//------------------------------// // Problems in the Lost City of Atlantic City // Story: G5 Adventures in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// At the same time that Mr. Krabs had fallen into a depression and had given the secret formula to Plankton as a result, the others had continued on their journey to find Gary, with only a couple of hours to go until they reached their destination. Soon, as the stars began to appear in the night sky, Otto made an announcement to the group in the back seats. “Congratulations. You have arrived at your destination.” When the group looked ahead, they were stunned to see a very bright city with tall buildings and twinkling lights around every corner. SpongeBob was the first to speak after a stunned moment of silence. “The Lost City of Atlantic City!” “It's pretty...!!” Patrick said in awe. “Sweet sauce horseshoe toss! It sure is!” Arctic agreed, using Izzy’s catchphrase before she turned to her sister. “Are you sure this is the right place?” “I think so... but it doesn’t look anything like the way Grandpa described it in his stories or in the book,” Tropic answered with surprise in her voice. “I guess people have their own opinions.” “Well, if Gary is in there, we need to get in there too!” Zipp pointed out. “Who knows how long he can handle being in the king's personal hygiene routine!” “Beware, young seekers,” Sage warned the group before they could get out of the car. “All is distortion. If you aren't careful, the Lost City will draw you into her fickle embrace, blind you with her dazzling distractions and tempt you with her fleeting games of chance. Whatever you do, don't be led astray, don't lose focus, and don't forget why you came here.” The Mane 6, Sparky and the sea-unicorn twins nodded sincerely, taking this advice to heart. However... SpongeBob and Patrick didn’t seem all that concerned with the warning as they got out of the car. “Don't forget. Good one,” Patrick treated the warning like it was a joke. “I think we got this.” “Yeah, Sage. I mean, you've been pretty good up until now, but I love Gary more than anything in the whooooole world!” SpongeBob spoke. “And,” Tropic added, “we did come here to get him back, so I think that would be a little hard to forget.” Sage sighed worriedly at this as they walked toward the door. “Oh boy…” “But… what if Sage is right in a way?” Misty asked. “Sometimes we can be laser-focused on something and it goes away in an instant.” “Please,” SpongeBob scoffed. “We got focus to burn, baby--” But the second they stepped inside, SpongeBob and Patrick’s eyes went wide as saucers, along with the ponies’ eyes, as they looked around at the casino-like environment around them. “Whoaaaaaaaaaa!!!” But… the casino wasn’t the only thing to get SpongeBob and Patrick distracted. “Cotton candy!” “Ice cream!” “Churrrrrros!!!” SpongeBob and Patrick howled with excitement, pulling out wads of cash from their pockets, making the ponies realize that they had already forgotten what they came here for. “Oh, boy,” Tropic rolled her eyes. “Guys, let's not go crazy now...” But it was already too late. SpongeBob and Patrick took the twins and dragged them along to their ecstatic endeavors. “Great. Now we've got to find them,” Zipp groaned. “Arctic! Tropic! Try to talk some sense into them!” Hitch called out, but they were already gone. XXXXXXXX And so, SpongeBob and Patrick had the time of their lives, riding the rides and pigging out on the local food. Arctic and Tropic held resistance... at first. “SpongeBob! Patrick! We have to stay focused! Remember what Sage said?” Tropic tried to convince them. “Aww, come on!” Patrick spoke out of boredom. “Where’s your sense of fun?” The four of them rode rollercoasters, bumper cars, and carousels-- basically, every ride the city had to offer. SpongeBob and Patrick were screaming with excitement while Tropic and Arctic were mostly trying to stay quiet for their sake. But, though they didn't admit at first, they were enjoying themselves. “Come on, girls, isn't this fun?” SpongeBob said. “No... well, I mean... I guess,” Arctic feebly licked her ice cream. The fun continued and, slowly, Arctic and Tropic gave in. It was more carnival rides and treats for them as the night bore on. XXXXXXXX Next was the casinos. At this point, the twins were all in for the fun. “Isn't it cool how they let you trade in your real money for these little plastic circles?” SpongeBob said, causing Tropic to nod. “Casinos are totally magical!” “Would you mind if I put this down, sir?” SpongeBob asked the roulette table supervisor. “Place it wherever you like,” the supervisor responded. "So, what do you say, guys?” Arctic asked. “What number should we pick?” “Just put it on L,” Patrick pointed to the symbol on the