Chapter Six: Glory
Usagi, Ami, and SpongeBob were encased in frozen blocks on top of a frozen lake in a cave.
Not the best way to go out.
Not that Usagi thought they were going out.
How long would it take for the blocks to melt? Ami would know those sorts of things. But in Bikini Bottom, the only thing that was for certain was that nothing was for certain.
The Ham-mers slid onto the ice. Using their heads of ham, they shoved the blocks of ice, smacking Usagi, Ami, and SpongeBob into one another like bumper cars, stars dancing in Usagi's vision.
Usagi bounced off the wall and careened into one of the robots, knocking it off its wheeled foot and onto the ice. The ice shattered, dumping everyone into the water. Electricity crackled around the robots, spread throughout the lake. The robots burst, their remnants floating.
The ice surrounding Usagi, Ami, and SpongeBob began to melt. The electricity mounted around Usagi. Felt like fire blazing all over.
Usagi, Ami, and SpongeBob screamed, the pain worsening as the ice continued to melt. They had to get out of this lake.
Ami was the strongest swimmer; she could take care of herself. SpongeBob couldn't swim, so Usagi mustered her dwindling energy, pushed it upward, and flew, electricity surrounding her. She dove to a flailing SpongeBob, the last of his ice melting. She hooked her arms under his own arms and lifted him from the goo. Electricity spread to her, and electricity from her own body spread to him. Ignoring the jaw-rattling pain, Usagi flew to the ground, placing SpongeBob on it. At the same time, Ami pulled herself onto the surface, water dripping off of her. Usagi hadn't seen Ami swim, but there she was.
Ami jetted out water from her hand, slamming the water into a D1000 on a platform above them. The D1000 exploded.
They were safe. The fight hadn't been long and arduous like the last few.
They lay on the ground, let the electricity surrounding them die. Usagi closed her eyes, pretended that she had fallen asleep. Visualized herself and Mamoru in their own house, Chibi-Usa sleeping in her bedroom.
She hoped the rest of her friends were having an easier time than she, Ami, and SpongeBob were.
She opened her eyes. A light shone a few yards from them.
They had reached the end of the cave.
Usagi took a breath, pushed herself onto her feet. "Out there…is Spork Mountain right outside?" She was getting sick of these fields. Running through Jellyfish Fields was the most she had exerted herself physically since she'd first become Sailor Moon.
SpongeBob tilted backward and then catapulted onto his feet. "Nope. According to the map in the Jellyspotters' manual, we have to get through Jellyfish Lake. Then we'll reach Spork Mountain. But the lake isn't that long."
Ami stepped beside them. "We're in the home stretch, then." She was plastered with sweat, her breath steaming on her helmet. Her hair was tousled, her face red. The deep sea dive suits didn't make running, jumping, and fighting easier.
SpongeBob wasn't sweating, but he was panting, too. His face didn't change color like humans' did when he was exhausted, but he was likely as tired.
Usagi must look worse than Ami. Her fellow Guardian swam to keep herself in shape, while Usagi's idea of keeping in shape was getting up every few hours to walk to the bathroom.
Hopefully, King Jellyfish would see how tired she and her friends were and have mercy upon them, giving them the jelly without a hassle.
The three climbed the last three surfaces, emerging into the sunlight, Usagi squinting from spending time in the dark.
Jellyfish Lake was more open than Jellyfish Rock. Green fields surrounded the three, lakes dotting the area. A waterfall cascading in the distance added to the lake's ambience of serenity. It was more beautiful than the fields, despite the robots wheeling around.
In the distance stretched a mountain. Looked like they would have to do a lot more climbing before they reached it. Usagi's legs were already throbbing from the thought of more climbing.
A more immediate matter was the red crab standing before them, clad in a collared shirt and pants and standing on two peglike legs.
"Ahoy there, SpongeBob and…" The crab looked at Usagi and Ami. "…human friends." He drew the last word out. His voice became low. "The ones behind the hooks."
Ami cocked her head. "Hooks? Sir?" The crab did seem like a sir.
The crab stared at them.
