"Ahhhh, Bikini Bottom….en underwater town where Spongebob Squarepants is taking his new friend, Sora, to the Krusty Krab…… Just an ordinary day for our favourite little sponge."
Sora and Spongebob exited the house. When they were at the end of the path, the former looked at the sponge's home, seeing a giant pineapple with a door, window, and chimney.
"Unbelievable," the Keyblade Master uttered.
Spongebob shrugged his imaginary shoulders, "If you say so." He walked by the road, his black shoes squeaking with every step, "Let's go to the Krusty Krab. You might need some food to keep your strength up."
They passed by an Easter Island head and a dome-shaped rock with a T.V. antenna.
A thought then occurred to Sora, "Wait. How can I eat anything with this helmet on?"
"Good question," Spongebob said without looking at him. "I'll figure something out later. For now, just enjoy the scenery."
Sora looked left and right. Bikini Bottom was somewhat deserted, with barely any houses. He might have been on the outskirts. In the 'sky' there were flowers. There wasn't a soul in sight.
What scenery?
They soon arrived at the 'Krusty Krab'. It was a wooden structure that was shaped like a half-cylinder. The parts which were made of glass were the windows, and the double-door entrance. By the restaurant, there was an oyster-styled sign supported by a wooden pole. The 'oyster' was open, revealing the red words 'THE KRUSTY KRAB', all of which were on top of one another.
"C'mon," Spongebob approached the door, "I wanna introduce you to Mr. Krabs and Squidward."
Sora blinked, "Who?"
"You'll see."
K-K-K-K-K-K
The Krusty Krab's door opened.
Sora had to duck his head to come in.
"Mr. Krabs!" Spongebob called as he entered. "Come and see who I got!"
A door on the left opened. "Is it a payin' customer?" it was a red, anthropomorphic crab, complete with claws. Its eyes were long and stood on the top of its head. Its red nose was crooked and looked ready to fall off. The shirt it wore was light blue. The pants were dark blue and were secured by a belt. Lastly, its feet were nothing but chibi-like stubs.
"No, Mr. Krabs," the sponge shook his yellow head with a smile. "This is my friend; Sora."
"Hi," Sora waved his gloved hand.
"Oh," the crab's eyes half-closed in disappointment. "Well, if he wants anything, you know what to do." His feet blurred as he returned to his office, not caring about the Keyblade Master.
Sora had time to look around the Krusty Krab interior. It was devoid of customers. All the tables looked like cogs on sticks. The seats were wooden barrels. The register was a boat. And someone was located at the register.
"I'd like you to meet Squidward," Spongebob said as he walked towards the register to wake the sleeping person up. "Squidward!" he said as he nudged him. "Squidward! Wake up!"
"What's the matter with you, Spongebob?" 'Squidward' yelled as he straightened up. He glared his ovular eyes with rectangular pupils. "You're not supposed to be here today! Mr. Krabs gave you the day off--as hard it is to believe--and you're disturbing my sleep." His head had an hourglass shape, his bald scalp on top, and his frowning lips on the bottom. His nose was big and hung from under his eyes. He wore nothing other than a dark brown shirt. His body had a light green colour.
"But aren't you supposed to be doing your work?' Spongebob inquired.
"What work?" the octopus gestured with a tentacle at the empty room. "Another slow day!"
"Gosh," the yellow sponge looked around the room, "how come no one's coming? Did we forget to switch the signs again?"
"It's probably because of all the sightings of 'weird creatures'," he moved his tentacles in accordance with the last two words.
Sora cocked an eyebrow, "What kind of weird creatures?"
"Oh, some sort of black, fish-like things," Squidward leaned on the cash register with his…….elbow (?). He rubbed his chin, "The news fish said they were called…….umm…--"
"Heartless?"
"Yeah!" the cashier smiled for a second. "And people are disappearing all over Bikini Bottom."
Spongebob gasped, "That's terrible!"
"It's also the reason why no one's here." Squidward sighed, "And yet, Mr. Krabs is unfazed by it. He's willing to allow things to go on here. And I could be at home, safe and sound."
"Cheer up, Squid. I'm sure Mr. Krabs knows what he's doing."
Squidward narrowed his eyes at him, "……….no, he doesn't."
"Don't worry, Squid," Spongebob gestured at the Keyblade Sora was holding. "I betcha Sora here knows how to fight! HI-YAH!" he karate-chopped an invisible log. "Right, Sora?" he asked while not moving.
Sora smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his helmet, "Well, I don't wanna brag, but I can definitely take down a few simple Heartless."
