Chapter Thirty-one: Cimmerian Shade
They'd killed Tiger's Eye.
Standing at the edge of the cliff that the museum was erect upon, where she had been blasted while fighting the Guardians and the Sleepytimes, VesVes had felt the energy jerked out, indicating that one of their own had been killed. By the feel of the energy, Tiger's Eye was the one.
VesVes clenched a hand. No one killed her beasts.
Those damn Guardians had entered the museum. If VesVes had learned anything from CereCere, it was that she couldn't charge in blindly and expect to win. She needed a plan.
A bald human with a giant nose, clad in a superhero's outfit, rushed out of the museum's vent atop the roof. Heaving for breath, he cupped his knees.
When VesVes needed beasts, another human had come instead. No matter. She'd use the human regardless. He could give information about the Guardians.
VesVes jumped before the human. The human gasped, stepped backward.
He stretched out a shaking arm. "Don't come any closer, or you'll face the wrath of my Sulfur Vision." His voice echoed with the last two words. Despite his feeble, elderly appearance, this human could be powerful. Never underestimate humans. After all, the Guardians were tougher than Tiger's Eye had thought.
VesVes withdrew her whip. "If you come any closer, I'll lash you. Which is much more threatening than it sounds." Fish would be drawn to the sound of her whip. Then, she could command them to overwhelm this human through sheer numbers.
The human recoiled. "Trust me, I've faced much more villainous…villains than you appear to be. Although you do look pretty villainous, I must admit."
"Thank you." VesVes cracked her whip, and the human cringed. A rush of fins neared them. The fish, her beasts, were approaching to obey her. VesVes had the advantage, and the way the human's face was falling, he knew, too.
"Now, what were you saying about Sulfur Vision?" VesVes said, the fish surrounding her.
The man gulped thrice. "Nothing. Nothing at all."
"That's what I thought. Now, you and I are gonna have a little chat about the Sailor Guardians."
Patrick despised the dark. And the Trench of Advanced Darkness was the darkest part of Rock Bottom. The intermittent lightbulbs barely lit the area. There could never be too much light, but there could definitely be too much darkness.
It didn't help that, as soon as he and the Guardians stepped out of the museum, they fell onto a slide.
Patrick rolled himself into a ball and slid. He stayed near the glowing Michiru, who slid on her bottom, and Rei, who didn't glow, but had bright attacks, the Guardian of Flames sliding on her back. As did Sailor Venus, who pushed herself forward with her hands. Thank goodness their attacks were bright. Patrick wished he could be a night light too.
Voice rattling, Minako said, "You didn't tell us about this slide."
Patrick's teeth chattered from fear. Sliding in the dark sucked the fun out of slides, should be illegal. Heck, darkness should be illegal. "I didn't know you didn't know what slides were."
"We know what slides are." Rei slammed into the side of the slide, yelped. "But we've never seen slides like this."
"Anything goes in Bikini Bottom," Michiru said. Patrick liked Michiru. She could be scary sometimes, but she stayed calm. Most importantly, she glowed. If only Patrick could take her home and use her as a night light. "Including long, winding slides." The slide twisted down into the Trench.
"Can't you guys fly?" Patrick said. "I'd rather fly through the darkness than slide. I wanna fly, I wanna fly." Pleading usually got the starfish his way.
The Guardians looked at one another again. Why'd they look at one another when Patrick said stuff?
Michiru and Minako looked at Rei at the same time.
"Don't give me that look," Rei said. "I'm not carrying him again."
Minako side-eyed Michiru. "You're the strongest one now. You do it."
"I'd rather not waste energy. I don't know what my limitations are."
"You're in the ocean. You command the ocean. What limitations?"
"You never know. I'm going to err on the side of caution."
"Damn your logical explanations."
They kept sliding, Patrick swerving around Tikis, Rei and Minako barreling into them.
"Oh, yeah." Patrick swiveled around a Stone Tiki. "There are these things called Thunder Tikis that explode when you touch them."
An explosion boomed behind Patrick. A blackened Minako shot forward.
"I wish you had told me sooner," she said, her voice fading as she rocketed down the slide. Michiru took to the air.
"Hey, what happened to wasting energy?" Patrick lifted his arms. "I wanna be carried."
