Author Notes - Oh hey, time for the level that no one likes. Okay, that's an exaggeration. A lot of people really do like this level. But just as many, if not more, don't like it. Personally, I wasn't a big fan of it, though it's way less annoying in the remake since it isn't so dark. However, I was a complete idiot and failed at the puzzles WAY more than I reasonably should have. And that one's all on me.

Here's a fun drinking game: take a drink every time the word 'kelp' is said in this chapter, both by the characters and the Non-French Narrator. Note: recommended only if you really want alcohol poisoning. Alternatively, use water and require fifty bathroom trips.

CHAPTER NINE - 'CAMPING' IN THE FOREST

Our heroes have finally realised who zee true villain of zis story is: Karen, whose plan is to take over Bikini Bottom until everyone has been replaced or frightened off by robots. But Karen had a back-up plan: to send zem hurtling towards Kelp Forest. An interesting area with many sights to see. For zose zat don't get hopelessly lost first.

SpongeBob woke up with a headache. It hurt him more than the robots ever did. The robots… thinking about them jogged his memory. It had been Karen this whole time, remaining so hidden that even her own husband hadn't suspected it. The last thing he could remember was being launched out of the Chum Bucket at breakneck speeds.

'Ow… where am I?'

He woke up with his face full of cold sand, and he struggled to get back onto his feet. A cool breeze made him shiver, and he looked around in an attempt to get his bearings. Kelp, kelp, kelp… oh look, more kelp. The sun was setting, coating the whole area in a chilling darkness.

His eyes went wide. 'Oh no… anything but this. We're in Kelp Forest!'

He looked around again while backing up, and a horrible thought dawned on him.

'No, wait… I'm in Kelp Forest. I'm the only one here!'

'ARRRGGGH!'

'... Or not.'

He heard a familiar scream when he took one more step, and he found a certain copepod lodged underneath his shoe.

'Oops!' He said. 'Sorry, Plankton.'

'Yeah, yeah, don't worry…' Plankton said, with a sigh. 'I'm used to it.'

SpongeBob peeled him off the bottom of his shoe and placed him gently on the ground. For an organism who had been launched miles through the air and then crushed, Plankton didn't seem all that injured.

'Looks like my traitor of a wife wanted to get rid of me too.' He said, dusting himself off. 'I can't believe it! She staged this whole thing, and even managed to convince me that it was my idea so she could incriminate me!'

'Uh, yeah.' SpongeBob said, unsure where this was going. 'That's what she said.'

'I'd almost be impressed, if she hadn't thrown me all the way to Kelp Forest with you!' He groaned. 'I can't believe I'm stuck with you. … Well, could be worse. I could've ended up with that big pink lummox.'

SpongeBob looked around again, trying to see if any of his other friends were nearby. Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything aside from darkness and a whole ton of kelp. A whole lot of green, and not so much blue, pink, or brown.

'Alright, first things first.' Plankton said. 'We get out of this forest and overthrow my wife.'

SpongeBob glared at him. 'No. What we do first is look for my friends. They could be lost in this forest too.'

'Well, in that case, I'll get out of this forest.'

'Um, I wouldn't try that. It's too easy to get lost. Everything just kinda looks the same.'

Plankton took a single step before he stopped. The forest ahead of him was dark and ominous. And quiet. Way too quiet.

He gulped. 'Uh, I-I think you're right. I hate you, but I'm definitely better off hanging with you. Worst case scenario, I can hide in one of your holes.'

'I don't think that's going to work either, Plankton.' SpongeBob said. 'If we hope to get out of this situation alive, we're gonna need… teamwork!'

'I swear to Neptune, if you start singing again-'

'Teamwork! We can do anything with-'

'WOULD YOU STOP WITH THE SINGING?!'

'Sorry.'

Plankton, with nothing else to turn to, hopped onto the top of SpongeBob's head. He had to admit, the sponge kid's cranium was surprisingly soft and comfortable to stand on. It was a little warm, too, which made it much nicer than the cold hard ground.

'Well, I've got nothing.' Plankton said. 'You got any ideas on how we can get out of this place? … I mean, look for your (annoying) friends?'

'Hmmm… I'm not sure.' SpongeBob said. 'We were all launched by the same trap, so they couldn't have gone too far. Maybe we should just pick a random direction and walk.'

'SpongeBob, I'd hate to break it to you, but that just sounds like a great way to get lost.'

'Uh… we're already lost. I don't think we can get more lost than we already are.'

