Chapter #4: Of Sponges and Starfish

Meanwhile, in another area of the forest, Booker was hiding in some bushes. Robot guards had just attacked his group, and the squad had scattered. The 'bots had left, and there was silence. Now the bulldog was alone, and it terrified him; normally he didn't go anywhere without Copper. Whimpering, he called out, "Where is everybody?"

Silence.

"Butch? Jeremiah?"

More silence.

Booker scrambled out of his hiding place and began running. He didn't care where he was going, just as long as there were friends in that direction. He crashed through the woods until he found himself on the beach. He looked in every direction, but no one was there. The poor dog sat down on a log and began to cry.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

"Yipes!" Booker screamed and jumped a foot in the air, startled by the voice. He whirled around and rubbed his eyes at what he saw.

In front of Booker were two sea creatures—a yellow sponge and a pink starfish. The sponge wore brown pants, a white shirt, and a red tie, and he had two upper teeth sticking out. The starfish wore green pants with purple flowers on it. He had a dazed look on his face, and a single tooth stuck out, making him look goofy.

Suddenly the sponge called out to him in a high-pitched voice (the same voice that had spoken to him before), "Hi! I'm SpongeBob SquarePants! And my buddy is Patrick Star!"

The starfish greeted him in a dumb voice, "Hi. I like ice cream."

Booker replied nervously, "Um, hi, I guess…"

"What's your name?" asked "SpongeBob".

"Uh…Booker. Have you seen any of my friends?"

"Yeah, but they're all going the other way." SpongeBob pointed in the direction Booker had come from.

The dog got up and started running back. Suddenly, a robot charged out of the trees, and Booker yelped in surprise. "A robot! Heeeeelp!!" he screamed.

"What's so scary about a robot?" "Patrick" said.

The robot pulled out his blaster and aimed it at the trio. "Blaster armed. Prepare for annihilation," it droned.

Booker gulped and replied, "That."

SpongeBob's wide eyes grew even wider. "Uh oh. Run for your lives!"

However, Patrick just laughed and yelled, "It's a giraffe!"

SpongeBob and Booker didn't hesitate; they dashed away, with SpongeBob dragging Patrick along by his hand. The trio raced for the woods with the guard in hot pursuit. Booker had a pistol, but he was too frightened to use it. Plus, he wasn't a good shot, and he would probably hurt someone. SpongeBob screamed the whole way, and Patrick laughed like he was on a fun ride. Just when they thought they had escaped, they came to a canyon—a box canyon.

SpongeBob cried, "Oh no! It's a dead end!"

Patrick asked, "Does that mean we're gonna die?"

"Yes!!" wailed poor Booker.

Pulling another goofy grin, the starfish shouted, "Yay! Me first!"

The robot said in its unemotional voice, "Silence. Prepare to be terminated."

SpongeBob scratched his head. "What does 'terminated' mean?"

"Killed, I think…" replied Booker.

"Oh. Somebody help us!!"

"Silence. Prepare to be terminated," the robot said again.

The trio whimpered as the guard closed in on them and aimed his blaster. Suddenly they heard two voices coming from a different direction.

"Oh my! I believe that's Booker!"

"Booker! Hang on, dude!"

Booker yelled out, "Blathers! K.K.!" Then he scratched his head. "I think…" The robot aimed the blaster at him. "Help me!" he screamed.

There were two other voices as well, ones he didn't recognize.

"Oh dear. We should help them, Ratchet."

"Already on it, Clank."

Suddenly there was a loud series of gunshots, and Booker covered his face. When he removed his paws, the robot was a pile of metal; only its head wasn't obliterated. The dog's eyes widened in astonishment. He looked up and saw a furry alien creature jump down from the top of the canyon. The strange robot-like backpack on him activated special rotors on it, and the alien hovered to the ground. Then the backpack changed into a tiny robot. "Hello there. I am Clank," it said.

For some unknown reason, Patrick screeched, "Smaller robot! Aaaaahh!!" He turned around to run and crashed into the canyon wall. He fell to the floor, and SpongeBob slapped his forehead.

"Sorry about that," apologized the sponge. "Thanks for saving us!"

"You're welcome, I guess. It was no problem," Ratchet said with a shrug. But when he looked at the temporarily-unconscious Patrick, he cocked an eyebrow.

K.K. and Blathers raced up to the group, and the owl asked, "Is everybody OK?"

Everyone responded with "Yeah, we're all right."

"Silence. Prepare to be terminated."

The group looked down and saw the robot's head. "Is that thing still working?!" exclaimed Slider.

