Chapter Twenty-four: The Theater of War
VesVes had had no idea that she could dream until she had gotten smashed by that blinding, rainbow, glass shard-filled light.
Perhaps she had dreamed because that light had sliced her so badly that the only way she could cope was by retreating into her head, fantasizing about taming every beast of the land and sea and taking over the world, becoming the one to command her sisters instead of the cautious CereCere.
But after her first dream, VesVes dreamed about protecting and working alongside the beasts instead of commanding them. Strange. VesVes didn't want to protect anyone but her sisters, the Amazon Trio, and Queen Nehellenia.
Lo and behold, a sliver of good and selflessness was stashed in VesVes. Maybe.
Did the anthropomorphic fish, including Plankton, qualify as beasts? If so, then VesVes could bend their will so that they desired only to fulfill VesVes' commands.
Her eyes fluttered open. Two fish crouched behind a bush—hiding? Even though they seemed to be more like humans than beasts, VesVes could tame them. They spoke in plain, understandable language.
"Last night," one was saying, "I dreamed about these robots. And I dreamed that I ate one. It tasted like metal."
"I'm surprised it didn't taste like chicken," the other said.
VesVes smirked. So these fish dreamed, too. In addition to transforming the Guardians' dreams into nightmares, Dead Moon could expand its reign to encompass the ocean. With the power from the nightmares of the land and ocean, Dead Moon would be unstoppable.
VesVes jumped onto her feet. Time to tame these fish. It didn't seem like Sailors Moon and Chibi-Moon's combined attack had drained much energy.
She wobbled and fell to her knee. Damn Sailors Moon and Chibi-Moon's light shows being more powerful than they should be. A rainbow being painful? Really?
VesVes would still try to tame the fish. She reached for her whip at her hip.
CereCere grabbed VesVes' wrist, stopping her.
"The hell you doing?" VesVes hissed.
"Stopping you from doing something stupid," CereCere said. "You're the second-to-last one to wake up, behind that puny green wiener, and we need to regroup before we do anything."
VesVes looked around for the first time since coming to wherever they were. Sand stretched for miles on end, and the sky was a cerulean field teeming with flower-like clouds. Although the clouds were plentiful, the sun shone, making the flowers look as though they were blossoming and soaking up the sunrays.
Something about the sky seemed familiar to VesVes. Must be reminding her of her time on land. Not that she missed the surface. She had been underwater for too short a time. In their brief time in the treedome, some of the first living beings they had seen were the too alive Guardians.
Those Guardians should've been dead. Every single one of them should've been dead.
But they lived.
Why?
VesVes didn't study or read or waste her time filling her head with useless knowledge, but even she knew that the pressure from the ocean floor and the lack of oxygen should kill them.
Hell, why were her sisters, Hawk's Eye, and Tiger's Eye alive? Sure, they weren't quite human, but their survival didn't make sense.
PallaPalla balanced headfirst on a nearby boulder. "I wish this boulder could roll." As carefree as ever.
JunJun frowned. Either wishing she had a trapeze to swing on or a branch to jump on or scoping out this world. It wasn't like the land, where there was plenty to play with. Compared to the surface, with the forests and the trapezes and the variety of beasts, the underwater world seemed bare. There weren't many fish or other living things around, either, with those two fish the sole souls who VesVes had seen since arriving, other than the two Guardian-aligned fish, the squirrel (what in the hell?), and Plankton.
Plankton lay on his back, eye open but blank. Looked near-death, but he rose and fell steadily, gurgled and coughed occasionally. How had that little thing survived through the train of light? Were these beasts made of titanium?
VesVes snatched her wrist away from CereCere and then crossed her arms. "There, I'm not doing anything. Satisfied?"
"For now."
Fisheye's eyes were bright, looking to be the most fascinated and at home out of all of them. He'd originally been a fish, so he was accustomed to the underwater world. He might not want to return to the surface, but he was under the Amazoness Quartet's command, so if they ordered Fisheye to return to the land, then he had no choice but to go.
