I do not own anything in these stories. All rights go to the creator Chris Savino and the current showrunner, Michael Rubiner.
This episode is a partial parody of one of the best SpongeBob episodes of all time "The Graveyard Shift." The rights of that show go to the late great creator Stephen Hillenburg (R.I.P.) and its current showrunners Marc Ceccarrelli and Vincent Waller.
Lucy is now nine years old starting with this chapter.
It was the evening of Tuesday, October 28, 1986, and it was about to be the end of another day at Gus' Games and Grub.
The narrator then spoke, "Ah, Gus' Games n Grub. Royal Woods' popular arcade and restaurant, where it'll be closing time right about..."
"Now..." Lori said softly as she turns the open sign over to the closed sign. "It's 8:00 P.M. which means it's the end of another work day. Can't wait to get home and rest up for school tomorrow."
Just then, a teenage boy came and knocked on the door.
"Are you open?" the teenage boy asked before Lori opened the door.
"Well, we were open, but I'm afraid we're closing now, so you'll have to come back tomorrow after the end of my next school day," Lori explained as she pointed to the closed sign for a bit.
"Well, I'll have a cheese pizza and some breadsticks," the teenage boy ordered.
"That's a very good order, kid, but like I said, we're closing now," Lori explained politely.
"All right, then, but thanks for those good manners, Lori," a teenage boy said nicely, "And since you were very polite with me, I'd very much like to spend my money before you close your doors."
Suddenly, hearing the word money got Gus Gamesngrub excited and he immediately rushed towards Lori and the teenage boy.
"Money?" Mr. Gamesngrub said excitedly, "You mean if we stay open longer, you'll give us your money?"
"Sure." the teenage boy said as he pulled out his cash before more customers showed up.
At the same moment, Jeffrey came up to them to find out what was going on.
"What the... What is going on here?!" Jeffrey said annoyed.
"Oh my god! Does this mean..." Lori said happily.
'Yep! That's right!" Gus Gamesngrub said as he ripped the closed sign in half. "Lori, Jeffrey, welcome to the night shift. From now on, Gus' Games n Grub will be open twenty-four hours, seven days a week."
"What?!" Jeffrey said in shock before the customers immediately ran inside, trampling him.
"All right!" Lori said excited. "Now we never have to stop working and Bobby can continue filling in for my homework for school!"
"But, sir, why can't we..." Jeffrey tried to explain.
"See you in the morning, guys." Gus Gamesngrub said before he proceeded to leave the arcade/restaurant, "I can't hang here all night. I've got a life."
With that, Mr. Gamesngrub proceeded to leave the arcade/restaurant.
"But sir..." Jeffrey tried to explain but it was too late as Lori jumped up to him in sheer joy and excitement.
"Isn't this great Jeffrey?" Lori said excitedly. "Just you and me together for hours and hours and hours. And then the sun will come up and then it'll be tomorrow, and we'll still be working. Oh my goodness! It'll be just like a sleepover. Only at a real restaurant!"
"Oh brother," Jeffrey said in annoyance as Lori got onto the counter.
"Are you ready to rock the night away, Jeffrey?!" Lori said happily before Jeffrey gave out a deep sigh.
"Fine, I'm with you, Lori," Jeffrey said flatly.
"That's great! Beause we've got customers!" Lori said happily as she put her roller skates back on and rolled over to the kitchen.
At that same moment, a female customer walked up to Jeffrey, who had a very annoyed look on his face.
"Here. Please knock me out as hard as you can." Jeffrey said as he handed the customer a boxing glove.
"Psst!"
It turns out that Lori was seen through the kitchen window.
"Hey, Jeffrey! I'm gonna be working in the kitchen...at night," Lori said happily.
"Don't hold back," Jeffrey said to the customer as he pointed at his face.
"Jeffrey, I'm tossing dough...at night." Lori said as she was tossing the dough up and down.
A few moments later, Lori was also taking care of the condiments for hamburgers and hot dogs.
"Not only that, I'm chopping lettuce and tomatoes... at night!" Lori said happily.
Afterwards, Lori was in the bathroom, mopping the floor.
"Look at me, I'm mopping the bathroom! At night," Lori said happily as she continued mopping the floor.