table. “Patrick, that's not an L, that's a seven,” SpongeBob pointed out. “Seven starts with L? That's weird.” SpongeBob placed the chip down on the seven, and this caused the supervisor to spin the roulette wheel. The four watched it spin and slowly came to a stop, watching the ball land right on the seven. "Seven!" Upon saying such, the supervisor shoved a pile of more casino chips in front of SpongeBob, Patrick, and the twins. “More plastic circles!” SpongeBob gasped. “And do you know what this means?” Arctic asked, practically drunk on fun and sugar. “More roulettes!” Out of nowhere, a group of other fish had surrounded the four. “Who are you guys?” SpongeBob asked. “We're your entourage,” They answered, causing SpongeBob, Patrick and the twins to smirk. This was gonna be fun. XXXXXXXX The entourage followed SpongeBob, Patrick and the twins to the crappy tables, where Patrick placed a bet on the seven again. The dice bounced back and landed with the three and four faces were upright. "Lucky seven! Winner!" They sang and danced as the traveled from one casino to another. Patrick began chanting the number seven as they went around, even in the bathrooms. After they gor done at the casinos, they took a boat ride and played in the wave pool. “Hey, Patrick!” SpongeBob called from his surfboard. “What's up, Spongey-Dawg?” Patrick asked, upside-down on his surfboard. “I lost all my money!” "Me too!" “So have we!” the twins cried as they jumped around in the pool. The entourage groaned in disappointment and dispersed. But, it wasn't over... not by a long shor. A few hours later, we find the four friends on a dance floor, dancing the night away. "I can do this forever!" Tropic screamed, prompting the crowd to cheer alongside her. XXXXXXXX By the next morning, the city had grown quiet as an octopus was busily sweeping up the walkways, passing by a sea star and two sea-unicorns who were passed out. When he went to empty his dustpan, he found a sea sponge stuffed in the garbage can, but instead of being concerned, the octopus rolled his eyes and went on with his job. SpongeBob’s weight quickly tipped the can over, which woke Patrick and the twins. “Party people!” Patrick looked around and spotted his friends. “Where is everybody?” “Ugh. What happened last night?” Arctic asked, clutching her head. “I... I feel like I swallowed a sea urchin,” SpongeBob wheezed. “Me too...” Patrick spoke before he spat out an actual sea urchin. “Hey, I did swallow a sea urchin!” Tropic squeaked and hid behind her sister at the sight of the urchin, and as the urchin scurried away, Sage and the Mane 6 quickly approached, not happy in the slightest. “Well, well, well...” Sage said condescendingly. “Where have you guys been?” Sunny asked angrily. “We’ve been searching for you all night!” “Sagester! Sunny! Good to see ya, pals!” SpongeBob said drunkenly. “Nice work, boys. Way to make my pearls of wisdom and flush them down the toilet,” Sage reprimanded them. “You two especially, Arctic and Tropic,” Pipp added. “I thought you two were better than this.” Tropic and Arctic's ears pinned as they looked down at the ground. “I-I guess we DID kinda get carried away...” Arctic mumbled. “That's putting it mildly!“ Hitch said. “Though I don't blame you for getting dragged along for this, but you shouldn't put a stop to it while you could.” “Oh, no. Wait, did we...” SpongeBob coughed. “Lose focus like I told you not to?” Sage finished in a rhetoric matter. “Focus?” Patrick stared blankly. “Huh.” “We're extremely disappointed in all four of you,” Sunny scolded. “You did what Sage specifically told you not to.” “We're sorry, guys! We made a horrible mistake,” Arctic whimpered. “Do you even remember what we came here for?” Misty asked. The four tried to came up with an answer, but their minds were too clouded to think straight. “Let me jangle your minds,” Sage said. “You came here to get back something you lost.” SpongeBob racked his brain, trying to remember, but he was still drawing a blank as Sage spoke up again. “Something you love.” That's when it suddenly hit SpongeBob, Patrick and the twins dead on. “GARY!!” “Yeah, Gary,” Sage said. “Seriously, it's hard enough being stuck in a tumbleweed... but dealing with you two makes me want to light myself on fire.” That's when SpongeBob turned to Sage in a pleading manner. “Sage, buddy. Can we please look into the Window of Meanwhile one more time to see where Gary is?” “No, it's not an on-demand service. And especially not for people who pass out and sleep in their own vomit all night.” “Ohh... we did that...?” Tropic winced, more disgusted and ashamed with herself. Patrick put a finger to the puddle on the ground and put it in his mouth. "It's not vomit. It's drool." “That doesn't make it better!” Pipp shrieked in disgust, just as Sage let out a frustrated sigh. “Fortunately for you, you woke up right here, on the steps of Poseidon's palace.” The others turned to see a large building that read "Poseidon's Palace" in neon lettering, striking the group as a positive coincidence just before Sage turned to them again. “Now get it together. Go!” “All right, Gary! We're coming for ya!