Quest
-The Chubby Starfish-
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Proofread And Edited By
Author:
CloneBurner
***
-Recommended To Read In 'Medium Dark'-
-------------Chapter I: The Chubby Starfish--------------
“Stupid music rental clerk made me late! That trilobite wouldn't know an oboe from an elbow!... hehehe, elbow, hehehe… more band humor…” Squidward pulled up to the old factory ahead of him, excited to meet the fish inside willing to practice for the bubble bowl coming. The many rows of seats were filled with fish creatures of all types and grade, most babbling and wasting time for Squidward, but he at least had the confidence to bring them together. He walked down the aisle to the wooden podium.
“People, people. Settle down!”
All of the participants fell quiet and readied their instruments.
“OK, now! How many of you have played musical instruments before?”
“Do instruments of torture count?” Plankton asked.
“No…”
“Is mayonnaise an instrument?”
“No Patrick, mayonnaise is not an instrument…”
Patrick raised his hand again.
“Horseradish is not an instrument either…”
As much as Spongebob wanted to grab his dependable wooden fishing net, frolic happily through Jellyfish fields, and swing the net around to catch the growing population of Jellyfish, but he could only stare worriedly at Patrick's rock as occasional sparks and clouds of smoke bellowed from underneath its solid stature. It was Sunday, and he had hours to relax from the Krusty Krab restaurant’s endless crowd of hungry customers (even if he desperately didn't want to), but the disturbance from the massive rock kept him fixed to the floor. He silently tapped away at the windowsill.
"I wonder what's going on with Patrick..." he pondered.
Most of the week, the smoke was low and unnoticeable, but later on it started to fog up the rest of the small neighborhood, surrounding his home and Squidward’s alike. A few times the blue squid would burst out of his home and yell at the rock in pure anger, but there was never a response from Patrick.
“Better go check on him soon…” Spongebob promised.
"Meow." The silent hum of Spongebob's pet Gary reared his attention. He squatted down to Gary's level.
"Awww, how's my little Gare-Bear?" Spongebob cooed. Cupped around Gary's mouth was his food bowl; he dropped it at Spongebobs feet.
"Oh! Does my little snail want to play fetch instead? Or how 'bout some leapfrog?" Spongebob shook out a small orange plastic ball from behind his back, eager to play with his little snail. But Garry's expression disclosed a blank stare, his eyes in cold slits, wearing a dark 'no'. Spongebob’s expression dropped quickly and he picked up the bowel and walked towards the kitchen. Garry followed.
"You know, you're not so easy to make fun of."
"Meow," Gary agreed with a sly smirk. While walking into the kitchen, Spongebob could hear a tough, vexatious drilling noise derive from Patrick's rock: A new sound; a new mystery to chime at his brain. Trying to bat it away, he began to pour in Gary's kibble.
"Hey Gare?"
The snail looked up at Spongebob with a questioned look.
"Do you have any idea on what Patrick's doing over at his rock?"
Despite the snails sluggish anatomy, he shrugged.
"Yeah, me neither..." While pouring Gary's kibble into his food bowl, Spongebob took another glance at the rock from the kitchen window with a sad grimace. Spongebob couldn't let the noise and strange sounds continue, he was too worried for his best friend. He lowered the food bowl to the floor and walked towards the door.
"Be right back Gare! Gotta go check on Patrick, just go and eat without me!" With a new sponge-happy smile, Spongebob walked out his large iron door into the fresh clear sea.
Gary eagerly took the time to grab his large ten gallon hat out of the closet and began to watch another episode of 'Redneck Snail Rodeo'. His eyes bulged with interest.
As predictability would allow it, Squidward was already at the front of Patrick's rock, batting away at it in pure anger, his hot nerves bulging from his clear shiny head.
"Oh, hello Squidward!"
Squidward immediately turned around and frowned powerfully at Spongebob. Despite the harsh stare, Spongebob kept his friendly neighbor smile.
"Spongebob, that IDIOT friend of yours has been blustering smoke and fumes for weeks now! And I can't stand another minute of them! I wake up every morning with my home filled with the stuff!" he explained, waving his tentacles around for emphasis.
"I'm sorry for that Squidward. I just wanted to come over and check on Patrick myself! Has he said anything to you since then?"
