Snailnapped
I looked at Plankton coming up to me from my bed. What was he doing here? He then produced a sack from out of his back. Wait, is he trying to snailnap me?! I was about to make a break for it, but he was too fast for the next thing I knew darkness surrounded me for I was now in said sack.
I mewed and mewed frantically and struggled like crazy, trying to get free, but it didn't work. What the barnacle? Plankton was teeny tiny, I should have gotten out by now. So why am I still here? I just kept on struggling and mewing, hoping for the best. Maybe someone will come and help.
" QUIET, SNAIL!" I heard Plankton yell. However, I resumed my struggles and cries, to try and get help, and to annoy the heck out of him. Maybe I'll annoy him so much that he'll let me go. It's super unlikely, but a snail can only hope.
Sometime later, I heard Plankton talking, but I heard other voices too. Is this where I will get my help from?
Minutes later, I dropped out of the bag and saw that I was in a throne room. I looked around. Where am I?
"And you think this snail has slime?" A voice wanted to know, I looked and was face to face with a merman wearing a crown. He was sitting on a throne. Another merman was next to him. A scepter leaned on the throne. Plankton laughed nervously.
" What?!" He asked. "What are you talking about? Of course he has enough slime. He has slime for days!" What is he talking about? Enough slime? What do they mean by that? Are they talking about my slime trail? Enough slime for what? What does this merman king need my slime for? I never felt so confused in my life and I knew these two won't tell me.
The merman king scratched at his chin, thinking. He smiled.
"Ok. I believe you." Plankton sighed with relief. "Good job! You got me a snail just like I asked in the flier. Guard, lock this creature up until I need it."
"Yes, you mejastry." His guard said to him with a bow. The guard then picked me up and carried me away.
The guard brought me to a cell and locked me up. I looked up at him. He looked at me,
"Get used to this cell." He told me. "For you will be here a long time." He then left.
A long time? But I have to get out of here now and back to SpongeBob. And why am I even here? Plankton wants the Krabby Patty formula. But how is me being snailnapped and locked in this jail cell related? This just doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense.
"Looks like Posidon has a new victim." Spoke up a voice. "How sad!"
"Looks like it, Janet." Another voice agreed.
"I feel bad. That poor snail does not know where his fate lies."
"I feel bad too. Let's go say hello to cheer him up."
"Good idea!" I then saw three snails approach me.
"Hello." Spoke up one. "I'm Brian and these are my friends, Janet and Lupe."
" Hola my new amigo!" The third snail greeted me in a Mexican accent.
"What is your name, dearie?" Janet asked.
"Gary." I answered. "Uh, where are we?" They all frowned.
"You are in the castle of King Poseidon in Atlantic City." Janet answered.
"Atlantic City? King Poseidon? What am I here for?" And snailnapped by Plankton no less? Did he give up trying to get the formula, quit the restaurant and now works for this king now? I may not know him as well as SpongeBob does, but that doesn't sound at all like him." They were all confused. I shouldn't have said all of that out loud, but it's too late now.
"We don't know this Plankton guy." Lupe began. "Or this formula business, or even SpongeBob. But, you're here because King Poseidon needs your slime." I was confused.
"For what?"
"We're not exactly sure." Brian admitted. "But he likes snail slime. He rubs it all over his skin." I was disgusted by this.
" Ew, what?!" I changed the subject before I got confirmation. "Well, I can't stay here. I have to go back to SpongeBob." They were all puzzled.
"SpongeBob?" Lupe questioned. I nodded. "Who's he? You never told us."
"SpongeBob is my owner and I have to go back to him. I don't belong here."
" Aw, he has an owner." Janet said, seeming to be admired by that fact. "That must be nice." She looked at Brian. "Brian, is this snail the first one out of all of us to belong to somebody?"
"I believe so." Brian stated.
"Hello?" I spoke. "Is anyone going to help me escape?"
"Sorry, amigo." Lupe said to me. "You can't. It's impossible."
"What do you mean?" I wanted to know,
"We all tried several times to escape from this dump and evil tyrant." Brian explained. "But unfortunately, no matter what we try, King Poseidon and his guards always catch us. It's hopeless." I was shocked at this.