'I… You know what? You make a good point. Pick a direction and go.'

SpongeBob paused. 'Aw, I can't make up my mind.'

Plankton facepalmed very hard. 'Fine! I'll choose. Go… that way.'

'WOULD SOMEONE GET THIS BIG PINK LOSER OFF ME?!'

Sandy groaned, and helped lift Patrick off Squidward's body. It seemed quite lucky that the three of them had remained together. Well, 'lucky' may not have been the best word to use, seeing as Squidward had found himself flattened by a 'big pink loser'.

'Come on, Patrick.' Sandy said. 'Time to get up.'

'That was fun!' Patrick yelled as he got to his feet. 'Let's do it again!'

'I would rather die than do that again.' Squidward remarked, slowly standing up. 'Then again, I think I'm already dead.'

'So, uh… where are we?' Patrick asked.

The trio glanced around, finding much of the same things that SpongeBob had seen: kelp, kelp, and more kelp. And the occasional rock. Otherwise, there was nothing, and certainly no sign of the other half of their team. There was one thing, however, that they found that SpongeBob had not: the entrance to a grand cavern. The inside of it was dark, but that didn't really matter seeing as Kelp Forest was already unbelievably dark.

'Hey fellas,' Sandy said. 'I think-'

'Oh NO.' Squidward said. 'I know what you're about to say, and I am not going into that cave with you.'

'I am!' Patrick said. 'I think it's a good idea to follow Sandy. She probably knows more about survival than you do, Squidward.'

The octopus fumed and tried not to strangle him. The worst part was that he knew that the buffoon was right, but he wasn't going to admit that.

'Alright then, Squidward.' Sandy said, putting her hands on her hips. 'If ya wanna stay out here by yaself, than be ma guest.'

Squidward sighed. 'Fine. I'll come along. Under protest.'

'But wait!' Patrick cried. 'What about SpongeBob? We gotta go look for him!'

'I understand that yer worried, Patrick.' Sandy said. 'And I'm worried about tha little guy too. But Bikini Bottom is in danger. Now that we know what Karen plans ta do, we have ta stop her at all costs! Tha longer we're stuck in this here forest, tha more damage Karen can inflict on tha Bikini Bottomites. I'd hate to say it, but findin' SpongeBob ain't our priority right now.'

Patrick wasn't any happier after her explanation, but he still nodded and followed her. Sandy led the way, unsurprisingly, with a trembling Squidward close behind her. Patrick took one last look over the kelp forest behind him, frowning and pouting profusely.

'It's okay, SpongeBob.' He murmured. 'I'll find you. Someday.'

'COME ON!' Squidward yelled. 'I wanna get out of this Neptune-forsaken forest.'

The trio sucked up their worries and delved into the dark cave, unsure of what exactly lay ahead of them within.

'PATRICK! SANDY! … SQUIDWARD?'

'Oh, would you stop yelling their names every two seconds?! At least give it a few minutes.'

SpongeBob had been travelling in a straight line for… a while now. Plankton was already regretting his decision to hitch a ride with him, but stayed put in his spot. The shrieking was probably better than dying in the middle of a scary forest. Maybe.

'Maybe we should just forget it.' Plankton said. 'I don't think we're going to be finding anyone. Let's just get out of here.'

SpongeBob gasped. 'Pah-lankton! I would never abandon my friends. Not at a time like this. I promise you, Plankton, we will find them and then we'll make it back to the Chum Bucket so we can stop your wife! That's a promise. Even if it takes us-'

Plankton's eye widened. 'LOOK WHERE YOU'RE GOING, YOU IMBECILE!'

SpongeBob came to an abrupt stop, and only then did he realise that he was about to walk right off a cliff. He took a step back so he could survey the scene without falling to his demise. They had just come across a small ravine, going from the highest point in the forest to the lowest. The ground below was impossible to see through all the kelp.

Plankton wiped his brow and sighed in relief. 'Phew… Look, SpongeBob. I know you want to save your friends as much as I want to stop that traitorous computer, but throwing yourself off a cliff isn't going to help anyone!'

'Oops.' SpongeBob said. 'Sorry. But I really am worried about my friends.'

'Well, you're not going to be able to save them if you're dead! … Unless you come up as a ghost, I suppose. But we shouldn't bet on that!'

SpongeBob peeped over the edge. The way the kelp vines grew thick and wildly reminded him of spaghetti: a bunch of noodles in a big mess. The vines had grown so wildly, in fact, that the top of one reached the edge of the very cliff he stood on. It seemed thick enough to climb. Or slide around on.

