Hi everyone. This chapter will be longer than the rest, but it'll be worth the read.

The next morning, the Krusty Krewmembers are walking down the path to the Krusty Krab. While SpongeBob is talking to the others about whatever comes to mind, Mr. Krabs is staring at the ground in thought. After his argument with Plankton yesterday, he began to regret his outburst. What if Plankton has changed? Could it just be his paranoia acting up again?

As Mr. Krabs thinks, Squidward notices the crab's concerned look. "You OK, Mr. Krabs?"

Hearing someone call to him brings Krabs back to the real world, where his employees are giving him curious looks. "Sorry, Mr. Squidward." He apologises. "It's just that I've been thinkin' about what happened to Plankton yesterday."

Squidward raises an eyebrow at him. "You mean when you kicked him out of the Krusty Krab because you were too paranoid to believe that he had gone straight?"

Krabs sighs. "Yes, that incident. Maybe I've been a bit too harsh on him."

Squidward gives an unsure glance. "Are you sure? You were pretty convinced that Plankton was trying to fool you."

SpongeBob pops up next to Squidward, startling the squid. "And remember, Plankton has already tried a scheme like this before?" He reaches a hand into his head and pulls out his copy of Plankton's Plans, before opening it up to a page and pointing to it. "See? Plan 73a. The book doesn't lie."

Krabs pushes the book away from him. "Yes, I'm aware of which exact plan it was. The point is, maybe I'm the one at fault. Have I always been this paranoid?"

SpongeBob and Squidward share a nervous look. They remember how Mr. Krabs went on a paranoia-fueled craze a few months ago due to Plankton's lack of attacks, and it got so bad he kicked the two out and holed himself up in the Krusty Krab because he thought everyone was working with Plankton. The entire thing was just a misunderstanding, but it showed how out of hand Krabs' paranoia could get.

Krabs notices the nervous look of his employees and sighs. "OK, so maybe I have. But I need to be to protect the formula. Plankton has tried many schemes over the years. He's been changin'. Evolvin'. Coming up with new plans every day. Who knows what his next plan is. I've got to be prepared for any-"

"Excuse me?"

The three look up and spy a rich-looking woman walking towards them. "I need some help. Could any of you give me the-"

"FORMULA?" Mr. Krabs finishes with an outburst, scaring the others. "Nice try, Plankton! I'm not falling for you and your fancy robots again!"

Mr. Krabs dives at the woman, knocking some of her expensive jewellery off her. The two start fighting as SpongeBob and Squidward watch in horror, with Squidward eventually covering SpongeBob's eyes with his tentacles. After a while, the fighting stops, and Mr. Krabs stands atop the rich fish with a pleased grin on his face as he looks at his employees.

"See, boys? Plankton will never get the jump on me as long as I live." He looks at the rich fish, grabs her hair with a claw and starts pulling it. "Now to unmask the fiend and show you that I'm completely-"

A loud rip is heard, and Mr. Krabs looks at the hair he had pulled out, and back at the woman. Instead of broken wires, clanking metal and the cursing of a plankton, he instead sees the utter fury of a rich aristocrat. Mr. Krabs slowly realises what he's truly done as the rich woman grabs him by the shirt.

"How DARE you?! I am Lady Mildred Upturn the three-hundred-and-thirty-third, and I have never been so insulted in all my years!" The rich woman smacks Mr. Krabs repeatedly with her purse before lifting him over her head and slamming him into the ground. She quickly collects her jewellery and hair before leaving in a huff, talking to herself about never asking commoners for the time again.

SpongeBob and Squidward gather around Mr. Krabs, worry spread on their faces. SpongeBob lends a hand to his boss, who uses it to support himself off the ground. "Not to be mean, Mr. Krabs, but that really looked like your paranoia got out of hand."

Squidward gives SpongeBob an annoyed glare as Mr. Krabs regains his senses. "Alright, fine. I worry too much about Plankton. I'm ill with insanity due to him. A case of Plankton paranoia, if you will."

"I won't." Squidward states.

"But I suppose if Plankton is actually sincere about the formula, then I'll go and apologise to him today. I'll go over to the Chum Bucket over there, and... Wait a minute."

As Krabs points in the direction of the Chum Bucket, he looks and finds that the building opposite the Krusty Krab is not the Chum Bucket. He rushes over to investigate, with SpongeBob and Squidward running to catch up with him. They reach the building and look at it curiously.

Where the Chum Bucket once stood is a large building that resembles a large deep fryer tray turned upside down. Two large glass doors are on the building's front, and above the doors is a sign that reads ''The Fry-Right Zone'' in a neon green light.

