Disclaimer: I do not own SpongeBob SquarePants or any of its characters.

Camping in Lost Kelp Forest

"That doesn't sound too good…" said Mr. Krabs.

"That's 'cause it ain't. Look!" Sandy pointed up towards the volcano that was spewing its destructive concoction.

The group was in awe at the sight before them: the massive, bubbling mountain of doom had erupted in fiery fury; shooting out humongous bursts of scalding hot lava and puffs of grey smoke. The ground shook with force, almost knocking the creatures to the ground. The scallops fled from their nests. Every creature, big and small, ran to save their own lives from the destruction that was coming upon them.

The gang of Bikini Bottomites had never seen anything so terrifying and unbelievably menacing before. It was so sudden, so unexpected. This was not the time to be bickering and hurling cruel insults at each other. It was the time to stick together as a group; a group of people who had known each other for so many years, always having each other's backs. Well, almost always.

In these moments, the pettiness between them was the least of their worries.

"So… What do we do now?" asked Patrick, still acting rather calm.

The volcano then released another massive burst of lava; bigger than the previous ones just moments before.

"RUN LIKE HECK!" Sandy shouted.

That was their cue to flee. They took off; leaving all their personal belongings at the campsite. The sound of their screams could be heard for miles as they ran for their lives; their limited, precious, Neptune-given lives.

The lava rushed out onto the landscape, coming up not far behind them.

Sandy turned around to see the flaming hot liquid getting closer. She panted, "Run… Faster!"

Mr. Krabs realized he had forgotten something very dear to him back at the campsite. "ME MONEY! I FORGOT ME MONEY!" he gasped. "Is it too late to turn back?!" he shouted.

"OF COURSE, it's too late, you penny-pinching cheapskate! We're on the verge of dying, AND ALL YOU CAN THINK OF IS MONEY?!" Squidward was absolutely furious and terrified.

"Squidward's right, Mr. Krabs! Well, except for the 'penny pinching' part. We need to get away from this-WHOA!" SpongeBob's feet skidded, stopping them all dead in their tracks when they discovered lava approaching from another direction.

"This way!" said Sandy, running off to the left.

"I CAN'T SEE!" screamed Plankton. They had entered into a thick patch of kelp; rendering their eyesight useless because of how dark it had become.

Karen activated her flashlight above her eyes, allowing them to see. "Thank you, honeybunch," Plankton said lovingly.

"You're welcome, snookums," she replied. "AHHHH!" they then continued on with their screaming.

Minutes later, they reached a cliff edge of a mountain. At the bottom was a powerful, flowing waterfall and long river. They all looked behind them, becoming aware of just how fast approaching that lava was.

They had two options: get burned alive, or jump. There were no other shortcuts.

SpongeBob and Sandy glanced at each other, sharing a look of both fear and loyalty. They grabbed each other's hands and jumped.

"CANNONBALL!" shouted Patrick.

"Well, here goes nothin' I suppose. Come on, darlin'," said Mr. Krabs, taking Pearl by the hand and jumping.

The rest of them took their lives into their hands and jumped, all landing in the forceful river. The group floated quickly to a new landscape, temporarily escaping the lava.

Patrick floated on his back towards the land. SpongeBob looked over and noticed. "Patrick, I thought you couldn't swim?"

"I can't," Patrick shouted back.

As the rest crawled up onto land, they noticed someone was missing. "Oh, no, where's Squidward?!" SpongeBob asked, worried sick for his neighbor as his eyes darted in all directions.

Soon enough, everyone was calling out the octopus's name. Until suddenly, they caught the source of what was keeping Patrick afloat.

There came the grumpy cephalopod, rising up out of the water, carrying Patrick and holding him above his head.

"Squidward!" SpongeBob shouted enthusiastically, running over to him.

Squidward struggled to carry the big pink tub of lard over his head. He grunted and gritted his teeth as his legs wobbled.

"Squidward, I'm so glad you're safe!" said SpongeBob.

"Me… Too… Whoa-WHOA!" a loud crack was heard, presumably Squidward's back. He dropped the starfish and collapsed onto the ground.

Patrick stood up and dusted himself off as if nothing had happened. "Thanks, Squidward." He walked off casually.

"You're welcome…" Squidward's voice was weak, and his body crumpled.

As the group was joined together again, they continued to run in fear of the lava reaching them. After a few minutes, they reached a large cave.

The cave was made of beige-colored stone. It was deep, dark, and damp. Everyone headed far enough into it, but still stayed close to the outside.

They all looked at each other apologetically. How did a boring day at the Krusty Krab lead to something like this? Only Neptune knew.

At this point, each person felt guilt creeping up on them for the terrible way they had acted towards each other. They had all known each other for so long; they should've all had each other's backs in a situation like this. And well… It seems that, even if they didn't want to admit it to each other, they really did have each other's backs.

SpongeBob stood there, holding Gary underneath his arm. "So… How's the weather?" he asked. Everybody stared at him, giving him a 'this is not the time' sort of look.

"Forget I asked that." He looked down at his shoes.

The cave was silent for a few moments. "Are we just gonna stand here and pretend we're not soon going to become lava morsels?" asked Plankton, who stood on his wife's shoulder.

Sandy sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, you guys. This whole thing is my fault. I shouldn't have suggested y'all come with me… I should've known y'all wouldn't be gettin' along, especially Mr. Krabs and Plankton." She shook her head, ashamed of her 'brilliant' ideas.