Afterwards, Lori was at the stove preparing to get her spatula, but she misses and ends up hitting the stove, causing the stove to burn her hand.
"OWWWW! I burned my hand!...At night!" Lori exclaimed.
Next up, Lori was now at the counter with Jeffrey as she got out her camera.
"Hey, Jeffrey. Let's take a nighttime selfie!" Lori exclaimed in happiness.
"What the...?!" Jeffrey said in shock as Lori and him bunched together.
"Yeah!" Lori exclaimed as she took a nighttime selfie of herself and Jeffrey.
Afterwards, Lori was back in the kitchen, preparing to sing to the tune of Charge in a happy, ecstatic and cheerful manner.
"Night, night, night, night, night, night, night, night, night, night, night, night, na-na-na-na-night! Night!"
But Jeffrey soon grew very irritated upon Lori's actions.
"Grrrrrrgh! Will you please?!" Jeffrey yelled at Lori before he gave Lori a garbage bag, "Here. Give me a moment's peace and take out the goddamn trash!"
At that moment, Lori took the garbage bag from Jeffrey.
"Alright." Lori said as she started to head out with the bag. "I'm taking at the trash. Taking out the trash at ni..."
But Lori suddenly stopped when she saw how dark it was outside and how far the dumpster was.
"Yo... you... you mean... ou... outside?" Lori said in worry.
"Well, yeah! That's where the dumpster is." Jeffrey said.
"I don't know, Jeffrey. It's kinda dark out there," Lori said in worry.
"But I thought you liked the night shift!" Jeffrey complained before Lori got determined.
"You're right. For Gus' Games n Grub!" Lori shouted out before she ran outside to the dumpster braving the darkness outside and threw the trash inside the dumpster, before she ran back inside the restaurant.
Once she ran back inside, she did a little victory pose to show off her bravery in the dark.
"Yeah! Now that was a real piece of cake." Lori said bravely as she did a victory pose.
"So you're not afraid, Lori?" Jeffrey questioned.
"Pfft! No. I'm not," Lori replied in relief.
"Well, I am. Especially after... ...you know," Jeffrey responded.
"What? What do I know?" Lori asked her co-worker, now in concern.
"You don't remember. It was all over the news," Jeffrey began explaining.
"Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" Lori begged.
"No, it would probably ruin the night shift for you." Jeffrey said as he smiles devilishly.
"What happened?! What happened?! What happened?!" Lori begged her co-worker, "Please tell me what happened, Jeffrey?!"
"You mean you never heard the story of...The Dough Flinging Pounder?"
"The... The Dough Flinging Pounder?" Lori mispronounced.
"Yes, Lori! The Dough Flinging Pounder." Jeffrey repeated.
"The Snow Singing, The Row Clinging, The Show Dinging, Ringing..." Lori said, now in fear.
"Yes, the Dough Flinging Pounder." Jeffrey corrected before he explained, "But most people call him "The Dough Flinging... AAHHHHHHHH!" because that's all they have time to say before he gets them!"
"Oh my god, Jeffrey! Please tell me the story about that person!" Lori said in fear, "I'd like to hear about it."
"Okay, Lori. Here it is," Jeffrey said as he began to tell the story, "Ten years ago, at this very restaurant, the Dough Flinging Pounder used to be an employee just like you. Only clumsier and less intelligent."
"R... really?" Lori said with worry.
"And then one night when he was pounding the dough, it happened," Jeffrey continued.
"He forgot the tomato sauce?" Lori said with worry.
"No," Jeffrey denied.
"He got germs on the food?" Lori said with worry.
"No," Jeffrey denied.
"Irregular toppings?" Lori said with worry.
"No!" Jeffrey denied before he continued, "With his spiky boxing glove, he cut his own hand off by mistake."
"You mean like this?" Lori said as she ripped her arm like it was nothing, but Jeffrey was shocked and screamed.
"OMG! Lori! Are you okay?!" Jeffrey screamed in fear but it turns out that it was actually a fake arm that Lori won the other day.
"Relax, Jeffrey, it's fake. I won this from the claw machine during my lunch break one day. I should show this to Luan." Lori explained before she put her real arm out and put the fake arm away, "Anyways, shall we continue, Jeffrey."
