Chapter Forty-five: Vacillating
Zirconia grinded her teeth. Yet another opportunity for the Amazoness Quartet to kill the Sailor Guardians, wasted.
How could the centuries-old queen be foolish enough to use four mouthy teenagers? Teenagers who had created the Amazon Trio from a fish, a tiger (now dead, demonstrating PallaPalla's incompetence), and a hawk, but teenagers teeming with immaturity. Age hadn't brought the queen wisdom.
Through her crystal ball, Zirconia watched the Guardians smile and pat one another on the backs over the robot's defeat, that sponge and starfish prancing about. She dug her nails into her palms. If hate was a power, she'd be strong enough to kill the Guardians, find the Golden Crystal, and save her queen.
The mirror holding Queen Nehellenia stood to the side of the dark, dank circus tent, where the remnants of Dead Moon awaited their opportunity to vanquish the Moon Kingdom. Zirconia and the queen had been waiting for millennia, recently finding the Amazoness Quartet in a forest and then brainwashing the teens into lackeys. The Moon Kingdom had stolen much from Dead Moon; stealing their former allies seemed fair.
The Amazoness Quartet couldn't find out. Zirconia had done her best to hide it from the Quartet, occupying the teenagers by giving them a circus. Thanks to their obsession with the circus, the young women didn't question their lives before meeting the queen and Zirconia. As long as Zirconia kept the teens distracted, they'd never find out, and the Guardians would never restore the Moon Kingdom. The Guardians were powerful enough, thrashing the Amazoness Quartet and the Amazon Trio during the circus performance. Zirconia would have to give those girls a stern talking-to once they returned from the sea.
Speaking of the sea, they weren't doing well there, either.
Zirconia wanted to blame their bad performance on the underwater world draining them, the different physics, the uniqueness. The Quartet overflowed with energy, were so smart, defied physics all the time in Japan, yet VesVes had been handily defeated, Tiger's Eye killed. CereCere and Fisheye had been nearly captured by the Guardians but escaping using the little skill needed. The same couldn't be said for PallaPalla. Hawk's Eye had failed to distract the Guardians in the industrial park.
Zirconia couldn't show the queen how badly the Dead Moon Circus was faring. One of the few times Zirconia was glad that the queen was trapped in a mirror.
The Amazoness Quartet wouldn't like it, but it was time for Zirconia to become involved. Who knew how long Zirconia could lie to his queen about the Dead Moon Circus' progress?
Zirconia raised a hand. On a shelf beside her, Zircon was perched on a stick of wood. Fluttering its wings, the eye landed on Zirconia's shoulder.
Zircon was excited, too.
Queen Nehellenia laughed, deep, throaty. "Show them our power, Zirconia."
A grin spread on Zirconia's face. Unlike the Amazoness Quartet and the Amazon Trio, she would not fail her queen.
In front of the platform on which the group stood, the robot's remains floated atop the sludge. Heck, the sludge could be radioactive, bring the chunks of metal to life and create miniature Robo-Patricks. Chibi-Usa wasn't worried, though. The robot had been defeated by a simple arrow from Sailor Mars. Super Sailor Mars now.
Every Guardian, except Jupiter, had received their Super forms. Neither the Dead Moon Circus nor the robots stood a fighting chance.
But Usagi and Mamoru had struggled immensely.
When Chibi-Usa had first seen her parents after what had seemed like an eternity, her spirit leaped. Once she'd gotten close, seen that they were as white as ghosts, her heart plummeted. Several times, she'd thought her parents were going to die, especially Usagi, trying to save Chibi-Usa from the block of ice.
Chibi-Usa had her Super form. She was still a burden.
Helios was strengthening her. She was still a burden.
No matter how powerful and wise she became, she was still a burden.
Why?
Chibi-Usa did everything right. She trained, she fought with all her might, but all her might wasn't enough to defeat enemies and protect her loved ones. They protected her, and her parents couldn't protect her in their condition.
Even though she was Sailor Moon's daughter, she didn't have a quarter of Sailor Moon's power.
What was wrong with her?
Nothing was. She had been convinced of that in the Mermalair.
Helios had come and told her not to cry.
Had she been reduced to running around the same bush of self-pity again and again, only for Pegasus to come and soothe her again and again, only for her friends and fellow Guardians to pity her weakness again and again?
