Chapter 2 "Big, Pink, and Scary!"

"Sandy, you can't tell me you're gonna go after this thing again?" Spongebob panted, frantically trying to keep up with his friend.

"I'm not going it alone, this time!" she exclaimed, running faster.

Spongebob struggled to keep up. "But Sandy, no one in Bikini Bottom would dare go after an Alaskan Bull Worm! Especially not after last time!"

-----

The two arrived at Sandy's treedome. Sandy seemed unfazed by the long hard run, but Spongebob had his hands on his knees, gasping for breath.

Sandy smiled. "I'm not having anyone help me," she said.

Spongebob looked confused.

Sandy laughed. "Say hello to Project 203!" she said, pressing a button on the dome.

Two hatch doors by the side of the treedome appeared, and Sandy pulled out a giant tube.

"But--I thought this was where you kept your rocket--" Spongebob started to protest, and then remembered that he'd crashed Sandy's rocket, and decided to be quiet.

Sandy laughed again. "It was!"

"So...what's it do?" Spongebob asked.

Sandy's grin grew even wider. "It's a giant vacuum cleaner. I've been waiting for a chance to test it, and I figured this is the darndest best chance I'm gonna get!" she said.

"Oh," Spongebob looked the contraption over. "But, where does it all go?"

"Well Spongebob, I'm glad you asked!" Sandy picked up a roll of paper, opened it, and showed it to Spongebob. "I built a giant holding tank underground, which wasn't too hard considering there was already a space there from the rocket," she nudged him in a playful accusation, "and it automatically empties itself into the Bikini Bottom Dump after each use." she beamed, waiting for Spongebob to say something.

-----

Spongebob was honestly impressed. "Wow, Sandy! How long have you been working on this?" he asked.

"Since the rocket," she teased.

Spongebob felt his face go hot. He wished she would quit bringing that up, but then again, it was his fault.

"Any more questions?" she asked.

Spongebob shook his head NO.

"Alright then, let's test this thing out!"

-----

Sandy ran slightly in front of Spongebob, holding the front end of the long nozzle connecting to her giant vacuum cleaner.

"Okay, so what was the plan again?" Spongebob sounded nervous.

She wasn't surprised. He had completely flipped out on her the first time she went to take this thing on. But now, she had a better idea of it's monstrosity, and it shouldn't be too hard to take him down with this thing.

"You'll call his attention, then run as FAST as you can, Spongebob! I'll sneak up behind him and turn the vacuum on, he'll be sucked down the pope into the hold, and then later relased to the dump." she explained. "Got all that? Sound good?"

He was sounding less and less sure by the minute. "Yeah, sounds good," he said. "Except for the part where I call his attention," he muttered nervously.

Sandy knew she wasn't supposed to hear that, but couldn't help responding. "You'll be fine, Spongebob! I'll catch him before he can come near you." she assured him.

-----

Spongebob felt slightly bolder after hearing his friend's words, but couldn't help being scared half to death. What if something went terribly wrong, like it normally did?

Nearing the city, Spongebob didn't have time to ponder his thoughts, as he heard the kind of mayhem and chaos that could only be caused by an Alaskan Bull Worm...or a butterfly.

When he could actually see the creature, he was sure he would melt. It was bigger than he remembered!

"Alright, ya'll remember our plan, right?"

"Uh-uh-huh..." Spongebob stuttered.

"Good! Now, git out there!"

On shaking legs, Spongebob placed himself where, normally, he wouldn't dare be; right in next to the worm.

In a voice he wasn't quite sure was his own, he shouted "Hey!"

The worm froze.

"Hey you!"

The worm turned around to face him.

"Yeah, that's right, you!" his voice cracked, and he was itching to run away. "Come and get some!"

As the worm lunged in his direction, Spongebob made a dash for it, running faster than he ever remembered running.

-----

"Go Spongebob, Go!" Sandy rooted. "Now, let's put this plan into action!"

She ran up behind the worm and flipped the switch on the cleaner, or at least, tried to.

"What in tarnation?" she exclaimed, pulling harder on the switch.

"It's jammed!"

-----

"Jammed!?" Spongebob exclaimed, still running.

"Hold him off while I fix it, Spongebob!" she told him.

Hold him off? Just how was he supposed to do that? Well, he'd think of something.

"Run faster, Spongebob!" he muttered to himself.

He ran past an overturned boat, then looked up to see that the worm had used it as a ramp, and was now flying above him. Spongebob covered his head with his hands, and braced for impact.