Tiger's Eye and Hawk's Eye looked the most uncomfortable, Hawk's Eye scrunching his face and muttering, "Dirty saltwater all over me." He shuddered. "Ick."
Tiger's Eye nodded. "This water does not agree with me. I'm a tiger—well, used to be a tiger. Tigers and water don't mix."
"Neither do hawks and water."
JunJun fisted her hips. "Quit complaining. We're here now, so we might as well make the most of it. Besides, we should be thankful that those Guardians' attacks didn't kill us."
"I think this environment is better for stealing others' dreams," CereCere said. "There's no way the Guardians are that powerful down here. The only reason they blasted us away is because we weren't expecting them."
VesVes snorted. "Didn't feel like they were any weaker to me."
"Anyhow, being underwater, they won't be able to move or breathe as well. If, and when, we run into them again, we'll definitely defeat them." She looked up, at the clear blue ocean with its flower-shaped clouds. VesVes looked up, too. No Guardians were above. They could wreck all the havoc they wanted on land, without consequence.
Since the Guardians overpowered the Amazoness Quartet and the Amazon Trio, maybe it'd be better if they returned to the surface, where the Guardians couldn't reach them.
CereCere reached into her pocket, pulling out the remains of her Amazon Stone. "Compliments of those Guardians." She opened her hand, the fragments raining back into her pocket. "It'll repair itself eventually. Until then, we can't use Opening Ball. So let's try flying back to Japan."
VesVes' eyebrows shot up. She rubbed her hands, a grin snaking onto her face. She'd command all the beasts, and they'd help her fill the world with nightmares.
"Wait." Plankton's eye rolled forward, filling with life. He jumped onto his feet, his eye focusing on the Quartet and Trio. "Please don't kill me. I just wanted an army of my own. Everybody else has an army but me. And I need an army to save Karen." He reached toward the Dead Moon Circus. "Therefore, I command you to stay." His voice shook, like he was nervous about asking the Dead Moon Circus to do anything. As well he should be. He was not their master, no matter how smart or inflated his ego.
She shrugged. "Too bad. We've already decided. Right, everyone?"
"You decided, not us." VesVes rolled her eyes. "Again. You always decide everything for us." She huffed.
"I'm the oldest and most mature. It's logical that I make all the decisions." She flipped her hair. "The older you get, the more mature you become."
JunJun coughed, pointed to PallaPalla, the second oldest sister balancing on the balls of her feet, counting the petals on a flower above, saying, "He loves me, he loves me not."
"W-well, there are always exceptions." CereCere leaned close to VesVes, the beast tamer not backing down but scowling. "If you think telling everyone what to do is so easy, then you try it sometime."
"Your breath stinks," VesVes shot back.
CereCere raised her eyebrow. "That's your best comeback?"
"I mean, yeah, I'll boss everyone around, no problem. Just give me a chance."
CereCere regarded VesVes. "Unlike me, you're far from logical. You're too impulsive with little fighting skill to back it up, as you showed against the Guardians. You'd burn everything down if you led. How about never?"
A vein popped out from VesVes' forehead. "You arrogant bitch," she ground out. Her words came out in a tidal wave. "You fought just as bad as I did. What the hell were you doing? Letting your mouth hang open like an idiot and yelling at us instead of doing a freaking thing. You fu—"
"All you're doing is proving how immature you are."
VesVes seethed. Oh, how she wanted to claw her loving, sweet, mature sister to shreds.
"Anyway, who wants to test going up first?"
"I'll do it," Hawk's Eye said. "I was created from a hawk, so it follows that I would be able to fly, yes?" He jumped, flapping his hands like a child who pretended to fly. He landed. Jumped once more, flapping his hands, sweat breaking out on his forehead. Should VesVes say something to end his embarrassment or let him keep trying to fly for her own entertainment?