"Good for you."
The human, sponge, and octopus cocked their eyebrows at the deep voice. They looked towards the main door and saw Ed and Eddy--in their air helmets--following Plankton into the restaurant.
"Plankton?" Spongebob looked at him strangely.
Plankton was piloting a robot with the shape of a regular human. No perfect detailed description was need for it. The feet were flat rectangles. The hands were flat and had four digits. The body was triangular, pointing downwards. Everything was grey. The only evidence about Plankton being there was his small head sticking out from the top, instead of a robotic head. He was wearing a white helmet that benefited his antenna with two holes for them to stick through. He also had a microphone attached to the helmet to heighten the sound of his voice. It reached the height of Squidward's……….chin (?).
"Yes. It is I, Plankton," he said with a grin. "With my new Exobot, I'm invincible!"
"Oooh," Spongebob pocked the hard chest, creating hollow conks, "…shiny."
Sora wasn't listening; he was overjoyed to see Ed and Eddy again. "ED! EDDY!"
"SORA!" Eddy jumped forward and shook his hand, as if meeting him for the first time.
Then, they remembered the argument.
"Huh!" they huffed in unison as they faced away from one another with their arms crossed.
"It is so good to be back together!"Ed spread his arms wide like a crucifix.
"Ed! NO!" Eddy knew what was coming.
Ed wrapped his arms around Eddy and Sora, squeezing them into a suffocating hug. If it weren't for their helmets, Sora's and Eddy's frowning faces would have been touching.
"Ed…….l-l-l-et…us….go!" Eddy wheezed.
"You're….gonna….b-b-b-break…..th-th-the helmets!" Sora added.
"Oh, sorry….. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…," Ed released them and did his trademark stupid laugh.
"If you didn't have that helmet on, I'd slap you with my staff," Eddy muttered as he walked somewhere.
Sora was rubbing his shoulders, trying to get the feeling back. He then wondered why he wasn't so cold underwater or why the pressure hadn't cracked his helmet. He shrugged it off again.
"A circus of clowns," Plankton used his Exobot to gesture at the gang. "No use for hunting snails?"
"'Snails'?" Squidward cocked an eyebrow from the register. "What the heck for?"
Plankton smirked and used his robot to point, "I'm glad you asked, my squid friend--"
"Octopus."
--whatever. Since getting the Secret Formula has proven difficult, I'll be resorting to more…….devilishly evil tactics…," Exobot rubbed its hands together as he chuckled, "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…."
"That's horrible!" Spongebob exclaimed.
"So what do you need us for?" Eddy asked.
"….nothing….," Plankton replied dully.
"Then…why were you laughing when we first met?"
Plankton's robot shrugged, "No reason."
"……oh."
"That is one messed up invertebrate…," Squidward muttered.
"Sora, look what we found," Ed reached into his pocket. "Look at this," he showed Sora the orange cube.
"Hmm….," Eddy, who had curiously approached the other two, examined the cube.
"What's that?" Sora asked.
The three formed a triangle as they looked down at the object.
"A gummi block, "Eddy said. "It's the same stuff used to build our ship."
"So that means…"
"Double D could be here!" Ed jumped with glee.
"And maybe Riku and Kairi, too," Sora added.
"So we've gotta work together to look for him," Eddy spoke. He narrowed his eyes at Sora, "…..for now."
"Yeah," Sora also narrowed his eyes, "…for now."
"….," Plankton's eyebrow rose from its right side.
"Guys," Spongebob caused the group to separate. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation about your friend."
"Yeah? So?" Eddy folded his arms, expecting an explanation.
"Well, I was wondering if you'd let me come along with you."
Ed was silent.
Sora began with, "Well, I--"
"Sure. Why not?" Eddy interrupted with a shrug, receiving a confused look from Sora.
"YAY!" Spongebob jumped up high.
"I'm sure you're very happy about this," Plankton walked towards the group. "I have yet to find these friends of yours," his eye drifted from person to person. "Ever since worlds were connected, people have been disappearing and some new faces have been appearing."
"'Connected'?" Spongebob cocked an eyebrow.
"Maybe, Spongebob could take us to Jellyfish Fields, because…..err," he fumbled for words, "your friends might be there…….errr, with air helmets."
"Are you sure?" Sora looked at him suspiciously.
"Positive. I found your friends and put helmets on them, the same for Spongebob when he found you."
"Sure. Why not?' Spongebob shrugged. "Are you up for it, Sora?" he faced the one he asked.