“ SpongeBob ran to the building and began climbing the stairs. Though, after about 15 minutes, it became apparent that he was exhausted and could barely make it up the stairs. “Boy, oh, boy. Hey. Almost there, Gary!” “...how about me and my friends go in and find him for you?” Sunny offered as she and her friends swam past. “You look a little bit out of breath.” “No! I'm not giving up now!” SpongeBob heaved his body forward. Suddenly, Patrick came up, riding a motorized cart up the palace stairs. “Hey, hop on! They're just giving these things away at the grocery store!” “Good call, buddy...” SpongeBob wheezed. “Agreed. My fins are killing me,” Tropic and Arctic clambered on the cart just before the cart drove into the palace. But before the Mane 6 and Sparky could follow, Zipp saw some fish acting very strangely... ...like they were smiling all the time and searching for something. That immediately caused the pegasus princess to hum in thought. “Hitch and Misty? Take Sparky and go after the others. The rest of you, come with me. I think I have another mystery in the works.” “Wait for us, Zipperdoodle!” Izzy called, and the group separated in order to cover both their friends and Zipp’s new mystery... hoping neither would lead them into trouble. XXXXXXXX Misty, Sparky and Hitch swam after SpongeBob, Patrick and the twins as fast as they could go, and eventually caught up with them at a receptionist’s desk. “Hello,” SpongeBob said to the employee at the desk. “We would like an audience with his majesty King Poseidon.” “And, we’d like it to be as early as he can,” Arctic added. “It’s kinda urgent.” The hotel employee nodded at this and checked the schedule. “Oh, sure. Let me check. Two rubes and their horse friends to see Poseidon. No.” Instantly, he pressed the reverse button on the cart, sending SpongeBob, Patrick and the twins backward at an alarming speed. “Oh, brother… here we go again!” Hitch cried, and he and Misty darted after them with Sparky under his hooves.  XXXXXXXX At the same time, a band was checking in to perform for the king. “Hey, dude. We're the Blue Fin Group.” “Right this…” But before the security guard could finish, SpongeBob, Patrick and the twins slammed into the band, allowing the real band to fall into an elevator. “The Blue Fin Group, no!” the guard cried before turning to the group. “Hey!” “Uh-oh!” Tropic yelped. By the time the cart drove off, Misty and Hitch had lost their friends, panting tiredly. “Where’d they go?!” Misty wondered. “Split up and check the whole area!” Hitch told her. “They couldn’t have gotten far!” XXXXXXXX “So, you’re sure you saw those citizens enter through here?” Pipp asked as they swam around the backside of the palace, careful not to alert any guards. “Sure, I did, and they were acting so strangely,” Zipp nodded. “I think we need to ask them what’s going on.” “Whoaoaoaoaoaoa!!” Izzy yelped as she slipped on a patch of ice. “Along with this icy patch.” “Hmmm… whatever caused this,” said Sunny, inspecting the ice, “has to be some really powerful magic.” Suddenly they heard crackling, causing the group to gasp and stand side-by-side as they looked at their surroundings. And then, they heard grunting sounds as they turned and saw a bag being drug into the forest behind the castle as ZIpp turned to her friends. “All of you, stay down and follow my lead.” The mares swam as low as they could go toward the forest, following the bag through the bushes.  And on the other side of the bushes was Twitch, dragging the heavy bag before tossing it, which caused some things like berries, some flowers, fruit, a pillow, a mirror, and a rubber ducky to fall out of the bag. Zipp hummed in thought as the four peeked over the bushes to watch him. “What are you up to, bunny boy…?” Suddenly, a bush in front of them began to freeze over, and two purple paws stepped onto the ground, freezing the entire area. That’s when Pipp spotted something coming from the bushes… something VERY familiar. “Uh… girls?” She pointed her hoof to it, and everyone turned in surprise to see that it was none other than the evil snow leopard, Allura, who was giving a sinister smile as she looked down at Twitch. “Allura?!” Izzy, Sunny and Pipp whispered in shock as Zipp took a picture of her and Twitch to show the others. Unfortunately, Allura heard the camera clicking sounds. “What was that?”  