Chuckles from JunJun and CereCere, PallaPalla gaping, Plankton shaking from fear.
"I don't think you can fly like that," Tiger's Eye said.
"Quiet, you." Hawk's Eye looked between his hands. "That's right, I can turn back into a hawk." He morphed, his form shrinking, brown wings enveloping his arms feather by feather, fur covering his torso, his hair retracting into his head, a beak replacing his lips. He was a hawk once more.
He flew up in a corkscrew shape, relishing taking to the air. He crumpled into an invisible barrier and then plummeted onto the sand. He morphed back into a human, laying facedown.
The Dead Moon Circus and Plankton stared at the unmoving Hawk's Eye.
After a time, PallaPalla said, "Is he dead?"
"No, I'm not dead," Hawk's Eye said, voice muffled by the sand.
"Why was a barrier up there?" JunJun said.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for asking."
Zirconia's scratchy voice entered their heads. "This undersea world you have landed in will be a great opportunity for not only defeating the Guardians, but also stealing dreams and finding the Golden Crystal. I do not want you leaving until you search every inch for the Crystal and defeat the Guardians."
Zirconia, the annoying old hag, still bossing them around from wherever she was hiding instead of coming here like a man. Or at least the crippled old woman she was.
The fish behind the bush stared. Had been watching the whole time.
"What just happened?" one said.
VesVes reached toward her whip as slowly and inconspicuously as possible. She unhooked her whip and slapped it upon the sand, sand exploding in a plume. The two fish froze, the lights in their eyes dulling.
They were VesVes' fish to rule.
To the untrained tamer, the fish seemed like they had nothing to offer. But VesVes knew of their potential. Even a snail had potential as long as it had the right tamer.
A grin split VesVes' face, showing her fangs. Plankton took a step back, having been spared from being tamed since VesVes hadn't slapped her whip toward him.
Figuring out what she was going to do with these fish would be fun.
CereCere, the logical fun-sucker, said, "VesVes, let them go. There'll be plenty of other fish you can tame. Planning our next move is more important."
PallaPalla tumbled off the boulder and bounced upright. "Yay, planning."
"Tch." VesVes slapped her whip once more, and the light returned to the fish's eyes. They looked around, cocking their heads.
"I feel like I was in my happy place," one said.
Tamed beasts were willing to do anything VesVes demanded because of the ecstasy and safety being under her command provided them. She was protective of all her beasts. Having them under her command was like a contract. She would keep them safe and take them to their "happy place" in exchange for them obeying her every whim. A fair trade.
"Happy places," as these fish liked to call them, depended on the individual beast. Hawk's Eye's "happy place" might be the sky while Tiger's Eye's "happy place" might be the jungle.
"So, what should we be brainstorming about?" VesVes said.
"Isn't it obvious?" JunJun said. "Where we go next."
PallaPalla raised a hand. "PallaPalla says we go to the happy place first."
"We can go to the happy place later," CereCere said. "First, we have to get our bearings."
VesVes jabbed a finger at the cowering Plankton in front of Fisheye. "Hey, you."
Plankton jumped. "Yes, ma'am?"
"You're gonna be our guide. Show us where we're going." Didn't need her whip to tame Plankton.
Plankton peered up at them, lip quivering. "Okay. As long as you take me back to Karen."
Even with the position he was in, he was bold enough to ask for what he wanted. Impressive. VesVes didn't like her beasts to be spineless. Perhaps Plankton would be more useful than she thought.
CereCere softened her eyes. A rare display of compassion from her. Or a fake one. "Of course we will." Oftentimes, enemies had no problem lying to your face.
A smile lit Plankton. "Thanks. Well, what're we waiting for?" He straightened, confident once more. "Let's get going." He marched forward. Let him think he was the master for now. Everything would play out in due time.
Setsuna, Ami, Michiru, Rei, Makoto, Minako, and Sandy walked through Bikini Bottom, toward a beach called Goo Lagoon.
