A/N: Sorry for the delay... and sorry this is so short. I have no excuse. Well... actually I do, but it's not a good one. Halfway through writing, I came up with something I really wanted to add to the story... but I didn't know how to insert it. Anyways...
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The Super Chum Bucket
Chapter 2: The Hostages - Part 1
by SpongeFan SquareFiction
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Karen couldn't help but roll her digital eyes at Plankton, who was chuckling giddily while staring out the top window through a large telescope which showed a clear view of the Krusty Krab's front door. She was going to have to sit through yet another one of her husband's hare-brained 'diabolical' plans to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula, and quite frankly... she would rather have computer worms.
Plankton had no time to notice her brooding, for he was far too busy. He actually impressed himself this time. Looking around the new immense facilities just made him all the more giddy. For this new "project", he decided to go back and revisit some of his failed plans and analyze them carefully. He once recalled skipping past his usual theft routine a couple of years ago and building a machine that supplied a never-ending hoard of robots at will. Back then, his mistake had been a small one, yet resulted in disaster: neglecting to pull the 'obey' switch before starting up the device, thus having an army of stubborn, free-willed robots running rampant.
For reasons not even he could comprehend, something in the back of his mind had convinced him to keep what could be salvaged after the disaster. 'And boy, did that do me a world of "good"... so to speak,' he had thought while he was pulling the old machine out of the storage just yesterday. The machine was still running amazingly smooth... and with a little extra tinkering, Plankton made especially sure that the same mistake would not be made twice and these new little robots would obey his every command.
He turned away from the telescope briefly to look at the aformentioned machine purring away, delivering an assembly line of robot after robot after robot. With a little help from them, the little evil genius succeeded in building the Super Chum Bucket overnight. It was more than enough to make the Extra Awesome Residential Establishment Makeover team jealous.
"They'll have no idea what hit 'em! Especially since there'll be nothing hitting them today!" he sneered, gazing back to the Krusty Krab via telescope.
"Then why, pray tell, are we rushing into this brilliant nefarious scheme?" Karen droned.
Once again ignorant of Karen's droning, Plankton chuckled and turned to face her. "Because, my dear, this plan cannot take its course without a little 'persuation'. Not just for Mr. Krabs, but for the entire Krusty Krab crew!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, clearly confused.
He grinned malevolently. "Ohh, you'll see..." He marched to the edge of his newly constructed indoor observation ledge and caught sight of the robot assembly line a good two stories below. His mechanical army was near its completion. "To arms, my minions!! Make sure you remain inconspicuous to our enemy!" Plankton cried out with an air of triumph and watched the addressed portion of his robots line up and start marching.
CRASH!
He only winced for a moment as his robot army tore through the recently built back wall. But the evil protozoa just shrugged it off. "The rest of you start fixing that wall!" he commanded to his remaining bots at once.
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"Daddy, I'm home!!" Pearl's perky but booming teenage voice bellowed throughout the entire house, making a few of Mr. Krabs' knick-knacks on the living room wall shake. "Sorry I'm so late, but Jenny just heard about these totally coral pair of earrings in Merms' and they were on sale for just $21.95! I just had to join her!" Closing the front door behind her, she paused and looked around into the dark.
Hmm... strange. Usually, her flabbergasted father would have emerged from the bathroom and start tumbling down the steps in his underwear by now, shocked that his daughter had spent more than a nickel on jewlery.
"Are you here, dad? Hellooo?" she called once more, but again, there was no answer. The whale girl merely shrugged, figuring the old man was just caught up at work, counting his money. She dropped her school backpack on the floor and reached for the light switch.
Flick.
Darkness.
Flick. Flick. Flick.
Darkness still.
She looked up at the old seashell lamp. "Well, that's weird," the undersea mammal muttered to herself. "I thought I replaced those bulbs two days ago." If it was up to her dad, they would be living in a cave with no electricity or any kind of luxury just as long as he wouldn't have to waste a buck. This is why Pearl found herself in charge of secretly changing the lightbulbs in the house. As far as she knew, Krabs probably still thinks those are the same bulbs that he purchased along with those lamps. Pearl made her way upstairs holding her little shopping bag, wanting to put her new earrings away safely. She opened the door and immediately reached to flip on the light switch.
Flick.
Again, darkness.
By now, you'd think she'd start to get a little worried. But living with her father, she wasn't exactly surprised. He was known for sometimes skipping an electric bill or two. "Uggh! Dad..." she grumbled under her breath. "I'm so not talking to you about my day today." She stomped over to the bed and jumped onto the mattress, causing it to make a frightfully loud creaking sound. The happy colors of her bedroom usually cheered her up whenever she was down... but alas, with no electricity and dusk right outside her window, those colors were unable to glow. She sat on the edge of her bed and sighed deeply enough for her to see bubbles in front of her.
After a minute or two of silence and brooding, she shook her large head, snapping back to the norm. "I don't have to sit around like this," she thought out loud. "I'll just go to the Krusty Krab. Might as well, since I didn't get anything to eat at the mall. I've... gotta stop talking to myself..." she finally muttered as she stomped down the stairs. At the front door, she remembered her backpack and reached down for it. But her flipper caught something else. It was cold... metallic... and it was moving!
Before she could even open her mouth to yelp in terror, there was a strike... and "advanced darkness".
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NEXT: Chapter Three: The Hostages (continued)
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A/N: By the way, the Extra Awesome Residential Establishment Makeover is a spoof of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Just in case someone missed it. Now, I'm-a ask you a pretty little favor. Please click on the little purple button and leave a review. Don't hate the fic just 'cause you hate me. (in other words, no unnecessary flaming.)