No. Chibi-Usa was Usagi and Mamoru's daughter. Their strength and power flowed through her veins. She had to keep training, keep growing, and protect them like they had protected her countless times.
At the same time, her parents coughed into the crooks of their elbows. Chibi-Usa hurried to their sides. Her parents may have powers that normal humans didn't have, able to live for millennia without showing their age, rule the solar system, and be darn near immortal, but a mere curse had stopped them. Whoever had cursed them had to be powerful beyond imagination.
Patrick smacked both Usagi's and Mamoru's backs. They coughed harder.
"Is that helping?" Chibi-Usa said.
"I think so," Patrick said. But the two coughed more forcefully, Usagi starting to gag.
Thousands of thoughts sprinted through Chibi-Usa's mind, scrambling over one another in a race to reach the forefront, clarify themselves so she could act. She froze. Might as well be encased in ice again.
Regardless, none of her fellow Guardians, Squidward (who preached that he was oh-so grateful but did nothing to help), Sandy, or SpongeBob were acting. Only Patrick was pounding Usagi's and Mamoru's backs, to no avail. Maybe they could only wait for the fit to pass.
Mamoru waved Patrick away. "S-stop," he managed to get out between coughs, his voice crackling through the blood.
Patrick stopped in mid-slap. "What, you don't wanna be slapped?"
Rei sighed. "No, Patrick, they don't like being hurt."
Patrick crossed his arms. "Strange. Mamoru liked it before." When he didn't want anyone to know what was going on.
Mamoru parted his red eyes. "I feel like…" He hacked. Everyone had the courtesy to quietly wait for his fit to end. "I feel like this curse is getting worse."
Makoto faced PallaPalla. "You know something about this curse."
"A statement, not a question," Plankton said. Makoto's glare could've melted Antarctica. He dove back into the safety of Patrick's pocket.
PallaPalla turned up her nose. "Maybe PallaPalla does, maybe PallaPalla doesn't."
Makoto moved so quickly that, to the untrained eye, she would've seemed to disappear and then reappear in front of PallaPalla. She pressed her face into PallaPalla's, but the Dead Moon Circus member didn't flinch. "Just because I saved you doesn't mean we're friends. So don't piss around with me."
PallaPalla and Makoto glowered at one another. The industrial park was silent.
Until Johnny said, "I can feel the tenseness all the way over here." What a way to kill a moment.
Haruka cleared her throat. "Are you going to do anything, Makoto? Or are you just gonna stand there?"
Makoto bit her lip.
"You don't have to do anything," Sandy said. "Not yet, anyhow. Not for my sake."
"Not for ours, either," Mamoru said.
Makoto didn't take her eyes off PallaPalla. "Not if she's holding information that could mean life or death for you."
"Why should PallaPalla tell you about the curse? You didn't tell her about Tiger's Eye."
"He's dead," Rei said. "Satisfied?"
"D-dead?" PallaPalla's pupils contracted; she looked someplace far away. Her knees buckled, and she sank to the floor.
Overhead, a hawk spiraled above the industrial park, primed to strike. Chibi-Usa aimed her Chibi-Moon Kaleidoscope toward Hawk's Eye. She wouldn't let him stop them from learning about the curse.
PallaPalla's face reddened. Veins protruded from her neck and forehead. "You wanna know why you're cursed? Fine. The queen hates you all. That's why." She jabbed a finger toward Usagi. "Because you sealed her inside that mirror."
Usagi placed a hand on her chest. "I, I did? But…" Her brow creased. "When? How?" Every detail of their past lives hadn't been revealed yet. In her past life, Usagi could've done scorned many, and she didn't remember. She couldn't recall what she was like. Didn't even know if she was a good or a bad person.
Chibi-Usa knew that her mama was beautiful, pure, lovely. If she'd sealed the queen inside a mirror, she'd done so because the queen was seeking to destroy her loved ones, not out of selfishness or a desire for power.
Nevertheless, Usagi had angered her enemies. The consequences were affecting her friends. Guilt must be crushing Usagi.
If only Chibi-Usa could hug her mama. Their enemies had taken away the basic right of mother and daughter touching each other.
Chibi-Usa was grinding her teeth. She stopped. Couldn't let her anger overtake her.
