Chapter Seventy-one: Uprise
Robo-Plankton had transformed Hotaru into a being she'd never wanted to become.
Her classmates had spread rumors of her being an android or, worse, a robot, declaring that she harbored no humanity. Robo-Plankton's turning her into a robot dredged up the memories of kids pointing, accusing, shunning.
He'd strapped her to a table, like her father used to. Karen held her down, snatching her Silence Glaive. She kicked and punched and scratched but Robo-Plankton laughed. Robo-SpongeBob whined from the darkness.
Robo-Plankton had disappeared into the darkness for his instruments, leaving Karen to watch her.
"Why are you letting him do this to me?" Hotaru asked.
Karen remained silent for so long that Hotaru almost repeated the question.
"I have no choice. I mean, why wouldn't I? He's my one true love."
"You do have choices. You may be a robot, but your real true love gave you free will. Don't you remember him?"
"No."
Hotaru lost her breath, like she'd been punched. She had been hoping to remind Karen of the humanity that Plankton had gifted her. Karen now believed that Robo-Plankton had built her.
"Your real love is out there. Flesh and blood. Not this robot." Perhaps another approach. "The real Plankton said that someone hacked you. Probably Robo-Plankton. Don't you feel different than your normal self?"
"I feel better than I have in decades. Feels like Plankton upgraded my RAM. He lets me move around now." Based on her dreamy tone and the eyes that appeared on her screen and then fluttered, hearts popping out, Robo-Plankton had done an irreproachable job hacking her.
The real Plankton would not be pleased.
Plankton's earlier anger had been bravado. The wrath that he'd show Robo-Plankton might rival hell's flames.
"Watch my brilliance." Robo Plankton appeared, wrench in hand. He dropped a sack of bolts to the ground, the ground quaking in response. He faced Hotaru, the constructer in front of him and her.
He made her watch him build the robot.
Part of Hotaru wanted to shut her eyes from the monstrosity being built, from Robo-Plankton's joy at creating the thing, but she wanted to see what she'd be jammed into.
Occasionally, Robo-Plankton flew from the robot to tape-measure Hotaru. Whipped out a calculator and finger-punched it. Flew back to the robot. His hands blurred, and nuts and bolts scattered from the wreckage. The growing thing looked nothing like Hotaru, maybe for the best. She had told herself she'd never become something she wasn't ever again. Yet here she lay.
As Robo-Plankton continued, Karen handing him tools periodically, the robot came to look just like Hotaru.
Bile roiled in Hotaru's stomach.
The thing, armored in a sailor suit, towered above Hotaru. The brooch on its bow gleamed in the dim lights, the brightest in the laboratory. It clutched its own Silence Glaive, yards above the top of its head. Its black "hair" sparkled, sleek.
Most disturbing were its eyes.
Deeper than the real Hotaru's, its eyes were obsidian black, reflecting nothing. An unending pit that one could drown in, never to be seen again.
At least Robo-Plankton hadn't made the thing smile. Its mouth was pressed into a line.
The thing may look like Hotaru, but she refused to give it a gender. Refused to acknowledge that it was alive.
"You must be wondering," Robo-Plankton said, "why didn't I make her smile?"
"Don't call it 'her.'"
"I will forgive your act of disobedience for now. With my merciful self, I will let you enjoy your final moments of freedom. Soon you will have no choice but to obey. Ha. Haha. Hahaha." He cleared his throat, like he'd laughed for hours instead of milliseconds. "Anyhow, she is frowning because you always frown. I have never seen you smile. Therefore, she will not smile. Besides, her frowning makes her look more fearsome. More eerie and creepy and weird. Like you." Even Robo-Plankton saw her as a sickly ghost.
The robot looked sad. Did Hotaru look sad, too?
She had a reason to be sad: she would soon be part of it.
Robo-Plankton swung in front of the robot. "It is finished. It's almost as beautiful as my wife." He wiped his eyes. "I'd cry if I could."
Hotaru's eyes burned. She blinked, and tears rolled down her cheeks, dripping onto the metal bed she lay upon.
She was nothing more than an experiment. Why didn't anyone see her as human?