"No! He's been completely ignoring me!" Squidward stopped talking for a few moments to try and evaluate how ironic that sounded.
"Let me see if I can talk to him..."
"Good luck!" Squidward said sourly.
Spongebob eagerly went to the rock and knocked on it three times. A small silence surrounded the area, the smoke starting to dissipate.
"Um...hey Patrick?...You okay in there?"
The whole of the rock’s side flipped open and the chubby pink starfish puffed out. He wore a sleek pair of black goggles and drips of mayo and oil scattered the whole of his shorts.
"Spongebob! I've been waiting for you, buddy!" Patrick grabbed at Spongebobs left arm and pulled him inside. The rock fell back down to the sea floor with a massive thud. Squidwards jaw hit the ground in awe, now opened large enough for jellyfish to fly into it. Which it did. Squidward yelped in agony.
Spongebob had been inside Patrick's home many times before, and he wasn't so surprised by how it looked in the past. Now his eyes bulged into flying saucers in amazement. The whole underground household gave the resemblance of Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy’s lair, with stone stalactites dripping occasional water. The cave extended farther underground, and the walls extended further outwards. Ironically there wasn't a speck of sand anywhere.
Spongebob followed Patrick deeper into the large cave, and was more than surprised, to see what was before him-and also a bit creeped out.
Maps, diagrams, charts, photos, math sheets, flasks, test tubes and opened jars of mayonnaise scattered lined wooden tables in a messy heap. Patrick walked over to a particular table and applied the goggles over his eyes and began to experiment with more mayo jars. Spongebob was hopelessly speechless.
After minutes of gawking over the massive cave, Patrick noticed Spongebob’s surprise, he took off his goggles.
"I suppose you have some questions to ask about the mess here?" Patrick asked. Spongebob turned his gaze at his friend and stared into his eyes. Mysteriously enough, Spongebob could see a new glow in his eyes of knowledge and curiosity, and seemed to have a brand new sense of the world. Spongebob nodded in realization that Patrick had become smarter.
"Well, It's sorta a long story really... remember when I asked Squidward at band practice four months ago if Mayonnaise was an instrument?"
"Uh... yeah... but didn't he return the answer by saying 'no'?"
"He did, yes, but even after that my mind started to race with questions that needed to be answered, and that I knew wouldn't cease until I actually tried to solve them myself. So I did weeks of studying and researching to know the truth, mostly invilved in rolling in a few jumbo jars of mayo and butter. But I couldn't find anything else to find! And now... I'm a bit stricken with grief, but I won't give up!" Patrick shook his fist in emphasis and continued to work on more mayo jars, combining them with other special chemicals.
"... So, that's why you haven't left your rock in weeks? You just needed to know if mayo was an instrument?" Spongebob started to notice a foul smell lingering in the cave.
"Mmmhmm, I even believe that the answer might unlock the secrets of the universe!"
Right then and there, Spongebob swung his hand to his face and gave a smacking facepalm.
"Patrick, the answer to that question-like Squidward said-is NO. You don't have to search the whole ocean just to find out if a condiment is a playable instrument! That's just common sense!"
"But I did search the whole ocean for it Spongebob! I went to every single library and institution I could find! And the only thing I discovered was this!" Patrick grabbed hold of a book near him and swung it to Spongebob. He caught it, but fell to the floor from it's massive size and weight.
"If I’m correct, go to page 57!”
Spongebob managed to stand on his two feet and flipped through the pages to page 57, the picture on the page resembled an open jar of mayo, with a quote at the bottom of the page. Curious, Spongebob read it aloud.
"It is determined that the best condiment known to all of the universe, mayo, is the one powerful instrument used to command all of the universe, or perhaps the multiverse, to it's fundamentals, and that the only question that we may find is if it is actually playable, or even can be used as an instrument, only those of high-knowledge could tell the answer... Patrick this is ridiculous… and is this a gag book?”"
"No it's not! I did the research, but I just need more! And that's why you're coming with me!"
"Coming?... coming where?"
"Why, to our neighbor universe of course!"
Although Spongebob was against what Patrick believed in, but he could only be curious as he was lead into the small room further back into the cave. The dark corridor scared him and forced him to shiver, but the blue light at the end of the tunnel guided him further.