Then, in the tranquillity of the forest, he heard something. He wasn't sure what, so he listened a little more closely. If he listened carefully enough, he could identify the sound of crying. He couldn't hear clearly enough to figure out who it was, though. Whoever it was, they sounded as though they were deeper in the ravine.

'Plankton!' He said. 'I can hear someone crying.'

'Great.' Plankton said, voice dripping with sarcasm. 'Why does this concern me again?'

'It could be one of our friends! And even if it isn't, we should still help them.'

'You mean… you should help them.'

'Good idea, Plankton! And I know just the way to get down there.'

Plankton's eye widened. Before he could tell SpongeBob to change his mind, the sponge kid ran for that thick vine that grew all the way around.

'What are ya doing?!' The panicked copepod yelled, hiding in one of SpongeBob's pores.

'We're going for a little slip-n-slide!' SpongeBob said, leaping into the air.

'For a what?!'

Plankton had no idea what to expect. What he definitely wasn't expecting, however, was for SpongeBob to stick out his tongue and land on the vine that way. The kid's saliva must've been a good lubricate, because he was already sliding down the vine at tremendous speeds. It was as though his tongue was a genuine sandboard. Plankton was screaming as loud as his little lungs could. Wait, does he even have lungs?

'What are ya doing?!' He screamed from inside SpongeBob's head, barely holding on as the kid took a sudden left turn.

'Thiding dow' da vine!' SpongeBob said, barely comprehensible.

'Yeah, but on your tongue?! I don't-' He sighed. 'Forget it! I don't care!'

SpongeBob swerved to the left and veered to the right, feeling the air flowing through his holes. It felt as though he really was sandboarding down Sand Mountain, with Sandy close behind him. His heart ached for the friend who wasn't there, but he pressed onwards. The vine took a sharp turn to the right, so sharp that SpongeBob came dangerously close to falling off and ending up in the goo river below. He had no time to think about his lost friends; one lapse of judgement, and he'd be in the drink. It didn't help that Plankton was still screaming his tiny head off.

There was a gap up ahead. That was bad. But, there was a convenient big leaf he could use as a stepping stone. That was good! Narrowing his eyes, SpongeBob leapt off the vine and spun around the air to get some extra height. When he tasted a leaf instead of a vine, he immediately jumped again. Admittedly, his eyes were closed at this point, but he couldn't have felt more relieved when he tasted vine again.

He was almost done. Just a little more, and he would make it. And maybe Plankton could stop screaming. Before him was not vine, but solid ground. He took another leap, this time with his eyes opened, and was surprisingly overjoyed when he finally tasted dirt.

'We did-' SpongeBob paused to scrape the dirt off his tongue. 'We did it, Plankton! We made it!'

The rattled copepod slowly stuck his head out of hiding. 'We're… not dead?'

'Yep! Alive and well!'

Plankton sighed in relief. 'Thank Neptune. I can't steal the formula, or stop that computerised traitor, if I'm dead.'

Now that he was at the bottom of the ravine, SpongeBob looked around to see if he could find the source of the (now very loud) crying. It didn't take long at all for him to find the source, because it would be near impossible to miss a whale.

'Pearl!' He yelled, rushing over to her.

Pearl sat by a large kelp vine, crying into her fins. Her tears flowed into the gooey river, and was arguably the sole reason it was so big to begin with. Finding her here only gave SpongeBob more questions than answers, and Plankton yet another thing he had to be scared of. When she heard his voice, Pearl peeped out from behind her fins and stopped crying for a moment. And then she was back to wailing again. Get it? Wailing? Because she-

'Woah, hold on, Pearl!' SpongeBob said, stretching his legs so he could pat her shoulder. 'What's wrong?'

Plankton rolled his eye. 'What do you think is wrong?! Other than the fact that, you know… I'M A COPEPOD IN THE VICINITY OF A WHALE!'

Pearl wiped her eyes, and stopped crying for long enough to answer. 'D-Daddy was trying to get me to safety, b-but then he got distracted because he thought they might have been paying customers in this forest! AND THEN HE LEFT ME BEHIND!'

SpongeBob could feel himself tearing up at her short but sad story. Plankton, meanwhile, could feel his heart about to leap out of his chest.

'Aw, you poor thing…' SpongeBob said. 'I'm sure Mr Krabs didn't mean to leave you behind. He just… gets a little distracted when money is involved, that's all.'

