In this chapter, our heroes will enter the pyramid. But you can probably tell that just by reading the title. I hope I'm not spoiling too much.
There's going to be mummies waiting for them, as I said. Hopefully Mr. Krabs won't panic and run back home. If he does, our heroes will be at a disadvantage.
If they manage to make it to the end, they'll be facing the pharaoh himself.
Can they defeat him? He has the strength of ages.
Then again, considering how long his show has been on the air, perhaps Spongebob isn't young himself.
As a side note, my dad's birthday is here!
Chapter 28: Pyramid Panic
"It looks like we managed to make it to the pyramid..." noted Sandy.
"I'm pooped." remarked Patrick. He stuck his tongue out and gasped for water.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" asked Squidward.
"You were right. It is cold in the desert at night." remarked Pearl. What exactly had caused the sudden drop in temperature?
She began to shiver. It was a good thing she had blubber to provide insulation. Being a whale had its perks.
It seemed to defy common sense, but Sandy had given them all good advice regarding the climate.
Not that she had to worry about the cold personally. She was a fire superhero. She actually had more to worry about from sprinklers.
And yes, they had sprinklers underwater. It seemed kind of redundant...but there were sprinklers.
Neither did Patrick, as an ice superhero. It could be below zero for all he cared.
Though if he came into the desert during the day, he would be at a disadvantage. He wouldn't be as powerful.
They could see the full moon bearing down at them. Of course, they could also see it in the forest and in the graveyard.
There were also stars.
However, now was not the time to be looking at them. Though there certainly were a lot of them out in the sky tonight.
Suddenly, sand sharks emerged from the sand.
"Sand sharks? What is this world coming to?" asked Squidward.
Spongebob shrugged. Perhaps water sharks simply weren't interesting enough.
Fortunately, our heroes were able to hold them off.
"That sponge broke my tooth!" exclaimed one of the sharks.
"You have 1600 of them." pointed out another.
Inside the pyramid were more of Plankton's cousins.
Fortunately for them, it seemed they were light enough to avoid activating the booby traps that were in the pyramid.
"Mr. Krabs, you need to watch your step." warned Squidward.
"Right..." answered the crab.
Lousy booby traps.
"You think what we're looking forward is at the top of the pyramid?" asked Spongebob.
"That's probably it." nodded Sandy.
Inside the pyramid were more ghosts.
"How many ghosts do you think we'll have to face?" questioned Spongebob. He already knew that if they wanted to stop CHUM, they needed to defeat the Flying Dutchman.
"I don't know." answered Patrick.
Well, fighting ghosts for the second time wasn't as scary as the first. People tended to get used to this sort of thing after a while.
As it turned out, there were mummies up ahead.
It was doubtful that they would be happy to see intruders.
"You're not stealing our treasure!" exclaimed one of the mummies.
They had been guarding it for years...and they had no intention of stopping.
Though perhaps they should consider spending some of it. It could be put to good use.
"See? I told you that there would be mummies." remarked Squidward.
Though he wondered whether it was him or the author that was saying that.
"Aahhhh!" exclaimed Mr. Krabs, pressing his claws against the side of his head.
What was he going to do?
Well, running around and screaming wasn't the solution to his problem.
Besides, he might end up stepping on a booby trap.
Those could be pretty nasty.
Fortunately, if they grabbed onto a loose bandage, they could make the mummy collapse.
"I would recommend using fire." suggested Mindy.
Sure enough, fire seemed to work well against the mummies.
However, they retaliated by summoning insects to attack them.
Also present were treasure chests.
But when Mr. Krabs opened up, it suddenly attempted to bite him.
He gasped.
It seemed they were up against mimics.
"This pyramid really is booby-trapped!" exclaimed Mr. Krabs.
"You can't just go around touching everything you see." warned Sandy. That was a good way to get yourself in trouble.
Perhaps the crustacean needed to restrain himself.
Fortunately, the mimics weren't tough.
But they did need to worry about their sharp teeth.
"Oww!" exclaimed Patrick, clutching his right arm, which now had teeth marks on it.