Jeffrey was now relieved and decided to continue the story, "And he replaced his hand with a rusty boxing glove. Then he got hit by a bus! And at his funeral, they fired him! So now every... what day is it?"
"Tuesday, Jeffrey," Lori corrected her co-worker.
"Ahhh, yes. So every Tuesday night, his ghost returns to Gus' Games and Grub to wreak his horrible vengeance," Jeffrey explained.
Lori gasps and then spoke with fear, "But tonight's Tuesday night."
"Then he'll be coming," Jeffrey said suspiciously.
"How will we know?" Lori said in fear.
"There are three signs that signal the approach of the Dough Flinging Pounder," Jeffrey explained suspiciously, "First, you'll hear the sound of his werewolf howl. Next..."
Suddenly, a female customer walked up to Jeffrey and asked, "Hey, do you have any soda?"
"Sorry, we're all out," Jeffrey said to the customer.
"Damn it," the customer said as she walked away.
"Now where was I..." Jeffrey said to himself before he continued, "Next, the phone will ring and nobody will be there."
At that moment, Jeffrey pointed to the pizzeria phone as Lori started biting her nails in fear.
"And finally, the Dough Flinging Pounder will arrive in the ghost of the bus that ran him over. Then he'll exit the bus and cross the street without looking both ways because he's already dead!" Jeffrey explained.
At that moment, Lori was eating bread sticks as she kept listening to the story that Jeffrey was telling her.
"Then he taps on the window with his iron boxing glove," Jeffrey continued.
"Oh my god!" Lori said as she was now frightened.
"He opens the door." Jeffrey said as he makes a creaking sound and pretends to open a door.
"He slowly approaches the counter," Jeffrey said as he creepily got closer to Lori, who backed away, "Then you know what he does next."
"Then what?" Lori said in worry.
"You really want to know?" Jeffrey asked Lori.
"What's next?" Lori said in worry.
"Are you sure you want to know, Lorraine?" Jeffrey asked Lori again.
"What?! What does he do?!" Lori said in worry.
"Well, He gets you!" Jeffrey said as he sneaked up behind Lori and poked her back, scaring her, causing Lori to scream while Jeffrey laughed hard, then wiped a tear from his eye, only for him to see that Lori was now curled in a ball, rocking back and forth and whimpering.
"Lori, come on Lori. Snap out of it," Jeffrey commanded but Lori was still scared.
"Lori, I was joking!" Jeffrey confessed, causing Lori to calm down. "That wasn't a true story!"
"Wait... It... It wasn't?" Lori said with worry.
"Of course not. Nobody has a boxing glove for a hand. It was all a joke," Jeffrey said before Lori realized something.
"Oh...That was like, pretty good, Jeffrey. You sure had me scared for a moment," Lori said before she started laughing.
"Yeah, I really had you fooled." Jeffrey said and laughed with Lori.
Later, around the middle of the night, the sky was green and it was getting a little foggy.
At Gus' Games n Grub, there was a neon lit sign that read "Open Forever." Inside, the arcade area was completely empty and there were no customers in the restaurant area. Jeffrey was at the counter, reading a book. Then he decided to check on Lori through the kitchen window, who was cutting some pepperoni meat with a knife.
"Lori, what are you doing?" Jeffrey asked Lori.
"Eh, just cutting up the pepperoni," Lori said as she did what she said to Jeffrey.
"Oh, right. You're prepping up another pizza," Jeffrey said before he chuckled, "Man, Lori. You're really quite the top-class employee we'll need."
"Oh, why thank you, Jeffrey," Lori said politely as she placed the slices of pepperoni on the pizza along with the cheese and sausage.
With that, Jeffrey didn't respond but instead went back to the counter.
"Open twenty four hours. What a stupid idea." Jeffrey complained before he continued, "I mean who wants a pizza at 3:00 in the damn morning?"
A cutaway gag then occurs where Lynn, sleeping in her bed in her sleepwear, before she suddenly wakes up.
"Oh boy! 3:00 A.M.!" Lynn said excitedly before she gets out of bed and gets a slice of pizza with pepperoni, sausage and bacon from her drawer and eats it.