Pearl sniffed. 'A-Are you sure it was just an accident?'

'I'm certain! Come on. If you come with me, maybe I can help you find your dad and get out of this forest.'

Pearl stopped crying and smiled; a cute sight to be sure. SpongeBob helped her back onto her feet (okay, so Pearl was doing 99% of the work there), and absorbed the last of her tears through his arms.

'HELLO?!' Plankton suddenly screamed. 'Doesn't anyone care that I'm up against a plankton murderer right now?!'

'Don't worry.' Pearl said. 'I don't even like the taste of plankton anyway. Salads are waaay tastier. And a lot, like, healthier too. And even if I did eat plankton, you're not supposed to eat them alive.'

'Well, a-alright. If you promise you won't turn around and devour me. I'm watching you!'

Despite the situation, SpongeBob felt a little better. A friend was a friend, no matter who it was. Even if their relationship could be a bit iffy at times.

'So, Pearl,' SpongeBob said. 'Where was the last place you remember seeing your dad?'

'Uh, I'm not sure.' Pearl replied. 'I think he was running off in… that direction.' She pointed to, well, it doesn't really matter seeing as everything looked the same.

'You better be right.' Plankton said, gritting his teeth.

Okay, so maybe going into this cave was a terrible idea.

'I don't like it here anymore!' Patrick said, crossing his arms.

'I didn't like it here to begin with!' Squidward said, before he groaned. 'Great. The situation is so bad that I'm agreeing with Patrick.'

Sandy stuck to her guns, however. The outside forest was a pointless endeavour in her eyes, due to just how similar the landscape was absolutely everywhere. At least this cave was nice and simple - it wasn't even that large, and moonlight peered in through the hole in the ceiling to provide a little bit of light. The middle of the cave had a small pond with vines growing up to the light, and most branching paths ended as soon as they began.

'Complainin' won't make it any better.' Sandy said.

'I know,' Squidward said. 'But it certainly makes me feel better.'

'Look, if this cave ends up goin' nowhere, it's fine. We'll just turn around, and we'll be outta here.'

The sound of thunder made all three of them flinch. A Monsoon hovered right above them. A simple tug from Sandy's lasso brought it out of the sky and into the small pond.

'Why are there even robots out here?!' Squidward yelled. 'There's nothing to destroy. No one to replace. I don't get it!'

Sandy peered into the pond to make sure the Monsoon had been properly taken care of, only to see dollar bills floating to the surface of the water. It had been the first time that any of these robots had money.

'Maybe they're here for him.' Patrick said, pointing at a kelp bush.

The kelp bush rustled about, like some sort of animal was within it. Patrick, apparently lacking self-preservation, approached it anyway.

'Patrick, wait!' Sandy cried.

Patrick pushed the bush aside and didn't react much at all when he saw a certain red krab hiding behind it, trembling.

'GIT AWAY FROM ME, YA MECHANICAL MANIAC!'

Mr Krabs smacked Patrick across the face, hard enough to send the sea star to the ground. He uttered a whining 'owww…', but returned to his feet like it never happened.

'Oh.' Mr Krabs said. 'Er, sorry, matey. I've been chased by those robots fer hours now. I, uh, panicked.'

'That's okay!' Patrick said. 'I barely even felt it. … Ow.'

'Hang on.' Sandy said, taking her arm out of its sleeve so she could rub her temples. 'What in tarnation are ya doin' here? Shouldn't you be at tha Krusty Krab, protectin' tha secret formula?'

'Ah, don't worry about the formula.' Mr Krabs said, patting his stomach. 'I took care'o that before leavin'. Those robots won't be gettin' their hands on it. See, I ended up here cos…' He rubbed the back of his neck. 'Hoo boy, this is kinda embarrassin'. I thought those robots were payin' customers, wit' money and all, and I couldn't resist! I didn't realise they were tryin' to get me lost…'

Well, now Sandy could at least say she had a good reason to go into the cave. Though, it led to more questions than answers.

'Why would they do that?' She asked. 'What does gettin' ya lost accomplish?'

'I think I know.' Squidward said. 'Karen said that she had to get rid of SpongeBob because he was the one thing that always caused Plankton's plans to fail. But Mr Krabs is, without any doubt, Plankton's second biggest roadblock. I wouldn't be surprised if Karen wanted him out of the game too.'

Sandy snapped her fingers. 'I think yer onta somethin' there!'

Mr Krabs raised a claw, much like a confused child in class may raise their hand. 'Uh, if yer don't mind me askin'... what does Plankton's rustbucket of a wife hafta do with this?'