"No, no, this can't be! There has to be a way! All we have to do is come up with something else. You all can't just call it quits!"
"Gary," Lupe told me. "It's bien that you want to help us, but we're snails. We're super slow. It's just in our DNA and we can't change that. That's what makes our escape attempts more hopeless. If we were fast, we might stand a chance."
"But I'm sure you don't have to be." They were all confused again.
"What are you talking about, Gary?" Janet wanted to know.
"You might be surprised. I normally am slow too, but I can be fast if I want to be. And if I can be fast, if I really think about it, you all can be too. Don't doubt yourselves. We all can do anything if we just set our minds to what we want. Now, who's with me?"
"I just don't know about any of this." Brian said.
"Come on. Bri!" Janet tried to encourage him. "I think we should give it another shot." She looked at me. "Gary, I'm in!"
"Janet!"
"I am also in!" Lupe agreed.
"Lupe!" Brian also cried. I smiled.
"Thanks, guys." I told them. "I promise, you won't regret your decisions." I looked at Brian. "Brian?" He seemed to be deep in thought about all of this. "Please, Brian. I know it's hard right now, but you need to have faith and trust me on this."
"Ok, Gary." Brian said to me. "I believe you. Let's do this thing! Let's try to escape!" I smiled.
"Thanks, Brian. I knew you would come around eventually." Brian smiled back.
"No problem, Gary. I just want to get out of here and believe you would be the key. I'm tired of this dump. But first, let's introduce you to the others." I was confused by this.
"Wait, there's more of you?" Both Brian and Janet nodded.
"Si." Lupe spoke. "So much more!"
"We'll show you." Janet told me. "Follow us." And so, I followed them further in the cell to wherever that they were taking me.
I saw several snails chatting to one another. Holy sea cow! I never saw that many snails in my life before! Brian whistled loudly to get their attention. They all turned our way.
"Attention, snails!" Brian told them. "We like to introduce you to our new pal, Gary. Come and say hello." All of the snails slithered towards us.
There was June, Fifi, Brett, Sally and so many more. I greeted them all.
"Gary here, says we can all escape." Brian continued. They all groaned. "Now I know what you are all thinking. Believe me, I was skeptical too, but I think we should give our escape attempt another chance and trust Gary." All of the snails agreed. Brian looked at me. "Okay, Gary, what's the plan? How are we going to escape?" I looked at him, shocked.
Shoot! I didn't know I had to come up with a plan immediately. I was about to tell Brian this when I saw all of the pleading faces on all of the snails. I gulped. They were all counting on me!
"Well, Gary?" Brian spoke.
"I, uh…" Suddenly, the door to the cell opened up. We all looked. It was the merman guard.
"Okay, new snail." He spoke, looking around. "King Poseidon needs your assistance right now." He was about to grab me when I sped off as fast as I could. He chased after me. " Hey! Come back here!"
I ran as fast as I could, but there was so far as I could go in this dingy jail cell. I knew I couldn't run forever, but I can tire him out!
As I was about to go down another corner, I felt a hand grab me. Aw, barnacles! I struggled in his grip. He started to leave.
"Don't worry, snail." He assured me. "This won't take long. You will be back with your friends soon enough." He left the jail cell, opening the closed door, and shutting it again and locking the door. He then continued on.
"WHERE IS MY SNAIL?!" I heard the king shout. "WHY DON'T I HAVE MY SNAIL?! I NEED MY SNAIL! MY BEAUTIFUL SELF IS DISSIPATING AND I'M BECOMING UGLY!" The guard rushed into the room.
"Sorry, your Highness." He apologized. "I had to run after the snail."
"You ran after it?" The king asked. "Then surely it shouldn't have taken you that long."
"But it did. I don't know how to explain it. This mollusk is speedy when it wants to be." I nodded in agreement. Darn right I am, and I'll do it again!
"Never mind about that. Right now, I need it. Hand it to me." The guard nodded.