SpongeBob turns to the others, curiosity and amazement twinking in his eye. "The Fry-Right Zone? I wonder who owns this place."

Krabs, meanwhile, looks at the restaurant in suspicion. "What I want ta know is where Plankton's restaurant went? Has he left?"

"You wish, Krabs."

The Krusty Krewmembers turn to the source of the voice. The doors of the new restaurant open, and Plankton and Karen step out towards them, with Karen also pushing a food cart.

"Hello, Eugene." Plankton quips. "Do you like my new restaurant?"

"New restaurant?" Mr. Krabs looks at Plankton, confused. "Why did ya build a new restaurant?"

"It's part of the new me, Eugene. I've given up the formula, and I've changed my restaurant plan! Now, instead of a chum-themed restaurant, I own Bikini Bottom's only restaurant that's dedicated to the art of deep frying."

Squidward skeptically looks over the building. "How did you manage to build a restaurant overnight? Aren't you broke?"

Plankton "Well, yes, but I have spare parts from my many, many, many failed inventions. Plus, Karen can have extra arms when needed. Many arms make light work, you know."

As Plankton talks, Karen opens up holes on her body and extends three more sets of arms from said holes. She demonstrates the arms' usefulness by grabbing various condiment bottles from the cart and juggling them, before throwing them into the air and balancing them, one stacked on the other, on her finger. SpongeBob applauds Karen, who smiles as she puts the condiments back.

Mr. Krabs looks back to Plankton, a more serious expression appearing on the crab's face. "Plankton, I've come to apologise. What happened yesterday was out of order, and I'm sorry I was so-"

"Paranoid?" Plankton finishes. "Well, maybe that wouldn't have happened if you trusted me."

Krabs looks at Plankton, surprised and slightly offended by the remark. "Well, maybe I would trust you if you didn't try to steal the formula."

Plankton gives Krabs an annoyed glare. "Well, maybe if you didn't have a successful formula, I wouldn't try and steal it."

Krabs steps towards Plankton, anger in his eyes. "Well, maybe if..." Krabs stops, unable to think of a comeback. He gives up on words and goes to charge at Plankton. Plankton goes to try and fight him, but Karen pulls Plankton as Mr. Krabs is pulled away by SpongeBob and Squidward. Krabs and Plankton calm down, and Krabs turns to leave.

"Fine," Krabs says in a huff. "Don't accept my apology. Your restaurant won't get any customers anyway.."

"That's what you think, Krabs!" Plankton looks down the road and smiles. "Oh look, potential customers!"

As Plankton says that, three fish are walking down the street towards the Fry-Right Zone; Nat Peterson and his friends, Tom and Nancy Suzy Fish. As they approach the Fry-Right Zone, Plankton and Karen move in front of them, startling them. Nat, upon noticing who it is, quickly regains his composure and glares at Plankton.

"What do you want, Plankton?" Nat questions.

Sheldon realises who he's talking to, and his smile weakens. "O-oh, hi Nat. Are you still mad from the chum thing?"

Nat's glare intensifies. "Yes, I'm still mad about the chum thing! Now, why are you bothering us?"

"Because I have a new menu of items for you and your friends to enjoy!" Plankton hops onto his food cart and opens it up, digging around inside it before grabbing hold of something. "My first item is an oldie, but a goodie." He pulls out a stick with golden brown food surrounding the top of the stick. "Behold; the Chumstick!"

Upon hearing the name "chumstick", Nat screams and leaps behind Tom and Nancy, shaking in fright. "Get that food AWAY from me! I had to get my stomach pumped sixteen times due to chumsticks! I refuse to eat that abomination again!"

Plankton frowns at Nat before turning to Nancy. "How about you, miss? Do you want a chumstick?"

Nancy, predictably, backs away. She then grabs Tom and puts him in the place she was standing. "Tom, how about you try the chumstick? After all, you're the resident foodie. You'll love it!"

Tom nervously grabs the chumstick and looks back at Nat and Nancy. Nancy is giving Tom a nervous thumbs-up as she tries to soothe Nat, who is shaking and muttering incohesive babble as he stares into the distance. Tom gains some nerves and eventually starts sniffing the chumstick, looking it from various, and licking it. He then shrugs to himself and takes a big bite out of the chumstick, food, stick and all.

As he chews, Plankton goes up to him bearing a big grin. "So, how does it taste?"

Tom eventually swallows the meal, and his eyes widen as he absentmindedly looks into the distance. In his mind, he sees fireworks exploding. In his mouth, a flavour-filled rave is going on. As he sinks into the absolute bliss of the taste, he can vaguely make out someone calling his name.