"Before I show you your new home, I need more information about SpongeBob. You've spent plenty of time with him."
"No, I haven't." The lie slid out; fear drove out the worst in Hotaru. Made her a terror and a liar, all to protect herself.
"Oh, yes, you have. I've installed cameras inside each of my robots. I must know when they're defecting. When a possible weakness is revealed. Their recordings of destruction lull me to sleep every night." A tube popped free of Robo-Plankton's forehead. "That's why I'm going to download the information you have about him into my beautiful brain."
Robo-SpongeBob's whine broke into a cry.
"Then I'll use that information to build a final version of my beloved. She won't cry anymore because she won't have the mental age of a two-year-old."
Just when Hotaru thought that things couldn't get worse.
Her father had abused her physically, poking holes all over her, scarring her so that he could create the perfect cyborg. Now Robo-Plankton was going to finish the job, abusing her mentally.
And Hotaru couldn't move.
The tube neared her, sucking the air. About to suck the last of Hotaru's humanity.
Hotaru did the only thing that might buy her some time, that might lead to her being freed by the one Robo-Plankton least expected it from.
"I thought you loved Karen."
Robo-Plankton stopped, still grinning. He couldn't change his expression, even when he was exposed for the dirt he was.
Karen turned her screen toward her robot husband. Blank.
"Of course I do." Drew out the "s" like a snake.
"I thought you created me because you loved me, Plankton," Karen said. "That's why we've spent decades together. Why I've helped you through everything."
Robo-Plankton rubbed the lasers on his bucket. "Erm, well, things never changed."
"You're stalling."
"Yes, because I'm trying to think of a way to word this so no one gets hurt."
"If you were telling the truth, you wouldn't need to stall. You could just say what's on your heart."
"Yes." Drew out the word again. "You've had a long day, Karen. You're tired, and your motherboard is getting awfully hot. I can see the smoke coming out of you."
"There's no—"
"Good night, my love. Don't let the bedviruses bite." Robo-Plankton fired a laser from his bucket, cutting off the cord plugging Karen into the wall, where she'd been charging. Karen's screen blackened and then hung down.
"You little brat," Robo-Plankton said, monotone. "You just made this ten times harder for you. I will hurt you as much as possible." The tube latched onto Hotaru's forehead. Felt like all of her insides were being sucked out of Hotaru. She screamed. Images of SpongeBob crashed into her and then were drowned into oblivion. She reached for the images but couldn't grasp them. Tried and failed to remember the little, precious time she and SpongeBob had spent in the Mermalair.
The sucking noise stopped. The world swam.
The metal bed that Hotaru lay on tilted upward, toward Robo-Hotaru.
One mercy was that Hotaru felt no panic.
As Robo-Plankton extended her inside the robot, she felt like she was out of her own body, watching herself from above. Hotaru was nothing without her memories, so why care that she was dying?
Robo-Plankton floated beside her. "Yes, yes."
Robo-Hotaru opened its mouth, revealing metal teeth. Its mouth mawed open into nothingness.
"Down the hatch you go." Robo-Plankton pressed a button, and the bed shot Hotaru through the robot's mouth, metal walls serving as its gums, down its throat, all metal. Not a trace of humanity.
Time moved in slow motion. Robo-Plankton flew beside her to watch his masterpiece take life.
Hotaru fell on a circular platform, knocking the wind out of her. Even the pain was dull.
Robo-Plankton hovered before her. "Welcome to your new home. You'll grow to love it, if you don't already."
Metal hands extended from the ceiling, clasped Hotaru, gripping her shoulders, her arms, digging into her skin. The hands lifted her into the robots' middle, where no platform stood below to catch her if she fell. A helmet swung from the ceiling, met her in midair, snapping onto her head.
Images of Robo-Plankton laughing; commanding other robots to shower at the end of the day, to wash between their bolts; of Karen stalking above the world on broken wires, electricity darting at their tips, replaced memories of Hotaru's friends.
Robo-Plankton tossed her the Silence Glaive. She gripped it. Here, she could fight back.
No. She must obey.
"You control the robot," Robo-Plankton said. "I control you."