Sora's blue eyes moved from Spongebob to a smiling Ed. He still looked at Plankton with suspicion. What was he up to? And then he looked at Eddy, who was giving him an annoyed sideways glare.
"Okay," Sora nodded. "Anything for Riku and Kairi--"
"And Double D!" Ed added with a raised finger.
"Excellent!" Plankton grinned. "I'll go along as an escort. After all, Jellyfish Fields can be a dangerous place." He thought to himself, 'That yellow fool has no idea…'
"Later, Squidward!" Spongebob waved behind him as they all exited the room.
Squidward sighed, "Morons…"
Mr. Krabs' office opened and the crustacean walked out with his red claw still on the door. When he saw no customers, he said, "Squidward, what's going on here? I heard talking."
"Absolutely nothing, sir," the octopus was leaning on his elbow while reading a magazine.
K-K-K-K-K-K
"Here we are!" Spongebob gestured at the wide-open range of spacious land with a yellow hand, "Jellyfish Fields!"
To be blunt, it was basically a bunch of hills covered in grass. The occasional jellyfish flew around, making buzzing noises.
Sora starred in awe, "Wow, they're behaving like bees……"
Ed was the only one of them who heard the low buzzing. It was much deeper than the others. The followed the sound behind a large rock.
"Hmm," Plankton's eye narrowed as his unseen arm pulled on a lever that made the Exobot rotate from its hip. "Where could they be?"
"I come here all the time," Spongebob explained to Sora and Eddy. "It helps me calm myself down and get in touch with my creative side."
"Or really?" Eddy cocked an eyebrow. "How?"
"Like this!" Spongebob produced a large pair of black glasses from behind his back, and put them on. They managed to stay on, even though he didn't have any ears to support them. He then brought out a fishing net in the same comical way. "La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la!" he sung as he pranced about while flailing his net at random jellyfish.
Eddy and Sora watched him with plain expressions. Had they not been fighting, Eddy would have made a smart comment which would make Sora chuckle. But since they were fighting, they remained silent, knowing that the first one to look at the other would immediately lose the silent argument.
K-K-K-K-K-K
Ed rounded the large rock. He saw something pink. "Hmm?" the left side of his mouth traveled upwards. "What is that?" he asked himself.
He walked towards it.
K-K-K-K-K-K
"Gotcha!"
The singing sponge managed to catch a jellyfish with one downward swipe. The tentacled creature struggled in the net, but didn't succeed in escaping.
"See?" Spongebob held the net over his shoulder casually as he approached Sora and Eddy. "It's easy."
"Then what do you do after you catch them?" Eddy asked.
"Then, you throw 'em back," the sponge pushed on the net, releasing the jellyfish. It hovered around his head before zapping him with one stinger. "Ow!" the yellow person rubbed his sore nose as the jellyfish flew away. "Pretty cool, huh?" he smiled sheepishly.
"….," Sora was silent, not wanting to hurt the sponge's feelings with his opinion. He blurted, "It looks…um, interesting…."
Spongebob's eyes widened with merriment, "Really? You think so?"
"Man, I wish I knew where the ship was," Eddy mused.
"AAAAAAAGH!"
Sora gasped. Eddy jumped. Spongebob's eyes widened. Plankton looked up.
"That sounded like Ed!" Sora told the group, which had come together.
"Then, let's go see! Over there!" Spongebob was already ahead of the group, having removed his glasses. His net was nowhere in sight.
Sora and Eddy followed.
Plankton stayed behind with a deadpan look in his eye. "Don't they know that they're just gonna be coming back?" he asked himself.
The three were running towards the big rock, where Ed had wandered before. However, they didn't need to go far, because the stupid oaf came running from behind in his trademark fashion.
"BIG! SCARY! PINK!" he yelled loudly, his eyebrow curving upwards so much, it touched the traffic cone.
"OOOF!" Spongebob let out as he was crashed into. His arms and legs flailed about uselessly behind Ed's back as his face was smothered in his chest. "MMMMMFFFFFFFFFF!"
"DAH!" Sora was also hit two seconds afterwards. He wasn't quick enough to avoid it. His helmet went over Spongebob's square head and bonked against Ed's. Ed was unaffected, while Sora had a huge headache now.
"D-OOOMF!" Eddy was the last one. He met Sora's back. His helmet struck the teen in the back of the neck, causing him to yell out in more pain.
"I CANNOT SEE!" Ed screamed.
"Just as I thought," Plankton said as Exobot placed its hands on its hips. Then, it held one metal hand forward.
CRASH!
Ed, Spongebob, Sora, and Eddy came to a stop. They fell over and onto the grass.