Setsuna didn't know what to think of Bikini Bottom, surely named because it was below the Bikini Atoll, a group of islands in the north Pacific Ocean.
When the nuclear testing had occurred during World War II, how had Bikini Bottom's citizens reacted? Perhaps Bikini Bottom was created out of the nuclear tests—the radiation had transformed ordinary fish into humanoid creatures.
Setsuna was letting her imagination rule her instead of logic. Perhaps the simplest explanation of Bikini Bottom was that it had always been beneath the Bikini Atoll, and the fish were regular fish to normal-sized humans but, because the group had shrunk, these fish seemed humanlike. Perhaps the fish here walked on two legs because they lived at the bottom of the ocean and, thus, had evolved over millions of years to grow legs and walk instead of swim. Perhaps these fish always spoke in an understandable language. Were the fish speaking Japanese, or had the language barrier been shattered when Usagi and the other Guardians had crashed here?
Some might say that Setsuna was overanalyzing Bikini Bottom, but overanalyzing things was part of her nature. She enjoyed thinking about the how and why behind things. Kept her occupied and focused and came in handy when fighting. Setsuna could break down and attack an opponent by his weaknesses.
She was having a hard time breaking down Bikini Bottom, though. How on earth had Ami wrapped her brain around this place?
Right now, it didn't seem like Ami was trying to wrap her brain around anything but Setsuna.
Ami had stayed near Setsuna since the Guardian of Space and Time arrived. Ami was trying to be secretive, but Setsuna caught the corner-eye gazes, the keen listening and hanging on to every word that Setsuna spoke, the attentiveness to Setsuna that Ami didn't give the other Guardians, even their leader, Minako.
Setsuna felt like Ami's leader, the object of her affection. She was glad that she was a role model. Ami and Setsuna had similar hobbies. They craved knowledge, understanding how and why things worked or didn't work.
Ami and Setsuna shared a thirst for understanding and appreciating Bikini Bottom.
As the seven walked, Setsuna stepped near Ami, who started, could barely look Setsuna in the eye. Ami didn't have trouble watching Setsuna when Setsuna wasn't directly addressing her.
"Ami," Setsuna said, "you've been down here longer than I have, so perhaps you understand more than I do. Actually, I'm confident that you do."
Ami darted her eyes, looking everywhere but at Setsuna. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't think so. I haven't been able to figure out why Bikini Bottom is…like this at all. There's no explanation. Things are the way they are, no rhyme or reason to it."
Setsuna tapped her chin. "Interesting. Are you sure there isn't any explanation?"
"As far as I know. I've scrutinized Bikini Bottom since I got here, and I haven't been able to figure anything out. Fish explode when they fall, boxes teleport things across wide distances, fish talk and we can understand them, fish can double-jump, bubbles are used as weapons, there's a talking bubble that SpongeBob created who offered to help me develop my own powers… Need I go on?"
"I believe I understand as much as I will for now." Since Ami had started talking, getting into her zone about things she was interested in, she'd become less nervous around Setsuna, not trying to impress her but trying to collaborate with her to grasp the intricacies of Bikini Bottom.
Ami's brow creased. "We met a human down here and, according to SpongeBob, there's another one, too."
Setsuna pursed her lips. "I see. What was he like?"
Ami blinked. Surprised that Setsuna was keeping calm? It was a scientist's job to stay calm no matter the situation. If the Outer Guardians shared any traits, it was that they never lost their calmness (except Michiru in rare, harmless circumstances, like when students fell asleep during her violin lessons). "He called himself Mermaid Man. I don't think that's his real name because he said he lived on land until he and his partner, Barnacle Boy, were infused with powers from mermaids during a drowning accident and gained the ability to survive underwater without a deep sea dive suit. They also have several other powers. I was able to see only one, which happened after Mermaid Man became…emphatic when he heard the word 'evil.' He destroyed robots with a ball made from water." She tapped her chin. "Then he rambled about not putting tapioca inside something called Wumbo and tapioca being the key to opening the ninth dimension. According to SpongeBob and Usagi-chan, the giant monkey man lives there."
