Serenay Moon
Episode 62: Forged in the Dragon's Breath
©2003 Kitty Ocean

"Oh man, I wanna go home!!" Zach yelled when he saw the Phoenix diving down. He ducked in the nick of time, avoiding the sharp beak, but the claws grabbed him anyway.  "Look, whatever happened to you, it wasn't me!! Please don't feed me to your babies!"

"So you had enough?" Phoenix said in his powerful legendary bird form. "You finally give up the challenge?"

Zach waved his arms. "But I never challenged you in the first place!" He yelled. "It was Black Thunder, he just tried to look like me!" The claw released him, but Zach grabbed a toenail just before he would fall. "This certainly qualifies as one of the worst days in my life! First the Black Soldiers stone Moka, I get into a fight with the others, the Black Soldiers kidnap me, Black Thunder takes my place and makes a very big bird very angry! What did he do anyway?!"

"You fool." Phoenix answered. "You think I will believe that?!" He changed back into his human form, letting Zach loosing his grip and falling on the ground. "You challenged me for my Magical Weapon and now you claim someone else was that?"

Zach looked up. "Magical Weapon...?" He mumbled. "Black Thunder challenged a Shrine Guardian?!"

"Ocean Explosion!"

All of a sudden a powerful blast of water hit Zach. He crashed against the rocks and when he could see again, he saw Kitt and the others running at him. "Kitt, why on earth did you do that?!"

"You can't fool me any more!" She angry yelled. "I know you are Black Thunder! Tell me what you did to Zach or I swear, I'll hurt you even more than you can imagine!"

"Kitt cut it out!" Zach snapped back. "I'M Zach! The real one!"

"No, I'm the real one!"

All looked back and saw another Zach. "You again!" Zach growled, and his eyes turned red. "Get the hell out of my eyes!! Ultimate Zako Y Chosen!!"

It happened too fast for Black Thunder could react. The big fireball headed towards him with the speed of light and slammed him out of sight. The last that could be heard, was his scream.

Zach snapped back, looking at his gazing friends and a calm Phoenix. "You... you..." Derak pointed at him. "You are the real Zach!" Behind him Kitt completely paled out.

"I said that!" Zach was quite angry. "This has been one of the worst days of my life!"

"So... a fire warrior..." All looked at Phoenix. "I must admit... this was what I expected. I didn't expect a Thunder Warrior would challenge me."

Zach turned around. "I'm Zach, Soldier of Fire, and I challenge you for your Magical Weapon! And then I want to get the hell out of here!"

Phoenix slowly walked around him. "You can't get out of here. Not before you beat me."

"Fine, stop talking, fight- I'm in a very bad mood."

"I feel it." Phoenix grinned. "You want to get out of it. Out of Destiny. But you can't. Destiny is chained to you."

"Well, then I'd better find one hell of a locksmith!" Zach turned along, watching every move of Phoenix. This guy looked strong!

Phoenix stopped walking. "Then we shall begin." And he bowed.

Zach let down his guard; should he bow back? It would be an honourable thing to do... but was this one of those Eastern Fights? No.... This wouldn't qualify as an Eastern Fight.... Would it?

All of a sudden Phoenix dove forward. It completely surprised Zach, but when he saw the fist coming, he tried to avoid it as good as possible.

Fire was around the fist of Phoenix and it scorched Zach's clothes. Zach fell on the ground, but immediately jumped up again. He raised his arms. "Ultimate Zako Y Chosen!" The Fireball got launched, but Phoenix was too fast.

Zach looked back and saw Phoenix had got behind him. Phoenix stormed at him and Zach dove away. His body hit the ground and Zach felt the pebbles underneath his hand. He bit on his teeth while he got up again. "Future Fire!" He yelled.

Rings of fire appeared around his arms and between his hands a fireball got formed. "Go Zach, go!" Mika, Moka and Derak cheered.

The Fireball hit the ground and exploded immediately. Dust was all around them, but when it cleared... Phoenix was gone....

Zach looked around. He didn't expect he would win this match this easily. He had seen the other Shrine Fights... This was way too easy. "Where are you Phoenix?" He yelled. "I know you are out there." Zach kept on looking around. "I've seen the other fights. This was too easy!"

But it stayed silent... awfully silent... Could he have won it...?

"Maybe Black Thunder hurt him more than we expected?" Moka pondered.

Suddenly they heard a wizz filling the air. They looked around, trying to spot it, when Mika suddenly screamed: "Zach, look out!"

 

Far away, 3 girls were sitting on rocks. One was looking at herself in a mirror, while another one was doing puzzles. A 3rd one was playing a computer game. All of a sudden a scream filled the air. "What goes up, must come down..." Black Storm sighed.

Black Thunder reached the ground with a large impact. "So... I see you messed up..." Black Typhoon sighed.

"Sorry...." Black Thunder mumbled, feeling broken.