"Right away, Sire." He handed me to him. The king grabbed me and started rubbing my slime all over his body! Ewwww, yuck! I had to be strong in order not to gag. Wait a minute, I should gag on him, and all over! It'll serve him right for having me taken away from home!
When done, the king handed me back to the guard.
"Here." He said again. "I am beautified again. Until next time. And make sure there aren't any delays next time. Do I make myself clear?" The guard nodded.
"Crystal!" He replied.
"Honestly, what idiot can't outrun a snail?" He noticed that we were still here. "Well, go on, leave! Do you need an invitation or something? Get out of my sight!" The guard nodded again.
"Yes, Sire. Goodbye." And with that, we left the throne room.
After the guard threw me back into the cell and shut the door, locking it, I went over to Janet and Lupe and the other snails. I was surprised at what the other snails were doing. They were all doing laps all over the room.
"What is everyone doing?" I wanted to know.
"You were right, Gary." Janet told me. "In order to get out of here, we need to be faster. So that is what we are doing. We're doing laps to see how fast we really are."
"And you were also right when you said that we can be speedy when we want to be." Lupe added. "You should have seen me! I never knew I had that in me."
"And it's all thanks to you." Janet told me. I smiled.
"You're welcome. I'm glad that you all want to escape and give it another chance." This time, my friends smiled. I looked around for Brain, then back at then. They seemed concerned about this. "Where's Brian?" Both Lupe and Janet frowned.
"Brian is working, along with some other snails." I looked at her, confused.
"Doing what?"
"We don't know. All we know is that he's working, doing whatever they want of him."
"That's what happens when we snails run out of slime for the king to rub." Lupe explained to me. "The king has us enslaved, working until we're exhausted. We then do it all over again the next day, over and over. It's a never ending loop." I was shocked by this.
" What?!" I questioned. "You mean after I do the king's bidding, I can't go back home ever again?" They both frowned and nodded.
"Afraid so."
"Well, that's…that's immoral. That's not right. He can't do that."
"We're so sorry, Gary." Janet said. "We know what he's doing is wrong, but he's in charge, so there's nothing we can do to change his mind."
"He won't understand our snail talk." Lupe put in.
"SpongeBob understands my snail talk." He was puzzled by this, so was Janet.
" What. ? How?" But I didn't answer him and was determined.
"That gives us all the more reason to escape. When we get Brian and the other snails back, we make our escape."
"But Brian will be so exhausted by the time he gets back, as well as the others. He'll be too tired to escape."
"We wait until tonight. Then when most merfolk and residents are asleep, no matter what, we escape. We have to do this asap. We need to do this. You guys shouldn't live like this any longer. I'm sorry, but this is too important to be ignored. If anyone is exhausted, they can get all of the rest that they need once we're done escaping and far, far away from this horrid place."
"You're right, Gary." Janet said to me. "We need to do this. Once we are out of here, the better."
"But even if we manage to pull this all off,…" Lupe began. "Where will we go? Unlike you, we won't have anyone waiting for us."
"Don't worry, Lupe." I assured him. "I know my owner. He'll make sure you all have nice and loving homes soon enough."
"But for all of us? I'm not so sure."
"I'm not so sure either." Janet told Lupe. "But if Gary trusts his owner and says we'll all get homes, we'll all get homes." Lupe was surprised at what Janet said.
"But we don't know this SpongeBob. No offense to Gary, but we can't put trust in seafolk that we don't know. How he treats Gary might not be how he treats all others. We can't take that risk. We can't!" But with one look from us, he sighed. "Sure, what the heck! If we're risking our lives in escaping, we can risk this too and trust a complete stranger."
"That's right, Lupe." Janet told him. "It might be super scary to us right now, but life can surprise you. It can surprise anyone."
"Exactly." I agreed. Janet looked at me.
"Tell us the plan, Gary, if you thought of one that is. We can inform Brian and the others about it later." And so I told them my plan.
When Brian and the other snails' jobs were all done for the day and they came back, I told them about my escape plan. I could tell that Brian was still unsure about this, but still trusted me on this.
