Who Wants To Race Me?
DISCLAIMER: SpongeBob SquarePants is owned by Stephen Hillenburg, Nickelodeon, and United Plankton, Ltd. Sonic the Hedgehog is owned by Yuji Naka, Sega, and Sonic Team. The only thing I own is the story itself.
CHAPTER FIVE: REVELATIONS
Sonic walked at a moderate speed out of the burger joint. He looked behind him. The only person that had followed him out was Knuckles. Sonic grinned, followed by a subtle chuckle. That squirrel wasn't anywhere near him, so he decided to unleash his true speed. He spun his legs faster than lightning, and took off, followed by Knuckles. Sonic was pleasantly surprised. "Well, well, Knuckles, it looks like you're finally getting faster. Looks like those dashes at the Olympics did you well!"
Knuckles shook his head while he ran. "Looks like I'm faster than you after all!"
Sonic shook his head sadly. "Tsk, tsk. Faster, yes. Faster than me, I don't think so."
Sonic only started to run faster. Knuckles slightly closed his eyelids. "Yeah, we'll see about that!"
Knuckles also started to increase his speed. For a while, it even looked like Knuckles was going to pass Sonic! Sonic spun his body to face Knuckles, but his legs moved in such a way that he was running in reverse. "Showoff," Knuckles muttered.
Sonic looked at Knuckles with a bit of sentiment. "You know, you can drop out of the race anytime you want," Sonic said, followed by his infamous wink.
"And lose my chance to show you and that squirrel who's really fast? No way!" Knuckles suddenly ran faster than he had ever run in the entire day. His face, from the anger, turned red, matching the rest of his body. "I'll show you once and for all I'm the faster one!"
"Hey Knux, I think you're starting to get a little bit too competitive. I mean I joined this race just because of Eggman, not to actually prove anything. You on the other hand, are burning your lid off because you think you're faster than I am."
"I don't need to prove anything! I already know I'm faster than you! And don't call me Knux! It's Knuckles, and don't you forget it!"
Sonic suddenly skidded to a halt. "Hey, Knuckles? I think you should stop running now."
"Why? Are you scared I'll pass you?"
"No, it's just that people, strike that, fishes are staring."
Knuckles suddenly stopped and realized a large crowd of fish had surrounded the two competitors. Everyone in the crowd was in awe, their mouths gaping open.
Suddenly, one fish in the crowd shot out, "Whoa! That's the fastest thing I've seen since I fell out of my mom's stomach!"
Everyone else in the crowd cheered in approval. Sonic suddenly raised a finger. "Sorry guys, but we've got to go now. See ya!"
"Umm, Sonic? If you need me, I'll be over at the Cyclone to make sure it's protected," Knuckles let Sonic know.
"Whatever you say, Knuckles!" Sonic suddenly dashed to the horizon, and lapped the city limits of Bikini Bottom like how a student runs his daily lap in P.E. class. The surprising part about all this is that while all this was happening, Sandy didn't see a thing. But Spongebob did.
Sonic suddenly stopped by where the Krusty Krab was, and while he meant to go back in, he suddenly turned his head and acquired interest in the structure in front of the Krusty Krab, namely, the Chum Bucket. "Well, what's this place?" An unpleasant odor suddenly swept across Sonic's direction. "Yuck, it smells like rancid meat! But I also detect a smidge of…rotten egg." What Sonic meant is pretty self-explanatory.
He decided to check it out. He leapt inside the room, and to his surprise, saw no one. "Odd," Sonic said to himself. He walked around the rusty interior, only being greeted by dirty tables. Sonic was suspecting something to jump out at him at any second, but nothing did. The only noise Sonic heard was water trickling down into an old pipe, which made him wonder how there could there be water trickling in the pipes if the entire city was underwater. Sonic was definitely uneasy, but he accepted the calmness. "Guess there's nothing worthwhile in here after all."
Sonic began out the door, until he heard a voice too familiar to ignore. "Sonic? Is that you?"
Sonic turned around, and dashed to the door where the sound had come from. "Amy? Is that you?" Sonic called.
"Yes! Oh Sonic, I thought I would never see you again! You wouldn't believe what I've gone through since I saw you last! That reminds me, Blaze isn't down here, is she?"
"No she's not, and please get over it already!"
"That's good news. But enough of that. Let's get down to the more important things. Can you get me out of here?"
Sonic reached for the doorknob and tried turning it, but the door remained shut. "Sorry, but it's locked."
"Great. Now I have to deal with having my blouse being wet and being stuck here with this…thing! I hope I don't catch a cold."
"How are you breathing in there anyway?"
"The room's half-filled with oxygen. How are you breathing out there?"
"Air necklace. Tails gave it to me."
"Well, I'm getting a bit scared by the things that could happen to me next, so please hurry up a bit."
Patrick suddenly woke up from a nap he had been in, and looked at Amy. "Ha, ha, you're pretty!"
Amy suddenly looked slightly grossed out and slowly backed away from Patrick. "Strike that, Sonic. Hurry up A LOT!"
"I'll do my best Amy! You just keep hanging in there!"
"I'll try."
Sonic dashed out of the Chum Bucket and to the Krusty Krab to break the news to Tails. Unfortunately for Sonic, Tails and Mr. Krabs were having an argument about the status of the Krusty Krab. "I simply can't understand why I'm losing me money!"
