Chapter Ten: The Big Point
Mamoru, Rei, Chibi-Usa, and Patrick rested near another cannon, Mamoru and Chibi-Usa sitting, Rei and Patrick standing, arguing about the color of the sky. The group had been fighting through robots almost the entire time they had traversed the downtown area, and their energy was spent, especially since they were clad in heavy deep sea dive suits.
Even though Bikini Bottom baffled Mamoru, he was slowly getting used to it. In Japan, he had fought enemies who used mind-bending, physics-breaking techniques to confuse himself and the Guardians, like the fish and robots in Bikini Bottom.
Despite the weirdness about, his mind was set on Chibi-Usa.
Why had Pegasus, who could be an enemy, come? Mamoru couldn't leave Chibi-Usa's side. If she was alone with Pegasus, who knew what would happen?
To Mamoru, everything and everyone started as an enemy. It took time and, in some cases, like Pegasus' involvement, fighting through life-threatening situations for him to trust others.
Patrick had saved Chibi-Usa, but the starfish was hard to trust, not because of his character, but because he was easily distracted and childlike, not treating the robot situation seriously. Patrick hadn't left Chibi-Usa alone while she fought against the first cannon, but the starfish had a ways to go until Mamoru trusted him completely.
Mamoru looked at the skyscrapers populating the expanse of the city. The group had a while before they had finished traveling through the downtown area.
Did Chibi-Usa have enough stamina to fight through the robots while jumping over gaps, dodging hot sauce, and flying? She had never done anything as strenuous as treading Bikini Bottom. Neither had Usagi and the others, but they were teenagers; they could better withstand physical strain than a child, no matter how much the child in question declared her 902 years of living to everyone who dared believe she was a second younger.
Chibi-Usa had fought well against the first cannon, collaborating with someone she had never worked with before. Someone like Patrick—even more commendable.
No, Mamoru shouldn't have insulted Patrick. He had his shortcomings, but he hadn't shown Mamoru and the Guardians anything but kindness since they arrived.
Chibi-Usa had been unusually silent since she had talked to him about Pegasus. Her eyes focused on nothing. He rubbed her shoulder, and she gave him a flitting smile. Her thoughts were still on Pegasus.
"But flowers can't grow in anything but green grass," Patrick said to Rei. "And that's a fact. So if that's the case, then since flowers are growing in the sky, then that means the sky must be green grass, too."
Mamoru raised an eyebrow. Patrick had gone from saying that the sky was green to claiming that the sky was grass. How did the starfish connect things that weren't related?
"No, no, no. Those flowers are clouds." Rei darted her eyes to the ground, frowning. Unsure? Mamoru didn't blame her. This world was so different than their own that those clouds might really be flowers.
Patrick was being Patrick, but Rei was wasting energy trying to explain things to him, which might take a lifetime.
Again, with the insults. Stop it, Mamoru. You're better than this.
He squeezed Chibi-Usa's shoulder and then stood, more to save Rei's sanity than for anything else. "We should get going. The others might have made much more progress than us by now, and we don't want to keep them waiting and worry them."
Holding Chibi-Usa's hand, Mamoru guided her to her feet. Chibi-Usa said, "It's okay. I can stand by myself," but she allowed herself to be helped. Despite her claims that she was an independent woman, her recent efforts to stop getting Mamoru's help, she loved and would never stop loving Mamoru's attention.
Rei swiveled away from Patrick, toward the cannon. "Right. We can't let these robots destroy Bikini Bottom any more." She clenched her hands. "I wish I could use my attacks."
"Maybe you could take your gloves off," Chibi-Usa said.
Rei's brow furrowed. The deep sea dive suits included gloves; if she took them off, her hands would be exposed.
"Her hands might be crushed because of the pressure," Mamoru said. "We may have many powers, but we're not superhuman. We might not be able to survive pressure from the sea."
Rei stared at her hands. Considering.
"Rei, I really don't think we should try it."
"I'll do it for just a second."
Before Mamoru could say that her frustration was controlling her thoughts and actions, Rei slipped off one of her gloves, leaving only her red gloves from her Guardian uniform on. The group watched her hand, waiting for it to compress like an accordion or worse.
