A/N: I originally started 'Prevention' in 2009 but never finished it. Many people wanted more so I decided to begin anew, this time with actual knowledge of the English language and hopefully a more stable plot. We'll see! This first bit is a prologue and will be the only chapter in first POV.
I never wanted any of this to happen.
From the very beginning of the chaos, I wasn't thinking about the future, my friends, or Bikini Bottom. I just wanted to survive...and survive I did.
Now I'm alone. In the past, I didn't know what the word truly meant. Alone: it had a definition in my brain, and from time to time I would define myself as feeling alone with nothing to do. But I was never actually alone...I had everything you could ask for, plus the most optimistic outlook in the sea. Once you're dragged into a cage, however, everything changes. The room grows smaller. The world gets louder. Every movement could be a sign of offense, and with heightened senses comes an indescribable paranoia.
Such a feeling of unrest leads you wishing that your final days will come. In my frenzied state of mind, suicide was always waiting to be plucked out of my subconscious, but I never let it become more than a desperate idea. Though broken, my former self was still in pieces, and he wouldn't even think the word. Depression had no meaning to him. Trapped in a reality where I could do no more but lay staring in a jail cell, all I did was wait.
Just keep waiting.
It has been five years since it happened, and I haven't forgiven myself.
To prevent further torture, it was best just to hide in the shadows, only showing my face for food or orders from...him.
My fists clenched and shook at that the thought of the monster. I bit my mouth to keep from screaming. That monster is what has driven me insane, leaving me to roll in my own filth and stare at the rusting, metal walls.
But what could I do? When I wasn't sleeping in my cell, I was ordered to keep guard and make sure that no one step foot in the building. Who would actually come in, anyway? The remaining citizens were too terrified of their supreme ruler to even approach his home. My day job was pointless, but he found enjoyment in spending this time throwing me around, and when I didn't cooperate, threatening and carrying out starvation.
Many times I've wanted to give up, but that little spark of my former self always brings hope. What if there was a way? What if there was a way to change all of this, to be free, to change...
Time!
That one word blared in my head, blocking out all other thoughts. Could the past really be changed?
I remembered the one machine that he told me never to touch. He said it was an old experiment, built back in the days when he was only a failed fast food restaurant owner. "Never go near that piece of junk," he barked at me once. "Or I'll rip your little yellow arms and legs off and use them to beat up the rest of you." I had just hung my head low, knowing that if he saw my frightened face that I would truly be humiliated.
Nothing else mattered now except getting to that machine. I groaned as I tried to force myself off of the concrete floor. I hadn't eaten in a few days and it left me weak and pained. Once my shaking feet stood on their own, I scanned my surroundings. The grimy walls and dreary grays plunged my eyes into a murky scene that made it hard to differentiate anything. How had I lived like this all of these years?
A bowl of food rested by the door, with the word 'DOG' hastily scrawled across the front. I scowled down at it, pushing away my desire to kick it into the wall.
My door was often unlocked, for he knew that I wouldn't try to escape-security was too high and my spirit was vanquished long ago. I almost squealed with glee as the metal entrance slowly creaked open. Beyond my cell were hallways filled with endless paintings and statues of him.
As I quietly strolled down the new hallway, I wondered where the robots were. They were always patrolling the place, making sure that I hadn't tried to cause a scene or escape. I eyed the cameras attached to the wall. They were on, but not sounding.
Something's going on, I realized, quickening my pace as I neared his laboratory. He hadn't used the massive chamber in years, so it was bound to be abandoned. I kept my laser gun close-one that I had stolen from a robot months ago, unbeknownst to him-just in case.
As expected, no one was around except Karen, who was long past ever waking up again. A part of me felt sorry for the neglected computer, for she used to be the only thing he went to for support. Now her screen was forever black, a giant crack punched through the middle in what had to have been uncontrollable rage.
"Aha!" I whispered as I finally spotted the machine. It was pushed to the back of the room, along with other forgotten inventions.
I slinked over to the dusty contraption, hoping that it was indeed the life saver I had been searching for.
Its familiar silhouette was all the confirmation I needed.
The machine was rather small and gray like the rest of the room, with many levers and knobs protruding out of its control board. Only two bright buttons mattered to my eyes, though: PAST and FUTURE.
I grinned for the first time in years, eager to mash the PAST button. Without better judgement, I did, only to realize that the machine needed a pass code.
Cursing loudly, I slammed a hand down on the array of controls. I had come so far without being noticed, and now I needed a code to get this thing to work?
Before I lost all composure, I decided to enter the first word that came to mind. I dusted off the old keys to the right of the FUTURE button and began to type.
The machine buzzed and the screen sputtered to life. Choose your destination, it read.
"Huh, so it was 'EVIL' after all," I said, my mouth so agape that it threatened to fall from its hinges. I pushed the PAST button more cautiously this time, hoping that it would actually work. Another prompt appeared on the screen: Enter years. I stared at the keyboard, and then with shaking fingers, typed 5.
"Freeze where you stand!"
Familiar, robotic voices whirred behind me followed by the screech of wheeling legs.
I was caught.
My gaze snapped back up to the screen which now said: You will reach your destination in 10 seconds.
"Get him!"
His robots rushed toward me, their laser hands outstretched and ready to stun. I clumsily pulled out my own gun, shooting one in the head.
6 seconds.
I shot another one in the leg, causing its wheel to break off and spin out of control.
3 seconds.
Another one latched onto my arm, but I shook it away before it could touch the controls. The remaining robot wheeled around, dazed by the chaos.
1 second.
I caught a glimpse of another horde coming my way through the door when the world turned black.
I will save them, was my final thought before all consciousness faded away.