"Yes, Master," Hotaru found herself replying. Part of her yelled, "Why are you obeying him?" but it was too small.
Robo-Plankton laughed. "Perfect."
Chibi-Usa gaped at her friend stepping through the portal.
Not her friend. A robot version of Hotaru.
Hotaru had been built into a robot.
When Hotaru hated her father experimenting on her, making her a cyborg, she'd been built into a full-blown robot.
Robo-Plankton emerged from behind the robot.
Chibi-Usa flew toward Robo-Plankton. Kaleidoscope or no Kaleidoscope, she'd fight. "What did you do to her?"
Three yellow letters, spelling "RAH," smacked Chibi-Usa full-on, careening her backward.
"Thank you, my love. Who said women are the weaker sex?"
Chibi-Usa slammed onto the ground, the "RAH" flying over her head, smashing the wall, skulls clattering around her. The boulder-sized letters crashed onto the floor. Her parents, Juno, and Puu materialized at her side.
Chibi-Usa leaned up, clutching her head. "Just a little too late, guys."
A metal square flew out from behind, landing at Hotaru's other side. Shorter than Hotaru. Like the real one was shorter than the Guardians. It wore a red karate helmet and gloves, primed for chopping.
Robo-SpongeBob.
SpongeBob gasped, staggered backward. "It's, it's me."
Patrick glowered at SpongeBob. "So you're the one who hurt Chibi-Usa." He cracked his knuckles. "You shall not be forgiven." He swung a fist toward SpongeBob, but Haruka caught it.
"Please, Patrick," Haruka said. "this is no time to be stupid."
The world righted itself. Robo-Plankton flew beside Robo-SpongeBob. "Let me introduce you to my beautiful fiancée, SpongeBot SteelPants. We're supposed to get married next week."
Wind whistled throughout the darkness. Nehellenia stopped glaring to gawk instead.
"Things became much weirder than usual all of a sudden," MInako said. Ami nodded.
SpongeBob ground his teeth. "You fiend. How dare you steal most of my name?"
Rei held her head. "Is that what disturbs you the most about this whole situation?"
"She's based off of you, SpongeBob," Robo-Plankton said. "You should be honored that I'm ripping off of a trademarked character."
SpongeBob's brow creased. "I'm trademarked?"
"He's trademarked?" Ami echoed.
"Oh, yes. They sell plushies of you in the black market. Because you're so darn adorable." Robo-Plankton hugged himself. "They have plushies of me as well, because I'm the most adorable. Adorableness and ingenuity, all wrapped into one deceivingly cute package."
The real Plankton perked. "Plushies of me, you mean." He rubbed his hands. "Maybe that's what was missing. The irresistible adorableness in my attempts to take over the world."
Puu's expression was unreadable. "This is one of the most disturbing conversations I've ever heard." Which was saying something, considering that Puu had watched centuries upon centuries of human behavior.
"Well, if I'm trademarked, branded, whatever," SpongeBob said, raising his bubble wand, "then you're committing a crime, ripping off of me. I should be getting a commission from all the plushies they're selling in the black market."
A lightbulb lit up in Plankton's eye. "So should I."
"Point is, that's even more reason for us to defeat you and SpongeBot."
Robo-Plankton's bucket shook. Was the laser warming up? "No matter what you throw at me, I shall defeat you."
"And defend your beloved queen as well," Nehellenia said. "Remember our agreement."
Robo-Plankton took a hand off his laser to wave it dismissively. "Yes, yes, in return for you saving my fiancée and I from Sailor Neptune's wrath."
That was how they'd escaped from the Chum Bucket. Nehellenia had saved them.
A vein protruded from Plankton's forehead. "Ever since I was kicked out of my Chum Bucket, you've been canoodling with Karen."
"No, I simply hacked her. No canoodling. She may have gotten confused about my advances toward her, and I may have installed some software on her that made her think of me as the most handsome robot in the world, but I assure you, I've always had eyes for only my lovely SpongeBot."
"We'll see about that." Plankton jumped onto Patrick's meager shoulder, jabbed a finger at Robo-Plankton. "I command you, my loyal minion, beat the bolts out of him."
