Chapter 10
♅ ♒️ 1° 5' 🏠5
"You only have one option… fight!" Diana said as she flies toward Serenity.
Serenity sidesteps Diana.
Diana whips, contorts her body and head around first, then her legs.
"Eww, get away!" Serenity screamed.
Diana hisses and groans again.
Lowers herself to the ground.
"Let's make this interesting," Diana said.
"This wicked looking ass thing better not," Serenity thought to herself.
Crosses her hands at the wrists. Palms facing outward. Fingers spread like wings.
"Planetary Art: Terrain Change!" Diana bellowed.
The scenery around them goes from dark to sunny. Suddenly, they're in the Earth sector of Drokeo Bay.
But something is different. They're not just at any place but where Serenity fought Maine (or at least tried) alongside Katrina and Daiyu.
Serenity observes her surroundings.
"You brought us here? For what?" she asked.
"Because this very place is where your destiny starts to you unlocking your true power. Like your brother asked you. Are you ready for your destiny?" stated Diana.
Serenity throws her hands up in frustration. She can't believe her shadow side agrees with… Maine. Even if she doesn't fully acknowledge or respect her yet.
"Oh, so you wanna listen to him? How about listen to me?" she said as she pointed towards her heart.
Diana shrugs her shoulders.
"He may be harsh, cruel even, but he's not heartless and he's not wrong. You've moved as fast as a snail in molasses. Your heart is a pulley the way it goes in different directions," said Diana.
"Just shut up already!" cried Serenity.
Tears streamed down her face as her voice strained to even speak. Veins popping out of her neck.
"Everything is cool until the villain starts making some sense, huh?" Diana stated.
"How dare you question my judgment…" Serenity seethed.
"Your lack of awareness nearly cost you your life. If your brother was truly evil, he would have killed you and your cute little friends. Who was capable of defeating him? I'll wait," Diana said calmly as she analyzed her obsidian nails.
"You…" Serenity growled.
A sage green-dark brown aura surrounds Serenity.
Acting wild, it moves fluid like water but changing its shape quickly as the wind blows on her.
She grunts. Fissure-like cracks appear in her skin. Colorless.
Eyes continue to illuminate green, yellow, then back to her original eye color.
"I'll conquer you…" Serenity said in a quiet rage.
She screams. Her head now looking up at the sky.
"Aghhh!!!"
The ground shakes. Everything looks jittery in Diana's sight.
Nearly loses balance.
"This power… finally she's letting go," whispered Diana quietly.
Green rays of light shoot out of her mouth, eyes, and nose.
The wind behind her picks up. Dark eye black forms underneath each of her eyes.
Her transformation comes to a halt.
Serenity lowers her head.
Has her sights on Diana.
Virgo insignias in her irises. They're yellow. Radiating like sun rays.
She's transformed into her signature Virgo form. Her first time ever.
"This is what you wanted. Now you're going to get it. I wanna see how resilient I am at my highest," Serenity said.
"Haha, I welcome the challenge. Let's get it on, Ms. Rice. The awakened Maiden," Diana replied.
"Maiden Style: Wheat Bomb!" she exclaimed.
Serenity puts her hands up.
Winds above her head begin to pick up, and it's tangible.
Forms a large sphere that looks like the Earth's globe.
Air around the sphere makes a ring shape. Violently orbiting it.
The sphere, green, brown, is covered in wheat. Some of the wheat is in the ring swirling.
Its awns sharpen like a scalpel. The wheat stalks move as a worm maneuvers its way through dirt.
Diana smiles at the beauty of the attack.
"I love this. Hit me with your best shot. Maiden Style: Stardust Cannon!" shouted Diana.
An energy beam leaves her two palms. But this one is not only green but obsidian. Virgo insignias swirl inside of it.
They clash.
Pebbles, dirt of the earth rise. The sun shines brighter.
Humidity rising rapidly. Roses, dirt, and oranges and wheat are all they smell.
Their reality begins to shift. The sky and backdrop are cracking as we speak.
They're being transported to somewhere else.
Sky is turning black. Butterflies in the sky?
Wait, hold on. Look where they're at now.
The planet Mercury.