"I'm saving Minako." More quietly, she said, "Again." Michiru rushed past Rei and Patrick. Why didn't anyone want to carry him?
With her Love Whip, Minako tried to lasso a Stone Tiki. Narrowly missing the Tiki, the Whip clattered onto the slide. Minako kept a tight grip on her Whip, shouting another naughty word.
Reaching Minako, Michiru extended a hand, but Minako couldn't reach toward Michiru. From Michiru's hand, water jetted before Minako, and the Guardian of Love crashed through it, slowing her movement to a crawl. At the end of the slide, Minako crashed onto the sand, the sand clouding her.
Minako lay her sand-dusted head on her arms. "I've been having a rough time down here." She swept onto her feet. "But it's okay. After all, I am Super Sailor Venus." She jabbed a finger at Michiru. "But why didn't you stop me instead of just slow me down?"
Michiru landed before Minako. "It's better than letting you fly off the slide at full speed, and I couldn't carry you with my waves by the way you were sliding down."
"You could've tried."
Michiru sighed. "Yes, you're welcome, Minako."
"Oh." She cleared her throat. "W-well, I guess that was better than nothing. Thank you, Michiru-san."
They had left only Patrick and Rei on the slide. The two of them once more.
"I like being carried." Patrick dodged a Wooden Tiki, Rei smashing through it, splinters flying. "But I can carry you instead."
"That's kind of you, Patrick. You've been less selfish lately."
"I don't know what that means, but it sure does sound nice." Patrick wasn't selfish. He thought about himself a lot and talked about himself all the time and always asked other people to do stuff for him, but that didn't make him selfish.
Patrick swung around, facing Rei. He spread his arms, like he was going to hug her. Rei scooted into Patrick's waiting arms. Looking over his shoulder, Patrick kept his back to the front of the slide. He'd take the brunt of the hits from now on. Rei had done the same for him.
He dodged several Tikis, and they reached the end of the slide. Patrick squeezed Rei, and they flew off, the two tumbling onto the ground, near Gary the snail.
"Hey, it's Gary again." Patrick climbed upright, as did Rei. "Hi, Gary."
Minako and MIchiru joined the two, Minako saying, "This snail certainly knows how to get around. Did he take the bus down?"
"Meow."
"He did," Patrick said. Superheroes couldn't understand a snail's simple language?
Minako rubbed her forehead. "Don't think too much about that, Minako."
Michiru stared at Gary hard, like she was trying to decipher him. He was just a lowly, bill-paying snail.
"Meow, meow."
" 'Welcome to the Trench of Advanced Darkness?'" Patrick shivered. "No, Gary, you welcome someone to your brightly lit house, not the Trench of Advanced Darkness."
"Meow, meow, meow."
" 'Trying to make our day brighter instead, since this place is so dark? Gary, stop kidding. The dark is dark, and not even a joke could make the darkness brighter. Unless…it could, and I'm missing something." Patrick's lips quivered. "Quick, tell a joke. Someone, anyone."
"Meow, meow."
" 'This place is the last area in Rock Bottom?' That's not a very good joke." Patrick looked around. "The darkness doesn't agree with you, either, since it's not gettin' any brighter."
"I don't think it was a joke," Michiru said.
"If it was, it was so terrible that the darkness didn't get brighter. C'mon, Gary, tell another one. Better this time."
"Meow." With an eyeball, Gary pointed into the distance.
" 'There's an exit over there.' Thatwasn't s'posed to be a joke, was it?"
"Meow."
" 'Look.'" Patrick and the Guardians looked where Gary had pointed. An exit sign was lit in plain English, brightening the area around it. They could leave from there, without waiting for the bus. "An exit. Wow, Gary, that wasn't there before. Maybe your jokes were funny enough that they made an exit appear." He grabbed Michiru's hand. He was not going to let go of her. "C'mon, let's get out of here."
She tugged her hand away. "We're here to defeat the robots, Patrick, not leave as soon as possible."
"What robots?" Patrick had been so occupied by the darkness that he'd forgotten about the robots. "I don't see any, so let's go." He pulled Michiru's arm, but the Guardian didn't budge.
"Just because we don't see any doesn't mean that there aren't any around," Rei said. "Besides, VesVes is somewhere out there, too."
Patrick chewed his lip, not wanting to be in Rock Bottom longer than he had to.