"What a waste of my peroxide." Black Hurricane sniffed when she remembered she had to sacrifice her belongings.

Black Storm stood up. "So... what will we do now?" She asked.

"We'll go back to plan A." Black Typhoon suggested and grabbed a leg from Black Thunder. With him dragging behind her she walked away.

 

Mika's warning came too late. From behind, Phoenix grabbed Zach and released all his fire power. Zach screamed of agony. Fire was his element, but he couldn't handle this force! "Zach!" Kitt screamed and wanted to get close, but Derak stopped her.

"No!" He warned. "It'll burn you into ashes!"

"But Zach..." Kitt cried.

"He'll make it... if you have faith!"

Zach tried to get loose from Phoenix's iron grip. "If you can't stand the heat..." He started.

"Get out of the fire." Zach growled. "I know that line. Originality is appreciated!"

"I MADE that line!" And Phoenix released another powerful blast.

Zach yelled of pain. When the attack stopped he tried to think. He felt so weak! 'I can never attack him!', he thought, 'Even if I do get free, he'll be too fast!' But then his eyes snapped open. 'This is my only chance!'

"You shall never get the Dragon Sword!" Phoenix laughed. "This holy sword, forged in the breath of a dragon, shall never be yours!"

"Ember..." Zach started.

Kitt heard what Zach had said. "Zach, no!" She yelled, and Derak had to stop her once more. "Don't do it! No! Don't do it!"

"RAIN!"

The power got released. A massive fire attack hit Phoenix with all its might. The force of the attack also blew Zach's friends away, and all crashed against the rocks. Where the fight just had been, was now an almost empty place.

Kitt looked up. In the middle she saw someone standing... Zach. "He made it!" Moka yelled. "Because Phoenix was so close to him, the attack was even more powerful than ever!"

Mika, Moka and Derak cheered, but only Kitt stared in horror... and she had been right.

All of a sudden Zach collapsed and fell on the ground. His body was covered with burn marks and no one remembered a time Zach had looked this bad. Kitt ran at him, and grabbed him. But... he was so co-operative... he felt like he was an oversized dummy.

"No..." She cried. "Zach, don't do this to me!"

Mika, Moka and Derak came closer. "Kitt..." Mika started.

"It was my fault!" Kitt sniffed. "If I hadn't hit him with that attack..."

"Hey, look at that!!" All looked up, and saw Black Thunder pointing, still having blond hair. "Zachy boy killed himself!"

"Then the weapon is ours!" Black Hurricane cheered and jumped down. "Out of my way kiddies!"

Mika, Moka and Derak disagreed. "No!" They yelled. "You will not get it!"

The Black Soldiers laughed. "You are with 3! And we are with 4! You can never beat us!" Black Typhoon pointed at the crying Kitt. "She is in no shape to fight!"

"Never..." Kitt whispered. "You will NEVER GET IT! NEVER!"

Angry and heart broken Kitt summoned her trident. Mika, Moka and Derak summoned their Magical Weapons. "This will stop, once and for all!" Derak yelled.

"Zach gambled and he lost!" Black Storm sneered. "He knew he wasn't ready for that attack and he did it anyway. Shadow Spider Storm!"

"Emerald Forest Night!" Derak yelled and stopped the attack.

"Hahaa!" Black Typhoon smiled. "Not bad! We can use it when we'll get that weapon!"

"It's mine now and I won't let go!"

"Hurricane Hawk Claws!" Black Hurricane screamed and attacked them.

Black Thunder jumped aside and ran at the Shrine Statue; the sword must be there! But, it wasn't there. "What?" He yelled. "Where the hell did that Phoenix-chicken hide it?!" Angry and pissed, Black Thunder turned around, and his breath startled. "But... YOU ARE DEAD!"

"Guess again..." Zach growled. In his hand he was holding a large sword. "Looking for this? Too late!" All of a sudden he raised his fist and slammed Black Thunder hard in the face, knocking him out. "You always were a bad copy of me." Zach suddenly kneeled and gripped his side. But he smiled. He was in pain, but he finally got his Magical Weapon. "Now... let's add some fire power to the team!"

Zach stood up, and while he walked his clothes changed. With a determent firm walk, he walked at his battling friends. Black Storm suddenly noticed him. "Oh dang..." She cursed and stepped back. "This is NOT GOOD!"

Zach raised his sword. "Dragon..." He started.

"Zach!" Mika and Moka cheered. "You made it!"

"Fire..."

"Exit!" Black Hurricane cried. "I need an exit!!"

"Rings!"

Zach's attack came with such a sudden force, it even knocked away his friends. It didn't hurt them; it was more like the wind suddenly knocked them over. The fire attack blew its path clean of any menace.

