And here's chapter one! :D

Review replies;

SOLmaster: Glad you like it! :D Thanks for reading.

Third Kind: Nope, villains are a rather dodgy sort - so are Dukes, in fiction. :P Thanks for reviewing!

Spandyyyy: Thanks for the enthusiasm! XD

dbzgtfan2004: Thanks for the review!

Gokiburi-Prince: Actually, it's a Shakespeare reference, to the 'my kingdom for a horse' line in Richard III. Not that I'm saying Mindy's a horse or anything. :P Anyway, thanks very much!

Chapter One: Bikini Bottom

It was a peaceful morning in Bikini Bottom. The sun was peaking over the horizon, and not a sound could be heard. It was a Sunday, and no-one was on the streets. It was all peaceful.

HROOOOOOOOOONK! HROOOOOOOOOOONK!

That is, until the sound of a foghorn pierced the air.

In the upstairs bedroom of a small pineapple house, Spongebob Squarepants sat up, throwing the sheets off of his bed.

"IIIIIIIII'M READY!" he yelled, jumping from his bed and running to the calendar.

He ran up to his calendar and pointed to the date, looking at his pet snail, Gary.

"Gary," he said, "Guess what I'm doing today!"

Gary meowed. Spongebob put a hand on his hip.

"Gary, that was last week," he reminded.

Gary meowed again.

"This isn't the same thing!" protested Spongebob, "This is different. So what if I went jellyfishing with Pat last Sunday – and the Sunday before that – and the Sunday before…"

Gary meowed again.

"Yeah, I guess you get the point," conceded Spongebob, "But like I said, this is different! There's a migration of sea nettle jellyfish, and guess who's gonna catch 'em?"

Gary blinked.

"That's right, I am!" grinned Spongebob, walking over to his closet and grabbing his square pants. He slipped them on and ran out of the bedroom.

Spongebob had slipped on his shoes and was just rushing out the door when his phone rang. He skidded to a halt and picked it up.

"Squarepants residence, Spongebob speaking," Spongebob said brightly, putting on his most refined tone.

"Spongebob, someone has dug holes in my garden. You wouldn't have anything to do with it, would you?"

It was his neighbour, Squidward Tentacles.

"Yeah, sorry about that buddy, me and Pat were playing soldier," explained Spongebob.

"Of course," groaned Squidward, "How about you play the 'see-how-long-you-can-not-bother-Squidward game?"

Spongebob considered Squidward one of his closest friends – Squidward didn't.

"Well," mused Spongebob, "I did want to beat that twenty-minute record I had…alright, Squidward, I'll play your…"

He was interrupted by the dial-tone as Squidward hung up.

Spongebob shrugged and put down the phone, running out the door.

Two doors down from Spongebob, Patrick Star rolled out of bed. Literally.

The starfish woke up as his head hit his nightstand, and he sat on the floor for several seconds, bewildered. Not for the first time, he'd woken up with no clue of where he was. It took him two minutes to work out that he was in his own home.

Just then, he heard a knock on his rock.

Panicked, Patrick grabbed his pants from the floor and attempted to pull them on. He got it right on the third try, and he quickly lifted up his rock and jumped out of his house.

"Hey Pat!" greeted Spongebob, "You ready to jellyfish?"

"Am I ever!" exclaimed Patrick.

"Did you remember your net?" asked Spongebob.

Patrick blinked.

Then he dove back into his rock.

There was a tremendous racket, almost as if he was destroying everything in his house. Then there was a loud crash, and Patrick emerged from his rock, net in hand.

"Here it is," he grinned.

Spongebob blinked.

"Uh, Patrick?" he asked, "What just happened?"

"Nothing," replied Patrick, innocently.

Spongebob shrugged.

"Alrighty then," he grinned, "Let's go catch us some jellyfish!"

Sandy Cheeks wiped her brow (or tried to – her air helmet got in the way) as she looked at her handiwork.

The device she had built looked almost like a miniature radio tower, about half as tall as she was. It was connected to a small laptop computer. The laptop seemed to be recording data from the surrounding landscape – the water temperature, waves and various other things.

She smiled as she took in the work. It had taken all morning to set it up, but it was finally done.

Suddenly, just over the rise, she could hear a faint noise.

"Lalala la, lalala la…"

Her face fell as Spongebob and Patrick came sauntering over the hill, jellyfishing nets in hand. It was not that she didn't like them – they were her best friends – it was that around Spongebob and Patrick, her inventions tended to be misused – if not totally destroyed.

Spongebob and Patrick skipped over to Sandy.

"Hey Sandy!" exclaimed Spongebob, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Howdy Spongebob," greeted Sandy, slightly unenthusiastically, "I'm just doin' some experiments…"

"Hey, it's a giant needle!" exclaimed Patrick, rushing over to the mini-tower, "Spongebob, we can joust with this!"

"No!" exclaimed Sandy, pushing Patrick away from the tower, "I'm using that!"

"I was just asking," muttered Patrick, grumpily.

"Hey, does that machine tell us where the jellyfish are?" asked Spongebob, "We've been out for ages and we can't find any."

"That's actually why I'm here," replied Sandy, shrugging, "Any of you fellers notice how…quiet it's been these last few days?"

"What do you mean?" asked Spongebob, confused.

"The scallops, the jellyfish, the feral snails behind the Krusty Krab," elaborated Sandy, "They've all vanished!"

"Maybe they died," suggested Patrick.

"No, that ain't it," replied Sandy, unimpressed, "It's like they know something's up! Like they're runnin' from it – like they're scared…"

"Scared?" quizzed Spongebob, "Scared of what?"

"I don't know, Spongebob," replied Sandy, "I just don't know…"

Squidward sat on his couch, eating a fondue he had made himself, when he heard a knock on the door. Sighing, he got up and walked over.

"I guess he made an hour," he groaned.

He opened the door.

A group of soldiers stood at the door, their pikes in battle positions.

"In his name of his Majesty the King, I am declaring you under arrest!" announced the lead soldier.

"Wh-what?" demanded Squidward, "Buh-buh-but I didn't do anything! I-I like King Neptune, I…"

"Not King Neptune," snapped the lead soldier, "The Duke of the Pacific. He's taken the position. Now come with us and I won't have to run you through."

Squidward looked at the pikes and gulped, putting his hands up.

"There's a good peasant," sneered the soldier, "Look at it this way, miscreant – you won't want to be in town when the Duke gets here…"

And with that, they dragged Squidward away.

Poor Squidward.