"Yes, sir." Patrick charged toward Robo-Plankton. Rei and Michiru flew at his sides.
Chibi-Usa almost flew alongside Rei and Michiru, but Nehellenia faced her.
"You're the only one standing in my way of taking what's rightfully mine. The Moon Kingdom."
Whatever Patrick and the others were doing, Chibi-Usa had her own enemy. A vendetta against Chibi-Usa festered inside Nehellenia, even though the Guardian had never met the woman.
"What makes you think that you're the Moon Kingdom's rightful owner?"
"I was there, watching Queen Serenity rule over the Moon Kingdom too softly. Letting her people do whatever they wanted. Not making them serve her, like your people are supposed to do. Not instilling fear into them."
"There's nothing wrong with the way my mother ruled," Usagi said. "We're put into these positions of power to serve, not the other way around. That's why her people loved her. Most importantly, she served because she loved her people."
"The Moon Kingdom would've been so much more if your mother had ruled with fear, making them obey instead of giving them a choice."
"They obeyed because they loved her. They served her because they loved her. If we'd ruled the way you want to, the Moon Kingdom would've come to shambles."
Nehellenia's mouth twisted into a grin. "It did anyway."
Usagi tightened her grip on her Kaleidoscope. "For completely different reasons."
"The Dark Kingdom was driven by hate, was it not? It triumphed over your Moon Kingdom."
"That's why a new one's being made. One that'll be even better. Besides, Metalia didn't win in the end. We defeated her, and she'll never rise again."
"Love has made you naïve, too."
"It's made us stronger."
Nehellenia inched forward. Usagi, Mamoru, Juno, and Puu stepped in front of Chibi-Usa.
Robo-Hotaru took one wide step, standing in front of Nehellenia in an instant. Mechanical noises echoed as its pupilless eyes focused on each of the Guardians, Mamoru, the sea creatures fighting alongside the remaining Guardians, against Robo-Plankton and his fiancée.
Nehellenia was going to use a Guardian to protect herself. If she wanted no part of the Moon Kingdom, then she had no right to use Chibi-Usa's friends.
Minako had jumped inside Robo-Sandy and retrieved the real Sandy. Chibi-Usa had to do the same.
Must be an opening in the robot somewhere. When it opened its mouth, it revealed metal teeth. Didn't look like the metal teeth would part.
Perhaps its ears?
Robo-Hotaru swung its Silence Glaive, and wind gusted, sending Chibi-Usa and her allies tumbling. Chibi-Usa's hand skidded on the ground, scraping it, but she righted herself. She jumped into the air, flew toward Robo-Hotaru.
"Hotaru-chan," Chibi-Usa called. "Can you hear me?"
Robo-Hotaru swiped her Glaive. Chibi-Usa flitted backward, the Glaive slashing inches from her, the gust bowling her backward. Being caught would spell the end.
She slammed into someone's arms. She looked over her shoulder.
Juno.
The former Dead Circus member hovered in the air, holding Chibi-Usa. Her power matched Sailor Jupiter's.
"When did you start flying?" Chibi-Usa said.
"When I saw you get hurt again. It was like, something else unlocked inside of me. Almost every time I see you in danger, I feel an instinct come alive inside of me, and it drives me to protect you in any way necessary. I guess flying was the next logical step."
Puu, Usagi, and Mamoru flew toward Robo-Hotaru. Tuxedo Mask launched Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber, and the white beam struck Robo-Hotaru's chest, where her heart would be if she was alive. Robo-Hotaru froze in mid-step, electricity crackling around her. It teetered, like it would either fall forward, on the Guardians, or backward, on Nehellenia.
A chance.
Chibi-Usa pointed to Robo-Hotaru's ears. "We have to head in there. Hotaru-chan's gotta be in there somewhere."
"Right." Juno let go of Chibi-Usa. The two flew toward Robo-Hotaru's right ear, the robot paralyzed. Hopefully, Chibi-Usa and Juno wouldn't be electrocuted.