The squirrel sighed. 'It's a looong story, Mr Krabs. I think we oughta keep movin' through this cave as we tell it.'

'WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?!' SpongeBob shouted.

Plankton growled through his teeth. 'What was I thinking when I designed this robot? And what was Karen thinking when she used it?!'

The robot in front of SpongeBob's little entourage was unlike any other robot he had seen prior: it resembled a mechanical cowboy, with the oversized hat and moustache and all. It held a small doghouse in one arm, and pointed at our heroes using a gun-shaped bone with the other. This robot, known as an 'Arf' of all things, stood still while a little robot dog (that was 80% jaws) jumped out of the dog house.

'It's making even more robots!' Pearl said, hiding behind SpongeBob (as silly as that may sound).

'Aw, I don't see the problem.' SpongeBob said. 'I think the little guy - or girl - is kinda cute!'

The Chomp-Bot grabbed a rock with its jaw and crunched it into many tiny rocks without any effort at all.

SpongeBob gulped. 'O-Okay, so maybe it isn't so cute. But I can take care of it!'

He took out his bubble wand once again and smacked the Chomp-Bot in the face with it. It went flying through the air until it smacked against the ground and fell apart. There was no time to celebrate, however, for the Arf summoned another doggy bot immediately.

'You can't just defeat the little guys, SpongeBob!' Plankton said. 'If you want to get rid of them all, you have to defeat the big guy first.'

'Thanks for the advice, Plankton!' SpongeBob said.

He waited until the Chomp-Bot got close enough, and whacked it like it was a golf ball. His aim was a little off, but it smacked into the Arf's knee upon impact. The robotic cowboy jumped around on one leg for a moment, before it covered its entire head with its hat and floated away.

'Barnacles!' Plankton yelled. 'I forgot I designed it to do that.'

'Why did you even add features like this?' Pearl asked.

'Look, I never thought that I would be on this side of the fight! If I knew that, I would've made them a lot less painful to deal with. But I was trying to steal the formula!'

'Hey, let's not fight.' SpongeBob said. 'Plankton can tell us how to defeat them! All we have to do is - YOWCH!'

A runaway Chomp-Bot chomped him right in the square pants. Even for a sponge as absorbent as him, it still hurt like Davy Jones's Locker. Pearl shrieked, and ripped it off as quickly as she could. It left a gaping hole in SpongeBob's behind, which fortunately grew back quickly.

'Get away, you totally lame robot!' Pearl yelled.

She chucked the Chomp-Bot through the air, only vaguely in the direction of the Arf. With a stroke of luck, she had aimed with such force and precision that it tore the robot's head right off, hat and all. The Arf fumbled around blind, looking around for its fallen head, while the next Chomp-Bot ran around in a confused panic.

'Okay, that works.' Plankton remarked.

Giving his behind one more pat to get it into place, SpongeBob charged up to the confused robots and smashed them both with just a few whacks of his bubble wand. They were reduced to rubble at his feet.

'Thanks for the help, Pearl!' SpongeBob said. 'Who knew you could beat up robots with the best of them?'

Pearl giggled and blushed. 'Well, the girls on my basketball team do tell me I have a good throwing arm.'

'What was Karen's plan?!' Plankton said. 'If she wanted to replace everyone, then why are there robots all the way out here? … You know what? Never mind. I don't give enough of a barnacle to know.'

'I've actually met Karen,' Pearl said. 'And I think she's a pretty clever computer. I don't think she did this by accident. Maybe she wanted to lure Daddy out here or something?'

'Well, whatever her plan is,' SpongeBob said. 'I still have to stop it. And to do that, I'll need to find my friends!'

Pearl pointed in a direction. 'I think that's where Daddy went. I know he isn't who you're looking for, but, like, it's a start.'

SpongeBob led the group in that direction, much to Plankton's chagrin. It didn't feel any different than navigating the rest of this confounded forest; it all looked the same. But a lead was a lead, and he followed it. There were a few more annoying robots to take care of (including a couple more Sleepy-Times and another Arf), but SpongeBob and Pearl were able to take care of them with ease. Pearl even picked up all the money they had been carrying with them for reasons she didn't need to know.

Eventually - and I do mean, eventually - the trio came across the entrance to a cave. It wasn't exactly an inviting one, thanks to the darkness within it and those stalagmites that looked strangely like fangs. SpongeBob gulped, trembling at the mere sight of the gaping hole. Unfortunately, he quickly realised that he was the brave one here.