Their attacks grow larger. Serenity's wheat bomb starts crackling. Lightning coursing through it.
Diana's beam is getting considerably thicker. 3x its size. Size of logs that are used to construct cabins.
Her beam sounds like a high-pitched frequency.
"Diana!!! You won't win!!" screamed Serenity.
"Serenity Rice!!!" shouted Diana.
"Earth Element: Stone Constriction!" Maine shouted.
Maine's arms turn into stone. They lengthen and wrap themselves around Kyle and Tyler like a boa constrictor.
They're covered with his brown energy.
They cannot get out. Struggling to get out, they try to swipe, claw, and bite their way out but to no avail.
He's face to face with Kyle and Tyler. Kyle is half silverback gorilla, and Tyler is half grizzly bear.
Currently, they're in their upgraded forms. Kyle is in his full silverback form.
Everything about him screams silverback but his nose. His nose is still human.
Tyler has transformed into what he calls "The Grizz State" when he transforms into a grizzly bear.
However, only his eyes have retained their human state.
Maine tightens his grip on them.
"Man, this guy has a vice grip," quipped Kyle.
Tyler tries to get out and growls.
"Tell me about it. Since when did humans get so strong?" said Tyler.
Maine tightens his grip.
"Aghhh!" they groaned in unison.
"Join me or die. Which one do you value the most? Your pride or your life? You decide, or I can make it for you," said Maine.
"Fine!" Kyle said.
Maine loosens his grip and lets Kyle go.
"Now you?" asked Maine as he eyed Tyler.
"Fine. You have a deal. Unhand me, earthie," said Tyler.
Maine lets him go.
His stone arms go back to him. They turn back into his regular arms.
Cracks his fingers.
"Solid work. Here's the attire."
Maine throws them 2 cloaks.
Dark green. The border of them brown. On the back of their cloaks is a rain forest that is designed with small rocks, stones, and boulders on the back of it.
Kyle and Tyler catch them.
"Cool outfit," replied Kyle as he felt the shirt and smelled its scent.
Tyler looks at the front and back, then slings it over his shoulder.
"Brand spanking new. I won't ask how you got it. What's the plan?" asked Tyler.
"We're going to fight some Zodiac Defenders, but when I say go, before going back to my lair, I want a favor," said Maine.
"And what's that?" Tyler said.
"I need you two tomorrow afternoon to go to the water sector and go to the Venus River. It's located 5 miles east from there. I need the mutant orphans from there too," said Maine.
"Who are they? How are we supposed to know?" asked Kyle.
Maine turns his back to them.
"Danny and Niloh are the names. Dolphin and snapping turtle mutant orphan. Hard to miss. I left food for the both of you on the path you will be. Once you see the food, you're only 500 feet away. Don't mess it up," Maine said.
He fades away as sand.
Kyle and Tyler look at one another.
Serenity and Diana are fighting on planet Mercury.
Statues of bookcases 4,000 feet tall. Butterflies as stars.
Faces of identical twins also are in the sky watching.
At least 100 of them. Observing and even making faces as if they're entertained.
Diana's beam and Serenity's wheat bomb explode.
Both of them flying backwards.
Serenity's back is slammed onto a boulder. Diana slides against the ground. Her back all scratched up.
Diana gets up slowly. Blood comes down the left corner of her mouth.
Wipes it off. Coughs a few times.
"You know you've put up a good fight. Let's do it to the death," Diana said.
Diana sprints towards Serenity. Fists are green. Rears one fist back.
Serenity pushes herself off the boulder. Arms scratched and bleeding, but she's ok.
She sprints towards Diana. Hands glowing brown.
Clocks back her fist.
"I won't lose," stated Serenity confidently.
They exchange blows. Serenity punches Diana in the face.
She eats it.
"Not bad. You still hit weak."
Diana clocks her in the mouth.
She stumbles back but is still standing.
"You thought it would be easy. I'm not going out without a fight, Diana. Or should I say me on the inside."
They continue to fight.
Diana tries to land clean kicks and sweeps, but they're blocked and evaded by Serenity.
Serenity attempts to roundhouse kick her but catches her leg. She's hopping, trying to get her leg back.
"Maiden Style: Shadow Hold!" Diana said.