"You thought you could keep your being the reincarnation of Princess Serenity a secret," PallaPalla said. "So stupid. Just by transforming, you revealed yourselves to us. Did you really think that you could keep Queen Nehellenia sealed away forever? She figured that she'd need to get rid of you before she could reign again." Her eyes glistened. "You sealed away the kindest person who ever lived, the one who took PallaPalla and her sisters in when they were abandoned. That's why PallaPalla and her sisters hate you." She spat into Makoto's face. A storm darkened Makoto's expression, but she didn't act, perhaps to keep PallaPalla talking.
"The only reason she might've saved you is to help herself," Chibi-Usa said.
PallaPalla blinked, glanced sideways. She hardened her expression. "Sh-shut up. How could you know what the queen's really like? You sealed her away because she wanted to share your kingdom in peace, but you wanted to keep the kingdom all to yourself."
"That might be what she told you, but that might not be the whole truth."
"I told you to shut up." She drew back a fist. Makoto caught it. PallaPalla's arm trembled with the effort of trying to pry her fist from Makoto's hand. She sneered. "Okay. I'll tell you how to cure your curse." She looked over each of the Guardians. Realizing she was gaping, Chibi-Usa closed her mouth. "Guess what?" She spread her free arm. "Even if you kill me, my sisters, the queen, all of Dead Moon, you won't get rid of the curse." She broke into laughter. "Isn't that something? You can do all this work to destroy Dead Moon, but it won't get you sh—"
PallaPalla's face contorted as Makoto's fist smashed her face, the stomach-churning crunch echoing. Another sound that Chibi-Usa would hear in her nightmares about robots conquering the Moon Kingdom and killing her loved ones. PallaPalla shot through the air. She crashed into the sludge, sunk, bubbles rising to the top.
"Then killing you is fine." Makoto stepped to the edge of the platform, blood dripping from one pair of knuckles.
Haruka was too expressionless. "So, she's decided that it's all right," she said softly. Something deeper must've happened in Sand Mountain that they hadn't told the rest of the team about.
SpongeBob covered his mouth, shaking. Patrick gawked; even he understood the gravity of what was happening.
"Didn't I tell you that wasn't necessary?" Sandy said. Not seeming to hear, Makoto kept glaring at the sludge. PallaPalla surfaced, spluttering.
"You thought that love tap would kill me?" She coughed, struggling to swim through the sludge, her skin burning into blackness.
"No." Makoto cracked her knuckles, smearing blood onto the palm of her other hand. "But I'm hoping to kill you as slowly and painfully as possible."
Overhead, Hawk's Eye had stopped. Watching.
Makoto flew toward PallaPalla. Shouts from Usagi and Ami to stop, to spare PallaPalla, sounded behind Chibi-Usa, and then Chibi-Usa realized that she was screaming, too.
Hawk's Eye dove between Makoto and PallaPalla, morphing between a human, remaining part hawk so that he could still fly. "Don't touch her." He thrust his beak. Not breaking her stride, Makoto grabbed his beak and hurled him sideways with such force that Chibi-Usa gasped.
"The sludge is toxic," Sandy called. "It'll finsh her itself."
"I want to kill her myself," Makoto said, voice the darkest that Chibi-Usa had ever heard. When had Makoto started to harbor such violence within her heart?
Chibi-Usa stepped back. She wanted to be as far away from Sailor Jupiter as possible.
Makoto drove her foot through the sludge, into PallaPalla's abdomen. PallaPalla flew, clashing against a chain-link fence and then barreling over. Parts of her clothing had melted, revealing skin blackened from the sludge.
Hawk's Eye dove. He grasped his creator's arm and flew her away. Makoto pursued. Haruka swerved in front of Makoto, and Makoto stopped, glaring. Chibi-Usa was surprised that Makoto hadn't tossed Haruka aside.
Makoto worked her mouth, badly wanting to defy her mentor, but garnered up enough self-control to say and do nothing.
"No, I'm not moving." Haruka looked at Makoto's clenching hands, her right hand's knuckles bloodied with her own and PallaPalla's blood. "We can get more information from her later."
"But they're despicable," Makoto said. "You heard her. There's no reason to keep any of them alive."
Sailor Mercury shifted from side to side. Had something else happened in the Mermalair that Chibi-Usa hadn't known about?
Where were these secrets coming from, the sudden shame causing the team to not want to tell one another everything, like they used to? If they kept secrets, then they couldn't be cohesive.