"Nothing's happening." A smile grew on Rei's face. "I don't feel any pain. My hand's all right." She aimed her hand at the cannon. "Akuryo Taisan!" A ball of flame shot out of her hand. The flame engulfed and reddened the cannon, steam rising. The cannon exploded. Flame-covered shards showered the ground, bashing several robots, the robots wheeling in circles, their screens that served as their eyes becoming fuzzy like televisions without reception.
Rei grinned, baring her teeth. A chill pierced Mamoru. "Yes," she whispered, sliding her glove on. "I don't want the pressure to get to it anyhow. I'll give it a rest whenever we're not fighting. Which will work as long as we're not ambushed, but I can quickly take my glove off if needed."
Easy to say, but what would happen in the heat of the moment? Rei had gotten through downtown Bikini Bottom fine so far, but…
Mamoru suppressed a sigh.
At least the cannon was gone. They pressed forward, running past the bank with a gaping hole in its side. No robots roamed inside, having moved on to something else to destroy.
Patrick pointed to a needle-shaped building past a chain-link fence. "There's the Sea Needle." He tapped his chin. "If I sat on the top of it, would I put a hole in my butt?" Rei curled her lips inward; she badly wanted to respond but didn't (knowing Rei, she would tell Patrick to sit up there and see).
The building looked like the Space Needle in the United States that Mamoru had seen pictures of. Amazing how many things in Bikini Bottom reminded Mamoru of the world above ground, like the boats resembling cars, the roads, the neighborhoods, the city. In Bikini Bottom, reality was grounded in strangeness. "We should clear that building of robots, too."
"Meow."
The group turned toward the meow. Gary slid to them from an alleyway. The snail had made it down the top of the building from which he had crushed one of the G-Loves.
"Hi, Gary." Patrick crouched and stroked Gary's shell. Gary probably couldn't feel Patrick's strokes, but the sentiment was there.
"Meow, meow."
"We've still got a long way to go?"
"Meow."
"Look up." Patrick looked at the sky he believed was grass.
"Meow."
"Look down." Patrick looked at the ground.
"Meow."
Patrick looked to the skyscrapers, the gaps between them, leading to another building with its window open. "We have to get in there to get to the rooftops, which leads to the lighthouse."
"Meow, meow, meow."
"And at the lighthouse is where a bunch of robots are, and they're keeping the rest of the wheels for the boats." Patrick heaved, steam puffing out his nostrils, into Chibi-Usa's face. Chibi-Usa's eyes watered, and the Guardian fanned her nose with her hand. Either her politeness kept her from saying anything about Patrick's breath, or his breath had rendered her unable to talk.
"We'd better get up there, then," Rei said. "Maybe we could fly inside that building."
"Meow."
"Robots on top of the buildings too, buddy?" Patrick said.
"Never mind," Rei said. "We'll have to take the long way to clear those robots out."
"Meow, meow."
"Big gaps, so we should get Sandy to help us?" Patrick rubbed the inside of his ear. "But we don't have Sandy. She went to Goo Lagoon because she can swim."
"We can fly," Mamoru said. "It'll take quite a bit of energy, but we'll be able to make it."
"Meow."
Patrick waved at Gary. "Thanks, Gary. Good luck to you, too."
Mamoru faced the Sea Needle. "We'd better take care of the robots in there first."
The group ran toward the Sea Needle. Wires hung from the hole-pocked disc in the middle of the building. At the bottom of the building looped another maw of a disc, with windows at intervals.
"The robots did a number here," Chibi-Usa said.
Creaking noises emanated from the building, becoming louder as the group approached and then entered the dim lobby, most of the lightbulbs shattered, debris littering the floor. Wires hung from the lobby's holey ceiling, sparks of electricity crackling around the wires. Wind whistled through the empty lobby.
"I guess we should go upstairs." Mamoru pressed the button on the elevator ahead of them, not trusting the stairs. It opened. "Hm. It still works." The group stepped inside. They could go only to the top floor; the other buttons had been peeled off.
Once they reached the top floor, the group stepped off the elevator. The top floor looked similar to the lobby, except several hallways branched off from the circular floor, the doors leading to those hallways closed, only one door open.
A red crab wearing a collared shirt stood next to the open door. He looked Mamoru, Chibi-Usa, and Rei up and down, his gaze penetrating. Like Mrs. Puff, the crab must not like humans.
"I assume these are some of the humans I've been hearin' about," the crab said, his voice like the pirates' voices Mamoru's mother and father imitated when they read him bedtime stories as a child. "Be careful of them, Patrick."