In retaliation, he knocked two mimics into each other.
"Have you ever thought of becoming a sumo wrestler, Patrick?" asked Gary.
"Why would I do that?" questioned Patrick.
"You have the right build for it." noted Wendy.
"He eats like a pig." thought Squidward to himself. No wonder Mr. Krabs loved him. He earned him a lot of money.
"I would recommend examining a treasure chest before opening it." warned Mindy. You might not find something that you liked.
Though she did admit it was kind of tempting.
Mr. Krabs would do well to take that advice.
Guarding the pyramid were mummy worms.
"More mummies?" asked Squidward.
Sandy scared them off with fire.
Unfortunately for Squidward, on the way to the top of the pyramid, he ran into a familiar face.
A face he was hoping that he wouldn't run into.
"Squilliam? What are you doing here?" asked the Invisible Ink.
He wasn't expecting to find him in a pyramid of all places. He was under the impression he would be at home swimming in his luxury pool.
And yes, Squilliam happened to be a hedonist.
Wendy growled at him.
It seemed she did not like Squilliam at all.
"Huh. Would you look at that. My worm dislikes Squilliam immediately." remarked the octopus. Perhaps she had sensed what a snob he was. He was kind of like Bubble Bass...but compared to Bubble Bass, Squilliam was pretty skinny.
It didn't surprise him terribly considering she had quickly grown to dislike Spongebob.
"What am I'm doing here? What else? I'm looking for treasure." explained Squilliam.
"Figures." answered Squidward. Perhaps Squilliam was the one resident of Bikini Bottom that as greedy as his boss was.
"Oh, and I also noticed Plankton had placed a bounty on your heads." noted the octopus. He knew a good opportunity to make money when he saw one.
"Uh-oh." remarked Spongebob. It looked as if Squilliam had decided that this would be a good way to get rid of his rival Squidward.
As such, it seemed our heroes were going to have to get ready to fight him.
Squilliam pulled out a trumpet.
Perhaps this was his weapon of choice.
After all, Squidward's weapon of choice was a clarinet.
Invisible Ink assumed that he was a better musician though. Perhaps that was his hubris talking. Or maybe it was his contempt for his rival.
It seemed that Squilliam was going to summon foes to attack them, much as Squidward normally did.
Sure enough, he did just that.
"I figured that since you're fighting me eight on one, I'd do something to help even the odds." remarked Squilliam.
"Seems fair." nodded Squidward. He wasn't sure how his rival would win against them otherwise.
Plankton's cousins appeared and started shooting at them with their paintball guns.
"Get them!" exclaimed one of the cousins, pointing his hand in their direction.
"Take cover!" warned Sandy.
Our heroes did so.
In Gary's case, he went into his shell. He wouldn't mind giving it a paint job.
He wasn't sure when it was safe to come out though. Maybe his friends could tell him?
Narrowly, they managed to avoid being hit by the paintballs.
In Patrick's case, he used a wall of rock to defend himself.
"That was a close one." remarked Wendy. They would be in trouble if the plankton managed to land a bunch of shots.
"I was under the impression that bad guys were terrible shots..." noted Spongebob. It seemed that the plankton cousins were proving them wrong.
Then again, it typically took multiple shots for one of them to get beat up.
"Perhaps having such big eyes gives them good eyesight..." remarked Sandy.
"Don't they only have one eye?" asked Pearl. That sounded like it would limit their vision.
"Well, yes, but their eyes are huge." noted the squirrel. It reminded her a bit of a magnifying glass...which is ironically what one would use to look at an individual plankton.
Gary used his telekinesis to slam the plankton into each other.
However, one of the plankton whacked his shell with a hammer.
"Ow!" exclaimed the snail. Ironically, it sounded like when he said "Meow!"
In retaliation, Spongebob imprisoned the plankton with bubbles.
Squilliam pulled out a whistle and summoned a worm.
Judging from the spiky collar around his neck, he happened to belong to him.
"You have a worm too, huh?" asked Squidward.