But when she and Twitch turned, the mares had already hid. “Oh my hoofness…” Pipp panted. “This is bad!” “Yeah!” Sunny agreed, fearing that her nightmare was coming true. “How did she escape Starlight Ridge?!” “Doesn’t matter!” Zipp whispered. “Let’s send her back while we have the upper hoof!” “No! With all those fish and sea-ponies around? It’s way too risky, especially without the magic snow we used last time to defeat her,” Sunny said. “Plus, we don’t know what she’s planning. Maybe she…” Suddenly, Sunny stepped on a frozen twig, which caused it to break. Allura heard the crack as she turned with a growl and then roared loudly with her wing-like fins spread. “RUN!!” the mares cried, swimming away with their lives. One thing was for sure… they had to find their friends and warn them of this threat. XXXXXXXX While the others were finding out that Allura had escaped from Starlight Ridge, a show was beginning in the palace, starting with a fish swinging on a golden platform. “Hey, hey, hey! I'm Tiffany Haddock and I'm here just for the halibut. Ha-ha-ha,” she said, landing on the stage. “All right then. Our next performers are gonna knock--” Suddenly, she was knocked over when SpongeBob, Patrick and the twins (on their cart) rammed into her with the spotlight shining on them. Luckily, everyone seemed to think this was part of the act, and cheered for them.  That’s when SpongeBob noticed Poseidon sitting on his throne. “Poseidon?!” “We are getting an audience with the king!” Patrick said as the four bowed, and the king looked at them expectantly. “Well, let's have it. Perform, please!” That’s when SpongeBob and Patrick got the same idea… to perform the same rhyme and routine they had done at summer camp when they were kids.  SpongeBob and Patrick: Hey! Aka Waka Maka Mia  Was a puffer fish (armpit fart) Tropic and Arctic weren’t really sure how to contribute in that moment, so they decided to prance a little bit to the beat and tried not to make themselves look too stupid. SpongeBob and Patrick:  Being bigger than a puffer  Was his only wish  And so he huffed, he puffed He billowed and he blew Suddenly, halfway during the act, the king began to smear some of Gary’s slime onto his face, and this caused the four friends to stop in delight upon seeing him. “GARY!!” Gary lit up instantly upon seeing them, meowing in delight. “Gary!” Tropic cried. “We’re coming, buddy!” As she and Arctic swam toward the throne, SpongeBob and Patrick hopped from table to table until they got to where the twins were, and the twins struggled to lift SpongeBob and Patrick up to the king’s balcony where SpongeBob could talk to the king personally. “ Excuse me, King Poseidon, sire. There's been a misunderstanding about Gary.” However, the king was confused. “Gary?” “Gary.” “Gary?” “The snail you're rubbing all over your face right now,” Arctic added nervously while trying to sustain the weight of Patrick on her back while Patrick held SpongeBob on his shoulders. “Nonsense!” the king declared. “Besides, the snail's name is Fred.” “Fred?” SpongeBob was appalled at this. “You renamed Gary?!” “Fred.” “Gary!” This prompted a tug-of-war fight between SpongeBob and the king, and this went on for a moment… at least until Arctic and Tropic couldn’t hold Patrick anymore, causing all four of them to collapse on the ground, with SpongeBob losing his grip on Gary as well. Angered that someone would try to take HIS snail, King Poseidon immediately summoned the guards. “Seize them!” “GARY!!” SpongeBob shrieked as the girls screamed as they were taken away to who knows where. “But Gary loves me! And I love him!” The king placed Gary under a glass covering, causing the snail to meow sorrowfully, tears filling his eyes. He was almost able to escape and go home… and now, his friends were gone. XXXXXXXX “Misty, haven’t we already searched this hallway?” Hitch asked. “Or do all of them look exactly the same?” “They do look similar, but we have to keep looking,” Misty said. “Who knows what trouble our friends could be in by now?” “Let me go, you big tin cans!” Misty, Hitch and Sparky dove into hiding just in time to see SpongeBob, Patrick and the twins being drug away from the king's throne room, much to their horror. “You don’t understand! Gary is our snail!” Tropic said as they disappeared down the hallway. “There's been a huge misunderstanding!” “Guys, where's SpongeBob and the others?” Sunny asked once she and the other mare swam closer to their friends. “There’s this crazy thing that we have to earn them and you guys about!” “They just got drug away!” Misty cried. “And we have no idea what to do! Wait... what's your news?” Zipp shuddered as she felt the words rising to her throat. “It's a long story. Let's find a place to lay low and we'll tell you everything. Then... we have a rescue mission to formulate.”