Chapter #22: The Boss's "Little" Helper

When morning came, the heroes took some R&R in Boston. It wasn't that big of a town, but the animals were friendly to them. Copper, as he had said, took Crazy Redd and Lyle down to the police station and locked them up. Tom Nook bought the gang fishing rods, shovels, slingshots, and bug nets so they could amuse themselves in the town. The whole time, however, Tails was very quiet; for him, it was hard to get over the absence of Sonic. The others also felt it, but were able to enjoy themselves nonetheless.

For a while, all the group did was fish at the lake and exchange life stories. The two exceptions were SpongeBob and Patrick, as they didn't like the idea of fishing (being sea creatures) and preferred bug catching; they also occasionally went for a dip in the lake. Whenever Spike and Jimmy got bored, they would wander off to try and catch bugs with the sponge and starfish. In Ratchet's case, he had Clank set up some soda cans on a fallen log, and he would knock them down with his slingshot; even with a "non-lethal weapon", he was an excellent marksman. He and Clank also stuck around to keep Tails company. The fox was the only person to stick to his spot on the lake; he didn't seem to have the energy to do anything else.

For many of them, the day seemed to fly by quickly, and soon it was evening. Eventually the gang completely abandoned their posts at the lake and moved on to the beach. At first, only Spike and Jimmy went out into the open to act as scouts. They kept their fishing rods with them and took spots at the edge of the ocean, but their eyes combed the sandy beach for anything unusual. When they saw nothing, they signaled the others, and they too took up fishing places.

But this proved to be a distraction, for the fish were biting there better than they had in the lake. Tails was watching a small grove of palm trees, counting the coconuts on them out of boredom, when suddenly his fishing rod nearly flew out of his hands. With a gasp, he grabbed it and began to reel.

"You've got something big!" Jimmy exclaimed, and he tossed a horse mackerel he had caught back into the water.

The fish on Tails' line began to drag him close to the waves, and Ratchet leaped to his feet. He wrapped his arms around the fox's chest and pulled him back, shouting, "Keep reeling!" Tails did so, but the line suddenly slackened.

"Don't stop! Reel!" Spike told them, setting down his own rod, ready to help.

Tails kept reeling harder than before, and suddenly a red snapper broke the surface of the water a few feet from them. Jimmy gave a shout of triumph as Tails reeled it in all the way. The others gathered around to admire his catch.

Clank studied it with his scanners and stated, "This specimen is slightly larger than its normal size."

"All right, Tails! Good job!" Spike said, slamming the eight-year-old fox's back.

Tails smiled, proud of his catch, but the grin disappeared when the red-haired teen complimented him; he had sounded like Sonic. He sighed and replied, "Thanks. But…what are we going to do with it?"

"I believe red snapper is considered palatable in this region," answered Clank, "and is one of the most loved dishes in Animal Crossing cuisine."

Ratchet, Spike, and Jimmy stared at him in confusion. Tails also paused, and then asked slowly, "You mean…it's eatable, right?"

The little robot nodded. "Correct."

The two humans cocked their eyebrows. Spike said, "I've never had this kind of fish before, but…okay!"

"Let's go back to the house and cook it!" Jimmy declared.

All but Ratchet began to run back to the forest. The Lombax hesitated, mainly due to the idea of eating a foreign dish. How could something like that fish be edible?

Suddenly, a voice came out of nowhere.

"Hey, you!"

Ratchet's ears perked up slightly, and he glanced around the beach.

"Yeah, alien boy! Come here!"

It sounded like the voice was coming from behind him, so he turned around. No one was there. But the voice urged him on in that direction.

"Closer…"

Ratchet took three hesitant steps.

"Closer!"

Irritated, he took six steps.

"Too close!"

Ratchet took his final step, and the voice stopped. He looked around some more, but no one had been in sight the whole time the voice had talked to him. He knocked himself upside the head a few times and stuck his fingers in his ears to clean them out.

"Ratchet?" shouted the voice of Spike. "You comin'?"