The room was completely dark, almost surrounded and enclosed, except from the mesmerizing blue swirl resting in the back of the room. Patrick flicked a switch and large light bulbs switched on, and Spongebob was surprised yet again by what he saw--A portal. A circular portal in the wall, with a light brightening center most part of the machine.
"Meet the MTM! The Multiverse Transportation Machine!" The machine seemed to brighten by Patrick's introduction.
"B-But how did you make such a portal?!"
"Hmm... well I mostly added in a mayo with cheese and cream. A few extra specs of squirrel fur, and some random object I found in Plankton's restaurant. And I must say it turned out just fine! So, how about another adventure?" Patrick nudged Spongebob’s elbow with his own.
Spongebob was still staring longingly at the portal, and then back at Patrick, evaluating the answer in his head.
"W-well, I did enjoy the other adventures we had together... and this one--"
"Is just gonna get more interesting, I even packed suits with both of our clothes in bags, we're all set!"
"Well... I-" Spongebob stared back at Patrick and happened to gaze into the biggest puppy dog eyes he had ever seen on a starfish.
"Oh, fine! I'll come with you! But don't expect me to just waltz on with you without telling Mister Krabs first, I won't try to break my reputation!"
"Great! This is gonna be one wumbo of a quest!"
Spongebob fiddled with his Krusty Krab hat as he approached Mister Krab’s home. Of course, most of the time Mister Krabs didn't want to be bothered by any means, especially at home during a late Sunday evening, but Spongebob didn't want to leave his favorite workplace without his bosses’ honest opinion. The Krusty Krab needed a fine patty flipper each day, and abandoning the post was something he never felt comfortable with, but the adventurous opportunity in front of him was something he never wanted to pass up. With Patrick to lead him, he believed it might indeed be a wacky quest.
He knocked on the door. After a few patient minutes, it opened, and the greedy crab stared down at Spongebob.
"Well, good evening Spongebob! Why ya' here so late? Work isn't ‘till tomorrow..."
Spongebob fiddled with his hat again in worry, and turned his gaze to the gravel beneath him.
"Well... um... Patrick wanted me to come with him on this little...Adventure type... quest-thing, and, well... it happened a bit sudden, so... uh... I just need your permission... to... go...?"
“A quest?” He questioned as he swam the word in his head.
“Y-yeah… and well, I might be away from work for a while…
Mr. Krabs rubbed his chin for a moment and thought about the dilemma he saw. The funds given to the Krusty Krab would be short compared to the day average.
“Boy, how much money you got on ya’?”
Luckily Spongebob thought ahead of the situation and pulled out a large amount of cash that even Mr. Krabs would bathe in for a few hours. He swiftly flipped through each bill.
“Hmm… Still a bit shor--”
Spongebob shoved an extra hundred in his face.
As Spongebob walked back down the blackness-consumed corridor and into the next room, he couldn't but notice Patrick dressing himself in a very familiar set of clothing.
"Hey, aren't those the spacesuits we wore when we thought we went to the moon?"
"Yep, they are!" Patrick responded as he adjusted the fishbowl around his head. "Ah, memories..." Patrick sighed.
"You mean the ones when we blindly trapped all of the Bikini-Bottom citizens in fishing nets, thinking they were aliens?"
"Exactly!" Patrick tossed a similar suit to him, only in his square size. With the new bag embedded into it, and thicker bowl, the suit was uncomfortably heavy.
"So, what kind of universe are we going to?"
"Could be any of them, by some theory, there could be multiple! All we just gotta do is jump in and find out!" Spongebob adjusted his fishbowl helmet. The clock on the wall clicked to 9:27 in the evening.
"Come on, Spongebob! Time for adventure!" Spongebob followed Patrick to the front of the portal. Patrick--determined as he was--cricked his neck.
"Ready, buddy?" he said, as he grabbed Spongebob's arm. Looking into the portal, a massive wave of fear hit Spongebob at full force. Realization dawned on him, and question sped into his mind of survival and what he might meet on the other side.
"N-now wait a minute, Patrick, are you sure we need to go into another universe so soon? H-how about another Sunday?"