Setsuna let a small smile lighten her. Even if Bikini Bottom made no sense, she couldn't deny that it was amusing. "I hope we never meet this giant monkey man."
Ami smiled, too. The other Guardians took themselves too seriously sometimes, and it was nice to see Ami smile. "We'd better stay far away from tapioca then."
"Here we are." Minako walked in front of the group, Sandy and Makoto at her sides but Minako slightly farther out than the two. Since she had received her upgrade, she seemed to be taking her leadership duties more seriously. "Goo Lagoon. Mako-chan, Sandy, and I couldn't clear the robots out of here for obvious reasons. Like Sandy being captured, which took priority."
Sandy waved her hand-like paw. "Aw, shucks, y'all are gonna make me blush."
Setsuna was glad that Minako and Makoto had saved Sandy, but what about the other fish in Goo Lagoon? What if they'd been taken to the lab because Makoto and Minako weren't able to destroy the robots?
"Clearing out" the robots wasn't truly clearing them out. More could always fill the area, cause chaos once more.
Setsuna didn't voice her thoughts. The Guardians of the Inner Deities sometimes complained that the Outer Guardians were too tough, negative, ruthless, and this was not the time to dredge up old wounds, even though the Sailor Team had grown closer since defeating the Death Busters and unraveling the Sailor Saturn misunderstanding.
In a place like Bikini Bottom, the Sailor Team had to work together more closely than ever, especially with the Dead Moon Circus roaming about.
Makoto scratched her head. "Mina-chan and I did try to keep going after Sandy was captured, but…it didn't quite work out."
"I lost my powers at the most inconvenient time," Minako said. "And then gained them after we defeated the Sandy robot. Thanks to Artemis, I'm back and better than ever." She stuck out her tongue. After being powerless for so long, of course Minako was basking in her newfound power. Setsuna had felt the same way after she had regained her powers and become more powerful to boot.
"Be careful that you don't overextend yourself," Setsuna said. "That goes to all of us. There are seven of us here, so we can pick up the slack for one another instead of one of us trying to bear everyone's burden."
"Sounds good to me," Makoto said.
"Yes, I agree," Ami said, a faint glow surrounding her, thanks to being underwater and the nearby powered-up Sailor Neptune. "There's a lot of running, jumping, and flying to be done, so we have to conserve our energy."
"It's tempting to unleash all my powers at once." Michiru hadn't stopped glowing since she had awakened. Being Super Sailor Neptune multiplied her power. "I'll stay in check, though."
"You said that you would be able to destroy the lab with one of your attacks earlier, Michiru-san," Rei said, "but don't be afraid to let the rest of us help by combining our powers. Mamoru-san, Chibi-Usa-chan, Patrick, and I combined our powers in Downtown Bikini Bottom to great success. And we didn't have to use much of our powers, either. Only a little was enough. When we tried to attack all-out individually, we didn't have the same type of success." Rei had also stayed near Michiru, showing that Michiru had an admirer, too. Even though their attacks were the polar opposite of each other, Rei thought that she could relate to Michiru.
Makoto had kept a close eye on Michiru, too. Michiru had two admirers. Three, counting Haruka.
Goo Lagoon stretched before them, resembling a beach on land. According to Sandy, the water that the "sea" in the lagoon consisted of was called goo. Sandy didn't quite understand what goo was made of. When she got a chance, Setsuna would take a sample of the goo and analyze it at her leisure.
The Lagoon was nearly abandoned. Setsuna had never seen an uncrowded beach. No robots wandered about, either. Had beachgoers left because of the robots?
"Even Larry ain't here," Sandy said. "Wonder where he went."
"Maybe he's keeping an eye on his place in Downtown Bikini Bottom," Rei said.
