CHAPTER 15 - LOST

I pushed Howard out of the way so that we won't get squished by the broom.

"What in Davy Jones's Locker do you think you are doing?" Howard asked, still angry. He held on to his hurting joints.

"Saving your life! What else does it look like?" I replied.

"You know what," Howard said as he pushed me away, albeit weakly. I didn't even get thrown off my balance. "I'm getting the feeling that you're simply doing this as another ruse for you to get the Krabby Patty formula and conquer the world again. If you really are going to apologize to your old friend, go on without me. You can do that anyway. I can live without meeting Mr. Krabs anyway. Maybe you're just setting me up for something."

The fish in the facility watched us argue.

"But..." was all I said in reply. I could no longer continue that clause. I needed Howard. I didn't just want him on my team. It would be impossible to carry out my mission without him. I needed motivation lest my mind wanders back to my shameful past. I don't even want to mention it in my thoughts anymore. I brought him with me because I want him to be able to meet the one he has been idolizing for a long time. I did my best to remember that he forgets, that his brain disease has been eating his mind away little by little. I really would like him to meet Mr. Krabs before the latter's time or Howard's come up, or before Howard completely forgets.

"What are you waiting for?" Howard hollered. "Get out of my sight, you barnacle head!"

"But..." I replied again.

"No more buts! Especially yours! Get your butt out of here and leave me alone!"

"But what about what we have started?" I said, finally completing my statement.

"Look. All you did was drag me along in your journey back home, which is very likely to fail," Howard explained. "Now, we're lost in the middle of these complex tunnels and we have a good chance to not finish whatever ridiculous thing you started. If you want to get lost, don't drag me along! I'd rather be in that alley and die alone, which is the fate I know. Everybody's gotta die sometime! I know that! All I have left is to wait for the Dutchman to come collect my weary soul."

"What happened to your determination? What happened to you?"

"After realizing that everything will just come down to this, I just realized that all of my life is pointless. Everything I ever did is pointless. It's pointless to spend everyday in these bleak tunnels without any hope of knowing if we have made any progress in your journey. This is not my journey anyway. I'm nothing but an option to you. I'm not even the star of this."

"But I chose you," I replied. "I know how much you hate that alley. It's nothing but a dead end to you. I hate to see you like this, you know? I want you to be happy one last time before you move on and forget me, or everyone else. Now, let's go on, pick a random pipe, and hope that it's the way to Bikini Bottom. It's the only thing we could do, and it's better than not trying. Karen once told me that a life lived for oneself is a pointless life. It was my mistake to live alone and live for only myself. Now that we have each other in this city of apathy, whatever you have done is no longer pointless."

"Aww..." everyone else in the room said in chorus upon hearing what I said.

"Wait a minute," a fish interrupted us. "Did you just say 'Bikini Bottom'?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Why?"

"I know the place," he said.

"You do?" Howard asked, his mood changed from anger to hope.

"Well, I grew up there as a child. I decided to migrate upon knowing that I can get a higher-paying job here as maintenance personnel for the biggest water treatment facility in the Pacific. Would you like me to help you guys get a bus to Bikini Bottom?"

"Definitely," I replied. "There is something really important that I have to do there, and I have to get there as soon as possible."

"I'll go with you," Howard said. "I'm sorry about what happened moments ago."

"It's okay," I replied.

That was the first time I have not felt anger at all in the middle of a heated argument. I didn't even shout at him or decide to leave and go ahead on my own. I knew and always remembered the very purpose of why I'm doing this, and why I am with Howard. My determination to go home and apologize to an old friend once again has already surpassed my former determination to pursue what would never be mine. I understood Howard's circumstances. I knew it was normal to feel like life is pointless, especially after failing. I myself have already been through that. I have already felt so much ennui in my once-miserable life, but I then came to realize that life will find its way to tie up loose ends.

[AN: Finally! An update! Actually, it took me a long time to write this. What I would do is write this little by little in school when there are no classes for the time. I do most of my school projects at home. This fic is not dead. I will still update this until it is completed.

jo bel4, okay. You're a troll. Apology accepted.

Hayley Williams Fanboy, yeah. I remember you. It was tough arguing with you, and I'm sorry. You're actually a pretty cool guy, and you don't disgust me at all. Your taste in music rocks, and the vocalists of the bands you mentioned are hot and talented. I actually think that the girl in the Beast and the Harlot music video is gorgeous, and the music video is awesome. The TV Tropes pages for One Less Lonely Gurl and Plankton's Eye View are amusing reads. As for your theory about a romance between C'ren and OLLG!Plankton, I will tell you whether this is true or not in my planned remake of One Less Lonely Gurl.

As for your theory about the nature of my trollfic, it is a satire on Mary Sue as the product of one's dreams, and your theory about C'ren's age and the setting of the story is correct. C'ren and Justin are really about the same age, and I did mean 'younger' as a state of mind. For your other theory on the story as a satire on my love life, that's just a coincidence. Well, they say that you write what you know, even if what you're writing is a trollfic.

By the way, the remake will feature the hidden chapters (Chapters 28-69). Yes, I originally planned to have 69 chapters in OLLG but I gave up after 27. That is my next challenge. I will rewrite the whole thing using my writing style, better grammar, and explained plot holes. All rude author's notes will be removed.]