As the underwater sun rose over the Krusty Krab, a vehicle pulled up in the middle of the road, flanking both it and Le Chum Bucket. The doors to the vehicle were emblazoned with a golden "City of Bikini Bottom" logo. A state officer exited the vehicle, placed a stake in the middle of the road, and hung up two opposite facing signs on the stake's top hooks.

As Eugene was setting up tables within the Krusty Krab, he noticed the state officer just outside. Now what could be the doings of this stranger? he thought. Over at Le Chum Bucket, Plankton and Karen 2 were seeing the same thing. "This looks suspicious," Plankton said out loud.

The two restaurant owners immediately made their way outside to confront the fish. "Hey!" Plankton shouted. "What's the big idea?!" "Yeah," Krabs added, "we're just about to open."

"Eugene Harold Krabs? Sheldon James Plankton?" the state officer declared. "These are for you." He backed away from the two as they read the sign: "'Updated city ordinance: Fast food restaurants cannot be within 100 feet of each other'?" The state officer continued. "To make it short, the Krusty Krab and Chum Bucket are located too closely together - one of your restaurants is going to have to be bulldozed."

"B-b-b-bulldozed?!" Both culinary rivals could not believe what they had just heard. Without thinking, the two pulled out some tape measures and ran from their own restaurants over to each other's, measuring the exact distance between the two…and realized something very shocking. "Ninety-nine feet!" Plankton gasped in shock. "It's true," Krabs lamented sadly.

Retracting their tape measures (or getting flung by it in Plankton's case), Krabs and Plankton returned to the stake, facing the state officer. "B-but Le Chum Bucket is a gourmet restaurant, not a fast food joint! It should at least have a leg up on Krabs' grease trap!" argued Plankton, to which Krabs took offense. "Hey!" "Technically speaking, Mr. Plankton," the state officer interjected, "you and your staff never properly signed any official papers that declared the Chum Bucket as gourmet - it is still recognized by Bikini State as a fast food restaurant first and foremost." He started to get back into his vehicle. "You gentlemen have twenty-four hours to decide which one of you has to move. Them's the brakes." With that, he got into his vehicle and drove off.

"Well, Krabs," snapped Plankton, "ya might as well pack your bags and close up shop right now - I guarantee the rest of your customers won't miss a thing. Don't trouble yourself, though; Karen 2, Squidward and I will take good care of them!" He laughed as he reentered the Chum Bucket. "Oh yeah?!" Krabs growled back. "I'll show ye, bug! I'll put together a, ah…petition! Of customer support signatures!" He confidently put his claws on his hips. "Rain or shine, the Krusty Krab still stands strong!"

"Perch Perkins with 'Flavors of the Bottom' - the Krusty Krab is NOT standing strong."

Karen and SpongeBob walked through the double doors. "Oh, boss man," announced Karen, "we have something to tell you about the…Chum…Patty…" The two came just in time to see Eugene transfixed onto his television set once more.

Perch's report on the Krusty Krab continued. "Customer support for the Krusty Krab has dropped from 65% down to an astonishing 89% following yesterday's Chum Patty debacle. And with reports saying that the City of Bikini Bottom Bureau is demanding a clearing of the place, the restaurant seems to finally be in its death throes." "WHAT?!" SpongeBob ran to the TV in fear, as if his life was at stake. "Oh, Sponge…" Karen only shook her monitor sadly as she followed him.

Perch continued on the TV. "We had the chance early this morning to speak with ex-Krusty Krew member and current Le Chum Bucket head chef Squidward Tentacles about his time at the restaurant as well as his thoughts on its likely final hours." "Working at the Krusty Krab was by far the worst experience of my life," Squidward said, clearly relishing dragging the Krusty Krab's name further through the mud. "If you ask me, I'm not surprised it's going down - the one thing that gave Krabs' grease trap a leg up over the Chum Bucket, their precious Krabby Patty, paled in comparison to my chum fricassee, and now they don't even have the Krabby Patty anymore! What's left to compete with - their upstart little Chum Patty?" He guffawed, as if to rub his success in further.

Eugene seethed. "Ohhhh, Squidward…ye will rue the day you quit the Krusty Krab!" Running to his office, he blew right past Karen and SpongeBob. "Uh, sir?" Karen tried getting her boss' attention to no avail, as he came back out with petition forms for the both of them. "Alright, you two, listen well! I need you to take these two petitions to save the Krusty Krab, and secure as many signatures as ye can fit! Leave no stones unturned, and come back ASAP with full forms!" SpongeBob immediately gave a sailor salute. "Sir, yes, sir! I'll sign both petitions right away!"