Minako stepped forward, toward an area where the sand seemed to be stuck in place, as though it had been moving like quicksand at one point. "Here's the scene of the crime." A pint-sized hole remained in the middle of the area, not big enough for a fish to fall in.
"I'm assuming that that's where the lab is," Setsuna said.
"Right," Makoto said. "We had quite an adventure down there."
Sandy shook her head. "Heck, I can't remember what happened. All's I remember is the robots knockin' me clean out." She beamed at Minako. "Next time I woke up, I was in Mina's arms."
Minako's expression melted a bit. "Yeah. Well."
What Minako had done was impressive, as the Guardians and Sandy had told the story. Minako had stayed silent through it all, but the gist of it was that Minako had defied a god, jumped inside a robot that could've exploded at any time, almost been killed by its defense mechanism, and saved Sandy, all without her powers. Makoto had said that Minako's defiance and determination had spurred the rest of the Guardians, even the conservative Mamoru, into action. A furious King Neptune hadn't punished them but rewarded them instead. What a mysterious god.
"He seems to have a soft spot for SpongeBob, too," Ami said. "Or else he wouldn't have summoned us to his Poseidome in the supposedly lost city of Atlantis."
Setsuna's eyebrows shot up. "Lost no more, apparently."
Unfortunately, Ami and the rest of the Guardians hadn't been able to explore Atlantis. King Neptune had whisked them back to Bikini Bottom.
"Is King Neptune related to Sailor Neptune?" Michiru said.
"I haven't heard anything about that," Setsuna said. "King Neptune shouldn't exist. Then again, neither should Atlantis. As far as I've read, they're both myths, like mermaids are supposed to be."
Michiru looked at the palms of her hands. "I wonder if a connection to King Neptune is another reason why the ocean is filling me with power."
Could be. It would be something to investigate if they discovered King Neptune. Perhaps the god would summon them if he found out that someone else could control the ocean.
"I'll do the honors." Minako ran to the hole, blasted it open with a heart. The sand cascaded down once more, sunrays slowing the sand. "Let's go."
"Together, Mina-chan." Makoto slid beside her friend.
"Of course. I wasn't going to leave you all behind."
"Or let us leave you behind on purpose."
"Of course, of course."
The Guardians jumped down, Makoto carrying Sandy. The area darkened.
"When we were down here before," Makoto said, "there was a noise that sounded like it was coming from a machine. I don't hear it anymore."
"Maybe they closed up shop," Minako said.
"It would make sense for them to move once you discovered their hideout." If Setsuna were a robot, she'd move.
"The robots don't have common sense, though. I'm hoping that they lacked common sense in this situation, too."
The seven flew through a cave, around fallen stalactites ("That's Mako-chan's fault," Minako had declared, Makoto saying, "Because those robots created a situation that deemed it necessary for the stalactites to be broken" and Rei had replied, "When did you start reading the dictionary, Mako-chan?") to an opening that led to more goo, like the beach above. They dove into the goo, Minako commenting how much better it felt to swim without her suit, down to an opening, where a steel wall blocked their way.
"That's why I'm here." Michiru's glow permeated the darkness. "I can feel the ocean rocking the core of my being."
"Whoa," Minako said. "When people start saying stuff like that, you know something big is about to happen."
Michiru smiled lopsidedly, something she never did. Being in the ocean must be changing her personality. "You all might want to step back."
The Guardians and Sandy did so, staying several yards behind her.
Sailor Neptune thrust out her hand. The cave began to shake, debris sleeting from the ceiling.
Sandy shielded her helmet with her arms. "B-be careful. You might make this whole cave fall down."
"I won't. I command the sea. Unless I will it, the cave won't collapse."
Roaring came from behind Setsuna. The combined goo and the sea rushed toward Sailor Neptune, toward the Guardians and Sandy. It reared upward, like a tsunami.