Black Thunder trembled while he got up. "Man, that guy has one punch!" He growled, but then he noticed he was all alone. Zach turned around, and Black Thunder saw the fire in his eyes. He gasped. "Hey Zach..." He sweated. "Congratulations! Well, not at all what I expected but well eh... - BYE!" And Black Thunder ran off, following the screams of his blown away comrades.

Once again the Black Soldiers had vanished and a Magical Weapon was theirs. All were confused; what should they do? They thought Zach was dead! But he was standing there, alive and being on fire!

All of a sudden a feather fell down. All looked up and Phoenix, in his bird form landed. He changed into his human once again. "So, ready for part 2?" Zach asked.

Phoenix smiled and bowed. "Soldier of Fire..." He started. "I underestimated you. You shall get what is rightfully yours."

Phoenix raised his hand and Zach was ready for any attack. A beam of light came from Phoenix's hand and hit Zach. Zach expected to be in pain... but he was not! He looked at his hand... and saw a wound slowly vanishing.

Then the light died out, and all that was left was Zach and his friends. It was silent... until Zach turned back.

Mika ran at him, jumped around his neck and cried of joy. "You are alive! You are here! You made it! You are you!"

Moka joined them as well. "Wrong order, but who's counting." He smiled. He congratulated Zach.

Derak came closer and smacked him on the back. "Well done Zachy Boy!" He cheered. "We thought we lost you back there! Wouldn't have been the same without you!"

Zach felt very happy. They were very happy he was there! They were all around him, cheering because of his victory. Maybe he was a sore leader, but at least he had the best friends! "Thanks." Zach smiled. "I'm very sorry for what Bla-" But then he noticed something. Kitt. Kitt was standing far away from him. "Hey Kitt!" Zach said and stepped at her. But... Kitt stepped back. "Something wrong?" Zach asked.

"I didn't see it..."

Zach could barely hear her. "What?" He asked. "Kitt, what is wrong?"

"I didn't see it...."

Zach now heard it. "What?" He asked again. "What didn't you see?" He stretched his hand towards her, but she just backed out.

"I didn't see it wasn't you..." Tears streamed down her face.

"Oh..." Zach lowered his hand. "It's okay. It was a low trick of them! When I first saw Black Thunder as me I thought I was looking in a mirror!" He walked at her, and Kitt wanted to walk away from him, but she hit the wall. Ashamed she didn't dare to look at him. "It's all right." He took her in his arms. "It's not your fault."

"I attacked you." She cried. "I even said... I even..."

"What?" Zach liked to know.

Kitt threw it out. "I even said that Black Thunder looked cuter!"

Zach was stunned. "You... you... said what?" But then he saw the tears in her eyes and comforted her once again. "It's okay, it wasn't your fault." He let her go and looked her in the eyes. "I don't mind... at all!"

Kitt suddenly put her hands behind her neck. When they came forward Zach saw she had untied a necklace. Kitt put it in his hands. "I... don't deserve...you." She said.

Zach looked in his hand. A tiny silver necklace... with a silver heart. The symbol of their love. And Kitt returned it. Kitt suddenly turned away and ran away from him. Zach acted without thinking. All he heard was the voice of his heart.

"No!" He yelled and grabbed her. He took her in his arms. "I will not let you do that!" He screamed. "We are meant to be! We are one! We... we..." Tears filled his eyes. "I don't care what you said or did, I just need you! Don't do this to me!" He felt Kitt tried to get loose. "No, you are not going away! And now you will listen to me! After I did Ember Rain I felt I was dying. But I came back! I came back! And you know why?" Kitt looked at him with tear filled eyes. "Not because of that stupid Magical Weapon! Not because of those stupid Black Soldiers! Not because of the Guardians! Not because of the world!" Zach hugged her. "I came back for you..."

Both fell on their knees, hugging and crying. "I don't..." Kitt started.

"I need you..." Zach cried. "Don't leave me! Ever!"

Mika, Moka and Derak looked at them, feeling helpless, more helpless than ever. They held their breaths, fearing whatever answer may come. And it came... "I won't... ever..."

 

 

Far away, a young woman was suddenly in big pain. She grabbed her head and fell down on her knees. "Lady Tiamat!" Lady Ignis kneeled at Tiamat, who screamed of agony. "Kim! Something is wrong with Tiamat!"

Lady Kim quickly hurried at Tiamat. Saigo Ryuko the cat worried walked around. "What is wrong?" She tried to ask. "Did He...?"

The screaming stopped. Tiamat huffed on the ground... "No..." She whispered. "It changed..."

"Changed?" Lady Aqua asked. "What changed?"

Tiamat jumped up. "I have to get them! They have to help her!"

Tiamat almost lost her balance and Lady Luna caught her in the nick of time. "Calm down. What changed? Who changed?"

"They have to help her!" Tiamat said with a fearful and tired voice. "If they won't... He will succeed! Then the balance will fall apart... forever!"

Lady Gaia looked at Tiamat. "And looking at your face I don't think that's a good thing."

End of episode 62

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