might relate to the current events. Hadea attempts to console him later.
The group endeavors to rescue Mamoru from a mystical prison.
Usagi and her friends confront Mamoru's captor.
The battle in the dream realm reaches a conclusion.
The aftermath of the dream clash brings several people closer.
Volume Six
Rick senses that the Netherworld could face an imminent attack.
The groups begin learning more about the Kings.
Hadea and her companions take preemptive measures against Zorelda.
Hadea and Phantom explore their bond, as do several others throughout the day. First appearance of Tori Gordon.
Rick and Jedda work to resolve recent issues. Minako explores life in the Netherworld.
Ming reenters the fray as the Kings converse with Zorelda.
The groups decide that it's time for the confrontation.
The Guardians and Defenders engage the Kings in the Netherworld.
The Kings begin to realize the truth.
With Zorelda seemingly thwarted, the groups begin moving on. A woman named Rachel arrives at Monitor.
Everyone begins learning more about Rachel.
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