SpongeBob Squarepants (The Anime)

Chapter 3: Too Late

SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs stayed well into the night to finish repairing the Krusty Krab.  Or, rather, SpongeBob stayed late to finish the repairs as Mr. Krabs sat in the back counting his money.  He would've left but he didn't want his star employee sneaking off before he finishes, would he?

SpongeBob had just finished putting the last table together.  He set it up and wiped the sweat of his brow.  Mr. Krabs came out of his office in time to see SpongeBob polish the table.  "Well, SpongeBob, I think we are just about done!  Good job, boy!"

SpongeBob says nothing and just heads for the door.

"Where you going? You ain't even gonna say bye!?  What about finishing the dusting?!"

SpongeBob yelled at his boss.  "My job was to repair the tables and walls!  I finished doing that so I am heading to my date; which I'd be lucky to get to on time now!  Why don't you finish the dusting of the sawdust from MY hard work!?"

Mr. Krabs gasped.  He never heard SpongeBob talk like that.  "SpongeBob!  Are you talking back to me?  I think Squidward is rubbing off on you, and I don't like it!"

"So what if he is?  I love working here for you, but he's right.  You tend to take advantage of us!  It's one thing to clean up a mess so we can open on time tomorrow.  It's another when I had plans and you made me disregard them!  After I stopped Plankton and his nefarious scheme!"

"But you loved to help me on late night jobs!"

"That was because I expected to learn something from you!  I was expecting to have some of your wisdom rub off on me, or to see something I haven't seen from you before.  I'm starting to see I was wrong."  He walked out the door, leaving the baffled Mr. Krabs standing there with his mouth open.  His number one employee started to see right through him.  

The Chum Bucket, the already dark and brooding restaurant, looks much gloomier at night.  The dusty tables out front and machinery in the back add an eerie element only the mad scientist could enjoy.

Plankton came out of the shower, drying himself with a towel.  "How was that possible?!  My design was flawless!  All that effort, wasted!"

Karen watched him as he approached the heaping pile of parts that was his robot in the center.  It is still covered in the fluids that escaped the many exits left behind.  "Well, what do you expect?  You said yourself it was a prototype.  It wasn't even the robot you were concerned about."

"I know, I know.  But it still hurts to see it dismantled.  Especially when I was so close!  If I had a few more minutes!"  He slammed his fist down on the cold, slimy metal.  

"Why don't you stop complaining and just put everything into a better model?"  

"Because, Karen.  I need to evaluate the performance first!  I need to make sure the formula worked with my changes to it before I do anything else!  Were you able to gather the data?"

"The synthetic chum formula was able to increase damage output in the laser, and absorbed some of the damage from the hit.  I am unable to tell if the limbs had a similar effect due to the lack of movement, but there is a noticeable change in head rotation to follow moving targets."

"Perfect!  Despite the loss, I would say it was a success!  Now... let's see how well it does on the final component..."  Plankton stepped back and watched the pile.  Nothing was happening and he was getting impatient.  The only sound was the hum of Karen's machinery as they kept watching in silence.  

The sound of scrapping metal came to life as the pile of parts started to lightly shake.  They come to life and move around.  Almost as if they were trying to find their proper spot.  "It's working.  It's working!"  He cackled as the legs started to be more defined.