"Chibi-Usa," Usagi called. Nehellenia swept from behind Robo-Hotaru and unleashed a flurry of black beams. Usagi, Mamoru, and Puu dodged, the three zigzagging in an attempt to reach Chibi-Usa and Juno, but the black beams kept them occupied, ricocheting off mirrors.
"We'll be okay," Chibi-Usa said. "Juno's with me."
Puu winced. Who could blame them for not yet trusting Juno?
Chibi-Usa and Juno flew inside the open ear. The walls of the robot's ear were covered with wax. Some of the wax dripped, plunking on Chibi-Usa's pigtails. Scrubbing out robot earwax was something that Chibi-Usa never imagined she'd have to do. Living for over 900 years, she'd have the pleasure of trying everything, good or bad.
Lightbulbs hanging around the walls of the robot's ear lit their way. The tunnel widened into an arena-sized opening, as large as the Poseidome. The robot's transparent eyes, showing the fight between Nehellenia, the Guardians, and Tuxedo Mask, were embedded at one end of the robot. At the other hung Hotaru.
Chibi-Usa slowed at the sight of her friend. Hotaru hung in cords protruding from the ceiling and the wall just below her feet, her body stretched so that she resembled the letter "X." Her blank eyes indicated unconsciousness. Being in a robot must be traumatic, bringing back memories of her father experimenting on her. Maybe not having memories of being stuck in a robot, especially controlling that robots' movements and hurting her friends, was good for her sanity and conscience.
"Hotaru-chan, can you hear me?"
Hotaru jerked. She must be able to hear Chibi-Usa.
"We're gonna get you out of here." Chibi-Usa quickened, and Juno kept pace beside her.
Robots burst from the depths of the darkness below. Chibi-Usa and Juno had wound up the robots by simply showing up.
Chibi-Usa flew toward her friend, dodging Tar-tar Sauces' streaking tartar sauce, Monsoons' bolts of lightning, G-Loves' tickling hands. Juno loosed arrows, breaking robots in succession. Hotaru punched, kicked, swung at the air. She was controlling the robot subconsciously, seeing her friends as the enemies.
Chibi-Usa reached her friend. "Hotaru, it's me, Chibi-Usa."
Hotaru perked but then kept punching, kicking, swinging.
"You see your father, don't you?" Chibi-Usa said. Behind her, Juno fought the robots, letting her focus on Hotaru. "I promise you, he's not here. I'm not him. I'm trying to free you from this, this…" Hotaru's being confined to a robot was so horrible that Chibi-Usa had no words. "Hotaru, I love you as a friend. I know you love me, too. And all the people you're fighting out there. That's why I'm freeing you, once and for all."
Chibi-Usa gripped the cords and pulled. She and Hotaru jerked, but the cords didn't tear. Sometimes, Chibi-Usa forgot that her strength rivaled only a butterfly's.
"Don't worry, princess." Juno punched through a Fodder and then turned toward Chibi-Usa. "I'm coming."
"Not on my watch."
Pounding noises boomed, and VesVes, riding a tiger, appeared through the tunnel that Chibi-Usa and VesVes had flown through. The tiger landed on a round platform in front of Chibi-Usa and Hotaru, blocking Juno from reaching the Guardians.
The tiger roared, shaking the foundations of the robot. Hotaru vibrated in place.
"You're not getting away this time." VesVes bared her teeth so that she looked as ferocious as the tiger. "I'll redeem Dead Moon, the queen, Tiger's Eye, everyone you betrayed."
Juno softened her expression. "VesVes, don't you see? I'm flying."
"I don't care," VesVes spat.
"You can't fly because you haven't awakened, like I have. You can fly, too. You know you can. More importantly, you know who you really are. It may be hard to accept at first, but—"
"Enough bull." The tiger bounded, fangs wide open, mouth wide enough to swallow Juno whole.
Chibi-Usa's eyes lit up. Crazy, but it might work.
Chibi-Usa left Hotaru's side and flew in front of VesVes instead. Right in the path of the tiger.
The tiger kept moving, but VesVes' face fell. Hopefully at hurting Chibi-Usa herself, with whatever voice Juno had spoken of finally reaching VesVes. Not at missing Juno, her target.