"But, sir, the Chum Patty recipe—" Krabs interrupted Karen mid-sentience. "Did I ask for side comments, Ms. Karen?! The future of me money is at stake!" "If you would just shut your trap and listen…!" Karen was getting impatient with her boss, but he was having none of it. "Ah-ah! No excuses!" Krabs shoved both his employees out the double doors. "Now get out there and save me money!" Sighing, Eugene went back to his office.

"Oooohhhh, that crustaceous cheapskate," Karen growled, almost breaking her clipboard clean in two. "Why, I've got half a mind to break his shell right open and—!" SpongeBob held Karen back as she tried to storm her way back through the restaurant. "W-w-wait, Karen! L-let's just focus on getting these petitions signed for now - we can tell Old Man Krabs about the Chum Patty recipe later."

Karen eyed SpongeBob as he ran into town. "You might be okay with letting this sit, SpongeBob, but not me. I need to get this out somehow…"

As Karen rolled away, Plankton looked out the window. Something about what Krabs and SpongeBob said about "petitions" rubbed him the wrong way, and if what the state officer said was true, and the Chum Bucket is just as much in danger as the Krusty Krab, then…

SpongeBob burst through the front door of Mrs. Puff's Boating School. "Hello, Mrs. Puff~!" Mrs. Puff screamed and flinched as she heard his voice. "No! Stay away! I can't afford to go back to the slammer!"

"Oh, this isn't about boating, Mrs. Puff," came SpongeBob's reassuring response. He showed her the form. "I just came to ask you if you would sign this petition - it'll save the Krusty Krab from getting bulldozed!"

"The Krusty Krab? Krabby-poo's restaurant?" Puff's expression immediately turned sympathetic. "Oh, I heard about all the trouble Eugene was having over there." She put her hands on her hips. "Of course, those bottomfeeders over at Flavors of the Bottom neglected to mention Le Chum Bucket is also on the chopping block - you didn't hear this from me, but it isn't classified as a true gourmet restaurant."

SpongeBob was taken aback. "Mrs. Puff? You watch Flavors of the Bottom?!" "Sure, SpongeBob," Puff replied, "I watch a lot of Seafood Network." She took SpongeBob's form and signed it without hesitation. "Of course I'll help you out - if only for Eugene's sake." SpongeBob whooped and cheered at this. After a tough couple of weeks, it seemed like the little sponge's luck was finally turning around!

"Thanks so much, Mrs. Puff!" SpongeBob gave his boating school teacher the biggest hug he could possibly give her, before his smile fell again. "I just wish I could get more people to sign - no one else in Bikini Bottom believes in me or Karen."

"SpongeBob," Puff stated, "if having you as my first ever student has taught me anything, it's that you are a very good listener…at least, when you aren't manning a boatmobile." She laughed before clearing her throat. "Now, if there's anything I told you before that you picked up on, I'd like you to repeat it back to me if possible."

SpongeBob was slightly confused. "You're doing this for Mr. Krabs?" "No, son, before that."

"The Chum Bucket's being bulldozed as well?" Puff sighed. "Little bit after."

SpongeBob thought for a moment, before something clicked. "…Ohhhhhh, I get it!"

Squidward jaunted along Downtown Bikini Bottom with the biggest chum-eating grin on his face. He figured this whole petition competition between the Chum Bucket and the Krusty Krab was already swinging in the Chum Bucket's favor anyway, but his boss gave him his orders, and he was certain that the Chum Bucket would get much more signatures than the Krusty Krab nevertheless.

The octopus stopped by a repairfish who was doing work on a nearby boat. "Hello, my good man," Squidward said to the fish. "I represent Le Chum Bucket - you might have seen me on TV." He pulled out his clipboard, showing it to the fish. "And I was wondering if you would like to sign this petition - it'll save Le Chum Bucket from being bulldozed."

The repairfish's response, however, was unexpected. "Why would I want to do that? The food there is way too overpriced for a fast food joint." Squidward balked. His rebuttal was swift. "F-fast food joint?! I'll have you know Le Chum Bucket is the most highly-rated gourmet restaurant here in Bikini Bottom." The repairfish quickly handed Squidward a piece of paper, saying, "That isn't what the sponge kid told me."