Tails crossed his arms. "You wanna know why? First, check the prices of your food. They are way too high!"
"What? Me customers would be paying perfectly good money for a delicious Krabby Patty!"
"You're making people pay a hundred bucks for a burger."
"Umm…what's a burger?"
Sonic joined the conversation. "How 'bout adding a chili cheese dog to your repertoire?"
"What's a chili cheese dog? Will it make me money?"
"I don't think it could turn you into money, but I'm sure it could earn you some cash."
"I'll take it!" Krabs said, his eyes forming the shape of a dollar sign.
Tails continued with the errors. "Secondly, your thermostat is at freezing temperature. How about raising it some? It won't cost you anything!"
"That's where you are wrong my friend. Here underwater, it is very cold so it actually costs us money to raise the thermostat!"
"Well it will still attract more customers!"
"It'll cost me money!"
"Have you ever heard the saying, 'You have to spend money to make money'?"
"Have you ever heard the saying, 'A penny saved is a penny earned'?"
"Well I was just trying to help you! Anyway, the next problem about this place is the atmosphere! The floor and tables are filthy!"
"Well if I did, it would remove the layer of memories I've shared with me pennants!"
Tails looked slightly scared and confused at the same time. "…Right. Well now we get to the main problem. Your so-called 'delicious Krabby Patties' are disgusting in both flavor and appearance!"
"What? There's nothing wrong with me patties."
Tails handed Krabs a Krabby Patty. "YOU CALL THIS FOOD? If I tried to describe it, I would either barf or have a heart attack!"
For a description of how the patty looked, see the episode To Love a Patty, and see the part when Spongebob takes "Patty" to a fancy dinner date at the Krusty Krab.
"Well, I can't afford to keep the patties fresh! I can't put them in the freezer! Gotta keep my snowflake collection somewhere, you know."
Tails' head began to steam. "You know what? I'm wrong about the patties being the main problem. The real main problem is that YOU ARE TOO DARN CHEAP!"
"Don't make me cut your paycheck!"
"You don't pay me."
"And even if you applied for a job, I wouldn't start!"
A fish that had overheard the entire conversation approached Mr. Krabs. "Actually, I'd say the fox boy has got some pretty good ideas! If you did all the things he said you could do, I would come eat here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for the rest of my life!"
Mr. Krabs' eyes went from being a dollar sign to two humongous gold bars. Krabs suddenly looked at Tails. "Well it was a pleasure doing business with you! If you have any more ideas, here's my phone number. Call me anytime!" Krabs said to Tails, shaking his hand madly.
"Umm…your welcome?"
After all the commotion had settled down, Spongebob entered the restaurant. His mouth was hanging open wide. Krabs approached Spongebob. "Ahoy there, laddie! What can I do for you?"
Spongebob said with a stunned voice, "I am here to discuss the matter of the competitor of the sponsored race's speed with my agent."
"What?" all the people in the restaurant said with confused faces.
"I'm here to warn Sandy about Sonic's speed."
"Ooohhhh," said the people, extending the "oh" sound.
"Well you're in luck, Spongebob! The land squirrel's right in me office," Krabs informed.
"Thank you," answered Spongebob, heading towards the office.
Spongebob opened the office door to see Sandy exercising on a treadmill. "Hey, Sandy."
"Howdy, Spongebob. What brings you here?"
"I actually wanted to warn you about Sonic."
"Spongebob, I thought we already went through this. I don't need to worry about any critters being faster than I am, 'cause I'm the fastest one there is! Check it out, Squaredude! My treadmill is set to speed eleven, and I'm running like how a normal critter runs on speed five!"
"But Sandy, he's really fast! I saw him run, Sandy, and I've never seen anything faster than him! Not even you!"
"Spongebob, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I need to tell you something. You have been known to exaggerate…a lot. So, I can't really believe you when you tell me something is fast. What you think is fast and what I think is fast are two totally different fasts! So I don't need to worry!"
"But Sandy, I…" Spongebob began, but he realized that trying to convince her would only prove that his efforts were futile. "Whatever you say, Sandy," Spongebob said with his head down as he left the room.
As Spongebob headed towards the exit to the Krusty Krab, Krabs approached him. "Spongebob! The big race is starting in ten minutes, so get your butt over to the treedome! Oh, and before I forget, go to your house and grab a water helmet so you can breathe in there!"
"Aye, aye, captain."
From afar, Plankton and Eggman watched Spongebob leave the Krusty Krab. "And in the same amount of time, you and your little friends will finally meet your doom!" Plankton laughed to himself.
And in only several seconds, Plankton and Eggman broke into a fit of maniacal laughter. "Sonic, soon I shall finally crush you," Eggman threatened, liking the sound of what he just said. Little did Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Spongebob, Sandy, or Mr. Krabs know of what was in store for them once they entered the treedome.
As you can well imagine, the next chapter will finally show what happens in the race. For those who want another character like Superman or the Flash or Spiderman or the Roadrunner or whomever to also be in the race, this is your last chance to suggest in your review. I hope you liked this chapter and all future chapters, and I certainly hope you add this story to favorites and keep reading. Thank you. Until next time, fellow reader!