Compared to Wendy, he happened to look rather aggressive. Considering who his owner was, he probably wasn't friendly.
Spongebob began to feel fairly frightened. Did Squiliam use him to keep intruders away from his manor? It wouldn't surprise him. Mr. Krabs probably shouldn't try to steal from him, though he wouldn't be terribly concerned if Squilliam did get robbed.
Though she could become aggressive herself if somebody was annoying.
"He's definitely better than yours!" remarked Squilliam.
This did not amuse Squidward. He did not take kindly when somebody insulted his worm. Not even Spongebob would do that. Even though he was known by some to be obnoxious.
The Invisible Ink punched his rival in the face.
"Ow!" exclaimed Squidward's nemesis, clutching his big nose, which was now swelling. If there was anyone in Bikini Bottom who had as big of a nose as Squidward, it was him.
"Not my nose! It's precious!" exclaimed Squilliam.
"Why do octopuses have such big noses?" questioned Patrick. Did they really need noses that big?
"I don't know. Why don't YOU have a nose?" asked Wendy. Personally she couldn't imagine life without a nose.
Personally he wondered what it would be like to have one.
Immediately, he commanded his worm to attack the heroes.
"Get him off me!" bellowed Squidward.
Those fangs hurt.
"Man, I'm glad he's not my neighbor." noted Spongebob. He definitely preferred having Squidward as a neighbor over him.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want his worm to bite me." remarked Patrick. At least he had his huge rock he called home for protection.
Wendy used webbing to restrain the worm.
"Maybe this will hold him." thought the female worm to herself. It did seem to be pretty sturdy.
Squidward sighed in relief. Now he didn't have to worry so much about being bitten. He didn't deem to be a wereworm, but why take chances?
He snarled at her...but he seemed restrained for the time being.
"Can your worm do that?" questioned the Invisible Ink. He'd be surprised if he could.
"Well, no." answered Squilliam. He was loathe to admit it, but perhaps Wendy had talents that his worm did not possess.
The Invisible Ink smirked.
However, Squidward's archetype did not intend to give up so easily. It seemed that no matter how often Squidward one upped him, he always kept his smug demeanour.
"I'll still beat you!" exclaimed Squidward's rival.
This time, he summoned bodybuilders from the Salty Spittoon.
They certainly did not look friendly.
"This is bad." remarked Spongebob.
He knew for one that he wouldn't like to visit the Salty Spittoon. The visitors scared him.
Patrick was definitely strong enough to be let in though.
The bodybuilders began to attack our heroes.
Luckily, Sandy was an experienced fighter.
"Why is he making us fight a housesnail?" asked one of the bodybuilders. You didn't get into the Salty Spittoon by fighting snails.
Suddenly, Gary felt the urge to spit.
He ended up spitting acid.
"I guess that's why. Aaahhh!" exclaimed the unfortunate bodybuilder that had been struck by the acid.
One of the bodybuilders punched Squidward, causing stars to swirl around his head.
"Squilliam is such a headache." noted the octopus.
Squilliam let out a laugh.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in one of his tentacles.
It was Wendy.
"Aaahhh! Get her off me!" bellowed Squidward's rival.
The bodybuilders attempted to do that...
...only to be flattened by Patrick, who turned himself into a wrecking ball.
Unfortunately, Squilliam stepped on a booby trap.
He was flattened by a stomper.
Luckily, it missed Wendy.
Squilliam decided to surrender.
It seemed that the odds were against him, though there were great prizes to win.
He pulled out a white flag.
"Maybe you should call yourselves the League of Equity." remarked Squilliam.
Supersponge thought about that.
The S-Men seemed to work for his team though.
Squidward smirked in satisfaction.
It seemed that Squidward had triumphed over him, though he was reluctant to admit it.
"I guess I won't be collecting the bounty on his head." noted the bounty hunter. Which was a shame, considering it was quite high.
Although, perhaps he could try again later.
That might be a good idea.
Squilliam left in his limousine.
His summoned help disappeared as well.
Afterwards, our heroes were forced to outrun a boulder.
