Chapter 19: Whomp's Fortress
If she had known, she would have landed elsewhere. Even just a few steps away would've been much better. But Ami Mizuno couldn't help but appear right on top of the sleeping piranha plant. Unfortunately, Galaxy Chang also happened to enter the alternate world in the same spot as the genius physician; more specifically, right underneath her.
"EEEEEK!!! Something bit me!" she screamed, shoving Ami off of her as she panicked in her attempt to escape from the flower with teeth. Ami grabbed her, trying to pull her away from it. Suddenly an owl swooped down and captured Ami, carrying her away. Galaxy finally stood up, jumping away from the plant.
"Get back here you evil bird! Kidnapping a doctor is a bad idea, even if she IS working at a man's job. Popsicle Prism Power, Make Up!" she shouted. The familiar dark blue frosty ribbons swirled around her to form her Senshi outfit. After transforming Sailor Popscicle looked around. Should she risk falling off of those moving platforms to save Ami, or search somewhere else. She then looked up, and once again, Ami crashed on top of her. She also heard a strange clacking sound, and then Ami gasped.
"My Staff of Wisdom! I must hold on to it in case the Magic Knights are here!" she exclaimed. Once again Sailor Popsicle shoved Ami off of her, and then she detransformed, seeing no one but herself and Ami.
"More likely, that evil Sailor Senshi might attack us," said Galaxy.
"If you think that, then why aren't you transformed?"
"You wouldn't understand, since you're so unfeminine. I don't think that the Sailor Senshi outfit is very fashionable, so I only wear it when necessary. By the way, do you know what exactly the Staff of Wisdom is supposed to do?" Galaxy asked, suddenly changing the subject before her insult could soak in.
"I don't really know yet. You and Sailor Peanut Butter are probably the ones who are going to be able to use it, not me. It came to me because I was the first holder of the Mercury powers. The bigger question is why did it come to me AFTER I gave my powers to you and Serena?" Ami wondered.
"You don't need to think about it too much. It gives you ugly wrinkles," Galaxy shrugged.
"Huh? I don't think the Staff of Wisdom makes one look more aged, although I wouldn't be surprised if it did," Ami said, slightly confused.
"I meant THINKING gives you wrinkles, not the stupid Staff. Now how do we get back to Crystal Tokyo? Do we jump off of this weird little island?" Galaxy asked. She looked over the edge; all she could see was sky, no land below or above.
"I suppose we could try, or else fall to our deaths. But there doesn't seem to be anything to fall onto. Of course, the force of falling could kill us, or at least render us unconcious," Ami answered, "This place looks like it's from a video game Usagi used to play when we were your age. In the video game, your character was killed if he fell off this island, but in our case, Rei's prophecy about the Magic Knights may come into play."
"You mean it might be a way to escape? Then let's get jumping!" Galaxy did so, but she didn't fall far before something pulled her back.
"Mrs. Mizuno! You just SAID we might be able to escape this way!"
"I'm not Mrs. Mizuno. Now hand over the Staff of Wisdom or I kill this girl with my sword," said a voice, speaking first to Galaxy and then to Ami.
"Galaxy, please transform and save yourself. There's more choices than what she said," was Ami's brave reply, though she feared that there wasn't hope as Umi's blade slipped closer to causing the death of the Chinese Sailor Senshi.
"Get OFF of me! Popsicle Prism Power, Make Up!" shouted Galaxy, shoving Umi away from her. Umi dropped her sword, startled, then she charged again, leaving little time for her two targets to dodge.
"I need the Staff of Wisdom! Clef needs it to save Cephiro!" she demanded.
"Shabon Spray!" called Sailor Popsicle, filling the lower portion of the island with fog. Umi started laughing at her.
"What good is that going to do? Now you can't hit me!" she taunted.
"True, but you can't see ME either," Sailor Popsicle retorted.
"Yeah, but what are you going to fight me with? I don't think you have any more magic powers," Umi argued back. Sailor Popsicle began to panic; Umi was correct about that. What else was she supposed to do? She couldn't see Ami or Umi, she didn't know what was going on, she...had an idea.
"Why do you want to fight us anyway? It's so unfeminine," she tried.
"That makes no sense! If fighting was unfeminine, then I never would've been allowed on my own fencing team, and neither would my captain!" shouted Umi, lunging around in the fog.
"Then whoever started that fencing team in the first place had no idea of the proper roles of the sexes," Sailor Popsicle answered, smirking to herself a little bit as she noticed that Umi's voice seemed to be getting farther away from her.
"Why should I believe you? You're one of those evil Sailor Senshi who's going to destroy Cephiro after we worked so hard to save it!" Umi snarled. Sailor Popsicle began to panic again, as she didn't know how to deal with this kind of situation. She shrieked as she felt someone's arms grab her.
"It's okay, Galaxy. It's just me. We can defeat her together. Trust me, I've fought battles using this power before," came Ami's gentle voice.
"How are we supposed to defeat an enemy we can't see?" Sailor Popsicle whined. Ami let go of her.
"True, but she can't see us either. We have the advantage, since I can teach you how to manuever in this fog. Press the earring on your right ear and see what happens," Ami suggested. Sailor Popsicle did so, and she was surprised that she could suddenly see around her again, even though everything had a blue tint to it. She put her hand to her face, where she found that there now was a pair of magic sunglasses.
"So this is one of the things that you used as Sailor Mercury? Do I get a computer too?" she asked.
"I doubt it, since it hasn't appeared yet. The visor probably will only come up when you use Shabon Spray, since it doesn't have as much of a use otherwise," Ami said.
"Whatever gives me an advantage against that stupid macho fencer," Sailor Popsicle agreed.
"Let's go do it, then. Remember, killing her saves her," Ami reminded. She and Sailor Popsicle began to search for Umi, who might've hidden herself or ran off. As they were looking, they both were knocked down by twin blasts of water.
"Yes! I hit the Senshi! At least, I think I did," Umi said. Sailor Popsicle turned around; she now could see that the blue Magic Knight was behind her, readying her sword for a head chop. She jumped at Umi, crashing them both to the ground.
"Now just let us kill you. You'll go back to your world if you do," Sailor Popsicle said firmly. Umi struggled underneath, trying to grab her sword. Sailor Popsicle picked her up, intending to shove Umi over the edge, but Umi kicked her hard, knocking them both down again.
"I am NOT going to let you lie like that! I am the great and powerful Selece!" Umi declared maniacally. Sailor Popsicle was confused; who was Selece? She wished Serena was there to explain, since she knew so much about the Magic Knights from watching that anime show.
"You're Umi! Don't make up silly things!" she blurted out, but it was still evident to Umi that her opponent wasn't as confident as she was trying to sound.
"Sapphire Hurricane!" called Umi. This move not only blew away the fog, but crashed Umi, Sailor Popsicle, and Ami around too.
"Why didn't you do that in the first place if you couldn't see?!" Sailor Popsicle demanded. Actually, it was more like she shrieked it in fear, as they were both now precariously close to the edge of the floating island.
"Because I wanted to see what you would do," Umi smirked. She had her sword back, and she was ready to do some Senshi beheading. Sailor Popsicle rolled forward with a shove, and they both went flying over the edge of the island.
"Good job. Now you both can go back to your worlds," Ami whispered before she, too, leaped down into the eternal sky.