Chapter 9 - Bowling, Bots, and a Welcome Break
Author's note: Wow, I'm on a roll today! I am back in action on FFN, so hopefully this story will be finished soon! It is more than halfway done, so hopefully I'll mark it as Complete next month. Now, time for me to respond to a review I received from Tessa!
Tessa, welcome back! Thanks for the suggestion, since I absolutely LOVED the Barbie movie! I'll keep it in mind. :) As for the Golden Key and Mr. Wonka, do you really expect me to turn down an idea like that, considering most of my stories here are in the CatCF fandom? XD Now, on with the story!
We emerged into an area called Bowling World, which was a single-lane bowling alley with ten pins at the far end. The approach area had a small circle that was outlined in red, as well as a message inside that spelled "PLEASE STAND HERE SPONGEBOB" in black letters.
"This had better not be one of Plankton's schemes," the yellow sponge said as he stood in the center of the circle. "But I do have just the right tool for this job!" He whipped out his bubble wand and fashioned a large bubble that was the shape, size, and (somehow) the density of a bowling ball. With his right hand, he sent the bubble bowling ball barreling down the lane, and once it reached the pins at the far end, every single pin was effortlessly knocked over.
"Woohoo! You got a strike!" I cheered. The cheering only lasted one more second, because the circle that SpongeBob was standing on turned out to be a trap door! He fell through it to who knows where. The trap door remained open, as if it was beckoning us to drop through it. Sonic fearlessly jumped into the hole, and same with Tails and Knuckles.
I took a deep breath and vocalized, "What's the worst that could possibly happen?" before jumping in. Thankfully, it was a fairly short drop, and I landed on a soft cushion. Unfortunately, this one was not a whoopee cushion. We emerged into a stone hallway, and after a 45-degree bend to the right, followed by a 90-degree bend, also to the right, we arrived at a door that looked like a castle's portcullis. Beyond that, the stone hallway continued onwards. I saw the next key in front of me, shimmering and floating in midair like always. I took it in my hand.
"This is the Trap Key," the disembodied voice spoke. "The door has been unlocked."
Without a word, I inserted the key into a golden keyhole that was at about eye level, and the portcullis automatically rose upwards into the ceiling, allowing us to continue our journey.
Sonic led us down the long, long stone hallway to get us moving a little faster, and we arrived at what appeared to be a dead end. There was a concrete wall right in front of me that read, "Welcome to the Trap Zone!", and to my right was an alcove of sorts where a miner's pick axe lay on a shelf. The only problem was that a barrier of high-voltage electricity blocked most of the doorway, as if it was a wall. The barrier consisted of horizontal bolts of electricity that constantly arced from wall to wall. There was a small gap between the highest beam of electricity and the ceiling, however, so Tails flew upwards and over the deadly beams of electricity. He grabbed the axe and hit a nearby kill switch on the wall that shut off the electricity beams.
Tails began to chip away at the concrete wall with the axe, but only little pieces were breaking off with each blow.
"Knuckles," Tails said as he continued to break off more concrete, "can you try using your punches to break this barrier faster?"
The red echidna grinned as he balled up his fists. "Leave it to me." He began to punch the concrete relentlessly, and after about five minutes of pounding and chipping, the thick wall was finally reduced to rubble. "Too easy."
We walked around a 45-degree bend to the right, only to stumble upon yet another boss enemy. It was a silver robot that had six lightning-bolt-shaped spikes sticking out of its head, short arms with little rockets where the hands should have been (allowing it to float in midair), and where legs would normally be, there was an enormous lobster-like claw that boasted two razor-sharp cleavers. Lastly, it had glowing red eyes and a glowing red mouth that formed a Cheshire cat-like grin.
"I am the Head of the Trap Zone," the robot spoke in a deep, booming voice. It pointed its rockets backwards so it could fly towards us, and then it stopped and hovered in place once again. "Good luck getting past me."
The Head of the Trap Zone started the fight by extending its pincers and slicing SpongeBob in half!
"Nooo!" I cried. "How dare you kill SpongeBob!" The robot laughed and spun around, and its six spikes began to glow and crackle with electricity. Sonic leapt into action, delivering a Homing Attack towards one of its spikes, which shattered like glass and caused a clear fluid to leak onto the floor. The robot recoiled ever so slightly, but it wasn't long at all before it resumed the battle. The Head of the Trap Zone locked its eyes onto Sonic and extended its pincers again, but the hedgehog was quick to jump out of the way just before they snapped shut. Once again, Sonic leapt up and used his Homing Attack ability, shattering two of its spikes this time!
