Chapter 18: Cinnamon and Vanilla vs. Janet

Cinnamon and Vanilla found themsevles standing on a floor made of tan tiles, which was overlooking a long drop into a pool of water.

"This can't be the world our enemies came from, unless it's their swimming pool room. Or is it? Did Caramel and Cupcake tell you anything about what their world looked like when they went there to rescue Peaches?" Vanilla asked.

"They only saw one room, which was probably the bedroom of the girl who captured him. They could have a pool room, though. I don't see anyone else around," Cinnamon said, a note of fear in her voice. All the Senshi should have gone through the portal, but the only other Senshi she could see was Vanilla, who was right next to her.

"It looks like the only thing to do is look for them, and the only way to do that is to dive into the pool, so let's go! Maybe if we transform, our Senshi powers will let us breathe underwater! Asteroid Planet Power, Make Up!" Vanilla declared, turning into Sailor Asteroid.

"But do you even have water powers? I don't want you to drown, and I don't want to drown either. My mother taught me how to swim but I'm not as good as she is and I don't even know how deep that pool is," Cinnamon worried.

"That is true, Cinnamon. No one can live up to your mother's perfection," said a voice that Sailor Asteroid recognized.

"Janet? Is that you? Come out of hiding!" she called.

"Doesn't that make you feel inferior to have a mother like that? She makes everyone look bad by comparison, and makes them resent her, with the way she parades her perfection all over," Janet continued, ignoring Sailor Asteroid.

"I don't resent my mother. Why would I hate her for being a better swimmer than me?" Cinnamon asked.

"Because she's obnoxiously perfect and it makes me want to punch her in her smirking face!" Janet screamed, shooting up out of the pool below on a spray of water. She landed on the ledge next to Cinnamon and Sailor Asteroid, facing off against Cinnamon.

"I thought you said Sailor Uranus was one of your favorites! She would hate you for insulting her lover like that!" Sailor Asteroid argued.

"Why do you think my mother is perfect just because she's good at swimming? And why does that make you hate her? I don't understand why you would hate someone for being talented," Cinnamon said, confused as to why Janet seemed so angry at Michiru.

"It's not just swimming, it's art, being so smug and elegant that she makes even the Queen think she's a perfect princess, and she can even play the violin and bounce a lemon on it! And she never has any times where she's the butt of the joke and made to look silly! Doesn't that make you jealous of her abilities and hate her too?!" Janet demanded, shoving Cinnamon against the wall behind them. Cinnamon stared at Janet, too frightened and confused to respond.

"Stop bullying her!" Sailor Asteroid roared, and she tackled Janet, knocking her off of the ledge they were standing on. Janet managed to grab the edge, and she reached up and shot a blast of water at the two girls. Both of them were taken by surprise, and they fell down into the pool of water below. Sailor Asteroid surfaced first, but had little time to check on Cinnamon before she saw Janet leap into the pool after them. Janet dove in very gracefully, just nearly missing Cinnamon, who was coughing as she came to the surface. Cinnamon realized that she should probably transform too, given the way that Janet was so angry at her over Michiru.

"Venus Cosmic Power, Make Up!" she managed to gasp out, the familiar Cosmic Sailor Venus uniform replacing her wet clothing.

"Asteroid Rocky Collision!" Sailor Asteroid shouted, creating a large boulder that hovered above her hands as she tread water, and she threw it at Janet. Unfortunately, Janet simply ducked under the water and quickly swam over to a silver button that was on the bottom of the pool and pushed it. Sailor Asteroid and Cosmic Sailor Venus heard what sounded like a door opening, and then they were both sucked under the water and drawn into a tunnel. Magically, both the Senshi and Janet were protected by bubbles of air that surrounded their heads, making it look like they were wearing diver's helmets. All three of them were pulled through the tunnel, and they emerged into another pool of water with a big splash.

"As I was saying to you, Cosmic Sailor Venus, isn't it frustrating to have a mother who is so perfect at everything she does? You'll never be able to be as good as her, no one will! Doesn't that make you angry?!" Janet ranted, able to speak and breathe because of the air bubble, though her voice sounded distorted.

"No, it doesn't. I love listening to my mother play her violin. I don't understand why I should hate her just for being talented. It's not like she brags about it or insults other people for not being violin experts or for not being as good at swimming as her," Cosmic Venus replied quietly but bravely.