This booby trap seemed to be a classic.
Unfortunately, Patrick had the hardest time since he was the slowest.
"Maybe you should exercise more." suggested Sandy.
However, it then occurred to him that maybe he could just smash the boulder with his fists.
He decided to do just that.
The rock smashed into pieces.
"Oh look. Patrick did something smart." remarked Squidward.
At the top of the pyramid was a throne.
Oh, and the pharaoh.
"I guess he's the one in charge here..." noted Spongebob.
"Why do you think he's wearing that shiny hat?" questioned Squidward.
Personally, Mr. Krabs wished that he had a hat like that. But he already learned that greed could be dangerous from his trip to the pyramid. He probably wasn't the first one to try plundering it.
Naturally, the mummy leader was sitting on the throne.
He seemed to be taking a snooze.
"How long has he been asleep for?" asked Spongebob.
"Maybe a hundred years?" asked Squidward. Perhaps when you were immortal you had a tendency to lose track of the time.
He seemed surprised to see them.
"How did the intruders manage to make it all the way here? Surely my royal subjects can do better at keeping the intruders out. Or perhaps we need to design better booby traps. Well, I suppose I'll just have to handle things myself. I was looking for something to do anyway." noted the pharaoh.
On the lighter side of things, it seemed that our heroes had gotten rid of the treasure hunter that was looking to pilfer his treasure.
He was glad that he was gone. He seemed like a real snob.
Judging from the staff he was carrying, he was some sort of spellcaster, just as Madame Hagfish was. He probably wasn't as strong, but it was best they approached him with caution.
The top of the staff resembled that of the sun.
There was a projection of the Flying Dutchman waiting for them.
"Him again?" questioned Squidward.
"Allow me to introduce you to Pharoah Seth VI!" exclaimed the ghost.
"I wonder where one through five are." questioned Gary.
"Is it just me or does the Flying Dutchman look a bit like Aku?" questioned Spongebob.
Squidward nodded. But this wasn't Cartoon Network. This was Nickelodeon. It was probably just a coincidence.
The pharaoh rose from his throne.
"Get ready!" exclaimed Spongebob.
Our heroes got ready to fight.
"Careful! He knows powerful magic!" warned Mindy.
The pharaoh launched a beam of light from his staff.
"I guess it's not just for show." remarked Squidward. Though considering how shiny and golden it was, it wouldn't surprise him.
Maybe he should have brought his shades.
But he probably left them at home.
Quickly, our heroes avoided the beam. Considering how fast light was known to travel, it wasn't easy to dodge.
It ended up leaving a scorch mark on the wall.
"Reminds me of the desert sun." remarked Gary. Of course, he hadn't experienced it on his way here. Which was good, because he didn't have sunscreen in his shell.
With a wave of his staff, the mummy's leader sent a sand geyser towards our heroes.
It advanced towards them quickly.
"Don't let that get in your eyes!" exclaimed Sandy.
"You're lucky you wear a helmet." remarked Squidward.
"It's true, I am." nodded Sandy.
Perhaps he should get a helmet himself.
It would drown out the noise that Spongebob and Patrick made, allowing him peace and quiet. Especially when he was trying to sleep.
Perhaps he should get one for Wendy too. He was under the impression she wouldn't want to listen to her neighbors either.
In the case of Spongebob, he had really big eyes, so he needed to be extra careful regarding the sand.
Perhaps he should try covering them?
Luckily, he remembered he had a way to counter the sand.
With bubbles.
Spongebob blew bubbles to dispel the sand.
This actually worked.
"Yeah!" exclaimed the sponge. It looked like using water was effective.
Perhaps his days of playing Bubble Bobble had paid off.
And yes, Spongebob plays Bubble Bobble in my fanfics. Ironic, huh?
Some of the bubbles hit the pharaoh, getting his many bandages wet.
This made him angry. Though at the same time, he wondered how a bubble blower could be a strong combatant.
He decided to focus his efforts on Spongebob for the time being. Like Squidward, he found him annoying.
"You're about to learn why everybody respects me!" exclaimed the mummy, raising his staff once again.