He began to move back toward the forest. "Yeah, be right there!" he replied. "I was hearing things!"

But when his left foot hit the ground, there was a scream. He stopped and listened. No voice. He took another step, and there was another scream. He stopped and listened again. The voice was gone.

Ratchet glared at his boots. "This is starting to get annoying."

"Ratchet!" Spike called again.

"Coming!" he yelled back.

The commando began stomping back the way they had come, and there was no doubt about the screaming now.

"Ow! Ouch!"

Ratchet reached the others, who had come back a ways to meet him, and he made one last stomp with his left foot. The scream was louder than ever, and everyone else heard it.

"Yeeeeoooowwww!!"

"Alright! What the heck is goin' on?!" he shouted loudly, throwing his hands up into the air.

"I think you stepped in something, Ratchet," Tails said, scratching his forehead.

The voice, now muffled, shouted, "Not in something! On someone, you twit!"

Ratchet lifted his left foot. A tiny, green creature with one red eye and two antennae was stuck to the bottom. The Lombax's eyebrows rose, and he peeled it off of his foot. It screamed in pain as he did so. He held it by its two antennae, and the others stared at it in puzzlement.

"Clank, can you scan that thing?" Tails asked.

The robot did, and told them, "I believe it is a type of plankton that resides in the ocean."

The creature struggled, moving its stubby arms and legs, and snapped, "I could have told you that, bucket of bolts! And you'll pay for stepping on me, alien scum!"

Ratchet rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically, "Oh, I'm so scared."

"Watch your mouth! Because of that your punishment is going to be 30 lashes!"

"Save your breath, Tiny Tim. Tails, go get me a jar from our house." Tails nodded and, with his fishing rod and red snapper still in hand, he ran back into the forest.

"How dare you call me tiny!" the green creature barked. "I oughtta increase the penalty to 100 lashes! Open your mouth anymore, and I'll…"

It continued to threaten Ratchet, who sat down on a rock and continued the conversation by annoying the creature even more. Finally Tails returned with a jar with holes poked into the lid. The Lombax dropped him into the jar and put the lid back on.

"Who is he?" said Tails. But the gang could only shrug; they had no idea.

Spike suddenly got a sneaking suspicion, and checked his watch; it said 10:05. "He might be Redd's contact," he suggested.

The others gave him surprised looks, but Ratchet studied the strange creature and shook his head. "He's too small."

Suddenly they heard two familiar voices. SpongeBob and Patrick darted out of the forest, still wielding their bug nets.

"Hey, guys! Bug catching is awesome! It doesn't hurt like jellyfishing!"

The five cocked their eyebrows. Jellyfishing?

"Oh no, not these two morons," groaned the tiny green creature.

This attracted the attention of SpongeBob. The instant he saw the creature, he gasped and dropped his net, exclaiming, "Plankton!"

"Looks like Clank was right," Jimmy said.

Tails' ears pricked up. "Hold on; is Plankton his name, SpongeBob?"

The yellow sponge vigorously nodded his head. "Yeah! Actually, his real name is Sheldon, but everybody just calls him Plankton."

Jimmy guffawed. "'Sheldon'?!" He burst into laughter; Tails and Spike choked back their own laughter, and Ratchet snickered. Plankton glared daggers at SpongeBob.

"Cease laughing, you little brat!" he demanded to Jimmy.

"So, you guys know him?" Spike asked SpongeBob.

Again he was answered with a vigorous nod. "He's always trying to steal the formula for the Krabby Patty!"

Ratchet cocked an eyebrow. "What's a 'Krabby Patty'?"

SpongeBob gaped at him. "You don't know?!"

"I'm from another galaxy; of course I don't know."

"It's only the best burger under the sea!"

For a moment there was nothing but silence, and then the Lombax turned and stared at Plankton with half-closed eyes. "…You keep trying to steal the formula for a burger?" he asked.

Plankton waved his arms around angrily. "It's not just any stupid burger! It's a Krabby Patty!"