He was confirmed when it spoke again. "Silence. Prepare to be terminated."

"Is that all it can say?" Blathers said.

"Silence. Prepare to be terminated."

Ratchet volunteered, "I'll fix it with my Omniwrench." He yanked his wrench out of his belt and hit the robot's head with it. Its red eyes stopped glowing, and its monotone winded down to nothing. Then the Lombax kicked it away. "Good riddance."

K.K. shrugged and said, "Anyway, we need to get back to the trains; we've delayed too much already. The others won't wait forever." He turned to SpongeBob and Patrick. "You two hafta come with us."

"But K.K., they are aquatic life-forms," Clank pointed out from Ratchet's back. "If they remain in dry air for too long without water, they might suffer harm."

At this, SpongeBob's eyes widened. "Oops, forgot about that." But then he brightened. "But wait! Pat and I've been practicing! We can stay out for a few hours! Then we need some water."

The white dog nodded. "Good. There are hundreds of 'bots patrollin' around; it's not safe for anybody. Now let's go!"

They all raced out of the canyon and through the woods until they reached a brick platform. Beside it was a train, and Tom Nook, Spike, and Jimmy stood near the passenger car; all the hostages and agents, including Tortimer's group, were already inside. The shopkeeper waved them over, and the two boys just silently followed the group as they ran inside the car, staring at the four newcomers. They all found seats just as the train began moving. Tom, Tortimer, and Copper sat together to discuss their situation.

"I'm glad you all made it," said Tortimer. "But what's with these strange characters? Where'd they all come from? I hope all of 'em will be helpful."

"Ratchet certainly is," K.K. pointed out. "He's got an entire arsenal in that black bag of his."

"Spike and Jimmy are good with their Stun Clubs," Copper interjected.

"And SpongeBob and Patrick…" Blathers began. But then he stopped. "Well…" He gestured to Booker and Patrick, who were having a strange conversation together.

"I like ice cream," said Patrick.

Booker scratched his head. "I do too, I think…"

"I think…" the starfish mimicked perfectly.

"Don't copy me, please."

"Don't copy me, please."

"Hmm…"

"Hmm…"

Booker got an idea. He said to Patrick, "I'm an idiot!"

But what came back was "You're an idiot!"

"Aaaarrgghh!!"

The curator finished, "I think they're going be a problem."

Suddenly K.K., who was sitting at the back of the car, butted in. "Speaking of problems, I think we have one. Look out your window!"

Everyone looked out their windows and saw what the musician was talking about. An army of robots was chasing them on a black train and half a dozen army trucks!

The Alliance leaders and six strangers all let out various exclamations of surprise and fear. Blathers rushed out of his seat to alert the engineer, and the hostages cowered in their seats.

When he saw the foe, Ratchet reached into his black bag and brought out a light blue weapon that resembled a bazooka. "Not a problem! Come on, Clank! We can take 'em out with my Annihilator!" Then he ran to the end of the caboose (the last car on a train), aimed, and fired several shots at the oncoming train, but it had little effect. "This is gonna be tougher than I thought…" he muttered.

Blathers returned to the car, his face ashen white. He said something to the other animals, and they too froze. Copper opened the door to the caboose and called out, "Ratchet, we've got a problem! There's a roadblock ahead of us! We're gonna crash!"

The Lombax stared at him and yelled, "What?!"

Somehow, the robots had felled some trees and had placed them right on the train tracks. They sat right in the path of the Allies' train. They couldn't stop it in time; even if they could, the enemy train would crash into them.

Inside the car, Booker was panicking. "We're all gonna diiiiiiiee!! I think…"

Patrick just grinned and said, "I like peanuts…I think…"

The fate of the Allies was sealed.

Or was it?


Version 2 Author's Notes:

Now you know the third crossover, SpongeBob SquarePants! I don't own him. SpongeBob was created by Steven Hillenburg and is owned by Nickelodeon. Now for two quick notes:

1) In the first version, I neglected the fact that SpongeBob and Patrick need water and can't stay out in dry air for too long ("Tea at the Tree Dome", anyone?). (But you know, they seemed fine when they were on land in the SpongeBob Movie...weird.) But for this new version, I have given them some bathtubs to sleep in and the occasional swim in the ocean or lake. They might not be much, but please cut me some slack; I tried.

2) Patrick is going to be a bit stupider than he normally is in the show...for the sake of humor, okay? Don't get me wrong; I love Patrick. I kind of need a very stupid character to supply the humor for this fic, and he fits the bill.