"None of you move," Michiru said, her power making her normally soft voice reverberate, strnoger. Setsuna stayed as still as possible, the other Guardians and Sandy crowding near one another. The wave swerved around them. "Deep Submerge!" The wave split around Michiru and slammed into the steel wall, the wall bending and then breaking. The wave continued, breaking through the wall behind the first, continued to break through a line of walls. Quite a defense system.
Booming sounds echoed. Even if robots were in the lab, the collapsing walls would've destroyed them. Hopefully, the fish in the vats were spared.
Smoke filled the area. Michiru's hair flowed upward, her glow brightening, her hand extended, concentration enveloping her face. The smoke clearing, Sailor Neptune swept the ocean into her hands, revealing the lab expanding before the seven, crumbs of the walls littering the floor. The vats remained at the sides of the lab.
But the vats were empty.
Minako balled her hands. "Damn. We were too late."
"They must've taken the fish to another area," Ami said.
"Those pests have more common sense than we thought," Sandy said.
The seven searched the lab. No traces of the robots remained, like the robots had never stepped foot inside the lab. They examined the area in which Sandy and the fish had been experimented on. A wide, blue machine towered from ground to ceiling, resembling the Duplicatotron 1000s. Switches on the large machine were labelled "Fish 2 Bot" and "Anything 2 Bot." On top of the machine, a label was slapped on, a child's handwriting reading, "Bot Maker 5000."
"I wonder what happened to versions 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000," Ami said.
"I hope they were stupid enough to destroy them," Rei said. "We can't have any other robots being created, especially out of more fish."
"What happened to the rest o' the fish that were created by the earlier versions?" Sandy said.
"We don't know if there are earlier versions," Setsuna said. "I wouldn't jump to conclusions and worry yet."
Sandy, Ami, and Setsuna studied the machine, Rei staying the farthest away, saying, "Technology isn't my thing." The Bot Maker 5000—BM5000 for short, as Minako started calling it, mumbling that it reminded her of a huge bowel movement (Setsuna pretended not to hear her crudity)—was pimpled with switches, a funnel protruding from its side and its top, resembling the D1000s. The BM5000 seemed somewhat complex. Had to be, to make robots out of fish and squirrels.
"Why did Sandy need to be inside the robot for it to work?" Setsuna said.
"Maybe the robot versions can only be controlled from a certain distance," Ami said. "For example, when Mina-chan, Mako-chan, and Sandy fought against the robots when they first came here, the fish floated in the vats, a short distance away from the fish-bots. But in the Poseidome, there were no vats around. Maybe the robots are moving toward having all the fish trapped inside the fish-bots."
"I think you might be on to something, Ami."
Ami brightened. Couldn't hide her pleasure at Setsuna's compliment.
The seven returned to the main area of the lab, where the vats stood.
"I didn't expect them to clean up after themselves so thoroughly," Rei said. "They leave the rest of Bikini Bottom in chaos but manage to clear everything up in this lab. They didn't leave a speck of their remains."
"These robots are smarter than they seem," Ami said.
Setsuna cupped her chin. "They must've moved the fish, too. So we'll have to find wherever the robots took them to, to save them."
"More adventuring," Minako said. "But they might be so stupid that they just relocated their lab to another part of Goo Lagoon." She clenched her hand. "I say we go look for them."
"Agreed." Setsuna wanted to study these robots' fighting techniques and explore the rest of Goo Lagoon. Her heart skipped. She hadn't been this excited in a while. Who knew that being in Bikini Bottom would be exciting?
Perhaps shewasexcited precisely because she was in Bikini Bottom. Guarding the Space-Time Door, being in the same environment, seeing the same surroundings day after day after day for years upon years upon years grew boring. The underwater city was like a whole other universe that Setsuna would gain as much knowledge about as possible.
From the look on Ami's face, the Guardian of Water was also excited, ready to delve into more of Bikini Bottom's nuances.
The world was bigger than Setsuna had believed. As the Guardian of Space and Time, she'd thought she had seen it all.
She was wrong.