'Uh, P-Pearl…' He said. 'D-Do you think your daddy could be in there?'

'Well, there's only one way to find out.' Pearl said.

The whale took a big breath, and Plankton immediately ducked into hiding. The copepod could only hope that SpongeBob's brain had enough soundproofing.

'DAAAAAAAADDYYYYYYYYYYYY!' Pearl whaled at the top of her lungs.

It felt like the entire forest was shaking underneath the mighty weight of her voice, and SpongeBob could barely stay standing. Once the shaking came to an end, he still had to stop his eyeballs from spinning around wildly.

Plankton poked his head out. 'Now what?'

'If he's in there,' Pearl said. 'We just wait.'

Our quartet inside the cave almost flew into a panic when they heard a thunderous scream from just outside. It echoed around the cavern like a clap of thunder, all but deafening our heroes.

'Holy guacamole!' Sandy exclaimed. 'What in tarnation was that?!'

'It sounded horrible!' Patrick pleaded.

Squidward hung onto a rock for dear life and shivered, but then stopped. 'Wait a minute. I know that scream. It was from when I was babysitting Mr Krabs's whiny little daughter.'

Mr Krabs gasped. 'Me darlin' daughter! Oh, I left me poor little baby behind. She must be terrified!' He clenched his claws. 'Don't worry, Pearlie! Your daddy's comin'!'

He bolted down deeper into the cavern, smashing any robot he came across with his bare claws. The rest of the group could barely keep up with him, often needing to follow the trail of shattered robots to know where he went.

'Well, my boss may be cheap, but I'll give him this.' Squidward said. 'He didn't cheap out on the fatherly instinct.'

Mr Krabs didn't stop for a moment, not even to catch his breath, until he finally saw the light of… night. He charged out of the cavern's entrance (or exit?), and came to a skidding stop when he saw the non-monetary apple of his eye.

'ME DARLIN' PEARL!' He yelled, his mouth turning into a massive smile.

When Pearl saw her father, she smiled too. 'Daddy!'

The father-and-daughter ran over to each other and hugged, holding so tightly that Pearl almost cracked her father's shell.

'Oof! I, uh, missed ya too, darlin'.' Mr Krabs said. 'But couldya ease up on the hug?'

'Oh. Sorry.' Pearl said, letting him go. 'I thought you left me behind!'

'I didn't mean ta, Pearlie! I just got… distracted. Those robotic scallywags knew my greatest weakness! But I'm here now. And no amount o' money will keep me away from ya!'

'... Do you, like, actually mean that?'

'Uh… with 80% certainty!'

SpongeBob's eyes were wide and sparkling at the beautiful reunion, though Plankton just kind of groaned (as if he wouldn't react this way if it was him and his son). SpongeBob was even more happy when Mr Krabs was soon followed by the rest of his adventuring team.

He gasped, for three seconds straight. 'Sandy! Squidward! PATRICK!'

He ran over to his friends and stretched his arms out wide just so he could hug all three of them at once. Patrick returned the hug immediately, Sandy needed a couple of seconds to comprehend the situation, and Squidward just barely bothered to sling his arm over the kid's shoulder.

'I'M SO GLAD THAT YOU'RE OKAY!' SpongeBob yelled. 'I-I thought I may have lost you.'

'Nah, that would never happen.' Sandy said. 'It would take a lot more than that ta separate us.'

'Nothing keeps me away from my best friend!' Patrick said.

'Yeah, yeah…' Squidward murmured. 'I guess I'm kinda glad to see you again. Sort of. Maybe.'

Kelp Forest seemed to get a little bit brighter. Just a bit. SpongeBob hugged his friends for a ridiculous amount of time before he finally had it in him to break it up. By that point, his face was soaked with happy tears and some other body fluids, which were all absorbed into his skin.

'And I'm here too.' Plankton said. 'Not that anyone cares, but I just wanted to let you know.'

Mr Krabs just noticed that Plankton was even here, and laughed. 'HA! Look at yer now. Kicked out o' yer home by yer own wife!'

'Wait a minute, how do you know about that?! … Uh, I-I mean-'

The krab grinned. 'Oh, don't even bother tryin' ta hide it, Sheldon. The fellas caught me up on the whooole story. I should've known this was yer wife's plan all along. It's too good to be one of yours!'

Plankton hardly reacted to his iconic laugh anymore, choosing to just ignore him instead.

