Chapter 28: Wet-Dry World
When Bridget O'Malley awoke, she found herself sitting in a shallow pool of water, with King Endymion standing nearby. What was she doing here with the King?! Was she supposed to bow to him and vow to be his servant?
"I remember this place. Where was it?" he was pondering aloud.
"Are we at a site you visited once, Your Majesty?" Bridget asked nervously.
"I don't think so. I just remember seeing it somewhere. I think there was a fat little guy with a red hat in it too," Endymion replied.
"You mean it was in a picture?"
"The scenery was moving, though. Probably a movie somewhere. Since the Magic Knights could come visit us from the world of their anime show, possibly we are in the world of some movie."
"That makes sense, Your Majesty. Would you like to..." Bridget gasped in mid-sentence as the water level suddenly rose up to her chest; it was a little higher on King Endymion's body since she was a few inches taller than him.
"Now I'm definitely remembering this from somewhere. It may have been in a video game. I remember Usagi playing it..."
"Die, evil King. The masses will rise against you," a voice snarled.
"Who said that? Should I transform to protect you, Your Majesty?" asked Bridget. Endymion nodded.
"Cupcake Prism Power, Make Up!" In response, the water level moved up even more, so that Endymion and Sailor Cupcake couldn't reach the bottom anymore and they had to swim over to a higher level.
"The rising tide represents the common people you have oppressed. Drown in their anger, Sailor Senshi." That voice spoke again, sounding calmer this time.
"Why won't you show yourself to us?" asked Sailor Cupcake.
"Because I fear my appearance would not be pleasing to your monarchial eyes," the voice sighed sadly.
"But I'm not royalty. So may I see you?"
"No! You are a Sailor Senshi, which puts you up with royalty! If you weren't a Senshi, then would you have been able to meet Endymion? I hardly think so!" the voice boomed.
"Then I order you as King of Earth to show yourself!" Endymion demanded. The voice was silent, but there was a faint flicker of blue light behind a box that was at the bottom of the pool. Sailor Cupcake noticed it.
"Is that where the voice is coming from?" she asked. Should she go swim down there and risk being attacked?
"Possibly you could use your vine powers to pull the box out of the way?" Endymion suggested. Sailor Cupcake nodded.
"Vines Entanglement!" she called. But before the long green plants could snake far from her hands, the box suddenly glowed bright blue and flew up out of the water. It landed back down on the surface with a splash and zoomed past the startled pair.
"Vines Entanglement!" Sailor Cupcake quickly shouted, catching the box in her vines. It flew back and smashed into her. Oddly, it didn't feel like wood or metal or any kind of normal "box" material, it was more like a girl had hit her.
"Evil Sailor Senshi..." There was that voice again; Sailor Cupcake heard it as she sank underwater, the girl's body shoving her deeper and deeper. "Sapphire Hurricane!" Suddenly the water around the two of them began to swirl rapidly, and Sailor Cupcake and the unknown girl were thrown out of the water. They landed up on a ledge just as the water rose again. This time it was high enough that Endymion could join them on the ledge too.
"She has that kind of armor that Fuu had when she attacked when I first transformed. Is she a Magic Knight?" asked Sailor Cupcake.
"And you're a Sailor Senshi..." The girl spoke, her voice normal now instead of disembodied and mysterious.
"Yes, I am. I am Sailor Cupcake, heir of the plant magic of Jupiter." She stopped, confused. Why had those words come out of her mouth like that?
"Water Dragon!" A water blast came out of the girl's hand and struck Sailor Cupcake in the chest. She fell backwards; luckily she didn't go over the edge into the water again. The girl stood up, her long, pale blue hair falling down over her back gracefully. Her fencing sword appeared in her hand, but she kept it pointed down and not at Endymion or Sailor Cupcake.
"Why are you crying? What's wrong?" asked Sailor Cupcake.
"Because I have to kill you! And I don't wanna do that!" sobbed the girl, "I already had to kill Emeraude, and that was bad enough! Umi Ryuuzaki is a fencer, but...I hate fencing! I hate swords! I just want to live peacefully in a shack in the woods!"
"Then why don't you do that? Why are you following Sailor Nemesis's orders?" Endymion asked.
"Because she'll kill me! And she'll make Fuu and Hikaru watch. I don't want them to see that," cried Umi.
"Are you really Umi? Mrs. Aino described you from when she saw you on your anime show, and you had a very different personality," Sailor Cupcake noted. Umi gasped, blushing as she hid her face.
"Oh no. What'll I do? I'm not worthy to appear on television! I'm so plain! Money is just money, it doesn't make me look any better."
"You look fine. Just wash your tears off and you'll be beautiful," Sailor Cupcake reassured her. Endymion knelt down next to the gentle Senshi.
"Should we be helping her like this? She could be pretending to lull us in a false sense of security," he whispered.
"WAAAAH!!! You're so mean! I'm going to hide from you!" screamed Umi when she overheard the comment. She ran across the water as if she was a water beetle instead of a human girl and then she leaped into a fenced-off area and swam down, down into a hole below.
"I think we should follow her," suggested King Endymion. Sailor Cupcake nodded in response and they swam over. Once they started the swim to the bottom, bubbles formed around their bodies to act as air pockets so they could breathe. They found Umi in what appeared to be an underwater city. Umi was at the bottom of the pool and she touched a small, colorful jewel. This made the water level go down so that they were all trapped and couldn't swim out to the main section. Sailor Cupcake sighed; Endymion was probably right about Umi's behavior being a trick, and she had fallen for it.
"You are much more wonderful than I. You had those magic bubbles around you; I had nothing," Umi sighed.
"Vines Entanglement!" Umi shrieked as she found herself tied up with that scary fanged Senshi on the other end.
"Please don't hurt me," she whimpered.
"How do I know you're not tricking us?" Sailor Cupcake demanded.
"Why would I trick anyone?! I'm just a sweet, innocent girl!" sobbed Umi.
"Stop stalling, Bridget. We're supposed to kill the Magic Knights anyway; that way they'll be free from Sailor Nemesis," King Endymion pointed out.
"I can't kill her! It's not right!"
"She won't be killed, she's just going back to her own world."
"What kind of talk is that?! Just let me go!" Umi wailed.
"No! Endymion's right! Mrs. Hino is right!" Sailor Cupcake exclaimed as she tightened the vines so that they began to choke Umi.
"Please stop..." Umi whispered helplessly.
"We're going to rescue you. You'll get to see Fuu and Hikaru again," Sailor Cupcake said kindly as Umi took her last breath. She slumped over, glowing with a blue light. She then disappeared in a flash.
"That was it?" Sailor Cupcake then looked down at herself, and at Endymion. They were glowing too, going back to their world as well.