"Can't wait, Spongebob! Knowledge and discovery are calling out to us!"
"Actually, now that I think about it, I need to go ask Squidward to take care of Gary for me-"
"Taken care of. Filled your entire home with kibble...mostly... since I ate some for dinner..."
"Can't we just ask the magic conch first-"
"NOPE! GERONIMO!"
AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!
Patrick and Spongebob were flung into the portal, and the light danced in glee as the two friends were sent to discovery and adventure, off to a land unforeseen.
"Gotta go faster, gotta go faster!" Rainbow Dash screamed as the wind pulsed past her. Light streamed and slowed due to Rainbow Dash's sheer speed and strong wing-power. She had made many consecutive rainbows the past minute, counting at least four color-filled circles across the Equestrian blue cloudless sky, but her goal seemed to go beyond that. Her theory, however, is to create an explosion of Rainbow that would layer the world in color, almost like a shield, but the laws of physics saw otherwise. Fluttershy kept track of her speed below her with a pocket watch around her hoof, checking the time and her current performance, which she was still spell-bound by with her large blue eyes.
After another four more rainbooms, Rainbow Dash descended quickly next to Fluttershy.
"So...How did I do?" She heaved, sweat dripping down her face.
"You did pretty well, Rainbow Dash! But, unfortunately you didn't create your... 'Super hyper-mega-ultra-SonicBomb Rainboom'. Just a lot of Rainbooms." Rainbow Dash stomped the ground in frustration.
"Darn! If only I had gone faster!"
"I'm not sure if you even could go faster. You seemed to be hitting your top speed when you were flying. I even think I saw you slow down a bit near the end..."
"Gah!" Rainbow Dash fell back in shame and lay on the grass for a few moments. She finally sighed and shut her eyes.
"I'm really sorry for pulling you out here, Fluttershy. I don't want to waste your time any longer with me, you can go home now..."
"Oh no, you didn't waste my time, Rainbow! In fact this was rather exciting, I don't think I've ever even seen you do so many Rainbooms in one moment!"
"Yeah, well, you're gonna see a lot more in the future..."
"You know, why don't you come over my house? The critters and I are having a tea party! The herbs I prepared should help with the stress."
"No thanks, Flutters, I just need to clear my head and take a trot."
"Oh...Okay... well, hope you recover!" Fluttershy flew to the direction of her cottage, and Rainbow Dash trotted to the sidewalk near Ponyville. Most of her excuse for trotting was from the pain that throbbed in her wings. As she walked she gently stroked her strained feathers. Although she felt disappointed by her performance, she still felt some satisfaction by doing her absolute best.
But I could have done better...
Flashbacks of her past crashes and mishaps flicked in her head, making her cringe in discomfort. She sighed as the bones in her wings sharpened in pain.
"This day couldn't get any wor--" And then Rainbow Dash exploded.
Spongebob could feel his spongy skin stretching through the dark blue vortex. A chorus of white noise filled his ears (or holes or whatever) and vibrated his body in unison as he was pushed at breakneck speed. The sensation filled him with fear. He wanted to scream but something told him to keep his mouth shut. He managed to turn to gaze around the dark tunnel, and luckily saw Patrick with his fist above his head as If he were a flying superhero. A look of pure determination and excitement was plastered on his pin-headed face.
Spongebob called out to him, but his cry was only drowned out by the noise of the tunnel. Fortunately for Patrick, Spongebob was in his field of vision, and once he saw his friend, a smirk rose around his cheeks. Patrick leaned to the side and swiftly floated to Spongebob. He grabbed hold of his back and kept looking ahead.
“P-Patrick, what is this place?!”
Patrick's grin slid wider.
“The space vortex, Spongebob! Just as I predicted, an area in the cracks of the universe that can transport a worthy individual to their desired destination across the multiverse! And we're flying through it! You think they sell mayo on the other side?”
Spongebob gaped once more around the whirlwind. As time sped, he began to see frost, building up around his helmet and small crack in the corner of the glass. Fear gripped at him again.
A spectrum of light and color pulsed at the end of the vortex, calling the friends to the new universe.
“Ready buddy?”
“NO!”
Patrick leaned in and sped faster to the exit; Spongebob was the first to scream.
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