"ED!" Eddy got up and grabbed his friend by the collar. He shook him. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?.!.?.!"
"Over there, Eddy," Ed pointed behind him casually.
Eddy looked. His eyes widened and his pupils diluted. His jaw dropped slightly, but his lips didn't part.
A large jellyfish was heading their way, its stingers dancing with electricity.
"Oh my goodness!" Spongebob exclaimed. "It's a queen jellyfish!"
"Whatever it is, it's out to get us!" Sora yelled with his Keyblade ready.
Ed held his shield ready. Eddy brought his staff out.
"You'd best stand back for this one, Spongebob," Plankton said as his robot's left arm transformed into a laser gun, complete with a red dot sight, "if we don't get rid of this jellyfish, it'll just keep following us wherever we go."
"I understand," Spongebob nodded. "I'll hide over there!" he pointed at a kelp bush and dove in.
"Now, let's annihilate this cnidarian!" Plankton's Exobot pointed.
The jellyfish was roughly the size of an elephant, next to Sora. It had eight pink stingers. A low, angry buzz sounded from it.
Ed was the first to jump in. With one powerful swing he hurled his shield into the jellyfish's body. His hand bent the slippery 'skin' in, right before the body took its proper shape and the jellyfish was sent back a very few feet.
"How come it didn't go flying like every other enemy Ed punched?" Sora asked.
"It's too soft! That's why!" Plankton pressed a button and his laser gun fired one round of bright red. This one sent the jellyfish back further, making it rub against a rock.
"HAAAH!" Sora swung at the enemy upwards, sending it back ever so slightly. The jellyfish shook with anger and shot a bolt of electricity at him. "AAAAH!" Sora was shocked badly.
"Here, kid!" Plankton ran to him and used a potion to heal him.
"Beware of Ed!" Ed used Rocket to leap at the 'airborne' enemy. It swung two of its stingers at him. Ed blocked both in midair.
Eddy was watching the fight from afar. He smirked and aimed his staff. "One little singe will settle it."
His wand sparked once and then nothing.
"?" Eddy cocked an eyebrow. "Huh?" he shook the magical weapon and aimed again.
The same thing happened; sparks and nothing.
"What gives?.!"
"Pssst!"
Eddy looked at the kelp bush.
Spongebob pocked his yellow head out. "You're underwater, so no fire."
Eddy frowned and tried an ice attack. There was more progress than the fire attack. However, the ice cube that was produced just floated away.
"Dammit!"
The jellyfish flew back from Ed's swing. Plankton's robot ran under it, dodged the electric shocks, and came up behind it with its arms swiping downwards.
The jellyfish hit the ground, its stingers falling in all directions. Its body didn't move, but its eight limbs did.
"AAAGH!"
"OW!"
"NNNGH!"
Sora, Ed, and Plankton were all hit by them. Each fighter fell backwards. The queen jellyfish floated up, preparing two deadly tentacles. They were pointed at Sora.
"LOOK OUT, KID!" Plankton shot another laser blast from his robot. He hit the jellyfish dead on, disturbing its attack.
"YAAAAH!" Eddy ran into the fight, causing heads to turn. "THUNDER!" he yelled with his wand held over his helmeted head.
"DON'T!" Plankton's Exobot held a hand forward to stop him. "THAT'S INCREDIBLY FOOLISH!"
It was futile. The Thunder spell took effect…..in the wrong way. Instead of shocking the jellyfish, Eddy socked the jellyfish…..and everyone else within range.
ZAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP-POW!.!.!.!.!.!
"AAAAAAGH!" Ed screamed as his legs and hands stretched. His body flashed with an electric outline. Every two seconds, his skeleton showed while everything else turned back.
"AAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Plankton was no different, aside from the fact that he had no skeleton. However, his robot's body did the same thing as Ed's. Its gears and inner joints could be seen every two seconds.
"Hhhhhhh-fffff!" Sora shook violently, his eyes shut tightly. He felt the horrible tingling sensation passing through his entire body. His muscles tensed. He prayed that he'd still be alive to scold Eddy afterwards.
Finally, it was over with horrible consequences. Ed and Plankton were both knocked out, on the grass seeing stars. Eddy was unaffected by what he had done. He uttered a small, "……..oops……………"
The queen jellyfish was still up, having been 'energized' by the Thunder spell. It sparked more than before and was ready to execute its last opponents. It chose Eddy.
"AAAAAGH!" Eddy, knowing he was useless, ran for his life.