"What are those?"
Yards away from the exit stood three blue machines that looked like washing machines.
Plankton peeked out of Patrick's pocket. "Ah, my lasers. Wonderful." He laughed. Glares from the Guardians quieted him at once.
"Lasers?" Minako said.
"Right. They're for you to stand in front of while I activate them."
"Do you actually think we're that stupid?"
"Yes."
"What are they really for?" Rei said.
"Another failed idea to steal the krabby patty secret formula." He drummed his fingers on his arm. "I was going to blast open the Krusty Krab, steal the secret formula while everyone was distracted, and then profit!"
"Lasers for stealing a formula," Minako said flatly. "There has to be something more to this."
Plankton snorted. "If there were, which there very well might be, I wouldn't tell—"
Michiru raised her hand, and a small wave appeared in her palm, big enough to drown Plankton.
"I, I, I, I mean, I would love to tell you that the lasers were for fulfilling my ultimate goal of world domination."
Michiru retracted the wave into her glove. Amazing what superheroes could do.
Minako blinked. "World domination. How predictable." She yawned. "And boring."
Plankton shook fists in the air. "Nothing about my plan or me is predictable or boring. I will sneak into your dreams and defeat you there. With my brilliance, I certainly can and will."
Patrick saluted Plankton. "And I will help you, future master."
Rei shot Patrick a look that he couldn't read.
"Seriously, though, you need to activate my lasers to reach the exit you're desperate for."
"We can fly over," Michiru said.
Plankton winced. "That may be true, but you should still activate my lasers."
"To achieve your dream of world domination?"
"Exactly." To himself, he said, "My manipulation skills are something to behold."
"Uh-huh." Minako squinted. "It looks like there are robots playing on the lasers. We'd better go stop them."
Patrick's eyes lit up. "Can I play with them, too?"
Rei gave Patrick another unreadable look. "Yes. Yes, you can."
Now Michiru gave Rei an unreadable look. The Guardians were looking at one another strangely a lot. Why didn't they say stuff instead of look at one another?
Rei blushed. "Um, to him, playing means fighting. He played with the Sandy robot enough to almost destroy it."
Patrick gazed at the lasers. Suddenly, being down in Rock Bottom didn't seem that bad. He couldn't wait to play with the robots.
The Guardians and Patrick ran toward the lasers. The contraptions pointed to a fourth machine that resembled a honeycomb, but blue instead, without the honey. A honey-less honeycomb. Was there a purpose for a honeycomb without honey?
"Ah, you're mesmerized by my super laser, are you, my future minion?" Plankton laughed once more; glares from the Guardians silenced him.
"Don't worry, future master," Patrick said. "I won't let Rei and the others vaporize you. At least not before you vaporize me."
"I appreciate your loyalty."
"Your super laser?" Minako said. "What does that do differently than your other lasers?"
"For one thing," Plankton barked, "it shuts up humans, particularly goody two-shoes in miniskirts who are trying to defeat my robot army."
"Ha ha." Minako unhooked her Love Whip, and Plankton shrunk. "What does it really do?"
"It's my most powerful laser, to be used only if my other three lasers can't cut it. Literally can't cut the Krusty Krab. But now, it'll create a pathway to Rock Bottom's exit."
The quicker they could leave, the better. The sole silver lining was that Patrick would get to play on lasers with the robots before he left.
"You do an awful lot to try and steal this formula," Minako said. "It's kind of sad."
"Don't you dare pity me. I'm the most powerful being in the world. With my brilliance—"
A laser shot inches from Plankton, and Plankton retreated into Patrick's pocket, squeaking. A Sleepytime ahead had awakened, and its siren began to ring.
"Wow. Plankton's big mouth woke up that robot," Minako said.
The Sleepytime shot another beam, singeing the sand near Patrick's feet. Must want to play with Plankton.
Patrick plucked Plankton out of his pocket, and Plankton hollered. "Here, I'll give him to you since you want him." He threw Plankton toward the Sleepytime.
"You idiot, no," Rei said.
Hollering, Plankton cowered behind his arms. The Sleepytime zapped out a third beam, the beam shooting through Plankton. He disappeared in the beam, his holler stopping. Maybe they didn't want to play with him after all.