The plan was simple. When most of the merfolk were sleeping for the night, one snail was going to annoy one of the guards on night duty. The guard would be annoyed so much that he'll have enough and hopefully open the cell door to yell at us. Once the door was open, we would all make our escape, tackling the guard to the floor in the process. We will escape to the lobby and out of the castle, and just keep going to Bikini Bottom.
But before our grand escape, there were still time, so we let Brian and the others rest for a bit.
Once it was late enough, and the night guard had taken his position in front of the cell, it was showtime! One of the snails meowed over and over. It was super annoying! The guard should come any moment now.
"Clam up!" The guard shouted. But the meowing continued. "Clam up please! Fishfolk are sleeping!" Finally, after a bit longer, the guard came over, angry and opened the cell. "I will only say this one more time, cl…"
" RUN!" I yelled. Then, without any hesitation, all of the snails stampeded out of the cell, including the meowing snail. The guard screamed as he fell to the floor with us running over him. He tried to get up, but no matter how much he struggled, the weight of the snails wouldn't let him.
I was the last snail to get out (I wanted to make sure that no snail was left behind). When I got off him, I ran for my life. But then someone grabbed me.
"I got you!" The guard said and then laughed as I struggled in his grasp. "You thought you could escape, huh? Ha! You thought wrong! The king needs you, so I, Jacob Jing…" I then bit him. Jacob screamed as he dropped me to the floor. I resumed running for my life, hoping that if he'd come after us, he'd slip and fall on one of our slime trails.
Once in the lobby, I saw fish walking around and a fish at the front desk. I saw my friends waiting for me at the front door. I had to be careful. I headed towards the door, making sure no one would notice.
"Now what, Gary?" Brian asked me. "We can't open the door. Perhaps, we should have thought of that before." He's right, We should have. But, oh well. We still had a way to get out.
"I got this." I said. Brian and the rest were all confused.
"How? You can open doors?"
"Yes, it's one of the things that I have learned by being a pet." The snails were all still puzzled by this, but they still let me through. I crawled onto the door, and worked my magic, jiggling with the doorknob.
"Stop those snails!" I heard the guard shout.
" Hurry, Gary!" Brian shouted at me. "They're coming!"
"Oh, we're doomed!" Lupe cried. Fortunately, the door opened.
" RUN!" I cried. "You guys are free! Some stay back and help me fight!"
"Fight?" Lupe wanted to know. "I thought we were just running for our lives. I'm not ready and I don't want to fight!"
"It's okay then!" Janet said. "You just run while we fight."
"How are you all going to fight them?" We all ran towards the fish as they ran towards us. I tackled the guard, pinning him to the floor and hit them with our eyestalks.
"What in Neptune is going on here?!" Poseidon demanded to know when he came in as we were fighting. We all stopped to look at him.
"We're fighting with the snails." The guard answered him. "They're trying to escape. Some did already."
"Well, don't let them beat you guys." The guard nodded.
"Yes, your Highness." Poisidon looked at the other fish in the room.
"And gather all of the escaped snails…and you can be here for free if successful." The fish cheered at that and ran outside while we resumed our fight with our attackers.
Sadly, they were successful, and we lost the fight. We were all in our cell again.
"Well, that was a bust." Lupe observed. "Again."
"We tried our best." Brian said. "But, sadly, it wasn't good enough. I should have known it was too good to be true."Janet must have seen my gloomy expression.
"Gary?" She questioned. "You ok?" I looked at her.
"No." I told her. "We lost." I looked at everybody else. "Sorry, guys. We failed. Looks like we're stuck here forever. I'll never see SpongeBob ever again."
"Cheer up, Gary." Brian told me. "We may have lost, but we got closer because of you."
"That's right." Janet agreed. "We couldn't have done it without you. So, if we try again in the future, maybe. I have a good feeling." The others nodded in agreement. I smiled.
"Thanks, guys." I was then determined. "And if we don't try again, and SpongeBob knows I am here somehow, he'll try to, no, save me, save all of us. I know he will. He's a good owner. Annoying and high-energy, sure, but a good owner nonetheless. He'll never let me or any of us down. I guarantee it."
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