Patrick bowed to the crab. "Yes, sir, Mr. Krabs. I will."
"I don't think you understand."
"Understand what?"
"I'll explain later." Mr. Krabs turned toward the open door. "The more immediate matter is that robots have broken the Sea Needle."
"How do we fix it?" Chibi-Usa said.
Mr. Krabs' eyes shot to Chibi-Usa. "Aren't ya adorable?" he said, unsmiling. "Reminding me of Pearl when she was a little girl." He coughed. "Probably a trick to get me to like you."
Chibi-Usa cocked her head. "Uh, what?"
"You know very well what I speak of."
"No, I don't."
"I won't let your genuine innocence get the better of me. Be very careful of the girl with that strange pink hair, Patrick. I can tell she's more dangerous than the rest, using her young age and cuteness to deceive people." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, back to the task at hand. There are Floating Tikis outside the Sea Needle, and those Tikis are just waiting to be broken so fish like me can grab their Shiny Objects."
Gesturing toward the Guardians, Mamoru said, "Rei, Chibi-Usa, and I can fly. We'll get the Shiny Objects for you, sir." And destroy robots in the process. They had to explore the Sea Needle anyhow. Might as well prove their trustworthiness to a crab while they were at it. Besides, Mr. Krabs could help them in the future.
Mr. Krabs' began to salivate. "Money…money…money…" He licked his lips. "Sounds good to me. Go right ahead. I'll be waitin' for ya here."
Mamoru exchanged raised eyebrows with Rei. Seemed like the crab forgot about his distrust of humans once the humans promised to give him money.
The group ran through the open door, into the hallway, at the end of which was a gaping hole. A bungee hook descended from who-knew-where? Mamoru peered outside. The cord hung from the building itself, anchored to the roof. Maybe bungee-jumping was one of the Sea Needle's attractions.
Nevertheless, they didn't need to bungee jump. Mamoru could fly outside and annihilate all the Tikis at once with Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber.
Mamoru aimed his hand at the Tikis. "Tuxedo La Smoking—"
A force from behind shoved him into the air, cutting off his attack and replacing it with a warbled scream.
"What did you do that for, Patrick?" Chibi-Usa said as Rei yelled, "You idiot."
"He didn't look like he knew how to use the bungee hook, so I was helping him out."
Before Mamoru could channel energy to fly, the back of his deep sea dive suit caught on the bungee hook. He scrambled to unhook himself, but the hook was in the middle of his back, out of his reach.
The bungee cord propelled him forward, slamming him into the Tikis. Rabbits that looked like Usagi and Chibi-Usa pranced in his vision, pieces of Tikis flying around him. Thankfully, Mamoru wasn't prone to shouting out, otherwise he might say something that would steal Chibi-Usa's innocence.
Mamoru bounced up, toward the window, Rei and Chibi-Usa standing near the windowsill.
"Grab him!" Chibi-Usa said.
"Why?" Patrick said.
"Do you need an explanation?"
"Yes."
"Chibi-Usa, I'll grab Mamoru-san. You grab me, and we'll pull."
Grunts from behind Mamoru.
"Curse my short legs…!" Chibi-Usa said.
"I can't reach," Rei growled.
The rabbits prancing in Mamoru's vision saluted Mamoru and then faded. "Don't worry. I'll make the best of this." He grit his teeth, jerking himself, stretching the bungee cord and propelling himself downward. He braced himself and then crashed into several other Tikis. Only one remained.
A robot with concave eyes that jutted outward, its body like a blimp's, flew before Mamoru and then swerved backward as Mamoru jetted past the robot, afraid of being smashed by Mamoru's momentum. The robot, Chuck, laughed, taking out a missile with one of its hands.
Mamoru tried to aim his hand at the robot, but the bouncing caused his hand to wobble. If the bouncing kept up, he would shoot at air.
He began his upward trajectory. Surely, Rei and Chibi-Usa were preparing to attack, but he must keep getting in the way.
"Ah, Patrick!" Chibi-Usa.
"Don't!" Rei.
Their shouts could not bode well for Mamoru.
A Stone Tiki shrieked over Mamoru's head, smashing the Chuck, a piece of the robot spiraling into and destroying the last Floating Tiki. Shiny Objects rained to the ground. Mr. Krabs would have to pick up the Shiny Objects before others did.