"I'm coming, Master." Patrick hurried toward his future overlord and the beam, jumped, snatching Plankton just as his master emerged from it, stashing Plankton in his pocket. The Sleepytime's eyes flashed. The beam burnt the top of Patrick's head, and he howled, leaping backward. Getting hit by a beam was not the fun that Plankton made it look like.
Could Michiru destroy that Sleepytime with one hit? "Hey, Night Light, break the robot for hurting me." Patrick was angry, but he didn't see anything he could throw, not even a rock, which was ironic for a place called Rock Bottom. The place should be a bottom full of rocks, even though Bikini Bottom wasn't filled with bikinis.
Michiru flew toward the laser instead of the robot.
Patrick hurried toward the laser. "I'm the one who's s'posed to play on the laser.
"You two can play together." Rei sparked a flame the size of a candle's on the tip of her finger. She grinded her teeth. "Sailor Neptune's powers have grown so powerful that they're negating mine. Mina-chan, it's up to you."
Minako threw her Love Whip, lassoing the Sleepytime. Patrick couldn't watch Minako and the Sleepytime. He needed to reach the laser before Michiru stole all the fun. Playing with a toy before asking if anyone else wanted to play on it first was a dirty thing to do. Granted, Patrick wouldn't have asked, either, but it was different when he did things. The same stuff others did was wrong and annoying, while everything Patrick did was right and not annoying.
Metal shattered behind them. Chunks of the Sleepytime bounced past Patrick, the starfish climbing atop the cliff on which the laser stood. Plankton peeked out of Patrick's pocket.
On the cliff wheeled Fodders, Ham-mers, Tar-tar Sauces. A Duplicatotron 1000 stood beside the laser, pumping robots toward Rei and Minako. They'd be tied up with those robots.
Another Sleepytime morphed from the black ball that the D1000 released. The robot landed near Patrick. Its light reddened, and its siren sounded, like its invading Patrick's space was the starfish's fault. Plankton hollered, clambered out of Patrick's pocket, yelling, "Abandon ship."
"Aw, you don't want to play, Overlord?"
Plankton hesitated. "You ask so nicely, it makes an overlord want to obey his future minion." Another beam shot from the Sleepytime, zapping Plankton, who yelped, shooting into the air, smoking.
Michiru raised her hand. "Deep Submerge!" A wave grew from the darkness and then cascaded toward the Sleepytime, the Fodders, the Ham-mers, the Tar-tar Sauces, the D1000.
"I wanna play with the robots first." But if Patrick stepped in front of the wave, he'd drown. He didn't know how to swim.
Plankton landed headfirst on top of the laser, rolled toward its tip, where the beam would emerge. Maybe the laser doubled as a washing machine, so when the laser launched its beam, Plankton would be washed like clothes.
The giant wave slammed onto not only the robots, breaking them, their remnants flying through the wave, but also the side of the laser. Something on the laser clicked and, as Plankton dropped in front of the laser's tip, the laser contracted, pulsing out a beam onto Plankton.
"These things keep happening to me." Plankton roared much louder than he looked capable of. The beam propelled Plankton, smacking him into the honeycomb-like machine in the middle of the three lasers. He slid down, fell through the air, spinning end over end, silent.
His master had done much for Patrick—calling the starfish a lummox, a fool, promising to vaporize him—that Patrick had to return the favor by saving him. But below the honeycomb laser, where Plankton fell, was Patrick's worst nightmare: darkness.
Patrick resisted the urge to bite his nails. He couldn't hesitate, regardless of his fear. Couldn't leave his master like he'd left Rei, letting Tiger's Eye hurt her.
The starfish tried to run toward the darkness, jump down to save his master, but his body resisted, becoming sluggish. He pushed forward. If only he had a night light attached to his head. If only he was a night light like Michiru was.
"Rei," he said, "can you carry me to save Plankton?"
Rei whooshed toward him, that cool, faint red glow about her. "I'm not carrying you. But I will save Plankton."
Great, she was going to save his master. "Wait. I don't want you to save him. I wanna save him myself. So you gotta carry me."
Rei faltered, giving him another unreadable look.
"Why do you guys keep looking like that?"
"No reason." She flew toward him, hooked her arms under his own, grunted, and hefted him into the air.