Sora sat up and rubbed his head….but couldn't on account of the helmet. "Wait!" he said out loud in realization. "Why am I still alive? That shock would have killed me for sure!"
"I'm glad you asked!" Spongebob stood over him and held a hand out. "I cast an Aero spell, shielding you. I learnt it a few days ago."
"'Aero'?" Sora remarked. He then noticed that his body was surrounded by some sort of spherical whirlwind. His skin felt cool. "What is this?" he grabbed the sponge's hand and stood up.
"Just like I said; Aero. It's a shield that allows you to do more damage, and have better defense," Spongebob explained. "Without it, you'd be dead by now."
"Y-You saved my life," Sora told him.
"It was nothing," Spongebob waved him off. "You'd better use it to take care of that jellyfish."
"Right," Sora nodded. Now, he knew that using magical attacks here was useless. With a growl, he ran to help is annoying friend.
Eddy swallowed hard, spun around, jumped up high. He swung his staff down hard. He hit the jellyfish with the force of a flick. It propelled itself forward, knocking Eddy back, and sending him 'flying'.
Sora dodge-rolled under the 'airborne' mage. He then jumped up with a spin. With added helm of the Aero spell, he struck the jellyfish yet again, but much harder. It buzzed once more before 'flying' straight up.
"Yay!" Spongebob ran up to him with raised hands. "You did it!"
"Yeah, I guess I did," Sora watched as the giant jellyfish shook one of its stingers like a fist at him. Then, it really left the area.
Ed groaned as he stood up and shook his yellow head. "Ow, big headache!" he winced from the pain and wished he could rub his yellow cranium.
"You're not alone," Plankton muttered as he pressed random buttons to make sure Exobot was okay. "Your stupid friend shocked us with his electrical spell."
Eddy was the last to rise. "Wow, that hurt," he said casually. He found himself being glared at by Plankton.
"Next time," Plankton's robot bent down so his small face could be closer, "stay out of the way. You're obviously a spell-caster, so you're absolutely ineffective here." He stood up and called the others, "Let's move on. Those friends of your might be close by."
"Okay," Sora nodded.
"Gotcha," Spongebob gave a thumb's up.
"Yessiroony!" Ed saluted.
They began to walk on, leaving Eddy to catch up. He did so, using his staff as a cane. Cursing under his breath, he followed with his head held down.
K-K-K-K-K-K
The group was walking through a crevice, still in Jellyfish Fields.
A sign to the left caught Plankton's eye. He was walking behind Spongebob, Sora, and Ed, but now his Exobot stopped. He was grinning evilly at the sign.
'SNAIL HILL'
It led to a new pathway, one that stretched towards a tall hill a few yards away.
"Finally, I'm here," his robot made two triumphant fists. "At long last, I have finally found a place called 'Snail Hill'. There's no doubt that snails live here, the requirements for my ultimate plan to steal the Krabby Patty Secret Formula by--!"
"You say something, Plankton?" Spongebob interrupted his soliloquy.
"Um……………no," Plankton responded, frozen.
"Oh, okay then. Let's go," the sponge ran to catch up with the others.
"Fool," Plankton muttered. Something caught his red eye. He looked towards the path to Snail Hill and saw a snail sleeping. It was curled inside its shell. "Isn't that Spongebob's snail?" Plankton asked himself. "It would be just plain bad to tranquilize and kidnap this one."
A second passed.
"Oh well. Who really cares, anyway?" Plankton's robot shrugged to prove his point further. The Exobot's left arm switched to a tranquilizer gun. "Engaging charging," Plankton said as he pushed a button.
Eddy wasn't far behind. He was slouched slightly. He muttered with a stiff brow, "I was just trying to help….." he noticed Plankton ahead. "Hey, what's he--?" Eddy stopped himself. With little effort, he flattened himself against the rocky wall, and crept towards the evil scientist.
He gasped when he saw that Plankton was aiming a possibly deadly weapon at a defenseless and unknowing snail. He ran and smacked the robot with his staff.
Plankton gasped and fired unintentionally. The shot missed, and created a loud bang, waking the snail up. It crawled away.
"What's the big idea?.!" Eddy yelled at Plankton.
"We heard a noise!" Sora, Ed, and Spongebob came running back. "Is everything alright?"
"The little bean tried to shoot a snail!" Eddy pointed.
Ed gasped.
"Didn't he say something about hunting snails before?" Sora remembered.
"Is it true, Plankton?" Spongebob asked him.
All eyes fell on the plankton in the Exobot. "You don't understand!" he defended. "….Er, an eel slithered by! Yes! I saved that poor snail's life….," he said with confidence.