'But Dad!' Pearl said, interrupting the laughter. 'Karen also got us trapped out here.'

Mr Krabs stopped smiling immediately. 'Oh. Right. Well, at least she got us all. Her plans are a lot more effective than Plankton's plans ever were.'

'Alright, I GET IT!' Plankton yelled. 'My plans reek from the stench of failure! You can stop making fun of me now.'

'Plankton's right.' SpongeBob said, pointing the copepod on his head. 'We shouldn't be making fun of him. He knows everything about the robots, since he's the one who designed them. I know you might not want to hear this, but he could be the only way we'll be able to defeat Karen!'

As predicted, no one seemed really happy with this information. Least of all Mr Krabs, who glared at Plankton before crossing his arms. Plankton sighed, hopped off his little spongy soap box, and landed on a big rock.

'SpongeBob,' He said. 'I'm not sure if you realise this, but you're the one Karen's worried about. You're the one who always puts an end to my plans. I'm not sure what you want me to offer here.'

'She's your wife, Plankton!' SpongeBob said. 'You know more about her than the rest of us do. You told me yourself. She likes walks on the beach, talking about her plans to crush her enemies, and sometimes going DING! You're the closest we've got to anyone on the inside, and Karen's plan will spell doom for all of us if we don't stop her. If she's willing to replace my friends with robots, Neptune knows what else she's willing to do!'

'And besides,' Pearl said. 'We're all stuck out here anyway. If we're going to be lost, we might as well be lost together.'

'You know what? I'm with you guys.' Squidward said. 'As much as I loathe working with every single one of you, we're in a tough situation. While we're lost out here, Karen could be conquering Bikini Bottom as we speak. If we have even a chance of stopping her, we're gonna have to work together. At least until we get out of this stupid forest.'

Everyone stared at each other in silence, some glaring while others watched with caution. It was clear that none of them really wanted to make the first move here. Except for SpongeBob, who was grinning like an idiot.

'Then it's settled!' He said. 'We're gonna stick together! At least until we get out of this forest. And Plankton's gonna help us!'

'Not by choice.' Plankton added. 'Just so everyone knows.'

'Well, I'm not agreein' by choice either.' Mr Krabs said. 'I'm stickin' with ya until we find a way outta here. Then, I'm gettin' me daughter outta here.'

'Hm… I dunno.' Pearl said. 'This robot destroying stuff seems, like, totally fun!'

'PEARLIE!'

SpongeBob held his hand out for Plankton, who ignored it entirely and hopped onto his head. Now that the whole group was together, SpongeBob held his hand out in front of him.

'Bring it in, guys!' He said. 'Let's make this official!'

'Let's not.' Squidward said.

'Aw, com'on Squidward.' Sandy said, nudging his arm lightly. 'Have a little fun.'

The octopus sighed. 'Alright. But I'm doing this under protest.'

'Com'on, laddies!' Mr Krabs said. 'Put 'er there!'

Everyone, one by one, placed their hand over SpongeBob's. Even Plankton crawled down the boy's arm so he could join in, just for the heck of it.

'Alright!' Patrick said. 'We're a team.'

'GOOOOOOOO TEAM!' SpongeBob said.

And everyone threw their hand into the air, cheering together with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Plankton tumbled back down SpongeBob's arm and landed in one of his head pores, groaning in mild frustration.

'YAAAY!' Pearl said. '... Now what?'

'We find a way outta here, that's what!' Squidward said.

'Wait, I have an idea!' Patrick said. 'If we go high enough, we might be able to find a way out.'

Plankton sighed. 'You buffoon… how are we supposed to do that?! Everywhere you look, there's nothing but kelp, kelp, and more freaking kelp!'

'I think he's onta somethin'.' Sandy said. 'I bet I could climb one'a these kelp trees. Any squirrel worth her salt could climb a tree like this. If I get high enough, I might be able to see a way to go!'

'Brilliant ideas, guys!' SpongeBob said. 'Go on, Sandy. I believe in you and your awesome climbing ability!'

Sandy gave him a salute, just because it was cute, and gunned it for the nearest kelp stalk. It was tall. And steep. And slippery. And, yet, no match for a squirrel with plenty of climbing prowess. She scampered up the tall stalk like it was just a ladder, taking her sweet time to be careful.

'Could you hurry up?!' Plankton yelled, when she was only halfway up.

Sandy rolled her eyes. 'If ya want me ta fall off an' crush ya, sure.'

'... Point taken!'