Rei crept through the air. "Move faster, or we won't catch him," Patrick said. The darkness threatened to swallow Plankton whole. According to Rei, Patrick had been swallowed whole by the darkness before, but Patrick had been unconscious, so he didn't remember anything but his dream, Rei entering his dream and promising she'd save him.
Rei saved Patrick an awful lot. She did a lot of stuff for him, like carrying him when she and the rest of the Guardians were flying.
A brighter glow burst around Rei, and she moved faster, Plankton appearing in the darkness. Patrick broke into sweat, and he hyperventilated. If Patrick was hyperventilating, he wasn't sure he'd stay awake long enough to save Plankton.
He reached toward Plankton, Plankton stretching both arms toward Patrick. Tears dropped from Plankton's eye, disappearing in the darkness. That's why Patrick despised the darkness—it ate everything. Patrick liked eating, too, but at least the stuff he ate plopped into his stomach. With darkness, who knew where stuff ended up?
"Ah, my future minion." Plankton choked on his tears. "I knew you'd be faithful to me. You even convinced one of our enemies to save me. My brilliant persuasion skills must be rubbing off on you. But don't misunderstand. You will never be as brilliant as me."
Rei wasn't Patrick's enemy, and she wasn't Plankton's enemy, either, so Patrick didn't know what Plankton was talking about.
Patrick's hand brushed Plankton's. Neither of them had fingers; grabbing each other would be hard.
Rei hooked her heel under Plankton and bumped him up. Patrick caught Plankton and moved him toward his pocket.
"No, no, not in there." Plankton's voice was shrill. Was he scared of the dark, too? "Keep holding me. I'm more secure in your hands than your pockets."
"Aye-aye, Overlord." Patrick squeezed Plankton, his eye bulging.
Flying upward, Rei let out an exasperated breath. "Even when someone saves your life, you're still unbearable, Plankton."
"Once I become the ruler of the world, you won't dare say anything against me." Plankton rested his arms on Patrick's hand. "Just for saying that, I won't let you become my second-in-command."
"Devastating," she said, monotone.
Plankton turned up his head.
As the three flew, the brightness returned, albeit not as much brightness as Patrick would've liked. At least the laser was brightening their surroundings.
They reached the top of the trench.
With Rei, Patrick had saved Plankton. The Guardian set Patrick onto his feet.
"I'm glad I didn't have to go down into that scary dark by myself. See, you can be a night light, too. Like Michiru."
Rei's eyes softened. "Happy to help."
Minako was surrounded by those freaking robots. The arrogant Michiru was off trying to be a hero to Rei, Patrick, and Plankton. But better that she was somewhere else than here, bothering Minako with her annoying self. Michiru used the sea to attack. Minako used the manifestation of love to attack. Sometimes, Minako didn't feel much love when she attacked., mainly when Michiru was around. How were they supposed to destroy the robots together, find the artwork, retake Rock Bottom, and find VesVes?
Things would become worse if VesVes turned the fish against the Guardians. Fighting the fish themselves would be like trying to fight the fish-bots that Minako and Makoto had fought in Goo Lagoon—if they attacked the fish-bots, then the fish themselves would be injured, too. Here, they'd be attacking the fish directly.
Minako couldn't overthink things. She had no issues defeating the robots, sometimes morphing her Love Whip into a sword and slicing when the robots came too close.
Then the fish started coming.
They approached from every side, their eyes open but blank, not fashioned into robots. They frothed at the mouth.
Minako couldn't hurt these fish, but she couldn't do nothing.
These fish walking toward her with their arms out like zombies she saw in horror movies—how cliché—could mean only one thing: VesVes was near.
On cue, laughter echoed from above. VesVes stood atop one of the deactivated lasers, Barnacle Boy beside her. Carrying Patrick, Rei had dived into the darkness. Minako was so busy fighting the robots that she didn't know why. Wherever Michiru had ended up, the older Guardian wasn't around to help Minako.
Minako flew upward, out of the swath of robots. A Tar-tar Sauce jetted sauce at her, and she flitted sideways, the sauce arcing into the distance. All that mattered now was VesVes, holding a dejected Barnacle Boy hostage.