"What's wrong, Mr. Krabs?" SpongeBob turned to Usagi and Ami. "He's my boss at the Krusty Krab, by the way, where I work as a fry cook." He gestured toward Usagi and Ami. "Mr. Krabs, these are…"
Mr. Krabs backed away.
"Do you mean fishing hooks, Mr. Krabs?" Usagi said. Because if that was true, then Mr. Krabs was somewhat right. Neither Usagi nor Ami fished, but they did eat a lot of fish since they lived on an island.
"Yes," Mr. Krabs said, drawing out the "s" so that he hissed like a snake.
Usagi raised her hands. "Don't worry. We don't fish."
He narrowed his long eyes. "But do ya eat fish?" He had a pirate's accent, making him sound sinister.
There was no good answer to his question. If they said no, Mr. Krabs wouldn't believe them, and if they said yes, then…
Ami nodded. "We do, Mr. Krabs."
Mr. Krabs stared at them. They stared at Mr. Krabs. SpongeBob looked between them.
"I've got my eyes"—his eyes blew up like balloons and then deflated— "on you two."
"Okay." What an awkward thing to say. Usagi smiled as broadly as she could without seeming like she had forced the smile, which she had. "I'm Usagi, by the way." She bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." She meant that. Meeting these unique fish was a pleasant experience.
"I'm Ami." She bowed. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Krabs."
Mr. Krabs hardened his expression. Trying to intimidate them by staying silent?
"We're here to help with the robot problem." Usagi decided against telling him the whole story. Didn't want to give him more reason to distrust them.
"I'm sure." His voice bled sarcasm. Must think that Usagi and Ami were behind the robots coming.
Mr. Krabs' nose twitched. "I smell…" He sniffed, the inhaling noise audible. "I smell Shiny Objects." His eyes darted to SpongeBob. "SpongeBob, did you pick up some Shiny Objects on your way here?" Just like that, he forgot about the suspicious humans. And he could smell Shiny Objects? Usagi hadn't smelled them at all.
"Yup. We used them to pay a clam so could cross a bridge earlier, and then I kept grabbing a few around the fields. And when we defeat robots, they drop Shiny Objects."
Mr. Krabs began salivating. His accent might not be for show. "How about we set up a trade?" His pupils dilated. "For every 1,000 Shiny Objects you give to me—with the price having the freedom to increase as I see fit—I'll give you a Golden Spatula."
SpongeBob's eyes lit up. "That sounds like a great deal, Mr. Krabs. Let's do it."
Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob shook hands. "The Krusty Krab's been losin' money because of these blasted robots, and no more money means no more Krusty Krab. No more Krusty Krab, no more fry cookin' for you."
SpongeBob squared his shoulders. "Then I'll find as many Shiny Objects as I can."
Mr. Krabs was taking a bit of an advantage with SpongeBob, but Usagi kept quiet. Mr. Krabs was SpongeBob's boss, and she didn't want the sponge to lose his job because of her.
"I've been having another issue with gettin' me money—I mean customers—to come to the Krusty Krab. Squidward—poor man looks like his nose to about to explode—anyhow, he tells me you've been lookin' for the King Jellyfish. That King Jellyfish has been zapping my customers in their poop decks, keepin' `em in the hospital, away from the Krusty Krab, where they could be givin' me money. King Jellyfish is on Spork Mountain, right there." He pointed to the mountain. A red curtain was drawn atop the mountain, perhaps blocking King Jellyfish from view.
Was Mr. Krabs so greedy that he was more concerned about money than his money's—customers'—health and well-being?
"Go hook that beast, sailor—zzz," Mr. Krabs said, adding the "s" when glancing at Usagi and Ami. A sign that he was starting to trust them?
Usagi and Ami started away. Mr. Krabs pulled SpongeBob aside, whispered in one of the sponge's holes, "Be careful of them, SpongeBob."
"But they're fine, Mr. Krabs," SpongeBob said. "Besides, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are humans, and they're trustworthy."
Mr. Krabs waved his hands downward. "Quiet, lad, quiet. Remember the hooks?" He thought he was being quiet, but thanks to Sailor Moon's heightened senses, she could hear him.