"Three destroyed, three to go!" I cheered. "You're halfway there, Sonic!"
The Head of the Trap Zone growled, and its eyes and mouth changed from red to an icy shade of blue. Another pair of rockets engaged underneath its abdomen to keep it afloat, since the rockets attached to its arms were now replaced with guns.
"Yikes!" Tails cried as the robot used its guns to shoot a jet of liquid nitrogen straight at him. The fox leaped sideways, and the uber-cold liquid shot past him and into a wall, causing icicles to form on it.
Tails picked up Knuckles by the arms, flew into the air, and sent Knuckles flying towards the boss' head. He destroyed two more of its lightning-bolt-shaped spikes, so now only one remained. The Head of the Trap Zone's eyes and mouth turned green this time, and the room began to fill up with a stinky green gas.
"He's trying to knock us unconscious!" Sonic exclaimed as he began to cough. I felt my eyes closing almost immediately, and even Knuckles was starting to show signs of weakness. With the very last of his strength, he leapt up into the air and delivered a blow to the last remaining spike. The robot's rockets immediately burnt out, and it landed on the floor with a loud crash, emitting a series of beeps as its internal circuitry began to short out. The gas immediately dispersed, and we all became fully alert again.
Laughter was suddenly heard, but not the evil kind. It was SpongeBob, still laying on the ground in two pieces, with an upper half comprised of his head and pants, and a lower half comprised of his legs, socks, and black shoes. In a relatively creepy, nonsensical display, the two halves of SpongeBob did the worm, inching their way towards each other, and with a pop, my favorite yellow sponge jumped up in triumph, his body restored to its one-piece glory.
"Nothing that the power of dreams can't fix!" SpongeBob smiled. "I've been through a lot worse!"
"I bet you have," Tails said as he flew to the other end of the room, where a stone door was located. He opened it, and to nobody's surprise, we entered yet another room with a key.
"This is the Electricity Key," I heard as I took the key in my hand. "The door has been unlocked."
"All right," I said with a grin as we rounded a bend and reached the next door, which was green and shaped like an octagon. I used the key to unlock the door, which then slid apart into two sections like the doors of an elevator, and we entered the next room, which was far more modern than the previous one.
"Hello, and welcome to the Power Plant!" a female voice announced once we stepped inside the new area. The floors were bright-green and made of metal, the walls were also green with glowing white LED's on them, and the ceiling was entirely made of glass, letting in lots of sunlight. The sounds of electricity crackled through the air, along with the whirring sound of turbines and power generators.
Suddenly, I noticed that there was a green robot hovering in the air above me. It had airplane-like wings on each side, and it hovered in the air with a small rocket, but it didn't seem to pose any harm. Tails picked up Sonic by the arms and chucked him at the robot, which fell to the ground. Now that it was no longer airborne, Sonic used a quick Homing Attack to put it out of commission.
We carried on through the power plant, being careful to avoid the high-voltage electricity barriers that intermittently blocked the path, and then we came to a room where we beheld an unusual sight. There were small, spherical balls of fire that hovered a few inches above the ground, but they were littered all over the place like a minefield.
"Better not touch those fireballs!" Knuckles warned. The intense heat was almost too much for everyone to bear as we sidestepped the fireballs, but we made it to the other side of the room, where a pair of green double doors stood guard. The simple push of a glowing white button next to the doors caused them to slide open with a whirring sound, and we entered a large, octagonal room with a lot more fireballs, but they turned out to be the least of our worries.
A humongous green robot floated down from the ceiling and came to a stop, hovering about a foot off the ground thanks to two rocket engines. Its body was green, shiny, and spherical, it had large black fists attached to its arms, and its head was in the shape of a deflated ball which was really weird. Its eyes glowed red, much like the Head of the Trap Zone, and its "mouth" just consisted of a metal speaker grille. I noticed text on the ceiling that said, "Welcome to the Lair of the Bad Electrobot!"
Suddenly, I noticed that a red laser beam was being projected onto my chest, and the robot shot one of its fists towards me! Thankfully Sonic came to the rescue and whisked me out of the way just in time. The Bad Electrobot tried punching SpongeBob next, but the clever sponge was able to form a protective bubble around himself. The fist crashed into the bubble, stopping the robot's attack. Knuckles began to join in the action, but the robot had a special trick up its sleeve. It dislodged its fists and the cables that attached them to its body became electrified. The Bad Electrobot then spun around like a ballet dancer with the electrified cables spinning with it. We had to jump over the cables like a jump rope, but Tails quickly picked up both Sonic and Knuckles, and he threw the hedgehog and echidna straight at the robot. They landed heavy blows to the back of the 'bot, stopping its attack. While the robot was temporarily stunned, Sonic used this as his chance to deal multiple Homing Attacks to its head, crushing it in on itself.