Squidward took the paper, reading it carefully. "'Chum Bucket is Unfair - Day-Long Wait at Too High a Price for Fast Food!'?" Squidward stammered. "Where did you get this?!" "It was on my windshield," came the repairfish's reply. "They're all over the place!" He gestured to more copies of the paper absolutely covering all the buildings. Squidward seethed. "So it's a smear campaign Krabs wants, does he?" He crumpled up the paper sheet and stomped his way back to Le Chum Bucket.

On his walk back, he grumbled all his inner thoughts out loud. "Smear campaign. I'll give Krabs a smear campaign. I'll give all of them the best darned smear campaign anyone's ever seen! That Krabs thinks he's such hot chum, trying to mess with the Krabby Patty and rip off our recipes just so he can make another quick buck…the absolute nerve of that crustaceous cheapskate—huh?!"

Squidward came back to a Chum Bucket crowded with people filing complaints. Plankton and Karen 2 were surrounded.

"Mr. Plankton, sir," asked a male fish, "is it true that your customers are being ripped off and sold overpriced fast food?" Plankton struggled with the question. "Uh, well, I wouldn't say—" "Mr. Plankton! Mr. Plankton!" A female fish butted in with her own question. "Is it true, sir, that your restaurant is still classified as a fast food restaurant by Bikini State?" Plankton could not find the right words for a response. He whispered to his new computer wife. "Help me out here, Karen 2."

Karen 2 tried her best to dissuade the crowd. "People, settle down." Silence. "With all due respect, Le Chum Bucket is still in the process of filing paperwork, so that the restaurant can properly be classified as gourmet." This only made the crowd angrier. "Thanks a lot, Karen 2," Plankton mumbled.

"QUIET!" The crowd immediately hushed and turned to Squidward. "This is no time for baseless accusations! You want to be mad at someone?!" The octopus pulled out a crude drawing of Mr. Krabs. "Be mad at Eugene! He's been ripping our recipes off so he can keep up with our success! Do you really want Le Chum Bucket to disappear when it's finally found its footing?!" Squidward's rally cry drew new fervor from the crowd. Squidward opened up the double doors. "You people know what to do—give 'em heck!"

The crowd rushed out the double doors and stormed the Krusty Krab, where Eugene was anxiously awaiting his employees' return. However, he was met with a furious school of fish in their stead. At that moment, SpongeBob entered the lobster trap with clipboard in tow, being met with the same angry crowd. The sponge was thrown to the front of the order booth with his boss.

"Your stupid Chum Patties put my mom in the hospital!" "Where's little Billy supposed to eat with his friends now?! Goofy Goober's gives him hives!" "What do you two have to say for yourselves for ruining the Krusty Krab?!" Fred, Tom, Suzy, Harold, Old Man Walker, Old Man Jenkins…everyone, even the Krusty Krab's ex-regulars, was incensed with Eugene and SpongeBob. "I-I don't know what you guys mean! I'm just the fry cook!" SpongeBob bawled. Everything seemed to finally be coming up roses for the lobster trap, and now…

The crowd's fury stopped momentarily at the sound of a bulldozer approaching. "Look!" A female fish pointed at the coming bulldozer out the window. "The bulldozer! It's time!" "It's time!" With a unified chant, the school of fish threw SpongeBob and Eugene out onto the curb where the bulldozer stopped. The window rolled down to reveal the state officer. "So, which one of you is getting bulldozed?"

"Not us, your bureaucraticness," came Plankton's response as the school of fish gathered around Le Chum Bucket. "The people have taken our side." He gave Squidward as high a high-five as he could manage. "They are so easily swayed," added Karen 2. "The people have spoken," stated the officer. "Mr. SquarePants? Mr. Krabs? I'd step aside if I were you two."

"B-but…but…" SpongeBob and Eugene backed up into the Krusty Krab as the bulldozer followed them. Suddenly, Eugene steeled his resolve. "NO! I'm not going anywhere!" "Please concede, Eugene," came the state officer's reply. "I promise it'll be quick and painless." Eugene and SpongeBob locked themselves up to the Krusty Krab. "If ya wanna bulldoze me restaurant, it's gonna be long and painful!" "Stand your ground, sir! I'm right behind you!"

The bulldozer inched closer to the Krusty Krab. "Okay, now this really is your last chance." Eugene puffed out his chest in defiance. "I'm not leaving! A good captain always goes down with his ship!" The state officer shook his head. "Have it your way, then." The bulldozer's smokestack belched out flames as it inched ever closer. "Goodbye, Krusty Krab," Eugene whimpered.

Then, a voice rang out, and all activity stopped. "That's far enough, sonny boy!"