"Yes, sir, but they've come this far with me. I don't think they're trying to trick me."
Mr. Krabs sighed deeply.
SpongeBob seemed naïve, but Usagi and the rest of her friends weren't deceiving him. They wanted to save Bikini Bottom as much as SpongeBob did. First of all, the robots could destroy the ocean if allowed to roam free. Second of all, SpongeBob was too cute to trick, with his big blue eyes and little buck teeth.
Mr. Krabs gripped SpongeBob's shoulders. "Be careful, SpongeBob. That's all I'm saying."
"Of course I'll be careful, sir."
SpongeBob rejoined Usagi and Ami, smiling. Usagi and Ami returned his smile.
"We're here to help you, SpongeBob," Ami said. "Remember that."
"I will. I trusted you from the beginning." Not a good thing, since Usagi and her friends could've been as destructive as the robots. Maybe SpongeBob could be more doubtful of others, but his faith was part of his charm and innocence that Usagi didn't want to take away from him, like it had been taken away from her. Life had become grimmer since she'd become a Guardian. Allies became enemies, enemies became allies. Everything was twisted, and if there was one more person who believed in others to the extent that SpongeBob did, she would protect that person.
A few feet away from them stood another new robot.
This robot was as tall as the Ham-mers, but the only thing that made it as tall was the container of tartar sauce on its back, the container complete with a label that read, "Tar-tar Sauce." The robot itself was as tall as a Fodder. Hopefully, it was as easy to defeat as a Fodder, too.
In front of the Tar-tar Sauce stood three boards, one with a painting of a sponge on it, another with a painting of a starfish, and the third depicting a squirrel.
The robots were hot on SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, and the Guardians' trails.
The Tar-tar Sauce held a funnel that resembled a vacuum cleaner's tube. It aimed its funnel-vacuum at the boards and shot steaming tartar sauce. The tartar sauce splattered on each of the boards, the board decorated with a sponge falling to the ground, steam rising. The sauce splattered the board with the starfish drawing, making it spin in place. The board with the squirrel drawing was flung away. Where it had gone, Usagi didn't see.
SpongeBob chomped on his nails like a chipmunk chomped on wood, nails flying in all directions, hitting Usagi's suit. Another of the few times she was thankful to be wearing it.
The spinning board slowed and then fell. The robot blew its funnel like a cowboy out of the wild, wild west.
Ami jetted out Shine Aqua Illusion. The robot swiveled to face them and then launched tartar sauce from its funnel, the sauce clashing against the jetstream and pushing the water into Ami's chest. She flew backward and crashed on the ground, sliding, leaving a shallow trench. Steam rose from her suit, part of which the tartar sauce had burned, leaving a scorch mark. Any more burning, and a hole would be left in the suit. The pressure would crush Ami, and she wouldn't be able to breathe.
SpongeBob stepped forward. "I'll defeat it. You two stay back. You can take care of Ami, Usagi."
"All right." SpongeBob was right. A hole could be burned through him, too, but he could move faster than Usagi and Ami could in their suits, and he wasn't at risk for not being able to breathe or being crushed from pressure.
Usagi hurried to Ami's side, Ami cringing.
"Are you all right?" Usagi said.
"Yes." Ami rubbed a hand over the scorch mark. "It didn't burn me, but it did burn my suit a little. It was more the shock and the falling that jarred me. The suit does a good job protecting against physical attacks."
"Yeah." She glanced at Mr. Krabs. Despite his employee diving into battle, the crab watched Usagi and Ami. Was he afraid that they would team up with the robot and hurt SpongeBob?
The robot jumped away from SpongeBob and shot its tartar sauce thrice. Some of the tartar sauce splattered onto the ground, steaming, shrunk some inches, revealing the burnt ground underneath. SpongeBob gasped.
"How dare you destroy Jellyfish Fields?" He reached the robot, swung his wand into the robot's torso. The robot was forced back a little ways, but it wasn't destroyed. SpongeBob rushed to the robot once more, the robot raising its funnel in a blur and then shooting out tartar sauce. SpongeBob yelped, leaped back, steam rising from him. The sponge may not be able to feel physical attacks, but hot tartar sauce burned.