"Greetings." By the way she snarled, VesVes must've found out about Rei's killing Tiger's Eye. She grabbed Barnacle Boy's arm, pulled the superhero closer to her. "Your ancient friend here was useless, telling me that you wear miniskirts and fly." She turned her head, her mouth in Barnacle Boy's ear, and yelled, "Which I knew already," Barnacle Boy's nose blowing sideways. She returned her attention to Minako. "You Guardians think you can kill us right and left. Things don't work like that." She spread her arms. "My tamed beasts will destroy you."
Minako scowled, readying herself for the fish nearing her. What heinous deeds did they have in store for her?
A blonde fish took out a brush and combed Minako's hair. "Oh, what beautiful hair you have."
A male fish grabbed Minako's arm and licked from her hand to her shoulder. All thought left Minako's head. She gaped at the fish licking his lips.
A flounder caressed the Love Whip she held. "Ooh, it glows." The Love Whip's golden aura reflected in his dark eyes. "Beautiful."
VesVes pulled her hair in opposite directions. "No, you imbeciles. I commanded you to kill her. Killkillkill. She stomped her feet, lashed the air with her whip. The fish stood at attention, facing her. The "beast tamer" ground out, "Kill. The. Sailor. Guardians."
The fish stared at her, facial expressions devoid of understanding. One fish drooled.
"Why don't you kill them all?" VesVes was yelling louder. Barnacle Boy stepped away.
The fish looked at Minako. They looked at VesVes.
"How do we kill her?"
"I don't care," VesVes shrieked. "Just do it." The louder she became, the shriller her voice.
"We are." The blonde fish stroked the comb through Minako's hair. Deft fins. "We're killing her with kindness."
VesVes croaked. Wind whistled through Rock Bottom.
While VesVes was stunned with shock, Minako raised her Love Whip. The Dead Moon Circus was despicable. She could never forgive their manipulating others and their dreams through the guise of fun. She dreamed of becoming an idol, but her number one dream was to protect Sailor Moon and her fellow Guardians at all costs. She wanted to grow into an awe-inspiring role model, leading the Guardians toward victory.
Even after this epiphany, no new attacks came forth. Super Sailor Venus was more powerful, but maybe she needed to wait a little longer. Or she could dig deep inside herself and force it out.
She didn't have time to soul search. VesVes stood, slack-jawed, in front of her, vulnerable.
Minako would have to play things smart.
She took off her tiara and threw it toward one of bright lasers, on which the neon lights reflected. The light from the laser beamed off the tiara, into VesVes' eyes. VesVes recoiled, shutting and covering her eyes with both hands, ducking her head. Minako took to the air, the fish reaching for her, the blonde fish's comb ripping through her hair.
"Wait," one fish said, "I must lick you."
Minako couldn't let herself be creeped out. Had to reach VesVes.
VesVes slapped her whip onto the ground. "Protect me, my beasts."
Moaning came from below. Focusing on ending VesVes, Minako morphed her Love Whip back into a sword. Fish tried to gather near her even though she was flying where they couldn't reach.
Rocks from below pelted Minako, almost knocking her off-balance, but she kept going. Tartar sauce whistled past her, splattering the ground. Couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop. Focused solely on VesVes.
All VesVes had were her beasts to hide behind. Minako used her own power.
A whirring noise shook the air, threatening to knock Minako off-kilter. A beam lit up the sky. Minako pressed onward.
A wave of fire blew past her, lighting the area, nearly crisping Minako's hair once again. The fire could mean only one thing—Rei had returned.
Minako poked her whip inside the fire, heating her whip. VesVes turned sideways, dodging the fire, but Minako reached the beast tamer.
Here were the words she'd been waiting for, the ones she'd gotten from relying on her friends. "Venus…" She held her whip like a bow and arrow, the power from her anger at the Dead Moon Circus' deviousness, at her desire to be a great leader, to protect the Sailor Team, swelling through her. The Guardians couldn't do anything without one another.
The love they had for one another was beautiful.
"…Love and Beauty Shock!" A golden beam shot from her whip, where VesVes had turned. VesVes hollered, the beam vaporizing her as she passed through. "Not agai— Oof!" She slammed into one of the laser's buttons and then bounced off like a pinball, the laser on which she had slammed activating, its laser shooting onto the larger laser hanging in the middle. VesVes smacked into the other laser's button, activating that one, the laser contracting and then pulsing out a beam onto the laser in the middle. VesVes spun over the laser, into the beam, her skeleton flashing. The laser propelled her into the laser in the middle. She bounded off that laser and then plunged into the darkness. VesVes had to be finished after that.