Gasps rung out from the crowd.

"Grandma?!"

Karen rolled her way through the crowd with an elderly octopus in tow - Grandma Tentacles. "Alright, folks, make way," came Karen's voice, "old lady on board."

Squidward stammered as his old grandmother came to meet him. "G-G-Grandma," he said, "w-what brings you here?" "Recompense, you stupid boy," snapped Grandma Tentacles. "A little birdie told me that someone was cooking my recipe wrong!" She used her walker to crush her bumbling grandson's foot. "You know darn well the consequences of undercooking chum! How long have you been doing this for?!" Squidward grimaced. "…A couple of weeks, tops?"

"Aaaaand," Karen chimed in, "I think I heard murmurs of someone's mom getting put in the hospital due to undercooked chum?"

This new info made Squidward freeze up, and also riled the crowd up something fierce. "You gave us undercooked chum?!" Grandma Tentacles stood up to rally the crowd. "Tear him a new one, people!" The crowd formed a mob and started to attack Squidward and Plankton, as Grandma Tentacles ordered, all while Karen 2 backed away.

As this was happening, Karen Classic made her way to the Krusty Krab. SpongeBob broke free of his chains in excitement. "Karen!" The sponge ran over to give his computer companion a hug. "So Squidward was undercooking all the chum at the Chum Bucket? Gee, you think he'd learn his own lesson." Karen shrugged. "Hey, money gets to ya." She snickered before her screen turned pink with embarrassment. "But, uh…no. He actually cooked the chum perfectly. I just…fudged the truth a little bit." She bent down to meet SpongeBob at eye level once more. "I know how much this job means to ya, Sponge. And after how rough you've had it recently, I'd hate to see you lose it."

SpongeBob smiled, his eyes wide and sparkling. He wrapped Karen up in a big hug once more. "Thank you, Karen," he said. "You're my hero." Hearing that made Karen's screen blip. Her? A hero? After so many years of actively supporting Plankton of all people? The thought…puzzled her.

"Are we all done?" Unfortunately, SpongeBob and Karen's moment was interrupted. "Because if you haven't noticed, there's a huge bulldozer right in front of this place…and a job that needs doing." The state officer had run out of patience. He started the bulldozer back up again. "Oh, no," Krabs squeaked.

Seeing the bulldozer inch closer to the Krusty Krab, Karen held SpongeBob's hand tightly. "…Sorry, SpongeBob."

Eugene closed his eyes, bracing himself as the bulldozer finally made contact with the Krusty Krab…and shifted its position slightly backward.

"Thank you for your cooperation," said the officer.

Everyone was baffled by this result, Eugene especially. "Eh? Pardon me, sir, but, uh…weren't you gonna, y'know…level the place?"

The officer stepped out of the bulldozer, pulling out his own tape measure. "Demolition is outside of my purview," he clarified. "I simply ensure that restaurants comply with the 100-foot ordinance." He then walked over to the Krusty Krab to measure its distance away from the Chum Bucket, stopping when the tape showed the number 1. "That's one more foot. Perfect!"

The state officer started getting back into the bulldozer to back it up when SpongeBob questioned him. "So, you're not going to destroy the Krusty Krab?" "No, Mr. SquarePants," came the officer's answer. In his excitement, SpongeBob jumped up to hug the state officer. "Oh, thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" This made the officer jostle the lever inside, causing the bulldozer to back up way too fast. "Oh, boy." Although worried for SpongeBob, Karen could not help but watch.

Hearing the roar of the bulldozer, the angry mob that was swarming Squidward and Plankton scattered, leaving the octopus and the copepod alone to watch as the bulldozer backed into Le Chum Bucket, destroying it. "No! No! My restaurant!" cried Plankton. "My fanbase!" wailed Squidward. He was then met with a whack on the head from Grandma Tentacles' walker. "I hope you learned your lesson, genius." With that, she left along with most of the crowd, stomping on Plankton on her way out.

Karen 2 popped her monitor out from inside Le Chum Bucket's basement. Everything from within the area was gone. All that remained was the blue sky, the flower clouds, and scattered rubble everywhere.

Just then, she spotted Plankton and Squidward crying their eyes out, mourning the loss of the restaurant. And then, she spotted Karen Classic, laughing her chassis off along with Eugene. Laughing at Plankton's misfortune.

The gall.

"She's laughing. Plankton and I just lost our home…and she's laughing." Karen 2's screen turned a bright red. "She won't be laughing for much longer."