Chibi-Usa shut her eyes. If her plan didn't work, her parents would never forgive her. Heck, her parents might not have a daughter to forgive.
There her target was, in front of her. Primed to be eaten. Like VesVes wanted.
Or so she thought.
Strange that Chibi-Usa had swung herself in the way of death. When life threw an opportunity, especially to someone like VesVes, who hadn't gotten many, the responsible thing to do was take the opportunity, not squander it.
Then that damn voice entered her head.
The tiger's mouth was wide open, inches from devouring Chibi-Usa. Even Juno couldn't move quickly enough to save her precious Guardian.
Stop it.
"No one tells me what to do," VesVes shouted to make her independence real. Her own voice wasn't enough to overcome the voice. She found herself gripping the top of the tiger's mouth and wrenching the tiger backward, away from Chibi-Usa, even though its breath was puffing on Chibi-Usa's neck. So close to tearing off Chibi-Usa's head and rewarding Nehellenia with reign over the Moon Kingdom.
The tiger screeched. JunJun—Juno, as she liked to be called now—flew beside VesVes, gripped the tiger's back and helped wrangle it backward until the three ended up yards away from the panting, red-faced Chibi-Usa, the Guardian clutching her heart.
Chibi-Usa let out a sigh of relief.
"You bitch, you tricked me." VesVes raised her whip to strike the tiger into going after Chibi-Usa.
Her hand froze. Don't do it.
"Why?" She glowered at Juno. "You brainwashed me into protecting this little kid instead of obeying our queen."
"I may have put the doubt into your head about our true allegiance," Juno said, "but our instinct, our knowing deep inside, brought it to fruition." She smiled. "I'm glad that you're finally realizing."
"Realizing what?"
"You can't stay ignorant for much longer, Vesta."
"Ves…ta?"
Your name. Your true one.
VesVes knew. She gripped her head. "My name isn't Vesta. It's VesVes, what the queen named us." Trying to convince herself of the lie.
"That's not true."
She's right.
"Remember, Vesta."
To put the nonsense to rest, VesVes closed her eyes to remember her queen's rescuing she and her sisters from a life of survival.
Instead, she remembered the Moon Kingdom.
Playing with Diana, Artemis, and Luna in their cat forms because they were the closest that Vesta had to beasts. Instead of whipping them, she rolled outside with them, somehow convincing the always clean cats that they enjoyed rolling in dirt. Helped the cats hunt for imaginary mice outside, lying in wait and then pouncing. Found herself spending most time with Diana, Luna and Artemis' daughter. Since Diana was a child, she was playful enough to indulge in Vesta's games more often than Luna and Artemis.
Vesta played with the other beasts in the Moon Kingdom—water bears, chimpanzees, yaks—
but never dared to raise her whip against them. Her whip's purpose was to defend Sailor Chibi-Moon and the Moon Kingdom. Nehellenia had somehow implanted the idea that beasts existed only to be tamed by lashes across the back instead of befriended.
Vesta remembered wrapping hooligans into submission when they tried to jump Chibi-Moon. She'd fought some of Chibi-Moon's bullies, even though Chibi-Moon had implored Vesta to not become involved in her school life, her one shred of independence. Vesta was too hotheaded. Rebellious, doing what she thought was best for Chibi-Moon.
When Vesta tailed Chibi-Moon to protect the princess, three others were always with her.
Her sisters.
They were one, united by the common purpose of protecting the heir of the Moon Kingdom, not doing Nehellenia's bidding.
They were charged with contributing to the Moon Kingdom's protection of citizens who couldn't protect themselves. With filling the world with joy and dreams, not nightmares and despair.
Vesta opened her eyes.
She wore the same clothes that she had been when Nehellenia corrupted she and her sisters, but she was different. No longer captive to Nehellenia's destructive whims, but under Chibi-Moon's charge.
In front of her, Chibi-Moon floated, wide-eyed. Vesta still rode the tiger. Still looked the same to the princess and Juno.
Vesta looked back at Juno. "Thank you, Juno."
Juno's smile broadened.
"Princess, don't worry." She bowed. If she wasn't riding the tiger, she'd bow on one knee. "I am Vesta, here to protect you."