"See?! That's just even more obnoxious perfection! If she WAS a braggart or insulted people then at least those would be flaws! I hate people that don't have any flaws and never do anything they shouldn't or mess up at anything!" Janet screamed, lunging at Cosmic Venus, who ducked and swam out of the way, wanting to escape from the girl who was raging about hating her mother.

"But Sailor Neptune DID mess up at things! I once heard that she and Uranus tried to trick Sailor Galaxia into giving up her Star Seed and they ended up getting brainwashed anyway and killed Pluto and Saturn! And even when they broke free of the brainwashing they still failed because Galaxia didn't have a Star Seed! So that was something she failed at!" Sailor Asteroid retorted triumphantly.

"Yes, I know about that," Janet snapped, "But you notice that she only can be entertainingly flawed when she's with Uranus, who actually has more interesting flaws like her temper AND is a cool athlete. She's never failed at anything on her own."

"Entertainingly flawed?! Is that all we Sailor Senshi are to you, entertainment? The whole reason you hate Sailor Neptune is because she doesn't ENTERTAIN you?! I'll give you entertainment! Asteroid Rocky Collision!" Sailor Asteroid screamed angrily, creating another boulder and shoving it at Janet. Unfortunately, it was harder for Sailor Asteroid to launch her attack because of the water resistance, making the rock move slower than it would in the air, and Janet easily dodged out of the way, showing that she had some swimming skills of her own. Janet then shot a bolt of electricity at Sailor Asteroid, and Cosmic Venus, who had begun to swim away to look for an escape route, heard Sailor Asteroid scream in pain and turned back to help her temporary partner.

"Venus Rolling Heart Vibration!" she called, hoping that what usually manifested as a golden heart made of light and energy wouldn't be snuffed out by being underwater. The golden heart struck Janet, stopping her from shocking Sailor Asteroid.

"I'll show you what I mean. If this scene doesn't make you angry with jealousy, then I will have to destroy you!" Janet declared, turning quickly to face Cosmic Venus. Sparks of light crackled between her fingers, and then she spread her hands out, creating a circle of light floating in the water between them. She touched another mysterious silver button that was on the floor of the pool and a scene appeared in the circle, as if it was a TV screen.

"That looks like Mom and Haruka, only when they were younger," Cosmic Venus realized. In the video scene that played in the circle of light, Michiru was playing her violin in a park, and Haruka and Usagi were watching. Haruka tossed a lemon into the air, and it landed on Michiru's violin. However, Michiru continued to play despite the interference, twirling around gracefully and bouncing the lemon on her violin like a musical juggler. The screen then played several different scenes of a young Makoto Kino where she compared various boys to the senior boy she once had an unrequited crush on. Suddenly, the circle glowed completely white as Janet roared with rage, and sparks shot out of it, striking both Cosmic Sailor Venus and Sailor Asteroid.

"You're not going to make us hate our own mothers by showing us that," Sailor Asteroid growled in defiance.

"What if I told you this? How would you like it if your parents divorced because your stupid mom couldn't get over that old crush of hers?! What if she NEVER married your father and you were never born?!" Janet screamed, lunging forward and slamming Sailor Asteroid against the bottom of the pool.

"Asteroid Rocky Collision!" Sailor Asteroid countered, creating another large boulder and shoving it and Janet away from her. "That's not going to happen. My parents are happy together."

"Then you must die!" Janet snarled, shooting more electric bolts at both Senshi, who also attacked at the same time.

"Asteroid Rocky Collision!"

"Venus Rolling Heart Vibration!" The two attacks hit the electricity, creating an explosion that blew all three of them out of the water, and they all landed in a crashing heap on another, higher area that was made of the same tan bricks. Unfortunately for Janet, the two Senshi had landed on top of her, knocking her out.

"Trying to make us hate our own parents. Who does she think she is, anyway?" Sailor Asteroid muttered annoyedly.

"I don't know. What's scary is how she was able to show us those scenes of our mothers' pasts," said Cosmic Venus, "I know that she and the others in her group saw our parents on an anime show, but even that doesn't make any sense. How could someone have made an anime about our parents without them knowing about it?"

"Since they came from an alternate dimension, maybe someone in that dimension was taking videos and pictures of them that you couldn't see from our world," Sailor Asteroid suggested. She then heard a sound like the tinkling of bells, and a signpost with the Asteroid and Venus symbols twirled down from the sky and landed between the two Senshi. They then glowed with their auras of pink and orange and disappeared from what had been their watery battleground.