Nicktoons Unite!
Chapter 6: Dutchy's New Crew
Danny, Jimmy, Timmy and an upset Spongebob watched in horror as the Jellyfish Harvester sped away with Patrick inside. Once the machine was out of sight, Spongebob collapsed to the ground and sobbed.
"WAAAAHHHH! Not Patrick! AHHGIGIGIGIAHHAH!"
The other three watched awkwardly at the crying sponge. Then Danny stepped forward and placed a hand on Spongebob's shoulder.
"Don't worry, dude, we'll get Patrick back. Right now, let's stick to the plan." he assured.
Spongebob sniffed and looked up at the teen. Just seeing his assured face made Spongebob feel much better.
The sponge bravely stood up. "You're right, Danny. We can save him later. Let's get to Plankton's factory first."
The four followed the tracks left by the harvester at a fast pace. Danny was leading the team when suddenly, a sharp cliff appeared before him. He stopped before he could fall and was flailing his arms to keep his balance. After recovering, Timmy and Jimmy bumped behind him and caused all of them to shift closer to the cliff.
Before the three could do anything else, Spongebob tripped over a rock and crashed into the kids, sending them over the cliff. The four screamed as they fell, but not for very long.
CRASH! The heroes now found themselves on top of one another, with Danny on the bottom, Spongebob on top and Jimmy and Timmy sandwiched in between.
The naive sponge was still screaming, "AAAAHHHHHohhhhhh...Hey, we've stopped fallin'! I thought that chasm was gonna be our grave site."
Jimmy poked his head out. "We've appeared to have landed on a ship."
"No, really, I thought we were gonna take a dirt nap." piped up Timmy sarcastically.
As the team conversed, an irritated Danny tapped his fingers. Finally he had enough and yelled, "How 'bout you guys continue this conversation after you GET OFF ME?!"
His shouting caused the three to jump off of him immediately. Once they all stood up, the four realized Jimmy was right; they were on some sort of wooden ship, complete with masts and a captain's quarter room. But something was wrong; the ship seemed to be glowing a ghostly green.
Spongebob looked around, rubbing his chin. "This ship looks familiar, but I can't really place it."
"Who cares?" said Timmy, "Let's just get outta here before-"
"ARHARHAR!"
A ghostly howl permeated throughout the deck. Suddenly, in front of the four heroes, a green cloud phased through the floor and took the shape of a human-like pirate captain. His body glowed with the same eerie green as the ship.
The pirate ghost laughed again and pointed at the gang,"Avast! Ye landlubbers had just boarded the ship of the Flying Dutchman! Now ye will be me crew, for all of eternity! BAHAHAHAHA!"
Although Danny, Jimmy and Timmy were shocked into silence, Spongebob greeted, "Hiya, Dutchy!"
The Flying Dutchman opened one eye and, seeing the happy sponge, let out a groan. "Ar, not you again, Spongebob. All right, you can go, but the rest of ye stay!"
Spongebob shook his head. "Sorry, Mr. Dutchman, but I can't leave my friends, so I guess you're stuck with me again. But I've been practicing my pirate voice! Watch!"
The sponge cleared his throat and growled, "Yar, har, arr matey!" Danny, Jimmy and Timmy just stared, dumbfounded.
"Ar, I would give anything to have me old crew back and not be stuck with a bunch of scurvy dogs like ye!" whined the ghost pirate.
Danny suddenly got an idea. "Wait, you would let us go if we got your old crew back?"
The Flying Dutchman sneered. "Yar, but me crew be the roughest, meanest bunch in the sea. What makes ye think that they will listen to a bunch of landlubbers like you?"
The ghost teen crossed his arms over his puffed out chest. "Oh, I've got alot of experience with making ghosts do whatever I want."
The ghost pirate considered and finally said, "All right, if you get me old crew back, I'll let ye and yer friends go. Me crew is over yonder deep in Jellyfish Caverns, not far from here."
"Jellyfish Caverns?" asked Spongebob. "I know where it is!"
Timmy smiled. "Cool! Then lead the way, sponge!"
As the four got off of the ship, the Flying Dutchman hollered, "One more thing; don't even think about escapin' 'cause I'm keepin' me eyes on ye. If you do-"
Jimmy interrupted, doing the ghost pirate's voice, "'We'll be your crew for all of eternity!' We get it!"
"Don't worry, Dutchy!" Spongebob called back as the four headed to Jellyfish Caverns. "We'll be back in a jiff!"