Chibi-Moon's eyes lit up, and Vesta warmed. Vesta's second responsibility was to make sure that her princess was happy.
Vesta turned toward Hotaru. "You said we have to free her?"
"That's right. I don't have my Kaleidoscope, so I'll need help from both of you. Plus, once we free Hotaru, then the robot might not be able to control itself anymore." Her frown deepened. "Then again, Robo-Patrick operated without anyone controlling it from the inside."
"Only one way to find out." Even though Vesta had awakened slightly, she was still passionate, impulsive, reactionary. Instead of whipping the beast she sat upon, she pointed to Hotaru. "Go."
The tiger dashed toward Hotaru. With his fangs, he tore at one of Hotaru's cords, ripping her right arm free. Hotaru dropped, her arm hanging at her side. She jolted, but her eyes remained blank. Was she returning to her senses?
Vesta grinned. Ripping things off was fun.
Vesta pointed to another cord, and the tiger tapped the metal floor but for a moment before bounding back up, tearing out the cord binding Hotaru's right arm. Hotaru swung to the left. Vesta didn't need to whip animals to obedience but needed only their respect.
Vesta pointed to the third cord, but Juno swung in front of her. Scowling, Vesta commanded the tiger to stop, and it reared backward, inches from crunching a hole in Juno's face.
"What're you doing?" Vesta said. "I'm on your side now."
"I know you are, but you're still being reckless."
"Just because I'm a Guardian doesn't mean my whole personality's changed."
Juno ran a hand through her hair. "For the worst, it seems."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means, don't be an idiot. You rip another one of those cords off, and Hotaru'll fall. Maybe deeper into the robot, lost forever. We can't have that."
Vesta growled. "Becoming a Guardian's made you worse than CereCere."
Juno smirked, opened her mouth to retort, but her pupils contracted, and she looked over Vesta's shoulder. Vesta looked. Robots descended on a defenseless Chibi-Moon.
"Damn." Vesta swiveled the tiger toward Chibi-Moon. "Idiots," she called herself and Juno. They could use some practice at being Guardians. Rule number one: Don't take your eyes off your charge.
"Wastes of time." Juno flew toward the robots, Chibi-Moon flying backward, dodging the robots' lightning bolts, slapping hands, tartar sauce. "Vesta, work on freeing Hotaru. I'll take care of the robots."
"I thought you said—"
"Now you listen? Never mind what I said." Juno smashed a fist through a Monsoon and then swiveled, kicking and slicing a G-Love in half, as though her leg was a sword.
The tiger ripped off the third cord, slid under Hotaru so that she landed on his fur instead of metal. Hotaru's eyes flickered back to life. She yelped. The tiger ripped off the final cord, and Hotaru dropped onto the tiger. She pushed herself upright, eyes darting about.
Outside, the world stopped moving since the robot had stopped, thanks to Hotaru's freeing. Before, it had swung about as Hotaru was freed from the cords one by one.
Hotaru's eyes landed on Vesta. White-knuckling her Silence Glaive, she swung toward Vesta. The new Guardian caught the weapon.
"I'm with you now." Vesta winked. "I'm Sailor Vesta. Here to protect our Small Lady."
Hotaru blinked. "Small Lady? You shouldn't know what Chibi-Usa's other nickname is."
"Right, Usagi's her real name, but everyone calls her Chibi-Usa." Vesta shrugged. "It's kinda haughty to name your own daughter after you, but hey, if I had a daughter, I'd probably do the same thing. Besides, it makes sense that I know what Usagi's nicknames are. I've spent so much time with her in the Moon Kingdom."
"So, you…" Hotaru glared. "This could be a trick. You're with the robots now. You came to keep me trapped in here. Just like my father. Silence Glaive Surpri—"
"Hotaru-chan, no," Chibi-Moon said from behind Juno, the tightrope walker striking robots away from Chibi-Moon.