"He, he actually did it," Chibi-Usa breathed.
"It was easy," Patrick said. "All you do is throw."
Now Mamoru had to figure out how to release himself from the bungee hook. He truly needed help now; he could rip off his deep sea dive suit if he tried unhooking himself.
"Wait, everyone, until I'm still." Mamoru bounced up and down, up and down, his vision clouding. Good thing his stomach was strong.
Once Mamoru stilled enough for the others to grab him, Rei grabbed Mamoru's waist. Chibi-Usa wrapped her arms around Rei's waist, and Patrick wrapped his arms around Chibi-Usa's waist. All three pulled Mamoru to the surface, Rei unhooking Mamoru.
The thing was, Mamoru wasn't done. Several Tikis remained in the other areas of the Sea Needle. Unless one of the others wanted to do it.
Patrick raised his hand. "That looked fun. I wanna play next."
Mamoru had no argument for the starfish. Patrick was surprisingly competent in combat. His reflexes were excellent, his aim deadly. His mind made everything simple, which worked to his advantage. Mamoru had no complaints, and neither did Rei or Chibi-Usa.
After battling through robots, the group reached the next window. Mamoru hooked the bungee cord into Patrick's shorts. Patrick jumped, saying "Whee!" even as he came into violent contact with the Tikis, seemingly unaffected by the pain. No robots attacked Patrick, but the starfish pointed at robots that stood and floated atop another building.
"There are robots on the rooftop over there." He pounded his fist into the palm of his hand. "We should break `em."
Mamoru stepped to the windowsill. "I can fly out and defeat them." A blast of Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber would do it.
"I can do it, Mamoru-san," Rei said. "You've been through a lot already."
She wasn't lying. But Mamoru wasn't going to put her in harm's way because he was tired. "You've been through a lot yourself, fighting without your powers earlier." The effects of their fighting showed through Rei's flushed cheeks, her heavier breathing. In the Sea Needle, Rei had kicked the robots, the heat of battle not giving her the opportunity to take her gloves off to attack with flames.
"I can handle it. Don't worry about me." The same thing Mamoru had said when that coughing fit had overcome him. What had that been? Something had been coming up when he was coughing, dark and sticky, metallic-tasting like blood, but he had swallowed the substance back down. If Rei, Chibi-Usa, or Patrick had seen the substance, then they wouldn't let him fight, and he'd become a burden.
"You don't have to worry about me, either," Rei said. "Please, Mamoru-san, let me handle this. It won't take long."
Mamoru tried to run a hand through his hair but touched his helmet instead. "All right. Good luck, Rei. I know you can do it."
Rei jumped out, swerving past the bungee cord, Patrick spiraling upward on the rebound. A sudden wind jerked Patrick's head into Rei's stomach, and she veered off-course. A Chuck flew off the rooftop and hurled a missile toward her. Mamoru aimed at the Chuck, shot Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber, only for another gust to toss Patrick into the white beam. Patrick flashed so that his bones were visible, like he was being x-rayed. Chibi-Usa gasped, and Mamoru winced.
"That has to hurt very badly," Chibi-Usa said.
Chibi-Usa's mouth wasn't helping. If Mamoru wasn't focused on the battle, he would've told her to hush and spend the energy she used on talking toward thinking of a solution instead—in gentler terms, of course.
The Chuck cackled, the missile exploding on Rei, water bursting.
Water-filled missiles couldn't be that dangerous…
…until the water careened Rei into the Sea Needle's wall outside. She remained, spread-eagled, and then peeled off the wall, barreling toward the ground.
Amazingly, Rei had remained silent throughout the abuse.
Mamoru flew out. Chibi-Usa joined him.
"No, Chibi-Usa. Stay inside."
"I won't. I'll protect you while you rescue Rei."
Mamoru's eyes softened. He had been underestimating Chibi-Usa. He wanted to protect her, but she could protect herself, too. He nodded. "All right. You can do this, Chibi-Usa, just like you did with those sinks." And if not, hopefully Pegasus would come to her rescue again. Pegasus seemed to not want anything to happen to her until she fulfilled whatever purpose he had in mind.
Mamoru spread his arms. Rei made no sound; the blow must've knocked her unconscious. The Chuck whizzed before him, raising a missile, only to be putted in the face by a train of hearts. Mamoru smiled at Chibi-Usa. She'd protected her father, a queenly thing to do.