"Mmmmmm! Delicious!" Lynn said happily as she ate the pizza.
Cutaway ends and back to Gus' Games n Grub with Lori and Jeffrey now by themselves.
"Just look at this place!" Jeffrey said. "It's like a ghost town in here."
Just then, Jeffrey heard a werewolf howl, but he was not amused.
"Ha ha! Very funny, Lori," Jeffrey said sarcastically as Lori was out of the kitchen now.
"What? What are you saying?" Lori said in concern.
"You'll hear the sound of a werewolf howl, just like in the story. I get it," Jeffrey replied.
But it turns out that Lori wasn't the one howling and Jeffrey realized this.
"Hey, Jeffrey, how are you doing that without moving your lips?" Lori asked.
"I'm not doing it. It must be one of those stupid old-fashioned arcade games," Jeffrey complained before the phone suddenly rang and Jeffrey answered it, "What? What?...Hello?"
"Nice try, Jeffrey." Lori said.
"Nice try what?" Jeffrey said suspiciously.
"The phone will rang and nobody will be there." Lori said before she chuckles. "You just really crack me up."
"Lori, I'm not doing this!" Jeffrey denied in anger as he hangs up and starts to panic. "Ok, calm down. Calm down, Jeffrey. Alright, what was it? First, the werewolf howl."
Suddenly, the two then hear the werewolf howl again.
"And then the phone." Jeffrey said before the phone rang again, then he and Lori both smelled anchovies. "And then the smell of anchovies will fill the air! Oh wait, that always happens. But what was that third thing?"
Just then, at that very moment, they both saw the bus arriving and looked worried.
"Wow, I had no idea buses ran this late at night," Lori said.
"Well, they don't, Lori," Jeffrey said in worry and fear.
"Well, They're dropping someone off," Lori explained.
Just then, a man came out of the bus, but he was not clearly seen in the dark, as it looked like he had red eyes and he showed his iron spikey boxing glove, causing Jeffrey to scream in terror.
"Oh no! That cannot be!" Jeffrey said in fear, "The Toe Singing, The Snow Ringing, The Glow Pinging..."
But this time, Jeffrey couldn't pronounce it right.
"The Dough Flinging Pounder!" Lori screamed in fear.
"At last, you understand! We're doomed!" Jeffrey screamed in fear.
"No, that's not it. I am just so touched that you would go through the trouble of disguising as a ghostly chef and go stand at the other side of the street, just to entertain me!" Lori said in fear, "You must really love me!"
"Lori, there's a problem with your theory," Jeffrey complained in fear, "How can that be me when I'm standing right here?!"
But at that moment, the man walked up to the restaurant and tapped on the glass door, causing Lori to scream in terror.
"Oh my god! It's THE DOUGH FLINGING POUNDER!" Lori and Jeffrey yelled in unison as The man entered the pizzeria while Jeffrey and Lori panicked and hugged each other tightly.
"Lori, I know you were always different from me, but you've always been a good employee!" Jeffrey cried.
"I know, Jeffrey! I always made the best pizzas, hamburgers, and hot dogs in this restaurant!" Lori cried.
"Yes, Lori! We know you have!" Jeffrey cried.
As the two employees panicked, the man came out of the darkness and was revealed to be a man about Jeffrey's age with brown hair wearing a red polo shirt and brown pants.
Jeffrey and Lori soon stopped panicking upon seeing that it was actually a real man
"Wait, what the..." Lori said in shock.
"Hi, can I have a job application?" the man said in a dorky voice as he showed his orange and yellow oven mitt, "I brought my own oven mitt. I called earlier but I hung up cause I was nervous."
"Well, do you have references?" Lori asked.
"Lori, wait!" Jeffrey said in fear, "So, if that was you on the phone and you on the bus, then who was doing the werewolf howl?"
At that moment, the three of them hear the werewolf howl and notice someone by the front door.
It turns out that it was actually Lucy Loud doing the werewolf howl.
"Oh, Lucy Loud," Lori, Jeffrey, and the man said in unison before Lori smiled.
"Ahhh, Halloween. My favorite time of the year," Lucy said happily before she vanished, knowing that she had given Lori and Jeffrey the big spooky night shift during Halloween.