There was another pause. Then Jimmy simply said, "What a lame enemy."

"I'm not lame!" Plankton fumed. "I've tried to take over the world before!"

Spike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we heard the story. You got your butt kicked by SpongeBob and Patrick."

"Grr…don't remind me."

Jimmy added, "Only a lame villain could get his butt kicked by a sponge and a dumb starfish."

"I'm not lame!" he protested.

Suddenly SpongeBob frowned and moved forward, taking the jar from Ratchet. "What are you up to this time, Plankton?"

"It's none of your business!" was the angry reply.

Taking his guess from before, Spike said, "I'll bet you're workin' with Big Boss."

Drops of sweat appeared on Plankton's forehead. "Err…what makes you think that?"

The heroes exchanged glances; Plankton was their man. Ratchet began the questioning. "So, you're one of The Boss's advisors?"

It looked like Plankton was not going to talk, but the Lombax shook the jar, and the words poured from his mouth. "I just came to him about a month ago and asked him if he would lend me a robot army so I could take over the ocean. He told me he was conquering the world, but he'd let me have the oceans if I helped."

Jimmy scratched his head. "This is getting weirder by the minute."

"Let's show Plankton to Copper and Nook!" SpongeBob declared.

"Is Plankton a bug?" Patrick asked randomly.

"I'm not a bug, you imbecile!" Plankton retorted.

"What's a bug?"

Ratchet shot him a glare. "Shut it, Peanut Brain."

The starfish cocked his head. "My brain's a peanut?"

"No, it's the size of a peanut," said Jimmy.

"What's a peanut?"

Suddenly a rock came out of nowhere and hit Patrick's head. He plopped onto the sand with an "Ouch." Everyone looked around to see who had thrown the rock. It turned out to be Tails. They stared at him in surprise.

The fox shrugged. "He was getting on my nerves."

Ratchet handed Jimmy Plankton's jar and helped Spike pick up Patrick. SpongeBob and Tails gathered up their fishing rods and bug nets, and the group trotted back to the house. They found Tortimer, Tom Nook, and Copper there, and told them everything that had happened.

"This is getting quite confusing," the raccoon said, staring at Plankton in the jar.

Copper folded his arms. "So, are we going to attack Big Boss's fortress or not?"

Ratchet shrugged. "I don't see why not; we got the info we needed. We just need to come up with a plan. I think we should sneak inside using Redd's fingerprint for the secret entrance, then get to the control room."

"Why the control room?" Spike asked.

"We can get a map of the base, a look at the security system and maybe even shut it down, and find out where Sonic is."

"I can download a map of the compound from the computer's database," Clank offered.

Tails stepped forward. "Once we find Sonic, what then?"

With a manic grin, the commando brought out his RYNO, and everyone stepped back. "Simple," he replied. "We blow the place to kingdom come!"

"If we deactivate the security system in the compound," added his partner, "then it is also possible for us to apprehend Big Boss and any of his advisors."

Tortimer brightened immediately. "That's a good plan!"

Spike nodded and extended one hand forward. "Let's do it!"

"All right! Some more action!" his cousin said. He brought out his Stun Club and put his free hand on top of Spike's. Smiling, Ratchet put away his weapon and joined the stack. Then he lifted up Clank with his other hand so he could join in.

Tails gave a wide grin and added his own. "Sonic, here we come!" he declared.

"Yipeeeee!" cried SpongeBob, doing a happy dance and then joining the group.

A pink hand came on top of this. "I don't get it."

Everybody turned to Patrick.

"What's a plan?"

Ratchet flattened his ears. "Not another word, Patrick."

"What's a word?"

All but SpongeBob turned and yelled, "Shut up, Patrick!"

He grinned. "Pickles."

"Never mind him," said Tails. He put his other hand on top of the stack and bent down.

Taking the cue, the others broke the stack of hands and whooped, "Let's goooooo!"

The heroes were prepared for their hardest mission yet…