To bring the battle to a close, SpongeBob dodged some fireballs that were coming his way, and using his trusty bubble wand, he blew a bubble in the shape of a cruise missile!
"Say hello to my little bubble friend!" SpongeBob said as he sent the missile-shaped bubble towards the robot at high speed. He steered the missile towards the newly-created weak spot on its head, and the Bad Electrobot began sparking, arcing, buzzing, and beeping. Before long, the robot was laid to waste, and the fireballs harmlessly popped and disappeared.
"We did it!" everyone shouted in triumph, even myself.
"Now, let's go see where the next key leads us," I said with determination in my voice as we walked towards a single door at the far end of the room. Just like the previous door, I pushed a glowing white button on the wall and the door slid aside, revealing a well-lit room with the next key floating like always, another massive power generator, and a pair of double doors at the other end that were emblazoned with golden question mark symbols.
I took the key and the voice spoke like always: "This is the Mystery Key. The door has been unlocked."
"Hm, I don't like the sound of that," I vocalized. "The last time we grabbed a key like this, we were sent into that Confusion Room or whatever the heck it was called." I shuddered at the thought of this key taking us to another place like it. Then again, it was called the Mystery Key. No one would know where the next door, once unlocked, would lead to. It could be a room with yet another dangerous boss fight, or maybe it might lead us to a peaceful, tranquil area like Sunny Gardens. I took a deep breath to snap myself out of my worries, and I opened the door before leading my teammates across the threshold.
Once inside the next room, my eyes widened as I took in my new surroundings. We found ourselves in what looked like a luxury penthouse apartment. The pale hardwood floors were shiny, gleaming even. Through the massive, floor-to-ceiling windows, I saw a vast metropolis spread out below me like a map. We must have been over two-thousand feet in the sky to get such a fantastic view. Comfortable leather couches that were positioned near the windows provided Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles with a place to relax.
"This is not what I was expecting at all!" I said with a sigh of relief. "It's nice that there are no signs of enemies anywhere here."
While the others were relaxing, I decided to tour the apartment for a little bit. There was a dining room nearby with a large chandelier and a rectangular glass table positioned underneath. The kitchen was located nearby, and it featured white quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, wall-mounted ovens, a gas cooktop, and a large pantry that was full of bags of potato chips, rice cakes, crackers, pretzels, and gummy worms. There was even a huge jar of popcorn kernels and an air popper. The fridge was loaded with bottles of water, milk, juice, and soda.
"Who wants snacks?" I called out. "There's lots of food and drinks here!"
All of my teammates leapt up, dashed into the pantry, and emptied the bags into large bowls, creating their own delicious combos. Lastly, I filled mine up with some of everything, and we happily ate our snacks. Once we were done, we all had to take turns in the bathroom. It was a really nice bathroom too. We were so high up that the floor-to-ceiling window didn't need to be frosted or tinted, so I was still able to take in the amazing views. There was a large, white freestanding tub, a massive walk-in shower, the toilet I was currently sitting on, and a large vanity with a rectangular mirror.
Several minutes later, after everyone finished their business, we had to exit the apartment since that's the only way we'd be able to finish this crazy maze. We all walked out the same door we used to come in, but we were met with a completely different sight: Bikini Bottom.
"Don't worry," SpongeBob said to us as we crossed the threshold and entered the underwater city that he called home. "This is a dream, so you can all breathe underwater as if it were air."
"That's a relief," Sonic replied. "I don't even feel wet or anything! I usually hate water, so this is great! Now, where are we anyway?"
"This is where I come from," SpongeBob replied to Sonic. "Bikini Bottom."
I looked around, and noticed something strange. We were standing right outside the Chum Bucket, the restaurant that was owned and run by the evil genius Plankton. I turned around, and the door that used to lead into the apartment now appeared to lead into the Krusty Krab (which was across the street from the Chum Bucket). Barriers were erected on both sides of where we were standing, as if Plankton was beckoning us to enter the Chum Bucket.
"You sure this is a good idea?" I asked SpongeBob.
"I'll do anything to stop Plankton's schemes," SpongeBob said with a look of determination. "Follow me this way!" And with that, he led us into the Chum Bucket.
Author's note: I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter! What do you think will happen in the Chum Bucket? Please feel free to provide your guesses in the reviews, and stay tuned for the next one!