Cartoon Universe

Explanations

When Spongebob went up the stairs to the 2nd floor, he heard a creak of a door, followed by hushed voices. His first instinct was to ignore them and keep walking, but a certain squeaky voice caught his attention.

"Yeah, but... are you absolutely sure that the sponge has anything to do with it?"

Against his better judgement, Spongebob peeked behind the door, careful not to make a sound. Inside the room were two characters. One was tall and skinny, the other short and chubby. Goodness, they were wearing their underwear on the outside of their clothes! And wearing superhero costumes, to boot. Spongebob thought he had seen some weird getups, but this took the cake.

"I'm nearly positive, Chum Chum," said the taller boy in the green and purple costume. He kicked out his feet and landed on the floor from the bed, throwing his arms towards the ceiling as if this was some minor victory. Chum Chum stayed on the bed.

"Besides, why would a sea sponge be the one to find the Orb of Power?"

Spongebob froze. An orb... like the one he saw in that cave? No, it had to be a misunderstanding. But he was still curious, so he continued to eavesdrop.

"Did you have someone else in mind to find the Orb, Fanboy?" asked Chum Chum.

A triumphant grin spread across Fanboy's face. "Pfft, me and you, of course! Just think, if we were the ones to find the Orb, we could have had it all, my friend! Promotions, fast food toys, schedule time!"

"What about the real superheroes, like that tiger kid? We're just wearing costumes..."

Fanboy shook Chum Chum by the shoulders. "Do not ruin this for me!" he shouted, shaking him with every syllable. When he let go, Chum Chum fell back onto the covers.

"Oops, sorry buddy," Fanboy apologized, laughing nervously. But he was back to serious mode fast. Making a fist, he slammed it into his open palm.

"Starting today, we'll find the gemstones! Their shining beauty will be ours! To share, of course."

Shining beauty? Like that light in the cave? And what were these gemstones? Spongebob was getting more confused by the second. Should he tell anyone about what he saw in the cave? With a name like the Orb of Power, what he found there might have been awfully important.

By accidentally opening the door wider, making a loud creak, Spongebob had triggered Fanboy's head to twist to where he was. Chum Chum's eyes followed his friend's direction.

Spongebob stood stiff. Shoot.

Instead of calling Spongebob out on eavesdropping, Fanboy smiled and waved for him to come in. The sponge sighed in relief, then entered the room.

Scattered around the room were various comic books, smelly underwear, and half-eaten slices of pizza. Spongebob should have expected something similar from the comical looks of the two.

He tried his hardest not to smell the stench as he sat down between the boys. The boys gave off a weird... aura, for lack of a better word. Something about them made Spongebob uncomfortable.

"It seems like someone was spying on us!" Fanboy laughed, with Chum Chum doing the same. Spongebob sat still.

"Funny thing is, we were just talking about you! Good things, of course. Say..." Fanboy leaned in closer to Spongebob to the point were he could smell his pizza and bubblegum breath. "You wouldn't happen to know about the Orb of Power, would you?"

Spongebob shrunk. "Uh..."

Fanboy's eyes widened. "Aha! So you do know! Tell me and Chum Chum all about it!"

The two boys leaned in eagerly to Spongebob's face, their pupils growing in size with each second that passed.

"Uh... Well..." Might as well tell them. It could have been important. "You see, I was jellyfishing with Patrick, and we came across a cave. He went in, and I went to look for him. I-"

Spongebob laughed nervously as Fanboy and Chum Chum's eyes continued to grow to ridiculous sizes. He continued, trying to ignore them.

"Anyway, I found this big spherical thing. Then it started... glowing. I felt really weird when all of a sudden, I see this shiny light. I felt so calm around it, but-"

"Say no more!" Fanboy shouted, putting a hand to Spongebob's face. "We've got to tell the others!" Dragging Spongebob behind him, he burst out the door, Chum Chum running behind him.

Perhaps that wasn't the best idea after all.