"Tom?" a voice asks.

"Tom?" the same voice asks, somewhat louder.

"TOM!"

Back in the real world, Tom is in a food-fueled trance, drooling with a wide smile on his mouth. Nancy is grabbing him by the shirt and slapping him repeatedly, panic in her eyes. "Tom? Tom, come back! Tom! Don't give up on me Tom! I'm not losing another friend to food!" She slaps him again, finally bringing him back to reality. Nancy notices and tearfully hugs him. "Oh, thank Neptune! I thought you were past the point of no return!"

Tom, while appreciative of the care, slowly peels Nancy off him. "No, I'm fine. It's just that this chumstick was the best thing I have ever tasted!"

Tom's response is a shock to everyone. Plankton and Karen high-five, smug about their success. Nat and Nancy look at each other, both concerned for Tom's safety. SpongeBob and Squidward, while still surprised, are nowhere near the amount of shock Mr. Krabs feels. Krabs is utterly flabbergasted. How can something Plankton made, with chum no less, apparently taste so good?

Nancy goes up to Tom and takes the chumstick, giving it a curious look. "How can food like this be so delicious?"

Nat goes up to her and starts examining the chumstick as well. "Especially something made from chum."

Karen pushes the food cart towards the fish as Plankton walks towards them. "That, my friends, is due to my new cooking method." He presses a button on the cart, and a large hole opens up, a deep fryer exiting out of it. "At the Fry-Right Zone, we will fry anything and everything to the perfect degree for maximum tastiness. What your friend just had was one of my chumsticks, but deep-fried. What was once an abomination to food everywhere is now your friend's new favourite dish."

Nancy and Nat look at Tom, who is sucking the chumstick dry of any nutrients it had. After finishing, he eats the stick and rushes over to the cart. "Do you have another chumstick? I have to have another."

Plankton gives a small smile to Tom. "Unfortunately, no." Tom frowns, but Plankton lifts his chin up. "But don't worry! When I said the Fry-Right Zone will fry anything and everything, we MEANT anything and everything."

Nancy stops and thinks for a moment before getting an idea. "Anything and everything?"

"Yes. Give us an object or food item and we will deep-fry it for your pleasure."

Nancy, upon hearing this, grabs her white wig off her head and replaces it with another. She then holds out the wig for Plankton. "Can you deep-fry my wig?"

Everyone looks at Nancy questionably, with Plankton slowly taking the wig. "Well, yes, but why?"

Nancy, in response, shrugs her shoulders. "Why not? You said yourself that you would fry anything and everything."

Mr. Krabs smiles to himself; he doubts the 'deep-frying everything' will work. "Yeah, Plankton! I thought you could fry anything! Well then; show us."

Plankton grumbles at Krabs' taunting as he turns to the deep fryer and tosses Nancy's wig in. A few seconds later, the fryer's timer rings, and Karen uses some tongs to pull out Nancy's wig, now covered in a crispy golden brown layer. Karen hands the wig to Nancy, who looks at it suspiciously before shrugging and taking a bite out of it. After a few chews, she smiles and turns to her friends.

"Guys, you should try this! This is the tastiest hair I've ever eaten!"

Tom snatches the wig from Nancy and takes a bite of it as well. His eyes widen at the taste, and both he and Nancy look at the wig before slowly meeting each others' gaze. The two then get into a tug-of-war over the wig.

"Let go of the wig, Tom."

"No!"

"It's my wig, so I get to eat it."

"Says who?"

"Says ME!"

As the two argue over the wig, Nat approaches Plankton. "If your food is good enough to make people fight over it, it mustn't be that bad. I'll have some."

Plankton grins as he turns to the Fry-Right Zone's entrance. "Fantastic! Follow me and I'll serve you the best food of your life."

Karen pushes Plankton and the food cart into the Fry-Right Zone as Nat follows. Nancy and Tom notice Nat entering the Fry-Right Zone and accidentally rip the wig in half. They look at their half of the wig in surprise, before eating it and going into the restaurant for more food. Mr. Krabs watches them leaves, incensed with Plankton's progress.

SpongeBob taps him on the shoulder, trying to get the crab's attention. "Mr. Krabs, what are you going to do about Plankton's restaurant? Should we be worried?"

Krabs' fury dies down, but he still glares at the restaurant as he turns to leave. "Not yet, boyo. It's just a few customers. We'll still get business at the Krusty Krab. Just a little less business."

Mr. Krabs goes to the Krusty Krab to open it, and SpongeBob and Squidward swore they heard Mr. Krabs quietly crying under his breath. Plankton's success has hit him hard, and it would only hit harder.