SpongeBob rebounded, dashing to the robot. He swung his bubble wand. The robot jumped over the wand and then bashed SpongeBob's head, smashing him into the ground like a potato, except his forehead and nose stuck out. Usagi would've laughed, SpongeBob looked so funny in the ground, but the situation was serious, and she didn't want to make Mr. Krabs more suspicious.
Usagi rushed before SpongeBob. Aiming her Moon Kaleidoscope at the robot, she yelled, "Rainbow Moon Heartache." Light filled the area, apparently blinding the robot since it stood still, whipped its head around, didn't move. A beam of hearts emerged from her weapon, slamming into the robot. Cracks fissured in the robot and the jar of tartar sauce on its back. Tartar sauce shot out of the cracks. Usagi pulled SpongeBob out of the ground by the forehead, hurrying away from the tartar sauce burning patches in the ground. The robot hollered, it and the jar of tartar sauce breaking into pieces, tartar sauce pooling on the ground. The light faded.
Usagi let out a breath, let SpongeBob on the ground.
"You saved me," SpongeBob said, face alight. "See, Mr. Krabs? I told you Usagi and Ami are here to help us."
"They could be plannin' somethin'. You know firsthand how crafty those humans can be. Remember the hooks."
"I don't know." He grinned at Usagi and Ami. "They've been friendly so far." He deepened his voice into a hero's voice once more. "Let's keep going. We still have much ground to cover." He bounded forward.
Usagi took a chance and gave Mr. Krabs a smile. Mr. Krabs narrowed his eyes so much so that he almost closed them. Ami shrugged.
The humans followed SpongeBob through the fields, defeating robots, jumping over small gaps, avoiding goo. Even though Usagi could swim, after the two life-threatening incidents that they had earlier involving goo, if Usagi didn't see goo again, it would be too soon.
Usagi's mind kept returning to Mr. Krabs. He seemed like he was a lot older and more experienced than many of the fish here, maybe older than Usagi and her friends were in human years. Perhaps that was why the crab was suspicious of humans. Did Mr. Krabs have a bad experience with humans before? Maybe Usagi would ask Mr. Krabs about it, if he was willing to tell her at all. Or SpongeBob, Patrick, or Sandy could ask for her. A lot of older people above ground were stuck in their ways, too, mostly when it came to foreigners in Japan. Usagi did look at foreigners a little longer than necessary, especially the handsome men, but she didn't distrust them like the older people did.
Now she knew what it was like to feel like a foreigner.
She had never ventured outside of Japan before, not counting her times on the moon or paying a visit to her enemies. She was interacting with all sorts of creatures here. Their suspiciousness of humans wasn't overt, and they didn't seem to distrust humans much. The fish treated humans like other fish. If only the Japanese did the same.
For now, though, Usagi focused on what was ahead. And what was ahead was a pufferfish—Rei's favorite food.
Usagi pushed the thought out of her mind. Fish were living creatures.
The pufferfish stood before a bridge leading to a small island. Orange containers that looked like water fountains poured goo from their faucets into the lake, but the lake didn't rise. Must be a reservoir where the water was being drained as quickly as it was being poured in. Did the fish get their water supply from here?
The pufferfish groaned at SpongeBob.
SpongeBob waved anyhow. "Mrs. Puff." He rushed to Mrs. Puff, an apropos name, and stood two inches away. Mrs. Puff took a step back. SpongeBob took a step forward. Mrs. Puff took another step back. SpongeBob took another step forward.
"SpongeBob, didn't Squidward have a talk with you about personal space?" Mrs. Puff said.
"Yes. What about it?"
"Do I need to have a talk with you about personal space, too?"
"I don't think so."
"Oh, I believe I do, Mr. SquarePants." Her eyes shot to Usagi and Ami, and her eyes bulged. She backed away, shaking and glaring. "Humans."
Not again.
SpongeBob glanced back at Usagi and Ami, an apology in his eyes. "It's okay, Mrs. Puff. I just got finished explaining to Mr. Krabs, they're not evil."