Naturally, it included his own followers. They had served him for hundred of years.
"Uh-oh." remarked Spongebob.
In retaliation, he summoned a fist of sand and directed it towards Spongebob.
"This can't be good." remarked Sandy.
As he found out, the fist of sand packed a wallop.
"Ow!" exclaimed Spongebob.
He rubbed his yellow head.
"For someone of his age he can punch pretty hard..." noted Patrick.
"Always respect yer elders!" exclaimed Mr. Krabs.
"Why should I respect you? You pay me minimum wage...and sometimes, not even that!" exclaimed Squidward.
Patrick wondered if Spongebob would be better off if he were a heavyweight like he was.
But he wouldn't be as fast.
"You alright, Spongebob?" asked the starfish. He looked like he had just taken a beating.
He figured he should keep an eye on his friend to see if he was doing well.
Shooting Star wasn't going to try impersonating a doctor again though. Last time he did that he ended up scrubbing a cactus, and that was no fun.
"I think so." nodded Spongebob.
He helped himself back to his feet.
Patrick breathed ice on the pharaoh.
He recoiled from the cold. It was a good thing he had bandages to keep him warm.
"I'm up against a team of superheroes? The world has changed over the years..." remarked the mummy leader. Perhaps he should keep up to date on current events rather than sleeping all the time.
However, the pharaoh prepared to cast another spell.
"What is he up to now?" asked Wendy.
It certainly couldn't be anything good.
This time, a swarm of locusts swarmed Patrick.
"Oh no." remarked Spongebob, looking in his friend's direction.
They began to bite him.
"Aah! Get them off me!" bellowed the starfish.
Frantically, he attempted to shake them off.
It was times like this when he wished that he had some bug spray...or a protective suit, like in the case of Sandy.
And yes, her protective suit was really coming in handy for this fight.
Speaking of her, she considered using fire to burn the locusts...but she figured she would hit Patrick. And she didn't want that, though she did find him annoying sometimes.
Unfortunately, he panicked and crashed into a wall.
"That's gotta hurt." remarked Wendy.
He passed out on the floor.
"Oh no! Patrick!" shouted Spongebob, pressing his yellow hands against the sides of his head. Perhaps he should have gotten his jellyfish net...assuming that the locusts wouldn't eat through it.
It looked as if they would have to continue the fight without him.
Sandy used fire to attack the pharaoh.
"Aargh!" screamed the leader of the mummies as he was exposed to high temperatures.
In retaliation, he summoned a water spout to attack Sandy.
Pearl was reminded of herself...or maybe an elephant. But since when would you find an elephant underwater?
Spongebob acted quickly and absorbed it.
"I just hope I don't get suds." noted the sponge.
"Maybe you could scrub Tom Kenny's back if that happened?" asked Sandy. It worked like a charm the last time.
"I remember that." nodded Supersponge.
The pharaoh groaned. If only he weren't fighting a water absorbent sponge. His life would be easier that way.
Oh wait, he wasn't alive anymore. Silly him.
Well, absorbing poison couldn't be good for him.
He decided to attack Spongebob with a cloud of poison gas.
"Uh-oh." remarked the yellow superhero.
Unfortunately, Supersponge breathed in the gas.
Immediately, he went from yellow to purple.
"You don't look so good." remarked Pearl.
Hopefully the poison would eventually wear off. Otherwise Spongebob would be out of the fight as well.
Fortunately for Sandy, the mummy couldn't use the poison gas on her.
Again, her helmet was proving to be really useful.
Mr. Krabs' daughter tossed a pearl at the pharoah.
"Uh-oh." remarked the mummy.
The pearl exploded.
The leader of the mummies was knocked off his feet.
After being hit by that pearl, the pharaoh decided to surrender.
His throne room was taking damage anyway.
"Fine. You can have the treasure. It was my drinking cup, anyway..." noted the pharaoh.
Patrick got back up.
Likewise, the poison afflicting Spongebob wore off.
