Chapter 12 – Gambling Den
Nighttime-7:30
As Weaver and LeFou walk with Maerco, Star chirped, "I'll wait up for you!"
"Kisses!" Marco replied.
Using the red yarn, Jimmy rappels down the door, like a huge rocky cliff face. As he descends to the hallway floor, he unties the yarn from his waist and runs down the hallway. As he stops at a corner cautiously, he finds a door standing slightly ajar and he runs over to it.
Peeking through the door crack, he sees Marco, Weaver and Lefou entering through a vending machine's hatch. As the flap closes, Jimmy quietly enters the teacher's lounge and he crept over to the machine.
He stops short and looks up to see shadows moving behind the vending machine's neon green sign. Jimmy walks closer to the machine, and he enters through the hatch, he softly closes the flap. He looks up to hear the voices echoing. Jimmy climbs up the wall of cookies, chips, and candy bars, using the coils for handholds.
In the top compartment of the machine, he enters through a duct. As he peeks through a corner, he sees Marco and his friends sitting around a See 'N' Say, using it as a gambling machine.
"All right! Place your bets. Come on!" Marco advised. "Any splits?" As they talk, they gamble with Monopoly money and Alkaline batteries. Bender pulls at a string, and an arrow spins around, like a roulette wheel.
The gang begins to root for their bets to see which animal the arrow will land on, until Marco waves his hand to intervene. "All right that's it. No more bets.
"Lemme have the duck! Lemme have the duck!" Dave, the rubber octopus chided.
"Here is a duck! Quack quack!" The See N Say said.
"Yes, I won!" Dave whooped.
LeFou groaned in anger and frustration as Dave scoops up the money. "Well, Dave takes the round." Marco said.
"You lost!" Dave gloated, while pointing to LeFou. He pounds on the table in frustration.
"Okay, minimum bet, five Monopoly. Coyotes wild." Marco replied.
"Oh, here!" Dave said, passing to batteries to Marco.
"Changing two double AA's." Marco said, passing a Monopoly dollar bill to Dave. "So, what did you guys think of the new recruits? Any keepers?"
"Oh, please! Landfill!" Dave added sarcastically.
"Vortex girl? Lion?" Marco asked.
"Toddler fodder." Weaver sighed.
"But that inventor guy." Marco said. Jimmy kept on listening, upon eavesdropping. "He could be useful."
"He really isn't the sharpest knife in the place where they keep the knives." LeFou said.
"Neither are you, LeFou." Bender said.
The toys all laugh. "You got a little keeper to yourself, didn't you Marco?" Weaver said, elbowing Marco playfully.
"Hey, lay off, Weaver! Star's different." Marco said seriously.
"Aww, Mister Softie over here." Dave cooed.
"What do you expect that from a girl's toy?" LeFou cracked.
"I'm not a girl's toy!" Marco shouted, pounding fists on the gambling deck. "I'm not! Why do you guys keep saying that?"
"Ah, all them toys are disposable. We would be lucky if they last us a week." Weaver replied, relaxing and resting his feet on the table.
Jimmy he begins to leave, he bumps into somebody. He looks up to see that he's bumped into Baby Huey who glares down at him darkly. The duck tosses him onto the See N Say, startling the group. "Well, well. Lookie who we have here." Marco placed his hands on hips.
The toys grab and hold onto Jimmy. "Let me go!" he demanded.
'Take him to the library." Marco added darkly.
A hood with a rag doll face goes over his head. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Jimmy screamed.
Later that night, Bubbles is now sleeping with all of her toys, who sleep soundly as well. SpongeBob and Sandy pop up from the group of slumbering toys, and they go to step over her arm. They jerk back as Bubbles stirs in her sleep. They tiptoe quietly down to the end of the bed, and they see Bubbles' backpack and cape hanging from a hook on the door. SpongeBob and Sandy push a chair up to the door. Upon climbing up on the seat, they balance on the back and SpongeBob moves the cape aside to see an address.
"1555 Sydney Rd." SpongeBob whispered.
"That must be the address where Bubbles lives." Sandy whispered also.
"Psst." They turn to see Bubbles's toys standing up. They're completely astonished of what SpongeBob and Sandy are doing. "SpongeBob, Sandy, what are you doing?" Smek asked.
"We gotta get outta here!" Sandy said, jumping down onto the seat with SpongeBob.
"You're leaving?" Gia asked.
"But didn't you have fun today?" Bolt asked, jumping down onto the floor with Smek.
"Well, of course we did, more than we've had in years, but you see we belong to someone else." SpongeBob said, lifting up his shoe. Sandy lifted up her boot, and they have a familiar name underneath.
"Who's E-KIM?" Bolt asked.
"I believe it's pronounced, E-KIME." Smek added.
Vanellope jumped down to the floor, annoyed by their clueless behavior. "Guys, it says 'MIKE'."
"He's our Dora." SpongeBob replied. "And he's leaving soon, so we gotta get home!" The toys join the sponge and squirrel on the floor, and gather around him.
"Where's home?" Blue Jay asked.
"Elm Street. 212 Elm." SpongeBob said. "Do you guys have a map?"
"My friend's right, guys." Sandy said. "If we need to get back home, we're gonna need some directions."
"We're on it, guys." Vanellope notified. "Gia?"
Gia replied, "I'll fire up the computer."