Diana's maiden, which looks like Diana but just taller, comes behind Serenity after she started as black smoke.
Puts her in a full nelson.
She cannot get out.
Kicks, screams, and whines to get out, but Diana's maiden is too strong.
Serenity stops struggling.
Looks at Diana with dead eyes.
"So what are you going to do?? Kill me? Go ahead. I lost this battle."
"Hahahaha!" laughed Diana and her maiden.
"That's enough," said Diana's maiden.
Releases her arms and disappears as a dark, thick smoke.
Wipes the dirt and grime off her shirt and pants.
"Job well done. I'm proud of you," said Diana.
"Proud of me…" Serenity thought.
Diana nods yes.
"Yes, proud of you, girl," replied Diana.
"Wait, you can hear my thoughts?" asked Serenity nervously.
Diana rolls her eyes.
"Duh! I'm your inner you inside a dream world! Hello?" said Diana.
Diana starts to laugh a bit, realizing how silly Serenity is sounding.
"Ok, ok, point taken. That was an obvious question," replied Serenity.
Diana's physical features start to soften. Her skin no longer obsidian but matching Serenity's.
All the fissures on her arms slowly go away, making her skin look smooth.
As each fissure heals, steam emits from them, signaling cleansing.
"Planetary Art: Terrain Change!" Diana said.
Now they're at Serenity's home.
"Back at my place? Nothing like home."
Their bodies are completely spiritual and can't be seen or detected.
They walk through the house.
Diana looks around. Liking what she sees, she starts touching her furniture, table, and TV.
"Like what you see?" asked Serenity.
"I've done seen this place plenty of times, but it is nice to touch it," Diana stated.
"I can't find Daiyu. She left already?" said Serenity.
"Serenity, you've been knocked out for 4 and a half hours now. That girl been gone," Diana stated.
"Well, that's a bummer."
They both go into the living room and see Serenity lying on her living room couch unconscious.
"Took a pretty big hit, huh? That battle wore you out."
Serenity analyzes herself sleeping.
Reaching to touch her physical self sleeping, she can't feel anything. Her finger simply moves through the body like a hologram.
"Wow. I look somewhat peaceful," said Serenity.
Diana makes eye contact with her.
"We need to get you back into your physical state. Your job with me is done."
"But wait! What now?"
"Simple. We merge, and you get a huge boost in power, and you'll finally be more at ease with yourself. Think of it like an upgrade or how back then young people your age say, 'you done glowed up' or something to that effect," said Diana.
Serenity facepalms herself.
"Goodness, let's not use those words again. So what happened to me, Diana? Why did I just fall asleep?" questioned Serenity.
Diana speaks. Puts her pointer finger on the corner of her mouth. Tapping it curiously.
"It seems when your brother Maine hit you in your stomach, which is Virgo's most sensitive spot, it knocked you unconscious. And judging by your physical state, it seems like he held back. In other words, you were spared."
Shakes her head no aggressively.
"No! No! No! You won't convince me that he's anything but evil. He's an ass."
"Maybe. But not the biggest one. But you need more strength and clarity. I hope you learned something from our encounter."
"Yeah, I learned a lot. I'll be very happy when we merge. Curious to how I'll be as a person. You know, actually living it and not taking."
"The only question is… are you ready? Once this transfer happens, I won't be speaking to you personally anymore because we'll be one. However, May can and will. My role is complete."
"I'm ready, Diana," said Serenity as she rubbed the forehead of herself still sleeping.
"After this, just lay in the same position. You know, align yourself with your physical body like how you are here on this couch, and you'll wake up. Shadow Style: Essence Change!"
Diana turns into a green, obsidian, and brown cloud.
It goes straight inside her bellybutton.
Serenity throws her head back with her body shaking mildly.
After about 5 seconds, it stops.
Heavy breathing from her ensues.
Stops.
Serenity watches herself sleeping for a couple more seconds or so, then lays down exactly how she is.
A few seconds later, Serenity finally wakes up. Eyes open. Lively.
She's no longer in the dream world.
Gets a good stretch in.
"Ahh, so much better. New power. New understanding. New me. Now to find Daiyu and Katrina and settle things with Maine once and for all."