Left to climb at her own pace, Sandy soon reached the top easily. She tied her lasso around herself and the stalk, just to be safe, and looked around. Kelp, kelp, kelp… Even though she could see over everything now, it all still looked the same. Just a whole ton of kelp, only from a different angle.

'FOUND ANYTHING?' SpongeBob yelled, hands cupped around his mouth.

'NOT YET!' Sandy replied. 'But I'll keep lookin'!'

And she did just that, scanning the whole place up to its horizon to find anything that wasn't just kelp. Unfortunately, all she saw for the most part was just more kelp. Key words: 'for the most part'.

'Wait!' She said. 'I think I found somethin'!'

Far, far off in the distance, she could spot the end of the forest. The kelp gave way to reveal an eerie lime green glow and a lot of fog.

'It ain't tha most invitin' place I've ever seen.' She said.

'Well, it's still something, right?' Patrick asked.

'I don't care what it is!' Squidward said. 'Whatever it is, it's gotta be better than this!'

Sandy untied the rope around her waist and slid down the vine back down to the ground. She reached the ground faster than she was expecting, thanks to how slippery it was.

'It's over there.' She said, pointing out into the distance. 'It's tha closest we've got ta a way outta here. I'm not sure how safe it is, though.'

'Well, what are we waiting for!' Mr Krabs said. 'Let's get out'o this cursed forest, so I can save me money!'

'Dad.'

'Oh, uh, and me lovely daughter too, o' course!'

'LET'S GO!' SpongeBob shouted.

As the de-facto spanner in Karen's works, it was agreed that SpongeBob would be the best 'leader' for the job. So, he was at the front of the pack and followed Sandy's directions to the letter. Running face-first into a rock once or twice. Despite his questionable leadership skills, he was able to lead his team through all the annoying robots. Even those Arfs and Sleepy-times were nothing up against him.

'Are you sure you're going the right way?' Squidward asked, after what must've been an hour of walking.

'I'm certain!' SpongeBob replied. 'I'm following Sandy's directions, and there's no way she'd ever get them wrong.'

'Y'all have more confidence in me than I do…' Sandy murmured.

'I hate thinking this as much as you guys do,' Plankton said. 'But we're relying on SpongeBob here. After years and years of failure, I've learnt that SpongeBob is the key to stopping this crazy plan. And that's what we all want.'

Pearl picked up a rock and tossed it at a Tar-Tar before it could even shoot at her. It was enough to reduce it to rubble.

'I don't know…' She said. 'I've met Karen, and she's a lot smarter than you.' (Plankton just rolled his eye at this remark.) 'Are you sure her plan will have the same problems?'

'If she's so determined to git ridda the boy,' Mr Krabs said, snapping a G-Love clean in half. 'Then she's gotta have a reason. And I know SpongeBob. If he's the one thing that can stop her crazy plan, we need the boyo!'

'I'll admit,' Plankton said. 'SpongeBob has done a pretty good job at getting rid of all of these robots. The damage he did to Robot Sandy and Robot Patrick may have set Karen's plan right back. It's all up to him!'

Eventually - and I once again mean, eventually - SpongeBob led his team out of this spooky forest. For a moment, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and gave their thanks to their leader and guide. That relief disappeared quite quickly when they saw what they had actually left the forest for.

'Uh oh…' SpongeBob murmured.

The land before them glowed a bright green from the mysterious toxic goop that flooded the whole scene. Fog blanketed the blackened dirt. A chilling breeze made everyone shiver. Tombstones and shipwrecked ships dotted the land.

And the cackle of ghosts could be heard in the wind.

'G-Guys,' SpongeBob said. 'I think we're in…' He gulped. 'T-The Dutchman's Graveyard…!'

Author Notes - You may have noticed that tying together the different levels in a coherent manner is quite difficult. I've tried my best, but it's definitely still a bit... forced, I must admit. It was either that, or there's absolutely no narrative connection at all. Which I feel like is worse. You'd think I would've thought of a solution to this when I decided to adapt a very un-adaptable game, but that would require me to think ahead.

I really wanted to include Pearl at some point. Like Karen, she's totally absent in the original games, and I thought it would be unfair if I gave Karen such a major role in the story but gave Pearl nothing. And Mr Krabs had barely appeared in this story so far, which would be pretty bad seeing as he's a main character. But you know what they say: let's kill two clams with one stone! ... God, that is a morbid saying, even when parodied.

(According to my word count, the word 'kelp' got mentioned about thirty times across the course of this chapter)