Vesta pointed the Glaive upward, and the black beam struck the robot's transparent eyes. Wind rushed through, refreshing from the staleness of the robot's inside. A force like a suction cup pulled Vesta, Hotaru, the tiger, the robots, everyone toward the opening, like someone had opened a drain on a bathtub. Robots, the tiger, the Guardians poured out of the opening, slamming onto the stone ground. Robo-Hotaru was frozen in mid-swing, Glaive outstretched. Sailors Moon, Pluto, and Jupiter and Tuxedo Mask floated around the giant robot, electricity crackling.
Leaping upright, Vesta faced the robot, letting her tiger rest. "I'll finish you off."
Sailor Saturn stepped past Vesta. "Not you. I will." No longer concerned with Vesta's and Juno's change of allegiance but focused solely on the robot version of herself. She aimed her Glaive. "Death Reborn Revolution."
The softness of her voice betrayed the power of her attack.
Ribbons erupted from all directions, seemingly from nowhere. They ripped at Robo-Hotaru, the robot slashing its Glaive, knocking several ribbons back, but others tearing it asunder. Eyeless, it whipped about randomly. Bursting from the ground, black beams pierced Robo-Hotaru. The robot screamed, its scream cloyingly human.
In one of its final breaths, it yelled, "Death Reborn Revolution."
More ribbons burst, slicing Vesta's arms. Why did Nehellenia give them skimpy clothing?
Chibi-Moon hollered. Vesta rushed to her charge's side, where Tuxedo Mask held his daughter, shielding her from the ribbons. The fight on the other side had stopped, the other Guardians—Sailors Mercury, Mars, Venus, Neptune, Uranus—and Sandy shielding themselves. Patrick and SpongeBob hugging each other, shielding themselves. Patrick tumbled onto his back, and his shorts flew off his bottom, leaving him naked. Patrick reached for his shorts, howling, "No." The ribbons shredded the shorts into pieces, the remnants whirling in the tornado.
More electricity crackled around the robot. The stone ground lifted and then broke, energy exploding from the ground, Vesta barely dodging one blast. Tuxedo Mask flew his daughter and Usagi into a corner.
"Stop it." Nehellenia sounded like she was on another planet.
Piling on more attacks would make the situation worse.
"Get away." Vesta ran from the robot. The Guardians, the tiger, the robots, the sea creatures scattered. Couldn't see what happened to Nehellenia. Light shone from the piercings in Robo-Hotaru, and the robot writhed. Heat pulsed from it, making the area feel like a furnace, melting the skulls decorating the walls.
Hotaru remained, planted, eyes narrow, ribbons slashing her, blood pouring from her arms and legs. Yet she didn't move. Didn't flinch, but remained focused on destroying the robot.
Seizing, Robo-Hotaru tried to catch the ribbons and the energy in its hands, only for the ribbons and energy to slice it more. The robot's scream became more high-pitched, and its Glaive exploded. Then its hands, its feet. Its brooch. The remnants of its obsidian eyes. Smoke hazed the area.
The robot's scream stopped, and another explosion, the largest, boomed, shaking the dimension's core.
Panting, Hotaru lowered her Glaive.
It was done.
The ribbons and energy disappeared as quickly as they had come, fading into nowhere.
"Hotaru-chan." Chibi-Usa hurried to Hotaru's side, Juno close behind. Vesta joined her.
Hotaru stared at the remnants of the robot, almost impassive. "No more, Father."
Chibi-Usa pulled her friend into an embrace. Hotaru hugged her back.
Nehellenia loomed in the distance, icy eyes piercing the darkness. "My home." She looked at the remains of the robot, the melted skulls, the broken ground. "You destroyed it." She smiled tightly. "No matter. I shall soon have the Moon Kingdom."
Chibi-Usa turned from her friend, facing Nehellenia. "Not if I can help it." Without her weapon, she'd still fight.
Nehellenia dove toward Chibi-Usa, hands extended. "I'll claw you limb from limb myself."
A white Pegasus appeared in a swathe of light. He battered Nehellenia away, light splashing from her, and then landed before Chibi-Usa, Kaleidoscope in his mouth, wings majestic, lighting Nehellenia's world.
Chibi-Usa covered her mouth. "You, you came."
Helios faced Chibi-Usa. "I always keep my promises, my maiden."