"That's what you said," Haruka told Makoto.
"She told us that killing them won't stop the curse. So there's no need to keep them alive anymore." Makoto shook with the thirst to end PallaPalla and Hawk's Eye. "I wish I'd never saved her life."
"Yes, they're terrible. Doesn't mean they're not useful. All that information she gave us… They're holding tons more, even if it might not be one-hundred percent accurate. Shows us that their boss might be manipulating them."
The way that PallaPalla had spoken about their queen made Usagi seem like she was evil, while the queen and the Dead Moon were good. Something to investigate.
"But it looks like you've made your decision about killing," Haruka said.
The storm lifted from Sailor Jupiter's expression. Makoto Kino once more.
Makoto looked at her bloodied hands, her scuffs and cuts, like she was seeing herself for the first time. "I wasn't thinking. It isn't okay. It may be necessary, but…"
Haruka placed a hand on Makoto's shoulder. "Let's talk later."
Makoto stiffened. "Again?"
"Again. Admit it, we need to." She gestured toward Michiru. "Maybe with that lovely lady in tow."
She blanked, and her forehead shone with a break of sweat. "Makes, makes sense." So she admired both Michiru and Haruka. Tag-teamed by her mentors, she'd be helpless.
"By the way…" She squeezed Makoto's shoulder, eyes narrowing to silts. "Don't act recklessly again. The next time you do, I'll punch you myself. Trust me, my punches feel much worse than yours."
Makoto pursed her lips, nodding. She returned to the platform, Haruka behind her.
A sniff from behind Chibi-Usa. Tears flowed down Usagi's cheeks.
"All this curse is doing is tearing us apart." Usagi wiped her eyes. "First Mamo-chan and I, and now it's affecting everyone else. The worst part is, I'm the one who caused the curse, and I don't know what I did."
Mamoru was at Usagi's side almost as quickly as Makoto had attacked PallaPalla. "You can't blame yourself, Usa. She must've been lying. They have no reason to tell us the truth." His voice wavered. A string of truth had been laced within PallaPalla's words.
"Everything always leads back to me." Instead of crying into Mamoru's shoulder, like she usually did, she buried her head into the crook of her elbow, trying to heave the burdens by herself.
"We may have been torn apart for a little while, but we came back stronger than before. And that'll happen this time, too."
The way Makoto was crossing her arms, the Guardians wouldn't be the same for a long time.
SpongeBob's eyes welled with tears. He broke into wailing, sinking to his knees. "This is all my fault. I'm the one who caused this robot mess."
Minako raised a finger. "Didn't we establish that it's Plankton's fault?"
SpongeBob melted into a puddle, his water-self retracting each time he sniffed, puddling back out each time he exhaled. "I wish I could do something right now."
Patrick collapsed and started crying. "Why can't I find all my socks?"
Rei ran a hand down her face.
Plankton jumped out of Patrick's pocket. "Quit that crying. I'm the one who caused everything. I made the robots, with my genius. Give me the credit. The, the blame. I'm sorry." He hiccupped. "I didn't mean to break any of you apart. Friendship is a precious thing. Karen…"
Chibi-Usa's eyebrows arched. The first time that the Guardian had heard Plankton say something unselfish, remorseful. The way he was crying, he meant it.
Everyone's tears seemed to be more than for themselves. Patrick's glance at the broken Usagi broke the starfish, too, and he cried harder. Plankton cried, realizing the weight of what he'd done, how much his selfish ambition had affected others. SpongeBob cried because he hadn't been able to bring others together.
Chibi-Usa had a feeling that, if the Sailor Team hadn't ended up in Bikini Bottom, they wouldn't be rocked with turmoil. But that didn't mean what had happened was anyone's fault.
Everyone needed comfort and reassurance. Turning to the sky, Chibi-Usa summoned her bell that Helios had given her. He had to have some answers, had to be associated with Dead Moon; couldn't be a coincidence that Helios had started appearing around the same time the Dead Moon Circus had.
She rung the bell, said the words to summon Helios.
She waited.
He'd never let her down. He couldn't not show up.
But he didn't.
Chibi-Usa grew heavy. Their world was coming apart from lies, the robots, Dead Moon, something happening to Helios.
Everything was burying them at once.
Despite their victory, it felt like they'd lost.