Mr. Krabs and Plankton looked at each other, a gleam of sadness filling both of their eyes. "Aw, I didn't mean any of the things I said to the little rascal. Heh, heh. After all, that's all he is; a little rascal." He smiled warmly at the evil genius, who returned the rare look to him. They didn't look at each other so lovingly all that often, so this was a surprise.

"A-and I certainly didn't mean what I said either, you know, about your failing business. I mean, sure, it probably is failing, but- "

"Sheldon…" Karen interrupted, warning him not to go any further.

Plankton understood her warning. He then looked lovingly at her. "And I'm sorry to you, honeybunch. I didn't mean to be so demanding and cruel towards you."

Karen shrugged. "It's not that big a deal; I'm used to it. But I'm sorry I blackened ya to a crisp, honeysuckle." They looked into each other's eyes; gleaming and filling with moisture from their emotion. Well, Karen's was more of a digital kind of moisture.

"And I'm sorry for being so annoying to you guys. I'd rather hang out with all of you than be at some boring shopping mall," said Pearl, her voice soft as she rubbed her flipper.

"Ye really mean that sweet pea?" her father asked, his eyes sparkling with hope.

"No. But at least I said it."

"I can't believe I'm saying this…" Squidward began with a sigh, stepping forward. "I'm sorry for losing my temper with all of you. Well, all of you except SpongeBob." He looked down, seeing SpongeBob's little face of disappointment.

He felt his hardened heart soften a little upon looking at that face. "Oh, alright. I'm sorry, Sponge- "

"It's okay, Squidward," SpongeBob spoke tearfully as he latched onto Squidward's side.

"Aw, I love hugs!" Patrick wrapped his arms around both of them in a bear hug. Squidward struggled to breathe.

"Okay, Patrick. You're crushing my windpipe." His voice was barely audible.

"Oh, sorry." Patrick let go.

Sandy's heart was overwhelmed with surprise and joy at all the love that was being shared. "I'm happy y'all have found some peace with each other. I'm still sorry for suggestin' we come out here together… Sometimes I just ain't that smart."

Her words stung SpongeBob like lemon juice on an open cut. He stood in front of her, looking her straight in the eye. "That isn't true, Sandra. You're smarter than anyone in the whole sea. And your kindness shows through. And so does your beauty; I just love the way that you light up at the thought of anything dangerous. And your touch brings warmth to my heart, as well as your graceful way of- "

"Sheesh, I didn't sign up for a poetry fest," said Squidward, scoffing and crossing his arms over his chest.

SpongeBob realized he had said a wee bit too much and blushed. Sandy chuckled and placed her hand on the side of his face.

"Thank you, SpongeBob. You're sweet. If I could breathe water, I'd kiss ya." She then realized she had said that out loud and blushed a deep shade of pink. Her words shocked the sponge into almost fainting.

"Meow (Hmm… Is it the 'lovestruck squirrely blues' now?)" asked Gary.

Patrick looked confused again. "Pft, Gary, you make no sense. Sandy's not blue! Neither is SpongeBob!" everybody rolled their eyes at his cluelessness. Ah, good ol' Patrick.

"Group hug!" said SpongeBob. With that, everyone gathered together to share their love and respect for each other in the form of one, big, loving embrace.

"I love you guys," said Pearl.

"Me too, I love all of you," said Patrick.

"I love you all even more than me money!" Mr. Krabs said, surprising everyone.

"I'm still going to annihilate you all when this is over," a tearful voice said.

Everyone looked up at Plankton, who now sat on top of Karen's head.

"…Too soon?" he asked.

Just then, the group's rare moment was shattered when Sandy caught sight of lava pouring over and heading towards them.

She gasped with all her breath. "Oh, no!" she said, pointing at the catastrophe headed their way. Everybody screamed in unison and held onto each other as the lava quickly approached.

"Well, I guess this is it…" said SpongeBob, his voice filled with grief.

There it was. So menacing, so hot, so haunting. There was nowhere else to run. This was it. This was the end. At least they were all there at the same time. They were all going to die, but at least they would die together.

Suddenly, as a result of some sort of miracle, a bright light shone above them. They looked up at the sky to see… A UFO? No, a giant flying clam? No, it was a rescue helicopter! How they had found the group in the first place, nobody knew.

"Hey, you down there! Remain calm and grab onto this ladder, we'll pull you up!" the fish man spoke through a megaphone.

It truly was a miracle! They all grabbed onto the ladder one by one and held on for dear life as the man pulled them quickly to safety; leaving the scorching lava in the dust.

Minutes later, they were all on their way back home. Mr. Krabs sighed. "Ain't it a shame I had to leave me boat there? It was so expensive! I can never replace it!" he buried his face in his claws.

Pearl rolled her eyes. "Daddy, what are you talking about? You found that boat in a junkyard, remember?"

Mr. Krabs wept. "I know, b-but I had to buy a new engine to make it run! WAAAHHH!" he cried.

SpongeBob patted him on the knee. "Don't worry, Mr. Krabs. You can borrow my boat! That is when I get my license… And I get enough money to buy a boat… And I don't crash the boat…"

All this talk was shattering Mr. Krabs' sanity - and wallet, even more. "WAAHHH!" he cried again.

Squidward sighed, leaning his face against his tentacle. "I can't believe that this is what not going to college brings you in life."

A/N: And here we are! I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. And as a side note, don't worry, I am working on the next chapter for Flowery Poems at the moment. Thanks for reading and I'll be back again soon.