The laser in the middle activated, releasing a beam that spun around the Trench of Advanced Darkness, into a pillar, slashing the pillar in half. The bottom half of the pillar crashed onto the trench's floor, creating a path to Rock Bottom's exit.
Patrick's cheers came from Minako's side. "We did it."
Relief and warmth spread. They had.
Rei hovered beside her. Hadn't seen her coming, Minako was so tired. "Just so you know, VesVes isn't finished yet."
"Even after our flashy combined attack?"
"Even after all that."
She sucked her teeth. "Figures. These guys may be weak and annoying, but they sure know how to survive." She yelled, articulating each word, "Thank goodness you at least came to help me." Trying to make sure that Michiru could hear her. "Unlike some people who aren't team players and isolate themselves like hermits."
Minako felt the body heat behind her. She whirled around. "You're not scaring me."
"One, I wasn't going to scare you," Michiru said. "Two, I'm right behind you. You don't have to yell. Three, I appreciate you having the courage to insult me to my face, even though I was fighting the robots and couldn't get to you."
"You know that I'm having a hard time believing that with your upgraded powers, right?"
"I do, but I've gotten to the point where I don't care what you think."
Patrick climbed down from the platform on which one of the lasers stood, Plankton peering out of his pocket. He joined the Guardians.
"I would've thought that you'd make a beeline for the exit, Patrick," Rei said.
"Y'know, the dark isn't that bad. I mean, it's still bad because it's dark, but after saving my future master, I figured out that darkness…is dark."
Minako deflated. "How insightful."
"I can see where you're coming from," Rei said. "Your fear was making darkness much worse than it actually is."
Patrick's brow creased, and then he crossed his arms and nodded. "Uh, right. Darkness is dark, like I said."
Minako couldn't tell how much Patrick had understood what Rei had said, but Rei seemed to understand Patrick's way of speaking just fine. At some level, Patrick understood that his mind was convincing him that darkness was worse than it was. After flying headfirst into the darkness, Patrick discovered that he could handle the dark.
Patrick plucked out artwork from his pocket. "I also got the last piece of artwork for Mrs. Puff."
"Whatever dastardly deeds she wants to do with it." Minako shrugged. "Seriously, she acted way too weird when we asked her why we should give it to her instead of to the museum."
"We can give all the artwork to the security guard instead," Michiru said. Barnacle Boy stood where VesVes had once been, on a raised platform near the museum, gawking at them. "I'd rather not have anyone defile artwork."
The Guardians, Patrick, and Plankton returned to Barnacle Boy, where Patrick, who had stuffed the artwork in his pockets without damaging it (helpful cartoon physics) gave it to his hero. He kneeled, shuffled to Barnacle Boy and kissed the superhero's shoes.
"Oh, thank you, Barnacle Boy, for this honor of giving you the artwork."
Barnacle Boy shook Patrick off. "All right, kid, that's enough."
The Guardians left, Rei dragging Patrick by the arm, the starfish declaring that he and Barnacle Boy would always be together once these Guardians were out of the way, forgetting that he'd be dead without "these Guardians," and Barnacle Boy responding emotionlessly that he was elated for that day to come. As the group walked toward Rock Bottom's exit, Plankton tried to clamber out of Patrick's pocket. With her finger, Minako shoved Plankton back inside.
"Don't take advantage of my small stature like that," Plankton said. "I command you to let me go so I can use my lasers to vaporize you."
"Telling us about your plans won't make us obey you," Michiru said.
Plankton couldn't do much harm, though. Maybe the Guardians should let him go once they returned to Bikini Bottom. Or they could keep Plankton and let him help them.
Whether Plankton tried to use his lasers for evil, however the robots tried to destroy Bikini Bottom, Minako and her friends could handle it. Michiru and Minako might not like each other, but they worked all right together.
"Y'know what, Michiru-san?" Minako said. "I'm glad you're with us."
Michiru smiled softly. "I'm glad you're with us, too."
Minako warmed. Sure, they might not be best friends, but without each other, they'd crumble.
Together, they'd won the battle to save Rock Bottom.