Perhaps it wasn't worth fighting over. He could always get another one...and considering that he was undead, perhaps he didn't need to drink anyway.
Our heroes took a look at the chalice.
"This was his drinking cup?" questioned Sandy. The chalice was golden and covered with jewels, ranging from rubies to emeralds to sapphires.
"Well, one man's trash is another's treasure." noted Pearl. Though she wondered why somebody would want such an expensive drinking cup. Theoretically they'd be better off with one made from plastic.
"Yeah...it's rather subjective what trash is and what treasure is." remarked Squidward.
"Well, this is definitely my treasure! I'm going to take it to my house!" exclaimed Mr. Krabs.
It would look pretty nice in his bedroom.
However, Supersponge reminded Cheapskate what their mission was.
"We need that to summon the Flying Dutchman." explained Spongebob.
"Awww..." spoke the owner of the Krusty Krab. It looked like he wouldn't be hanging it up on his shelf after all.
The last stop on their journey was the haunted mansion.
The Invisible Ink wasn't excited about paying the estate a visit.
"Why couldn't it be a normal mansion?" asked Squidward. It sounded like the last place he could go to get some peace and quiet.
"Well, I don't think you would want to visit Squilliam's mansion." remarked Wendy.
"You're not wrong." answered the octopus.
At least a haunted mansion was more exciting than a regular one.
For some reason, it reminded them of an amusement park ride...even though they were no longer in Glove World. They had left the amusement park some time ago. Though perhaps it would make for a good amusement park ride.
"You think I could loot that mansion?" asked Mr. Krabs. Again, dollar signs were appearing in his big eyes. Perhaps he could find a safe containing money...though he would need to figure out what the combination was.
However, the Flying Squirrel shot down that idea.
"I wouldn't try that. You wouldn't want to upset the dead." warned Sandy. "And there might be traps to keep thieves out, like there was in the pyramid. Perhaps walls that have spikes."
"I don't like the sound of those." remarked Spongebob. He had enough holes in his body as it was.
"Aww..." complained the crab.
Seemed some people really didn't want to part with their belongings. Even if they were dead and theoretically wouldn't have any use for their possessions.
Personally he wondered why the Flying Dutchman needed so many treasure chests on his vessel. It seemed kind of excessive.
Fortunately, there was a shortcut they could use to leave the pyramid, as Mindy pointed out to them.
"Thanks, Mindy." spoke Spongebob.
As they left, they were watched by the Flying Dutchman.
He was disappointed that the pharaoh had decided to surrender.
"Perhaps I should go after them myself..." noted the ghost. Fighting them did sound like fun. However, Plankton would be upset if he were to be captured like the two villains before him.
However, at that very moment, Bubble Bass showed up.
Whenever he walked, the ground seemed to shake a bit.
He was so fat, he put Patrick to shame.
Though despite what his obesity would suggest, Bubble Bass was not dumb.
It seemed he too wished to collect the bounty on our heroes' heads.
"You mentioned that there was a reward for capturing these eight?" asked the fat fish.
Flying Dutchman decided he would give him a chance.
Of course, knowing Bubble Bass, he was probably going to spend the money he obtained on food if he did capture the heroes. Food that he would probably choke on.
Not that he wouldn't mind a ghost buddy though.
"That sponge is no match for my strength!" exclaimed Bubble Bass. He figured he could beat him up any day of the week.
"We'll see if you can match that claim." answered a member of the Flying Dutchman's ghost crew.
The obese fish sat down and waited for the heroes to show up.
Of course, if he failed, the heroes would still have to deal with Karen.
Could they defeat her too?
He would like to see.
I hoped you liked this chapter. I figured I would include Squilliam because it helped make the chapter longer and more entertaining.
In the next chapter, our heroes will go to a haunted mansion. It's kind of surprising Mr. Krabs doesn't live in one. But he doesn't seem to want to spend his money.
This mansion is home to a vampire. Our heroes are going to have to fight him if they want the third ingredient.
Does it give you shivers?
Well, I probably gave you shivers already.
I just started another college course, so forgive me if I'm busy with my work.