"I saw them in Downtown Bikini Bottom, too, and came here so I wouldn't have to see those pufferfish lamp-loving pieces of—" She slapped a fin over her mouth. "Excuse me."
SpongeBob gasped, clasping his hands over his mouth. "Did you almost say a naughty word? Not a good example from a teacher."
That wasn't important. Hopefully, Mamoru, Rei, and Chibi-Usa hadn't gotten a hard time from Mrs. Puff. "Whatever humans did to you, we're sorry." Usagi bowed her head. "We weren't directly responsible for it, we can assure you"—unless she meant that they had eaten pufferfish, which they had done plenty of times and would not be mentioned in front of any fish— "and that we mean you no harm at all. We're here to help with the robot issue." Talking through the same points as she did with Mr. Krabs was exhausting.
Mrs. Puff turned up her nose, waved them away. "Go ahead and 'help' SpongeBob, but Mr. SquarePants is stronger than he looks."
"Wow, thank you, Mrs. Puff."
Usagi curled her lips inward. Must not tell SpongeBob that Mrs. Puff wasn't complimenting him.
"Although I do warn you, SpongeBob, to be careful. Humans are cunning. They'll do anything they want to fishkind."
"But Mrs. Puff—"
"It's all right, SpongeBob," Ami said. "We should keep going."
SpongeBob took a step away, then another, until he caught up with Usagi and Ami. The three continued through the fields, SpongeBob slouching.
Usagi placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault. It's not anybody's fault."
SpongeBob stared at the ground. Usagi sunk.
The three jumped down surfaces, climbed surfaces, defeated robots and more robots, jumped down, jumped up, jumped over gaps, over rivers, kept climbing. They traversed through a valley, parts of the river intersecting it. The roars of multiple small waterfalls filled the valley, made it tranquil despite being filled with robots. Their run seemed to go on for an eternity, although it must've been a few minutes at the most.
Once they ran through the valley—at the last minute, Usagi realized that it wasn't a valley but the base of Spork Mountain—they emerged in a bright expanse overlooking Jellyfish Fields. Ami's breath caught.
Usagi had never flown before becoming a Guardian, but Rei had flown on a plane to see her father, who was a politician, and she said that everything looked to be a quarter of its size. When Usagi flew as Sailor Moon, everything looked miniature. But standing here was a sight of its own.
Rivers crisscrossed the fields. A rock was erect at the beginning of the area, where Usagi, Ami, and SpongeBob had entered. Even Squidward's head and nose were visible. A few robots milled about; they might have come from the residential area.
Hard to believe that they had come so far.
All the trepidation Usagi had first felt… Going through Jellyfish Fields with SpongeBob made things easier. She was glad he was with them, not only for his expertise, but also because he had stayed optimistic through everything.
At first, Usagi didn't think she could climb this far, but she was stronger than she thought.
Usagi let herself relax. "I could stare at this view all day."
"Me, too," Ami said, not taking her eyes from down below.
"Me, three." SpongeBob sat, sprawled himself out. "I've never been this high before."
Usagi and Ami sat, too, Usagi drawing up her knees and resting her forearms on them. Ami sat, her back straight, on her knees like she was sitting on a cushion, proper as always.
The sun was setting, the sky becoming more overcast with the flowers that served as Bikini Bottom's clouds.
"We're right here," SpongeBob said. "I mean, about to meet K-K-King J-J-Jellyfish." He shook as he spoke the king's name. "I can hardly believe it. I've met him only once before." He eyed the sky. "I wonder if he'll remember me."
"It'll make things a little easier for us if that's the case, especially if he remembers you giving him pie." Ami stood, brushed her suit of dirt. "The sun's setting. I think we should keep going. Things might get a little harder for us if we wait until after dark to approach King Jellyfish."
Usagi and SpongeBob stood. Usagi could hardly believe that they had gone through the entirety of Jellyfish Fields with the cannon, the robots, the goo, the mini-volcanos in only a day. Not even the full day, either. They had run through part of Bikini Bottom, too, and defeated robots.
Now it was time.
The beauty before them was like the calm before the storm.
She took one final gaze into the fields, its quietness. She turned toward the slope leading to the mountain.
Where the king awaited them.