Danny, Jimmy, Timmy and Spongebob were soon standing in front of the entrance to Jellyfish Caverns. The cave looked pretty dark inside despite being afternoon under the ocean. Spongebob tuned his head to the side and cupped his ear. "I can hear talking in there." he said after a while.
"Do you think it could be the Dutchman's crew?" Timmy asked.
"Only one way to find out." replied Danny and he started walking into the cave. The other three followed after the ghost teen.
As they trudged deeper into the cave, the talking grew louder. Jimmy suddenly spied light coming from around a corner. Thinking fast, Danny grabbed the genius, Timmy and Spongebob and became invisible.
Jimmy studied his vanishing body. "Good idea, Danny." he whispered. Still making contact with the boys, the teen crept forward and the four peeked around the corner.
There in a small opening of the cave were five ghost-fish pirates. Two of them had eye patches, one had a hook for a fin, another wore a bandanna and the biggest of the gang had an anchor tattoo on his bare arm. All of them were sitting on rocks and conversing with one another.
"Ye think the Dutchman found a crew to replace us yet?" asked the hooked fin fish, picking his teeth with said hook.
The tattooed brute snorted and spat on the ground. "I doubt it; that piece of seaweed could barely command his ship, much less handle a bunch of scurvy dogs like us."
One of the eye-patched pirates took a swig of his grog and let out a disgusting burp. "Aye, it's smooth sailin' from here on out, lads."
Danny, Jimmy, Timmy and Spongebob suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere. "Not for us it isn't!" snarled the teen.
The crew jumped in surprise. "Who in the blazes are you?!" cried the bandanna-head fish angrily.
"The Flying Dutchman made us his new crew; something we don't wanna be." continued Danny, "We're here to bring you guys back to him."
One of the fishes cowered, "Oh no! This bunch is gonna make us the Dutchman's crew again!"
They stood silent for a moment until the five burst out laughing. The four heroes waited patiently for them to stop.
Finally the biggest fish sighed and said, "Do ye lads really think ye're gonna persuade us into joining the Dutchman again?"
Spongebob nodded. "Yes."
"Well, YE BE WRONG!" roared the brute.
Jimmy took out his weapon, this time a laser sword. "You've guys got, oh, ten seconds to peacefully come with us." he smirked.
"Just try and make us." growled the fish as he brandished his hook. The four other pirates began taking out their weapons as well. The fish brute cracked his knuckles and smiled dangerously. The four heroes grew tense as the Dutchman's crew began surrounding them.
"You ready, guys?" asked Timmy.
Danny smiled. "Dude, I'm always ready."
The two gangs suddenly clashed. The sounds of swords clashing and punching permeated the cave. After a couple of minutes, there was silence...
The Flying Dutchman was reading a book in his quarter room on the ship. He glanced up at his pocket watch and sneered, "Those lads don't know what they got themselves into."
Suddenly there was loud shouting, "HEY, DUTCHY! WE'RE BACK!"
The ghost captain appeared on the ship's deck. Standing in front of him was Danny, Jimmy, Timmy and Spongebob, looking exhausted but proud.
"Here's...your crew...back." panted the ghost teen. He tossed the Dutchman five, tied up fish pirates. They struggled against their bindings until the captain fired a ghost ray and cut the ropes, freeing the fish.
As he watched his crew groggily stand up, the Flying Dutchman laughed. "ARHARHAR! So you landlubbers were able to get me crew back. A deal's a deal; ye all are free."
The four wistfully cheered, but the captain wasn't finished: "NOW GET YER BEHINDS OFF OF ME SHIP!"
The heroes staggered quickly over the ship and landed on the ground below. Above them, the Flying Dutchman was barking orders.
"As for you scurvy seadogs, GET BACK TO WORK! HOIST THE SAIL! RAISE THE ANCHOR!"
"So long!" waved Spongebob as the ship sailed away. The anchor, however, dragged along the sand and crashed through a rock pile.
"I SAID RAISE THE ANCHOR, YE NINCOMPOOPS!" roared the angry captain.
Danny, looking through the hole in the rocks, noticed Plankton's factory not too far away.
"Guys, look!" he said pointing.
Jimmy smiled. "That's Plankton's factory, alright."
Timmy shielded his eyes from the sun. "And its not very far, either."
"Look out, Plankton," said Spongebob as he and his friends made their way to the lair,"your butt's about to be kicked!"