Rei landed in Mamoru's arms, Mamoru staggering in midair due to the sudden weight. He carried Rei upward, Patrick beginning his downward trajectory once more, smashing the last of the Tikis, the pieces bouncing off Mamoru's suit, one piece clonking Rei's head. Rei started, snapping her head in all directions, looked at Mamoru with glazed over eyes, yelped, swung a fist toward his crotch. Mamoru caught the fist.
"It's me. Hi."
"Oh. H-hi." Rei's cheeks became scarlet. "I'm sorry, Mamoru-san." She tapped her fingers. "That was something that my father's bodyguards taught me to do if I was ever…unexpectedly touched by a man."
"That's okay. My father always taught me to defend that part of my body since it's the one women try to attack most often. Next time, smash the nose. Men don't expect that, and it incapacitates them for a few moments. But your sudden vitality at least lets me know that you're feeling okay."
The Chuck, recovered from Pink Sugar Heart Attack, flipped in midair as though it was trying to clear its head of the attack. It aimed another missile. More hearts flew its way, but it dodged, expecting them. But it didn't expect Patrick, who smacked its underside, breaking it into pieces like the Tikis before it.
A Chomp-Bot and a G-Love stood and floated, respectively, on the rooftop. Patrick launched toward the robots. The G-Love started, the moment costing the robot its life; Patrick smashed it.
A Chomp-Bot huffed its breath into Patrick's mouth.
"Aww, too bad I can't smell it," Patrick said. "I bet it smells like chicken because it sure tastes like it."
Chibi-Usa scrunched her face. "It doesn't. Trust me."
As he swung toward the robot, Patrick thrust a fist, breaking the Chomp-Bot. Thanks to Patrick, all the robots from the rooftop had been destroyed.
With help from Mamoru, Rei, and Chibi-Usa, Patrick stepped onto the surface, unhooking himself from the bungee cord.
"I think that's all of them," Mamoru said. "Just to be sure, let's look around one more time."
The four searched the Sea Needle, the Guardians and Mamoru flying over the areas where the floor had been blasted away, jet-propelled square platforms in the floor's stead, Mamoru carrying Patrick. For a starfish, Patrick weighed as much as a bag of bricks. Patrick laughed as Mamoru carried him, enjoying the flight. Mamoru's heart warmed. His power was bringing joy to someone else, which usually didn't happen.
After finishing their search, they returned to Mr. Krabs.
"We've broken all—" Rei said. Mr. Krabs sprinted to the elevator, pressed the button, salivating, his pupils dilated, sweat cascading down his forehead, chanting, "Moneymoneymoneymoney…"
"Don't we win a prize for breaking all the Tikis, Mr. Krabs?" Patrick said.
Chanting, Mr. Krabs tossed a Golden Spatula from his pocket, which Mamoru caught. He frowned at the Spatula.
Rei placed a hand on her hip. "I hope these come in handy. It seems like these are all we're being rewarded with."
"Some folks won't let you past certain places without them," Patrick said. "They might help in other ways, too. King Neptune had a Golden Spatula stuck in a museum, and SpongeBob pulled it out once and summoned him. I'm surprised that there are so many Golden Spatulas around and that King Neptune hasn't come to help us, with how many we have now. I thought the Golden Spatula in the museum was the only one."
"Who is this King Neptune?" Chibi-Usa said. "And is he nice?"
"He's a god who took SpongeBob and I to his Poseidome once. He likes to use lightning. He's nice as long as you don't make him mad."
"This place has its own gods?" Rei said. "Are there any others?"
"Nope, just him. We don't see him unless we make him mad somehow. But SpongeBob and I have only seen him twice, and we helped him the second time by getting his lost crown back."
Despite his quirks, Patrick knew what he was talking about sometimes. The starfish had been a great help to them today, regardless of his pushing Mamoru out the window. Patrick was not the enemy. His unintentional cruelty was because of his limited intelligence.
"I'm not sure we could've gotten through this without you, Patrick." Mamoru's smile broadened. "Thank you."
"Yeah," Chibi-Usa said. "I'm glad we have you on our team."
"Eh, I suppose," Rei muttered. Understandably doubting him.
Patrick grinned. "I'm glad we have me on my team, too."
Mamoru looked to the rooftops. Their next destination.
He was glad the starfish was a big help, but he was not glad about the pain that his muscles were about to endure carrying him.